PLEASE READ: This fiction is actually just a combination of scene ideas that I've been playing with, so I tried to put them all in a story. I really hope it manages to flow nicely.
In order to spare you all from another ridiculous long one shot, once again this story will be broken up into 2 parts. If you enjoy, REVIEW.
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Beck wasn't one for large public displays of emotions. Unless he was acting in a scene, he generally tried to conceal his feelings and instead attempted to maintain a neutral, placid persona. There were a few times, however, where certain situations pushed Beck just a little too far and all the emotions that he generally tried to hide were revealed for the world to see.
The first time Jade truly witnesses this rare occurrence is on her and Beck's one year anniversary.
"I want to meet your dad." Beck declares abruptly at lunch. Jade stiffens in shock, but quickly conceals her astonishment with anger.
"Why would you want to do that?" She snaps, shooting Beck a fierce glare. He was well aware that Jade did not have a particularly good relationship with her father. In fact, Jade had not one good thing to say about him. Nevertheless, Beck was curious to meet the man who though Jade seemingly despised, still managed to have so much influence over her that she constantly sought his approval in all of her artistic endeavours.
"We've been dating for a year. I've met your mum, you've met my parents, I think it's time I met your father." Beck simply shrugs. Jade still looks uncomfortable and nervously bites her lip, but to Beck's surprise, she actually looks like she's contemplating this.
"Fine." She eventually sighs. "You won't like him though, and he definitely won't like you."
Beck grins at this, giving Jade a quick peck on her knuckle. "Jade, you didn't like me either for the first month that you knew me."
He's hoping Jade might crack a smile at this memory, but instead, she turns rather grave.
"I'm not kidding, Beck. Besides his stupid new wife and dumb dog, I've never seen him like anything before." She insists, her blue eyes narrowing in frustration (and perhaps even a little sadness) as she reveals this information to him.
Beck's own smile falters slightly as he regards her stiff frame.
"Okay. I understand. But babe, for my sake, try and not fight with him. I want to win his approval, especially as I plan on becoming a permanent fixture in your life."
Now Jade grins at his words, rolling her eyes to cover the fact that she's slightly touched as she mutters "sap" at Beck's teasing form.
A week later, Beck finds himself inside Mr West's modest house. Jade's new step mum, Linda, had greeted the pair brightly when they arrived. Though she was quite young which Beck knew annoyed Jade greatly, she actually didn't seem so bad.
She was clearly trying to make an effort at least by attempting to drag out some small talk. She seemed immensely relieved whenever Beck would speak up kindly and attempt to flesh out a conversation with her. Jade, on the other hand, sat sullenly on the couch next to him, not bothering to look up from her chipped black nails.
At close to 7pm they finally hear keys turning in the front door. Linda smiles in relief, straightening out her dress just as Mr West stepped into the lounge.
"Hi Darling." She greets as he enters. Mr West's grim frown turns upwards ever so slightly at her as he presses a quick kiss to her cheek.
"Hi Linda." He welcomes, then moves down to pick up their little dog, Crystal, who is yapping at his feet.
"Did you manage to take Crystal for a walk today or should I take her out after dinner?" He enquires, stroking the little dogs head.
"Already done." Linda assures.
Beck watches this exchange in bemusement. Was Mr West going to greet Jade at any point? It appeared that the answer was no, and Jade certainly did not appear to look as if she was going to be the first to acknowledge him. She continued to stare down at her nails bitterly. Beck felt his heart tug but did not comment.
Instead, Beck stood up and approached the older man, holding out his hand. "Evening, Sir. I'm Beck Oliver, Jade's boyfriend."
Mr Oliver finally looked away from the dog in his hands. His eyes scanned Beck's appearance, and with a slightly derisive scowl, he gingerly took Beck's hand with his own and gave it a brisk shake.
"So you're the young man Jade spends all her time with instead of focusing on school."
"Don't even start, dad." Jade warns, finally acknowledging him.
Her father peers at Jade firmly, but keeps his lips pressed tightly shut. Linda looks nervously at the three of them before declaring, "Now let's have a nice time together. Dinner is all ready. Come let's sit."
Beck took his seat again next to Jade as they moved to the dining room. Under the table, he reached for her hand only to find it clasped tightly shut on her lap. She was clearly trying to restrain herself from snapping already, and Beck could practically feel the waves of stress rolling off her. Soothingly, he unclasped her hand and moved it to rest on his knee, still holding it firmly as a sign of support. Jade briefly shot him a small smile of thanks before looking over at her father.
