A/N: Sorry about the delay. I'm an idiot. There's no excuse. Anyway, enjoy this chapter. As always, leave a review; I love 'em. And you.
A couple more weeks in the hospital under the observation of Dr. Daniels eventually culminated in Cat's ejection. At Jade's insistence, once again Melissa Kane found herself signing the forms to allow her daughter's friend to stay at their residence, to avoid the abusive circumstances she suffered in her own. It was later in the night, when Cat had been settled in the guest room, that the older woman sat down with her daughter.
"I know that it's been a difficult couple of weeks, but I need to say this really seriously, Jade. I don't know how many more of your friends I can have here." Jade's mother spoke frankly, but broke the news gently.
"I know." Jade buried her face in her hands. "I'm sorry. I've been booking a couple of jobs, and so has Tori. Believe me, I know this is hard."
"Honey, it's not that I don't want them here. I love having them over, but I don't know if I can financially support them for much longer." Melissa grasped the younger girl's hand gently. The Goth looked up earnestly.
"We're working something out, mom. I swear. Tori, Cat and I can pay for groceries and stuff, so you don't have to. Between the three of us, we won't have to book too many things either. So it'll work out." Jade explained, peering at her mother. "Tori hasn't been paying for her meds with your money, and neither is Cat. So if it's still too bad, I can pay for my meds myself."
"There are certain things that I can do. I don't need you guys to pay rent or groceries or anything, but I will admit that it will help tons if you guys pay for your own medication." Melissa admitted uncomfortably.
"Then we'll do it." Jade said simply, crossing her arms. "It's super difficult supporting three teenage girls, I know." She smiled ruefully. "Especially since we shop every now and again."
"I love you." Melissa smiled, opening her arms. Her daughter shrugged, and walked into them.
"We love you, too." Jade smiled, tightening her arms around her mother.
"What'd she say?" The redhead shot up from where she had been slumped on the bed previously, staring at the Goth with rapt attention.
"She said it'll be difficult, but if we book some jobs and pay for our own meds we'll be fine." Jade said vaguely, frowning distractedly.
"I can so do that." Cat nodded, keeping her eyes trained on the raven-haired girl, who walked over to the armchair and sat down slowly, lost in her thoughts. After a minute, the redhead spoke again, hesitantly. "Jade?" She looked up at the sound of her name. "What's wrong?"
"Yeah, what's up, Jade? You look a little out of it." Tori turned in the swivel chair to face the girl, concerned.
"It's…nothing." Pale hands rubbed at tired eyes, head leaned against the chair.
"This…doesn't look like nothing." The singer pried gently, glancing at Cat, who nodded encouragingly. The Goth pushed out a lungful of air forcefully, then inhaled deeply.
"I just...I feel bad for my mom." The words barely made their way to the girls, muffled by porcelain hands. "It doesn't have anything to do with you guys. I just feel bad."
"We're sorry we're making this so hard for the both of you." Cat apologized, looking dejectedly down at her hands.
"It's not you, I swear." Jade shook her head, squinting with exhaustion. "It's not you."
"You sure?" Tori asked, concerned. "Cause we can definitely rent another place somewhere else."
"Yeah, no. My mother would definitely never go for that." The Goth shook her head again, grimacing. "It's definitely not you guys. She loves having you here." Jade nodded. "So what did Sikowitz say that homework was again?" The two girls looked at each other, before shrugging and changing the subject.
"I mean, what if she doesn't actually love me and she was just pretending?" Cat asked her two roommates, hysterically, a couple of days later. She had been afraid, ever since she'd been admitted into the hospital, that her mother would never talk to her again. After two weeks of radio silence from her family, the doubt was starting to creep in. "What if they both just really wanted me out of the house or something?" Lost for words and wanting an answer herself, Tori just stared at the Goth helplessly. There was silence in the room, broken only by the redhead's hysterical sobbing, and it was a long time before Jade spoke.
"I think…that there's no way your mother wouldn't…at least be…grateful." She spoke slowly, choosing her words carefully. Slowly, Cat lifted her head to look at Jade. "From what you've told us, I think she's very grateful she had you. But…I think that maybe things aren't…okay the way you left them. So she's probably still in some…trouble." Jade spoke diplomatically, tiptoeing around any potential triggers. "So I don't think you should assume that she doesn't love you. It may just be that she…can't call you right now." At the Goth's words, Cat's eyes welled up again. With a concerned look, Tori hopped onto the bed next to her and wrapped her arms around the little singer, and Cat cried into her shoulder.
