It was the little things, that Tori started noticing after having talked to Cat. For instance, certain jabs from the meaner kids would make Cat flinch, and certain phrases would make her more upset than others. Every week, on Tuesdays and Thursdays, instead of eating with their friends, Cat and Tori would go to the beach and talk, and Cat unloaded whatever she had carried on her shoulders for the entire weekend on those days, while Tori would sit at her feet and listen, often while crunching through a salad or chewing through a sandwich, or wrapping arms around her when she cried. The singer became more protective of the redhead, becoming more observant of the things that upset her and telling people off for it. One day, though, the half-Latina noticed that one girl was picking on Cat repeatedly.
"Hey, Ashley! Pick on someone your own size." Tori frowned, striding towards the two girls. The blonde turned around to level the singer with an acrid glare.
"Fuck off, Vega. This has nothing to do with you." She snarled.
"Actually, it does. Because I happen to like Cat." Tori shoved at the actor's shoulder, the momentum throwing her against the locker.
"You bitch." Ashley sneered, slapping her across the face. Tori paused, holding her face, before grabbing the girl's shoulders and turning her around, shoving her towards a classroom.
"Get to class, blondie." The singer growled, picking up her bag. "Cat, are you – Cat?" When she turned around, the redhead had disappeared. Shrugging, Tori made her way towards the bathroom. As she opened the door, she heard sobbing. "Cat?" The redhead was leaning over a sink, hands over her face. She gasped as she saw Tori, backing away slowly. "Cat, what's wrong?"
"Don't…" Cat looked petrified, still backing away. That's when it hit her. Cat had seen the skirmish in the hallway and the slap.
"Cat, I'm not gonna hurt you. It's me, Tori. I'm your friend." The singer held out her hands, palms facing her, not moving any closer. The redhead blinked a couple of times, before she raised her hands to cover her mouth and tears streamed down her face.
"Tori." She sobbed, throwing herself into the half-Latina's arms. Tori wrapped her arms tightly around the girl and stroked her back gently.
"Shhh…it's okay. Nothing's gonna hurt you. Don't worry." She murmured quietly, comforting the girl.
"I'm sorry, Tori." She wailed, tears soaking through the singer's hoodie.
"No, it's okay. It's not your fault, Cat. I got you."
"Okay, spill Tor. What's the deal with Cat? I know you know, so tell me before I do something truly terrible." Jade was finishing up her assignment in their room that night, while Tori lay on her stomach, flicking through Twitter on the bed.
"Ooh, new album from the Foo Fighters soon!" Tori squealed, purposefully ignoring Jade. The pale girl rolled her eyes, throwing down her pen.
"Tor!" She turned to face the singer. The half-Latina looked up reluctantly.
"What?"
"Tell me!" Jade crossed her arms expectantly.
"I just feel like maybe you should ask her yourself." Tori sighed, rolling onto her back. "If I were her, I wouldn't want me telling anybody either." Jade huffed and dropped into an armchair in the corner.
"Fine." She rolled her eyes. There was a long silence, both girls occupied with their phones.
"Jade?" Tori looked up suddenly.
"What?" The girl replied irritably. The singer chewed on her lip thoughtfully.
"Be nice to her, okay? When you ask…" Tori said cautiously, before going back to her phone.
"I'm not dumb, Vega." Jade rolled her eyes and huffed.
"Hey..." The singer warned, giving her a glare.
"Fine…no Vega at home…" Jade acquiesced reluctantly, slouching in her chair.
Tori had just unlocked her locker to heft her books into it when a blur grabbed her wrist and yanked her forcefully into the supply closet.
"Jesus, Jade!" The singer spat, rubbing her reddened arm and glaring at the Goth. "What the fuck is your problem?" Tori peered out of the closet. "My books are all over the floor!" She whirled around and shoved at the raven-haired girl.
"I can't do it." Jade muttered, pacing in the enclosed space. "Every time I want to ask her, I see her stupid puppy dog eyes in my head!" She growled, throwing her bag onto the floor in disgust.
"Look, I can't do this right now. My locker is wide open and my shit is all over the fucking floor. Can't you give me a warning?" Tori hissed, yanking the door open and running over to shove things hastily into her locker. Suddenly, the Goth appeared beside her. "STOP IT!" Tori screamed, jumping.
