Okay this song is called "Swing Life Away" by Rise Against. I've heard this song in fanfics SO many times, but I've never gotten a chance to hear it until now. It's actually a pretty good song. Okay, this song was suggested by Arianator17, thanks for suggesting decent songs. Okay I'll shut up now :P

P.S. Yes it's Jade's POV. I know, next time I'll use Cat's okay? xDDD

Disclaimer: I don't own Victorious. But in my head I do… xD

"Am I loud and clear, or am I breaking up?
Am I still your charm, or am I just bad luck?
Are we getting closer, or are we just getting more lost?..."

I sat alone in the auditorium, my heart thudding painfully in my chest. I gripped it and looked again at the picture that I geld in my hand. It was a picture of me and Cat on our first day of attending Hollywood Arts. My arm was slung over her shoulder playfully and she was laughing, trying to do bunny ears behind my head. I smiled sadly at the crumpled up photo and shoved it back into my back pocket.

I have secretly been in love with the petite redhead for as long as I can remember really. I know, I'm Jade West; the badass of the school. The one that nobody dares to mess with or I'll mess with their face. The one who everybody marvels at on stage but then cowers in fear when my ice blue eyes fall upon them. The one who holds this terrifying secret. But I just can't help it; Cat's so nice and pretty. She stole my heart with that heart-melting smile of hers and that adorable giggle that's music to my ears. Many say she is a bit off, but aren't we all?

"I'll show you mine if you show me yours first
Let's compare scars, I'll tell you whose is worse
Let's unwrite these pages and replace them with our own words…"

The truth of it all is; Cat's had a rough life. After her mother's death, her father had a mental breakdown and turned to drinking. He would get extremely violent, and would beat her and her brother, Tommy. As soon as Tommy was eighteen, the bastard left Cat to fend for herself against her father's wrath.

I can seriously relate to her, since my mother died too. Well, she didn't really die, but… my old mother is gone. She's been replaced by the fat, disgusting whore I'm forced to call my mother now. All she does is drink and go out to cheat on my dad with man whores. Not that he cares. Most of the time he's too drunk to remember his own name.

It was midnight when Cat showed up at my doorstep, covered head to toe in bloody bruises. Her eyes were dull and lifeless and she swayed weakly in front of me, tears running down her bloody cheeks. "Oh my God, Cat…" I whispered as she collapsed in my arms in a fit of tears. I picked her up wedding style and slammed my foot into the front door, causing it to slam shut. I carried the fragile redhead up into my room and set her down gingerly in my bed. "Wait here." I ordered quietly, leaving the room for a moment. I returned with a wet towel and sat down next to Cat, her grabbing onto me feebly and whimpering. "Here," I said, gently cleaning Cat's wounds with the towel. "Cat," I said quietly, not looking up from my work, "You've got to tell me what happened."

The smaller girl's snapped up quickly, her brown eyes wide with terror. She shook her head and opened her mouth to speak, but all that came out was bouts of weak coughing. I gently rested a hand on her back, rubbing it in soothing circles. "Cat," I whispered, my eyes locking with hers and my heart beginning to pound. Even though she was bruised and broken, she still looked beautiful. I snapped out of it and choked out another word, "Please."

The smaller girl reluctantly nodded and opened her mouth. "M-My dad…" she said feebly, her eyes averting me completely. "Well, a-after I got home, my dad was already there. Since my mo-mother died, he's been drinking nonstop and h-he gets really nasty and h-he'll beat me." My eyes widened with shock at this, but Cat just began shaking, so I tugged at her arm as a sign for her to keep going. "Well, of course my dad was drunk when I got home, and he was so angry. He was mad that I got ho-home so late and he…he…" Cat trailed off fearfully and let out another quiet sob as I gripped her, letting her bury her head into the crook of my neck. "C-Cat… I had no idea…" I choked out, only to hear her sob even harder. My own tears yearned to boil over, but I wouldn't let them. Cat sniffled quietly and said, "But that's not the worst part."

"There's a worse part?" I said with a quiet hint of sarcasm. Cat squeaked feebly and clung onto me, like I was the only salvation she had left. "I-I'll show you, but you have to promise not to tell anyone." She looked deep into my eyes, her own pleading. "Please, Jade. Promise me you won't." I gulped as my throat began to dry but I nodded. "I promise." I whispered. Cat nodded and then rolled up a torn sleeve, revealing my worst nightmare.

Dozens of jagged scars criss-crossed her wrist, some obviously fresher than others. I looked up at her, though for some reason she was blurred. I touched my eyes and felt something hot drip onto them; I was crying. "Cat, no… No, not you." I whispered, stroking her cuts and feeling my tears drip onto her wrist. She simply gave a 'hmmm' sound and stroked my raven black hair. "I'm sorry, but yeah. It's true…" she said quietly. I looked up at the redhead and wiped some of my tears, then rolled up my own sleeve to reveal my own cuts. I put my wrist next to hers and we explained each cut's horror story, never looking away from each other.

"We live on front porches and swing life away,
We get by just fine here on minimum wage
If love is a labor I'll slave till the end,
I won't cross these streets until you hold my hand…"

Every day after that, I spent every moment I could with Cat. I was terrified to leave her alone, especially with her father. Most of the time I would even sleep over her house; it's not like my parents noticed I was gone. I always stuck close to her, and of course she didn't complain. She knew that I would protect her from the wrath of her father.

