Disclaimer: I don't own the characters, the show or anything. No wait, I own the little Oliver boy.
This was inspired by Long Live by Taylor Swift and also by Definitely; Maybe.
(.x.)
Cross My Heart
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"Dad, who's that?" Eight year old Luke pointed to a picture of his father; his hair was longer; fuller. In fact, his father generally just had a lot more hair. His half-lidded eyes and his cool smile made the little boy turn his head to look up at his father. Sure, he looked like the guy in the picture but they seemed like two different people. Beck Oliver's face tightened for a brief second before he sighed heavily and peered over his son's shoulders to get a better look at the picture. Initially he thought his son was pointing to his younger self, but he wasn't; he was pointing at the girl beside him.
The father-son duo had been spending their time going through Luke's baby pictures, making comments about how tiny Luke was when he was born and how he always seemed to like to hide in the corners of the apartment as a toddler. It brought Beck a twinge of sadness as he looked down at the 10 year old lying down on the carpet, pictures strewn haphazardly around his miniature Oliver body. Luke's hair was lighter than Beck's and his eyes were a murky brown. His skin resembled that of a white printer page and he had the temper of a Tasmanian Devil.
"You look different," Luke commented, his eyes meeting his father's.
Maybe pulling out all these old albums was a mistake, Beck thought as he ran a hand through his hair. Granted, it wasn't as full as it was when he was teenager, but he still had a good head of hair left. "That's because back then, I was a different kind of person," Beck said.
"Different how?" His son prompted, and Beck rolled his eyes at how nosey he was.
"I was…just going through the motions; I didn't know what I wanted back then. Hell, I wanted to be an actor back then." Beck chuckled at the thought and rubbed the stubble on his chin thoughtfully. He was only 29 and he felt like he was stuck between his life slipping away and his life not being fulfilled due to him always working late nights and extra hours for the money. It wasn't like he was struggling or anything; accountants don't struggle; but he was divorced and had to get enough money to pay child support and the lawyer.
His wife- ahem, ex-wife, got to have Luke during the week and then on the weekends and holidays Beck got his son back.
"She kind of looks like mom," Luke said absent mindedly stroking the girl in the picture next to him. Before Beck could open his mouth and comment, his son spoke up once more, "Can I see more pictures, dad?" Luke hesitated and kept his eyes focused on the picture in front of him.
"I don't know Luke, I don't want you getting the wrong idea…"
"Please dad? I just…you never talk about when you were younger. John's dad never stops telling him stories about his glory days and I realized that you don't talk much about yourself. I just want to get to know you better." Luke mumbled his words and his cheeks flamed bright red.
Beck sighed again, "Okay, I'll be back."
.
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"These are your friends?" Luke asked, flipping through the pages of the old photo album. Beck was a bit restless; he didn't know why he never told Luke stories about himself when he was growing up, it never seemed important to him. And he didn't mind not mentioning those days either…there were things he just wanted to forget.
"Yup, that's Aunt Cat." Beck pointed to a picture of the smaller redhead girl who was smiling brightly next to two other girls; one of whom wore a slight scowl.
"No way!" Luke exclaimed, "Look at her hair! It's red!" Luke threw his head back and laughed.
"She was eccentric to say the least," Beck shook his head and let out a light laugh. Cat sure was different now. In fact, she went by Caterina, but only to those who didn't know of her Hollywood Arts days. Cat stopped dyeing her hair and left for a year after graduating to travel the world and get inspired to make some music. Except, when she returned, she was different; focused. Like she had found all the answers she was looking for.
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"What happened to you?" Beck asked her one day when he caught her alone.
She shot him a smile, "I guess I grew up. When I was alone, you guys weren't there to baby me."
"I never realized we did that…" Beck admitted softly and helped her set the table in the Vega's backyard for Tori's latest BBQ lime.
"It's fine." Cat even started speaking differently. Her voice wasn't airy-fairy and she wasn't as bubbly. "I saw a lot of things that made me realize that life wasn't as easy as I thought," she seemed to be struggling to find the right words. She put down her handful of knifes and looked at Beck sharply; she seemed to be searching for something in his eyes. She sighed heavily and Beck assumed she didn't find what she was looking for. "One day, it'll happen to you, Beck. It'll all hit you and you'll realize that who you are right now and the life you're living makes you happy, but not as happy as you want it to."
