Disclaimer: Victorious is owned by Dan Schneider, who won't return my calls.

You've always liked Tori. Ever since you saw her at the Showcase. You could see that she was uncomfortable, and a little awkward, but you also saw how she shined, how, just for a minute, she was a star. You feel like you have that in common with her. That only when you're performing do you really come out, cast off your restraint. Not that you've ever had much restraint, exactly, but you can relate.

You were surprised at how she treated you. Sure, she looked at you like you were stupid sometimes, but most of the time she was pretty nice. You weren't used to that kind of treatment. All you had for comparison were the constant barbs from Jade and Rex. Sure, Robbie was nice, but you were pretty sure your eyes were a little further up from where he constantly looked. When Tori looks at you, it feels like she's really looking at you, like she sees you. It makes you a little skittish. You're not used to being looked at... not like that. You wish you were, because it makes you act strangely around her. Not that you're not strange usually, but you're even stranger with her. Sometimes you touch her too much, sometimes you won't touch her at all. You find yourself telling her things about you, but you can't ever seem to finish, and what sounded interesting in your head comes out strange and boring. It's those times that she gives you odd looks, but she never pushes you away.

Andre's just as nice as Tori. He even gave you a nickname. You like having a nickname, it makes you feel special. Not that being Cat isn't special, but sometimes it's a bad kind of special. Being Little Red makes you feel good special. He's just as nice as her... if not nicer, but you just don't like him as much. You don't get all flustered when you're around him. It's weird. You don't know why you don't like him as much. Or maybe you just like him in a different way.

Tori likes Beck. You know. You watch people, notice little things about them. It's part of what makes you a good actor – observation. You know that Jade knows too. It's funny, but you kind of feel what she feels. You see the face she makes when she sees them together, and it matches how you feel inside when you see it too. It's almost nausea.

You remember this one time, when you went with your family to Niagara Falls, and you played hide and seek with your brother, except he forgot and stopped looking, and you were stowed away in the boat for eight hours. At first it was sort of comforting, the swaying back and forth, but then you started to feel sick and all you could smell was mildew and you always felt damp. Tori made you feel like that sometimes. Like you were lost and seasick.

You snap back to attention. You drift off so easily, because there's so many paths a thought can take, and one path always leads to another, so that you get further and further away from where you started, and sometimes you get lost inside your own head, and you wish you had some breadcrumbs you could drop behind you. You're doing an improv exercise with Tori. You like doing little things like this with her. You feel like it's the one thing you know more about than her, although you don't really. She's already picking it up quicker than you. Everyone leaves you behind, but with her you're trying to stay ahead. Trying to stay useful.

"You ready Cat?" Tori says, looking at you carefully, and you get the feeling she's already said it a few times.

You nod, ready. It's an easy game. Tori says a word, and you say the first thing that comes into your head. Most of the time it's candy.

"Red."

Wait, you weren't ready. You were getting ready to get ready. It's not fair, and your tongue stumbles over itself to answer, saying the first thing that pops into your head. "Lips."

Tori nods, moving onto the next one. "Bite."

"Lips."

Tori raises her eyebrow but keeps going. "Sweet."

"Lips."

Tori bows her head, sighing, and you furrow your eyebrows in confusion. "Why'd we stop?"

"You're not supposed to say the same thing all the time Cat. It's not improvising if you do the same thing all the time."

It's not your fault that all that came into your head was lips. You were watching Tori's mouth say all those things, and you got a little distracted watching her lips shape the words, dropping them out in sweet little sound packages. "Oh. Okay." You've just got to try harder to not think of her lips.

"Ready?"

"Freddie!" You respond triumphantly. No lips at all! Well... you guess Freddie has lips, whoever he is.

Tori laughs. "Cat, we haven't started yet."

There's a silence as you wait. You purse your lips, starting to tap your foot. Eventually, it's just too much to bear. "Well? Have we started yet?" You blurt, getting worked up.

Tori looks back down to her sheet of paper, a little smile on her face like she was waiting for that to happen. "Okay. We're starting now."

