Hey there Rade week! How are you doing? Oh, you're only one and can't speak yet? Shit. Well, enjoy this fic anyway. :)
In the year and half since we graduated from Hollywood Arts, a lot of things have changed. Relationships have splintered, contracts have been signed, and people have moved away. Right now though, none of these changes are affecting me more than the ones I've been through with Jade West.
"Stop being a baby, Shapiro. Just say yes." Jade's ebony hair spills over my shoulder as she leans heavily on me. The tone is the same, but that feels like the only thing that hasn't skewed in some way between us. Ever since the rest of the gang left for college, or in search of fame, Jade's burrowed her way ever more intrusively into my life. Somehow, she even convinced me that rooming together would be a good idea this semester. She said it was because I'm easily manipulated, but I'm sure I've got a place somewhere in her shriveled husk of a heart.
"I am not being a baby, and I am definitely not saying yes." I answer belatedly, flicking my eyes away from the gargantuan textbook in my lap. My eyes collide with Jade's unflinching gaze, and I struggle to swallow the lump forming in my throat. I've seen that look before, it's one where determination is written in the way her lips have curved. It's one that signifies this argument is already over. Blowing an exaggerated exhale, I shut my textbook and toss it onto the ground. I won't need it for a while now. Not when Jade's preparing her latest pitch.
"Look, if you just come to this stupid party and play happy couple with me, I'll make it worth your while." Jade drawls, smirking vaguely. My shoulders coil immediately when the entendre sweeps through the air. Jade's been doing this kind of thing more and more often. I'd assume it's due to some kind of romantic interest in me, but honestly that's probably not it. I think she just really enjoys watching my heart rate spiral out of control.
"H-how so?" I stutter, entwining my fingers, and trying to ignore the way all of the blood in my body seems to have rushed to my cheeks. When my eyes dare to stray in Jade's direction, I'm confronted by the ivory gleam of her teeth peaking through her lips. The grin on Jade's face is almost predatory, like she knows I've already lost my resolve. She's probably right, too. I get the impression that no matter how hard I fight, her claws are embedded too deeply in my shoulders for me to get away.
"I'll…I'll help you produce that stupid film you've been bothering me about all semester, alright?" Jade says, leaning back and dragging dragging her shoulders up and down. It's an action that I assume is supposed to be casual. It doesn't really come across that way though. Not when her eyebrows are threatening to crush her nose, and her lips are draw into an unhappy line.
"Really? You're sure about taking-"
"Yes." Jade growls, scything through my words. Her hands wither into fists, as her anger pools within them and gnarls her fingers. It's a little alarming, to say the least. I haven't seen Jade this worked up since Kristen Stewart was cast in The Scissoring 3.
"Seriously though, me? You want to take me, Robbie Shapiro…friend of your ex, ex of your friend, to a Halloween party where your ex is there with my ex in a happy relationship? In what world does that situation make me your ideal fake date?" I ramble, skirting the edges of incoherence as a torrent of words trail through my lips. While my lungs burn, Jade drops her head theatrically. Midnight smoke billows over her shoulders and covers her face, but it does a poor job at masking her snickering.
"God. I though you were going to grow out of this whole weedy nerd thing! Do you really want Cat to know that you've been moping over her since you two broke up? I sure as hell don't want Beck knowing that about me." Jade counters, firing back with a slingshot rather than a catapult. I feel like she's held back with her harsh words ever since we found out about Beck dating Cat. She hasn't even called me a dateless wonder in two whole months! I guess Jade of all people knows what it's like to have a heart that's held together by duct tape and not much more, though.
"It's gonna be super awkward…" I mumble, turning my eyes to Jade again. The moment hangs in the air before she empties her lungs, and aggrieved emerald eyes shift from the floor, and back to me.
"Don't act like it wasn't going to be anyway. At least this way, we won't look like two single losers when we see them. After the unpleasantness, we can go off on our merry way and find the open bar." Jade's always had a flair for the dramatic. The outline of her glorious vision is no exception. Jade complements her words with an arm over my shoulder, and the other arcing towards a brighter future. Well, our roof. But then then again, sometimes even visionaries have to make do with their surroundings.
"Merry?" I ask doubtfully, a false veneer of suspicion clouding my features. Jade tilts her head and blinks once, which is fine. But then she drags a hand painfully through her hair, and a muscle flickers in her cheek. The smirk flees my lips almost immediately. Those four gestures are Jade's horseman of the Apocalypse. When I don't heed their call, hell inevitably follows.
"Just shut up and agree, would you?" Jade complains. All of sudden, I'm falling backwards amid flailing limbs and a yelp of panic. Glaring over one shoulder at Jade, and then dropping my gaze over the other, I note that she'd never dropped her arm away from me. With a grimace, I realize this might be the most prolonged contact I've had with a girl since Cat. Do roommates even count as girls? I mean everybody knows that spooning with your drunken roommate on the day a most unholy union of exes was discovered doesn't count, but what about sober arm slinging?
