This is for Mad (aka chasingafterstarlight). She requested Bade secretly dating and this was the best I could manage. It's kind of suckish and probably full of errors because it's like 1:30am right now, and wow, I really suck at writing Tori (I love Tori. But she turned out really annoying here). But maybe someone, somewhere, will still enjoy this.
Disclaimer: Yeah so I do not own Victorious. But I wish I did, because then I could hang out on set and the set is like really cool.
Got A Secret
why do you smile like you've been told a secret?
now you're telling lies,
because you just want to keep it,
but no one keeps a secret.
Tori Vega wasn't a person who disliked a lot of things. In fact, it was her positive attitude and bright personality that made her one of the most popular students at Hollywood Arts. But if there was one thing the beautiful brunette did not like at all, it was when someone kept a secret from her. And right now, she was more than sure that something was going on behind her back - and she hated it.
To be more precise, Tori was sure that something was going on between her friends. Or rather, a certain pair of her friends.
It had been four months since that fateful night at her house, when Beck and Jade broke up after being in a relationship for almost three years. In the first few weeks after the breakup, they acted exactly like you would expect someone like Beck Oliver and Jade West to act. Beck hardly showed any emotion at all, as if ending a three-year-relationship hadn't affected him the least bit, and Jade was just being Jade, except that she started treating Beck like he was just someone she happened to know, (in other words: grumpy, judgmental, hostile – and that even worse than for most other people). Still, the awkwardness between them caused the whole group to be on the rocks, since their constant fighting and criticizing each other made it hard to hang out or do anything together at all.
After about three months, though, Tori started noticing a change. Beck and Jade didn't fight anymore, and it wasn't even as awkward as before. Instead, it was almost as if they were avoiding each other on purpose. And not just not talking or not sitting next to each other, but avoiding any contact at all. The first time Tori noticed this was at lunch, when Jade joined the table and Beck suddenly found the peas on his plate the most interesting thing in the world. Which was weird, because the weeks before he had made an effort to make being together as a group as bearable as possible for everyone, meaning he tried treating Jade like anyone else, and not like she was his ex-girlfriend who was still holding a grudge against him. But now he wouldn't even look at her or say hello? Something was definitely wrong here.
To add to all the weirdness that was going on, there also seemed to be an awful lot of sneaking around lately. Tori would often meet either Beck or Jade (but never both) in the hallways at the oddest times, always in a hurry, and suspiciously jumpy, especially when they saw her.
All of this just didn't seem to make sense to her. But she was determined to find out what was going on.
/ / /
"Beck, wait."
Harsher than actually intended, Jade shoved Beck away from her neck, where he had been placing a trail of soft kisses, and sat up straight, accidentally knocking over a few spray bottles. "Jade," the boy moaned, pushing himself closer to her again.
"Shh!" she warned, and covered Beck's mouth with her hand. She wasn't sure if she did it to stop him from talking, or to stop him from kissing her, because, really, it wasn't easy to restrain herself while he was sending shivers down her spine. "I think there's someone at the door."
They both listened closely for a moment, the only noise coming from their breathing. Beck gently removed her hand from his mouth and brushed a few loose strands of hair out of her face. "You're imagining things," he said, pressing his forehead against hers, his hands entwined with hers now. "Besides, we locked the door, remember?"
Jade sighed. "I think this period's almost over anyway." She gave him one more quick kiss, before pushing him back so she could get up from the table he had pinned her on with his body. "I'll go first," she declared. "See you tonight." Quickly buttoning up her shirt, she went to the door, peeked outside to find the hallway pleasingly empty, and left the janitor's closet.
Beck watched her leave before checking his PearPhone. 2:55 PM. Five minutes until the bell would ring and the hallways would be crowded with students. So he would leave in four minutes, before anyone could see him. Satisfied with his plan, he started cleaning up the mess they had left in the janitor's closet to kill time. He didn't even remember knocking over this many bottles and buckets, but then again, they had been kind of... distracted the whole time.
