Chapter twooo! (i'm writing this on my iPod-im at bandcamp right now..) please review! It makes me smile!

Oh, and I had a question about if they're all still the same age.. And yes, they're all still the same age, around 15-17, still in Hollywood Arts.

Cat curled into herself, holding her breath as glass hit the ground downstairs. She hoped, prayed that her parents would simmer down and return to being alright, just like they did every night. But something was different about tonight. It was more or less physical. Something told her that tonight, things wouldn't magically get better.

Her laptop was left open, just like every night. She often times played music through earbuds, which were planted into her ears now. Cat opened her eyes one last time to hear another cry of anger from her mother.

Things hadn't always been like this. Only since her brother moved out had her parents begun this pointless fighting. Once and a while, they'd have dinner together, but it always turned into another bottomless and one-sided argument. Cat had given up on trying to eat with everyone. If anything, she'd have a few carrots or a cereal bar when she came home, helping the hunger for a few hours. Even the cereal bars had over one hundred calories, which scared Cat. She was on a strict five-hundred calorie diet, which wasn't much, but losing weight fast seemed to be the only thing on her mind when she was home.

Are they done? Cat wondered, daring to sneak from her room to the stair well. Crash. No. There was her answer. Cat trudged back to her pink bedroom, wearing purple zebra print sweats and a tank top. It was hot in her house, but she enjoyed it. Outside, it was about thirty degrees, a temperature she wasn't used to seeing in the winter.

Cat jumped in her bed after closing her door and locking it. She giggled at a post on her profile, it was Andre asking if she wanted to hang out with the group in an hour, followed by a 'See you around, Red!'

She typed quickly, erasing the message a few times before finally clicking enter and posting her reply.

Cat Valentine: depends.. where are we hanging? hehe. :)

She sat cross-legged in the middle of her queen-sized bed, awaiting his reply. A smiley face always seemed to make it seem like she was in a good mood. Her brother used to tell her she seemed too serious over text message, which everyone knew she wasn't. Playful little Cat? Serious? Never.

Andre Harris: park. robbie can give u a ride if u want him to. u ok with that?

The thought of riding in Robbie's new car made Cat's heart thump quicker. She always had a sweet spot for Robbie, though she'd never admit that. Imagining all the times she's hugged him just made her want more. Cat giggled again, letting a real smile show for the first time in about a week.

Cat Valentine: I'll be ready!:)

Looking down at herself, Cat sprung from her bed, making her way downstairs to interrupt her parent's argument. She knew they were still fighting because she could hear the harsh words being whipped around. Anything to get out of this house.

Cat listened from afar for a few seconds, not believing a word she was hearing fly from their mouths. Tears in her eyes, she rushed to the kitchen, where she found them, across the table from one another, screaming at the top of their lungs.

"Guys, I'm going to the park with my friends in an hour,"

They payed no attention. I'll take that as an all-clear, Cat thought slowly as she made her way back to her bedroom for the second time in the hour. Checking the time, she found it was 5:12, and she had about forty minutes before Robbie would be there to pick her up. Changing her clothes, she put on a baggy knit shirt that read 'Love is the Answer' and some jeans, not bothering to fix her hair, which was down, freshly straightened.

She wondered what Robbie would think of her, this was the first time she'd be riding in the car, so close to him. His cologne would be filling the closed-in space, mesmerizing her.

Coming down the steps, she realized that her mother had left, the car not in the driveway anymore. Cat could hear her father's angry remarks from the kitchen, and decided that she'd be happier not listening to it. She opened the front door, only to be met by her father, who was now behind her, eyes baring into her back.

As a child, Cat had always wished that she'd ended up with her father's beautiful hazel eyes. Instead, she'd gotten her mothers tired and reckless-looking brown ones. She never thought she exactly looked right, a cat with brown eyes.

He huffed, the alcohol apparent in his breath. "Where are you going, kitty-cat?"

"I told you, Robbie is picking me up so I can hang out with my friends," Cat whispered back, trying to make it sound innocent, in which, it was innocent. Hanging out with her friends in specific was probably as innocent as it got.

