Hi, people!
Yes, another one shot by me. This is mainly Beck and Jade talking and barely if anything happening next to that. So a lot of tell, and very little show. I hope you like it anyway. :)

Beck and Jade are spending the afternoon in the RV. They have first done their homework, now they are watching TV, cuddling on the couch.

Or rather, he has just gotten up to get them new drinks, now he settles back right next to her, close, putting his arm around her again.

And it's then that Jade asks, remembering that she still wanted to ask about it: "Oh, you have time tomorrow, yeah?"

"I do," he answers. "What for?"

They spend almost all their free time together anyway. It's more of an exception that they don't spend their time after school together. Jade now asking must mean there is a specific reason, something she wants to do with him, so she just makes sure he hasn't got anything planned with their friends or his family.

Jade answers, slightly rolling her eyes: "It's Jasper's birthday tomorrow" – Beck has forgotten about that. He and Jade are a couple for two years now. He does know when Jade's little brother was born, he just didn't have today's date in mind. – "and he and my mother only told me yesterday they invited our grandparents and his father for dinner. Jasper insists on me being there as well. You know... I usually avoid his father. I think I haven't spent any time with him since he lived in the house. But apparently, I'm in luck and finally get to spend time with him again." The sarcasm drops out of every word. "Ugh. Well, but Jasper actually would really like you to be there as well. He would have liked to invite you himself, but didn't get around to it."

Jasper and Beck are on good terms. Beck really likes the young boy and he does believe Jade when she says Jasper truly wanted to invite him to his birthday too. As if he was part of his family. Beck likes that thought and has to say: "I feel very honored. Of course, I will be there."

Jade nods slightly and they share a kiss before turning back to the TV. But Beck keeps thinking about it.

Obviously, also with the way Jade explained it, she will only be able to stand that dinner with Jasper's father if Beck is there as well, to distract or support her or whatever. Which Beck also loves. The thing is though... he doesn't know anything about Jasper's father. He does know it's not the same as Jade's and he has already gathered before, as Jade has once talked about her mother's bad taste in men, that she hates Jasper's father.

And Beck knows Jade is private. He does know much more than anybody else about her by now, but he can imagine there are still things she doesn't necessarily want to talk to him about. And it's never a good idea to pressure Jade about telling, because then she draws back and never will.

But it still wouldn't hurt to ask, he decides. He does want to know everything about her, and whatever happened with Jasper's father, is part of Jade as well: "What's with his father?"

Jade turns from the TV to him again, looking at him for a moment, before actually answering: "My mother was only together with him for a few months when he moved in and she got herself pregnant. I knew he wasn't to be trusted. Something was just... off about him." And Jade has a good sensor for people. "My mom was eight months pregnant, when I came home and saw a woman outside, quickly getting into a car, like... barely dressed. I knew, something was wrong. Inside, I found my mom screaming at Thomas like crazy, him barely dressed as well, and her packing his things."

Beck can't believe what he's hearing. "He cheated on her?"

Jade seems satisfied that he's so mortified at that thought. "He did. In their bed. I'm pretty sure, more than once, but that's the only time we actually saw. My mom immediately threw him out. At least, she knew not to let herself be hurt any more."

God. Beck tries to imagine Jade as a child, coming into her home, finding her pregnant mother screaming at that man living in the house with them.

"How old were you?" he asks, quickly trying to do the math in his head himself.

"Nine," Jade already answers. "Whatever. I saw him every now and then after that, but only in passing. I also have no interest in seeing him."

"I understand," Beck says, because he does. She must hate that guy that cheated on her mother after all. "How did Jasper ever... got to get so close to him?" He knows Jasper visits his father regularly. He has even told Beck once about an amazing trip he did with his father. But if the cheating happened even before Jasper's birth and they have never even lived in the same house...

Jade simply answers: "My mom went to his place every week with Jasper until he was old enough to stay there alone."

"Really?" Beck asks surprised.

"Yeah," Jade just answers at first, and of course Beck wants to know: "How?"

That man cheated on her and she still went to him every week? She must also hate him, right?

