(Sorry for all the reuploads, I had to change the rating and made sure it got registered. Didn't want to violate any terms of .)

Jade's POV

"Jesus Jade, can't you come in through the door like any other normal person would?"

Cat's facing away from me, messing around on her computer when I slide open the window of her room. I jump down from the ledge and into her room, my boots making a heavy thud as I land. She spins her chair around to face me as I kick off my boots and crawl to the center of her bed.

"Really Cat, you knew I was coming. Would it really kill you to put on a shirt?" Cat absolutely hates clothes. The only time she dresses appropriately when she's in her house is when she has company over. Apparently, I do not render enough importance for her to put a shirt on.

"Why Jade? Is it bothering you? I thought we're past that stage already...or are you here for a little flashback action?" Her eyebrows wiggling suggestively as she sashays over to where I'm seated and lays her shirtless self next to me.

I roll my eyes at her, the sex drive of this girl. Even I couldn't match up to her. "No Kitty I'm here to talk about her."

Her eyes light up a little when she hears me mention her in that tone. "Her as in Tori?"

Yeah, Cat knows about my not so little crush on Tori. She questioned me about it after I sang You Don't Know Me at the Full Moon Jam, and I admitted everything to her. Even if I didn't tell her, she probably would have figured it out on her own anyway. She has a knack of figuring out these kinds of things. After all, she is the one that got Beck and I together back in elementary school.

"Yeah...I didn't expect him to come home last night but he did and she kinda saw me after so..." I hear Cat suck in a breath and I look down at her. There's a murderous spark in her eyes, and that usually means bad things are about to happen.

"Wait a second, not only did he hurt you but he did it two nights in a row? One of these days I'm just gonna go over and kill that son of a bitch. Fuck Jade, you know you can't keep letting this happen you know it's not right..." Fuck she noticed me flinch during lunch. That spark has quickly morphed into a fire, and I got to calm her down before her anger gets out of control. An angry Cat is a dangerous Cat. I softly comb through her hair while rubbing the back of her neck, a sure way to calm her down.

"Come on Cat, I've explained to you why I can't do that. You can just help by playing nurse for me when I need you kay?" She's got her eyes closed, visibly trying to calm herself down. A few moments and her breathing evens out again, and the frown lines on her forehead disappear.

"At least try and fight back?" She pleads with a slight pout.

"Sorry Kitten, you know I can't." I apologize, kissing her forehead. I really hate it when she pouts. I hate it when I make her upset.

I lie down next to her and she turns on her side to face me, with a mischievous glint in her eyes. That also usually means bad things are about to happen. Well, bad for me at least.

"So Jadey, you and Tori, did you finally get into her skinny jeans last night?" She asked with a suggestive smirk plastered across her face, her eyes glazed over. That can only mean she's thinking about...

"No! Cat, oh my god, stop picturing Tori and I fucking! Get your filthy mind out of the gutter! Fucking hell, you need to get laid and get rid of all that sexual frustration because it's suffocating me right now goddamnit."

"Well Jadey, if you must know, I got laid last night," typical Cat, always with the comebacks. "But that's not the point. The point is if you got laid last night. So, did you?"

"No I did't get laid last night, but well we kinda kissed this morning..."

"What the hell does "kinda kissed" mean? Did you kiss or not?"

"Calm down there pushy, and you call me the bossy one. But yeah, we kissed and then I wanted to go further but then she stopped me with some stupid 'I can't kiss you if we're just friends' excuse, in which I shot her down straight away and stormed off. And then when I dropped her off at her house before coming here she kissed me goodbye, awfully close to my mouth, I might add."

We both sit there for a minute, thinking about what happened earlier, until Cat breaks the silence. "Why? You want her and it seems like she wants you so why not go for it?"

"I just can't, I'm not ready. The whole deal with my dad, my family, all my other emotional shit, the fact that I'm Jade West and she's Tori Vega, I just don't think I'm ready for all that." I listen to myself as I speak. God, I sound pathetic, like a scared little wimp. I'm Jade West, I fear not. But then, why do I seem to be so scared of Tori Vega? Why am I so afraid of opening up to her and what could possibly be the best thing in my life?

I look up at Cat and nods and purses her lips. She obviously isn't satisfied with my reasoning but gives in to me anyway.

"So..." I smirk, changing the subject, "details on last night."

Cat and I spent the rest of the day talking, not about Vega, making fun of people on the slap, and watching terrible horror movies. We've moved on from those sorry excuse for horror movies to the unrated version of The Scissoring I always have in my bag. We're not watching the part where the pretty girl's about to get stabbed, or at least I'm watching it. Cat's too busy watching her eyelids.