At 2:49 on the dot, Beck Oliver casually strode out of the tiny room at the end of the Hollywood Arts hallway, contently humming to himself. What he did not expect was no other than Tori Vega standing by her locker, which happened to be right next to the janitor's closet. The teenagers stared at each other wide-eyed (Beck more so than Tori), before the boy nervously glanced around. "Beck," Tori remarked in an accusing tone. "You missed method acting."
"Uhm..." You are an actor, Oliver. You got this, he reminded himself. "I wasn't feeling well," he lied.
"So you rather spent the entire period in the janitor's closet?" Tori questioned, eyeing his messy hair and wrongly buttoned up plaid shirt.
"Well... kinda." He nervously ran a hand through his hair, while pulling out his phone with his other, and pretended to check the time. "I gotta go," he then said awkwardly, and left the brunette standing alone, just as the bell rang to signal the end of school. And Tori knew that something was up.
/ / /
It was 7pm and for the first time that day, Jade could finally get some rest. Even after school ended, she had stayed in the Black Box Theater, rehearsing for an upcoming play with Cat and Andre. The script was one of hers, one of her favorites even, and Andre had written all of the music, so it was a production that was near and dear to both of them, and they didn't really mind spending their free time working on it. That didn't change the fact, that there was a lot of work, though.
After hours and hours of practicing their lines and songs, adjusting lights, and putting up backdrops, Jade entered Beck's RV to be greeted with the sight of her boyfriend being lazily positioned on his couch, watching some stupid TV show with a lot of explosions and cars. As soon as he noticed her, though, he turned his full attention to the black-haired girl, as she carelessly tossed her Gears Of War bag on the floor, where it knocked over some empty water bottles.
Letting out a weary sigh, she plopped down next to Beck, resting her head on his shoulder. The boy reflexively put an arm around her tiny body and pulled her closer before placing a gentle kiss on top of her head. "Long day?" he asked.
Jade sighed again. "Yes. This play is killing me. But I know that it'll be worth it."
"I bet," he assured her, and used his free hand to entwine it with hers. He wasn't sure why, but he loved playing with her hands and the feeling of her soft skin on his. When they were still officially together, you would catch him doing it all the time, whether it was in class, at lunch, or when they just hung out. Most of the time he wasn't even aware of it anymore.
Jade snuggled up to him while lightly squeezing his hand. She was too tired to talk right now, and so she just enjoyed finally being in Beck's arms again and feeling his warmth against her fatigued body.
Of course, the universe wouldn't let them enjoy this peaceful moment for long, and just as Jade started dozing off, Beck's PearPhone started ringing. He groaned and weighed whether to just let it ring, but decided that the noise it was making was even more annoying than whoever was on the other end could possibly be. He pulled the phone out of his pocket, quickly checked the caller ID, and answered it. "Hey Tori." Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw Jade rolling her eyes at the mention of Tori's name, and he chuckled quietly. Some things just never changed.
"Beck, hey," the brunette said from the other end of the phone. "Andre, Robbie, Cat, and I are hanging out at my place right now, we're watching a movie. Wanna join us?"
"Uhh," Beck precariously retorted, glancing at the girl in his arms, who was, though playing with the turquoise streak in her hair, obviously following the conversation with great interest, since she was close enough to Beck's ear and his phone to hear every word. "Thanks for asking, Tori, but I already have plans tonight. Maybe next time."
"What plans?" Tori questioned, and he could picture her suspiciously raising an eyebrow right this second.
Well, what plans? He should have thought about this earlier. He looked at Jade again, but she was still focusing on her hair, leaving him to come up with an excuse on his own. He'd have to thank her for her (NON-)helpfulness later. "I... just..." he began, nervously glancing around in an attempt to find something – anything - that could help him think of something to tell Tori. "I have a lot of schoolwork to catch up on, my parents will kill me if I fail another class. So, uhm, see you tomorrow, Tori, bye!" He hastily pressed the end call button and tossed the phone away from him, as if it was on fire and could burn his hand if he didn't get rid of it fast enough. It landed on his brown carpet with a thud.