"I'm sorry." Jade muttered, rubbing the back of her neck sheepishly. "I'm just…concerned, you know?" She fidgeted with her rings and looked at her boots. Tori slammed her locker and fell against it, rubbing two hands over her tired face.
"Yes. Okay. Fine. But you still have to ask her. I'm not doing anything for you." Tori shook her head, slinging her bag over her shoulder and heading over to get some lunch.
"I'm not asking you to." Tori quirked an eyebrow. "I'm serious!" Jade whined, stomping a foot.
"What, then?" The half-Latina, half-Irish spun and crossed her arms, amused.
"Fuck, I hate you." The pale girl muttered under her breath.
"What was that?" The lighter brunette cupped her hand dramatically over her ear and leaned in.
"Nothing." Jade said emphatically. "Just…will you be there when I ask her?"
"Why? If anything, she'll think that I told you and you're covering up." Tori frowned, before turning to buy a salad.
"Moral support." Jade mumbled under her breath. Tori took a sip of water to cover up her grin.
"What was that, Jade?" The singer asked, leaning in, after composing herself.
"You heard me." The Goth glared, crossing her arms. Tori adopted a perplexed expression.
"I don't know what you're talking about!" She blinked confusedly, tilting her head.
"FINE! I said, I need moral support!" The inky-locked girl threw her hands into the air, rolling her eyes. "Are you happy?"
"Extremely." The singer grinned slyly. "Now, was that so hard?"
"Fuck you." Jade breathed, pushing her hair back with her middle finger.
"Cat?" Jade's voice wavered, and she cursed herself mentally for showing her nerves. The Goth stood, fidgeting, beside the table at which the redhead was seated. The other girl looked up from her pizza, a piece of pepperoni halfway to her mouth.
"Whatti?" The bubbly girl blinked rapidly, lowering the pepperoni. "Hug?" She held out her arms in front of her.
"No." Jade snapped, then buried her face in her hands when Cat flinched. "Sorry." She said curtly, before haphazardly pushing her hand through her hair.
"Jade, are you okay?" Cat stood nervously. "Did I sleep-tweet something embarrassing about you again?" The Goth sighed, and then shook her head. "What? Jade!" The redhead shook her roughly, as Tori took a seat and pulled out her salad, unobtrusively crunching away.
"Cat, what's going on?" Jade finally got out, before wincing at her bluntness.
"What's that supposed to mean?" The bubbly redhead put her hands on her hips. Jade rolled her eyes.
"What's wrong? You missed a couple of days of school, and now Tori's acting all sec –"
"—leave me out of this, Jade." Tori interrupted, around a mouthful of salad. Jade huffed, then pulled Cat to sit down at the table.
"Look, it wasn't Tori. I just…I thought it was strange when you asked me if you were important to me, and you missed a lot of school at the beginning of the year. I've been thinking about it a lot. Is it your brother?" Jade leaned towards Cat concernedly. The other girl's eyes flickered to Tori's worriedly. The singer gave an almost imperceptible nod.
"This wouldn't be so hard if you guys would just listen to me every now and again!" The redhead said, exasperated.
"What?" Jade frowned thoughtfully. "Wait, all that stuff is true?" She asked, eyes wide.
"Mmhm." Cat nodded, returning to her pepperoni. The Goth grabbed her hand.
"Wait, you can't just say that shit and expect me to ignore it!" She stressed, gripping the redhead's hand.
"Ow! Jade! Why not? You ignore it all the time anyway." Cat shrugged, chewing her pepperoni. Jade looked at Tori helplessly.
"It's true." The singer said with a sheepish expression.
"Not helping!" The Goth hissed. Suddenly, realization dawned on the girl. "Is that why you and Tori are always missing at lunch on Tuesdays and Thursdays?"
"Yup! Tori lets me talk to her and she listens." Cat smiled at the singer before picking another pepperoni off her pizza.
"Well, what can I do?" Jade's eyebrows furrowed.
"Nothing! You're scary!" The redhead grinned, placing another slice of pepperoni in her mouth. Jade turned to look at Tori.
"Hey, don't look at me…I'm not the one you're trying to help." Tori raised her hands in surrender before taking a sip of water.
"I want to help…" The Goth pleaded with the redhead.
"But you don't need to." She shrugged, ripping off a piece of the crust and giving the Goth a reassuring smile. "Here, have some pizza. Bye!" She picked up her bag and walked away, leaving Jade with a slice of half-eaten pizza and a sick feeling in her gut.