"Kitty, wait," Jake called, following her down the hallway. "Look, I'm sorry."

"I don't want to talk about it," Kitty said, continuing to walk quickly out of the school and down the front steps of McKinley, wishing she'd parked closer.

"You can't just leave school," Jake was saying. "It's not that bad, okay?"

It was that bad. It was horrible. Patty Simcox? She couldn't be Patty Simcox. "Leave me alone," she said, reaching the sidewalk.

"Kitty," he said again, grabbing her arm. She stopped, jerking it away from him. "Sorry," he said, his hand still in the air. He never really knew what to do when he was around Kitty. "We can talk about this."

"There's nothing to talk about," she said, looking out at the parking lot instead of at him. "It's over. I was stupid to even try out. It was obvious Marley was everyone's favorite from the beginning."

"That's not true," Jake said, sighing. "Maybe if you hadn't tried to attack her mid-song…"

Kitty turned to glare at him. "Maybe if you had looked at me even once during the song, I wouldn't have wanted to attack her. You couldn't keep your eyes off of her, could you?" Jake started to say something and she shook her head. "It's pathetic."

Jake watched her walk off, upset that he'd hurt her and pissed off that she was always such a bitch.

"What's wrong with Kitty?" Brittany asked from behind him.

Jake shook his head. "What's always wrong with Kitty?"

"Well, I think her pony is too tight," Brittany told him. "I'm sure it causes headaches."

"Brittany…" he started, but stopped. He shook his head. "It's nothing."

"All I'm saying is that something has to be hurting her," Brittany told him as they walked back into the school. "No one acts like that unless there is. Maybe Sue's baby bit her when she was breast feeding it."

Jake didn't get a chance to reply to that before Brittany turned into the girl's room. He stared after her for a moment, at a complete loss.

"Hey," Marley said, smiling shyly as she stopped walking beside him.

"Hey," Jake said, smiling back. Why couldn't Kitty be more like Marley? Marley was nice to everyone, pretty, sweet and he knew what she was thinking.

"Did you get Kitty calmed down?" she asked.

"It's not my job to calm Kitty down," he said, more gruffly than he'd intended.

"Oh," Marley said, a little hurt. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean…"

"No, it's okay," he said. "Congratulations on Sandy, by the way."

"Thanks," she said, blushing a little. "I'm sorry you didn't get Danny."

Jake shrugged. "It is what it is. I'm sure Ryder will do fine." Ryder. He didn't like Ryder.

Marley laughed a little, the sound causing him to smile as well. "You don't have to make that face when you're talking about him."

"What face?" he asked.

"You scrunch up your nose," she told him. "It's cute."

"Oh, so now you think I'm cute?" he flirted.

"I've always thought you were cute," Marley told him, blushing again.

"I've always thought you were pretty cute, too," he told her. It was true; he'd had a crush on Marley since he'd first talked to her. Flirting with her now, though, made him uneasy. Kitty had seemed so upset…shouldn't he be worried about her?

"So…you and Kitty really are broken up now?"

Jake looked back at the entrance to the school. "Yeah," he said, feeling a twinge of regret.

"You want to come eat lunch with me then?" Marley asked.

"Sure," he said, pushing his concerns away. He was going to eat lunch with Marley and enjoy himself.

Maybe.

GLEEGLEEGLEEGLEEGLEEGLEE

He couldn't get Kitty off his mind. The rest of his day had dragged on until it was finally time to leave. He'd come home and buried his head under his pillow, wanting to just go to sleep; if he was sleeping, he wouldn't be thinking of Kitty. Why was he thinking of her in the first place? He'd broken up with her. She was a bitch.

There's more to Kitty than that, and he knew it. They hadn't dated long, but while they had he'd seen something in her…something good. It was what pushed him to ask her out in the first place, and the more time they'd spent together the more he'd liked her. But Marley had been right; she was horrible to other people.

Why couldn't he just be happy that he was single and Marley was single and obviously wanted to date him? He liked her; he should be with her right now. But here he was, hiding in his room, thinking about Kitty Wilde. He wished someone was around to smack him.

He'd stood up without thinking, cursing himself even as he grabbed his jacket and keys and moved for the door. He knew where Kitty lived, even if she'd never let him come over. That had pissed him off, but he'd let it go. Being with Kitty was such a rollercoaster he didn't stay mad at her for long. He didn't stay happy with her for long either, though.

He was pissed at her right now, and it really wasn't even her fault. She'd told him to let it go and it was his fault he couldn't. He'd seen that flash of hurt in her eyes when she'd turned from the casting sheet and it was eating at him. It was her fault she hadn't gotten Sandy. It wasn't because she wasn't good enough; it was because she'd spent her audition time trying to attack Marley. He was pretty sure his attempts to spare Marley had cost him Danny, but he was over it. He hadn't really wanted to be in the musical anyway. He couldn't stand the idea of Ryder swooping in and stealing the show, but now that it had happened, he wasn't that upset about it.

He hopped on his bike and put his helmet on, mentally berating himself for caring. As he rode through Lima, he literally had to cross the tracks before getting to Kitty's neighborhood. Huge houses and fancy cars lined the roads here, and it was enough to make Jake's nerves stand on edge.

He should turn around. Turn around Jake, this is stupid. But he didn't. He stopped in front of the house Kitty lived in and took his helmet off, looking at it. It was huge, of course. Jake shook his head as he walked to the red front door. His entire house would fit in the front yard.

He knocked on the door, part of him hoping she wouldn't open it and the other part needing to see her. He'd almost given up when it opened, Kitty standing inside the house and staring at him in shock. "What are you doing here?" she hissed, looking behind him and paling further when she saw his bike parked on the road.

