AN: Hello, first time fanfic writer here! I've been reading fics obsessively for quite some time now. I would love to hear what you think!

It's not unusual for Jade West to be woken up in the middle of the night by the shrill ringing of her phone at least twice a week. It's always a frantic Robbie Shapiro. And Jade always answers, despite Beck's hesitation. This time it was late, 3:44 in the morning to be exact. Cat's meltdowns are increasing and Jade's beginning to worry herself into exhaustion. She barely sleeps as it is since little Lucy Oliver was born six and a half months ago.

"Babe, don't," Beck tries to tell his girlfriend sleepily, rolling over to place a protective hold around her waist. He, however, fails. "Jade…"

Jade dismisses Beck with a wave and fumbles for the PearPhone on her cluttered nightstand. Beck sighs into the soft pillow and listens as Jade mumbles into her phone, promising she'll be there soon. Beck sits up and adjusts his eyes to the bright light when Jade throws the lamp to look for her shoes.

"Jade, this is the third time this week," Beck begins uneasily. He runs a hand through his tangled hair and sighs. "You need to let Robbie deal with Cat. He's her fiancé."

Per usual, Jade rolls her eyes and slips on her jacket. She's still not too keen on the idea that her best friend is engaged. Cat's only twenty. But then again, Jade had a baby at twenty and has no room to judge.

"He's obviously not doing a good job," Jade snips. She glances at the clock and tries not to yawn. "If I'm not back before the baby wakes up…"

"Jade," Beck begins with a smile. "I know what to do."

"Right," Jade mumbles, leaning on the bed to kiss Beck's lips. "I'll be back."

"Good luck," Beck says encouragingly. He rubs Jade's forearm and looks at her sympathetically. The worry is written all over her face. "Hey," he adds in softly. "It will be okay. You always know what to do."

Jade just nods and kisses Beck one more time, gingerly stepping out into the hall so she doesn't wake up the baby. The past year had been a whirlwind. Between getting pregnant and Cat's engagement, it was a lot to take in. But she was accustomed to the routine now. Lucy was an easy baby and though she was a surprise, both Jade and Beck took to parenting pretty well. It even softened Jade's personality a bit. She was less...mean and more loving. Except when it came to Robbie. She still yelled at him on a daily basis.

She's thankful Robbie and Cat only live a few blocks away. The only light on in their condo complex is theirs. Jade softly shuts her car door and trudges up to the front door. She grabs the spare key from under the mat and pushes the door open. Robbie is pacing all around the living room, muttering to himself.

"You're here!" Robbie cries out in relief. "What took you so long?"

Jade crosses her arms. "I was sleeping!"

"She's hiding under the bed again," Robbie fills Jade in mournfully. "I can't get her to come out. She thinks I'm trying to hurt her."

"Did you try playing pirates with her?"

Robbie shivers at the venom in Jade's voice. "No!" he protests. "We were sleeping and all of a sudden she shot up and started screaming."

Jade doesn't want to hear it anymore. "Stay here," she commands, wandering down the hall to Cat and Robbie's room. She can hear Cat's small whimpering almost immediately. "Cat?" she says softly. "Come out."

"No!" Cat continues to whimper. "No!"

"Don't make me come under there," Jade threatens in her "mom" voice. It usually works but Cat's not listening. With no choice, Jade bends down and lifts the bed skirt up gently so she doesn't scare her friend. "What are you doing?"

Cat, whose face is buried in a bunch of stuffed animals, shakes her head. "Robbie was trying to hurt me!"

"What?" Jade says in confusion. "How?" Cat just shakes her head and starts to cry into her multi-colored unicorn pillow pet. "Cat," she whispers. "You love Robbie. He's your fiancé, remember?"

"No!" Cat continues to cry. She starts to writhe all around under the bed. "He was pushing me on the swing and I told him it was too high! But he wasn't listening. He kept pushing and pushing and I fell off and hurt my head."

Jade doesn't know whether to laugh or cry. Lately, it's the latter. She maneuvers herself under the bed next to Cat. "You were dreaming, Cat."

Cat starts to protest but when she realizes Jade's right, she squeaks. "So I didn't hurt my head?"

"Nope," Jade says reassuringly. She playfully inspects Cat's head before ruffling her greasy red hair. It looks like Cat hasn't showered in days. "It's fine."

"Oh phooey," Cat pouts. "Robbie is going to hate me!"

Jade shakes her head and rubs Cat's shoulder. "He won't."

"He will," Cat sniffles. "He will! This is the third time this week. Everything is so confusing sometimes, Jade!" She clenches her eyes shut and kicks her heels against the carpeted floor. "Make it stop!"

Jade's at a loss for words. She's watched her best friend fall from grace over the past few months. She knows Cat's family has a history of mental illness. She knows all the signs; Cat's brother had them clearly.

