A/N Sorry that I have taken so damn long updating, I had lost the love for this story. So I had to read it again and then reread just to get back on track here. I didn't know if it was just writer's block, or that I didn't know where to go with it, or if I just didn't care. Now that I'm back on track, I have brought some new lights to the story.

Chapter 26

Take Me Away

TORI'S POV

I glared at my girlfriend. Without answering her, I turned around and walked back up the stairs. Going into my room, I locked the door behind me. I didn't want to see Jade right now, I couldn't talk to her. Part of me wanted Jade to take me into her strong arms and take away all my pain, but I just couldn't look into those piercing blue eyes right now, looking at me with love and sorrow. I just couldn't take the thoughts in my head or the pain that I felt when I was with anyone. The looks that people would give me when I would say the mean things that stomped into my brain, or the way they would act when I would lose my temper. Sure, a lot of what I did was not the Tori that everyone had known, but I just couldn't be that person anymore. So alone was better, right now.

Jade wants to help me, but she doesn't listen to me. How could she help if she doesn't know what is going on? And now she wants to call Beck, so he can come back and see his dream through. I'm really ok with that, really. We all should follow our dreams. Having dreams is great. But what if she is a big part of his dreams? I can't lose her to the guy that, in all rights, I stole her from. I wish he would be okay with Jade and me, but I know he isn't. And if Jade calls him, then…

Knock, knock, knock, knock!

"Tori, baby. Please let me in. I want to talk to you," Jade voice filtered through the door. I looked at the door for a moment, deliberating. The silence drug out for a tortured eternity, then much softer than before, she knocked again.

"Jade, just leave. I'm so…" my voice faded. Clearing my throat, I continue, "I'm so angry at everything right now. Sorry about earlier. Go away before I say something else to hurt you." That sounds…ok, right? She'll understand. I hope.

JADE'S POV

Leave? Skinny babe wants me to leave? I'm so not ready to leave. I know, she just wants time to process, but goddamn it, I don't deserve this. I have got to get her out of that room. I need her to understand, I'm not thinking of calling Beck. Fuck his perfect hair-ness. I never agreed to call him, it was all from the others. I agree with her, he left…

He left.

Damn it. No. I'm not upset. Fuck him. Tori is the important one to me. I lean against the wooden barrier between me and Tori. I don't need him. I need her.

Alone. Again.

I'm sitting against the door, leaning back into it. It would be a real comedy if she opened the door right now. I'd tumble backward, and end up looking up her dress, if she was wearing one. That's a very pleasant thought. What is not a pleasant thought is the same one I've had since I was 8…

A dark room. One chair. I'm sitting in it. Fast forward through 50 years of my face sagging, wrinkling, grey shooting through my black hair before taking it whole. Never talking, never loved, never wanted, always alone.

NO! NO! NO! NO! Fuck that! I leap back to my feet. Whirling on the door, I knock again, louder. "Tori!" I call out, hating the shrill panic I hear in it. I'm having an attack. Great. I'm trying to convince the girl I love that I actually love her and I'm going to faint right outside her door. Well, if she comes out she'll probably trip over me, so she'll at least know I'm there.

As much as I love her, I sometimes wish it was like it was before the crash. Sure, that would mean Beck would still be with me, and I'd be a disappointed lover and not even know why. But I'd have my group of friends, complete, all around me. They all wanted me around. I totally caught that 72 hour crush Andre had on me last year. It was cool. And of course, horndog Robbie always trying to see down my shirt. I knew. Hell, every girl knows.

And then there is the old relationship with Tori. The bitter arguments. The halfhearted attempts to kill her, with her flower allergies, or psyching her into jumping out of my car 20 miles from school. I could have done it. Easy. No witnesses. But I relished the attention she gave me.

My therapist has pointed out that it was negative attention. That's what I appreciated about it. It had that denial flavor to it, but without the pain, or the real abandonment that I got at home. Wow. All this thought in the time that it took me to fall to my knees after banging on her door. So dizzy.

Breathing. Got to do that. I gasp, my head against the door the only thing that is keeping me from being face down on her carpet. "Tori, please," I whimper.