"I came to talk to you," he told her. He'd never seen her hair down and couldn't stop staring at it. It was longer than he'd assumed and made her look like an angel.

"Jake, you can't be here," she said, frantically pushing him away. "You have to go."

That wasn't very angel-like. Jake didn't move, frowning down at her. "What are you freaking out for?" He'd never seen Kitty show so much emotion and he'd dated her.

"Jake, go. You have to go," she said, still pushing against him. A white Lexus SUV pulled into the driveway and he watched as Kitty's expression turned from panic to outright horror. "Oh God," she whispered.

"What's wrong?" he asked, his heart pounding.

"Katherine," the tall blonde woman who got out of the vehicle said. "What is this?"

Jake supposed that "this" was him as the woman eyed him, her lip curled in disgust. "This is Jake," Kitty told the woman, her voice shaking a little. "He came over to remind me of a project we're supposed to be working on," she said.

"Yeah," Jake said, looking from Kitty to the woman. "It's important."

"It must be," the woman said. "Kitty, I need to speak with you in the house." She looked at Jake. "You don't mind waiting for a moment, do you?"

"No ma'am," Jake said, hating this woman already. She was obviously Kitty's mother; they had the same facial features.

As she pushed Kitty into the house, Jake caught Kitty's eyes, hoping she saw the apology in his. The door slammed shut and he flinched, wondering what he'd done. He heard muffled yelling coming from deep inside the house and strained to make out the words. Shit. This was his fault.

He'd been concentrating so hard on hearing what was going on inside the house that he hadn't noticed the truck pull up. "Can I help you?" a man asked him, coming up the sidewalk.

"No, sir," Jake said. "I'm just waiting." The man was a giant; Jake wasn't short, but this dude made him look like a midget.

"Waiting for what?" the man looked around the house. "Did you mow the yard?"

Jake bristled a bit, but shook his head. "No sir. I'm waiting for Kitty."

The man stared at Jake for another moment. "Excuse me," he said, pushing past Jake and going into the house. As the door opened, Jake heard the shrill voice of the woman. He had a really bad feeling. After the man's voice joined the others, he started walking backwards. He'd left his phone on his bike and he definitely needed some backup if that dude came back outside.

When he reached his bike he heard the front door open and Kitty flew out of it, running towards him. "Let's go!" she cried, jumping on the back of his bike. Jake stood there, looking at her, uncertain. When the man came out of the house yelling he jumped on the bike and started it, taking off as the man reached the road. He felt Kitty wrap her arms around him as they rode, putting her face against his back. Even though they were probably going to be shot at any minute, he couldn't help but notice that it felt nice.

He just kept going, through Lima, out of town, down some more back roads. He had no idea where they were going, but he was almost afraid to stop. When they finally reached a dead end, he parked, turning the bike off. Kitty didn't let go of him and his hand moved over hers, squeezing them. "Are you okay?" he asked quietly after a few moments had passed.

She moved, unwrapping her arms and getting off the back of the bike. He got off slowly, turning to look at her. She was trying to straighten her clothes, looking down. Her hair was a wild mess, and for some reason that made him smile.

"Hey," he said, his fingers cupping her chin and tilting her face up. "Kitty, are you okay?" She nodded, but he moved her chin to the side, spotting the handprint on her cheek. "Who hit you?" he asked lowly, losing his smile.

"It's nothing," she said, trying to knock his hand away.

"Who hit you?" he asked again, his face lowering to hers. "Was it your mom?" When she still didn't answer, his stomach tightened. "Your dad?"

"He's not my dad," she told him. "He's my stepfather."

"He hit you?" Jake asked, the rage he felt making him sick.

"It's nothing," she said, this time able to push his hand away. "Why were you at my house?"

"Because I wanted to talk to you," he told her. "How often does he hit you, Kitty?"

"It's not a big deal," she said again, glaring at him.

God she was infuriating. He'd never met anyone in his life that could make his blood boil with one look the way she did. "It's a big deal to me," he told her. "Is it a lot?" He moved closer to her, thinking about Brittany's words earlier. Something was hurting Kitty. "If it's a lot, Kitty, I'll kill him."

"Jake, would you listen to yourself? What are you going to do, stare broodily at him until he apologizes?"

If he hadn't noticed that her hands were shaking, he would have gotten mad. But they were. He took her hands in his, holding them to his chest. "You can't go back there if he's hurting you," he told her quietly. "I won't let you."

"I live there," Kitty said miserably. "It's my home."

Jake shook his head. "That's not your home. That's just the place you sleep. A home isn't some place where people hurt you…it's a place you're safe. A place you're loved."

Kitty made a noise, looking up at him. She had tears in her eyes again, and they hurt him. "Where am I going to find a place that I'm loved?" she asked him. "You know me. You know how awful I am. No one loves me. No one."

He brushed her hair out of her face, shaking his head. "Even at your worst, I couldn't stop thinking about you," he told her. "No matter what you say or what you do, you're on my mind. I care about you, Kitty. Let me help you."

"What can I do?" she asked. "I don't know what to do."

Jake thought about it. His mom would be at work right now, so they couldn't ask her. "What about that Finn guy?"

"What about him?" Kitty asked, making a face.

"Kitty, cool it with the faces, okay?" He sighed. "He's good friends with my brother. Puck said Finn's a great guy. Maybe he'll know what we should do."

"We?"

Jake moved closer and looked down at her. "I'm with you, okay? You're not alone." The tears that had been threatening slipped down her face and he pulled her close.

Holding Kitty, he was able to let go of all the anger and frustration he'd carried all day. Maybe he was angry and frustrated because he'd given up the right to hold her like this. That was something he needed to think about.