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 ONE - PART ONE - CHAPTER TEN
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Robbie was pouring milk into his cereal the next morning when the sound of someone pounding on the door startled him. "Aw, man…" he groaned—he'd spilled milk all over the countertop. He sighed and turned around, deciding to deal with the mess in a minute.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
"Open this damn door!"
It was Jade. Robbie hurried to unlock it and pulled it open before she got tired of waiting and kicked it down. "Hey, guys…" he greeted awkwardly—Tori was there too.
Jade stormed into the house and looked around angrily. "Where is she?"
"Uh… what?" Robbie stammered, fully aware of the problem, but unsure what to say.
"Is she still in bed?" Jade demanded, already heading for the stairs.
"No, she stayed in the bedroom at the end of the hall last night," Robbie replied, motioning to it. He regretted sharing that immediately.
Jade and Tori looked confused, but they marched down the hall, ignoring Robbie's protests.
"Wait! I really don't think you should go in there," Robbie warned, pathetically attempting to stop them.
"Move!" Jade shoved him out of the way, slamming him into the wall. She grabbed the door handle and pushed the door open, yelling, "Cat!"
Cat had been asleep. She was supposed to be at the studio at 8 o'clock this morning to work on JTC's new single. When she didn't show, Jade and Tori spent several hours calling and texting her, attempting to get ahold of her. It was now 11 o'clock, and they'd heard nothing, so they had decided to just show up at her house.
She jolted upright in bed at the sound of Jade's yelling and gave out a short scream of surprise. When she sat up, the blankets fell and exposed her total nakedness. She scrambled to cover herself, blushing as red as her hair. "What—what are you guys doing here?! Get out!"
Jade's jaw dropped and she glanced at the bathroom door, which was currently closed. She could hear water running behind it and quickly put the pieces together. "Holy shit, did you bring a guy home last night?" she quietly, incredulously asked.
Cat stared at the floor and didn't reply.
"Oh my God, Cat, did you really?" Tori said in a disbelieving whisper.
Cat was flustered and embarrassed. She wasn't sure how to inform her friends of the whole Sam situation. "Can you guys please get out? I'm sorry for missing work, but something personal came up. I'll be out in a minute, just… please go. Please."
Jade was grinning. "Cat, it's okay. You can admit you have a guy over. Honestly, I'm just really surprised. And… kind of proud of you."
"Are you guys, like, actually going out, or was it a one-night-stand kind of thing?" Tori asked, unable to contain her curiosity. She knew Cat was sexually active—if being with Robbie a couple of times could be considered active—but seeing it like this was a bit more jarring.
Cat sighed in irritation. "You guys, I'm being serious. Please leave me alone." She kept looking at the bathroom door, as if she were afraid whoever it was was going to come out and see them there.
Jade crossed her arms. "Fine. We'll give you today off work. But later, we're all meeting up at JetBrew, and you have to explain yourself." Tori was nodding in agreement. "Six o'clock. Deal?"
"Okay, deal; just get out!" Cat exclaimed.
Jade just chuckled and left the room with Tori trailing behind. They headed back out to the kitchen, where Robbie had just finished cleaning up the milk he'd spilled. "Hey," Jade said to him, looking amused, "You could've at least given us a warning, you know."
Robbie scoffed. "I did! You literally slammed me into the wall!" he reminded her.
"Wait, so you actually know what happened?" Tori asked. "How did Cat end up bringing a guy home?"
Robbie shook his head hesitantly. "I… really think you should just let her tell you. It's not my place, and to be totally honest, I'm not completely sure what happened either," he admitted.
Jade rolled her eyes. "Oh, come on. You obviously know something."
Robbie sighed. "I don't know. I woke up and Cat wasn't in bed, and then I heard her having sex down here, like, all night." He gave out a nervous chuckle. "I mean, who'd have guessed she'd be a screamer, huh? She, uh, never did that with me." Sikowitz hadn't been here when he'd woken up, either. He figured he must have chosen to spend the night elsewhere. He didn't really blame him—his room was right across the hallway from where Cat and Sam had stayed last night. Robbie had been able to hear things pretty clearly from upstairs.
Tori sucked her lips in and looked away—it still felt a little wrong to think of Cat this way.
But Jade smiled widely. "Oh, she has so much explaining to do," she stated seriously. "Wait, but… who was she with, though?"
Robbie didn't answer that.
"Do we know him, at least?" Tori asked.
Robbie still didn't answer.
"Oh, go fuck yourself," Jade muttered. She turned to Tori. "Let's go. Looks like we're taking the day off."
The two of them exited Cat's house and walked back to Jade's car, which was parked in the driveway. The only other vehicle parked there was a motorcycle. "Hey," Tori observed, chuckling, "Look. He brought her home on a bike."
Jade smirked. "Well, that figures. She always did have a thing for bikers." She and Tori shared a knowing look—nobody ever spoke Sam's name in Cat's presence anymore.
As they were climbing into Jade's car, Tori said, "Hey, you know what would be totally crazy?"
"What?" Jade asked, starting the car and backing out of the driveway. "If it was her?"
"If it was her," they both spoke at the same time.
Then Tori smiled sadly. "Can you even imagine? Cat would be so happy."
"I'd rip her fucking face off," Jade muttered. The person who broke her best friend's heart didn't deserve to escape her wrath. She hated Sam with a passion, and had vowed that she'd make her pay for hurting Cat if she ever saw her again.
"It doesn't matter. As far as I'm concerned, she never existed," Tori told her. She, too, hated Sam for abandoning Cat. All their immediate friends did.
"Exactly. And Cat finally took a chance," Jade remarked. "Whoever this guy is, I hope he stays."
"Well, things seem to be going well so far," Tori pointed out with a smile. "He could be the one." They were both married—Jade to Beck, and Tori to a semi-pro footballer who she met while attending college. They were eager for Cat to catch up with them.
"We can hope." Jade paused. "Hey, wanna call Beck and Dylan? I think they're both off today, too. We can head to Revival." Revival was their bar of choice, which served only very wealthy upper-class customers—no one else could afford their ridiculously high prices. But Jade and Tori didn't care. The ambience was worth the extra cost, and they had money to spare.
Tori pulled out her phone. "Yeah, let's go."