A/N: This fanfiction is dedicated to my friend autumnbade; after reading one of their amazing fanfictions (devoid of emotion- which everyone needs to read by the way), I overcame my writers block and voila: this was born. I was struggling not on ideas for a story, but with making my quality of writing to a high standard. Luckily, I think this is a step up from most of my recent work I've posted. So thank you again autumnbade, I really hope you like this!

XXXXXXX

Just one breath.

That's all it would take.

Then it would all be over.

Just one short sentence. Just a few words. And that could be it.

It really was that simple.

But Jade couldn't find the strength in her heart to do it. Honestly, sometimes she did considered it. The thought playing on her conscious like a violin. Yet she resisted; kept on pushing it further and further back into the murky depths of her dark mind.

This, however, was not so simple.

The thought kept coming back. Haunting her. She wanted it, she wanted free of this life; but something was compelling her to keep going. That something was love.

G*d d*mn love.

Sometimes she wishes she was devoid of love. Devoid of all emotion. It caused her too much pain. She often wondered why she kept on going. Why get your hopes up, and fantasise about pointless teenage crushes, nights of passion, growing old together, a happy ending, when all it does is bring you down?

It was quite pathetic really.

But she did love it. She loved him. Loved Beck. Oh how she loved him. And Beck loved her, she knew that, but their relationship was going downhill. Jade was clinging on to the edge of a cliff, and with each fight they had one of her fingers would be pried from the edge. She was on her last finger now. Fighting to hold on, to keep herself from falling into the pit of desolation and misery. Wasn't she miserable now though?

She could end it all. Right here, right now. The phone conversation with Beck she was still currently engaged in had begun about two hours ago. A two hour long fight. Where they couldn't even look at each other; gaze into each other's eyes and see the sorrow and the agony; where they couldn't even hold each other when they knew they'd gone too far; no kiss and make-up; only screaming at one another. Jade couldn't even really remember what it was they'd fallen out over in the first place. It was mostly lots little things. One dispute cascaded into another.

Their relationship hadn't always been like this. No. There had been a time, when they were happy. Times of watching movies together, spending nights doing nothing but kissing and enjoying each others company; but that all seemed like an age ago now. Now, it felt as if their relationship was straining. They were fighting to keep going. It was almost tedious.

Jade sat on her bed, pearphone beside her. She sat eyeballing at it while biting strands of her streaked locks; trying to busy herself during the long silence which had engulfed the conversation. Now was the time. She could do it now.

She opened her mouth... finding that no words were coming out.

She couldn't to it. D*mn emotions. Beck was too important to her to let go. Maybe she was being too haste. She'd wait a bit until making a decision; just a little bit longer.

She breathed a sigh of relief.

"I don't think we should see each other anymore."

Jade's breath hitched. She couldn't believe those words has been spoken... especially not from Beck.

Or maybe she had always anticipated this would happen. After all, she was an insensitive gank. Always jealous, always possessive, always over-reacting; but that's just who she was, and she thought Beck understood that. She knew she pushed Beck too far, she knew Beck wondered if they should end it, she just didn't think he actually would end it.

Jade was at a loss for words. Beck didn't speak again either. Eventually, she managed to force some of her words out.

"W-what!?"

"I don't think this relationship is doing either of us any good. We fight over everything. Sometimes, it feels like that's all we ever do."

Jade didn't respond; she couldn't exactly deny it. Choking back tears, she desperately tried to muffle her heartbroken sobs. Surely he must realise their relationship is more than just pointless bickering? Surely he must still feel the undeniable pull of love on his heart?

"I..." The tearful girl trailed off. If she tried to speak again, she knew Beck would hear her crying.

"...Jade?"

That's it. If Beck didn't think their relationship was worth fighting for, then why should she bother fighting for him?

"Ja-"

She ended the call.

Silence once again filled the room. Tears streaming down her pale visage, staring at her blank phone screen, it finally sunk in. Jade let out a shrill shriek. The tears began to fall faster and faster, so that Jade could barely even catch her breath.

She threw her phone across the room, hitting the door and chipping the wood.

Her trembling hands sought out the black string of her promise necklace; she yanked it off her neck, the string snapping in two and marking her neck as she did. Suddenly regret coloured her face; she desperately scrambled around for the broken pieces of necklace, but the damage was done.

Fingering the necklaces promise ring, she shrivelled down on to her bed, holding it close to her chest. The tears continued rolling down her cheeks, staining her pillow. She sobbed until there were no tears left to cry.

Exhausted, Jade drifted off into a not so peaceful sleep. Tossing and turning, her arm draped over the edge of her bed, the ring still clasped in her hand.

XXXXXXX

Jade was awoken by the sound of her pearphone. She was still dressed in her black jacket and skirt and jade green top from the previous day. Her make-up, which she too hadn't removed, had stained her pillow which was now a rainbow of colours. She bolted upright. Maybe Beck had texted her, wanting to get back together, to end the fight, to make everything right; like Jade never did, because she was too stubborn.

Throwing off the covers and leaping out of bed, Jade made a bee line for her phone. She snatched it off the ground and sat on the floor as she clumsily swiped her phone screen.

No new messages

Her heart sank.

Then she noticed.

Beck Oliver has updated his profile on .

She was about to go to The Slap when suddenly she stopped; her finger nail just millimetres above the screen. She dreaded what she may see.

Not able remain ignorant of this update any longer, she opened up the web page. Her eyes darted across the phone to find what Beck had updated.

Relationship status: single

XXXXXXX

For the next week, Jade avoided Beck like the plague. Dodging him in the hallways, desperately trying to not make eye contact, distancing herself from Cat, André, and the others in case Beck was with them (which he almost always was); Jade would do anything to avoid her ex. Weekends were ignis fatuus to her; and they couldn't come fast enough. Avoiding Beck in class, however, was a different matter.

