Hi guys, how are you all? :) Here's a Victorious one-shot (a Bat fanfic) and I really hope you guys like it. Thank you for reading! ^_^

Please comment/review and let me know what you think of it, I would greatly appreciate it, thank you!

I OWN NOTHING; I DO NOT OWN VICTORIOUS.

"Every Rose Has Its Thorn"

. . .

"We come to love not by finding a perfect person, but by learning to see an imperfect person perfectly." –Sam Keen

. . .

Cat Valentine curls herself up in a small ball underneath her pink covers on her bed. She snakes her arm out beneath her blanket to grab her worn out stuff animal of a pink giraffe off the nightstand beside her bed. She pulls her stuff animal under the blanket and holds it tightly in her small arms.

Warm tears roll down the redheaded girl's cheeks as she buries her face in her pillow. She takes shaky breaths of air as she silently sobs, her body trembling with every cry that leaves her body.

On the clock that is on her nightstand, it reads 7:00A.M. This would be the third day in a row that Cat hasn't gone to school. She has kept herself locked away in her bedroom, never leaving unless to use the bathroom- not even for food.

Words that a group of kids said to her on Friday reply in her head, the kids' laughing faces flashing right before her eyes:

Stupid

Worthless

Baby

Ugly

Nasty

Useless

Loser

Immature

Hopeless

Pathetic

Idiot

Nothing

Smelly

Childish

Waste of space

Can't do anything right

Everyone hates you-

"Stop! Cat yells as she slams her small fists against her head as if trying to push all the thoughts out of her head. She is hoping it would make all the bad memories go away and leave her be, but it doesn't. She squeezes her eyes shut, praying the images of the flashback would disappear, but she can still clearly see the group of teenagers standing right in her face, laughing and making fun of her. A loud sob escapes passed her lips as she whispers, "Please… s-stop. Please…"

Cat's fingers get lost in her hair as she yanks hard, pulling strands of red, velvet hair out of her head. She tries so hard to block everything bad out of her head, but no matter how hard she tries, the memories stay in her head, haunting her and reminding her. Her blood pressure is high as her heart rate quickens as she begins hyperventilating. She can't catch her breath- she feels her throat growing sore as it begins to close on her, blocking the air from entering her lungs.

Her entire life, Cat was brought up to be kind, to do the best she can, and never hate anyone. She was brought up to see the bright side of things, even when there is just pure darkness surrounding her. She was lovable and caring- kind to everyone, whether they deserved it or not. She always put people before her, thinking about everyone else before taking the time to worry or take care of herself- she was a people pleaser. She learned to always forgive, but never forget.

And right now, all she wants to do is forget, but she can't.

She doesn't understand why those group of teenagers would pick on her, call her names, and practically bully her. She didn't do anything to them- she was just minding her own business, skipping down the hallway, heading towards her locker.

She was happy then, beaming like a small child does on Christmas Day when they open up all their presents, that was until she was backed into a corner by a group of seniors and bullied. No one actually hit her or laid a finger on her. However, what they said to her hurt her more than any punch could.

Cat stayed in bed, constantly thinking about all her flaws, the entire day. She couldn't fall asleep- she just lied there, watching the minutes on her clock go by until it reached 3:00P.M.

All the way upstairs, locked in her bedroom, she can hear a loud knock on the front door downstairs. She wipes her tears away with the back of her hand and sniffs as she swallows hard. She shakes her head and chooses to ignore the knock and hope that whoever it is would go away.

When she hears the knock again, she rolls her bloodshot eyes and groans, "Go away!" However, they don't, they just continue to knock on the door, each knock growing louder, until Cat gives in.

The redhead gets out of bed slowly, wearing a hot pink tank top and matching pink shorts, and begins heading to the door. She stares down at her bare feet the whole time until she reaches downstairs.

Cat drags herself to the front door and unlocks it before swinging it open, narrowing her eyes at whoever it was at the door. It takes her a few seconds for her mind to register who the person is, standing there.

She blinks away the tears in her eyes so she can have a better look of who is standing there with a frown on their face. Once the blurriness is gone and her watery eyes can see clearly again, the corners of her lips fall, "Beck?"

"Hey," He greets as he folds his arms across his chest, his eyebrows furrowing together, "where've you been, Cat?"

"You're here alone?" She asks instead, folds her own arms across her chest as she hugs her body, biting down on her lower lip.

Beck nods his head and raises an eyebrow at her, "Yeah, no one else even knows I'm here." He looks down at the redhead, realizing immediately the fragile state she is in and the way the dried tears are stained on her cheeks. "Cat, what's going on? Can I come in?"

"I'm sorry," She quickly says, shaking her head without ever meeting his eyes, "I have to go." She goes to shut the door, but before she can, he sticks his foot in the doorway and pushes the door open.

Cat's eyes grow wide, but after a second they narrow at him, "What do you think you're doing, Beck? I don't want to see or talk to anyone right now!" She spins around, leaving the door open as she starts heading up the stairs and towards her room.

Beck shakes his head and walks inside the house, shutting the door behind him. He takes a deep breath, staring up the staircase until making his decision, and heading up the stairs, and straight to Cat's bedroom.

He opens the closed pink door with a small red rose painted in the center and walks inside the room, closing it behind him. He looks over at Cat, who is curled up in a small ball, lying on her bed. "Cat…"

"Beck, please," She begs as she tries so desperately to hold in her tears, but failing terribly, "please, just go. I want to be alone, okay?"

