Jade, the Advice Guru
Summary: "Take it from me, I always overreact and I know it. That's why James and I get so extreme. But if you took every comment thrown your way so seriously, you're going to get hurt a lot. Sometimes he's just pushing your buttons and you're pushing his, it doesn't mean you don't love each other." Jade's eyes clouded with a bit of emotion. "It never means that."
Rating: T
Pairing: Jades [Jade West and James Diamond]
AN: Just a prompt I had a LONG TIME AGO, that I just recently found while scanning through old notebooks. I started to delve into it a little bit, before realizing that I like to type it out because I can be more elaborate.
All of these stories are completely thanks to James, my amazing James Diamond RPing partner. We've been through hell and back, and we're still great friends. This ship would be dead if it weren't for you! And your persistence in getting stories out of me.
Without further a do,
~Nat
[OoOoOoO]
It was the weekend, a Saturday afternoon following the end of Jade's second semester of junior year. She didn't have to study or cram, she could just relax by the pool at the Palmwoods [considering that despite her house being extravagant and over-sized, it lacked a pool]. James was off doing his own thing for once, whatever it may be; and so was she. The poolside was also lacking his three idiotic friends she couldn't stand: particularly Kendall. So she'd be good in terms of relaxation.
But that continued to remain just wishful thinking when she heard a brief amount of yelling, before a blonde came trumpeting out from the lobby, recognizably Jo, Kendall's sugar-sweet girlfriends that Jade could not stand.
The way Jo was surveying the pool meant she was looking for a female ear; something that Jade would NOT allow herself to fall subject to. Desperately, she tried to discreetly hide her face behind her laptop, meekly squishing down but to no obvious avail.
Before she could make a successful getaway, she heard the call of her name and Jo sped over like someone had lit a fire under her ass, latching on immediately to the girl. "Jade! Jade!" She called repetitiously, her tone getting more relieved to correlate with the nearer she was getting to Jade.
Jade pressed her lips together, trying to focus on the screen. "Hi Jo." She answered in a flat tone, her greeting as unenthusiastic as she could possibly muster. "Any reason why you're bothering me? Or can I go back to what I was doing?" She commented in a very stoic way, with the hints of irritation bursting at the seams.
The blonde's face fell. "Oh? You're busy? I can just go." And she got up from the seat she'd stolen and began to stride away.
Considering it was an inopportune moment, of course Jade's conscience decided to kick in. Who knew she even had a guilt complex? "Wait, Jo!" She called, inwardly groaning about her giving in to the girl.
Jo was quick to comply and rushed back over, reclaiming her seat. Jade shut her laptop hesitantly, setting it aside and exhaling. "What did you want?" She asked blandly, already regretting her decision.
Jade had met her on multiple occasions, and had not only been annoyed by her personality, but that fact that she was very talkative. She was wondering how Kendall hadn't jumped in front of a freight train yet just because of the amount of words that flowed out whenever she started speaking.
She knew that she could get bad when it came to her rants, but this was flat out ridiculous.
"Well, I'm shooting a new movie; it's called 'Zombies on Ice', about being in Antarctica during the zombie apocalypse." She informed briefly, but that statement alone already raised a few questions from Jade.
"Wait, back up. Zombie apocalypse in Antarctica, there's only a few scattered scientists up there - and penguins. How could you conduct a whole movie about being on a frozen continent with the population's consistency lacking, but also when the possibility of an epidemic with the end game resulting in a 'zombie apocalypse' is as slim as James getting smarter." She narrowed her eyes.
Jade often would insult James' intelligence; it was an on-going occurrence; most people didn't bother questioning her or reporting back to James, the two of them argued enough.
Jo shrugged. "It's a gig; no one said movies had to make sense. Look at Sharknato." She supplied, raising a firm point. Jade pursed her lips.
"Anyway, what about it?" Jade urged, wanting to get back on topic so their conversation could be over and she could go back to relaxing ALONE.
She sighed. "I didn't know how to skate, and that's kind of a big part of being in Antarctica, even with global warming going on, there's still ice! So I went to Kendall to have him teach me, because he's a hockey player and it made the most sense because he's my boyfriend. But whenever he teaches me something, we always get into this HUGE fight over it. Like, we never fight normally, but something about him and I teaching each other to do stuff just - doesn't fit."
Jade sat up, shifting in her chair and further underneath the umbrella she set up. It was a sweltering day and she was donning a bikini top and some shorts, but she was also a very pale person and did by no means want to burn herself. "Alright, so you fought." She stated very unemotionally. "James and I do it all the time and we've been dating for several months. I think you'll survive."
"But this always happen! How can we be a successful couple, when we can't even teach other things?" Jo insisted, furrowing her eyebrows at the darker girl's lack of compassion in the situation.
In Jade's mind, Jo was dramatizing this far too much; but in her mind, Jade was always fighting with James, so it had become a piece of normalcy.
"Not every couple's perfect - James and I certainly aren't - and you and Kendall are no exception. You aren't always going to get along. And if you do, that's freaky and boring." She told her, eyes fixated. "You can't get wazzed off every time you have a fight, you have to learn to deal with it." She leant back, crossing her arms. "And based on how you worded that, I'm guessing this has happened multiple times."