Beck sighed. And his girlfriend just started laughing at him. "Wow, Beck, way to behave normal," she teased, smirking up at him.
"Oh shut up," he sulked. But instead of being angry, Jade pressed a quick kiss on his pouted lips (it wasn't her fault, he had just looked too adorable). "Just wait for it, Tori will call you next to ask, and then we'll see how well you will cope with that," he stated after pulling away.
Jade gave him a triumphant smile. "No she won't."
"She won't?"
"Nope," she replied, popping the 'p'.
Beck raised an eyebrow at his girlfriend. "And why is that?"
"Because she already asked me at school."
"And you told her what?"
Jade shrugged. "That I would probably get home late because of the play Andre, Cat and I are working on, and that I wanted to rewrite a few passages on the script, which couldn't wait because the premiere is soon." She ended by giving Beck a superior smile.
"How was I supposed to come up with something like that in just a few seconds?" he riposted, making wild gestures with the one arm that wasn't draped around Jade.
"Ugh, why are you even in Sikowitz's improv class if you're incapable of improvising?" she scoffed. "It's all in the detail, Beck. Details are the key to successful lying," she smirked and raised her eyebrows suggestively.
Mildly offended by her words (did she really expect him to be as... reckless as her?), his mouth twisted slightly. "Well, I'm sorry that I'm not as experienced in having a secret relationship as you apparently are."
As Jade noticed that her boyfriend was actually falling for her taunt, she broke out into a grin. "Yeah, sucks to be you."
"Hey!" he protested. "You weren't supposed to agree! Or how many secret relationships have you had that I didn't know of?"
"Oh, don't you wish you knew," she teased, bringing his face closer to hers. Just as she was about to kiss him, he pulled back and scowled at her.
"For real?"
She groaned and rolled her eyes. "No, you idiot." She then proceeded to finish what she had started, and pulled his face down to meet hers.
/ / /
"Something is wrong with Beck," Tori said as soon as her phone call had ended. She was still holding her blue PearPhone in her hand, and now turned around to face her friends. "I don't know what, but something is up."
"I did notice that his hair doesn't look as good as before," Robbie agreed. "Maybe his mom accidentally bought him the wrong conditioner?"
The brunette sighed dramatically. "No. Come on, guys, didn't you notice any... weird behavior?" She spread out her arms demandingly, waiting for agreement that never came. All she got were some confused glances that her friends exchanged. She sighed again. "I mean, haven't you noticed how he started skipping classes? Always seems to be in a hurry? Sneaks around the building? And cancels on our plans?"
"So? Jade isn't here, either," Andre interposed.
"Yeah, because she's busy working on your play, which I totally understand," Tori affirmed. "Beck, on the other hand, was obviously lying to me. I think... I have a feeling I know what might be going on with him. But I can't be sure unless..." She stopped talking, as she was fading away into her own thoughts.
"Whaty?" Cat asked curiously, twirling a strand of red hair around her finger and batting her long eyelashes.
"I'm going to Beck's RV," Tori eventually said, her voice full of determination. And her friends knew that now there was no way of stopping her. Once Tori Vega had decided on something, no one would be able to talk her out of it, and she wouldn't stop until she had reached whatever her goal was.
"To do what?" Andre asked skeptically, even though he was sure that he wouldn't be able to change the younger Vega's mind.
"To find out the truth," Tori said.
/ / /
Beck and Jade were anything but ready to welcome any visitors, when suddenly a loud pounding resounded from the RV's door. Beck reluctantly broke away from his girlfriend's lips, as both of them groaned in annoyance at the unwelcome interruption. Jade shot him a questioning glance, and he knew exactly what she wanted to know. But he had no clue as to who could be at the other side of his door at this time, either, so he just shrugged, deciding to ignore it. Whoever it was could wait until tomorrow. The two of them returned to their previous activities, as Beck placed his lips on Jade's again, running his hands over her pale, half-naked body that was lying under his.
