Ever since the date, Cat could safely say that she was more than eager to see more of her… she genuinely wasn't sure if she could actually call John her boyfriend, but the term seemed to apply in her opinion.
After the date, that had led to the weekend. No school for Cat, and John had been busy afterwards for most of it. Cat wasn't really sure with what, but she also supposed that it wasn't really her business either, as John would say.
Well, he may not say it like that to her, or even at all, but it didn't change the fact that curious or not, Cat felt that it wasn't her place to bug John about his activities.
They were dating at least, but Cat still wasn't sure if they were actually a couple yet.
After the date, they'd hung out at Jade's for a bit before John had finally decided to take his leave and return home. During that time, Jade had both ended up admonishing Cat for agreeing to watch a horror film (After failing hilariously to do the same to John for even allowing her to watch it), and had laughed like a mental patient when she'd been informed of the incident with the Chipotle manager.
Admittedly… watching John and Jade get along so well had created a feeling within Cat that she knew very well. After all, what kind of student didn't know the troubles of jealousy? However, considering it's Jade she was talking about, and the fact that John had stayed firmly planted upon the couch with the redhead herself tucked into his side…
Well, the jealousy wasn't exactly strong compared to the joy that the date had gone as well as it had.
Though… Cat had also found herself with plenty to think about.
John was strange. He was a good person, Cat had no doubt about that, but there was something off about him.
Namely in some of the things he'd said and done that Cat honestly hadn't thought of before. Considering her focus on been on the date during the days leading up to it, and then during the date itself, all the redhead could really focus on was how much she liked the behemoth.
But even she could notice some blatantly weird things if she paid enough attention.
Case in point…
"-and have seen more shit than you can imagine in your cushy little life."
What exactly did he mean by that? Granted, there were things Cat knew about his life that made it clear that he hadn't had the easiest of lives. She knew his parents had never been around, and she knew that his actual childhood had involved a lot of violence towards himself.
But… Cat couldn't shake the feeling that there was more to that seemingly simple line than she could decipher. She wasn't sure why she had that feeling, if she were honest. Outside of no qualms about hitting girls and a blunt tongue, John had given her no real reason to assume he was hiding something. Yet… the feeling wouldn't quite go away.
However, that didn't mean she thought John was a bad person. There were things she didn't know about him, and she'd be quite the hypocrite to badger him for it when there were plenty of things that the flannel clad boy was ignorant to in regards to herself.
How could she judge him for having secrets when she had some of her own?
Following the date, the weekend had passed by as usual. She bounced between Jade and Beck's, only returning home to sleep and once for dinner. Cat had informed her family that she'd had a date on Friday, and almost immediately, they'd tried interrogating her for information about her date.
Which more or less translated to her mother relentlessly questioning her while her dad had to keep her brother from acting out. Apparently, Frankie felt that Cat absolutely should not be dating in the slightest, and he made that very known.
It made Cat all the more nervous for the time when John would inevitably had to meet them.
Or at least… a part of her hoped it was inevitable.
She really didn't want John to think she was weird, or pull away from her because of her family, and she admittedly didn't see that happening. But there were still no guarantees that she and John would actually end up as a couple.
Some concerns she'd been sharing with Andre.
"So you think he'll run away or something cause of your brother?" Andre guessed as he walked alongside her, raising an eyebrow as he did so, before shaking his head. "I don't know. The guy doesn't really seem like the type."
"But I can't help it." Cat replied, admittedly a little desperate for some kind of advice on how to handle that. "I really like him, Andre. And Frankie isn't even the biggest thing, because what happens when I finally get on his nerves?"
"Then you get on his nerves." Andre answered with a small shrug. "I mean, relationships can survive worse. We've both seen Jade and Beck, you know."
"But John isn't Beck or Jade." Cat retorted, bringing a hand up to her head as she found herself admittedly panicking over the possibility that she'd push John away before her brother ever got the chance. "He might seem more patient, but you don't see Beck threatening to drag a woman over a counter."
"What, you think he'll hit you or something?"
"No!" Cat couldn't help the bafflement that flooded her at that suggestion. Where had Andre even gotten that? "What I'm getting at is that his patience still has limits, Andre! What am I going to do when I have a bad moment and he finally gets fed up?"
"Well, I don't see that happening." Andre assured the redhead with a small chuckle, letting a hand come up to rest upon her shoulder as they walked through the halls of Hollywood Arts. "I may not know him as well as you do, but I don't get the idea that he'd snap when you have a bad 'moment'." He used air quotes around the word 'moment', which Cat could understand.
They all called them moments, but admittedly, the times when her insecurities and her low mental capacity got the best of her were far more than mere 'moments'.
