Hey :)

I found a moment or so to write the next chapter, but just a warning, as soon as this chapter is posted, this fic goes back on hiatus, because I really don't have much time, with having school and swim team and homework and still trying to find time to write my OC story.

Okay, so about how long this story will end up being….at first I thought it would be a one-shot when I first went to start typing the first chapter, but then by the time I was done with the first chapter I realized I couldn't just leave it like that. Then I thought, okay, five chapters. Then I thought, maybe more like fifteen.

Now I have made myself stick to around ten. No more changing my mind XD

My authors notes just get longer and longer :P Sorry. Now, on with the story!

"So should we skip to meet her earlier?" Andre asked the group as they sat down to lunch, half an hour until noon, when Kitty said they could meet her in the park.

Their other option was waiting until after school to meet them at her old house.

"Well, I'm going now." Robbie said. Usually, Robbie Shapiro would be the absolute last of the group to skip school. But, this was Cat, so he made an exception. He hadn't taken well to how she's changed, but commented on her name that morning. 'So what if she wants us to call her Kitty? A rose by any other name would still smell as sweet.'

Tori had thought that was the sweetest thing she'd ever heard the boy say, but Jade just rolled her eyes.

The group nodded in agreement, everyone getting up and walking off to the parking lot. They piled into Andre's Jeep, leaving Beck's truck at school.

The Jeep was filled with silence as the teens arrived at the park to see red hair swishing from one of the swings.

Her brother pushed her as she laughed a Cat-like laugh, and Tori saw why Kitty chose to be with her brother, even though he and his friends did some not so great things. She'd never had that. Never had that real family, never had someone to push her on the swings.

Kitty got off the swings as she saw the group get out of the car. Today, it was just her and Jonas, no Jenni, no Kevin or James.

She was wearing a red halter top with black shorts. She had red lipstick on her lips again, with more heavy eyeliner. The only thing different was that she seemed more like the old Cat they thought they knew. Maybe it was just this town that was drawing her back to the old game of playing pretend. Or maybe it was that she never had to work too hard to pretend. Maybe that happy, air-headed girl was always somewhere in there.

The group sat under a group of Weeping Willows. Kitty sat with her legs crossed and Jonas lay on his back. The rest of the gang sprawled out beside them in the soft grass. It was as green as Kitty's hair was red.

She didn't announce this time that she was going to start the next part of her story, she just started talking.

It was the next day when I realized that Jonas was what I had been looking for. We'd had a long talk that night at the club, some alcohol involved, but we both still remembered it clearly. He told me what he'd been up to, even about how he googled me once….which I had to laugh at. Apparently I used to go by Catarina back when I was younger. Catarina Hollace. But everything online was about the murder. If he'd looked under Cat Valentine, maybe he would have been the one to find me…

Kevin and James had just started calling me Kitty right off the bat. Soon enough, I would find myself responding to that like it was my actual name. So I made it my name.

I can remember the second month I was with them….it was the month I moved into their apartment. Usually, I would take part in their activities. I would drink with them basically every day, sneak into clubs when I had to. A few times I woke up in some random stranger's bed. We never did drugs, except for at a few parties Jenni's sister threw.

I wouldn't do the stealing.

I would always ask myself if shoplifting was…me.

And it wasn't.

But then I realized I didn't really know who I was. That was the whole reason for me running away was to find myself, and maybe somehow these people could help me do that.

So I did what they did.

I stole, drank, stole, fucked, drank, stole, smoked, drank, partied, lied, and even got arrested for a week or something for DUI.

I still do that.

But even though it sounds stupid of me to do that….I started living.

I can remember one night on the freeway, on the back of Kevin's motorcycle….

My hair was blowing in the wind, and maybe it was the alcohol, but I realized I was happy. Some extremely fucked up kind of happy, but genuinely, simply, happy.

That has been my life since the day I found my brother. I know I'm not the same. I guess I have a lot of layers, like that onion metaphor or…whatever.

I can't help but wonder sometimes how I would be right now if my family had never been killed….

