He knocks on her door at three am one morning.
It's the middle of winter and pouring with rain, yet he's still there, standing outside and getting soaked. Jade doesn't understand why he's there - or why exactly it would be so important that he would forget to bring a jacket - until she sees the drooping bunch of flowers in his hand.
"My mom took my car keys off me." Beck begins, like this explains anything. When she only stares, he holds out the bunch like he's expecting her to take them, throw her arms around him and have sex with him right then and there on her porch. Instead, she only gifts him with a strange look, halfway between confusion and amusement.
"Why are you here?" she asks, folding her arms across her chest because it's freezing outside and yet he's only standing in a drenched t-shirt and his favourite jeans (the ones that don't fit anymore and are faded and baggy and that would hang around his ankles if he forgot to wear a belt, but yet, somehow, she still finds a turn-on).
Beck smiles at her then, a beautiful smile that's far too happy for this early in the morning.
"Happy Valentine's Day." he tells her simply, running a hand through his hair with his free hand to shake some of the water out. Resisting the urge to do it herself, Jade settles for raising an eyebrow in contempt.
"And you couldn't wait until we saw each other in school?" she questions, even though she's beginning to piece together what he's trying to do and isn't sure she likes it.
"School isn't very romantic." he murmurs, moving forwards so he's sheltered slightly under the door frame. She doesn't notice this, though - the only thought that crosses her mind is that he's very close right now. Close enough to touch.
And his hair is soaking her slippers.
"You've never had a problem with it before." she breathes back at him, trying to ignore the steady drip-drip of droplets on her feet and the surrounding carpet. Beck laughs.
"No, I haven't." he says, before she has a chance to say anything more. "But I wanted today to be special. It's our two year anniversary."
He tells her this like she doesn't remember, even though it's technically only been a month after they got back together after certain events that they still haven't properly spoken or even thought about yet.
"I know." she mumbles gruffly, looking down at the wet material around the door to avoid looking into his too-trusting eyes. From her view of the ground, she sees his scuffed boots take a step towards her, and then there's a cool hand lifting her chin up so she has no choice but to look at him.
"Don't I get a present?" he teases, running his callused thumb across her cheek like he's trying to steal the warmth she's been desperately clinging onto since she left her warm sheets and stumbled down here to see him.
"Don't I get one?" Jade stares right back at him, testing him, and he grins.
"Of course. But first," he looks down at her fluffy slippers - a Christmas present from Cat that she intended to dump as soon as she received them but ended up keeping - then back up at her face. "You'll need some more suitable footwear."
She knows what his plan is now, but still she questions him, with whats and wheres and whys. Finally, after getting nothing more than an amused smile, she kicks off the slippers and pulls on the red Doc Martins that were also a Christmas present, but this time from the obviously more fashion conscious Andre.
When she's done - her pyjama pants tucked awkwardly into the leather material of her boots - Beck leans over and kisses her on the cheek.
"What was that for?" she asks, bemused, because all she's done so far is complain and wear some questionable footwear.
"That was for not killing me just yet." he laughs, then takes her pale black-nailed hand in his larger, tan one and pulls her out into the rain.
It soaks her hair within five seconds of being out in it, and her soggy material of her dressing gown alerts her to the fact that it has become weighed down with water too. Every part of Jade's body is screaming at her to get inside, back in the warmth, and the make-up she forgot to take off last night is now streaming down her cheeks and blurring her vision is what is surely the most unattractive she's ever looked in front of Beck.
Still, his hand holds tightly onto hers and, beneath the last traces of her mascara, she can see he's chuckling at what must be a very unamused expression on her face.
"I hate you." Jade says, glaring at him. "I hate you so much. I hate you more than I've ever hated anyone. Even stupid Vega-"
Becks leans down and presses his lips against hers, cutting her off, mid-sentence. When they come up for air, he starts laughing and Jade frowns again.
"You call this a present?" she complains, trying to cross her arms across her chest again to get the circulation returning to her fingertips but failing under Beck's strong grip.
"It's fun, Jade. Fun." Beck replies, letting the rain soak his barely-dried hair again.
"This isn't fun for me." she remarks, because what is this trying to prove? It's now five past three and she's wasting her precious sleep on standing outside in the wet with her obviously mentally insane boyfriend.
"Then let's make it fun." he whispers in her ear, pulling her further out from the comfort of her house and out into the large garden. Beck then begins to make a strange movement, his arms and head moving in an erratic way, and it takes Jade a good few seconds before she realises that he's dancing. Then she can't help herself and she starts laughing at his pathetic attempts while making a mental note to sign him up for dance class next semester. He stops when he sees her laughing, but he's smiling himself as he pulls her in.
"Let's dance." Beck calls, holding onto her hands and swaying them to a beat that only he knows. Suddenly there's music - coming from where she doesn't know, since no electrical item, waterproof or not, could survive this storm - and she's dancing too, spinning and twirling and shimmying her hips to the rhythm. Beck draws her in and starts attempting to tango, but it's so bad that she just shakes her head and laughs.
"Love you." he grins, kissing her forehead when she wraps her arms around his waist and they fall into a strange-but-vaguely-recognisable waltz to music that's more suited to clubs than what they learn in school. Jade lays her head against his chest and smiles into it.
"Love you too." she murmurs as he holds her tightly, and suddenly she understands why he's here. This is his present to her.
She's going to need to buy him something more than a can of lemonade this time.
Reviews are always lovely. :)