"Beck, open the door. I know you're home, I can see the lights," Tori's voice suddenly sounded from outside. The couple's eyes widened at the realization of who was standing in front of the door right now, and in no time at all, Beck had pushed himself off the couch (causing him to land on the floor), while Jade was quick to collect her clothes that were sprawled all over the floor. He hastily pulled his shirt back on and buckled his belt, motioning to Jade to hide somewhere.
"Just a sec!" he called, trying to hide the panic in his voice.
Jade's first instinct was to hide in the bathroom, but despite the pressure she was under right now, she could regain enough of her common sense to decide against that. If Tori decided to - for whatever reason - use the bathroom, they would be screwed. So without wasting any more time, she dived under Beck's bed, while he moved over to open the door.
Before he grabbed the handle, he threw Jade one last glance, to make sure she was ready. As he couldn't see any sign of her presence anymore, he sighed and opened the door for Tori. "Hey."
"Hi Beck," the brunette said. Even though she was trying to be as decent as possible, Beck didn't miss how she craned her neck to get a peek inside his RV. Was she on to them? "I was just randomly around here, and thought you could use some fro-yo to make your studying more bearable." She smiled and held up a brown paper bag.
Beck narrowed his eyes a little, tilting his head to the side. "I thought you were watching a movie with the others?"
Tori's jaw dropped a little (she had not considered that part), but she quickly regained her composure (her acting classes were paying off). "Well, yes, but we already finished the movie, and Cat was tired, so everyone went home. Now, can I come in?" she insisted impatiently, shoving Beck aside before he could even answer.
"Tori..." he tried to object, but was ignored. She had already stepped inside, curiously surveying his room (if you could call it that). Her eyes landed on the TV that was still running, and a bowl of popcorn that someone (probably Beck) had knocked over, that was now laying in front of the couch, its contents spread over the carpet.
The girl raised an eyebrow. "So you're studying, huh?"
"Well... I... kinda finished early, so I-" Beck explained, but got interrupted as Tori let out a gasp.
She walked further into the room, her eyes stuck to a certain item on the floor. He followed her with his eyes to see what had suddenly caught her attention, and what he saw turned his stomach in shock. "A bra?" Tori said reproachfully, picking it up gingerly at one of the straps, so that the black piece of laundry was dangling from her index finger. "Do you have a guest?"
Under the bed, Jade was trying her best not to make any noises. It was obvious that Beck wouldn't be able to come up with any plausible excuse (he had successfully proven his incapability earlier), and she just knew they were screwed. What was Vega doing here anyway?
"Oh, that," Beck said, pretending to suddenly remember something. "No, I was cleaning up earlier and found it behind my drawer. It must be Jade's. I was planning to give it back to her," he lied.
Jade silently nodded her head in approval. Not bad. Even though she flinched at the mention of her name, afraid that it could set Tori on the right track.
Tori narrowed her eyes, pondering whether to believe him or not. Then she exhaled loudly, letting out the breath she had been holding. "Okay," she said, still not fully convinced. She dropped the bra on Beck's couch and strode back to his door. Before leaving, she passed him the bag with the frozen yogurt she brought him, and gave him one last glare, saying, "Weird that you placed it in the middle of the room, though." And with that she left, closing the door behind her. Instead of pacifying her suspicions, Beck had just strengthened them. And Tori did not like what she believed was happening.
Inside the RV, Beck was peeking out of the window to make sure that Tori really left, and didn't stay lurking around his home to find any evidence. He didn't know how much she knew, but he was positive that she had to know something. And that was more than he wanted her to know.
"She's gone," he eventually said, and got down on his knees to check on Jade, who was still under his bed.
"Finally," she spat, starting to crawl out of the tiny gap between the bed and the floor. Beck held out his hand for her, which she gladly took, and pulled her out, unable to hold back his grin at the sight he got. Jade was wearing nothing but her pants still, since she had barely had enough time to just collect her clothes from the floor before Beck let Tori in, and she was covered in dust (let's just say Beck didn't take cleaning under his bed very seriously). "Stop. Laughing," she hissed, using the crumpled clothes in her hands to cover her naked torso (it wasn't like Beck hadn't seen her before, but she just didn't want to give him a bonus on top of her ridiculous look).
