Disclaimer: I don't own it and this is dedicated to K9GM3

Jade is not weak. She is invincable. Nothing ever bothers her. She hears only what she wants. She doesn't listen to the rest of it. She doesn't have to. Nobody's going to mess with her.

Beck however knows differently. He knows the real Jade. He has seen the look in her eyes when she pretends not to be bothered. He has seen her dull and nearly lifeless after they have had words.

Beck will admit that there are times where he intentionally irritates or upsets Jade. That might sound mean but he's not doing it to be mean. He wants her to cry. He wants her to feel. He wants to show her that she doesn't always have to be the strong one. He would pretend it didn't bother him when things changed but it did. He had to in order to break Jade though. He had to break her in order to put her back together again. She was already broken. She broke years ago. She broke many times.

She broke when her sister died in a fire. She broke when Beck said something that he knew upset her. She broke when she was going through a particularly difficult time and her so called friend made fun of her. She broke when she found out her little sister who she'd been raising was diagnosed with cancer. But she only broke when she was alone.

Beck doesn't break her anymore. He learned that it comes with too high a price. It all started innocently enough but it got to the point where it almost turned deadly. http:/www(dot)fanfiction(dot)net/s/6426491/1/Like_Lysistrata

That was how it started. How it ended was a different story. It ended with Beck walking into her house to find that she was cutting herself.

"WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT," he asked her once he got the scissors away from her.

"It distracts me from... this situation," she explained.

"It could also kill you," Beck said

She shrugged.

"If it does it does. Nobody will miss me"

Now the tears were pouring from his eyes. He hadn't been as strong as he acted.

"Are you kidding," he said, "Jade without you my life would be HELL"

"No it wouldn't," she said, "You've gotten through this just fine"

"I've pretended to," I said, "But believe me I haven't. You are my world and sometimes I forget to let you know that"

"So why have you been acting this way," she asked whimpering like a little lost puppy. With that, Jade 'Invincible' West broke.

It was the first time Beck had seen her cry. He was delighted. He decided not to play the silly game anymore. She had a right to know the truth.

"Jade," he said gently, "I know you don't understand this right now but that was just an excuse. You are so broken but you will not allow yourself to break."

Jade clung to him like she was a drowning victim holding to a life preserver. She couldn't stop crying. She could hardly breathe.

"I can't break," she told him in between hysterical sobs.

He rubbed her back.

"Why not," he asked her gently.

"Because," she said, "Hurt isn't something that just disappears. It's always there. It doesn't end."

"It stops," he assured her.

"But it still WAS there. It doesn't change the fact that it WAS there and that fact is always going to haunt you. The fact is always going to stay with you taunting you, teasing you laughing at your misery. I'm a mother, Beck and my DAUGHTER is going through c h e m o t h e r a p y and all sorts of other HORRIBLE treatments. I don't want her to know about misery. I don't want her to know about what I know. I want her to enjoy her life for as long as she can. I don't want her to know anything is wrong and I don't want her to know how hard it is. AND YOU'RE ANOTHER ONE. WHEN SOMEONE IS DROWNING THAT ISN'T THE TIME TO GIVE SWIMMING LESSONS"

"Normally I would agree," Beck said, "But sometimes you have to show a person they're drowning before they'll allow you to save them"

Jade glared at Beck. How DARE he use her analogy against her? He was right but still... it was annoying.

"I know I'm drowning," she said, "But I can't drown. Willow needs me"

"Jade," he told her gently, "let me be your strength"

That was the day Jade West learned that it was okay to fall, because Beck Oliver would always be there to catch her.