"It's okay, Cat. You're okay. We got you." The Latina murmured.
So it came as a surprise a couple of days later when Tori got a text from the redhead while she was at school. The smaller singer had opted for another week at home to make sure everything had fully healed before returning to school. The text in question stated cheerfully that Cat's mom wanted to meet at a small, unknown coffee shop that was in the worse parts of Jade's neighbourhood. After showing the text to the Goth, they both shrugged and texted back to call them if anything went wrong, returning their attention to what was being taught in their class.
"Okay, so do you think she'll be coming home for dinner?" Later that night, the Goth stood at the stove, stirring a pot of spaghetti sauce. The half-Latina glanced up briefly from the meatballs she was making.
"I don't know. She didn't call or text afterwards." She hesitated, before going on. "I…have a bad feeling about this."
"What, you don't like spaghetti?" Jade scoffed, placing a lid on the pot to let it simmer. The singer rolled her eyes.
"No. I meant about Cat." Tori set the finished meatballs aside, stepping over to the sink and avoiding the Goth's eyes. She busied herself with scrubbing her hands clean, trying to hide her trepidation. After a couple of minutes, Jade sighed.
"Do you think we should call her?" The Goth pulled out her phone, handing it to the singer, who quickly rinsed and dried her hands.
"I…yeah." Tori dialled the number and held the slim device to her ear. After getting voicemail, she dialled again. Furrowing her brow, she tapped out a text message, asking if the younger girl was okay. "She's not answering." Jade sighed again.
"Okay, here's the deal. If she's still not back by the time we finish dinner, then we go find her." The Goth dropped the meatballs in the sauce and put the lid back on. The singer nodded in a agreement, then set about washing the dishes. "I'm just gonna check and see if my mom's coming home for dinner. I'll be right back." With that, Jade exited the kitchen, leaving Tori with her thoughts. She sighed. Let's be real, your bad feelings never really pan out anyway. She thought to herself, shaking her head at her worry. Yeah but if she dies it'll be your fault. A voice added sinisterly. She jumped, before setting all the rinsed dishes on a rack and looking around the kitchen. That's right. We're back. Another voice jumped out at her. She inhaled sharply, before taking a deep breath to settle herself. Don't talk back to them, Tori. Don't do it. She told herself, drying the counter with a dishtowel and keeping her hands busy. You know we can hear you, right? She gripped the counter until her knuckles turned white, her eyes darting fearfully around the room. Glad to see the stupidity hasn't changed since we left. Tori's breathing increased, and anxiety churned in her stomach. She forced herself to walk over to the stove and check the meatballs, hands shaking. Turning down the burner, she opened a cabinet to grab a glass, trembling with fear and panic. As she went to pour herself a glass of water at the tap, she dropped the glass, and she screamed, dropping to the floor and covering her head with her arms, sobbing into her knees.
Meanwhile, Jade was up in her room, and she had barely hung up with her mom when she heard the glass shattering and the scream. Gasping, she ran down the stairs and into the kitchen, scanning the room for any sign of danger. When she looked over to the sink, she saw the shattered glass and reached over to turn off the water, before crouching in front of the shaking girl on the floor.
"Tori." She said calmly, not touching the girl. "Tori, it's me. Jade." The singer looked up, eyes streaming. "You're in my kitchen. It's okay." The Goth reached up to grab some tissues, handing them to the singer. The other girl dabbed at her eyes, and Jade walked over to snag another glass, pouring her a glass of water. Tori raised the glass to her lips and sipped slowly, taking a deep breath and calming herself. "What happened?" Jade asked, concerned, pulling the singer up and seating her at the dinner table.
"I don't know. One minute I was washing the dishes and worrying about Cat, and the next I was trying not to talk to the voices." Tori shook her head, burying her face in her hands. Jade stayed silent, rubbing the Latina's shoulder in reassurance.
"Let's eat. Then we can go get Cat." She spoke, walking to the kitchen.