The tram-ride to the hotel turned out to be longer and more uncomfortable than any of them had been anticipating, so that by the time they arrived at the Marriott, all four of them had settled into an irritable silence. The airline had set them up with two small rooms, each containing a queen-sized bed. Beck's mother had been displeased at the idea of Beck and Jade sharing a bed, but then Beck had suggested that she couldsleep with Jade if that made her more comfortable…

She decided it was best if she slept with her husband.

They were settling into their room now. Jade had retreated into the bathroom immediately upon their arrival, and Beck was fiddling with his suitcase, trying to decide whether it would be worth it to change out of the clothes he was wearing.

After almost 45 minutes, Jade finally emerged from the bathroom looking freshly showered and Beck had changed into a tee-shirt and shorts. He was absent-mindedly flicking through the channels, (there was nothing on), when Jade flopped down onto the bed beside him and grabbed the remote, turning the TV off in one swift click.

"Hey," Beck protested weakly, "I was watching that. Sort of."

"I hate it when people channel surf." Jade said, examining her finger nails, "if you are going to watch TV, watch TV."

"I can't," Beck companied, "you have the remote."

"This sucks." Jade said, ignoring him. "Phoenix, Arizona. What a joke."

Beck crossed his arms, missing the mindless task of channel changing. This did suck, and he preferred not to think about it. "Can I have the remote?" he groaned, "…or a crossword puzzle? …or something?"

"I don't have a crossword puzzle. We should file a complaint."

"Remote? Please? and I don't think the hotel is obligated to provide us with a crossword puzzle. That would be kinda cool though…" Beck trailed off, picturing a hotel room with a gideon bible, a pillow mint, and a crossword puzzle. It was a nice picture.

"To the airline. A complaint to the airline. This whole thing is-"

"If you say ridiculous one more time…" Beck interrupted.

Jade smiled at him mischievously, "-outrageous" she finished smugly.

"Babe? Remote? Seriously?" Beck wasn't sure when he'd become such a TV junkie, but he was totally exhausted, and the thought of doing anything else was seriously unappealing.

Jade looked like she was about to argue, but at that moment her phone rang. She rolled her eyes and tossed the remote to Beck with a smirk, hopping off the bed to retrieve her phone from her bag.

Beck grinned as he turned on the TV, not really paying attention to the conversation Jade was having. He did notice, however, that it ended rather abruptly.

"Who was that?" he asked, when she slid back onto the bed, her mood visibly worse than it was 5 minutes ago. If that was even possible.

"My father." Jade said with disdain.

Her father. That explained it. "Was he checking in?" Beck asked. That seemed very unlike him. Beck had only met Jade's dad a couple of times, but even then it had been obvious that things between Jade and her father were…prickly.

Jade let out a humorless laugh. "As if." Beck turned his head to look at her, and she met his gaze. "It was a wrong number." She smiled at him cynically, and for some reason that disillusioned smile made Beck crazy. Like he wanted to hold her and shield her and never let her leave his sight. Beck hated Jade's father at that moment. He hated him a lot.

Jade however, was oblivious to the whirlwind of emotions going on inside Beck, and just continued talking as if she didn't care that her father was a jerk. "If he wasn't so technologically incapable, he wouldn't keep accidentally dialing me. It happens at least a couple times a month." She paused, sliding down further on the bed, letting her head rest against the pillow. "I don't know why he even has my number. He's never actually called me on purpose." Then she let out another humorless laugh, and again, without knowing it, she totally broke Beck's heart. This time however, he couldn't resist reaching across to her, pulling her closer, wrapping her clean, damp body in his arms. Jade nestled into him a little bit, glancing up at the television. "This is what you finally settled on? Are you determined to make this the worst day of my life?"

Beck hadn't even noticed that he'd stopped flicking through the channels, and when he looked up at the TV he was surprised to find a rerun of 'Teletubbies' flashing across the screen. It was probably a testament to his tiredness that he just burst out laughing.

"Beck. It's not funny. It's torture. Change the channel." Jade griped.

But the longer Beck stared at the colorful creatures singing and dancing and doing a lot of things that seemed to simulate a drug experience for the viewer, the harder he laughed, and before he knew it, Jade was laughing along too.

"What is this?" she moaned, "God, I can't believe any parent would subject their children to this."

"What kind of a name is Binky-Winky?" Beck gasped out, still completely hysterical.

"It's better than Dipsy." Jade huffed out in response.

They continued their critical commentary, and Beck never stopped laughing, until finally the episode ended. Jade wrestled the remote away from Beck when the TV announced that another episode of Teletubbies was coming on next, clicking it off. "No. More."

Beck caught sight of the clock by the bedside table, and had to agree with her. They had to be up early in the morning.

"Fine." he conceded. "We should go to bed anyway."

Jade nodded. "But if I have nightmares about teletubbies, I will seriously make you pay in the morning."

Beck chuckled, kissing her on the cheek before flicking off the lamp above the bed. He was still wide awake though, laughter and endorphins will do that to a person, and his mind was running back over the events of the day.

"Jade," he said, after a few moments, pretty sure that she was still awake.

"Yeah?"

"I'm sorry this trip sucks." and I'm sorry your dad sucks, he wanted to add, but didn't.

"It really does." Jade replied matter-of-factly. But she nestled closer to him underneath the sheets.

"Tomorrow will suck less." Beck said, hoping-to-god that he was right.

"Pffft. Fat chance. Colorado? Family stuff? It's a recipe for prime suckage."

Beck rolled his eyes. "Then why are you here?" He knew why, of course. He just liked to make her admit that she actually liked him every once in a while.

"Mmmm, I just felt sorry for you."

That actually surprised Beck. "Huh?"

"Well, as much as this trip was bound to suck, even without the Phoenix detour, imagine how much more it would suck without me. So, I decided to take pity on you, and accompany you on this vacation from hell."

"Oh please!" Beck grinned, disbelieving. "Admit you wanted to come."

"No." Jade replied crisply.

"Come on," Beck moved his fingers slowly across her stomach, and then he tickled her briefly. She squealed in response. "I did not want to come!"

"Liar." Beck teased, tickling her some more, her responses a mixture of squeals and protests until finally she whispered, "Fine!"

"Hmmmm?" Beck asked, his cheeks actually sore from smiling so much the last hour.

"Fine I wanted to come, goodnight." Jade rattled off the words so fast they almost blended together. She scooted a little deeper under the covers, slamming her head down onto the pillow with finality.

Beck let out a contented sigh, and realized that considering how much this vacation sucked, he was feeling incredibly happy. He fell asleep with Jade in his arms and a smile on his lips.

to be continued...