"You really think so?" Cat couldn't help but to ask, looking up at Andre with a still-hesitent gaze as she brushed some hair behind her ear.
Andre simply chuckled once more. "Cat, he was happy when he was around you. It wasn't until he was gone that he got mad, and even then, it's not like Tori didn't deserve it." The musician pointed out with a raised eyebrow. "And besides, he talked you through that one, didn't he? I just don't see him snapping at you. Like, at all." He assured with a smile as he gave a comforting squeeze to her shoulder, before letting it fall back to his side.
Cat found a smile slowly forming on her face as she looked at the teen. "Do you really think he'd be that patient for me?"
"Want me to be honest?" When Cat nodded, Andre let a small laugh escape him. "I see him punching someone who gives you issues over it more than I see him ever getting mad at you."
As they made their way down the steps and into the main hall of the school, they could hear the sound of metal against metal and feminine grunting, causing both of them to turn towards the source in confusion.
Where they spotted Tori, trying to shove a… french horn into her locker.
At Hollywood Arts, all students were required to play at least one instrument. And Tori had once again found herself struggling to fit in.
She had talent, but… it definitely wasn't in instruments, even Cat could see that plain as day.
"Tori!" Andre spoke, offering a nod of greeting as the Latina's frustrated gaze snapped towards himself and Cat.
"What's up?" Cat greeted with her usual bubbly smile as she and Andre approached Tori, interested in finding out what exactly was going on.
"I'm having a horn problem." Tori replied with an exasperated sigh of frustration as she finally gave up on trying to fit the instrument into her smaller locker. "Why do I have to play an instrument anyway?"
"Everyone at Hollywood Arts has to play an instrument." Cat recounted the school rules like it was the back of her hand. She'd take great care to make sure her ditzy nature wouldn't cause any problems with her attendance, after all.
She loved acting. She wanted to be an actress. Hollywood Arts was her start.
"Okay, well I sing." Tori replied, shaking her head in frustration once more. "My throat is my instrument. I'm a throat player."
"Doesn't count."
"And it sounds kind of gross." Admittedly, Cat sang all the time as well. However, 'singing' vs 'playing a throat' was definitely not a question. Especially considering how the latter expression could be taken.
…
…on second though, Cat wondered how well she could play John's throat if she got the chance…
Of course Andre and Tori stared at her in confusion for a moment, before the musician shrugged it off as he turned to the Latina.
"Why'd you pick the French horn?" Andre asked, a curious expression on his face.
Tori let a small sigh escape her as she raised said instrument and began fiddling with it with an unsure look on her face. "I don't know. I like French fries, French toast-"
"Oh!" Cat couldn't help but to exclaim, as the mention of French Toast reminded the redhead of a story she had to tell them. "One time, I was eating French toast at a restaurant, I started laughing!" Her smile faded as she continued the story. "But then I started choking, so the lady who ran the restaurant made me leave."
The downright weirded out looks from Andre and Tori were… more than understandable. Especially considering how dark that story had gotten.
Cat no longer knew why she'd felt the need to tell that story in the first place.
"Goddamn, I think I need another drink after that." The familiar voice of Cat's… lover? Friend? Boyfriend? She honestly wasn't sure what to call him yet, but she did know they were friends at least.
Although, hearing his voice had still been unexpected. As such, Cat immediately spun around on her heel, wide-eyed in surprise as she found the muscular teen approaching with a raised eyebrow.
Of course, Cat only took a second to process that it was John, before nearly beaming with joy as a smile plastered itself on her face and she wasted no time in rushing towards him.
"What are you doing here?" Cat couldn't help but to ask, throwing her arms around his chest as he returned the hug… admittedly rubbing her head against him as well.
"Believe it or not, I'm actually here to work." John answered with a small grin as they seperated, draping an arm around her as they turned back to Andre and Tori. "There was an ad in newspapers that my grandpa saw, looking for someone with martial arts skills to help coach some stage fighting class." He let a fond smile replace the grin as he turned his gaze back down to Cat. "Figured I could use it to spend more time with you."
"Aww…" Cat couldn't help the rush of warmth she felt at the excuse, and she wrapped her arms around him once more in another hug. "That's sweet."
"So you're gonna be like a teacher?" Andre asked, raising an eyebrow as he did so, before chuckling. "Good to see you again, by the way."
"You too." John returned the greeting as he and Cat separated again, before the big guy allowed his gaze to drift towards Tori. "Hey, Tori."
"Hiiii…" It went without saying that Tori was nervous around John. And who wouldn't be? A man twice your size and four times your weight gets mad at you, one tends to remember and fear them.
