I am mostly pleased with this chapter. Not only is it much longer than I expected, but the entire thing was spontaneous. I had planned out the entire story down to the last detail and THIS came from no where, completely replacing an idea I already had. And you know what? I love it. The writing itself isn't my best, but I'm happy with what I have. Now, enjoy!
Two months later...
You'd be surprised how much things don't change in two months. When lunch time rolled around that sunny March afternoon I found myself seated at our usual table, Beck and Jade next to each other but never touching or vocalizing their feelings to one another with more than a "hello."
Andre, Robbie, Cat and I had all stopped questioning it a few days after Jade had returned to school. Following the incident at her house I was almost afraid to bring it up again. When Andre and I returned to my house we found Cat and Robbie sitting on the couch inside, Trina having let them in half an hour before. Robbie was holding the tearful redhead in his arms and explained that Beck had been very short with them both, his last words being shouted through a locked RV door. I was thoroughly shocked. That was the kind of behaviour I expected from Jade but not from her boyfriend. Beck was far too sweet to get angry in that way, or so I thought.
"Could someone pass the salt?" I asked after a long and awkward silence at our table. I didn't actually need saltier fries, but the tension in the air was threatening to snap on it's own if someone didn't speak. Jade, being closest to the salt, rolled her eyes and leaned over the table to hand it to me. When she pulled back her face visibly paled and she sat up straighter. Everyone seemed to notice and suddenly all eyes were on her.
"Jade, are you-" Beck started what sounded like the first full sentence between them in months, but in an instant Jade launched out of her seat, pausing to grab Cat's arm before dragging her friend away. My three remaining friends all eyed each other in confusion. Beck looked as if he wanted to go after them before thinking better of it.
"What's wrong with Jade?" I finally voiced the question on everyone's mind. Beck sighed and dug into his salad.
"Pregnant girls tend to throw up," he mumbled, his face unreadable.
That tears it, I thought in real anger. I glared at him openly for half a second before standing up myself and walking around the table to grab Beck and pull him away from our other friends. They called after us but I ignored them, stopping just outside the doors into the school and facing an apprehensive Beck.
"What's up Tori?"he inquired, and I was reminded once again at how much two of my friends had changed by the sound of his voice.
"What is with you?!" I demanded in a noisy whisper, hitting his arm hard enough to cause him to flinch.
"I don't know what you mean," he shrugged, refusing to meet my furious gaze. "I was just-"
"Jade is your girlfriend, right?" I interrupted. Beck glanced up to finally look at me this time.
"Right," he confirmed as if it were still obvious.
"Your girlfriend is pregnant, right?"
"Yeah."
"And you still love her, right?"
"Of course I do!"
I took a step back at the shouted response, raising my eyebrows at my friend. Now it was his turn to look cross with me.
"I don't know how you could even ask me that question! I love Jade, alright? I love her more than any person in the world and that's never going to change. I will never stop loving her. I never have stopped loving her! Even when we broke up all those times I only loved her more. It made me realize why I put up with her on the bad days that come along a lot more than the good days. I realized that I need her, and I'm pretty sure that she needs me too. So don't for one second go thinking that I don't love her anymore..."
Beck trailed off after the confession, giving a heavy sigh and leaning back against the wall behind him.
"It's complicated Tori," he said in a voice so low I had to lean closer to hear him. "It's so, so complicated. But of course I love her."
"Why don't you tell her then?" I suggested gently, offering a friendly smile along with my words. I saw him frown briefly before straightening up and looking me dead in the eye.
"Will you go check on her for me?" he pleaded in a way that sounded desperate. "I can't go in the girls washroom."
"Sure," I agreed, my smile widening to mirror the one now appearing on his face. I pulled him in for a quick hug before opening the doors and going inside to search for the nearest washroom.
I didn't have to search for long. I had been right in assuming that Jade would rush to whichever girls room she could find first, even if it was the single stall one with a broken soap dispenser that I found myself entering. To my relief I couldn't hear her throwing up anymore, but what I heard instead surprised me. It sounded as if someone was crying from inside the stall, but trying to hold in their tears. I hesitantly picked my way over to the door and knocked on it twice.
"Jade?" I called as quietly as possible. "You in there?"
I stepped back as I heard the lock click open and watched as Cat peeked around the faded door.
