The Moment I Knew

Summary: It's Jade's birthday, and as much as she hates them, she's really wishing her new boyfriend hadn't had blown her off. She's wishing he was there for her. But he's not...but a certain ex-boyfriend might be instead. Set after TWC and based on Taylor Swift's song 'The Moment I Knew'.

AN: Okay, so I don't know what this is. I bought Taylor Swift's new album 'Red' and this song was on the deluxe CD, and I really, really, really love it! And me, being me, I just HAD to relate it to Victorious, well more specifically, Beck and Jade. And since I had mouth surgery and was really bored, I made a oneshot. The song 'The Moment I Knew' is about one of Taylor's boyfriends who didn't show up to her birthday party, which is just really sad. Go listen to it while you read it, it makes it really cool, personally. Okay, on with the story!

Disclaimer: If I owned Victorious, Tori wouldn't sing as much, there would be so many Beck and Jade scenes you'd have to rename it 'The Adventures of Beck and Jade', and I would be rich. Since none of those are true, I don't own Victorious, do I?

"And it was like slow motion
Standing there in my party dress
In red lipstick, with no one to impress
And they're all laughing
And asking me about you
But there was one thing missing
And that was the moment I knew"
- Taylor Swift

ooo000ooo000ooo

Strobe lights flickered across the walls and added a splash of colour to Jade's short black party dress. She had taken extra care in how she dressed tonight; everything was perfect, from her blood red lips to her perfect nails. Tori and the rest of Jade's 'friends' had set this up for her. Of course, she knew about it. Keeping a secret from Jade was a terrible idea. The entire inside of the Vega's house hold had been decked out with fairy lights, disco balls, streamers, balloons, and everything you could imagine. It was a wonder Holly and David had agreed to letting Tori host a party this big. What shocked Jade the most was the fact that all these people had come for her birthday. She didn't think this many people liked her, well weren't scared of her.

"Happy birthday, Jadey!" Cat squealed, skipping up to Jade and pulling her into a tight embrace. After yelling at the red head, and accepting her present and putting it on the overflowing table of wrapped gifts, Jade tried to focus on the song playing over the speakers, rather than on Cat's rambling. Her eyes trailed over to the mountain of gifts that had been stacked up, all with cards saying 'Happy Birthday' and what not. But there was one gift missing, the gift from him. Heck, there was even a present from Beck, and they weren't exactly on speaking terms just yet.

Jade had been dating the new guy, Conner Adams for the past two months, originally as a way of getting over Beck. But a week into the relationship, she found out that Conner was a terrible boyfriend. This wasn't the first of event of her's that he had blown off. There had been her performance at the Full Moon Jam, and the time she needed him to come to this stupid ball her father was throwing. He hadn't shown up to either of them.

"And that was when I realized that it would only work if I put the cocoa powder in with the icing sugar" Cat laughed. Jade had no idea what she was talking about. Cupcakes maybe? Jade saw a certain brunette over her shoulder, walking up to the two girls, with Andre and Robbie by her side.

"Hey Jade!" Robbie smiled, standing next to Cat.

"Do you like the party? It took me forever to get my parents to aprove of it. I told them no alcohol but I think someone spiked the punch" Tori muttered, eying Andre nervously who was sipping at his punch. He made a face before setting his cup down on the table.

"Well no more punch for me then" he sighed, and tipped forward on his toes.

"Hey! Where's Conner?" Tori asked, looking around the room quickly

"I have no idea" Jade said, her eyes on Brady and Damon, Conner's little goons. They were smiling and waving at her, holding red plastic cups and swaying slightly to the thumping of the music. Conner, however, was no where to be seen.

"Oh, well I'm sure he'll turn up" Tori smiled, her smile faltering. Andre and Robbie exchanged a nervous glance. Everyone knew it. Everyone knew she would be stood up again.

"Maybe he's stuck in traffic" Cat giggled, cocking her head to the side.

"Yeah I'm sure that's it. If you excuse me" Jade muttered. She pushed past the group, without saying goodbye or anything, and made her way up Tori's staircase. She had to push a couple out of her way who had thought it would be fun to make out on the stairs. A thought popped into her head, about Beck of all people, but she pushed it to the back of her mind. Hadn't it been the two of them who had been doing the exact same thing a couple of months ago? Once she had made it upstairs, she pushed her way into Tori's bathroom and locked the door quickly behind her and sunk to the floor. She heard tapping on the door and voices calling for her.

"Jade! Let us in!" it was Conner's goons. Jade's night was getting better and better.

"Go away you jerks" it was fair to say that Jade never really liked Damon or Brady, and she didn't want them to see her like this. That was why she came up here, so nobody would see her have a mental break down.

"We have a message from Conner" Brady called over the sound of a muffled guitar riff, bouncing off the walls. My head shot up. Maybe, just maybe, he hadn't stood her up? Maybe something serious happened to him? She stood up and unlocked the door, letting the two boys slip into the room.

"Something came up" Damon smiled. He didn't seem to care that he was about to break the birthday girl's heart by telling her that her good for nothing boyfriend had better things to do.

"What? What could be more important than my birthday?" Jade cried, loosing her cool.

"Your wedding?" Damon asked.

"Shut up! He should be here!" Jade snapped.

"You said it yourself, you hate birthdays so why should it be that big of a deal or not if Conner gets here or not!" Brady snapped back at me.

"He said he'd be here. He gave me his word!" Jade yelled, slamming her hand down on the sink basin.