To even Cat's own surprise, John let a small chuckle escape him. "You can relax. Cat's forgiven you, and you ain't done anything else stupid to my knowledge, so you don't have to worry." Following that sentence, he gave a playful grin and raised an eyebrow. "Right?"
"Uh… right." Tori found herself agreeing quite quickly, more for her own sake than anyone else's. Nonetheless, the Latina still found herself calming down with a small sigh. "Anyway, you're teaching some stage fighting?"
"Not exactly." John answered with a shake of his head as he allowed his hand to fall from Cat's shoulders. "The most teaching I'll do is showing you to how correctly perform specific moves and apply them to the stage fighting. Other than that, I'm there to make sure no one gets hurt."
"Shouldn't that be a job for someone more experienced?" Andre asked, earning himself a raised eyebrow and two looks of confusion in response. "No offense, but I'd feel safer with an experienced martial artist."
"Well, unlike martial artists, I've applied my training to actual combat and I have a year's worth of experience to prove it, or I wouldn't be here." John pointed out with a small shrug, offering an amused grin to the musician. "A martial artist might be able to show you how to perform a move, but they won't be able to notice when an actual hit is coming like I-" John interrupted his own words as his hand flashed up out of nowhere, before his gaze fell down to the bashful face of Cat as he held her wrist in his hand. "-Can."
"I wanted to be sure?" Cat offered it as a question, merely earning a chuckle in response as John released her wrist. "Sorry." She averted her gaze out of shame and embarrassment, because it definitely wasn't a good idea to try and wallop a man you like. Let alone one that outweighed you by at least two hundred pounds of pure muscle.
Luckily, John took it in stride, wrapping an arm around her once more and pulling the redhead into his side with a grin as he looked down at her.
"Don't worry, that was a lousy hit anyway."
"What's that supposed to mean?!"
John erupted into laughter in response to her undignified cry, and to Cat's surprise, so did Tori and Andre.
Usually, whenever she used her catchphrase (because what else was it at this point?), her friends would all give her weird looks and quickly explain it to her in confusion. So seeing both Tori and Andre laughing was something unusual to the redhead.
"Okay, that one was funny." Andre admitted as his laughter died to chuckling, looking over at John with a grin. "I think you two are a match made in heaven, my friend."
"I'd like to think so." John admitted with a chuckle as Cat turned her now thoroughly embarrassed face to the ground and swatted him in the chest. "Oh, don't be fussy." He joked as he gave a playful eyeroll, earning himself another embarrassed swat to the chest.
"It's so fun to see you embarrassed." Tori admitted outright, earning a betrayed look from the redhead as both Andre and John chuckled at the Latina's words.
"It is not." Cat immediately denied, crossing her arms and pouting like a child as she turned her gaze to the ground.
"Not for you, but it is for us." John retorted with a chuckle, causing Cat to once again attempt to swat him in the chest.
Attempt being the keyword this time, as John easily caught her wrist and leaned down to her in one quick motion, planting a kiss to her temple as he released her hand.
Cat could only stand in surprise, not having expected the gesture in response to what she was sure was technically assault, before her face flushed an even brighter shade of red. Unfortunately for her, she didn't have the heart to try and smack John once again, so the redhead could only bring her hands up to cover her face as she turned towards the larger teen and tucked her face against his chest as a high pitched noise of embarrassment escaped her.
First her friends, and now her boyfriend enjoyed embarrassing her?
"Come on, let me see your face." When Cat shook her head, refusing to show her face, John simply chuckled as he leaned down and kissed the top of her head. "I can do this all day."
With a frustrated huff that was accompanied by something that couldn't even be called a stomp, Cat jerked her gaze up to his, hoping and praying that she managed a glare that looked genuinely angry.
The look of amusement seemed to indicate otherwise, as he puckered his lips once more.
Well, Cat did know of something that would set him straight. Though… she'd definitely still be embarrassed right alongside him.
Nonetheless, Cat put a stop to the larger teen's antics quite quickly, as she leaned into his neck before he could kiss her and quickly gave the side of his neck a soft bite.
Never before had she seen John go so stiff, flush so red, and the strangled grunt of surprise that escaped him was definitely a sound that shouldn't be made in a school of any kind.
Still, confident that she'd put John in his place, took a small step away from him and took in the wide-eyed look of embarrassment on his face as he stood as stiff as a board, his face a beat red color.
"That was dirty…" John muttered under his breath, unconsciously bringing a hand up and rubbing the spot where she'd bitten him. Once he realized what he was doing, he jerked his hand away and recomposed himself as best as he could as he shot Cat a playful glare. "Alright, game on, Cat."