"No. No, no, no!" He yelled, voice strangled with anger. "Your mother will be back soon! She's getting pizza!"

Scared, Cat's eyes dimmed. "Tori is bringing us some pizza, too," She lied smoothly, knowing Tori would only be bringing granola bars and chips.

Closing the door behind her, Cat's father dragged her by her left wrist back inside the house, which Cat officially didn't feel safe in anymore. He held her wrist so tight, she thought it would break, or burst. She cried out in pain, jerking away. "That hurt!"

"Cat, looking great as usual," Robbie said, closing his window. "You cold?"

"I'm alright, thank you," Cat replied, now wishing she could pull her sleeve over her wrist, which was still pulsing in pain from her father's grip. She didn't understand why her dad had pushed her, why would he do that?

Robbie pulled away from the curb, and after taking a deep breath, he turned his head and took in her apperance. Normally, she didn't wear jeans to school, so it was a nice change, compared to her dresses, skirts, shorts and capris.

He'd always thought Cat Valentine was beautiful. Even when she seemed to be at her worst, she still seemed to find the light in every situation.

After Cat didn't seem to want to talk, Robbie took another sneaky glance at her. "You seem down, what's wrong?"

Cat, who was now looking Robbie in the eye for the first time in weeks, shook her head wildly, her red hair pooling over her shoulers. "Oh no, everything's fine. I just had a fight with my parents. They're angry with me."

As Robbie stopped at the gas station and cut the engine to fill up his tank, he noticed a bruise on her arm, which bothered him for some wicked reason. He'd known Cat since they were both kids, so seeing her change for the first time in years, since she'd dyed her hair, made him uneasy.

As he came back to the driver's side and started up the car, Cat giggled."Robbie, where's Rex?"

Same old, same old. Relieved, Robbie replied, "Home. Because he's jealous I get to hang out with you."

Cat giggled again, catching back on to being herself. She, too, was relieved. "Really?"

"Of course," Robbie muttered as they drove down a residental road. "You keep things interesting, Cat. It's always fun around you."

He wondered how she didn't see this before, silently remembering the time when she'd brought her sack of Bibble to school, obsessing over it. Now that, was one of their best times. You know, next to the time when he sang for her. Or when they sang to Randy about getting three F's. Even the time when he dragged her to his grandma's apartment so he could set up the internet.

Parking, Robbie took the keys out of the ignition, running to the other side to open the door for Cat. He was met by bright brown eyes, which were happier than she'd been in weeks.

Unmoving, Cat whispered, "Hey, Robbie? Remember what we used to do as kids when our mothers brought us here?"

Chucking, Robbie thought back to ten years ago, when she was five, and he was seven. She would jump on his back, and they'd run around singing The Beatles' 'I Am The Walrus'. He began to walk away, motioning her to follow.

"Guess what?" Cat abruptly cried, running to catch up with him. She took a mid-jump and then wrapped her arms around his neck, legs around his waist. Robbie felt a moment of horror, but then felt her head next to his, on his shoulder.

It was a piggyback ride, sure. But Robbie was surprised to feel how easy she was to carry. Cat wasn't by any means large, in fact, she was teeny tiny. He guessed she was now around one hundred pounds, if that, way underweight for a fifteen-year old. Simply feeling her arms around him, made Robbie want to pull her around his front and just squeeze her close.

Cat, on the other hand, felt so high off the ground, she completely forgot about her bony ribs pressing against his back. She was enjoying herself too much to remember that he would be able to feel how unnaturally light she was. She was too centered on inhaling his scent, feeling his chuckles as he removed her legs which were latched around his waist, now giving her a proper piggyback ride.

As Jade, Tori, Beck and Andre came into their view, Robbie could already sense the smug smirk on Jade and Beck's faces. Of course they'd automatically think Cat and Robbie were a thing. Trina, who often times made herself comfortable with hanging with her little sister's friends, sat off to the side.