CAT'S POV

I walk into the apartment that I share with Sam and see her sitting on the couch with Beck. I'm so angry with him right now. Not just because he left all of us at Hollywood Arts, but for putting me in this place where I have to lie to our friends. After I yell at him, I walk into the kitchen, just wanting to let all of this go. But I just can't, he has pissed me off too much. "Beck, you can't stay here without telling everyone where you are," I say as I get some orange juice out of the fridge.

"But Cat, the whole point of me leaving was to be away from all of the shit going on at school," he said while idly flipping through a magazine.

"No, Beck, you don't get to run away and hide in the shadows and watch as our friends fall apart. And you don't get to stay in the comfort of my home while I'm in the line of fire!" I get so mad at him and his nonchalant way, I slam my glass down. I feel a cold splash of OJ wash over my hand and glance down, thinking that I had slopped some of the juice out of the cup. I stare, dumbfounded, at the shards of glass jutting out of my hand and the bright well of red mixing together with the juice to make a muddy brown, sticky mess. I had slammed my glass so hard that it shattered in my hand, cutting me pretty deeply. I flex my fingers curiously, and I feel the glass grind against my bone, and I squeal in agony. "SAM! Owie! SAM!"

Sam springs up from the couch and races over to me. Beck may be a butthead, but he at least cares enough to be right behind her. Sam takes me to the sink, and she plucks some of the smaller pieces out of the meat of my palm. I know enough to stop her from pulling the largest pieces out. It would gush blood and might even sever nerves. Sam starts running cold water over my bloody hand, rinsing some smaller bits of glass loose, and washing away the blood. It is interesting seeing the diluted red dripping into the sink, and the spiral pattern around the drain reminds me of spin art.

I turn my eyes onto the wreck of my hand. Thank goodness I was holding the glass in my left hand, this will be bad enough healing from. I can only guess how bad it would be if I couldn't write or use my phone right handed. Two large glass triangles stick out, one between the first and second finger just below the knuckles. The other one was back by my wrist, almost straight down from my ring finger.

"Cat baby, if you won't let me take the glass out, we need to go to the ER. You'll probably need stitches." She turns to Beck who is using paper towels to clean up the counter while watching us with real concern in his eyes. "Cat has to go to the hospital and I can't take her on my bike, so stop fucking with that and get your fucking car." Sam was very pissed but I knew it was more at Beck than at me. She stalks over to Beck, giving him a shove to get moving toward the door as she raced toward our room to grab her wallet and mine. Yay insurance cards. Will this count as a workplace injury? Will we have to pay me workman's compensation from our babysitting money? We technically are watching a petty, juvenile little boy while it happened, after all. I'll have to think about that.

I reach over to the drawer next to the sink and pull out an old but clean dishtowel. I wrap it gently but firmly around my hand. God that hurts. How did I not know I was cut right away? And did I really think this towel would hold? It's so hard tying something one handed. Well, this old yellow towel is hitting the trash after this. It is already sprouting roses of blood. I try to scratch my nose and a crippling wave of agony washes down my arm. Oh, this is going to be fun. I've got part of my favorite Scooby-Doo glass sticking out of my hand and I can't even remember not to use this hand to scratch my nose. Sam comes out of the bedroom and she takes me by my elbow, guiding me out the door. We both climb into the back seat of Beck's car, and my hand is placed gently on the fold down armrest. Sam glares at the back of Beck's head the whole way to the hospital. I wince at every bump in the road, and when Beck goes over a speed bump in the hospital parking lot too fast and bounces my hand hard I squeak in pain again. I think that if looks could kill, Sam's would have taken off the top of Beck's head. And half the hospital with it. Wow, she's upset.

When we walked into the hospital, Sam took me to talk to the nurse behind the desk. Sam sat down first and sat me down on her lap. She looped one arm around my waist and kept a tight hold on the towel around my hand. I looked back to see Beck pacing and rubbing the back of his neck. I knew he would never hurt me, and out of everyone in our little circle of friends, I was the one everyone looked out for. He had the same look that everyone would have if I would be hurt while in their care, but I knew I didn't need him to care about me or worry about me. As long as I'm in Sam's comforting arms. I answered all of the nurse's questions and waited for someone to come get us.

The hospital was busy, unfortunately. We sat for quite a while. I got dizzy and slumped in my chair, hoping to get seen soon. Sam had called my Nona. She was coming. Then Sam called Tori and Jade. I don't know why she called them, but I wasn't caring at the time. In part because I'm about to go back and get stitches in my hand. That means lots of needles. Another reason was pain. I wish I was still numb. It was sheets of agony radiating up my arm, and I kept shifting in my seat, trying to get away from the pain.