"Okay, I know the date went well, but save the sex for after school alright?" Andre joked, raising an eyebrow as Cat let a surprised yelp escape her at the musician's words while John simply turned to stare in disbelief. "I said it." He turned his attention away from the embarrassed couple, and gave Tori a small grin. "Come on, I want to hear that horn, white girl."
Tori simply raised an eyebrow and offered an amused smile in response. "You know I'm half Latina?"
"Then hit it, muchacha." Andre responded immediately, not missing a single beat as he cupped his arms together in eagerness.
Cat could understand. Considering Tori had been struggling with what instrument to play for a while, she was eager to see her friend finally find the one for her. So she turned to pay attention as her embarrassment faded, offering an encouraging smile to the Latina.
Tori gave a playful eye roll at Andre's antics, but relented and did as asked with a smile as she brought the horn to her lips and began to play.
And… Cat couldn't help but to wince. She found herself staring in absolute surprise, genuinely struggling with how Tori could possibly be this bad at the French horn.
It was so much worse than she expected, the redhead hated but had to admit.
She glanced over at Andre, who'd lost his smile for a look of surprised and confusion, before turning to see John's reaction.
She only had a second to process the complete bewilderment on his face before the man himself spoke.
"I thought people at this place were talented." John spoke without a second thought, blurting the comment loud and proud for Tori to hear as the Latina immediately stopped playing and turned to glare at him. Cat could only shake her head as a sigh escaped her, bringing her hand to her head as John's blunt tongue struck once again.
"It's broken!"
"Bullshit."
"Hey now, maybe-"
"It's broken!"
…
"Bull. Shit."
Oh boy. John really didn't hold back, did he? Cat could only sigh as she attempted to figure out if Tori would continue arguing with a brick wall of swears.
A few hours had passed since John had arrived after the first period this morning. It still messes with Andre, admittedly, that someone his own age would be a referee/coach for their stage fighting lessons.
Nonetheless, Andre had no choice but to accept it. After an admittedly hilarious moment of Tori panicking and thinking Beck was being attacked, everyone had arrived shortly afterwards for class.
Just in time to witness Tori beating up Russ, their stage fight teacher.
As per usual, Robbie was absent from this class. He was willing to act, and he could do a good stage scrap surprisingly well, but it didn't change the fact that the poor guy was too afraid someone would actually hit him.
Considering the kind of luck Robbie had with people, Andre didn't blame him.
At the moment, Russ currently stood on the stage with Cat, who had a small smile on her face as Russ currently explains how stage fighting in the class would work.
Andre was admittedly shocked that Cat had volunteered in the first place to help with the example, but he supposed he shouldn't question it. For all of her weird quirks, Cat was nothing if not a dedicated actress.
Though, it didn't escape the musician's attention that their apparent coach was nowhere to be found.
Where was John anyway?
"Now, if I throw a punch at Cat," Russ explained, tapping Cat's shoulder and gesturing for her to move into position as he did the same, before throwing an obviously fake punch that had plenty of distance between the fist and her face. The redhead still let out a startled gasp, but Andre could easily guess that it was her one dislike for violence in general.
Not to mention a bit of trauma. Andre wasn't entirely sure how many of Cat's stories about her brother were true, but from the very few interactions he'd had with the guy himself… yeah, he still believed all of them anyway.
"It's easy to see that my fist didn't connect with her face." Russ said as he turned back to face the class, gesturing to Cat so that everyone would see that she's completely fine as well. Whether that was a requirement or personal preference, Andre didn't know.
"Wait, is this stage fighting or play fighting? I'm confused." A new, familiar voice echoed through the room, accompanied by the sound of the heavy doors opening. All eyes turned towards the entrance to the Black Box, where Andre was actually pleasantly surprised to see that John had shown up despite being told earlier.
"John!" Welp, class was clearly forgotten for Cat. Despite having seen him only a few hours earlier, Cat still took off like a bullet away from the stage, clearing the room in record time as she once again jumped onto John and flung her arms around his neck in a hug.
John simply laughed, catching her without fail and returning to the hug as he did so. "Cat, you just saw me this morning." John joked as he let the redhead back down onto her feet with a grin. Cat let go of John and took a step away as her infectious smile was directed at the larger teen.
"What are you doing here, man?" Beck asked, a look of confusion on his face as he stared at the country boy. Despite that, however, he had a small smile on his face nonetheless. Even Jade had an ever so slight grin on her face.
"Oh, he's the fighting coach." Tori piped up, answering without a second thought before John had a chance to.
"You?" Russ spoke up, a looking of disbelief and confusion on his face as he raised an eyebrow. "You're my fighting coach? You're just a kid."