"Why don't you come stay with me," Jade suggests quickly. Cat's tears are quick to dry and she's squealing. "Pack some clothes and I'll go talk to Robbie."

She rolls out from underneath the bed and watches Cat talk to her stuffed animals before gently placing them on the rumpled bed. Jade bites her lip and slowly makes her way back to the living room.

"Is she okay?" Robbie asks fearfully. He sighs in relief when Jade nods.

"It was just a dream," Jade whispers. She knows she has two minutes to talk to Robbie before Cat bounds out of the bedroom. "Have you taken her to the doctor?"

Robbie crosses his arms. "There's nothing wrong with her, Jade."

"Yes there is," Jade hisses. "Robbie, open your eyes. She's-"

"Don't," Robbie cuts in. He steps closer to Jade and stares her down.

Before Jade can argue back, Cat skips into the room and attaches herself to Jade's side. She's avoiding Robbie's concerned eyes. "Ready, Jadey," she whispers, tugging on her best friend's hand childishly.

"Where are you going?"

"I'm going to stay with Jade and Beck and Lucy!" Cat announces brightly. "Can we bake red velvet cupcakes when we get home? Oh, I want to play with Lucy!"

"No!" Jade yells tiredly. "We're going to sleep when we get home."

Cat's bottom lip curls into a pout when she knows there's no use in arguing. She looks up at Robbie shyly. "I'll, I'll see you in a few days."

Jade watches Robbie's face freeze. She knows she has to eventually step back and let Robbie take over but there's a part of her that can't. She can't let her best friend go. The thought of someone else taking care of Cat scares her. She's been doing it since the first grade. No one knows Cat better than Jade. Robbie's fine and all but Jade watches how frustrates he gets when Cat acts like a seven-year-old. How tense he gets when Cat starts to freak out because they're out of her favorite ice cream flavor at the local Freezy Queen. He can't handle her sometimes.

"Bye," Robbie says robotically. He turns away when Cat tries to kiss him and stalks off down the hall to the bedroom.

Cat twists the small engagement ring on her finger and continues to pout as Jade leads her out of the condo. The short ride home is silent and Jade's thankful when she finds Cat fast asleep once she pulls in her driveway. She has no energy to carry Cat in and Beck's going to have a fit when she wakes him up to grab Cat from the car. Jade looks at Cat and smiles at how innocent she looks with her face buried in her unicorn pillow. It was a gift from Robbie.

Jade quietly climbs out of the car and heads inside. She sees the light on in the kitchen and finds Beck cradling Lucy in his arms. The littlest Oliver is fussy, but contently sucking on her purple and pink pacifier.

"Everything okay?" Jade asks in concern.

Beck just nods sleepily. "I think she just has gas."

Jade crinkles her nose and holds her arms out. "Give me."

"How's Cat?" Beck asks, holding Lucy to his chest. He's not ready to give her up just yet.

"She's sleeping in the car," Jade says sheepishly. "Can you go get her?"

"No," Beck whines with a yawn. "You get her."

"I don't want to," Jade whines back, her hand rubbing Lucy's back. "I want my baby!"

Beck finally relinquishes the baby and kisses Jade's forehead. "You're lucky I love you."

Jade knows how lucky she is. She rocks Lucy back and forth gently, watching her little green eyes flutter shut. Her dark hair is currently all over the place and Jade can't help but smooth it down. There are days she wishes she was a kid again. Lucy was so lucky; she had no worries and Jade envies her for that. Lucy doesn't have to worry that her best friend might be ill. Lucy doesn't have to worry that her best friend is rapidly losing touch with reality day by day. All Lucy has to worry about is her two parents taking the best care of her.

Back and forth, back and forth. Jade continues rocking her baby long after Beck comes in with Cat and carries her to the guest bedroom upstairs. She rocks Lucy for another ten minutes until Beck comes downstairs worriedly.

"Are you coming to bed?"

Jade shakes her head back to reality. "Yeah, yeah. Let me get her back in the crib and check on Cat."

"Cat's fine," Beck says reassuringly. He slips his hand up the back of Jade's pajama shirt and splays his fingers across the small of her back. "Promise."

Jade takes Beck's word and follows him up the stairs. She gently lowers Lucy back into the crib and kisses her forehead, letting her lips linger to let her daughter know how much she loves her. She can't help but wonder if Mrs. Valentine showed more affection for Cat how different she'd turn out. But when Beck's arms encircle her waist, she forgets all about Cat and allows her boyfriend to drag her back to bed. Once they get settled, Jade nestles herself into Beck's arms and grips his ratty old t-shirt tightly.

"I'm scared, Beck," Jade finally admits when the darkness engulfs them. It's nearing five in the morning and Lucy's usually up by 6:30.

Beck just holds Jade tight and nuzzles his face in Jade's hair. "I'm here, babe," he promises. Cat means everything to Jade and he knows how much it's killing her to see Cat struggle. "It will all be okay."