He was silent and they heard Trina yelling for some ketchup from the kitchen, "What about music? You love to sing."
"I know, I still do but that's not what I want to do with my life anymore." Cat's voice was firm and she was self-assertive, something Beck had never heard in her voice before. "Do you know why I really left Beck?" The 19 year old shook his head, "I left because my parents told me my brother had a mental illness. For my entire life, I listened to them tell me he was just acting out and looking for attention just so I wouldn't be afraid of him; and I believed them. All those trips they took with him, all the times we moved when I was a kid, it was to get him treatment. I was so innocent enough to believe them. I left because I needed to get away, to clear my head. You know?" She asked, setting the knife next to the fork. Beck didn't respond because, quite frankly, he didn't know what to say.
"So what are you going to do now?"
"University; I think I want to be a psychologist." She placed another knife on the table, "I want to learn more about the human mind; why people act a certain way, why people push away those they love the most." Her eyes bore into his and Beck scratched the back of his neck awkwardly; he didn't know what she was trying to insinuate.
"Never pegged you as the type," He said and she laughed.
"Do you want to know something, Beck? The reason I considered Jade to be one of my best friends was because, even though she was mean and rude sometimes, she didn't treat me differently. She treated me the same as she treated everyone else. She was only person who ever treated me like an equal."
.
"I can't wait to show her this picture," Luke stifled a laugh and flipped another page. He was in stitches when looking at a picture of Beck in a blue dress and a wig, after he pretended to be Tori and jumped 40 feet for her. "Dad, I didn't know you-"
"It's not what you think," Beck spoke hurriedly; "I was doing a favor for Tori."
"Tori?" Luke looked at him curiously.
"Tori Vega, she used to love playing with you as a baby-"
"Whoa, whoa. Dad, you knew Tori Vega? Was she your friend? Did you go out with her? How come you never told me you were friends with a celebrity?" Luke bolted up and got off the ground, his eyes twinkling and his smile growing wider and wider with each second. He was babbling furiously and Beck took a hand and covered his son's mouth.
"Okay Luke, I'm going to remove my hand, when I do you need to calm down." A muffled protest, "Then and only then, I'll answer your questions, okay?"
His son nodded his head furiously and Beck released the small boy slowly and eyed him wearily.
"Tori transferred into Hollywood Arts when I was 16. No, I never dated her." Beck snorted at the thought, "But we were pretty good friends."
"Then how come I've never seen her? If you were such good friends like you were with aunt Cat, how come-"
"You did, when you were a baby; you just don't remember. Your mother and Tori were good friends." Beck said; bringing up his ex-wife was always awkward for him. "But Tori became a star and she didn't have time for us anymore," His son's forehead crinkled. "Not that any of that was her fault; she tried, we all did but soon she was travelling the world and doing interviews and when we did all meet together, we would get mobbed by paparazzi. We just drifted apart, I guess."
"I want to meet her." Luke commanded in a voice that was too much like his mother's, making Beck roll his eyes.
"I'll see what I can do; but I'm not making any promises."
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"I'm leaving for a yearlong tour," Tori blurted out suddenly, amidst the silence on the hot summer day. They were on the beach, it was one of the last summers they all spent together.
"Really? That's so great!" Cat said and jumped up to give Tori a big hug.
"Ugh, Cat, you're kicking up sand everywhere." Jade said, her hand covering her face, "Oh and congrats, Vega. Guess this means I'll be seeing less of your face around here. Finally." Jade smirked and Tori rolled her eyes playfully. She had long learned not to take anything Jade said to heart.
"I'll miss you too, Jade." Tori said sincerely and bent over to grab Jade in the hug, despite Jade's protests.
Andre, Robbie and Beck all gave her congratulation hugs and they found themselves back in their original positions. Jade and Andre being the only ones in the chairs while everyone else sat on the sandy floor. Originally, Robbie had brought the seat for Rex, but Jade had strewn the puppet facedown into the sand and sat on the seat smugly, daring anyone to tell her to move. Then Cat took the opportunity to use Jade's legs as a back rest, and well, Jade didn't complain or anything so everyone else followed to suit.
"Do you guys think we'll all still be friends when we're older?" Tori asked, taking a sip of her can of coke.
"I hope so," Cat said softly, "You guys are my best friends." Nobody ignored the way she nudged Jade's legs with her shoulders gently or the way Jade tried to hide her small smile by turning her head.
"Of course," Andre said, "Why shouldn't we?"