"Still qualified, or I wouldn't be here." John retorted with a chuckle as he shot another smile at Cat, before moving past her and making his way to the stage, offering a hand in greeting to the teacher. "John Gallagher."
"Russ." Russ introduced himself, his eyes narrowing in confusion, but nonetheless shaking the teen's hand with a nod. "I was expecting someone… older."
"So everyone says." John commented with a chuckle in response, waving it off as he backed away to the curtains. "Besides, you never answered my question."
"Yes, it's stage fighting." Russ answered John's initial question with a slight eye roll. "You're probably thinking of stunt fighting, like in movies."
Andre couldn't help but to raise an eyebrow at that, and upon glancing around, it was easy to see that even Cat had a look of confusion on her face at that comparison.
"Isn't stunt fighting still stage fighting?" John asked with a raised eyebrow, voicing the question that clearly everyone in the room had. "Only difference is that one can involve… you know, stunts?"
Every student in the room actually found themselves chuckling at John's smart words, while Russ looked more than annoyed already with the behemoth of a teen.
"How about you get up here and teach the class then?" Russ snapped in frustration, shaking his head at the teen as as he began to make his way… through the room.
"Hold on, are you serious?" John called out, his expression shifting to one of bafflement as he looked at Russ's retreating form in disbelief. "This is you're class-"
"Not anymore!" And with that, Russ left the room, leaving every single student staring at the door in surprise, plus John, who stood up on the stage in absolute shock.
"Uh… that ain't normal, right?" John asked aloud for everyone in the room to hear. Unfortunately for him…
"Actually, it is." Beck answered with a chuckle as he turned back to John with an amused grin. "Congratulations, you're our teacher for the time being."
"Well… shit…"
A cacophony of laughter erupted through the room as John ran hand through his hair, looking thoroughly stressed with the situation as he realized that he was currently in charge of a room full of his peers.
"Well then…"
"Don't worry, you'll have me there to help you." The stage effects teacher, Liam, spoke up, recovering from his own shock and standing up from his chair as he looked at the teen with a small grin. "And we'll need you anyway, considering I'm pretty sure Russ just quit for good."
"Oh, wonderful." John's tone sounded anything but wonderful as he shook his head in exasperation and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Last time I take a job at a performing arts school." He muttered under his breath.
"Come on, it won't be that bad." Cat encouraged with a smile, walking back up to the stage and gesturing to Liam as she looked at John. "Mr. Liam is really good at his job, as he'll probably handle the actual teaching."
"Not quite." Liam unfortunately disagreed, shaking his head as he offered John a sympathetic smile. "You're in charge of actually teaching anyone what they need to know in terms of practice, alongside being the safety martial."
"Is it still too late to quit?" John asked with a small grin, glancing down at Cat with a chuckle before turning back to Liam. "Alright… So where do we start?"
"Well, what advice do you have for the class?" Liam answered, gesturing towards the room full of students with a smile. "Considering you have actual combat training… somehow… your advice might be helpful."
"Why do you sound so surprised?" Jade asked aloud, causing all eyes to turn to her as she raised an unamused eyebrow. "You keep talking like his training or whatever is a big shock, but it's not like he's Batman, right?"
At that, Liam simply went silent, unsure of how to properly answer the question as John threw his head back with a hearty laugh. It was no surprise, in Andre's opinion, that everyone simply stared in confusion.
"Batman? No." John answered with a laugh as he shook his head. "What kind of training do you think I have, Jade?"
"Boxing? The basics of Karate or something?" Jade guessed, a sly smirk coming onto her face as she leaned back into her chair with a raised eyebrow.
John simply grinned.
"Actually, Karate came after the advanced training." John corrected with a small chuckle as he waved for the goth to come up to the stage. "Come on. Cat, you can go sit down."
"Are you sure you want to do that?" It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out what exactly John meant, and even Andre found himself agreeing with Tori's question as the goth shrugged and stood to her feet.
"Why not?" John asked with a small shrug, shooting the musician a smile of amusement. "It's just a demonstration, and it's not like she can actually hit me."
"You sure about that?" Beck asked, sharing an admittedly concerned glance with Cat before both of them turned their gazes back to the long-haired teen as Jade came to a stop on the stage.
John simply grinned, shaking his head in amusement, but otherwise ignored the question as he gently nudged Cat off the stage.
"There we go. Now…" John turned his attention back to Jade with a cocky grin, and gave a taunting gesture to begin. "Start swinging."
Jade simply raised an eyebrow at John. Even she was confused by what exactly he was getting at, but nonetheless, it was Jade.