The pair always way sat together at the back. Of course now, they sat as far away from each other as they possibly could. Once though- only a few days after the break-up- Beck almost took a seat next to Jade in class. Luckily Beck careered away before it was too late; but Jade had already noticed from her peripheral vision. She wished he'd taken the seat.

That wasn't the biggest issue they encountered though: the biggest was when Sikowitz announced that Jade and Beck were to perform a scene together in front of the class.

Jade froze up. Even Beck, who was good at masking his inner emotions, also displayed signs of shock and discomfort.

"Well, Jade, Beck; what are you waiting from?" Sikowitz asked in his usual booming voice.

Beck got up out of his seat. Jade remained attached to hers. She could feels the eyes of everyone in the room stating at her, eager to see what Jade would do. Eyes glued to the floor, transfixed, and turning paler, she wanted the ground to just swallow her up. So she wouldn't have to face Beck. So she wouldn't have to look him in the eye.

Sikowitz suddenly understood. "Okay, how about we have someone else instead... Tori?"

Tori's eyes gleamed with delight. "Sure-"

Her sentence was cut off by the sound of Jade's chair being flung across the room. It landed at a squealing Robbie's' feet.

After lobbing her seat out of the way, the enraged Jade with anger coloured cheeks stomped her way up to the stage, snatching her given script out of Sikowitz's hands. If Beck was ever going to go out with another girl, it sure as h*ll wouldn't be Vega. Situating herself in front of Beck, she quickly scanned over her script, which didn't take her long since it only had her lines on and not Beck's (Sikowitz was currently teaching the class about performing unaware of the other actors' lines; which no-one really understand why was important but had learned not to question their deranged teacher).

The moment her eyes met Beck's, the suffusion drained away from her cheeks; leaving her pale, vulnerable face. Jade hadn't seen those eyes in a long time. She stood entranced by his brown irises.

Sikowitz clapped his hands together, breaking the awkward silence. "Okay, your scenario: Jade, your husband Beck has caught you cheating with another man. Despite this, he doesn't want you to leave him. Go."

Beck begun.

"No please, babe, wait-"

"Save it. I can't stay with you any longer."

"But why?"

"You know why! I don't love you anymore, okay! And after all I've done, why do you still want me?" Jade said it with such passion, as if she actually wanted to know why Beck would ever want her.

Beck came close. "Because, no matter what you do... I'll still love you all the same." Beck dropped his script out of his hand which he moved towards Jade's face, to caress her cheek.

In a moment of consternation, Jade dropped her script. Her eyes cast down at the falling sheet. As she glanced back up, Beck's hand was just brushing her cheek. Slapping his hand away, Jade swivelled around. "You don't love me." Hurriedly she began gathering her things.

"Of course I-"

"This doesn't change anything. Goodbye Beck." Jade stormed out

"Excellent." Praised Sikowitz. "I could practically feel the emotion in you two."

Beck made his way to his seat again, stepping over Jade's overturned one and putting upright before he did.

"Jade you may come back in now." Sikowitz called.

The door remained closed.

"Jade?

After a minute they realised she wasn't coming back.

XXXXXXX

Blowing off the rest of the school day, Jade retreated back to her house. She couldn't take it any longer. She just needed to be away from Beck. It hurt too much. Seeing him, being next to him, but not with him. Truth is, she needed him.

Jade just wasn't the same without Beck and she knew it. He was a part of her. He held her together. Beck was the screws, Jade was the chair, without him Jade just fell apart; left as a pile of broken pieces.

Without bothering to turn on her bedroom light, she plopped down her bag and flopped on to her bed. She wondered how she was going to explain her sudden disappearance tomorrow; she wouldn't admit it. Everyone probably figured it out anyway.

She'd been just lying, staring at the ceiling for hours. School had probably ended now.

School.

The school would probably be phoning her parents about her ditching. Oh d*mn. This is going to go down well..." she thought as she cringed imagining the hell breaking loose when her parents came home. Well she wasn't hanging round for that.

Swinging legs off the bed, Jade began rummaging through her bag to find her phone. She would just have to call Beck to-

She stopped.

She didn't have that privilege anymore. Falling back she buried her face in her pillow; muffling the sounds of her sobbing.

Her parents would be back soon. Forcing herself off the bed, she locked all four locks on her door. In traipsing back to her bed- to resume in wallowing in her pity- she tripped over her bag, causing it's contents to spill out. Cursing under her breath, she began gathering her belongings up. She picked up a sheet of paper. It was the script from Sikowitz's class. A single tear trickled down her cheek, landing on the script and smudging some of the ink. That's when she noticed: this wasn't her script. It must be Beck's. She furrowed her brow, then realised she must've accidentally taken his script instead of hers in the rush to leave.

Though something wasn't right about it. She turned the page over, and over, and over again until she finally accepted what she was seeing: these weren't Beck's lines. Confusion creased her forehead again. Just then, Jade was startled by the sound of something hitting her window. It came again. She tried to ignore it, but now she was intrigued. She watched the window intently.

Stretching her arm out, she pulled a curtain open ever so slightly; just enough to see a section of the glass. She jumped back when a stone came flying towards the glass. Someone was throwing pebbles at her window. It was probably her little brother and his bratty friends again, she figured. Sliding off her bed, she yanked open the curtains and opened the window.

"OI!" Jade hollered.

Her eyes were greeted not by the sight of stone propelling kids, but by the sight of a dashing, determined, love-struck, teenager.

Jade's eyes widened to the size of boulders.

"Beck!?"

At seeing Jade had come to her window, he dropped the rock he was holding and shouted up, "No matter what you do... I'll still love you all the same."

Jade smiled. Took him long enough.