TORI'S POV

I swear I just heard Jade collapse in the hall. I start toward the door, then pause. I see the door open, and Jade is there. God, so beautiful, so pale and delicate. Hard and soft and delicious. I take her in my arms, and as I kiss her, the world erupts around us. It's a TMZ moment, cameramen coming out of my closet, snapping pictures, shouting questions. Everyone from school is there, staring. Sikowitz. Helen. Lane. Cat. Dad. Rider. Andre. Robbie. Berf. Mom. Rex. Festus. Trina. Sinjin. Beck. no.

no.

No.

NO!

Dammit, leave us alone! If it was just me and her, it would be ok. I almost wish it was like it was before. Trying so hard to get the angry out of Jade. I clicked so well with the others right away. But Jade hated me. I think. If I forgive her, I'll ask her about that, if she actually hated me. The sparing. Watching her try to think of ways to "get" me. The slow dissolve of her reason when I would flirt with Beck in front of her. She should have known I'd never. He was too pretty, too cool. Too much. I honestly pitied her for dating him. He was…is talented. But he'd never work over long term. Too much baggage, too much time spent on himself. He needed to be gone.

"Tori, please," Jade moaned. It sounds like she's trying to talk under the door, like my problem is that I'm not hearing her through the door. I back away from the door again, surprised that it is still closed between us. I don't know if that counts as a hallucination, or just some vivid imagination, but damn.

I close my eyes for a moment. Take a deep breath. Ok. I'll open the door. I'm angry still, but I love her.

I turn the doorknob, and instantly get slammed in the shoulder as the door springs open, Jade's weight leaning against it. It stings, but I barely feel it. Jade sprawls through the doorway, face down at my feet. I gasp and say "Jade?"

My phone rings and I look at the caller ID. It was from Sam, Cat's roommate. "Hello? This isn't the best time right now…" I begin, annoyance in my voice.

"Hey, it's Sam. I have Cat in the hospital. She has to get stitches. Can you and Jade come?" she said, all in a breathless rush. My jaw dropped and I mumbled something incoherent before I answered.

"Yeah, we'll be right there." I ended the call and dropped down to my knees. "Baby, you have to pull yourself out of this. Come on, I need you." I start to rub her back and she jerks and begins to cry, no this isn't the time for this. Not now, not when Cat needs us. "Jade, baby, we have to go. Cat is in the hospital…" I didn't even get a chance to finish telling her who called or what happened, not that I knew. Jade sat up and wiped her face. She took a couple of deep breaths, visibly wrestling her emotions back into check. She then grabbed my outstretched hand, and I helped her climb to her feet. We ran down the stairs and out to her car. I didn't know if she should drive, but I didn't want to upset her by asking. She must have felt what I was thinking and handed me the keys. We drove in complete silence to the hospital, but I knew that when we got home, I was going to have to talk to her. I have never seen her like that before, and I would do anything to never see her like that again.

CAT'S POV

"Sam, do you think it was wise to call Jade? I mean, she might want to play with the cuts, and that would hurt," I say. Sam chuckles like that wasn't something I actually was worried about. She needs to hang out with my friends more often. I need to, too. I miss everyone. I mean, sure, I see Nona more often. And hanging out with Sam is never bad. But ever since I got off physical therapy, it seems like I never see them outside of school. That's the big reason why I let Beck sleep on our couch last night. It seemed, for a little while at least, like things were kinda getting back to where they were supposed to be.

The automatic door whooshed as Tori and Jade ran into the ER waiting room. Tori hurriedly led Jade to where I sat with Sam. By this point, my head was on her lap and her hand was holding tight to my uninjured hand. Beck had left when Sam called the girls, I didn't know what hurt worse; my hand or the fact that one of my best friends had run out on me. I just couldn't take it any longer, I turned my face into Sam's tummy and cried. Tori sat next to me, rubbing my back while Jade took over the pacing. Thankfully they called my name a moment later. I stumbled to a standing position and immediately fell. Sam caught me up in her arms before I hit the floor and carried me to the door where the nurse was waiting. Seeing the blonde carrying me, she bustled over and got a wheelchair which Sam gently placed me in. Sam pushed me through the door leading to the ER, Jade and Tori in tow.