"That was close, huh?" he asked, still smirking.
Jade rolled her eyes. "How were we supposed to know that Vega would decide to show up to brighten your day?"
Beck just shrugged, and scooted closer to her, putting an arm around her, while using his other hand to pull a dust bunny out of her hair. "So... are we gonna pick up where we left of or..."
"Forget it," she scoffed, shoving the clothes that she was still holding in his arms. "I'm taking a shower. This is grossing me out. Who knows what all that stuff under your bed was."
He chuckled, but couldn't resist to add, "We could always take a shower together, you know." But Jade was already slamming the bathroom door behind her, and soon he heard the sound of the water pelting down on her body.
/ / /
"I know what's up with Beck now," Tori declared before singing class the next day. Her, Cat, Jade and Andre had just taken their seats in one of the back rows, before she announced her big news. Very effectively so, as Jade's head automatically jolted up.
"And what is that?" she asked warily, trying to sound casual.
The brunette gave her sympathetic look. "You're not going to like this, Jade," she said. "But I think Beck has a secret affair." Jade almost spat out her coffee. In the process of avoiding exactly that, though, she started choking over the hot beverage, and awkwardly coughed a few times, before recollecting herself. "I'm sorry, Jade," Tori told her, patting her back.
"No, it's," Jade brought out, her voice still hoarse from getting coffee stuck in her lungs a few seconds ago. "It's not like that. I just don't think Beck would keep it a secret if he had a girlfriend. Like, why would he do that? That doesn't even make sense, Tori!" she spat. She wasn't even aware that she was rambling.
Tori looked at her pitifully. "I think he's keeping it a secret, because... because he doesn't want to hurt you, Jade."
Again, it took all of Jade's self-restraint to keep the coffee in her mouth (why did she even take another sip after all this?). She gulped multiple times, the liquid feeling like a stone that was going down her throat. "Even if he had a secret girlfriend – which is a big if -," she underlined, "I wouldn't care, okay? So stay out of other people's business, Tori," she hissed, and with a final glare, she turned around and ignored Tori for the rest of the lesson.
/ / /
Jade waited for Beck before lunch break (looking as inconspicuous as possible, of course). When he finally strode out of the classroom together with a crowd of students, she simply grabbed his arm and dragged him into a quiet corner with her, before anyone could notice his absence. "Tori knows," she simply stated.
Beck's eyes widened. "Tori - what?"
"She knows about us, idiot," Jade whispered, glancing around nervously.
"About us?"
"Well, not literally about us, but she knows that you have a 'secret affair' - her words, not mine," she explained.
"But... how?" he asked confused, even though he knew the answer.
Jade sighed. "We don't have time to talk right now, we just... have to be more careful, okay?"
"All right," he agreed, and Jade nodded before leaving him standing alone, while she headed to the Asphalt Cafe. To avoid giving Tori any more clues, Beck waited a few minutes before following Jade to their lunch table. During the whole break, he didn't dare to look at Tori once.
/ / /
It was the night of the premiere of Jade and Andre's play. After all those months of hard work and long hours, they would finally get to see if it all paid off. And it did. The crowd cheered loudly as the curtains closed, and Cat pulled Jade and Andre into a tight hug, that Jade didn't even refuse. She was buzzing with happiness. The play had been a great success, and neither of them could wait to play it on five more nights.
So after the excitement was slowly starting to die down two hours after the premiere, and the teenagers had cleaned up most of the theater, Tori, Robbie, and Cat left, saying something about having plans for tonight, and so did Beck (he couldn't really stay when everyone else was leaving), leaving Andre and Jade to themselves to sort out what was left. Beck gave Jade a sign that he would be waiting outside for her, and she quickly nodded, hoping that no one had seen their exchange.
"I'm glad everything went so well," Andre told Jade as they were putting away the backdrops. "I mean, we totally deserved it, too."
