A/N: Last chapter. Thanks for sticking with me, guys. I know this one took a little bit to churn out, but I hope you like it. Leave a review if you have any suggestions for one-shots, or message me. Remember, you're never alone. If you're suffering from depression, domestic abuse or anything of the sort, there's always help to be found. Always talk to someone.
It was a couple of weeks before they talked to Cat again. The redhead slept constantly because of the medication the doctors put her on to help with the healing process, and even when she was awake, Cat was never alert enough to carry a conversation with them. Dr. Daniels convinced the two girls to stay out of the hospital for a week, until Cat was a little more ready to have visitors. Still, it wasn't easy for Jade and Tori to be away, and the singer found herself in a state of constant anxiety, even though she knew there were police officers standing outside of Cat's room. It didn't escape Jade's notice that Tori had become more withdrawn, only speaking when spoken to. So it was with concern that the Goth and her mother sat Tori down after dinner one night, before the brunette could escape.
"Tori, what's going on?" Melissa asked gently, reaching across the table to grasp the younger girl's hand with concern splashed across her face. The singer frowned, staring intently at the wood grain of the table, not looking up.
"Tor, we're just worried. You've been a little…distant lately." Jade tiptoed carefully around the subject, trying to pry considerately. There was short silence as the singer blinked rapidly, before speaking.
"I know I keep saying it's her dad's fault, but…I just…" Tori hesitated, not sure how much to reveal. Taking a deep breath, she jumped in. "I just keep feeling like if I'd let someone know earlier she wouldn't…she w-wouldn't be in the h-hospital." The singer broke down, sobbing through her words. Melissa tsked, and shook her head, making her way over to Tori and kneeling beside her chair, pulling the younger girl into comforting arms as she cried.
"Shh…it's okay. Tori, this is not your fault at all."
"I know…" The singer sobbed. "But I f-feel all this…w-weight, like –"
"—like eventually someone will realize that it's your fault and you're a fraud." Jade spoke quietly, observing the hysterical brunette with hooded eyes. Tori looked up, blinking.
"How did you…"
"It's exactly the way I felt when you were in the hospital." The raven-haired girl muttered, rubbing hands over her face. She covered her face briefly with her hands, then looked up. "It doesn't matter how many times you hear it, Tor. Unless you believe it, you'll never get rid of that weight."
"How can I?" The singer whispered, burying her face in her hands.
"You stop avoiding the therapist." Jade said, dryly. "And you talk about this with her."
"It's too soon…" Tori murmured. "I can't."
"Well, then you're going to feel like this for a while." The Goth gave it to her straight, refusing to cut any corners. Her mother shot her a look. Jade shook her head. "There's no shortcut, Tor. You're gonna have to do it the hard way or live with feeling guilty for a while." The words hung in the air, almost taunting Tori. Just when Melissa thought her daughter had been too harsh, Tori spoke again.
"You're right." She muttered, eyes on the table. "I have been avoiding her. But I'll go. If only to get rid of this god-awful feeling and these voices." The Goth sighed.
"Look, I may have been a little harsh. But you can't expect your medication to be a magic pill." Jade's voice softened.
"Tori, look at me." Melissa finally spoke. The singer raised her eyes. "Like every illness, you're going to have to put in a lot of time and work to get better. Jade and I learned the hard way that pills don't always fix everything. And they're not always the answer to everything, either." The singer stilled, then nodded.
"You're right. I'll go talk to her."
"You were right." Tori spoke into a previously comfortable silence. The girls had been finishing up assignments after dinner a couple of weeks following the confrontation from Jade and her mother.
"About?" Jade threw out absent-mindedly, closing her notebook and tucking it back into her bag. The Goth spun to observe Tori, who was stretched out on the bed, eyes trained on the ceiling.
"Talking about it." Jade's head cocked, and she observed the Latina. She stayed silent, prompting the singer to elaborate. "It helped that I talked to someone. The guilt was a big trigger. That's why I started hearing voices again." The raven-haired girl narrowed her eyes, pondering.
"I'm visiting Cat tomorrow," she said after a short silence. "If you feel up to it, you should come. The doctors say she'll be talking and stuff."
"I'd like that." Tori nodded gratefully.
"Jade!" The tiny redhead rasped as soon as she saw the Goth walk through the door. Her arms shot out automatically, a deliriously happy grin stretching across her face.
"Hey, babygirl." She dropped her bag and gave the girl a quick squeeze. "How're you feeling?"
"A lil' loopy." The goofy grin gave away that the younger girl was still on some pain medication. "But I'm feelin' pree good." Her words were a little slurred, but she smiled, ecstatic to see her friends. "Where ya been, Jade? I missed you." Cat pulled the Goth down to sit next to her on the bed. The taller girl kicked off her boots and folded her legs under her.
"The doctor kicked us out. She said to let you get better first." Jade explained. "But we're back now…"
"I did not kick you out. Don't listen to her, Cat." The psychiatrist walked in, clipboard in hand.
"Uh, yeah you did." Tori followed her in, walking over to greet the redhead. "Hey. How're you doing?" She brushed her lips gently over Cat's forehead.
"Better." The petite singer smiled up at the brunette, squeezing her hand in greeting.
"No, I didn't." The doctor took a quick inventory of the orange pill bottles beside the bed, scribbling on her clipboard.