"Are you all family?" the nurse asked. I rolled my head back so I could make eye contact with the young lady. I nodded and gestured her closer. She leaned down. I struck fast as a mongoose, twisting my good hand into the scrub shirt and pulling her inches from my face. I spoke clearly, calmly, and with an icy steel that I was sure Jade approved of.

"Jade is my sister, Tori is her girlfriend, and Sam is my everything. I'm not going back there without any of them, so it's all of us or I go home and Jade stitches me up. Your call." The nurse steps back as I release her and holds the door open so Tori and Jade could follow us before she took the lead to the room where I would be seen.

Sam helps me from the chair to the bed and sits next to me, where she can still keep a tight hold on my hand. Jade and Tori take the two chairs by the door. "So Cat, remember the last time we were all here?" Jade asks with a small giggle.

"No. Do you? I know we were all in the hospital together, but do you remember coming to the hospital?" I ask, knowing that not one of us remember what happened between the crash and waking up here.

Tori shook her head. I know she hates to talk about it, she remembers more than I do. She saw Jade's face right before she hit us; I didn't. She was awake longer than I was and she saw Jade do the one thing that only a few of us have ever seen and that was cry. I shivered and moved closer to Sam who draped an arm around my shoulders.

SAM'S POV

Jade gave Cat a questioning look when she laid her head down on one of my shoulders. "So when did this happen?" she asked.

"Cat got pissed at that Beck kid and slammed the glass she was drinking out of on the counter and shattered it in her hand," I said, not caring if they knew he was there or not.

The two girls looked at each other before turning to Cat. "Why would you be so pissed? I mean, he's in Canada," Tori said curiously.

"No, he's not," I said with a frown. "He came to our place last night looking for a place to crash, and when she got home today, she lost it on him. I thought she was going to kick his ass, she was so pissed. I was proud of her," I ended with a smirk.

"Wait. So you knew he wasn't in Canada today at school when we were all talking about it?" Jade asked, her voice starting to rise.

"Yes," Cat said in a small quiet voice. I could tell she didn't want to fight about this and I knew she getting really upset with me for bring it up with them. But I really didn't care at this point. All I cared about was Cat. I don't know these kids, and their problems don't concern me; well, unless their problems include Cat and I, just like this one.

"Cat, why didn't you tell us?" Tori asked, exasperation in her voice.

"Oh, come on. Beck asked me to not say anything for a couple of days so he could get a handle on the situation. Then Andre was trying to get Jade to do something you didn't want her to. You and Jade had already started fighting. And I just wanted to get home so I can make Beck fix things. But little did I know, Beck had no intentions to make things right. He thought he could just hide out there and make me lie to you until he thought he could swoop in and get Jade back. He just wanted to watch the drama from the shadows. Well, I wasn't going to have it in our house and there was no way Sam would let him use me like that," Cat told them with tears falling from her eyes. Now I was past pissed off at this asshole. He had hurt Cat for the last time. He better stay out of my way.

CAT'S POV

Jade's head snapped back to look at me. She gave me a 'you missed something' look. "Okay, that brings me back to my first question." Jade smirked at me, and purred with a hand wave, "When did this happen?" She gestures between Sam and me. Tori gave a questioning look like she had just noticed that Sam and I were anything but friends.

"Oh. A while ago." I looked down at my injured hand, and my red velvet hair draped around my face, hiding me from their looks. "I was hanging out with Tori the night of the crash. I was going to tell her about Sam and me," I said with a small voice, because I knew what question was coming next.

Through the hair in my eyes, I saw Jade shake her head and look at Tori with a smile. "But what about Andre?" She then cocked her head, looking at Sam, who I could only guess was smiling.

"I don't know, I just wasn't that into him. I like Andre as a friend, but Sam means more and before you ask, yes, he knows about us and we're fine." I sit up straight when the door opened and the doctor walked in.

He was reading the tablet in his hand and had a look of concern on his face. "So, miss Valentine, it says here you have cut your hand. Well let's take a look at it." He unwrapped my hand from the towel and it started to bleed again. "Oh my god! You still have the glass shards in your hand! How long were you waiting?" the doctor asked, shocked.

"I dunno. Maybe about two hours from when the accident happened to now. It really hurts," I said, a quiver in my voice trying hard to become a full on whine.

