Lullabies (Victorious) (Cade)

Internal Screaming

"More than friends? With Cat? No way... Vega is crazy." Jade thought to herself, shaking her head gently as she waited outside the doors of Hollywood Arts for Cat. She was idly playing with a strand of her hair, completely disconnected from the world around her. It was for this reason that she gasped audibly and jumped slightly when Cat appeared seemingly out of nowhere and rested her head gently on Jade's shoulder from the side, wrapping her arms around the taller girl's waist.

"You waited for me? You're so good to me Jade." Cat said, as chirpy as always. She still had her head on the soft part of Jade's shoulder and showed no signs of moving. Jade started to feel that all too familiar knotting sensation in her stomach and she could feel her heart racing.

With Tori's words from earlier still ringing in her head  she pushed Cat off of her with more force than she intended to, prompting a tiny, surprised whimper for Cat. Her eyes met Jade's with a look of slight confusion and hurt, but ultimately she shrugged it off as simply Jade being Jade.

"So... wanna come over to my house? You can tell me everything I missed today."

Cat's face smiled but Jade saw pleading in her eyes. Desperation. "I don't know Cat. I... have a lot of homework I need to finish." Jade replied, lying through her teeth.

"Me too! We could do it together, help each other."

"You distract me too much." Cat's smile immediately fell from her face. "Oh..." she whimpered. Jade could feel her heart breaking slightly and her resolve began to crumble. "Okay fine! Fine, Cat. I'll come over if you really want."

A huge smile spread across Cat's face and she squealed in excitement. "Yay!! Thank you Jade." She gushed, jumping up and down like an excited toddler before hugging Jade tightly again. Jade cringed a little. "Alright alright. Let's go cupcake." She replied.

"Heh... cupcake." Cat giggled quietly to herself before grabbing Jade's arm and tugging her along.

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"So Sikowitz talked about a project  for class while I was gone?" Cat asked Jade from where she lay on the floor surrounded by books strewn here and there. At some point she had given up trying and was making snow angels in the papers that littered her room. Jade nodded gently, flipping through her notebook searching for a page.

"Aha, here. I wrote it down. He said we would get a performance piece in pairs that we have to perform to the class next week. We got to choose partners but he's choosing our scripts."

Cat raised her eyebrow. "That sounds too simple to be a project from Sikowitz."

Jade raised a finger in a sort of 'but wait, there's more' gesture and continued. "He said that the chosen scripts were all going to contain something that, quote, 'push the envelope and test your abilities to commit to a role. These roles will really show me what you're made of.'" Jade finished, putting on her best Sikowitz voice, and earning an amused giggle from Cat.

"I said you and I would be partners. That okay?" Jade asked, closing her book and tossing it to one side. Cat sat up grinning. "I'd be offended if you didn't."

Cat knitted her brow and smiled, narrowing her eyes at Jade. "If you had chosen anyone else to be your partner I would have..."

"Would have what?" Jade said, raising an eyebrow and smiling slyly at Cat. She slowly got up off of the bed and crept towards Cat, a mischievous expression still on her face.  She came closer until she was crouched, her face mere inches from Cat's, their noses almost touching. "Huh? What would you do, tough guy?"

Cat stared back, her eyes steely and with a hint of mischief to match Jade's.

"This."

Without warning Cat launched herself at Jade, knocking her onto her back. Then the real attack began. Cat's hands found their way inside Jade's shirt and began a tickle assault on her stomach. Both girls were in fits of laughter as Jade scrambled to remove the redheads hands from her skin. Finding no other escape, Jade grabbed Cat and rolled them both over so Jade was on top of her, knees on either side of Cat's hips.

"You didn't expect a retaliation huh?" Jade cackled as she launched her own attack, tickling Cat in all the places she had learned were most sensitive, including her neck.

"Oh, I did. That's why I brought back up! Attack, Mr Giraffe!" Cat bellowed, channelling her inner army captain as she grabbed her purple giraffe from her bed and proceeded to whack Jade in the face with him. It only took a few good hits before Jade unwittingly found herself back under Cat, begging for mercy.

"Okay! Okay, I surrender to you oh mighty giraffe warrior!" Jade laughed, out of breath and still trying to shield her face from blows. Sensing Cat letting up Jade uncovered her face and looked at the girl who was still sitting in her lap, red faced and as out of breath as she was. She tossed the giraffe toy onto the bed and smiled.

"Ahem."

"Oh fuck."

Jade's head whipped around to the door, where Cat's mother stood. Her arms were folded and she had a small gentle smile on her face as always.

"Hi, Mrs Valentine." "Internal Screaming" "How are you today?" Jade smiled and tried to look innocent. Which is apparently hard when you have metal in your face.

"Hello Jade. Lovely to see you. How are things at home?" The short woman asked warmly.

"Same as always, Mom hates Dad, Dad hates me. Happy families really." Jade responded. She was entirely comfortable talking to Mrs Valentine usually, because they had known each other so long. But Jade was distracted by the fact the Cat was still straddling her lap and even had a hand placed gently on Jade's waist as if this wasn't unusual at all. Cat's mom had noticed too, and either didn't mind or was trying to stay cool and not make things awkward.

"Well you know you're always welcome here, Jade. Will you be joining us for dinner? I'm making lasagna." Jade turned to Cat who smiled at her hopefully.

"Oh, what the hell. Sure I'll stay. You need any help?" Jade replied, to which Cat clapped and wiggled in delight, still in Jade's lap. Jade felt her face flush a little as Cat moved

"Of course! It's always a pleasure to teach you kids how to make real food. You won't find any of that crappy frozen food here. You can help. If you're ready to get off the floor that is?"

Cat and Jade both laughed and Cat clambered to her feet. She grabbed Jade's arms and hoisted her up. The two girls followed Mrs Valentine downstairs.