A/N: Wow, thanks so much guys for the response! I'm glad you guys are enjoying the story. Here's a new chapter :)
"Okay Sara, come on, let's get inside the house," Catherine told her, keeping a steadying hand on her back as she led her toward the back entrance of her house. She knew her mother was still asleep because there weren't any lights on, so chances were she hadn't even realized she was gone yet.
"Where are we?" Sara murmured, her arm loosely hanging over Catherine's shoulders. She was half-asleep now, and the pounding in her head was making it difficult to remember much. Catherine had just told her the answer, but it slipped right off the tip of her tongue.
"Shh, don't worry about it," Catherine whispered, jimmying the lock on the gate to their backyard. She hadn't told anyone, but it was quite easy to break into. If she had told anyone, it would've prevented her from sneaking out at night anymore. After they had walked through the backyard Catherine reached under the welcome mat for the spare key, using it to unlock the back door as quietly and steathily as possible.
"It smells like laundry," Sara mumbled a bit too loudly for Catherine's liking as they passed through the laundry room.
"Sara, you have to be quiet," Catherine whispered, trying to maneuver them both down the hallway in the dark. After walking on eggshells past her mother's bedroom, she managed to make it to the end of the hallway to her own room where she carefully helped Sara lay down on her bed. "Sara? Are you still awake?"
"Trying to get me into bed already?" Sara coyly asked, a silly smile on her face.
Catherine rolled her eyes. She didn't know if it was the bump on her head, or the fact that Sara was half-conscious, but she sounded drunk. "Please, Sara. I've already gotten you into bed." And the closet, and the back seat of her car, and the football field behind the school. "I need to get you cleaned up."
Leaving Sara laying on the bed, Catherine grabbed a towel from the bathroom and turned on the faucets, wetting it thoroughly and searching around for the first-aid kit she kept. After grabbing everything she walked back into her room and turned on the lamp beside her, sitting down on the bed next to Sara's side. "Sara, I need you to turn your head so I can clean the cut."
Sara complied, too tired to really complain or argue, and Catherine tenderly brushed the hair away from her face and couldn't help but wince at the large gash on the side of her head. It had looked bad in the car, but now that she was inspecting it in the light it looked much worse. "Oh Sara," she sighed, gently rubbing her cheek with her thumb. After rubbing away the dried blood around her cheek, she started to clean the cut so it didn't get infected. This made Sara stir.
"Fuck..." Sara ground out through gritted teeth. Sara did have a potty mouth. But that just made her all the more attractive. "Little warning here..."
"Sorry," Catherine sweetly replied, trying to hide her smile. "You should watch that mouth you know."
"Whatever," Sara grumbled, wincing as Catherine pressed the rag against her cut again. "Ow! I hate you."
"No you don't," Catherine smiled, removing the rag so she could get a bandage. "You love me, and you know it. At least you're coherent now. You were sounding drunk a few minutes ago." Unwrapping a small roll of bandage, she turned Sara's head to the side so she could get a better view of the wound. "Are you sure you don't have a concussion?"
"No more so then I ever do," Sara dryly replied. Catherine shot her a look as she wrapped a small portion of the bandage-- a little too tightly-- around her head. "Shit!" Sara cursed. "What was that for!?"
"You know I don't like it when you joke about that," Catherine growled. "You're hurt, so don't make it sound like a joke!" She knew it was Sara's way of trying to forget what had happened; she always did this. She would try and make some sort of sarcastic remark and brush it aside. But Catherine always remembered every night, every injury, every phone call. And every night, it just boosted John and Laura Sidle's place on her kill list significantly.
"...I'm sorry," Sara finally said with a sigh. "I am... I didn't mean to--"
"It's fine," Catherine shortly said, snipping the rest of the bandage with a small pair of scissors after she had taped it into place. "You should get some rest now."
"Cath?" Sara whispered, putting a hand on her arm before she could move away. "...I love you."
Catherine finally smiled just a little. "I love you too, Sara. Get some sleep now, though okay?" With that she turned and headed back toward the bathroom with the first-aid kit.
----
"Mom-- slept in the living room on the couch. Some cats were fighting last night next to my window and kept me up. -- Cath."
Catherine had left the note for her mother on her closed bedroom door so that she wouldn't walk in in the morning and find Sara lying in her bed. Even though Lilly had met Sara before, and seemed to like her, Catherine knew Sara wasn't prepared for her to find out about her parents yet. It had taken her a long time to even open up to Catherine about it.
So she slept on the couch in the livnig room as the note said, covered in one of the worn quilts her grandmother had sewn. She would've much preferred to have slept with Sara, but again, she knew she couldn't. She had told Sara to wake her up in the middle of the night if she needed her, which she knew she wouldn't do-- Sara Sidle did not ask for help. So instead she had gotten up every time she woke up in the middle of the night to check on her. She was relieved to find her sleeping through the night.