Instead of listening to his friend, he walks over to her bed, and sits down, having one leg on the bed and the other resting on the floor. "I'm not going anywhere." He finally says, his dark, chocolate brown eyes locking with Cat's, "Not until I know what's wrong and why you haven't left your house. The last time you came to school was Friday and you left early that day- you left after fourth period. Now, it's Wednesday. What's going on?"

The redhead stays silent for a few moments before sucking in a deep breath and shrugging one shoulder. "I'm a failure."

Beck's eyebrows knit together in confusion as he tries to understand what she just said. A failure? Where did that just come from? He shakes his head, "Where are you getting this from? Cat, you're anything, but a failure."

"Oh? Okay, fine." She says bitterly as she stands up, walking to her window and staring out at the trees that sway with every strong breeze of wind that passes by, "How about worthless? Pathetic? Stupid? Immature? Choose which ever one summarizes me the best, Beck!"

Anger burns in her eyes as she spins around to glare at him, "I'm nothing! Don't you see it? Everyone thinks so and it finally took me this long to realize how many flaws I have. I'm such a horrible person…"

"A horrible person?" Beck asks, making sure he heard her right. "What are you talking about? Cat! You're literally the opposite of a horrible person. Who put this stuff in your head all of a sudden?"

"Yeah, because it's not like I can actually think for myself because I'm just that dumb." She harshly snaps at him, making him barely recognize who she is anymore.

He takes a step towards her, but she takes a step back from him in the same movement, "Cat, you're not acting like yourself. What happened to you? Usually you're all happy, bubbly, and cheery. You never put yourself down like this or snap at your friends."

Cat stares at him with hard, cold eyes- a look he has ever seen in her usual bright, shining eyes. She swallows around the lump that suddenly formed in her throat and she shakes her head, a tear sliding down her cheek. "On Friday a group of kids corned me by my locker. They… they started making fun of me- calling me names and making me feel like I was nothing… a worthless waste of space."

"Hey! What are you talking about? What the hell did those jerks say to you? Why didn't you tell any of us and-" Beck begins saying, but Cat quickly cuts him off, "Because! I knew you would act this way- all of you would. I just… I just had to find some alone time. I needed to be away from everyone and really think about who I am. Now, well, I do. Those kids were right, Beck… I'm dumb, ugly, annoying, immature, and-"

"No, you're not." It was Beck's turn to cut her off now. "None of that is true! I don't care what those morons have to say. They had no right to corner you and say those things to you. You want me to tell you who Caterina Ariana Valentine is? I'll tell you. She's kind, the most beautiful woman in this world, caring, always looking out for others, and a wonderful friend. She's a smart girl who can act childish at times, but where's the fun in life if you don't act like that once in a while? She's always cheering people up, even when she going through her own stuff. She puts everyone else ahead of her and takes care of them before taking care of herself first. You're an amazing person, Cat."

Another tear rolls down her cheek as she stares speechlessly at her best friend in front of her, only a few inches away. She looks down at her feet and tries to find the right words to say, but comes up with nothing. Instead, she whispers, "I have so many flaws, Beck. So many things wrong with me… no wonder no one likes me. No wonder people make fun of me and laugh at me."

"Cat," Beck says in a quiet, gentle voice as he cups her cheek in his hand, "have you ever heard of the saying 'every rose has its thorn'? Roses are beautiful, but there isn't a rose that doesn't have a thorn. The rose isn't perfect without having at least a few flaws. Think yourself as the rose- a beautiful woman, very close to perfect, but the thorns make you a human being- those thorns are your flaws." He stares into her eyes and sighs, "No one is perfect and that's okay. Cat, every single person in this world has flaws- if they didn't, I'd be and everyone else would be worried for them."

"Our flaws make us individuals and special. Hey, I may sound cliché or whatever, but to me, I don't see any serious flaws that make you such a horrible person. You're an angel." He grins down at her, "To me, you're perfect. You have Tori, Jade, Robbie, and Andre too. You're not alone and those kids who said those things to you, they obviously don't know you like I do."

Cat bites down on her bottom lip and searches his eyes, finding nothing, but the truth and love. She feels his thumb brush against her skin, brushing away her tears. "Beck-"

"Just think of a rose anytime you feel this way. A rose is beautiful, even with the thorns, no? A rose isn't perfect and it is still beautiful in people's eyes. You're still beautiful and still amazing, even with whatever flaws you may have. Okay?" He tells her, planting a gentle kiss on her forehead, now having his hands on each side of her face.

Not knowing what to say, Cat simply smiles up at him and stands on her tippy toes so she can press her lips softly against his own. When he feels her warm lips against his own, he doesn't make a move to pull back. He only wraps his arms around her small waist and kisses her back with the same amount of love and passion.

Cat wraps her arms around his neck and continues to kiss him. She's always loved him, ever since she met him, but they were friends. She never figured he would like her back- he's always been there for her, even now, but she always thought he was there as a friend, nothing else; nothing more and nothing less.

Now that he isn't dating Jade and they're over each other completely, she might as well show her true feelings towards Beck. She smiles against his lips and deepens the kiss, forgetting all her problems and focusing just on him.

He holds her against his body, never wanting to let her go. He wishes he could make all her fears and worries disappear and he prays that what he did today really helped her.

The two of them spend the rest of the day together and the next day after school, although it may have been cheesy or lame, to Cat, it was perfect. The next day after school, Beck showed up to her house with a crooked grin and a single rose with small thorns attached to its stem in his hand.