Two am. My fucking cell phone was going off at two am. Whoever it was had some balls, that was for sure. I crawled from my roof back into the room and grabbed my phone from my desk. Tori's name was on the screen.

"What do you want Vega?"

"Jade." Her voice was a low frantic whisper, her voice was shaking, "Ryder broke into my house. Nobodies home and I couldn't get my dad to pick up, Jade please hurry. I'm scared."

"I'm on my way." I was almost out the door, I paused to grab my jacket before heading out the door, "did you call nine one one?" I asked, running to my car.

"No! He's coming upstairs!"

"Hang up, I'll call!" she hangs up and I dial nine one one, scream her address as soon as the woman picks up and tell her what I know as I drive dangerously toward her house, throwing my phone aside when I get her to hang up.

When I reach the house the door is hanging open, clearly forced, and a plant is tipped over. I silently step into the house, listening. I can hear someone walking upstairs, probably Ryder, so I make my way upstairs. The first room I pass is Trina's and on my way by I glance around to see if Vega is inside, she isn't.

Her bedroom door is hanging open, things are tossed around, but I don't see her. But this house is huge; this floor has a few rooms, as well as a second stair case down to the garage, so I have no clue where to go until I hear a scream.

I run toward it, my heart pounding in my ears as I round the corner and take the steps as fast as possible down into the garage where Ryder is standing over Tori who is pushed against her garage door. I slam my hand again the opener and the thing groans, pulling Ryder's attention away from the door long enough for Tori to scramble under and out. I slammed my hand on it so it stopped moving.

"Run!" I scream at her. Outside I can see her feet scramble away as Ryder spins on me. He looks terrifying and I turn and go back up the stairs, nearly tripping. I slam the door shut in his face and tear down the hallway to the second staircase, pausing to make sure he was following me before stumbling down the steps and toward the front door. I saw the blue flashing lights and paused as Ryder slammed into me, taking me down to the ground.

I kick him off of me as quick as I can, landing a blow on his cheek and another in the center of his chest, leaving him gasping for breath and me praying I didn't hit him on the wrong beat as I scrambled toward the door, "help!" I screamed. The cops descended on the house, screaming at Ryder to freeze and cuffing him before an EMT came in to bring me out to the ambulance to check me over.

Tori was outside talking to her dad, Trina and Holly hovering behind her with Gary, her dads ex-partner and her moms new boyfriend- waiting to make sure she was alright. I sat and let the EMT check my vitals and fix a minor scrape on my knee without any argument, watching Tori explain to her dad and his new partner what happened. She had a bandage on her knee, just under her eye, and her elbow.

The EMT bandaged up my leg, retook my vitals, checked my eyes and then let the cop take my statement. As soon as he was away I let out a sigh of relief, hopping out of the back of the ambulance and heading to my car. I grabbed my cigarettes out of the cup holder and found my lighter, taking a walk to the end of the driveway a bit away from the chaos.

I put the white stick between my lips and cupped my hand over it, spinning the stupid thing on the lighter twice before flame erupted. I held it to the end of the cigarette and inhaled a bit so it would catch and then set the lighter on top of the pack of cigarettes. I took a deep drag and held the cigarette between shaking fingers as I exhaled, closing my eyes. I rested my elbow on my knee and my head in my hand, taking slow drags from the cigarette as my nerves slowly died down and the shaking stopped.

"Jade?" Tori sounded close, and when I cracked my eye open she was standing nervously beside me. I put the cigarette out on the ground and set it on the pack, "I'm sorry…"

"Don't even apologize when it comes to your life being in danger, Tori." I tell her. She shifts on her feet and rubs her arm, "sit." I point to the curb next to me and she slowly drops herself down. She's shaking but it's just barely noticeable. I put my arm across her shoulder and pull her close. She drops her head on my shoulder and takes a deep breathe, wrapping her arms around me and burying her face in my neck.

I rub her shoulder and hum softly, holding her close to my side. A patrol car pulls away, followed by the ambulance. Tori's mom and sister are standing on the driveway while her father talks to his partner. Gary is with another officer looking at the door. I doubt anyone has noticed Tori and I aren't up there.

"Thank you." She whispers.

"Anytime." I kiss the top of her head and close my eyes, resting my cheek on the top of her head. We must sit there for ten minutes, one cigarette smoked for me and three songs hummed for Tori, before her father started frantically calling for her. We stand up slowly, me taking my cigarettes and jamming them into my back pocket, my arm still slung over Tori's shoulder as we walked up to them, her still holding onto me.

"Tori, why don't you go get inside, it's freezing out here. Jade, you too. Trina can find you something to wear." Miss Vega said, giving Trina a pointed look that was unnecessary since Trina was already heading into the house, waving us behind her.

"Jade, no cigarettes in my house." Holly calls. I pause at my car and toss them inside before Tori and I follow Trina upstairs. Tori goes into her room and I follow Trina into hers. She hands me a pair of shorts and a large shirt.

"Thanks, Trina." I comment, heading for the door.

"Jade." I turn, lifting an eyebrow in silent question, "hurt my sister and I'll kick your ass. And wash your damn feet, they're black."

"Will do." I say, stepping into the hallway. Tori was heading back into her room, but she paused to look at me.

"Go get comfortable. I'm going to wash up and change." She nods and walks into her room while I step into the bathroom. I peel off my shorts and fold them up, followed by my top and turn on their tub, grabbing someone's bottle of body wash before perching on the edge and washing my feet.

Rocks and glass are embedded in my feet from the road and whatever else I ran through to get to my car, and there are some punctures that are bleeding, but I've had worse in my feet. When I finish washing them I pull off my bra, drag the shirt over my head and shimmy into the shorts, taking my clothes with me into Tori's room.

"Got any socks, Tori?" I ask, she lifts her head from the phone and points to her dresser. I open the first drawer since I know that her socks are in their already and find two to slide onto my rather cold feet before I slip onto Tori's bed next to her. I put my head on her shoulder and look at her screen.

"Stay here for a few days?" Tori asks. I nod and put my arm around her back, dragging her closer; she settles back against me and sighs. I kiss the side of her head again and close my eyes, it's nearly four am, and I know we're not going to school tomorrow, which is a good thing because I know I'm not going to get much sleep with Trina snoring in the next room.