"How was work, dad?" She asks with stiff politeness, attempting to hold her promise of making an effort for Beck.
"Fine, thank you. David was telling me about his daughter. She's been accepted to study pre-law at Stanford University."
"Good for her." Jade snips.
Mr West sighs deeply, then seemingly unable to restrain himself lectures, "Jade, I wish you would give up this stupid acting hobby of yours. You're wasting your talent."
"Dad I do not want to have this discussion in front of Beck." Jade yells.
Beck looks very confused, was this really the bases for every conversation Jade had with her father. He can feel her hand squeezing his own alarmingly tight. If he weren't so concerned for her, he'd be wincing in pain.
"Jade, you could be intelligent. What you're chasing is an unrealistic dream. I just don't understand why you won't grow up and face reality."
"Excuse me, Mr West." Beck abruptly cut in, not allowing Jade to yell back, "Jade is extremely intelligent. She's topping all her classes at school. And honestly, I think it's a bit unfair to say that Jade's dreams are unrealistic. Have you ever seen her perform? She's incredibly talented, far more than the average person. If anyone can succeed, it's her."
"That's very sweet, Beck." Linda commented. "Right, John?"
Mr West does not agree. Instead, he peers at Beck with a strikingly cold gaze. He exhales slowly, then rather stiffly enquires,
"And what are you hoping to pursue in your life, Beck?"
"Acting too." He replies confidently.
"I see. And do you have any backup plan of sorts?"
"Not really, but I'm sure I'll manage."
Mr West makes a grunting noise, but Jade's glaring so fiercely at him that he finally looks away from the pair and begins to eat his food.
Linda looks rather overwhelmed, and Jade is still rigid in frustration. Beck silently gulps and attempts to smile reassuringly at Jade.
"So how long have you been together?" Lina asked somewhat overly cheerful, clearly attempting to lighten the conversation.
"One year." Jade mutters.
"Oh wow, that's so sweet." Linda beams.
Mr West makes another scoffing sound. Jade angrily whips her head around to glare at him.
"Something funny, dad?" she spits.
"You're too young to be dating. I don't know how your mother allows you to act like this. You already dress like a tramp from the streets with all your dark clothes and jewelry in your face and that horrific tattoo on your arm."
"Oh John, come now. We don't understand young fashion." Linda attempted to intervene.
It's Jade turn to snort. Linda was only 27, hardly that much older than Jade who had recently turned 15. Beck, on the other hand, did not find the situation amusing in the slightest. For perhaps the first time, he felt an overwhelming pit of anger boil in his chest. What sort of father makes comments like that?
"She looks ridiculous, Linda. I don't like seeing my daughter like this."
"I think she's beautiful." Beck loudly declares.
"Yes, I'm sure you do." Mr West growled. "Samantha has informed me that Jade is already spending her nights with you."
It was true that Jade's mum knew that she stayed over with Beck, but Jade had purposefully never mentioned that he lived alone in an RV. Better for her mum to think that Beck's parents were close by. Still, she had never expected her dad to have even the slightest knowledge about her sleeping arrangements. She knows what her father is insinuating, and it makes her feel embarrassed and dirty even though she and Beck hadn't even come close to anything like that yet.
"You're wrong about Jade." Beck snaps, anger and disappointment seeping through his voice. "She'll prove you wrong. Just you wait."'
Before any more words can be exchanged, he takes Jade's hand and practically drags her out the door. Jade seems to finally relax the second the front door is closed and they've walked a couple of blocks away.
"I'd say sorry, but I warned you." Jade accuses. She doesn't sound mad though, just tired.
"No, I'm sorry. Sorry for not understanding."
There's so much he wants to say to her. He just doesn't think he can find the words right now. Instead, he grabs her wrist and pulls her close into his chest. He hugs her to him as tight as possible, and as Jade melts into his touch, he thinks maybe she understands.
"I don't think I've ever been so angry." He admits, stroking Jade's hair.
"Welcome to my life." Jade admonishes.
"I'm serious Jade." Beck breathes through clenched teeth. Jade looks up in surprise, finally noticing the boiling rage in his gaze.
"Hey, it's okay. I'm fine." She soothes, cupping his face with surprising tenderness. "Stop freaking out."