Jade lets Beck's reassurance lull her to sleep. She doesn't loosen her grip on him until she hears Lucy cry nearly two hours later. Beck tells her to keep sleeping even though he was filming all day yesterday. It's her day to get up with the baby.

She can't find the willpower to get out of bed until it's almost ten o'clock.

The house seems silent. Still, even. Jade descends down the stairs and finds Cat and Lucy laying on their stomachs on the floor watching some cartoon Jade vaguely recognizes. Cat too absorbed in the TV to notice Lucy curiously inspecting Mr. Purple and drooling all over him.

"Morning, Jade!" Cat chirps like nothing is wrong. "We're watching TV!" She turns to Lucy and gasps. "Lucy Goose! You drooled all over Mr. Purple!"

Jade just smirks and continues on to the kitchen. Beck's pouring himself a cup of coffee and just as he's about to drink it, she swoops in and steals it. "Thanks," she grins, kissing his cheek. "How long have they been up?"

Beck just shrugs and grabs another mug. "I don't know but Cat's been watching Lucy all morning. I even took a little nap," he boasts proudly. "You owe me."

"Alright, Oliver," Jade rolls her eyes, reveling in the scent of coffee. "Vega's supposed to be coming over in a few hours so we can work together on her stupid song."

"You agreed to do the duet," Beck reminds her with a goofy smile.

"Oh, take her side!" Jade guffaws, glaring at her boyfriend. "I'm only doing this for the money. And because Vega begged me. I actually felt kinda bad. She got down on her knees and everything."

"You enjoyed every second of it."

"I know," Jade mutters into the coffee cup. "Can you drop Lucy off at my mom's before you go to your photo shoot? I promised she could have her for the day."

Beck gives Jade a thumbs up. "Yes, master. Anything else?"

"Yeah, don't pose shirtless this time. I don't need teenaged girls fantasizing about you while they're discovering their hormones."

"I can't help it," Beck brags, grabbing Jade's hand before she has the chance to slap him across the chest. He snakes his arms around her waist and pulls her close. "Promise me you'll relax today."

Jade scowls but begrudgingly agrees. "Fine," she pouts.

Beck tickles her sides before pulling away. He feels kind of bad about prying Lucy away from Cat. Cat's clearly enthralled with the baby and Lucy's really fond of Cat. She's amazed by her bright red hair and loves tugging on it every chance she gets.

"Say 'Cat,' Luc!" Cat coaxes in a baby voice. "C'mon, baby! Say my name!"

"She can't talk, Cat," Beck chuckles, sitting on the couch.

"How do you know?" Cat counters matter-of-factly.

"I just do," Beck argues childishly. "Alright, surrender the baby, Red. I need to get her dressed so I can bring her to Jade's mom's for the day."

Cat juts out her bottom lip. "But we're having so much fun!"

"She'll be back," Beck promises, settling Lucy on her hip. He makes a funny face at his daughter and beams when she giggles wildly. "How's my favorite girl in the world doing? Huh?"

Cat grins, watching Beck rub his nose against Lucy's. "I thought Jade was your favorite girl in the world?"

"She is," Beck says, clearly distracted with Lucy. "I can have more than one."

"Am I one of your favorite girls in the world?" Cat asks with widened eyes. She pets Mr. Purple and frowns when he's all wet with baby drool.

"Of course," Beck looks down at Cat, noticing the apprehension in her eyes. He holds his free arm out and cuddles Cat into his side when she gets up. She holds on tight and breathes his signature cologne.

The moments over when Lucy's chubby hand latches on to Cat's hair. The little redhead squeals and pulls away with a giggle. "Someone's jealous."

Beck pats Lucy's back and gently untangles her tight grip on Cat's hair. Cat smiles at him thankfully and disappears into the kitchen. Jade's alternating between sips of coffee and spoonfuls of Special K cereal. Cat pours herself a bowl and sits across from Jade at the kitchen table.

"You want to tell me what's going on?" Jade questions softly. She pushes away her bowl and watches Cat stare deeply into hers. "Cat," she presses on, knowing Cat's avoiding the question. "Caterina!"

Cat snaps her head up. "Whaty?"

It takes all of Jade's strength not to bang her head on the table. "What's going on with you, baby girl?"

Cat's face crumbles at Jade's special nickname for her. She only uses it when she's really concerned. "I don't want to tell you."

Jade reaches across the table and grabs Cat's hands. "You can tell me anything."

"I know," Cat mumbles. She bites her bottom lip and finally wills herself to look up at her best friend. "Promise you won't get mad?"

"Promise." Jade's ready for the big revelation. She's ready to hear why Cat's been acting the way she is.

Cat closes her eyes and takes a deep breath. "I don't think I love Robbie anymore."

It wasn't what Jade was expecting to hear.