"I don't know…"Tori trailed off, "sometimes, life happens and we change. What if-"
"Just shut up and enjoy the day, Vega." Jade said, cutting her off before Robbie and Cat took off in a run down the beach to look for shells and Andre and Jade decided they wanted ice-cream, leaving Tori and Beck alone in the silence.
"No matter what happens Tori, even if we lose contact with each other, we'll still be friends." Beck said coolly. Tori's worried smile disappeared and she laughed.
"You're right," she said, "of course we'll always be friends."
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"That's a puppet!" Luke squealed and Beck rolled his eyes. "It's pretty creepy," he said, holding a picture of Rex face to face with Cat, with Robbie looming wishfully behind them. "Is that Uncle Rob?"
"Yeah, it is."
"Look at his curls! He had so much hair!" Luke raised his hand to his head and touched his own head of hair in disbelief. "I can't believe it..."
"Well you better believe it."
"He's so skinny too! What happened to all his muscles?"
"I think Cat and Robbie had the biggest transformations. Cat became more serious and Robbie grew into the man he always wanted to be. The ventriloquist act wasn't as successful as he thought and for most of his years after high school, he was a bum. That was when he joined the army. After his girlfriend dumped him, he fell apart. It was just before he admitted that he had feelings for Aunt Cat, when he saw a bumper sticker in the grocery, that he decided to join the army." Beck took a sip of his coffee then looked down at his watch. "It's late, you should get to bed."
"No dad, please. We're almost finished with this album anyway. Just a little bit more, please?" Luke clamped his chubby hands together, lacing his fingers, and bit his lower lip. Sure, Luke loved his sports, but he sure did lay it on thick sometimes. And really, Beck only got to see his son on the weekends, if staying up a bit later than usual meant that he got to spend more time with his son, then why not?
"Okay, but just this once." Luke broke into a wide grin got up to give his father a hug, before he went back to the countless albums open on the carpet. He laid down on his stomach and picked up the picture of Cat, Robbie and Rex once more, scrutinizing them and making note of the differences between his Aunt and Uncle, and his dad's friends.
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"Are you sure about this Robbie?" Beck asked the next day. "You still have time to change your mind and take your name off the recruits list if you want to-"
"No, Beck; I'm fine. This is something I want to do." Robbie spoke firmly and brought the beer to his lips, making a gagging noise when he swallowed.
"If you're joining the army, you gotta learn to drink beer better than that." Beck forced a laugh and took a swing from his own drink. They were hanging out in Robbie's apartment. Cat, Andre and Jade were inside, blowing up balloons and dishing out food. It was only thirty one minutes to the new year. Tori was gone, somewhere in Japan and Andre flew in from New York to spend this night together. "Just like old times" he said.
There was a scandalous laugh followed by a deeper bellow coming from inside. Robbie still had his Christmas lights hanging around the doorway and lining the balcony they were leaning over. The blue and yellow lights were the only things that lit up the house.
"Why are you doing this, Robbie? If it's because of Cat, it's-"
"Cat was more than understanding. She said she'd wait for me; as long as I needed. You don't get it Beck, I just have to do to this."
"No you don't. You'll be risking your life! I don't understand why you-"
"It's my decision. I'm going and when I come back, I'll be a new person. I'll be tougher, stronger; mentally and physically."
"There are other ways to become strong Robbie, don't you think this is a bit drastic?" Beck took another swing, looking down at the empty streets below them. They were on the 6th floor so everything seemed like they could more than fit into his hand.
"Can't you just be happy for me?"
"I'm just worried about you, man." Beck sighed.
"You don't think I can handle myself?" Robbie was frustrated. "Everyone else was supportive. They got me, what I needed to do. One day Beck, it'll hit you and you'll realize you're not happy with who you are and what you're done with your life. When it does, you'll want to make a change; you'll want to make it right…I just hope you don't realize it when you're too old to make a change." Robbie shook his head, emptied his bottle then stalked inside.
"We've been waiting on you, Robbie!" Called out Cat's voice.
"Sorry to keep you waiting," Robbie apologized.
"It's fine, you know I'll always wait on you if you ask me too." Came her response and two loud groans were heard after. Cat and Robbie still sometimes danced around the idea of the two of them being a couple, like they did when they were still 16.