"Hey, guys!" Cat exclaimed, hopping down off of Robbie's back. Jade kept the smirk painted on her face. Tori and Andre just eyed one another, the new couple still stuck in the honeymoon phase.

"You two are late," Trina said, an impatient smile on her face. "Cat, why didn't you just drive?"

Cat, being the youngest of the group, only had her temps at this point. She couldn't have driven herself. The only person she'd honestly told her age to Robbie, Andre, Beck, and Tori. The subject never came up. "Because I can't drive yet," Cat replied, twirling a piece of red hair in her fingers. "I'm only fifteen years old."

Trina laughed louder than necassary, throwing her head back. Cat stared, confused as to why this was funny. Nobody else seemed to be laughing. She sat cross-legged with Robbie in the circle of friends, waiting for a joke.

Then, Cat understood. "I started school early!" Cat roared, followed by a small giggle. "My parents started me when I was four because they thought I needed to be smarter." Another smile.

And boy, was Robbie excited! He'd seen her go down into a dark place, and then rise back up, her normal bubbly self again. He said next to her, so close that their sides had almost been touching.

Trina only nodded, watching the red-headed girl bring all of her hair over to one side, toying with it as Tori chucked a small bag of chips at each one of Cat, who panicked from the thought that she'd have to eat all of this in front of them. She could always use the excuse 'I ate before I came', but would anyone believe it? In particular, it was Robbie that Cat was worried about. He'd know.

"I uh—" At the last second, her pear phone rang. Thanking the lord, Cat stood up and answered it, walking slowly out of earshot. It was her mother.

"Cat, where are you?"

"Hi, Mom. I'm at the park with a few friends. Trina is here, too." For some reason, her mother seemed to trust Trina of all people in the group.

"Come home, right now," Her mother snarled. "And I mean it. You're in big trouble!"

"I told you that I was leaving, though! You and Dad were too busy yelling at each other!" Cat replied, overwhelmed by the fact her mother was now yelling again. Yelling always did make Cat uncomfortable, she hated it when someone argued loudly with someone else.

She could hear her mother sigh on the other end, trying to calm her sudden anger."Come home."

"It's four miles," Cat began to say, before hearing a click on the other end, and a dialtone. Lifting her eyebrows, Cat once again wanted to crawl in a hole and hide there.

Stuffing her phone back in her pocket, Cat walked back over to her friends, explaining that she had to go home, that her mother was angry with her again.

"Let me drive you," Robbie said, getting ready to stand up. "It's going to get dark soon."

"No, have fun. I'm just going to go—" She didn't finish, walking away from everyone.

Robbie reached out and held her wrist, the one with bruises. Cat cried out, her legs almost turning to jelly. She turned around to face a worried Robbie. He could clearly see the fingers that had wrapped around her in a brutal way, in the bruise. But he didn't bring it up. He only traded her wrist for her hand. "I'm sorry. I won't do it again."

Cat felt something inside her chest almost explode. Robbie Shapiro had been holding her hand. And felt bad about hurting her. Once more, she jumped up and wrapped her arms around his neck, this time, pulling him into a hug.

He complied, his arms pressing her into his chest as her head rested on his shoulder. He could feel her chest rising and falling in sync to his own. Robbie pulled away first, "Are you alright?"

Cat nodded slowly. She seemed to hesitate to respond. "I'm okay." Robbie led her to his car, and they only parted to get inside.

The ride was silent. "Thank you, Robbie," Cat said as he pulled up in front of her house. She didn't seem to want to leave, but surely enough opened the door, and the first thing that they both heard was glass hitting the ground. "I should go."

"Cat!" He yelled after her, cutting the engine and quickly locking his car doors as he followed close to her, watching the door open. There, they both stood, watching the two parents, who were now screaming at one another again. He swore he'd seen Cat wince, but he didn't want to stay to watch this. One thing was for sure: Cat couldn't possibly have been safe here.

Without thinking, Robbie blurted, "Maybe you should stay with me tonight."

endnote: because robbie cares too much about cat.

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