But a week before the anniversary of my leaving, I saw a girl who looked a lot like Tori in our favorite club, Poison Dart.

And I started thinking about my old home.

What did everyone think happened to me? I'd never seen a missing person's report on TV. And I did say I'd come back one day.

So I told Jonas I needed to come back.

Just for a little while.

"And honestly….this is going to be the last time you'll ever see me." Kitty said as she ended her story.

She did what she promised, she came back, but…she never said she'd stay.

"Jenni, Kevin and James are already on their way back. When we get done talking, Jonas and I are leaving too. I just needed you guys to know that I will never forget how you were there for me. You'll never know how much you've all helped me."

The group sat with deadpan expressions. No one had anything to say. They were at a loss for words.

Maybe they never knew any part of Cat. Maybe it was best that she live her life as Kitty Hollace…

But then some-one made a split second decision.

Jonas looked across the street to the convenience store, busy with customers.

He nodded to his sister.

"Hey, Kitty. Can you go over and get me some smokes? I wanna thank your little friends here." He said.

Kitty nodded and walked off. The gang watched her until she disappeared through the doors, and then they turned to Jonas.

"Look. I don't know you guys. But I do know how happy you made Cat." He said.

Everyone seemed a little shocked to hear him call her that. But he just shook his head and went on.

"Ever since we came to this town, for the two short days we've been here, she's been different. I don't think she notices the change in herself, but I have. So….I want you guys to take care of her again. I'm going to leave without her, and I need you guys to promise me you'll help her find who she really is. Not Kitty, not even necessarily the Cat that you knew. Help her find Catarina Hollace…..

Look. I love my sister. I wish so much that I could be there for her. But the kind of life that I live….it isn't for her. I don't want that for her. I understand she's extremely talented, and I want her to be successful. If you were to ask me why I live this way, I couldn't give you a straight answer, and I know she couldn't either. The difference is that she still has a chance to change. I'm no good for her. So just promise me, promise me. Promise that you'll look after her." Jonas said. He was almost begging them. If the young man would have allowed himself, he would have broken down and cried. But he had to leave before Cat came out of the store.

Jade looked up at him. "And just what makes you so sure that she won't drive off after you again?" she said quietly; soberly.

Jonas stuck his hand in his pocket and pulled out a messy, crumpled sheet of paper with surprisingly neat writing on it.

"Give her this. I promise she'll stay. Just make her read it, and just please, protect her from herself." He said sadly. He looked up at the sky, down at the grass, and then walked to his motorcycle.

Just as he was about to drive off, Robbie spoke up.

"Hey Jonas!" He yelled.

The rough boy looked up.

"We promise!" Robbie yelled.

He nodded, and if the gang had been close enough, they would have seen a tear roll down his cheek.

And then he was gone.

The gang turned towards eachother. And, without looking down, just like in one of those cheesy movies, they all joined hands.

A moment later, they were sitting back on the grass, and Cat, stripped of her name by her brother, walked out of the store.

"Hey, sorry, there was a damned line-" she said, and then looked around.

"Hey…..where's Jonas?" She asked.

Tori exchanged a look with each group member. The note was in her hand. No one said a word.

With one look at Cat, Tori saw that the girl already knew what was going on. Maybe it was their silence that gave it away, maybe the fact that Jonas and his bike were nowhere in sight.

And by the time Tori walked over to the girl to give her the note, Cat Valentine, Kitty Hollace, whatever name she took, was on her knees sobbing; tears dripping into her blood-stained hair.

Okay! We still have a few more chapters to go! Like, five. This story is back on hiatus, as I'm still really busy.

I feel really proud of this chapter, and I want to know what you guys think.

Please answer one (or all) of these questions in a review:

-How did you like this chapter? Rate it on a scale of one to ten.

-What has been your favorite chapter so far?

-How many more chapters do you think there should be?

-What do you think will happen next?

Thanks! I appreciate everyone reading :)

The more you review the more inspired I am to make time in my genuinely busy schedule to write XD

(PS: To whoever had the house number 1621, that is super ironic XD)