"What do you want Vega?" I heard Jade say from inside the stall. A silent agreement passed between me and Cat as she swung the door open to let me in. Luckily for us it was one of the large stalls, room enough for three people, not that it was necessary in normal cases. Cat carefully closed the door and locked it again as I stood awkwardly in the middle, unsure of my next move. Jade was sitting on the floor leaning back against the bathroom wall, looking as if she were trying to hide the fact that she was wiping tears away. I watched as Cat flew past me and knelt down next to her friend, stroking her hair in comfort.
"I said what do you want?" Jade repeated with a tone of malice in her question. Cat visibly pouted but didn't take her eyes off of her best friend.
"I was worried, and Beck asked me to check on you," I replied honestly, earning me a confused half-glare from my pregnant friend.
"Yes, Beck," I continued, feeling the need to defend him. "The guy who couldn't shut up about how much he loves you after you and Cat left."
"I..." Jade began, any signs of anger fading from her expression as she stared at me open mouthed. Whatever she would have said after that was interrupted by the overhead speaker and the voice of our principal.
"Caterina Valentine, you're wanted in room 143."
Cat let out a defiant whine and made no move to stand up and leave her clearly distressed friend. After a few long seconds of silence Jade sighed and waved her off.
"Go on Kitty Cat, I'll be fine," she insisted. I raised an eyebrow at the nickname while Jade only rolled her eyes at my response.
"I'll call you tonight!" Cat promised before giving her friend a hug and hurrying out of the bathroom. I let the door remain unlocked and slowly sat down in the middle of the space. Jade was once again staring down at her lap, although her expression had changed. She looked as if she was deep in thought and didn't acknowledge my presence.
"What happened between you and Beck?" I blurted out, silently cursing myself for letting it slip. Jade shook her head and I saw a ghost of a smile appear on her lips.
"Nothing really," she admitted, shrugging and bringing her gaze up to mine. I was instantly cautious at her openness. "I mean sure, stuff happened. We talked about everything and we've tried to work through it but... it's complicated."
I smiled sadly, trying not to let my bewilderment show. I hardly knew any of the story and yet Jade was sitting here being more honest with me that I felt she'd ever been. Maybe it was just the mood swings but I felt it had to be something more.
"He really does love you," I said softly, gathering up the courage to slide across the floor until I was sitting next to Jade against the wall. I heard a single chuckle under her breath, another anomaly.
"I know he does. I-"
Jade cut off from her sentence suddenly and reached down into her pocket to reveal a vibrating phone. The number on the screen was unfamiliar to me but it caused her to frown and quickly accept the call.
"Hello?" she answered rather breathlessly. "No I haven't, I... no no no, that can't be right. He didn't say he was going- I know that moron! Just tell me what..."
I heard her trail off and I tried to entertain myself with the floor tiles during the lengthy pause. The silence lasted for nearly two minutes until she finally spoke again.
"I understand. Thank you."
With that she hung up her phone and shoved it back into her pocket with more force than necessary. I risked a glance over to see her face appearing hard as a stone. She didn't speak, she didn't blink... I couldn't even see her breathing.
"Like I said," she broke the silence after an eternal pause, her voice raspy and emotionless, "complicated."
I watched as Jade carefully stood up from next to me, using the metal bar on the wall for support, and made her way out of the stall without another word to me. I sat there for at least another two minutes, my mind reeling at the entire ordeal until I heard two familiar voices outside of the washroom. I rose to my feet as silently as possible and made my way over to the door frame. There was no door itself on this washroom, something many girls had complained about before, but it served me well as I peeked around the opening into the hall without making a sound.
I did not expect to see Beck and Jade standing there having a conversation. A real conversation, something I hadn't observed since before Jade had left.
"I don't want to think about it," I heard Jade mumble, barely audible to my ears. She was leaning back against a couple of lockers with her arms crossed, Beck standing about a foot in front of her.
"That's fine, we don't have to talk about it," he conceded, his voice gentle. "I just want to make sure you're okay."
"Of course I'm not okay!" she cried, closing her eyes and shaking her head. "After this, and... and everything."
"Hey, it'll be alright," Beck said in a quiet, comforting voice, taking a step forward to close the distance to his girlfriend. I watched as Jade flinched back when he stepped closer with a hand outstretched. Beck instantly dropped it and the expression on his face was so heartbroken that I felt tears well up in my own eyes.