Beck wants to protest. Actually, he wants to turn back around and punch her ignorant father in the face, but one look at Jade's pleading blue eyes and he's as good as putty. "Okay." He sighs, resting his nose against her. "I love you." He tells her.
Jade just smirks. "Sap."
As much as Jade hated Canada (for some absurd reason), Beck truly loved his home country. He always enjoyed visiting his relatives over there, and honestly, missing a few days of school wasn't too bad either. The only downside was that Jade still wasn't allowed to go with him.
She had not been pleased when he had told her he would be flying over for a few days for his grandpa's 85th birthday, especially as he'd be missing the production she was putting on at the end of the week, but she had been too busy to get really worked up.
Still, on the morning he was scheduled to depart she brooded mournfuly all morning.
"Do you have to go?" She whined, fiddling with Beck's pillow as he scanned his room for any forgotten items.
"I'm sorry, Jade. You know I do." Beck grins. "You gonna miss me?" He teases, secretly loving the adorable pout on Jade's lips. Sometimes he forgot what a softy Jade could be under all the dark makeup and clothes.
"No." She snips, and for good measure hurls the pillow at his face. Beck catches it easily and throws it right back at her, hitting her squarely in the face. Before she even has time to recover, Beck throws himself on top of her and begins to tickle her sides.
"Say you'll miss me." he demands playfully, laughing as Jade's shrieks only increase.
"NEVER."
"I'll give you noogies." He threatens.
"Fine. I'll miss you." She manages to choke out between squeals.
Beck laughs victoriously, finally ceasing his assault. Jade breathes heavily, resting her head in the crook of his neck as Beck plays with a strand of her hair. Now he almost wishes he didn't have to leave, but he can already hear the raised voices of his parents from outside the RV calling for him.
"You know you can stay here while I'm away." He tells her, ignoring his dad who was now honking at him to hurry up from the car.
"I'm not that desperate." Jade scoffs, but she takes out the spare key Beck had given her a few months ago to show him that she would if she needed to (even though she'd probably just use her foot to break in any way). "You better not bring back any Canadian germs, and if you kiss one Canadian girl while you're away, I swear I'll cut off all your pretty little hair while you sleep." She tells him seriosuly as the both sit up on his bed.
Beck laughs even though he knows she's serious. "Definitely not a problem." Beck chortles, kissing the side of her head. His dad presses down on the horn again, and sighing, Beck pulls away. "I gotta go. Be good, babe."
Jade rolls her eyes and walks him out, giving him one last peck goodbye. He smiles at her through the car window till his parents' car turns the corner and she disappears from his sight.
The week thankfully flies by. It had been fun to be with his family again, but he had to admit, it was a tad dull without Jade's sarcastic comments and constant desire for mischief keeping him on his toes.
He couldn't wait to see her again, and even as he arrived back at his RV close to 1am, he contemplated driving over to Jade's place to surprise her. Beck, however, is the one who's caught off guard, as when he enters into his RV home, the first sight he spots is Jade asleep on-top of his bed. Beck grins as he approaches her, his smile only growing when he notices the beautiful teal dress she was wearing. A pair of nude shoes lay discarded on the ground beside her. He hadn't been able to communicate with Jade during the week due to the shocking internet connect at his Grandfather's place in Canada, but he guesses Jade must have dressed up for her performance of "Clowns Don't Bounce." He knew she was very excited about it. Even the knowledge that he wouldn't be able to attend hadn't deterred her enthusiasm. He was looking forward to hearing all about it, but as he inches closer to her sleeping form, his smile suddenly vanishes.
While Jade still looked very beautiful, Beck finally notices the black mascara stains trailing down her cheeks and a notable wet patch on his pillow sheet. Even Jade's dress was damp and rumpled, and he could tell by her stiffness that she was not lost in a pleasant sleep.
He doesn't like waking Jade, usually because it never ended well for him, but he doesn't think twice before firmly yet gently shaking her awake. Jade wakes up surprisingly fast, another clear indicator that she had not been sleeping well as usually, she would be in such a deep slumber that it took waving a cup of coffee under her nose to even get her to stir.
"Beck?" She mumbles groggily as she blinks open her eyes. Her face breaks into an expression of relief and sadness the second she properly wakes up, and almost instantly she reaches for him to hold her.
"Baby, what's happened?" Beck asks as soothingly as possible, trying to control the overwhelming sense of urgency that's pulsing through his veins as Jade's face crumbles up in further dismay before she buries herself in his chest.