So, without a second thought, the teen did as asked and immediately stepped forward, a small grunt escaping her as her fist flew for John's face…
Only for John to promptly smack it away so that it soared past his shoulder.
Two large hands came up to Jade's stomach and gave the goth a firm push, causing her to stumble back in surprise as she took a moment to figure out what had just happened.
As had everyone else, considering how fast it had happened.
"I said start swinging, or is that the best you got?" John's confident grin remained plastered on his face as he taunted the goth, earning a look of irritation from Jade as she curled her hands into fists.
"He's done it now." Andre whispered to Tori, who promptly nodded her head in agreement.
"Uh huh."
Jade obviously took the bait, as she immediately rushed the larger teen, swinging wildly in frustration as she tried to land so much as single hit upon John.
And in no time, Andre suddenly understood that John was far more than a, as he'd put it, simple martial artist.
There was a surprising amount of grace as bobbed, weaved, or outright redirected any of Jade's attacks with ease, not getting hit once as the goth flailed her arms viciously in an attempt to even touch him.
How could someone so much bigger move so much quicker.
Jade seemed to realize that punching wasn't doing any good, and Andre found himself a little proud of her adaptability as she brought her foot back, intent on driving right between John's legs.
Only for John's hand to lash out and easily catch her ankle, locking her foot in place.
"Now that was dirty." John had an amused smirk on his face, raising an eyebrow as he watched the goth hop on one foot considering her other one was stuck in what seemed to be a cast-iron grip.
Jade merely glared in response. Well, as best as she could, considering how frantically she was trying to stay upright in the first place.
John gave a playful eye roll and released her foot, causing the goth to go stumbling back once more while everyone else simply stared in shock.
"That is what advanced military training does for you. Helps to know the right people." Well, that explained just about everything. Suddenly, John was the most dangerous person in the room.
As well as the best teacher for stage fighting, most likely.
"Okay, that was cool." Beck ignored the glare his girlfriend gave him at that remark, simply smiling at the flannel-clad boy who would be their teacher for a time as Jade let a huff escape her and returned to her seat. "How much do you know?"
"Enough to defend myself and give a serious asskicking-"
"Language, please." Liam admonished, earning an unamused stare from John as the teacher returned to the stage. "Thank you for the demonstration. Now, we can get onto the actual assignment."
"Yay!" As per usual, Cat jumped to her feet and cheered for what seemed to be no apparent reason.
And Andre noticed something.
Every single person in the theater immediately turned to give Cat weird looks, Andre himself included. Even Liam looked like he was wondering what was so fun.
But John… he simply chuckled in amusement.
"Cute." John complimented to accompany the chuckle as he fixed his gaze back onto Cat. "But maybe let him finish next time, alright?"
Cat looked sheepish, but nodded nonetheless as she sat back down.
No embarrassment. No weird looks. No judgment of any kind, really.
Just… amusement.
That must've been what set John apart from everyone else, in Cat's eyes. And Andre couldn't help a small twinge of shame as he came to that realization. She didn't feel judged for her quirks.
Something she shouldn't have to feel in the first place.
"Alright…" Liam continued to stare at Cat for a few moments, before shaking his head to collect himself as he began to speak to the entire class. "I'm going to pair each of you up, and each team is gonna work with John this week to prepare a fight scene."
"If what we just saw was any indication, I don't think anyone's gonna fail, then." Andre commented with a chuckle, letting his saddening realization fade away to the depths of his mind as he focused on the class.
"Hey, I'm here for advice and safety. Everything else is all you." John retorted with a chuckle as he took a step back, raising an arm and gesturing to the class as he did so. "You're the actors, I'm just the advisor."
"A scary one." Tori jokes, earning a few laughs from everyone else in the room including the man himself.
"Anyway, on Friday, you will perform the scenes here in front of the class." Liam continued, silencing the laughter as he turned his gaze to his clipboard. "The teams are… Beck and Cat, Andre and Gwen, Darren and Jess, Tori and Jade-"
"Tori and who?" Tori immediately interrupted, all amusement fading in place of genuine panic as she looked at Liam in shock.
Andre simply let a sigh escape him at that, and a simple look to Cat and Beck and a glance at the smirk on Jade's face told the musician all he needed to look.
All of them knew that this would end badly.
"Um, quick little question, why did Tori look terrified of Jade?" John asked, following along with Andre and Cat as they went to their lockers, while everyone else went to class. Since he had no real responsibilities outside of the classes, the flannel-clad teen had opted to sate his curiosity. "Jade wouldn't actually hit her for the hell of it, right?"
"Nah." Andre shook his head with a small smile. "Well, actually I don't really know. But she wouldn't use the assignment as a chance." He elaborated with a slight chuckle.