Jo nodded, urging her to continue.
"And that's completely normal. Couples fight, that doesn't make it the end of the world. You and Kendall are still together, right?" Once again, another nod - but it was more hesitant. "So that must mean something. If you both couldn't stand fighting with each other, you'd be breaking up."
"But how do you take it?" Jo asked.
"Take what?" Jade questioned with a raise of her pierced eyebrow.
Jo made a gesture with her arms, trying to word it. "The fighting, all of the time? Doesn't it get old? Doesn't it mean you two aren't right for each other?"
Jade pointed at her. "There it is." Her eyes had suddenly grown angry. She had a tendency to be a defensive listener. "That's what everyone just infers. Look, I get James and I aren't your every day couple, holding hands and whispering sweet nothings and PDAing like hell in public, but that doesn't mean that we aren't good together."
She kind of wished she hadn't said anything based on how pissed Jade was getting.
"We fight, yes. We fight a lot, even truer. But you don't see how we are in private, you don't see all of us." She pinched the bridge of her nose, shutting her eyes. "Fighting is sometimes all you can do to get your aggression out; there's times I just want to slap James as hard as I can, and there's also times I don't want to let him go. If James and I never fought, we'd be mundane and boring. How would we talk about anything? No one agrees on anything and instead of us getting offended over the other's beliefs, we get them out through fighting and we tolerate it and deal with it. That's what we do. It's how we operate and it's not abnormal for us." Jade explained.
"Isn't that hard though? You fight a lot; even if that's how you operate." She clasped her hands in her lap, eyeing her in confusion. "You must hate each other a lot too, you both look so angry when you fight."
The brunette looked at her like she was an idiot - which she was being at the moment. "I'd like to see one person who remains completely calm and collected during a fight with someone. Everyone has a breaking point and both James and I happen to know each other's very well."
Jade didn't like this - this assuming. She hated other peoples' opinions of her relationship. No one had shared it openly with her, because they were all afraid of being lashed out at. But Jo was the first to say what everyone else was thinking.
It was no secret that people were curious as to how someone as vain and self-loving as James was, was with someone as bitter and seemingly heartless as Jade. They were pure opposites, minus their stubborn tendencies. There had to be some kind of combination that people couldn't quite grasp.
Of course Jade and James both knew how they stayed together as long as they did, through all of the hell they'd put each other through: jealousy, disagreements, timeframes, you name it - they'd done it.
It was not something Jade liked to openly admit. She hadn't told James she loved him a handful of times, but she did - a lot. It was a strong passion she'd been yearning for, ever since her last breakup.
Jo frowned. "But Kendall and I aren't like you and James, we don't fight a lot. When we do, it's not fun. We question our relationship!"
"I'm running out of things to tell you, Jo." Jade replied, running her fingers through her hair. "If you question each other so much and the state of your relationship, than you shouldn't be together." She knew exactly what she was going through, she'd been thinking the same at the start of her and James' relationship. She wondered if she wanted another relationship filled with fighting and misery and questioning.
She'd pondered whether they really belonged together more times than the amount of fingers and toes she had. But as much as she wondered if they belonged together, she knew that she couldn't lose him - and she wouldn't.
The blonde looked down at her lap, looking very sad at the idea. Her and Kendall had been through so much. And she loved him. It had taken a lot of balancing and going through the ordeal with Lucy to realize how much she really REALLY loved him. She didn't want to let all of that go.
"But I don't want to breakup with him, Jade! I just don't like all of the fighting when it comes to teaching each other things!" She repeated. "I don't like it, because I should be able to go to him and he should be able to teach me without all of this controversy."
"And you shouldn't take things so seriously." She retorted. "Take it from me, I always overreact and I know it. That's why James and I get so extreme. But if you took every comment thrown your way so seriously, you're going to get hurt a lot. Sometimes he's just pushing your buttons and you're pushing his, it doesn't mean you don't love each other." Jade's eyes clouded with a bit of emotion. "It never means that."
"Then what does it mean?"
If Jade had to repeat herself one more time, she would send Jo into the pool with a very forceful kick. "Go tell him what you told me; talk it out. Don't avoid each other - that never works." Jo still looked weary. "Did I stutter? Go do it! Or I'll go over to Kendall and tell him that you're dumping him, I would have no problem doing it." She threatened in a sinister manner that made Jo shoot up.
She was halfway there, before she turned around and walked back, looking at Jade with a smile. "Thanks Jade, you were actually - really helpful."
"I try." She added in a sarcastic tone, but nodded her way with a small smile clinging to her lips.
The blonde then fully turned and was on her way to speak with Kendall, some advice and a new understanding in tote.
She was just reaching for her laptop considering 'Jade the Advice Guru' was closed for questions, when James immediately popped out of the lobby and headed over. The day was just full of her not being able to be left alone, but his appearance was more welcomed than Jo's for obvious reasons.
"Hey babe," He greeted with a quick smile, taking a seat on the chair just next to her. But noticing her expression, his eyes turned skeptical. "You look annoyed."
