Tori sat up when she heard a loud noise. She looked at her surroundings for a few moments before she remembered where she was. She didn't remember that she fell asleep. It seemed to become a habit for her to pass out. But it was understandable. After all those nights her mind had kept her awake, her body would find some rest on its own, whether she liked it or not.

Tori threw the blanket off of herself and shifter her body to the side. Her legs were hanging off the edge of the large, comfortable bed. She looked down, noticing that she was wearing a pajama that was a bit too short for her. She figured that it must have been Cat's, since she didn't bring any with herself. She didn't have any of her stuff, now that she thought about it. She was way too upset and angry to think about those things.

Tori got off the bed and stepped on the soft carpet. She opened the door and walked out of the room, then headed downstairs. She walked past the large living room and entered the kitchen. Through the doorframe she saw Cat picking up broken pieces of glass from the floor. Cat picked up the last large piece before she threw them into the trashcan. She then noticed that her guest had woken up.

"Good morning." Tori said in a weak, raspy voice. Her throat was still sore after she had cried most of last night.

"Oh no. Did I wake you up? I'm sorry… I…"

"It's okay. I don't even remember getting out of the shower." Tori said as she sat down on one of the chairs.

"You didn't. When you didn't come out after two hours I tried to call you, but you didn't respond. You fell asleep in the shower." Cat explained.

"Oh…" was all Tori said about that. It made sense. Her body must have shut down on her after all that mental stress.

"You didn't bring any clothes so I lend you one of my pajamas." Cat said.

"Yeah, I noticed. Thank you. Clothes were the last thing on my mind last night." Tori said.

"Understandable. How are you?" Cat asked, sitting down on one of the chairs next to Tori.

"Broken. I don't know anymore what to do. I just don't know." Tori said as a big sigh escaped her. She covered her face with her hands and took a deep breath before dropping them again.

"Tori… It…"

"Just don't tell me that it will be alright, please." Tori said, knowing exactly what Cat wanted to say. "I don't know how it can be alright again." Tori said as she drew her hand through her hair.

"But it will. You're not alone, Tori. I'll help you, and I know that the others will too." Cat said. She took Tori's hand in hers and gave it a light squeeze. Tori felt calmer almost immediately.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean that." Tori said as she looked at the redhead. "Thank you for letting me stay here. I don't think that I could handle my own home right now." Tori said as she put her other arm around the smaller girl and pulled her in for a hug. Tori knew that she would be done had it not been for her friends, but she also knew that she would be done a long time ago had it not been for Cat. Without her, Tori would have crossed a line from which there is no return a long time ago, way before anyone would even have gotten the idea that something was wrong.

"You don't need to thank me. That's what friends are for." Cat said as she hugged Tori back. She felt Tori's hug tighten, a silent thank you from the half Latina.

"I don't know what I would do without you." Tori said as she pulled out of the hug.

"Don't think about that. How about we think about something we could do tonight so we can get your mind away from last night?" Cat suggested.

"Sure. Do you have any ideas?" Tori asked.

"No…" Cat said with a pout.

"We'll think of something then." Tori said.

"Kaykay!" Cat said as her smile returned. That moment, Tori's stomach growled. Tori looked down as she put her hand on it. "Someone's hungry."

"I haven't eaten anything since yesterday morning." Tori said.

"I'll go get something to eat then. There is a candy store two blocks away." Cat said as she got up.

"Candy for breakfast?" Tori asked with a puzzled look.

"What's your point?" Cat asked as she stopped and looked at her friend with a puzzled look.

"Nothing. Nothing. Just hurry up." Tori said with a smile.

"Kay." Cat said as she grabbed her purse and phone from the table. "I'll be back soon." Cat yelled before she opened the door and walked out of the house.

Tori walked to the living room and sat down on the large couch. She turned the TV on and began surfing through the channels. She stopped on a music channel, since nothing else was on except cartoons. She noticed Cat's laptop on the table. Tori opened it and went online. She quickly clicked on the shortcut to "The Slap". Cat's profile opened up, so she logged out and entered her own information. Her profile opened a few moments later. She immediately saw all the messages that filled her inbox. She opened them. Andre asked her if she was better while Robbie and Beck asked her what had happened the day before. She was a little bit disappointed to see that Jade had not sent her anything. She probably doesn't know Tori thought. She quickly answered the messages, telling Andre that she was fine and only telling Robbie and Beck that there had been some issues at her home last night. She would tell them the details later.

When she was done she logged out of her profile and leaned back on the couch. She let out a long sigh as she brought her hand up and massaged her temple with her fingers in hopes to reduce the stress. She then heard someone unlock the front door. Tori was surprised at how quickly Cat was back, even though she said that the candy store wasn't that far away.

"So? What did you b…" Tori said as she turned around, but the words got stuck in her throat when she saw Jade walk into the living room.