"Jade is the best actress at Hollywood Arts." Cat clarified with a giggle at the look of utter huh? that had taken over his expression. "She takes acting extremely seriously. She'd never mess up an assignment when it's involved."
"And what about outside of class?" John questioned further, shaking his head to recompose himself before raising an eyebrow at the two. "Cat mentioned once that Jade can be mean and violent once."
"Like I said, I don't really know if she'd actually hit Tori." Andre repeated his earlier statement with another chuckle as the three came to a stop next to Cat's locker. As the redhead turned and focused on opening her locker, the boys continued their conversation.
"Hmm…" John didn't really look satisfied with that answer, shaking his head with a slight sigh before looking off in a random direction. "Well, I have to admit, that does concern me." He jerked his thumb towards wherever he assumed Jade had walked off with Beck. His expression was far from satisfied.
"I understand, believe me, but you don't know Jade like we do." Andre responded with a small smile. "I'll tell you right now, Jade has always been weird. Don't change the fact that she's actually a pretty good friend." He continued as a small chuckle escaped him.
"I figured as much." John admitted as a smile of his own took over his face. "I might've been mad myself, but I still remember her looking like she was about to drag Tori through these halls." He added as he glanced as Andre, before his smile faded. "But this isn't about whether she's a good friend, Andre. Not when she hates Tori, even I can see that."
"Well, look, if it makes you feel better, they can't really pull anything since they'll probably be working with you at some point." Andre assured with another amused laugh. "And again, I really doubt Jade would pull anything at the risk of her need to be perfect at acting."
"If you say so." John finally gave in with a slight nod, dropping the topic as he realized that he wasn't really getting anything to raise his concern any higher. His gaze drifted over to Cat, and his brow furrowed as he saw her having trouble with her locker. "You need help?"
"I got it." Cat assured quickly, her tone focused as she continued to fiddle with her locker. "It's just a pain sometimes to get it open."
"And that's why I like my locker." Andre commented with a laugh as he gestured towards his keyboard locker, earning a chuckle from John in response.
"How the hell do you even get it open?" John asked, raising an eyebrow and offering a small grin to the musician. "I can't imagine trying to play from that angle to get the damn thing open."
"When you're musically inclined, it's a lot easier than you think." Andre assured with a small smile.
"Well, I think I'd rather stick with a regular old locker." John replied with a small snort of amusement. "I ain't exactly musically inclined like you or Cat."
"Come on!" Cat's voice interrupted once more, causing both guys to turn their gazes to the redhead as she grew more frantic and furious in her attempts to open her locker, visibly jostling it as she grew more irate.
"Cat, maybe you should-!"
"I said I got it!" Cat didn't even let Andre finish before cutting him off with a fierce glare.
John wasn't a fan of Cat's more stressed moments. It almost hurt the superhuman whenever Cat would work herself into these moments, and he still remembered very vividly how he'd caught her crying her eyes out in the bathroom with a simple phone call.
So, despite her frustration, John raised a hand and gently rested upon her shoulder, causing Cat's irate gaze to snap towards him.
"Calm down." John instructed, offering a reassuring smile as he moved behind her, feeling her head against his chest as he leaned forward and rested his opposite hand atop the one currently still gripping the lock. "Spin it a few times and stop on zero." He guided her hands through the motions as he said them, and Cat turned her gaze back to her locker with a furrowed brow as she obeyed.
"What now?" Cat asked once the small little arrow above the lock was resting firmly atop the zero.
"What's the first digit of the lock?"
"3"
"Right or left?"
"Spin it… spin it right." Cat nodded her head as she remembered the proper combination for the lock.
John allowed his smile to widen slightly in satisfaction, and nodded his head as he lifted his hand off of her own and let the redhead give another go at the lock. No more frantic or aggressive movements, and he withdrew his other hand and stepped back to watch with Andre as Cat input the combination.
A distinctive metal thud indicated that the locker was now unlocked, and Cat let a small sigh escape her as she opened the storage space and let a small smile cross her face.
"When these things are a pain, spin it a few times and go back to zero." John explained with a small smile as he took a small step closer to Cat, gaining the redhead's attention as she turned to look at him. "Resets it, basically. Makes it easier to start over without losing track."
"Thanks." Cat's gratitude was expressed quite clearly with both her words, and the grateful smile on her face as she reached into her locker and grabbed a few books. "I always have a few incidents like that. I've had to have Lane open it for me sometimes."
"Other times, Beck pries it open with a crowbar." Andre added with a chuckle, before looking up at John. "You really don't get annoyed in the slightest, even with the little things, do you?"