"I hate her." Is all Jade manages to yell, and with that admission, she is sobbing into his arms.
It takes two hours to pry the entire story out of Jade. Beck had held his crying girlfriend for close to thirty minutes before she had relaxed enough to stop her flow of tears. Between her smudged makeup, damp hair and slightly tattered dress, Beck decided that the next best plan of action was to get her clean and warm, so he snuck her into his parent's house where she had a quick shower then got into a pair of his boxer shorts and plaid shirts. Only after he had given her two mugs of coffee did she finally relent and tell her boyfriend what had transpired. To say that Beck was unhappy would be a sufficient understatement. He was livid. It was a good thing that it was the weekend now for if he had faced his friends the following day, he probably wouldn't have had such control over his emotions.
On the Monday morning before school, he walks Jade to her locker, ignoring Cat's happy squeal that "he's returned" and Andre's friendly wave. Both his friends look alarmed but don't approach him.
Tori who had been watching him since he first arrived briskly walked over, the rest of the gang close on her heels.
"Beck, welcome back." She cried brightly.
Beck did not respond immediately. Instead, he turned to whisper something in Jade's ear. Jade frowned but finally let out a sigh as she nodded her head and whatever Beck was saying to her. She allowed Beck to place a quick peck on her cheek and then walked off in the direction of Sikowtis classroom. Finally, he turned to face the group of huddled friends who were all staring at him quite bemusedly.
"Hi." He said flatly, a slight frown appearing on his usually cheerful face as he slowly approached them.
"Is everything okay, Beck?" Tori asked in concern. She'd never seen Beck behave like this before. He always had a friendly greeting instore no matter what mood she caught him in.
"Not really, Tori." Beck sighs. "Look, I thought you wanted to be Jade's friend." He eventually gripes.
Tori looks taken aback as she exchanges a perplexed looked with Andre.
"Of course I do." She responds immediately. "If this is about last Saturday, Beck, then I don't know what she's told you, but she-"
"Jade told me everything." He states calmly, cutting Tori off before she can launch into a story.
"So she told you how she tried to destroy our prome?" Tori demands to know, still sounding highly affronted. She was the good guy in this situation. She's certain Jade's attempted to fill Beck's head with s bunch of lies about what might have taken place last Saturday night, but surely he knew Jade well enough to know she was a dark, twisted girl with deep psychological issues. To Tori's surprise, Beck responds,
"Yes."
"And yet you're somehow annoyed with us?" Tori clarified.
"Yes."
Tori looks even more confused now, an expression mirrored by the rest of her friends. "Beck, I still don't understand why you're not happy with us? Jade tried to ruin Prome for everyone."
Beck does not raise his voice. In fact, his tone drops even lower as he takes one step forward.
"Do you know how much money Jade spent on her production that she was meant to put on last week? Fake blood and parachutes are not cheap, you know. Not to mention all the printing she had done to stick up advertisements."
Tori opens her mouth to protest, but Beck holds up a hand to silence her and continues,
"She had prebooked the space for over 3 months in advance. There was a whole team excited to put on that show, and she had to let them all down telling them it was canceled. Did you ever consider all the hours of hard work they sacrificed and poured into their rehearsals? Did you think about all the countless, sleepless nights Jade spent perfecting that script, then all the energy she put into directing it?"
"Beck, wait Man, we didn't –" Andre began to protest but once again hushes with one furious look from Beck.
"But to top it all off, you plan Hollywood Arts first prom night for a time where her boyfriend wasn't even there." Beck takes another haggard breath, attempting to calm himself before he snapped. "Tori, What did you think was going happen? Of course Jade was going to lash out. I'm not saying what she did was right, but ultimately what happened was not fair to her at all."
Tori looks immensely guilty as she stares down at her shoes. Still, Jade was always the one doing mean things to everyone. Tori can't be blamed for overlooking Jade's feelings this one time. "Beck I get it. What I did was wrong. She could have explained how important her plays was to her though."
"She told me that she did."
"She did not."
"Actually Tori, she sort of did the first time she asked you to cancel it. Remember?" Cat meekly speaks up, her brown eyes looking rather overwhelmed and upset.
If Cat wasn't on her side, Tori knew she was in trouble. Even Robbie and Andre had their heads hung in shame. "Oh." Tori gripes. Then rather desperately she can't help but complain, "Well, it doesn't change the fact that she also disappointed lots of students. I mean, she canceled the band I had hired. Do you even know who she got as a replacement?"