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"Hey, he looks familiar," Luke pointed to a picture of Andre in which he and Tori were onstage performing one of his songs. "He used to visit us; we used to play basketball a lot." Luke scrunched his tiny nose and blew out a puff of air, squinting his eyes trying to recall his memory of the man.
"Andre Harris," Beck supplied the answer. "My best friend."
"How come he doesn't come around anymore?"
"We got into a fight when I married your mother…"
"Why?"
"Okay, I think that's enough questions, don't you?"
"Dad," Luke crossed his arms defiantly, "just stop making up excuses. I remember Uncle Andre; just tell me why you guys don't talk anymore. How can I remember him if you said you guys got into a fight before I was born?"
"That fight changed our friendship, I guess; we always tried to remain friends, but…there was always that elephant in the room."
"And he's still your best friend?" Luke asked, arching a dark eyebrow.
"He was the only one who ever dared to tell me the truth."
"Well that's what best friends do. Like when I had a bugger and John was the only one who told me."
Beck snorted into his coffee, "Yeah, kinda like that."
"What did you guys fight about?"
"A girl…"
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"Beck, you can't do this." Andre said for the umpteenth time that day.
"We've been through this," Beck had a habit if sighing whenever Andre brought up this argument. He did his trademark hand-through-hair-thing and gave the saleswoman an apologetic smile before turning to his best friend. "Not this again, okay? And certainly not now."
"You're making a mistake."
"No, I'm not; I'm happy."
"You're lying. You always were the better actor." Andre stepped closer and Beck rolled his eyes.
"Why don't you like her? Why don't you want me to do this?" Accusations flew out of Beck's mouth; he really had it with Andre trying to discourage him from going through with it. Andre was always nagging him about 'doing the right thing' and 'following his heart', which was exactly what Beck was doing in the first place. Right…?
"It's not that I don't like her; I do. That's why I'm doing this."
"What?" Beck frowned.
"If you do this, you won't only hurt yourself, you'll hurt her too. You can't just pretend you love her." Andre almost seemed to be pleading with his friend, his dark eyes were wild and his face was distorted. Yes, he was pleading, but he was also upset. Beck was his best friend, but she was his friend too. He couldn't just be a bystander and watch as Beck hurt them both because of his stubbornness.
"But I do love her..."
"No you don't, Beck! You're settling; you're my best friend, that's why I'm trying to talk you out of this before you do something you regret."
"I'm going to buy the ring. As my best friend, you're supposed to support me in all my decisions. You're supposed to have my back. Guess I was wrong in considering you a best friend then." The thing with Beck Oliver, is that when he gets upset, he gets spiteful. He snaps and he pokes and prods until he finds out what makes you tick, and then in his weakest moments, his desperation makes him use those hurtful words against you. It was defense mechanism yes, but it wasn't a very good one.
"Fine then," Andre backed up and held his hands high in surrender, "you buy the ring; propose and then when you're regretting it years later, don't say I didn't try to tell you that you two were destined to fail."
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"Was it because of her?" Luke pointed to the last picture in the album; one of him, eyes closed and mouth set in a wide laugh. His arms were hanging loosely around her waist and she smiled into his grey wife beater under his red plaid shirt. Her long brown hair fell down to her waist and her black jacket was strewn on his RV bed behind them. Her purple tank top fell loosely over her denim shorts.
Beck swallowed, "Yeah; it was."
"She looks like mom," It was the first thing Luke had said when he first saw her in the group picture before but he had cut Beck off before he could reply. "I thought she was too…until I saw her eyes. Mom looks exactly like her, except she has brown eyes. This girl, she has blue eyes." Luke looked up at him and Beck could see the wheels in his mind turning. His dark eyes held such an intensity that Beck was curious to know exactly what his son was thinking of inside that mind of his.
"No, that's not your mother, that's Jade…Jade West." Beck spoke slowly then cleared his throat, "I think it's time for bed." He clapped his hands together and rose from the sofa he was on.
"Dad," Luke gave him a stony look that Beck recognized all too well, "Just tell me." Beck shifted his weight from one foot to the next. Luke was never one to back down; he was resilient and determined. If he sent him up to bed, Luke might even go as so far as to ask his mother about it and Zoey would not appreciate Luke asking around about Jade.
"Andre was trying to dissuade me from marrying your mother." The man admitted, deciding to sink down to the carpet, with his legs crossed, next to his son.
"Why?"
"He thought I was still in love with Jade."
"He thought or he knew?"