Jade shrugs. "I also asked her back then why she did it. She told me that she wants Jasper to have his father, in case anything ever happens to her. She has this idea that both Jasper and I should have more people close to us than just her, especially adults. Of course, she also still has her parents we could go to, but... she likes to have our fathers involved as well. Thanks to that, we also would have a choice to whom we would like to go, you know, in case anything ever happens to her." Which explains why Jade's mother also always insisted for Jade and her father to stay in touch, though her father also definitely hasn't been a great one.

Jade now also starts talking about that: "And honestly: If my mother wouldn't have insisted on my father taking me so often, I probably wouldn't know him at all. He never knew what to do with me and wouldn't have asked to get me himself – and I soon didn't want to visit him as there was never anything to do. I don't think we ever would've had any kind of relationship without my mother's help. And while you don't like my father, I'm glad he's still there."

Beck indeed doesn't like Jade's father. He disrespects Jade all the time, makes her feel bad about every one of her thoughts and dreams. He isn't by far the father she deserves. He instead hurts her over and over again.

And as he realizes it, he says: "I don't like him out of the exact same reasons you don't like Jasper's father." Because Jasper's father has hurt a person Jade loves, just like her own father has hurt someone, whom Beck loves. As Jade herself always mistrusted Jasper's father and thought something was wrong about him, he never hurt her directly with his behaviour, didn't ruin a father figure he possibly tried to be for Jade. But he did hurt her mother, badly.

Jade now smiles softly, knows how he means it, and kisses him.

Then, she says: "Anyway... Thomas apparently also is a good father. Jasper loves and adores him. He also doesn't know and doesn't need to know. My mother told Thomas more than once to never let Jasper know of his cheating. She's sure he still does it to all his girlfriends. We talk about it sometimes."

Which probably means they vent about it together, which is amazing, because Jade and her mother usually don't talk all that much. Or have the same opinion on a topic. But... they are always united when it's about Jasper. And apparently when it's about his father as well.

"Your mother is a really impressive woman," Beck says because in his opinion she is. She has already seemed that way when Beck first met her. The more he gets to know about her, the more he likes her. Especially when he hears how she protects her children, how she priotitizes them above everything. "I understand better every day how you turned out to be such a strong girl."

"Ugh," Jade promptly makes. "Don't say I'm similiar to my mother. That would mean I also have bad taste in men."

Okay, she said that last part to tease him.

He smiles as he wraps his arms around her. "You don't. Your taste is excellent."

She smirks and actually doesn't deny it: "It is."

They kiss for a long time after that. He even kisses down her neck a little bit after that, before they both look to the TV again though.

Beck still thinks about it. About the whole situation in Jade's family, about this asshole that cheated on her mother.

Jade also keeps thinking about it. After a while, she slowly says: "You know... The thing is... My mom came home early that day. I didn't. He knew when I would come home. It wouldn't have been my mother walking in on them but me. I still don't know what he thought to do then. Like... Guilt me into not telling my mom because of the pregnancy or something? Or did he think he could tell my mom I'm making it up as I also haven't liked him before? Did he think she would believe him more than me?"

Jade looks to Beck with an almost helpless expression in her face. A little like a lost child.

Beck understands that she has thought about this a lot since it happened. About how it could have gone. About the horror situation of her finding him like that and possibly having to tell her mother, being the one breaking her heart by telling her. About how she would have needed to decide if her mother really needed to know about this in her very pregnant state. As an nine year old.

And Beck knows one thing really nags at her. The thought that maybe her mother would have indeed not believed her. That Thomas might have thought so rightfully. That her mother would have believed him more than her, her own daughter.

Beck is sure her mother would have believed Jade. He knows that Jade and her mother might fight a lot and don't like many of the life decisions the other one makes, but at the end of the day there is an extremely deep trust between them. A trust that the other one has good intention, that they won't hurt each other or their family intentionally.

Beck is sure Jade's mother already trusted her like that back when she was nine. Jade probably never was the kind of girl making up stories like that, not about such important things.

But Beck also knows there is no use of telling Jade that. Jade has already made it clear to him once that he has no place to actually comment on the relationship between her mother and her. He understands that she just needs him to be there. She doesn't want him to "repair" the relationship between her and her mother. Or to get the feeling like he needs to repair it. Which he doesn't, because he actually considers daughter and mother quite close.