"Fine. But I feel like a last resort." I grumble, dragging myself out of my melancholy for just long enough to agree to Jade's demands. The words fall limply from my lips, just like Jade's arm. As she drags it into her lap with an unladylike grunt of anger, I wonder whether or not it's too late to take back what I'd said. Jade's arm is actually kind of comforting when it's not wrapped around my neck. I really wish she wouldn't get so into that wrestling show. I have to deal with her constant complaining when that one guy always beats her favorites. Then there's the headlocks…oh, the headlocks. It takes another grunt of dissatisfaction from Jade to peel me out of my thoughts again.
"Ugh, would you listen to me, Shapiro? I was just giving you a compliment. I sa-aid…you're not a last resort. You're the logical choice and otherwise…acceptable." With the amount of effort it takes her to grit it out, you'd think the word acceptable is a declaration of Jade's undying love for me, or something. I'm mulling over the prospect when Jade one again interrupts my thoughts and kicks her legs onto my lap to jostles a response from me.
"Acceptable, eh?" I ask, drumming on Jade's ankles absently and dipping my eyes in a vaguely sad gesture. From the far edge of my lowered gaze, I catch Jade's raven rimmed orbs as they widen for an instant. For once, she's missed the self-deprecating tone in my voice. I fight the urge to turn towards her and drink in the sight. It's not often that I get one over on a girl that's mastered the art of the pout.
"Shapiro, you're way above average. Hence, you are acceptable." The edges of Jade's words are softer than I've ever heard them. I'm so caught of guard by the sudden shift in her voice that I barely notice as she retracts her legs from my lap.
I definitely notice when Jade's lips brush my cheek.
It only lasts for an instant, but the caress of her soft pink lips blows away thoughts of anything else. When Jade springs away from the couch, and begins throwing on her jacket, I'm still lost in a daze. Then Jade catches me staring. Her eyebrows twitch together, and briefly she looks puzzled. It doesn't last long though, and even in my baffled state, I recognize the smirk on her lips. It's that same predatory one as before. She knows she's got me. I'm just not sure what exactly she's going to do with me this time.
"I'm going into town, we need costumes." She states, shouldering a bag and darting around our living room in search of her phone. Shaking off the lingering effects of her kiss, our first, I grop between the cushions and dredge up the device she's in search of. Extending my arm, Jade snatches it from my outstretched hand happily.
"D-d'you…shall I come?" I ask dumbly. Apparently the speech centers of my mind are still all to sea, just great. Jade snorts in amusement and uses my still outstretched limb to yank me upright.
"Like you had a choice." She smirks, ducking behind me and bustling me in the direction of the door. I open my mouth, only to seal it without a word passing my lips. She's right. Of course she is. Jade's had me wrapped around her little finger from the first day of class at UCLA.
Things could be worse though.
I'm breathless.
Jade's eyes are rimmed in kohl and crimson, while her lips are stained a deep red. Her hair is pulled into an elaborate bun, and loose spools of crimson highlights spill into the crook of her neck. The bloodstained ivory gown that she's wearing is even more breathtaking. It's scandalously low cut, and Jade's porcelain flesh spills over its flimsy hemline. The material clings to Jade's every curve, and each step she takes reminds me of just how deadly those particular curves are.
"I look so stupid…" I mumble, peering down at my lanky frame. Jade had wanted to come as a couple that was massacred on the way to prom, so of course she looks amazing and I look ridiculous. It's not her fault though, not really. I've never looked good in white, and I've never looked good in a tuxedo. Spraying a combination of the two with blood did little to change that fact.
"I am so not going through this with you again." Jade states, eyes darting away from the dance floor, and coming to rest on me. I open my mouth to speak, but the look on her face brings me to a screeching halt. Her eyebrows haven't slammed into her eyes, and there's no crinkle of anger between them. There's an unreadable expression on her face, though. Something like sadness tugging at its edges. I'm never quite sure though, because it tends to crop up when we're at our happiest. Maybe I'm just rotten at reading girls. I'm so preoccupied by holding Jade's gaze that two approaching figures don't draw my attention until Jade's eyes drift towards them.
"Hey Jade, Robbie. You guys are here together?" Beck asks, brows furrowing. I've known him for a long time, longer then Jade, even. Beck's not one to wear his heart on his sleeve, so it's with great amusement that I watch confusion invade his face. Well that and the fact that Cat's clinging to his arm and littering the air with giggles. If my eyes wander to her, I know the parts of my heart that she unwittingly left behind will fly apart.
"You think, Oliver? What gave it away? The matching freakin' costumes?" Jade seethes, dragging me towards her and drawing vague parallels between our clothes. Beck's eyebrows fly towards the sky and his lips contort in another attempt to figure out what's happening.