We were sitting on my front porch, our hands entwined with each other. Cat's head leaned on my shoulder, fidgeting with my hands. I glanced over at the beautiful redhead who was gazing over at the sunset that spilled before our very eyes. I opened my mouth to ask what was on her mind, but I closed it when I heard her small, doubtful voice. "…Jade?" I turned my head back to gaze at the sunset and squeezed her hands. "Yeah?" I asked quietly.

"Do you think…" She trailed off for a moment, but I nudged her to continue. She took a deep breath before continuing. "Do you think I'll ever be free?" I blinked at her with sympathy and wrapped one of my arms around her. "I know you will."

She glanced over at me doubtfully. "You're just saying that…"

"No, I mean it. I'll make sure of it." I told her firmly. Cat smiled and I saw a blush creep across her cheeks as I gave her a kiss on her forehead. "Thanks, Jade." She said quietly. I sighed contently as I gazed up to see stars splashed over the night sky. "Come on, we should go inside." I said, trying to get up. However, I was pulled back down because Cat still gripped my hand firmly. Damn, this chick's strong. I thought to myself with amusement. "Uh, Cat," I said. "Y-You're going to have to let go of my hand." The little redhead gazed up at me and I smile stole its way across her face.

"You let go first."

"I've been here so long, I think that it's time to move
The winter's so cold, summer's over too soon
Let's pack our bags and settle down where palm trees grow

I've got some friends, some that I hardly know
But we've had some times, I wouldn't trade for the world
We chase these days down with talks of the places that we will go…"

There was also the time when Cat saved me from being beat by her dad. We were walking to her house, laughing and smiling. As we opened the front door and headed up to her room, we heard a slurred snarling echo through the house: "CAT?"

Cat's face grew white and her lower lip trembled. "Get up to room!" she hissed, grabbing my hand and practically dragging me up the stairs. She flung open her bedroom door and as we made our way to her bed, K heard her dad yell again: "Cat? I swear to God when I got up there, you're in so much trouble!"

Cat looked around in panic for somewhere to hide me. As we heard stumbling up the stairs, I felt Cat grab my hand and throw me into the closet. I hissed in pain as I collided with the wall and Cat slammed the closet door behind me. My breathing ragged, I pressed my ear against the door and tried to calm myself down.

I heard Cat's bedroom door fling over and storming footsteps thrumming over to Cat's bed. "Oh, h-hi daddy." Cat said frantically. "What are you-"

Her words were cut off by a muffled squeak as I heard a thundering smack and Cat thumping to the ground. I grit my teeth in anger as I heard Cat begging for mercy. I creaked the door open and my heart sank when I heard it squeak. I pressed myself to the darkest corner of the closet as I heard Cat's dad say, "Who the hell is in the fucking closet?"

"N-Nobody daddy!" I heard Cat say nervously. "You're just imagin-"

"Shut up." Her father slurred at her. I saw a hand grip the doorknob and my heart pounded violently in my chest. Just as he was about to open the door, I heard a crash against the wall and the hand faltered. "You bitch!" Her father snarled, storming back over to beat her defenseless daughter. I poked my head out to stare at the wall in horror. Cat's favorite knick-knack- a glass heart with a picture of her and I in it- lay shattered on the ground. Tears threatened to spill over but I wouldn't let them; I just watched as her father snorted and grunted as his fists came crashing down on her. I pressed my back against the wall and slowly slunk to the ground, whimpering. Thank you Cat. I thought, praying for her to be alright when I could get out of the closet.

"We live on front porches and swing life away,
We get by just fine here on minimum wage
If love is a labor I'll slave till the end,
I won't cross these streets until you hold my hand...until you hold my hand

I'll show you mine if you show me yours first
Let's compare scars, I'll tell you whose is worse
Let's unwrite these pages and replace them with our own words…"

Cat and I were cuddled close in my bed, her head resting in the crook of my neck and ours arms entangling one another in a giant hug. I was ready to doze off when I heard Cat's beautiful voice sound. "…Hey, Jade? You awake?"

"Mmhmm Cat. I'm awake." I whispered to her. She shifted positions so that she was right above me, her hair spilling into my face. She looked down at me smiling and said one word: "Thanks."

"For what?" I asked huskily, cocking an eyebrow. She brushed some strands of my hair out of my face with a quiet giggle. "For helping me when no one else did."

And the sentence ended with a kiss.

"We live on front porches and swing life away,
We get by just fine here on minimum wage
If love is a labor I'll slave till the end,
I won't cross these streets until you hold my hand…"

Oh, Cat? Why did you have to go? I thought wretchedly, gripping the picture in my hand. I looked around in the empty auditorium with sadness and wiped my tears. "Jade? Is that you?" I heard a voice say. I looked up to see Cat standing in front of me. "Cat!" I said, wrapping my arms around her. "I missed you!"

"Jade, I was only in the bathroom for ten minutes." She said in confusion, but hugged me anyways.

"Ten minutes too long." I grumbled, placing a soft kiss on her lips. Cat rolled her eyes. "Jade, are you going to do this every time I have to go somewhere and I don't tell you?"

"I'm sorry, I can't help it. I can't bear being away from you." I said, hugging her tighter. Cat smiled and kissed my cheek. "I know, Jadey. I know…"

"Swing life away

Swing life away

Swing life away

Swing life away…"

Lawl well this was fun! Oh just in case you kinda got confused ; the first and last part take place at the same time. All the parts in between were just flashbacks. Sooo ya better review or else! BUMBUMBUMMMM!... No seriously, I need more song ideas. xDDD