I've watched this movie a few hundred times, no exaggeration, so naturally, my mind starts to wander. I see the pretty brunette on screen get stabbed, and I'm immediately reminded or Tori. It's horrible, really, how everything I see, do, or say, brings me back to Vega. I see someone dance and I think of the way her slim hips sway when she dances. I read a book and I always subconsciously voice the female protagonist in Tori's voice. I eat a pizza and I remember how bad of a cook she is. I go to Nozu and I get reminded of the time we had our "date" there. I watch the goddamn Scissoring and I'm reminded of her.

The way I think of her, I can't stand it. I just want it to go away. But then again, I'm not really sure if I want that either. I hate her but I love her, and I hate myself even more for it.

It's 12 by the time the movie ends, and Cat is still has her head leaning against my shoulder, sound asleep. I reach over for the remote on the night stand and turn off the TV. I pull the covers over us and settle into bed with her. As I snuggle up with her, I can't help but wish I was burying my face in brunette locks instead of red velvet ones.

I'm awoken by the sound of bloodcurdling screams. I begrudgingly rolled myself out of bed and fished my phone out of my bag. I don't bother looking at the caller ID, I just hit the "accept call" button and bring the phone to my ear.

"Hello?" I answer while stifling a yawn.

"Jadelyn, where were you last night and this morning? You didn't come home last night and I didn't see you at church today. It's nearly noon. Where are you?" Well, I'm definitely wide awake now.

"Uhh...yeah I was at Cat's, school project and all," I lied. My father may like Cat but he doesn't like it when I don't go to church.

"Don't you think you should have made an effort to show up at church today? You haven't attended service in a while." What the fuck? I went for service last week. Why does he care whether I go to church or not?

"Jeez Father, for a regular church-goer, you sure are one hell of a holy man, with all the sex, the drinking and drugs, oh and hmm...hitting and touching your d-"

"Don't you dare talk to me like that young lady," he yelled into the receiver, "I want you home for dinner at 8 tonight or there will be hell to pay," hanging up before I could respond.

So, that went well.

I throw my phone on the bed and open Cat's closet to get out some of my clean clothes to wear. Yeah, I had a drawer in Cat's closet, I sleep over that often. I change into them and go downstairs into the kitchen and I'm greeted by the sound of Top 20 with Ryan Seacrest in the Morning on the radio and the aroma of fresh pancakes.

"Really Cat, not that I'm complaining but how hard it is to put on some decent clothes?" I say as I take a seat on one of the bar chairs at the kitchen counter. Cat's clad in just her underwear and an apron over, and from where I'm sitting, I've got a perfect few of her toned back and legs, and not to mention that cute butt of hers. She doesn't say anything in response, just waves her hand dismissively and continues swaying to the music while flipping the pancakes. I rest my elbows on the counter and prop my head up on my hands. I watch as she sings and dances along to the radio without a care in the world. It's always intrigued me, that no matter how shitty life may be going, Cat always manages to find that ray of sunshine in the darkness. The way she just goes about, day by day, carefree and happy, without worrying about tomorrow, is a task I find utterly impossible. Even after years of being her best friend, I still don't know how she does it.

I'm snapped out of my thoughts by a plate being slid across the counter to me. 4 pancakes with raspberry jam and butter, just the way I like it. She places her own plate of pancakes down, along with a cup of coffee for us each, and takes a seat opposite me.

I grab the mug and take a sip of my coffee. Holy chiz, I swear, this girl is god-sent. "Seriously Cat, how do you manage to make my coffee perfectly every single time? Even I can't do it." I say and I take another sip of my coffee.

She just shrugs and digs into her pancakes. I guess she's just managed to perfect the recipe after years of making morning coffees for me. We finish up our pancakes and go back up to her room. There isn't much to do, and I don't really feel like going home to my father yet, so we just sit around and watch trashy shows on TV.

It's 7.30. I have to get back to my house for dinner or my dad will be pissed, and don't we all know what happens when he's pissed.

"I gotta go home, father wants me home for dinner," I say as I get off the bed and start packing up my stuff.

Cat goes silent and watches me wearily. She doesn't like it when I go home when she knows he's going to be there. Can't really blame her though.

I pick up my bag and start to walk out of the room. I'm about to cross the threshold of her room when I hear a quiet "Take care of yourself okay?"

I turn back and whisper "I'll try" before closing the door and heading off.

"You're late, young lady." My father is already sitting at the dining table, food set out. It's obvious that he's been waiting for me and he isn't very happy about it.

I roll my eyes and throw my bag in a corner. "Seriously Dad? It's 8.02. You could have started without me if you were really that hungry," I say as I take my seat at the table.

"Now, what kind of family would we be if we didn't start dinner together? I asked you to be home for dinner at 8. It's currently 8.02, as you so kindly pointed out. Are you, or are you not late?"

"Yes, I am late. I'm sorry about that father." I respond obediently with sarcasm laced in my voice.

He decides to ignore it and starts on his meal, and I follow suit. We eat in silence for a while before he starts to pull the good father act again.