Jade grinned. "Yeah we did." She heaved a large foam tree prop from the stage and carried it into a little room next to the stage, where the school stored all costumes and requisites. Glancing at the clock, she was glad to find the stage almost empty now, meaning she could go home (to Beck's RV) soon.
A sudden noise made both of them jump, before they realized that it was just a phone. Andre pulled it out of his pocket, glancing at the pear-shaped screen. His eyes widened for a second, then he let out a sigh. "I'm sorry, Jade, but I gotta leave. My grandma, she's-"
"It's alright," Jade told him. "I got this. Go."
He gave her a thankful nod, before grabbing his jacket and leaving through the backdoor.
Jade picked up her own phone from one of the tables behind the stage, and sent a quick text to Beck. Andre just left. Wanna come in? It didn't even take thirty seconds for her phone to buzz, signalizing Beck's incoming answer. Coming.
With a satisfied smirk playing on her lips, Jade started sweeping the floor. The play had involved some confetti in the last scene, and that stuff was now all over the stage and where the audience had sat. Suddenly, she felt two arms wrapping around her waist from behind, and she leaned in to the touch, smiling.
"Hey," Beck whispered into her ear. His breath against her skin sent shivers down her spine, and she clutched the broom in her hands tightly to keep her thoughts together. Business before pleasure, she reminded herself.
"I'll be done in a sec," she told Beck, wriggling out of his arms to finish her work. He let her go and grabbed a hand brush to help her clean up. They worked in silence, before Jade finally decided that they were done for the night. She grabbed her purse and jacket, double checked if all the lights were turned off correctly, and then took Beck's hand to lead him out of the theater.
"You know," he said once they were in the dark hallway. "We are in an empty school after all."
She pretended to be shocked. "You want to disgrace the holy halls of Hollywood Arts, Beck?"
Instead of answering, he pulled her into a kiss, and dragged her along the hallway, until they were standing in front of Sikowitz's classroom. He fidgeted with the door handle, trying to open it without letting go of Jade. When he finally managed to do so, he pulled her into the dark room with him.
And suddenly the room was lit up.
"Surpri- what?"
Beck and Jade found themselves in the middle of their friends - sans Andre (who was probably busy comforting his grandma right now) - and a lot of balloons and banners that read "Congrats, Jade and Andre!" in big, red, letters. The couple stared at their friends in shock, mouths wide open, while they didn't look much different themselves.
Cat furrowed her eyebrows. "That's not Jade and Andre," she remarked reproachfully. "Well, it's Jade, but not Andre."
Jade slowly slid out of Beck's arms and took a step away from him (as if that would help anything now). "What is this?" she asked warily.
"A surprise party!" Cat explained. "I think you look surprised. But this isn't really a party right now," she added sadly.
Finally, Tori had regained her composure as well. "You," was all she managed to say, pointing at Jade. "You!"
Jade rolled her eyes. "Your point being?" she scoffed, back to her old self.
"All this time, you were the one Beck was seeing?" Tori asked outraged. "I was feeling sorry for you, because I thought that Beck had moved on, and you couldn't tell us that guys were back together?"
"Yeah, well," Beck started, running a hand through his hair (a habit he would never get rid of). "We were going to tell you, eventually. But we just wanted to make sure that it would work out this time before making it official, you know?"
Tori pouted, but her anger was slowly dying down. "And I was seriously worried about you. Both of you."
Jade shrugged. "I told you to stay out of other people's business."
"Well, no more secrets now, alright?" Beck said, trying to relieve the tension. "The cat's out of the bag."
"All this time...," Tori murmured, shaking her head disbelievingly.
"Yes, Vega, now get over it," Jade snapped, rolling her eyes. "If you would excuse us now, we have important things to do." And with that she grabbed Beck's hand and dragged him out of the room. The other three heard the door of the main entrance slam, and knew that they wouldn't be coming back tonight.
But at least Tori would be able to sleep peacefully again, without any secrets bugging her.
I apologize for... this.