"So you guys…you're dating?" Cat asks, slipping her soft, airy words between Jade and I like a dagger. From the corner of my eye, I catch Jade's eyes flick to me for an instant. They return to their task of attempting to burn holes in Beck shortly after, but the gesture is enough to hold my heart together when Cat shoots a questioning look at me.
"Living together, actually." I state decisively. The confidence of my words must leak into my actions. It's the only explanation for my arm deciding to snake around Jade's shoulder. A light squeak erupts from her lips in response, and I think my death is at hand. But just as I'm muttering my final words, Jade melts into me, and her lips lift into a satisfied smirk.
"Oh, uh-"
"I'm so happy for you!" Cat shrieks, charging through Beck's awkward words, while rushing towards Jade and I. Her slight frame collides with us, and it doesn't pain me as much as I thought it would. I've only come in physical contact with Cat a few times since we broke up, and each time was worse than the last. This time though, something is different. The feeling of her body pulling away from mine doesn't leave my lungs burning, and I don't feel like I'll never see the sun again when the crowd swallows her. There's a warmth around my waist, so I peer down and realize that at some point during Cat's embrace, Jade's arm had ensnared me. Shooting a secretive glance her way, I realize that's exactly why things don't feel so bleak. Moses help me, Jade West as a ray of sunshine? I don't think world's ready for that.
"Well, um. You two kids…er, have fun." Beck states mechanically, arm rigidly shooting up to bid us farewell. As dark as his skin remains, I could swear that Beck has gone pale at the sight before him. Judging by the rattle of Jade's shoulders, and the derisive laugh that I can see her biting down on, I realize just how right I am.
"Oh, we'll try." I smile, waving back at Beck. Just as he's turning away, something impulsive streaks through me. I find myself leaning into Jade, and pushing my lips against hers for a lingering moment. Beck's eyes blow wide open and whatever color had remained on his face drains away. Or I think that's what happened anyway. I'm too lost in the sensation of Jade's lips, and the way that they taste. Strawberries with the faint sting of coffee, I muse when we pull apart.
"Cat? …honey?" Beck warbles, ripping his head in one direction, and then the other. When she doesn't come scuttling back, Beck stumbles off in search of her. His rusty movements look like a robot that's badly in need of oil, and his eyes are still as wide as saucers. The combined effect is too much for Jade, and as Beck wanders into the crowd, laughter spills over her lips.
"That…could not…have gone…better." Jade wheezes between gales of laughter. I've never noticed before, but when Jade laughs, her nose crinkles just a little. It's such a minor detail. But with the realization, I feel a part of my heart that had previously been Cat's change owners.
"What up with the kiss though, lover-boy?" Jade asks suddenly, all traces of humor vanishing from her face. In its place, curiosity upturns her eyebrows and uncertainty coils around her lips.
"I uh, thought people that are dating kissed? I was trying to be convincing…" I babble, trying to salvage whatever is left of the friendship I've surely just ruined. Jade's expression doesn't really change, but maybe that's a good thing. She doesn't look as though she's about to tear my lips off.
"Convincing, huh?" She asks, gaze dipping to the floor for a moment, before twin emerald orbs peer up at me through her eyelashes. Through their spidery legs, I don't think I've ever seen a deeper shade of green, and my throat tightens. I feel like a stupid kid singing a stupid love song at Hollywood Arts again. Whatever confidence I've built up at UCLA dribbles away when my lips part again.
"Yepperoonie." I blurt out, scuffing the floor nervously. My eyes dart in any direction but Jade's. I really don't think I want to know what kind of look she's giving me right now. My tongue's burning, and I want to wax lyrical to her. I know it'll just come out as jumbles of words though, so I let the silence stretch between us.
"I can't believe you just said that, and that I'm about to do this…" Jade grumbles, sounding utterly frustrated. I brace myself, and turn my eyes back to her. I'm expecting to see a clenched jaw and curled fists, but all I see is the puckered lips and half lidded eyes as Jade leans forward.
And then she's kissing me.
Her lips are soft, so much softer than I'd realized before. Her tongue brushes my lips, and when our kiss deepens, my knees go weak. It's not exactly my proudest moment or my most masculine, but somehow that doesn't matter. The prettiest girl at the part is kissing me, Robbie Shapiro! When Jade finally relents and pulls away from me, I'm still floating somewhere just above cloud nine.
"Now that was convincing." Jade murmurs, in a statement that I only half hear behind the fireworks exploding in her head. Through bleary eyes, I do catch the self-satisfied grin on her lips when she pushes her fingers through the spaces in mine, though. As Jade hauls me in the direction of the bar, being a single loser is the last thing on my mind.
Yeah, things could definitely be worse.
It was only going to be 2,000 words, I swear! But that I kept writing :( I probably could have kept going too, to be honest. Maybe I'll turn this into something longer someday if you guys liked it.
Also, feel free to use the cover to this story for your own Rade Week efforts, everyone :)
Review and stuff, too! It'll force me into baking more Rade fics this week.