"Thank you, Captain Obvious." She rolled her eyes, splaying her hands over the laptop in front of her, still closed from its lack of usage. "I just had Kendall's dingy girlfriend come over for some advice on relationships."
James had to repress a laugh from bubbling from his chest. "Really?"
Jade scoffed and sat forward to give him a good whack on the leg, earning a sharp outburst of "OW!" from James. She had one hell of an arm. "Don't sound so surprised! I give out good advice." She said matter-of-factly, before shrugging. "Her and idiot got into a fight about him teaching her how to skate or whatever. She wanted to know how I tolerate fighting in our relationship."
"She could have came to me for that," He muttered, but looked impish as soon as her glare hit him. She could be extremely intimidating and scary when she did that. "Just kidding, Jade."
She looked unconvinced, but continued. "She thought just what I thought everyone thought."
"And what is that?" He inquired curiously.
"That we're just a disaster and we don't give a damn about each other."
His face wrinkled in a grimace. "Oh, that. I've learned to ignore it." He said simply. "It's not their relationship."
"So it doesn't bother you at all that people don't condone us?" She asked, slitting her eyes slightly. That didn't seem quite right with Jade, James always seemed like he had this aura that he cared what other people thought, based on the effort he put into his appearance; but that could just be some personal problem he had.
"Well, con-whatever is NOT in my vocabulary, but based on what I think it means, I don't mind." He shrugged. "We're not like everyone else, it's cool. I prefer it. If I wanted some girl who was easy and fawned over me all of the time, we wouldn't be together. But I like the challenge." He then sheepishly added with a grin. "It's fun to see you get riled up." Earning a scowl, but that soon dissipated.
"So you keep me around for kicks?" She asked, but only in a half-hearted joking manner.
James laughed. "Totally, babe. You're just my entertainment for the day." But his eyes grew serious. "I care about you, what everyone else thinks shouldn't matter. My friends should put their opinions aside, because I'm completely happy with you." His tone softened slightly, his eyes filling with that awful emotion she'd been denying for the past few months. "And that's what should matter."
Her lip quirked upwards and she set her laptop aside once again and got up, situating herself in his lap and wrapping her arms around his shoulders to steady herself, leaning against him. "So even if Kendall hates my guts, it doesn't matter?"
"I mean, sure, I'd like if my friends and you could get along perfectly, but that's not what I need. What I need, is you, and I don't want them trying to make me feel any different." He answered easily, wrapping his arms around her.
Jade didn't look particularly anywhere, feeling content with the words he'd expressed. She'd never gotten such an elaborate declaration of love from James before; he'd always insisted he was no good with words, but more with just actions. He seemed damn good to her. "Never thought the title of 'poet' was in you, James." She teased and he gave her a good poke in the side that sent her wriggling.
"Hey! You think I thought you could give decent advice to anyone?" He played right back, unable to stop from grinning.
"I could be a therapist." She said persistently.
"For the morgue." He added and she swatted him on the chest again, earning another startled noise. "Jade! I'm going to be full of bruises by the end of today!" She really was strong for a girl.
Jade hid a smirk. "Well at least people would know I'd gotten to you."
"I could totally file an abuse claim," He warned.
"Ooh, that'd go through. My father would take whatever lawyer you have down."
"Oh, right; point taken." He'd briefly forgotten her father ran the most successful firm in southwestern USA. "Remind me to never get on your father's bad side."
She snickered. "You already are on his radar for dating his daughter."
"I haven't even met him!"
"You think he hasn't heard of the notorious Big Time Rush band member, James Diamond, heart throb?" She questioned and she swore he puffed out his chest at the words 'heart throb', being the idiot he was.
"Of course he's heard of me - I'm just a really great guy and he should not judge me!" Jade pressed a kiss to his cheek, removing herself from his lap and gathering her stuff, pushing her laptop into her bag and tugging on a shirt over her top.
"Who wouldn't judge you?" Slinging the bag over her shoulder and starting to walk, James getting up in protest.
"Hey-" He began to speak, but Jade cut him off by turning around and clasping her hands together.
"Speaking of my father, he wants to meet you eventually this weekend. He's starting to get a little wazzed off with my constant procrastination, so this is the time frame we have to work with: tomorrow." She suddenly threw at him, watching his eyes widen and his jaw slacken at the news. "I'm going to head out and let you process this." Turning on her heels and immediately beginning to get the hell out of here.
James was speechless for only a mere second, before he was rushing off after her. "Jade, if this is a joke, it's not funny!" He shouted, racing after her.
Suddenly, fighting seemed like the pettiest problem in the world - now he had to deal with her father.
Yep, he was going to die.
[OoOoOoO]
AN: I'm exhausted; I can't go on any longer. This was not meant to be a long one-shot based on the concept, but I still like it. Plus, I like adding in the characters from BTR in it other than James. So there came the appearance of Jo.
I have a few more in the works and some that are currently needing to be continued, but I needed to this short one out of my system! Hope you enjoyed it!
Reviews are my life; don't kill me.
~Nat