"So Jadelyn, how was school?"

"It was okay," I answer as I continue shoving food into my mouth. My dad may be one screwed up guy but he sure is a good cook.

"Do you have any new plays coming up?" he questions, trying again to start a conversation with me.

"Like you care," I mumble with my mouth full of chicken and potatoes.

He pauses and looks up from his food, staring at me with a silent rage building in his eyes. "Excuse me?"

I swallow my food and look directly into his eyes. "You won't even be there, so why do you care?"

His actions are as calm as a midnight sea but I could sense the boiling wrath in his body. I continue staring at him with challenging eyes, daring him to break. I won't be beaten this time.

He finally lets his anger get the better of him and snaps. He grips my hair and yanks me up by it. He continues holding on to my hair and lift me a little so I'm at his eye level, my feet are dangling slightly off the ground. It fucking hurts but it's nothing I can't handle yet.

"I am your father and you will not talk to me like that, do you understand me?" He spat in my face. He releases my hair but he grabs me by my collar and shoves me into the table, using his body to hold me against it. The edge of the table is digging painfully into my back but I keep silent and continue staring at him with unyielding defiance.

"Go on, keep staring at me like that. You think you're always right huh? You think you're always the top bitch? Well you're fucking not." He sneers menacingly and clocks me in the jaw.

"SOME FATHER YOU ARE. SOME FAMILY WE ARE" I yell back at him despite my throbbing jaw. He throws me on the floor and kicks me in the torso, knocking the air out of my lungs. He storms off into his room and I'm thankful for that. I don't think I could have taken much more without breaking, literally and figuratively. I slowly picked myself up from the floor and limped up to my room. I didn't get hit in the legs but damn the kick in to my chest did me in good.

I strip and check myself in the mirror, just a darkening bruise in the middle of my chest and a slightly swollen jaw, nothing too bad. Thank god I showered at Cat's so I don't have to deal with showering with these bruises. I rub some ointment on my chest and take 2 ibuprofens. I settle into bed for an early night, hoping that it will help my body recover for tomorrow.

I'm about to drift off to sleep when I hear my window sliding open. I see a silhouette climb into my room from the tree outside and I panic, grabbing the closest thing next to be to defend myself. I turn on my bedside lamp, fully ready to attack the intruder, only to reveal one Tori Vega walking quietly towards my bed.

"Holy chiz Tori, I thought you were some burglar rapist serial-killer. Give a girl a warning will ya?"

She gives me a once-over and tilts her head to the side, looking rather amused. "And you naked with a stuffed bunny is going to ward off a burglar rapist serial-killer?"

I look in my hand and sure enough, the weapon I've chosen to defend myself with is a stuffed rabbit. I sulk and hide him, as well as myself, under the covers, "Whatever Vega, Mr Bugsy could kick you ass. What are you doing here anyway?"

"Well, after seeing you last night like that, I got the sense that something was wrong," she started, sitting on the edge of my bed and removing her shoes. "So I've been sitting on the tree outside on your window since about 7.45, just in case something happened. And obviously something did, with that bruise I saw on your chest and your swelling jaw. You don't have to tell me anything if you don't want to, I'm just here to take care of and protect you. Well, if you let me, that is."

I can't help but let a tear escape after listening to her. No one has ever gone that far to protect me, not even Cat. Of course, that's because I demand her not to but that's besides the point. I've never had anyone care for me this much in a long time.

I don't say anything to her, I just rolled over, giving her space to settle in behind me. She reads my mind and takes actions and my silence as a yes, ignoring the fact that I'm butt-naked, wrapping her arms around me comfortingly, careful not to go near the bruised bit of my chest. "It's the third time we've cuddled and I'm still the big spoon. I think I've made you soft, West," she whispers before kissing the back of my ear, making me shiver a little.

I don't know if I'm ready to reveal everything to her, but I'm thankful to have her here with me tonight.

In this story, Jade and Beck didn't get back together in Tori fixes Beck and Jade, so they're both single pringles. Cat's a single pringle as well.

I have a headcanon that Cat isn't really that innocent and ditzy, that the whole teehee hiii thing she does is just an act. After all, she is Jade's best friend, and I really don't think Jade could be best friends with someone who's as innocent and one-sided as the Cat portrayed in the show. In my mind, Cat is a lot like Jade but because she puts on the front because she believes that if your 'dumb', people will take advantage of you and let their true colours show, and it helps her find out who's actually a friend and who's not. She also does it because she thinks it's fun.

I don't know if there's actually top 20 with Ryan Seacrest in the morning. I don't live in America, even though I really really want to.

I'll admit, I'm not the best story writer. I'm actually a singer/dancer/actor and so I'm more of a screen writer (as you can probably tell with all the dialogue), and story writing comes off as a bit odd for me. Any help, comments, suggestions will be welcome and appreciated!