"Luke, I love your mother; you know that and I would never-"
"Dad," Luke cut him off and then looked back down at the picture in front of him, "it's okay. I know you love Jade. That's why mom looks like her, isn't it?" Beck closed his eyes, suddenly weary from all the storytelling.
"That's not it; I married your mother because I loved her…" Even to Beck's own ears, his argument sounded weak.
"I'm not mad, dad. I'm not angry or upset or anything; I love you and mom but…but you guys have never been like everyone else's parents. You never seemed in love." Luke avoided his father's gaze when he spoke and fiddled with the edge of the picture in the album.
"Jade and I had been together for 3 years. She was my first everything; my first crush, my first kiss, my first love…. We were kind of like the Titanic, you know? A great love story destined for tragedy. We started to argue all the time and it…it wasn't what I wanted. I wasn't happy. So, I broke up with her." Beck found his heart hammering inside his chest. Funny, he thought, Jade always said she liked to use her hammer to break things into pieces, didn't she? Couldn't she realize that one of those things, was his heart?
"Titanic was only a tragedy because the guy thought he had to let go. He didn't realize there was space for both of them on the piece of wood. He gave up. He stopped fighting for her and he froze to death. Don't freeze, dad, and please don't give up either."
"We had broken up twice before, so I didn't think this time was any different. I figured she would come and ask me to get back together like she usually did…"
Suddenly he was 17 again, and words were something he momentarily forgot.
A flood of emotions came rushing through him; feelings that he was sure had disappeared. Feelings he tried to bury, to ignore, to pretend they didn't exist. Feelings he never asked for and sometimes, didn't want. Feelings that overcame him in the best of his days, rather than his merely on his worst. When he was younger, he had done a great deal of pretending he was never so affected, so infatuated with Jade. It wasn't just like- it was love. It wasn't temporary bliss- she was his permanent haven.
"She didn't come back…did she?" Luke asked after the pregnant pause, filling the silence.
"No, she didn't, son." Luke scooted closer to his father.
.
Beck slammed his locker shut as Cat and Tori rushed to Jade's side Monday morning, begging for details about her date. Usually, Beck would have no problem with this, okay, that was a lie. He did have a problem with Jade going out on dates, but the mere fact that this was the 5th date Jade had with this Josh guy, was starting to tick him off. Why hadn't she chased him away yet? Why hadn't Josh gotten tired of Jade's brazen attitude? And most importantly, why wasn't Jade stumbling into his arms?
"You okay, man?" Andre shot his best friend a pointed look.
"Fine," Beck spat bitterly.
"It was just a question. Jeez, chill bro." Andre gave Robbie a look and seconds later, Robbie was with the girls, leaving the two friends alone. "I know you miss her."
"Miss who?"
"Don't play games, man. You've been sulking like a kid ever since Jade and Josh went on their second date and after their third, you've been ripping heads off and dousing them in bitterness."
Beck glared at Andre, "You're imagining things."
"If you want my advice-"
"-I really don't-"
"-I'd tell you to go talk to her. Tell her how you feel. Jade still loves you; I can see it. Everyone can see it, but dating Josh is her way of getting over you. She's never dated anyone when you guys broke up before, did she? If you don't act fast, you'll lose her."
"I won't lose her." Beck let out a harsh laugh, "She always comes around."
Andre sighed heavily and eyed his friend; her absence in his life had made Jade happier and Beck miserable. It made Andre wonder if it was Beck's bitterness that Jade used to exude when they were still a couple. If Beck was the reason why she was so cold and harsh; she was obviously more important to Beck than anyone had ever realized, including Beck himself. Andre opened his mouth to speak but found that Beck was no longer in front of him, but stalking over to Jade.
Like an angry Beck and an already peeved Jade ever seemed to be a good idea…
"What do you think you're doing?" Beck hissed, cutting Tori off midsentence.
"Excuse me?" Jade arched a perfectly sculpted eyebrow at her former beau, disdainfully.
"Why are you dating, Josh?"
"I can date whoever I want. We're not together anymore, I think you made that perfectly clear when you left me standing on Vega's front porch." Beck was momentarily stunned by the steely blue of Jade's eyes before he found himself spluttering an answer.
"I thought this was another one of your games where you would run away as far as you could and then get me to chase you back. You were supposed to come back." Jade rolled her eyes and Tori cleared her throat uncomfortably while Cat squeaked. Robbie kept his gaze directed at the tiles of the Hollywood Arts hallway and Andre slowly made his way over to his group of friends.
