A/N: This fic contains potentially triggering subject matter including but not limited to: suicidal references, gun violence, sexual trauma, homelessness, drug abuse, depression, homophobia, and cancer. It may contain inaccuracies. No copyright infringement intended. Thanks for reading!
BOOK TWO - PART ONE - CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
"I… I don't understand." Cat furrowed her eyebrows. "They dropped us? All of us? Because of… me?"
"They said you were making them look bad," Jade explained. "They marketed you as the innocent one, remember?"
Cat's throat felt tight. "All I did was kiss Sam."
"Um, hello—did you forget about your multi-millionaire fiancé? And that was not a kiss, Cat. You were practically dry humping her on your doorstep."
Cat cringed—she had no excuse for that. "Oh, my God, the public's gonna hate me."
"Just… don't start freaking out. I already called Tori. Once she gets here, we can all talk about what to do next."
As if on cue, Tori peeked her head into the bedroom right then. "Hey," she greeted with a forced smile.
Cat tried, but failed, to reply. She choked back a sob.
Tori pulled her into a hug. "It's okay, Cat. We're gonna be okay. We'll figure this out." She looked around. "Where's Sam?"
"Bathroom," Cat answered, motioning to it.
"I saw her ass." Jade couldn't help making the quiet comment, grinning to herself.
Cat knew Jade was just joking around, but right now didn't feel like a time for joking and it made her angry. "Stop it."
"Sam was naked when I came in," Jade explained to Tori. "Her chest looks pretty painful." Under her breath, she added, "…and Cat wasn't lying about that bush."
Now Cat was truly upset. Tears stung her eyes, and she whacked Jade on the arm, hard. "Fuck you, Jade!"
"Ow!" Jade scoffed in surprise, rubbing her arm. She'd never heard Cat say the f-word before. "What the fuck, Cat?"
Cat tried to speak, but her voice broke again. She was extremely stressed from the past few days, and had just awoken to the news that she'd lost her job, and now Jade was coming in here making fun of Sam—it was more than she could take.
Tori sighed, holding Cat in her arms while giving Jade a subtle look of annoyance. "Not cool," she mouthed at her. Then she said softly to Cat, "Hey, relax. Jade's just being… Jade. She didn't mean it."
"Was it the bush comment? Sorry; that was probably too far," Jade admitted, still smirking unapologetically. Trying to lighten the mood, she offered, "If it helps, I'd still hit it."
Tori rolled her eyes. "Jade, how is that helpful?"
"It doesn't matter. No one's supposed to see Sam that way but me." Cat sniffled. "And that night we first saw each other again was really special for us—it was supposed to be private. Not plastered all over the internet for everyone to see." The reality of the situation finally hit her. "Oh, my God. You guys got fired. Because of me."
Tori could sense that Cat was really about to start freaking out, which typically led to a panic attack, followed by unconciousness. To save JTC, they needed to stay focused, so she tried to reassure her, "Hey, relax. None of this is your fault."
"It's all my fault," Cat argued, getting choked up. "I broke up JTC. Oh, my God." She started hyperventilating.
"No, you didn't. Just because they dropped us doesn't mean they broke us up," Jade told her. "And it really isn't your fault, Cat. If they're gonna be homophobic in this day and age, I don't want them to represent us anyways."
"Yeah, me neither, Cat. We all knew this was probably a long time coming," Tori sighed. "And really think about it—we're JTC. We'll find another label."
"As soon as news gets out that we're unsigned, we'll have record producers breaking down our door," Jade agreed, nodding. "Right now, what we really need to do is find a way to deal with the press. And you need to come clean about Sam."
Cat took a deep breath, then let it out slowly. "What do you think I should do? Make a public statement?"
"We'll make a statement together. Just remember, you haven't done anything wrong. Regardless of what some people think."
"Some people?" Cat asked worriedly.
"Well, yeah; did you read the comments on the—"
"—Anyways…" Tori cut in a little too late, "It doesn't matter what people think. Our true fans will always be there for us."
"Comments?" Cat looked at her phone, where the article about her and Sam was still open. She scrolled to the Comments section, unsure what to expect. There were already thousands of responses.
KOOL-AID-420: wonder how rob's doing…
install5cult22riot: So unexpected from Catarina. Guess she's not the 'good girl' anymore.
Schrein86: catarinas a fuckin slut LOL
TLucas97: The other girl is a convicted murderer. Check out her public records.
88pltx: Does any1 have the link 2 a full vid of them making out?
verityrowan: RIP JTC!
LJYoung82: Catarina used to be a role model for my 7-year-old. How am I supposed to explain this to her?
55qwerty5: Plot twist: Rob was waiting inside and they had a threesome.
Rod29Peterson: gotta b fake. catarina's 2 prett lesbian.
jamieliz35843: Looks like the scene out of The Notebook. Are we sure this wasn't staged?
zezsoz3: hey guys they got dropped from the label. no more new records :(
The comments continued for a long, long time. Eventually, Cat stopped reading and lowered the phone. There were tears in her eyes again. "They hate me."
"Not all of them," Tori said supportively. "And most of them are taken out of context. You need to come clean about Robbie. That's why people are upset with you, Cat; not 'cause you're a lesbian. They think you're a cheater."
Just then, the bathroom door cracked open, and Sam leaned out just slightly. "Cat?"
Cat was immediately concerned—she could tell something was wrong. "Sorry, can you guys give me a minute?" she said to Jade and Tori, then went over and joined Sam in the bathroom. Sam had a towel tied around her waist the way men wore towels. It probably still hurt to cover her chest. "Hey," Cat greeted quietly, leaning in closer to her, but Sam shuffled back. "What's going on? Are you okay?"
Sam shook her head. She was bent over slightly, clutching her stomach. "So, this is kind of embarrassing…"
"What is it? You can tell me," Cat reassured her.
Sam bit her lip. "I'm really having trouble, um, going to the bathroom. I think it's the pain killers; they've got me all stopped up."
"Oh." Cat blushed a little. "Do they make medicine for that?"
"Do you have any laxatives?"
"Robbie might have something, actually," Cat tried to remember. "I'll go check and be right back." She kissed her and stepped out of the bathroom, shutting the door behind her.
Jade and Tori were standing there waiting for her. Jade was arching her eyebrow. "Everything okay?"
"Yes, um… I need to go grab something from upstairs. Just give me a couple more minutes," Cat told them. She made her way through the house, up the stairs, into her bedroom, and then into her bathroom.