"Doug the diaper guy." Beck responds swiftly. Troi looked taken aback in shock. She didn't expect Jade to have actually told Beck about all the things she did to try and ruin the performance. "I also heard that you let that creep carry her off into the night. Tori, if something had happened to her…" Beck left his sentence hanging.
He had not raised his voice once the entire conversation but everyone stiffened under the silent threat. Finally he sighs, allowing his shoulders to relax slightly. "You guys should apologise. I know Jade is sorry for how she acted, though she probably won't admit it, but it doesn't change the fact that you all hurt your supposed friend."
"We are sorry, Beck." Andre spoke up, looking quite ashamed.
"We'll tell her at lunch." Robbie adds.
"Jade wants to be alone with me today. Maybe swing by my RV after school?" He suggests lightly.
Tori nods her head sorrowfully. "I really am sorry." She finally apologises, sounding rather meek. Beck looks at her strangely, then in a friendly manner, lightly squeezes her shoulder.
"It's okay, Tor. We all make mistakes. I sure have with Jade. It's just sometimes it's easy to forget how sensitive Jade can be because she acts so tough all the time."
Tori nods in agreement, weakly smiling up at Beck before he turned to leave.
"You have to admit, we did screw up." Andre breathes.
"Poor Jade." Cat sniffed. "I was too distracted with Tug. I didn't even think about how she was feeling."
"I know." Tori moans, slapping her hands against her cheeks. "Have you guys ever seen Beck that mad before?"
They all agree, they definitely haven't. Beck never let on how upset he was. Even when Tori accidentally got him fired from his first movie role, he had only been friendly towards her. She guessed that when it came to Jade, Beck just wasn't as good at controlling himself.
Beck and Jade drove home from Sinjin's came show in silence. Well, Beck had screamed at Jade when she hit Sinjin with her car, but after they had seen him hobble away, they had sat in furious silence, both brooding in anger for the remainder of the ride.
Jade pulls up in front of Beck's house, finally turning to face him. He's stony-faced and staring out the window still, making no effort to move.
"So you're not happy with our relationship huh?" She asks stiffly. Her hands tighten on the steering wheel, squeezing it tightly to help her remain upright.
Beck swallows dryly, finally shifting his head to stare back at her. "Jade… look I'm sorry. That came out wrong."
"No, I think you meant every word." She snips.
The silence in the car resumes. Beck looks at Jade's rigid stance. He doesn't know if he wants to reach out and hug her or strangle her. She was driving him mental, and not in a good way.
"Well Jade, can you honestly say that you're happy?"
He holds his breath. He knows what her answer might be, but he's kind of hoping that for some reason she won't say the words he's dreading.
"No, I'm not happy."
Beck's heart sinks.
"What do we do about this?" He asks. "I mean, what's happening with us? Why are we always fighting? I can't even remember the last time we've had a conversation that hasn't ended in a screaming match. I don't know one other couple that acts like us."
"Oh my God, Beck. Who cares?" She shouts in exasperation. "This is the problem. You keep comparing us to others."
"Jade, we just won an award for worst couple, or did you forget about that in your haste to run over Sinjin?" Beck snaps, anger flaring in his voice.
"You know Beck, instead of worrying about what people think about our relationship you could defend us for once."
Beck is momentarily stumped. "What?" he gripes.
"I mean, you allow people to talk shit about me to my face and have never once stopped a girl flirting with you by telling them that you have a girlfriend. How can you expect people to take our relationship seriously when you literally do nothing to prove them wrong?"
"I can't believe you'd say that to me. You know damn well that I love you. You're the one who acts like you hate me. You're always screaming at me and fighting with me and-"
"Beck, this conversation is stupid and I'm not having it. Get out." She seethes. Beck looks at her in shock. No matter how bad they fought, Jade hardly would ever back down from an argument.
He gets out of the car without another word, slamming the door behind him. He paces around his RV for a while, trying to assure himself that he was in the right. Sure, he had lost control of his emotions back there, but it was hardly his fault. Jade was just being difficult again. He waits for her to call or message him. Surely she would have cooled off by now and come to her senses? He tries to maintain his resolve, but worry edges away at his aggravation and he finally texts her, "Night babe. Love you. We'll talk tomorrow."
Jade never replies. They break up the next day.