"I'm sorry Jade, I didn't-" he began, but cut off when Jade looked up to meet his gaze. Neither of them spoke for a moment, only staring at each other with equal expressions of sadness and longing. It was finally Jade who restarted their conversation.
"You know you haven't touched me in months," she stated, uncrossing her arms and leaving them dangling at her sides.
"Well I can't exactly do that until after-" he started to say but stopped when she didn't looked amused.
"That's not what I meant," she scoffed, brushing aside the joke as the serious atmosphere returned. "I mean..."
What happened next may not have made sense to me in the long run, but I would later understand the significance of it and just how monumental it really was. Had I known at the time the simple action would have caused me to break down in tears. As it were though, I was still deeply moved.
Jade began to move her right hand, very slowly and hesitantly at first. Beck's face was a mixture of shock and yearning, melting into nothing but pure, raw emotion as she intertwined his fingers with her own, taking it a step further and raising their connected hands. Beck took over from there and held his girlfriend's cheek with such a loving expression in his eyes that I could have cried. I watched as a single tear fell down Beck's face and heard him sniff back a sob. Jade smiled, a genuine smile that I rarely saw and definitely hadn't seen since she returned.
"I missed you," I heard Beck mumble, his voice cracking as he trailed his hand down her face and arm to rest on her enlarged stomach. "And we're going to make this work. I love you Jade."
"I love you too," Jade said in a voice choked with emotion. Without another word between them she leaned forward, closing the final distance and kissing Beck with such a passion I had never witnessed before in my life.
I had the sudden feeling that I was an unwelcome audience to a private moment between lovers. A deep blush lighting up my cheeks, I stole back into the washroom and played the conversation back through my mind, a smile on my face that I couldn't seem to get rid of. I had almost decided to put myself out of the picture entirely and leave them to their moment when I realized I would have to walk past them to do so. Cursing myself for something that wasn't even my fault I peeked back around the corner, wondering if luck would turn in my favour and they would be too caught up to notice. Instead I found them both smiling and laughing, wrapped in each others arms and looking happier that I'd ever seen them. I huffed quietly and brightened my smile as I walked out to greet them.
"Hey guys!" I called as I stopped next to them. They both turned to face me and instead of detaching themselves from one another, Beck kept one arm around Jade's shoulders and held her close, causing my smile to widen.
"I was wondering when we'd see you," Jade commented with a sly wink that told me she knew I had been watching them. I laughed and cherished the small act of friendship she offered.
"It's actually good that you're here," Beck began cautiously, his eyes flicking to his girlfriend before focusing back on me. "I need a favour for Jade."
"Beck," Jade said with a distinctive tone of warning in her voice which he promptly ignored.
"Listen, Tori... Jade needs a place to stay tonight. It would only be a few days max. I would let her stay with me as always, but she's, well... pregnant. I can't support her properly like you could, having an actual house and all."
Jade let out a moan and leaned her head into Beck's shoulder. He responded by kissing the top of her head and smiling.
"Oh come on, Tori isn't that bad," he insisted, and I had to roll my eyes. I knew I would probably regret what I was about to say, but I knew that Jade needed someone to look out for her. Questioning it wouldn't do me any good. For whatever reason she didn't have anywhere to live and thus came to me. Well, Beck came to me for her.
"Jade, you can stay at my house for a few nights if you need to," I agreed, pushing any and all rivalry we had aside for the moment. I saw Jade roll her eyes at me, look to Beck as if for confirmation, and then turn to look me straight in the eye.
"Thanks Vega," she conceded with a reserved half-smile on her face. I could tell that even after our exchange in the washroom she wasn't at all pleased to be my new roomie for who knows HOW long. Beck seemed to sense this and ruffled her hair gently.
"Don't worry babe, if it's okay with Tori I'll come over after school with you so you can get settled in."
"That's fine with me," I nodded. I was fairly sure my parents wouldn't mind a house guest for a couple nights, especially considering her current status. I knew that I would end up asking just why she needed to be at my house, but I pushed the question out of my mind for the time being.
"Well... I'm sure you guys want some time alone," I suggested, feeling the need to give them more time to get over whatever had been in the way of their relationship for the past two months. Beck smiled in thanks and Jade nodded once to me. I took that as my cue to vacate the area and leave them to each other. As I walked away I glanced back over my shoulder one final time to see Beck already pulling his girlfriend in for an embrace, and I felt the wide smile appear on my face.
Now that's better.