Lullabies (Victorious) (Cade)

Making Sense of the Bad Feelings.

The uncomfortable silence between the girls stretched out, seemingly endlessly. Tension drawing out like a blade. Jade was pacing angrily across the floor of her bedroom, Cat was curled up on Jade's bed, holding her knees, staring blankly.

She had the sheets by her side in a white knuckle grip, and she appeared to be nervously chewing on the inside of her lip. Jade stopped in the centre of the room and looked at Cat, her anger waning slightly when her gaze fell on her girlfriend. This response was very unusual for Cat, even when she was upset her behaviour was typically more childlike. At this moment she seemed genuinely disturbed.

"Cat?" Jade spoke, barely above a whisper. Cat didn't respond or even move, her gaze remaining fixed on the floor.

Jade slowly approached and sat on the edge of her bed. Silence continued to stretch out between them. After a moment Jade spoke again, avoiding eye contact and doing her level best to appear nonchalant.

"What an asshole, huh?" She said with a dry, empty chuckle. Her jaw clenched tightly as she cringed at her pathetic conversation attempts.

"C'mon Cat. Say something."

"I'm gonna go." Cat's small voice croaked as the small girl slowly stood up.

Alarm bells rang in Jade's head immediately. She rose to meet Cat, holding a hand out to stop her, stopping just short of touching her. Cat was upset and the last thing Jade wanted to do was overstep her boundaries.

"Talk to me." Jade whispered, her voice trembling. "Cat?" Jade reached out a hand to touch Cat's cheek, but Cat recoiled away from Jade's touch, screwing her eyes shut and lowering her head.

Jade felt a pang in her chest. Trying not to feel hurt by Cat's response, Jade bent over until her eyes were level with Cat's. Jade carefully reached forward and lightly brushes her fingers against Cat's hand where it hung at her side. Eyes still shut, Cat flinched slightly but didn't pull away.

Encouraged, Jade gently laced her fingers between Cat's with the lightest touch, still not daring to hold on too tight. Eventually she gave Cat's fingers a light squeeze.

"Don't go. Please." Jade said, resting her forehead gently against Cat's with a sigh. To her surprise, Cat relaxed against Jade's skin, adjusting their hands so they were tightly clasped together.

"He was so mad. That's going to happen again, right?" Cat said, her breath tickling Jade's skin lightly.

Jade sighed, dropping her shoulders in defeat. She could find no reassuring words.

"Yeah, probably..."

Cat finally opened her eyes. She blinked away some tears that were at risk of forming and looked into Jade's eyes intensely. Jade felt her cold blue eyes also at risk of tearing up but she fought it back. The girls stood for what felt like an eternity in silence, heads pressed together, each girl trapped by the other's gaze.

"I'm sorry." Jade whispered, pulling back and facing away from Cat for a moment.

Cat blinked in confusion "Sorry? For what." Cat spoke softly, resting a hand on Jade's back. Jade turned back to Cat and pulled her into a tight embrace. She rested her cheek on the top of Cat's head and answered.

"My dad is shitty. People are shitty and I can't protect you from it all. If you don't wanna stay with me... I get it."

Cat pulled back enough to look at Jade's face, her eyes widened in surprise.

"It won't always be like this." Cat said firmly, before pulling Jade into a deep kiss. Jade gasped into Cat's mouth, but immediately pulled her in, pressing their bodies together and wrapping her arms around Cat. They pulled back briefly, both failing to fight back tears by this point. Jade could only manage a shaky 'okay before Cat tugged her back, kissing her passionately.

They stayed like this for a while, both agreeing to put the issue aside, at least for now.