𝐂𝐚𝐭, 𝐌𝐲 𝓥𝓪𝓵𝓮𝓷𝓽𝓲𝓷𝓮

XVII

Beck's POV

I was sitting on my bed, staring up at the ceiling. I had no idea what time it was, but considering that it was still dark outside, I figured I still had a good chunk of time left before I had to get to school. As usual, I was thinking about Cat.

And I knew I was dating Jade, but I also knew that I didn't really... love her. Not like I loved Cat.

I wanted to tell her about how I felt so badly, but I was worried that she'd have a bad reaction and it would ruin our friendship. I liked our group's dynamic as it was. I didn't want to risk it falling apart. But I also didn't want to just sit here, in love with one of my best friends, for the rest of senior year without saying anything before we go our separate ways. The problem was that I knew that if she felt the same way (which was very unlikely) Robbie would be livid, and Tori would probably be the same way. And then, obviously, Jade would go crazy. Normally, I wouldn't care about that, but I didn't want anyone doing something to hurt Cat.

I sighed, getting up and changing into a t-shirt and a pair of jeans. I grabbed my backpack, car keys, and headed outside to drive to school.

When I got there, I saw Cat and Jade standing at Jade's locker, and it looked like they were talking about something serious. I walked over, hands in my pockets. "Hey, ladies."

Cat's serious expression was immediately replaced with a wide smile. "Hi, Beck!"

Jade leaned on my shoulder, grabbing my coffee and chugging the entire thing. "Thanks," she smirked.

I just rolled my eyes, throwing the cup into a nearby trash can and heading toward my locker to put my stuff away. "Wait, Beck!" Cat exclaimed.

"What?"

Cat frowned a little. "Could I talk to you about something?" I nodded, giving Jade a quick peck on the cheek before following Cat toward the janitor's closet. Cat shut the door and turned back around toward me, biting her lip.

"What did you want to talk about, Kit-Cat?" I asked, trying to coax the words out of her. She seemed like she had something to say but didn't want to, for some reason.

"Well, um..." she paused and I smiled a little, encouraging her to continue. "You know that warm fuzzy feeling that some people give you?" I nodded. Was she in love with someone? Robbie? I shuddered at the thought. He would never treat her right. "You-you give me that warm fuzzy feeling. And I-I think you have for a while, but I never noticed, and I'm telling you now and you probably hate me because you're dating Jade, but I had to tell you and it's okay if you don't wanna talk to me ever again," she rambled, breathing a long sigh.

My head was spinning. What just happened? Cat told me that she loved me. And I didn't know what to do. You're dating Jade, a small voice in the back of my head whispered. But as I thought about it, that voice went away. Because Cat never would have told me this, knowing I was dating Jade, without her knowing. And her consent. So Jade was okay with this? I had no clue what to say. I looked back down at Cat, who was looking up at me with those big brown doe eyes that I had come to love so much. I just took her in for a moment. The long red hair, the thick eyelashes, the dimple on one side of her beautiful face. She was so innocent and so sweet. I smiled a little.

"Can I kiss you?"

The question took her by surprise. Maybe she wasn't used to being asked before getting kissed. But I saw her smile and she nodded, standing up on her toes and wrapping her arms around my neck. I leaned over, setting my hands on her hips, and pressed my lips against hers. We'd kissed multiple times before, but this was so much different. Those kisses were for an audience. For a director. For spite. This one was for us. Our lips moved in perfect sync and Cat ran her hands through my hair. After a few moments, she pulled away, but only slightly. "I love you," she whispered.

I never thought I'd hear those words from her. "I love you too."

Cat's POV

I stared at him, bug-eyed. No one had ever asked me that before. But how could I say no? I think I've been in love with Beck for a lot longer than I'd thought. Longer than I've had Mr. Purple. But I nodded and stood up on my tippy-toes so that I could reach him. I wrapped my arms around his neck and when he kissed me, my head went white. I've kissed a lot of boys, but they were always so rough and hurried. They weren't gentle, like Beck. His hair was soft, and having his hands on my waist made my tummy flutter a little.

At some point, I pulled away and I noticed that my breathing was a little heavy. I only backed up a little, though; our noses were still touching. "I love you," I whispered. And I meant it, just like I meant it when I told Mr. Purple that every night.

Beck smiled, which made me smile. "I love you too." I started to unravel my hands from his fluffy hair, but someone opened the door and made me jump.

I saw Robbie staring at us with his mouth wide open. "What's going on here?"

I didn't move, but Beck wrapped his arms around my waist from behind me. "What do you mean?" he asked.

I was so scared. I kissed Robbie too. Did he think I loved him? I didn't tell him that I didn't like him like that. Oh, I'm such a bad friend. He'll never talk to me again. What do I do? "I mean, what are you doing lip-locked with Cat?" Robbie growled.

Beck frowned a little while I was stared at Robbie. "You mean, what was I doing kissing my girlfriend?" he asked. What? I bit my lip, trying to hide my wide smile. Girlfriend? The word made that warm fuzzy feeling come back and spread all over my body.

Robbie gaped at us. "Girlfriend? Cat, you kissed me! I thought you loved me!" he exclaimed, and even though I was really scared, I tried not to laugh because his face had turned red like a cherry. "You lying, cheating snake!" he hissed and slammed the door.

I gasped a little and brought my sleeves to my face. I started crying and Beck gave me a big hug as I cried into his chest. "It's okay, Kit-Cat," he whispered. "I love you. It's okay."