"Catherine!" Lilly stood in the middle of the living room with her hands on her hips. Her tone made her daughter jump and snap awake immediately. "Time to get up, honey. Breakfast is ready."
"Oh," Catherine mumbled, tiredly wiping at her eyes as her mouth opened wide with a yawn. Since she had spent most of the night checking on Sara, she hadn't gotten much sleep herself. But she knew Sara needed it much more than she did. "Thanks Mom."
"You look tired, are you staying up late again?" Lilly asked as she moved into the kitchen to pour herself a mug of coffee.
"No, Mother, I'm not," Catherine sighed, following her into the kitchen with another yawn. "So what did you make?" She had to scan the menu first to make sure it was enough food to replenish Sara.
"Bacon, eggs, toast, the usual," Lilly replied, blowing on her steaming coffee before taking a sip.
"Perfect." Grabbing a plate from the table Catherine walked over to the stove and took a large portion of eggs, two pieces of toast and enough bacon to give someone a heart attack. Setting that down she grabbed the carton of orange juice from the fridge and poured a large glass before heading down the hallway with Sara's breakfast.
"Don't spill anything!" Lilly called over her shoulder.
"I won't!" Catherine called back. Once down the hallway she managed to open the door with her hands full, quietly walking inside. She blinked when she saw an empty bed. "Sara?" she whispered, setting the food down on the bedside table. "Where are you?"
Her bedroom window was open, so she headed that way and was hit by the strong smell of cigarettes. She threw her legs over the side of the window and slipped outside.
"Thought you said you'd quit," Catherine said.
Sara was leaning against the back of the house with her jacket on, a lit cigarette between her lips. There was a pack in her hand that looked about empty. "I did." She removed the cigarette and blew the smoke from her smoke, glancing over at her. "I stopped smoking a pack a day. Now I only smoke half."
Catherine couldn't help but laugh as she walked over and took the cigarette from her hand, making Sara immediately protest. "Come on. I've got some breakfast for you in the house. You're disturbing the neighbors."
"This was breakfast," Sara explained. "And the neighbors can kiss my--"
"Yeah right." Catherine motioned to the window. "Inside, now. Eat."
After practically shoving Sara back inside the house, she managed to get her to nibble on a few bites of toast. "How are you feeling today?" Catherine asked her, motioning to her head for indication.
"Better," Sara said, setting the half-eaten piece of toast down on the plate. "Still hurts, but what are you going to do, right?"
"I can get you some aspirin before I have to leave for class," Catherine told her.
"We have to leave for class," Sara corrected her.
"Sara," Catherine sighed. "You can't possibly believe that I'm going to let you go to high school hell with that giant bump on your head. You could get hurt. You need to stay here and rest."
"I've had worse," Sara muttered. The sad thing was, she was right. "Really Cath, I appreciate your concern, but seriously, it's fine. However, I do look like I just got hit by a truck." Glancing over at the vanity in the corner, she sheepishly smiled. "Can you work your magic?"
Catherine pursed her lips. Any excuse she had to smother Sara in make-up she would use, but Sara was now volunteering. It would've been a dream come true if it hadn't been for the reason she was wanting it. "...Fine," she finally sighed. "But no getting into fights today. I mean it. You're in no shape to be kicking anyone's ass."
"I'll behave if they do," Sara simply smiled.
---
"Hold still," Catherine hissed at Sara who was moving away from the giant glob of concealer she was trying to rub over the bruised skin around her eye.
"You're getting it everywhere!" Sara told her.
"For God's sake Sara, just stay still! You wanted me to do this!" Catherine told her. Finally just grabbing the side of her face, she rubbed it over her target and began to rub it in. "There. Now that wasn't so bad, was it?"
"Says you," Sara muttered, a small smile playing at her lips. She always acted like she didn't like Catherine trying to doll her up, but she did enjoy it from time to time. Catherine always made her feel pretty.
After layers of heavy make-up to try and hide the bruise around Sara's eye, she was finished. "There," Catherine sighed. "Finished."
"Wow," Sara said, her eyes widening as she looked at herself in the mirror. "It feels like I have a new face, but you can't see it!"
"Sara," Catherine tried. When Sara was still admiring her handiwork in the mirror, she tapped her on the shoulder. "Sara, baby, look at me."
That got Sara's attention. "What is it, Cath?"
"...This is the last time I'm helping you cover this up," Catherine said. Silence followed. "I mean it. You remember what I said last night, well I meant it. I'm not going to continue to stand around and act like nothing's going on. If this happens again, that's it."
"Okay," Sara said. Then abruptly changing the subject, "Look! It's almost time for class, we should get going." She stood up and pecked Catherine on the lips.
Catherine just sighed as Sara walked off. Damn.
TBC