just so you know, you'll never know
summary: "I didn't get to be queen of hell by letting folks off easy." ; au where jade and beck meet at a bar.
disclaimer: i do not own victorious.
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One of the first things she tells him is a lie.
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It's her twenty-first birthday, and she wants to break in her newly-attained adulthood like any sane person would: drowning in alcohol.
Jade West is a party girl, always has been, so it's not like she's ever let age get in the way of downing every shot of vodka in sight and dancing with random men until the sun starts to creep above the horizon. In LA, a good fake ID and a plunging neckline will get a girl anything she desires.
However, there's something fulfilling about legally being able to get passed a bouncer, and it's the thought of that achievement that initially brings her to "Roxy's Club", wearing nothing but a black bodycon dress and red pumps, in the dead of winter.
Music is blaring as she walks through the door, and she weaves her way through masses of sweaty bodies in order to get to the bar. She orders her drink, and as she waits for it she notices that the young man in the seat next to her seems to have a bit of a staring issue.
"Do you have a problem?" she deadpans, not really in the mood to be eye-raped by perverts.
"Nope," he says, popping the -p- with a smile, "you're just beautiful, is all." It's an extremely lame excuse that she's heard dozens of players give just before they try to get in your pants. Instead of scoffing and walking away though, she decides to play along, figuring it can't hurt anything.
"Okay, well that still doesn't give you the right to stare at me," she replies, although she notes that he's actually quite attractive himself. He looks to be about her age, with tan skin, chestnut eyes, and almost shoulder-length black hair.
"You're right," he admits with a chuckle, "that was a bit creepy of me. How about I make it up to you with a dance?" He has a sparkle in his eye, and his pearly white teeth are gleaming. Jade can tell that he means well, but she still thinks giving him a hard time would be fun.
"So you admit to being creepy, and still expect me to dance with you?" she says, but he can tell she isn't really mad. After a moment of thinking, she finally gives in, figuring she has nothing to lose. "Fine, you get one dance. If I'm not impressed, you have to leave me alone." At that, he pulls her off of her stool and out onto the dance floor. They blend in with the hundreds of other couples bouncing and swaying to the beat of the techno music.
"What's your name?" he yells over the music, while simultaneously trying to spin her around and do some sort of dip with her. She laughs and goes along with it, despite the dance not matching the song at all.
Being an actress, coming up with new identities was one of her favorite hobbies. She would always use them when she went to new places, when she met new people, and when she just didn't feel like being Jade West. She always assumed she would never see the people again, anyway. Tonight's identity came to her while she was spraying pomegranate scented perfume on her neck.
"Persephone," she yells back, and pulls him closer, rubbing her hips against his. He gets her not-so-subtle hint that she's getting a bit bored of his original dancing, and puts his hands on his waist, body moving in sync with hers.
He puts his mouth right by her ear, whispers, "I'm Beck," and kisses her neck.
"I never asked."
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They dance for a while, drink for a while, and kiss for a while, before finally climbing into a cab together and heading toward his apartment.
When they arrive, he climbs out first, then makes his way to the other side of the cab and opens the door for her.
"Aren't you just a gentleman," she jokes, starting to make her way into the apartment building as the cab drives away.
"Oh, I can do much better than that," he says with a smirk, and suddenly picks her up bridal style, and carries her into the building.
"Beck!" she screeches, writhing around but still laughing at the same time. "Put me down. Now!"
He cackles, and continues carrying her, only stopping to unlock his door. He jokingly throws her on his couch and tackles her, attacking her with kisses. She quickly gains the upper hand, and flips them over so she's straddling him.
"You know," he starts, pushing a strand of her hair behind her ear, "I remember learning about Greek mythology in my 9th grade history class. Just because your name's Persephone, doesn't mean you have to give me such a hard time."
She chuckles, and presses her knees into his sides for good measure. "I didn't get to be queen of hell by letting folks off easy." She kisses him hard then, and he runs his hands all over her body. Somehow, in their drunken state, they manage to make it to his bedroom.
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Beck wakes up to an empty bed and a note scrawled in lipstick on his bathroom mirror.
Beck,
I actually had fun. Call me again sometime.
-Persephone
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They go out for coffee one day, and Jade discovers that sober-Beck is surprisingly as charming as drunk-Beck. In fact, he may be even more so.
He's twenty-two, was born in Canada, and is freshly graduated from UCLA. He's a lover of the arts, much like herself, and wants to be an actor. He's been in some small plays, but tells her that until his career takes off, he's going to continue working in a local bookstore. She starts to wonder if he's also using a fake identity, since he seems like a serious attitude, but soon decides that he's too sincere to do such a thing.
"What about you, Miss Persephone? Tell me about your life," he teases. She tells him about how she's a writer/actor/singer, and how she wanted to skip college as a whole and get right into her career, but her father is making her take some classes at the community college so she'll have something to fall back on when her "ignorant dreams" fail.
They both have a love of old movies, the Beatles, and Stephen King. They have a lot of things in common, Jade realizes, and suddenly she feels a bit bad about lying to him in the first place. She almost tells him her real name, gets sososo close, but then, wait, what if he doesn't believe her? Or what if he believes her, but thinks she's lying about everything else? What if he thinks she doesn't feel anything for him, that she was just faking that too?
So, instead, she forgets the whole thing, lets him hold her hand, and they go back to his apartment to watch some classic horror movies.
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Beck Oliver is the first boy she's ever really liked.
The thought comes to her while she's spraying her pomegranate perfume on her neck, getting ready to go out to dinner with him.
The realization kind of makes her want to cry.
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They go on more and more dates, and it eventually comes to the point where they want to be together every waking moment of the day.
She wants to tell him so bad, who she really is. She even writes it on a note, but every time she thinks about giving it to him, she changes her mind, and stuffs it back into the drawer beside her bad. Sometimes she thinks it wouldn't even be a big deal if she told him, that it's just a name, he'd just accept it because he's so chill about everything. Other times though, she imagines him screaming, imagines him accusing her of faking their whole relationship. She imagines him leaving her.
Jade West has always been the one leaving people. She was excellent at reading people, and the moment she thought someone was contemplating leaving, her bags were packed and she was out the door before anyone could even say goodbye.
She won't let Persephone be any different.
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He says he loves her the day before their six month anniversary.
She decides to leave the next morning.
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She writes him a thousand letters on the train, all starting with "I lied," and all ending with "I'm sorry." She never sends one of them, but she does end up writing a different one, eventually.
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Beck,
Didn't you read the story?
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a/n: sorry about that giant mess of a story. if you're confused about jade's last letter, in the myth, persephone only stays with hades for six months of the year, and then spends the other six months with her mom. so i wanted jade to leave after six months. and also, can anybody guess where the quote in the summary is from? ;)
please review whether you liked it or hated it. constructive criticism is always appreciated :)