"Yeah, you did, Dr. Daniels." Jade crossed her arms, smirking. "I remember you distinctly saying 'Cat needs to get better. You guys need to leave.'" The Goth pitched her voice extra high to imitate the doctor.
"Okay, first of all, I don't talk like that." Dr. Daniels gave the girl a pointed look. "And second of all, I remember suggesting that you guys come back this week because Cat was on some pretty heavy pain medication."
"Aw, Dr. Daniels, you told them to leave?" The redhead pouted at the psychiatrist. The Goth laughed triumphantly.
"No, Cat, I told them to give you some time to get better." The redhead frowned for a minute, then smiled again.
"Oh. That's okay then!" The sunny disposition chased the frown off her face.
"Anyway. You kids have fun." The blonde smiled before closing the door quietly behind her.
"Did you talk to her about…talking to people?" Jade asked Tori, cryptically. The brunette nodded discretely.
"So whatcha been doing?" Cat asked, eyes flitting between her two friends.
"Oh, Sikowitz had us write a scene from a screenplay this week. Totally out of context. Super weird. And he like gave us weird props to include?" Tori rolled her eyes. "I want to spend a day in that man's head."
"…really?" Cat raised her eyebrows. "Even I don't want to spend a day in Sikowitz's head." The three girls laughed, in agreement with the redhead's spot-on statement.
"Hey, listen. I need to go talk to Kate for a quick minute. Just remembered I forgot to ask her something." She stood, placing a hand on the redhead's arm. "I'll be right back." With that, the half-Latina turned and left, carefully shutting the door behind her.
"So, how are you really doing?" The Goth tilted her head to stare at the redhead, eyes narrowed. "And don't tell me you're doing better, or you're fine, because your eyes have not stopped looking towards the door since we got here." The singer fidgeted nervously, squirming uneasily in the bed. "Cat, whatever it is, you can tell me. I'm here for you. Heck, all of us are here for you." Jade prompted gently, sitting back in her chair. The other girl sighed, then sat up, eyes searching the Goth's face before she spoke.
"I'm scared." She said, softly, reaching up to brush invisible strands of hair from her face. "I know there are police officers outside the door and that everyone's looking for him, but it doesn't make it any less scary that he could still randomly appear in my room, you know?" She mumbled, shaking her head at her own worries.
"Are you still getting the nightmares you were telling me about last time?" The actor asked quietly, eyes trained her friend's face. Cat nodded, eyes fixed on her hands.
"Except now they're worse cause he comes after you guys. And I don't want y-you to get h-hurt, either." Her words were fragmented by sobs, as tears spilled from her eyes. Jade sighed, motioning for the smaller girl to move over, climbing onto the bed and pulling her into her arms.
"They'll get him, I promise. And we can take care of ourselves. You just worry about getting better, alright? Does it help now that Kate has some meds for you and stuff?" The redhead nodded, face buried in Jade's shoulder. "It'll be okay, Cat. Everything's gonna be fine." The Goth soothed, but she couldn't help but to wonder how long it was going to take for Cat to finally feel safe again.
It wasn't until two weeks later that they got news. Tori was sprawled on the bed, flicking through reading material on her computer while Jade scribbled in her notebook, soft music playing in the background, and rain pounding on the roof above them. Suddenly, Melissa burst into the room.
"Mom." Jade jumped, thoroughly surprised. Her mother always knocked before entering the room, knowing how much a stickler her daughter was for privacy. "What's up?"
"They caught him. Cat's dad. Trying to slip past guards outside her room." The older woman clutched her phone in her hand. "Brandon just called me." Tori jumped up, snagging a jacket.
"Well, what are we waiting for? We gotta go see Cat." The singer dashed down the stairs. Shocked, Jade and her mother followed, running after the brunette.
They arrived to find the redhead hugging her knees, sobbing quietly. The police milled about, trying to take statements from the staff at the hospital, but the petite singer's father was nowhere to be seen. Jade jumped onto the bed, immediately pulling Cat into her arms, the latter sobbing painfully and hysterically into Jade's shoulder. Tori met Kate's eyes, who was trying desperately to finish giving her statement to check on the redhead. The singer nodded her reassurance, and the psychiatrist nodded back in gratitude, before returning her attention to the officer in front of her. The rest of the night became a blur of people to Tori, the tragedy weighing on the singer. It wasn't that they weren't happy that Mr Valentine had been arrested, but it didn't erase the fact that it was Cat's dad who had been arrested. This didn't escape anybody's notice, and the redhead's crying broke everyone's heart. It was the pain of knowing you might never see your father again, but knowing you ought to be happy about it, because he was a monster. It wasn't something that Cat could come to terms with, and something Tori and Jade struggled to wrap their heads around. There was a deep, unsettling ache that settled in Tori's stomach, watching Cat cry for the father she loved, the one who had disappeared and been replaced by one who wasn't kind, never loved her. And she wondered how Cat could deal with being ripped apart like that, being torn between the man she knew her father could be, and the reality of who her father was. As her hand fumbled to wipe at her face, she found it damp with tears. Tori wondered if it was the lost innocence of her friend she was crying for, or if it was the reflection of lack of love she felt from her own parents. Pressing her hand over her mouth to hold in her sobs, she couldn't bring herself to comfort the redhead. Not when the sadness and the pain she felt from her friend mingled so similarly with her own. So the rest of the night was spent in that chair, watching Cat. And wondering how the redhead could piece her shattered life back together.