"You're over reacting, it's not that big of a deal" Damon muttered, cowering behind Brady. They didn't understand, they didn't care about her. This was a big deal. Every girl, even girl's like Jade West, wants thier boyfriend to come to thier birthday, burst through the door and sweep them off ther feet. Okay, maybe Jade didn't want that, but she at least wanted him to have the heart to show up.

"Get out" Jade whispered, her eyes flashing. She clenched her fists, her blood red nails digging into her palm.

"Jade, listen to me -" Brady said, grabbing her wrists as she attempted to push them out of the room.

"I said, get out!" Jade shouted, wriggling out of Brady's grip and pushing them out of the small room. As soon as they were gone, she sat down on the edge of the bath, tears streaming down her face. The music had gotten softer; it must have been a slow song. Jade pictured all the couples dancing around down stairs. It made her sick.

"Jade? Can I please come in?" a familiar voice said from the other side of the door. She didn't know why, but as soon as she heard his voice she got up and swung open the door and pulled him in, wrapping her arms around his waist and shutting the door behind him. He wrapped his arms around her trembling body and held her close.

"Beck" she whispered, her tears wetting his denim jacket. God she missed being like this.

"It's okay, I'm here" he kept whispering to her, rocking her side to side in time with the music. After a couple of minutes Jade seemed to grasp what she was doing and she pulled away quickly. They weren't allowed ot do that, there were done. She sat down on the edge of the bath again, distancing herself from him, and Beck pulled himself up so he was sitting on the basin next to her.

"He didn't show up, did he?" Beck whispered. Jade shook her head and buried her head in her hands.

"God! I'm such an idiot!" Jade muttered.

"No you're not. You trusted him, and he should have come" Beck soothed. A small part of Jade's brain was telling her to kick him out of the bathroom as she had Brady and Damon. They had broken up, she was dating Conner, and he could entertain himself with some random fake girl from Northridge who was probably dancing with at least seven different guys downstairs right now. But she was happy he was here to comfort her, it reminded her of many nights alone in his RV; back when he still loved her.

"Why are you here?" Jade asked.

"It's your birthday, I couldn't not come" Beck smiled cheekily, knowing full well that was not what she meant.

"No! I mean here in this bathroom, with me" Jade sighed, standing up and beginning to pace.

"I saw you run up here, and then I saw those two lunatics come up here, and I knew something was wrong" Beck shrugged, watching her pace across the tiles.

"You know, he's no good for you" he continued, running a hand through his hair.

"I know" Jade sighed, sniffing and placing her hands on her hips.

"Why are you still with him?" Beck asked.

"That's none of your business" Jade snapped.

"You're my…friend" Jade couldn't help but notice how he stumbled over that word, before he continued. "And I want you to be happy, and you are not happy with Conner."

"You don't know that!" Jade lied to herself, because the reality was, he did. Beck knew her better than anybody else.

"But I do!" Beck cried.

"No! You don't know what it's like to be dating someone who doesn't give a damn about you! I'm sick of putting my heart out there, only to have it ripped to shreds. Is there no one I can trust!?" Jade shouted.

"You can trust me" Beck whispered.

"Can I?" Jade questioned ice in her tone.

"Yes" Beck said, one single word and Jade felt her heat beat quicker, because she could trust Beck and they both knew it.

"He said he'd be here" Jade repeated the exact words he had told the goons, closing her eyes as a single tear rolled down her cheek.

"He lied" Beck whispered, taking her hands and pulling her so she was standing in front of where he was sitting.

"I know that!" Jade snapped.

"Break up with him, please. I can't stand to see you like this, especially on your birthday" Beck whispered.

"I can't" Jade whispered, her bitterness gone.

"Why not?" Beck asked.

"I don't want to be alone" Jade muttered. She hated how he did this to her, she hated how he made her tightly wound knots unravel.

"I'm here, I've always been here. Even when though we're broken up, I'm still here for you" Beck said, pulling her into a hug and resting his head on her shoulder.

"Prove it" Jade whispered. Beck pulled back and grinned at her. He leaned down and pressed his lips to hers. Damn he had missed this. Hell, she had missed this too. Her hands wrapped around his neck, tangling in the back of his hair, while his hands snaked around her hips. They pulled back, gasping for air, and Beck couldn't wipe the smirk off his face.

"This doesn't mean we're together again" Jade stated.

"Why not?" Beck asked, a spasm of sadness rippling through him.

"Conner hurt me, but you hurt me too. You only kissed me to cheer me up, if you really loved me you would have opened that door" Jade whispered, before leaving the bathroom, leaving a flabbergasted Beck sitting on the sink.

"I love you" he whispered after her, but she was already gone. "Really, I do!"

ooo000ooo000ooo

Later that night or sometime in the early morning, after everyone had left Tori's, the gang of six had stayed behind to help clean up. Jade and Andre were loading all her gifts into the back of her car, when Jade's cell phone rang. She set the box of stuff in the back of her car before digging it out of her bag. She groaned when she saw who is was from.

Conner.

She hit answer and held her phone up to her ear.

"Hey babe, I'm sorry I didn't make it" Conner said into the phone, and Jade pursed her lips.

"I'm sorry too" Jade whispered, before hanging up on him. From where she stood next to her car, she could see Beck with a couple of black trash bags, heading towards the bins. Jade grinned and looked down at her feet when she knew he was looking her way.

In that moment she knew she didn't need Conner anymore.
In that moment she knew she wanted Beck.
In that moment she knew that he wanted her to…

…he'd just have to work hard to get her back.

AN: So, I actually like this one. I don't know why, I just do. Please leave a review and try not to be too harsh, I tried, I really did. Oh, and check out my profile and vote for what you want my next full length story to be. Voting closes November 1st! Hope you liked it...

Grace xx