"Aren't you so full of shit? What makes you think I'm coming back?" Jade's eyes were narrowed into blue slits now and they were standing dangerously close to each other. Not even Rex dared to speak up.
Because I love you.
"You always do," he sneered.
"Fuck you, Beck. Why don't you keep on waiting then, see if I'll come back."
I will then.
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"Why didn't you tell her?" Luke demanded, eyes suddenly growing serious.
"Tell her what?"
"That you still loved her?" Beck remained silent, "Look at this picture, dad. I've never seen you look at mom that way. Maybe Uncle Andre was right, you need to tell her. You need to tell her that you still love her; that's why things didn't work out with mom. Because you loved mom, but your heart was still with Jade," Luke slammed a finger down over Jade's face. "You should tell her, but first you need to tell yourself."
"Tell myself what?"
"You need to admit that you still love her." Luke was standing up now, arms crossed and lips pursed together.
"I don't, Luke. That was a long time ago-"
"Liar!" Luke shouted, "You were always a horrible liar, dad. Just say it; you love, Jade West."
Beck blinked and put down his now empty cup of coffee. He stayed completely still. It was ridiculous to think that his high school love had managed to break into his house before he got married and steal his heart, before disappearing into the darkness of the night. It wasn't like they didn't see each other at the occasional get together. They shared short, clipped words and she gave him a sad smile when he showed her pictures of Luke, but that didn't mean anything, did it?
No. It didn't.
His heart didn't do summersaults whenever she spoke to him and he didn't grin like a Cheshire cat whenever he saw her. He most certainly didn't rearrange his plans when Andre informed him that Jade would be attending one of their Sunday lunches. That hadn't happened in 2 years; he hadn't seen her in 2 whole years.
What if she fell in love with someone else? What if she still hated him for the bad taste the breakup left in their mouths and the wide, bloody massacre it made of their hearts? What if she had a husband and kids by now? What if she was happy? Would he destroy all of that just because his 8 year old son believed he was still in love with Jade West?
What was there to love about her anyway?
Her constant complaining (that made him realize just how much he never noticed and appreciated around him before), her impatience (that kept him on his toes), her snarky remarks (that make him chuckle), her pessimism (that was always there to ground him when his thoughts and dreams sent him miles away), her ever-present scowl (that he used to love to kiss into a smile)?
Even if he did…somehow, still have feelings for her, who was to say that Jade hadn't already moved on? That she hadn't already replaced him in her life, like what he did with Zoey; find an exact replica and then force feelings and force love.
Things with Jade were never forced.
As much as he had tried to erase her from his memory, to pretend that he hadn't spent months with a hangover because of their breakup, as much as he had devoted to much time in keeping himself busy; his thoughts always ended up retreating back to the root of all his dark musings; Jade. He could never be happy without her, could he?
"I love Jade…?"
"Yes, you do. It's not a question. It's a statement; admit it, dad. Just admit the truth. It's okay. I promise."
Beck had always wished Luke's eyes were shining blues instead of the murky browns that they were.
"I love Jade West."
.
"Beck, if we ever breakup, can you promise me one thing?" Jade turned to face her boyfriend; he was half-asleep but she didn't care. His arms were wrapped around her middle and he drew her as close to him as he could.
"No, I won't promise you anything, because we'll never breakup." He mumbled.
"No, just listen, will you?"
"Mphh."
"If we ever breakup, please don't forget about me…" Beck peeled his eyes open, on hearing the soft tone of Jade's voice. "We're only sixteen, but in a few years, you'll hardly remember my name or what I look like but, just try not to forget, okay?"
"I'll never forget you, Jade."
"You promise?"
"Cross my heart, hope to die."
.
.
(.x.)
And, well yeah. That's it. I mean, this could be a twoshot, with Beck and Luke finding Jade and such, but this is also fine by itself. It really just depends on the response, because, I hate to sound all whiney, but response for my fics have been beyond low recently, for whatever reason. So I'm not going to put any extra work into this if nobody's really going to appreciate it. Oh well, for those of you that do review, I love them and I may or may not read them over after a particularly rough day. :) Hope you managed to enjoy some bit of this. Please remember to read&review LeLeD2010 and lowlaury's fics. I love those two dearly and they have some amazing stuff. K. Bye.