The doctor poked his head out the door and yelled, "Nurse, get in here!" before turning around quickly and giving me a smile that was far more charming than it needed to be. I guessed he was trying to make me calmer, and it was having the absolute opposite effect. I drew in a ragged breath.

"We're going to take you down to X-ray. We have to see exactly where the glass is to avoid doing any more damage. I promise, we'll have the glass out of you just as soon as we can." The nurse hurried in as he said that, and he turned on her, took a step closer. I strained my ears and caught "…didn't look?...glass…nerves." The nurse looked over the doctor's shoulder and saw the mess my hand was in and paled a bit. She started to say "I'm sorry," but he cut her off and sent her after a wheelchair. I guess I'm going to have an X-ray. I hope I get to see my skeleton. I'll see if I can't dance behind the screen, just like a cartoon. Happy thought.

Tori's POV

After the nurse took Cat down to the imaging center, the doctor turned to us. "Well it's nice to see all of you can come into the hospital without being hurt," he said with a smile. We all looked at each other. "The last time I saw you here, you had just been in a very bad car crash. I was the attending ER doctor that evening." He smiled at the three of us.

"Oh. Well, fun. So if you could just take care of Cat this time, that would be great," Sam said.

"Oh, I will. Barring any cut tendons or something like that, it will be a simple extraction and stitch job. I'll probably be done in twenty minutes unless something goes sideways here. If you girls want to wait in the lobby, that'd be great."

"But I want to watch," Jade told him. She moved next to the bed that Cat would be sitting in once she was back from X-ray. I moved next to her and popped one hand on my hip.

"But you won't watch. You'll want to play. And we have to let the nice doctor fix Cat now." I took Jade by the arm, patting her between the shoulder blades as I pulled her out of the room.

"You're no fun," Jade whined, resisting the pull. She looked back over her shoulder at where the doctor was setting up the suture tray and wiping down the forceps with alcohol. Jade sighed and gave me a stink eye before we were out the door. From behind us, I heard Sam's voice.

"She really did want to play with the cuts," Sam chuckled. "I thought Cat was kidding." I heard the doctor laugh a little.

"She asked me if she could keep the bloody bandages from the car crash," he said. "Now go catch up with your friends."

"Wow," was all Sam could say when she was walking with us again. She gave Jade a sidelong glance. "There's just something not right about you, huh?"

"You've no idea," Jade said, deadpan. God, I love this girl.

Cat's POV

After getting nine stitches, I was wheeled into the waiting room to find my Nona had finally arrived and was talking to Sam. I smiled and hopped up and skipped over to where she was. On the way, I could see Jade and Tori were talking to someone they had backed into the corner. I sat next to my Nona and told her everything that happened. She looked over to the two girls. "They're talking to him right now. That Beck kid. Little Jade was not happy when he came back here. She told him he had no right to be anywhere around you, and she blames him for you getting hurt. She said something like "None of us let Cat get hurt, and you just didn't let her get hurt, you left her here. I can see her point." My Nona was very upset with Beck for leaving.

"I should go find out how things are going." I patted my Nona's arm and walked over to them in the corner. "They saved the hand," I joked as I came up behind them. I took Tori's hand with my good one and gave it a squeeze. "I'm going to go home now. If you want to come over, that's cool. If not, I'll see you all later." I turned to leave and was pulled back by Tori's hand on mine.

"Cat, your Nona asked us to drive you home," Jade said.

I looked at Beck and then back at Jade. "Okay, I guess we should get going then." I'm tired. I want to lie down. But I don't feel like letting them know that. I hope they don't ask why I'm so eager to leave.

"What about my stuff?" Beck asked. "I have a few days' worth of clothes and a few things at your place, Cat."

"You can come get it but you're not staying there, even if you make up with all your friends," Sam said darkly from her chair next to Nona. I hid a sigh of relief. Another problem down. Now I just need a nap and dinner then I'll put this day to bed. I grin at pretty boy.

"Sorry, Beck. Even if I wanted to, Sam said no," I said, syrup dripping from my words. Turning away, I walk back to Nona and Sam. I glanced up and saw in the round mirror on the corner of the hallway that Jade and Tori smiled at each other as they followed me first to give Nona a kiss goodbye and out to Jade's car.