So, he now only comments on Thomas again: "I think he didn't think anything. He can't have thought about anything. I mean... Cheating is already awful and dumb but cheating on your pregnant woman in you shared bed? Seriously? That's really low."

For a while, they just look at each other. Then, Beck earnestly says: "I understand that you hate him. I'll be glad to be with you tomorrow." To support her.

A light smile goes over her face, before she draws him into another slow kiss.

.

.

Beck and Jade have been at the beach after school as Jasper apparently spends his time after school until dinner with his father anyway. Jade and Jasper's mother will spend true quality time with him on Saturday instead – and Jade's birthday present for him now was to have a full day with her on Sunday, for which he already had thousand ideas this morning after she told him, apparently.

Now, it's almost time for dinner and Beck and Jade finally arrive at Jade's home. While they walk from Beck's car to the front door, Jade glances to a car opposite of the house, parked on the side of the road.

"They are already here," she says and already sounds annoyed. She really doesn't want to see Thomas again.

Only when they are directly in front of the door, she suddenly stops and turns to Beck. Quietly, she says: "Jasper is not supposed to hate him, okay?"

Which means that Beck is supposed to play nice. Jasper is used to Jade hating a lot of people and probably also his father. He won't care. But he will wonder if Beck shows his dislike to his father. He knows that Beck usually likes people. He will want to know why Beck doesn't like him.

"Okay," Beck therefore says because he gets it. He will do his best to hide his dislike for Thomas, which he already feels without having met that guy. Just knowing what he did not just to Jade's mother but also to Jade, who had to witness...

Jade pulls him into a quick kiss, then they walk into the house.

Jade's mother is still making dinner, as they walk inside. Jade's grandparents aren't there yet. The man that must be Thomas is sitting on the couch with Jasper, but stands up as he notices them.

"Jade," he says with a friendly smile as he walks up to them. "Great to finally see you again."

"Yeah, right," Jade just comments and then, Jasper is already waving her to him: "Come here and look what he got me!"

Jade does walk past Thomas and to her brother. Thomas looks after her for a second, then he looks to Beck.

"You must be Beck, Jade's boyfriend," he says, extending his hand. "Jasper already told me so much about you."

Okay, this guy actuually seems nice. His smile when he has noticed Jade wasn't fake. Well... Jade did say he is a good father. He met Jade when she was seven or eight, lived together with her for a year. Maybe, he already developed fatherly feelings for her during that time and despite Jade not liking him.

And Beck knows that Thomas being like that will make it easy for him to play it nice, too. To not let Jasper know anything. But he doesn't actually want to let Thomas off the hook. Thomas should know what he did to Jade by cheating on her mother. He should know that Beck, as her boyfriend, will never like him, because of what he did.

As he shakes the man's hand, he therefore answers, looking him directly into his eye: "Jade also told me a lot about you."

Thomas turns his head, looking to Jade. She glances up from the present which Jasper just now demonstrates, glances to them, just shortly cocks an eyebrow, before she concentrates back on her brother, who doesn't care much for Thomas and Beck meeting each other for the first time.

Beck does also notice Jade's mother glancing to them though. She also understands what Jade therefore told Beck. That he knows and won't like Thomas because of it.

Thomas looks back to Beck and surprisingly, he smiles again after a moment. "I'm glad she found a nice boy she can trust."

And the thing is, Beck believes him. Thomas really is glad that she trusts Beck like this, even trust him with a... family secret like this. Because he knows Jade and knows how private she is. And he is actually afraid that he destroyed every ounce of trust Jade ever had for other people.

Well. Apparently, people can really cheat on their very pregnant girlfriends and still have a somewhat decent side inside of them – Beck doesn't care much. It doesn't change anything about what he did. He might be a good father for Jasper and should be exactly that. Beck still doesn't like him and never will. Just like Jade.

Jade, who does trust him with things like these by now. With her history and the history of her mother and brother. Thomas is glad Jade found someone she can trust. Beck is more than glad that he turned out to be that person, that Jade truly trusts him.