You try to clear your mind, which is more difficult than people would think. It's pretty cluttered in there, it's just that most of it drifts around, and you can't really grab hold of anything. You look up, because it makes it easier to visualise a white wall, to picture clearing everything away.

"Wet."

"Skin."

"Brown."

"Hair." You frown for a moment, feeling this thing flutter in your stomach. You had chicken for lunch, but you're pretty sure it shouldn't be flapping around in there. You hope it's not.

"Butter."

"F-fingers." You can't help the images that pop into your head. They're innocent enough, but they're driving your chicken crazy.

"Hot."

"Body."

Tori's looking at you curiously, seeing you start to fidget, shifting in your seat.

"Slow."

"F-faster."

"Bump."

"Grind."

"Want."

"Need."

"Car."

"Touch."

"Plastic"

"Kiss."

Tori raises an eyebrow, but you're too distracted to notice, having a little difficulty breathing. You've always had a vivid imagination.

"Cat."

"Meow." You respond.

Tori shakes her head, "No, Cat... we're uh... we're done." She studies you, and you can't help but squirm a little. "Are you okay?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" You yell, indignant, and she jerks back, looking slightly panicked. You hate it when people try to get inside you. You never know if they're going to plant something in there. You don't like people in your head. It's too crowded already.

"Nothing... just... some of your answers were kind of weird, that's all."

"Oh." You feel relieved. You should know that Tori wouldn't try to get inside you. You feel a tickle up your spine at the thought, and it confuses you. It's not the meaning, you think, it's the words. Tori touches your knee gently, and it makes you jump. It's like a zap, and you wonder if she's wearing one of those buzzers on her hand. Or maybe she's a superhero, with lightning hands, but she doesn't know it yet, so she can't control it. You cover her hand with your own tentatively, because you don't like getting shocked, but you need to see, because if she's a superhero, you could be her sidekick. She's looking at you curiously, but she's not moving her hand away, and you start to think you were wrong, your face flushing. Maybe it's you. Maybe your superpower is the ability to store all your blood in your head, because that's the way it feels. You're pretty sure you're matching your hair by now, and it's all because Tori keeps looking at you. Why does she have to look at you? Her eyebrows are all narrowed, like she's trying to figure something out, and she looks a bit like your dad when he does sudoku, that little wrinkle above the bridge of her nose deepening in concentration. You move your hand away, but it doesn't help, she's still looking at you like you're a word that's on the tip of her tongue, but she can't quite find it. You don't want her to find it, you really, really don't, because once you solve a puzzle, you throw it away. You don't want to be thrown away. Or solved. You don't want to be a puzzle at all. You want to be a person.

You jump up, Tori's hand sliding off your knee, and then Tori's looking up at you, a question on her lips. You smooth out your skirt, smiling at her, but you're a little scared. You're too here. Usually there's a part of you that ticks away in another place. You're always somewhere else, and it was always somewhere you could hide when things got bad or scary. But you're here. You're too here with her, and there's nowhere to run to. You say a quick goodbye to Tori, and you're too here to even make an excuse, and she still has that wrinkle when you leave, and you wish she'd just leave it alone and not treat you like you were something. Nobody else looks at you that way. Nobody else tries to figure you out, and maybe it's for the best. What if they don't like what they find? It's better if you're tolerated, at least that's okay. It's better than being alone. It's better than being looked at like Tori looks at you. It's better than being here, and having your heart race every time she touches you. She makes you feel funny, and not in the good way. You've never had this happen before, never had your heart beat so fast for no discernible reason. You don't know why it's only her that does this to you, and you don't know why, when you get home, you put your hand on your knee and try to pretend her hand is still there, still touching you.

A/N: So here I am again, padding out the Cat/Tori pairing. Someone's gotta do it, and, if you guys are liking it, then I will continue to do so.

So please please please review, and show your appreciation for a less explored ship. Make your voice... uh.. type? Heard/read.

Also, let me know if you want a part two. I am more than happy to oblige, assuming you guys enjoy this part. And if you want more Cat/Tori fics in general, and you like my writing, let me know.

Also, am I the only one who thinks of Cacciatore Chicken when I hear Cat/Tori? Maybe I'm just hungry... O_o