John let a fond smile cross his face and shook his head, turning his gaze to Cat. "This shit gets to her enough. Besides… it's kind of cute." He added as he brought a hand up and brushed some of Cat's hair out of her face with a finger, causing the redhead to blush.
"John…" She moaned, almost whining, but she still had a smile on her face nonetheless as she closed her locker and turned to face the two of them.
"So what are you two anyway?" Andre abruptly asked, causing the two of them to turn to the musician with confused gazes. "Are you a couple now, or are you still figuring that out?"
"I figured that went without saying." John admitted with a slight chuckle, before looking down at Cat with an amused grin. "Unless you aren't ready for that yet?" Despite the amusement, he made sure it was clear that was also an option if Cat wasn't quite comfortable in a relationship.
However, Cat merely smiled and leaned into his side, raising an arm and wrapping it around his back as she began to actually nuzzle him. It was almost like an actual cat, and something told the two boys that she was very aware of that.
"I think I like that idea." Cat admitted with a smile as she brought her eyes up to meet his own. John stared at her in slight surprise for a second, before chuckling as he let his arm wrap around her and gently squeeze her into a hug.
"Me too." John leaned his head down following those words, and planted a soft kiss upon the top of her head. Or, tried to anyway.
However, Cat instead lifted her own head, and rather than soft red hair, John found himself planting his lips upon her own. His eyes went wide at the gesture, and he stood frozen in surprise as the redhead pulled away and let a giggle escape her at the look on John's face.
"Hey, you might get in trouble for PDA." Andre joked, laughing at the antics of the two as he shook his head in amusement.
John shook himself from his stupor, before chuckling as he looked down at Cat with a small smile. "Well, I guess I know where we sit in terms of a relationship."
"The only thing left is to get to know each other." Cat admitted, before blushing as an thought entered her mind. "And… well, the other bases before a homerun."
John threw his head back and laughed like a madman at Cat's remark, causing the redhead to gain yet another blush that matched her hair color, while Andre found himself chuckling once more.
"Well, John did say you were a screamer- woah!" Andre ended up dodging a thrown textbook once the remark left his mouth, and he found himself laughing in wholesome amusement even as Cat sent her other textbooks at him, taking off like a missile and letting his laughter echo through the halls.
John simply chuckled, and gently gripped Cat's shoulders when he saw the look of utter embarrassment upon her face. "Come on, he's just joking." He assured, but Cat didn't look pleased.
"It's embarrassing." Cat replied with a small shake of her head, unable to bring her gaze to meet her own, far too embarrassed at Andre's joke, admittedly.
"If you say so." John responded with another chuckle, before a mischievous look took over his face. "But… I also told you I'd get you back earlier." At his words, Cat turned to look at him as the long-haired teen raised his own head and looked around the halls for a moment.
"What do you me-AH! John!" Cat found herself jumping in surprise and embarrassment as she felt his firm hand gently squeeze her rear, causing her to immediately lift a hand and slap him once more in the chest. "Not in school!"
"Oh, but biting my neck is just fine?" John retorted with a raised eyebrow, before chuckling as he once more pulled Cat into his side. "Besides, it's just a little payback. I ain't gonna do something like that all the time just to embarrass you."
"You promise?"
John laughed at the request, but nonetheless nodded his head to appease the redhead. "Yes, Cat. I promise." He assured as a fond expression took over his face, and he looked down at Cat with a small smile. "You're a person, not a toy."
Cat returned the smile with a soft one of her owns, and her blush faded to a far less prominent shade, but it was still there as she turned and lifted her arms up under his own, wrapping them around his chest as she laid her had against him.
"I know I say it a lot… but thanks, John. I mean it."
John smiled, and he felt his heart flutter at the words. Nonetheless, he outwardly expressed nothing more than a bit of amusement at the gratitude as he lifted hand and gently rubbed the back of her head as he returned the hug.
"Thank you too, Cat."
He may not be ready to reveal his status as a superhuman quite yet… but he'd be lying if he'd said that the idea of revealing himself to Cat hadn't slowly started to become more plausible.
Not yet, but with time… maybe.
But for now, John would be satisfied with the cute, bubbly redhead currently in his arms. So long as she was happy… well, it was hard for him to not be happy with her.
For the first time that John could ever remember… he felt at peace, wrapped around the short girl he'd met at a party. And here they were, a week later, a dating couple.
Maybe moving to California hadn't been such a bad thing. After all, if they hadn't moved… he wouldn't have met Cat.
Whether she realized it or not, Cat had given him something that he'd been missing since the Gallagher family had been forced to move.
A sense of normalcy.
To a superhuman… that was the best feeling in the world.