"Hey. Expecting someone else?" Jade asked when she noticed Tori's puzzled expression.

"I-I thought Cat was back." Tori said as Jade walked around the couch and then sat down. She placed her large bag on the table in front of her.

"Where did she go?"

"To get us something to eat." Tori said.

"Oh. That will last a while. She always ends up standing in front of the counter for ages." Jade said.

"Why?"

"She never knows what to pick. She once bought two cakes when I was staying here." Jade explained.

"Wait a minute. How did you open the door?" Tori asked.

"I have a key. Cat and I got spare keys to each other's places." Jade explained.

"Wow. I didn't know." Tori said.

"It saves time when you need to get away from your home and need a place. I used to go here almost every evening for a while." Jade said.

"Looks like I'm in that spot now." Tori said. Jade left out a sigh as she looked at Tori. She saw how weak Tori looked.

"I heard what happened. Your mother really is a giant cunt piece of shit. No offense." Jade said. A small chuckle escaped Tori.

"Tell me about it. When did you find out?" Tori asked.

"Last night. Cat told me about it." Jade said.

"I should have known." Tori said.

"Don't be mad at her. She and I tell each other everything, and she asked me for advice. I wanted to come over last night but she told me that you were already sleeping." Jade said.

"I'm not mad at her. I don't think I ever can be. I would be gone without her." Tori said.

"What do you mean, gone?" Jade asked.

"If it wasn't for her, I would have ended myself. I swear. For a while, I thought about taking my dad's gun and just…" Tori began, but a sharp sensation on her check shut her up. She brought her hand up and touched the warm, hurting spot on her cheek. She covered it with her hand and realized what just happened. Jade had slapped her. "Y-You slapped me." Tori said in a voice full of disbelief as she looked at the other girl. The contact was so short that Tori didn't even get a vision out of it.

"Don't you ever say something stupid like that again!" Jade said.

"I…"

"Don't you dare say anything like that ever again! Not in front of me, or anyone else, because that is the most retarded thing that ever left your mouth!" Jade yelled at her. Tori looked down, still holding her cheek. Her shoulders began trembling. Her hand moved from her cheek over her mouth. Realization hit her like a ton of bricks. She realized what she had said. She realized what thoughts she had allowed to creep into her head. She never thought that anything could have dragged her down to this level, but she was wrong. She had even said that to her own mother out of anger. She just told it to Jade as if it was the most normal thing in the world. She was truly broken. A loud sob escaped her as she tried to hold it back. Her vision blurred as her eyes filled with tears which then slowly slid down her cheeks.

She then felt two arms wrap around her shoulder. Before she could even turn her head, she was embraced in a warm hug. Tori leaned her head on Jade's shoulder, needing the support both physically and mentally. Luckily for her, Jade was wearing a hoodie, and no vision would appear. She knew that she couldn't handle one right now.

"J-Jade… I" Tori barely said through her sobs. She wanted to apologize. She wanted to thank Jade for slapping some sense back into her. She wanted to say so many things to the Goth right now.

"I don't care how fucked up things get, I don't care what happens, I don't want you to ever again even think about something like that ever again. You are not a quitter, you were always too stubborn to give up on anything you set your mind to, no matter how dumb it was. So right now, set your mind to surviving and fighting those thoughts. Promise me that." Jade said in a warm voice.

"I'm… I'm-I'm sorry, Jade." Tori barely said.

"Promise me you won't give up."

"I-I…"

"Promise me."

"I promise." Tori said. She felt Jade let out a sigh out of relief.

"Good. Now you have to keep that promise. After all, that's what you always do." Jade said with a smirk.

"Thank you. Thank you so much."

"Don't mention it. That's what friends are for." Jade said as she tightened her squeeze one more time around the other girl.

The door opened again, and Cat walked in happily humming some melody as she carried two full bags in her hands.

"Hi Jade." Cat said as she walked in. "Oh. Did I miss something?" Cat asked when she saw Jade hugging Tori.

"Just a heart to heart, that's all." Jade said as she felt Tori move away. She let go and Tori sat back up. She wiped the tears of her face and looked at Cat.

"Everything's fine. Jade just told me something I really needed to hear." Tori explained. Cat looked at her for a moment before a small smile appeared on the edge of her lips. She looked at Jade and nodded, seemingly to herself. She understood what happened. After all, she knew both girls better than they knew themselves.

"I've gotten us something to eat." Cat said as she brought up the bags. "Jade, stay for breakfast."

"Is that candy?" Jade asked.

"Of course. There is nothing better than a good, healthy breakfast." Cat said as she walked to the kitchen.

"I don't know why you think that that's healthy." Jade said as she got up and walked after her.

Tori smiled as she looked at her two friends. She got up and walked to the kitchen, glad to finally eat something and spend some time with them.