Decided to combine two chapters together, mainly just to assure the BADE shippers that I am working up to something. Sorry that the bade scenes have been fleeting. Hope you all continue to read. Please remember to leave a review!

Also, warning this chapter is slightly angsty. There should be no other chapters like this, so if you're not into it (which I totally understand), rest assured this will be it!

Robbie had tried to keep his feelings for Jade purely platonic, but as he approached his locker the next Monday morning, he was struggling to keep his emotions at bay. The buzzing inside of Robbie's lower abdomen could only be a mixture of excitement and nerves as he dawdled next to his locker with a warm cup of freshly made coffee held in his hand, ready to present to Jade.

He wasn't exactly sure how he'd classify his newfound relationship with Jade. Perhaps "friends" was pushing it, but he definitely knew she didn't simply "tolerate" him anymore. Still, she had left rather abruptly last Friday night, and she had canceled their weekend plans claiming she had "stuff to do." Robbie didn't want to read into it too much, but he was concerned.

Jade finally stomped into the school, the students of Hollywood Arts parting like the Red Sea as she walked towards her locker. She had her usual scowl on her face, but as Robbie peered at her eyes, he noticed them furrowed in concentration.

"Hey." She greeted, her voice sounding distant as she automatically reached forward to take the steaming coffee from his hands.

"Hey, you okay Jade?" Robbie asked in concern, his voice low as he got a close-up look at the Goth in front of him. She wasn't her usual pale goddess self, she looked tired and languid, and her usual biting spunk was missing.

"I've been better." She answered honestly, "But I'm not really up for talking about it, Shapiro."

As much as Jade appreciated Robbie's concern, the nerdy boy needed to learn how to read her. If she said she didn't want to talk, she meant it, and one of the quickest ways to piss her off would be to make her do otherwise.

"Are you sure? Did something happen at home? Does it involve your mum?" Judging by the way Jade tensed at his words, he was certain he'd hit the mark. "What happened? Did she contact you?"

"Shut up, Robbie. I'm serious. I'm not up for talking right now." Jade snarled through her teeth, trying to keep her temper but failing miserably as Robbie went so far as to place (what he thought to be) a comforting hand on her shoulder. With anger, she shoved him off her and slammed her locker shut.

Robbie looked like a hurt puppy, but instead of giving up he continued, "Jade, you've got to let people in! Stop being on the defense all the time. All I want to do is help!"

"Shapiro, I don't need your help. You're not even my friend." She snapped bitterly, but taking one look at Robbie's hurt face she instantly regretted the harshness of her words.

It was too late to repair the damage done though because Robbie had already spun on his heel and stomped away. "Whatever, Jade. You can come to me when you want to talk next." He stiffly called over his shoulder before disappearing around the corner.

"Shit," Jade internally muttered, "way to piss off the one person who's actually being somewhat decent to me."

Groaning in frustration, she angrily kicked the trash can beside her before flopping down ungracefully to the floor. Beck always understood her conflicting emotions towards her mum. He also knew not to probe her about it.

In anger, Jade stomped over to improv class. Fate had it in for her it seemed as the entire class was already seated leaving only one seat vacant. In front of Beck. Of course.

"For fuck's sake." Jade growled under her breath as she furiously flung herself into the seat, crossing her arms defiantly and narrowing her eyes to scare off anyone who dared look in her direction. Thankfully no one addressed her, and Beck remained motionless where he was seated though his brows creased as he observed her stance.

It was only when the class had started after Sikowitz had climbed through a window and demanded Tori and Andre to create a scene set on Mars that any form of movement was made towards her.

"You okay?" A gruff but still gentle voice asked Jade quietly in her ear.

Resisting the urge to shiver, she spun around in her seat to face the fluffy haired boy who had such an effect on her.

"Buzz off. I'm fine." She hissed.

Beck raised an eyebrow skeptically. "You're a bad liar." He responded simply, before scooting his chair an inch closer and continuing in a gentler voice "Did you have a fight with Robbie?"

"What, is that what the school's saying?" She snapped, not bothering to lower her voice. Tori, who was on stage improvising a scene with Andre, stopped speaking mid-sentence, looked up worriedly, then in a hysterical tone began yelling her lines to try and cover up the scene between Beck and Jade in the back row.

"No," Beck responded calmly, his eyebrow raising even higher, "I just figured that since you've been spending so much time with him lately, the only person to wazz you off this much must have been him."

"Well you shouldn't make assumptions like that. And for the record, stop creeping on me. Stop keeping tabs on who I spend my time with."

"I'm not!" Beck insisted, "everyone's noticed you two hanging around each other. You guys aren't exactly being subtle about your newfound relationship!"

"WE ARE NOT IN A RELATIONSHIP." Jade roared, her infamous anger exploding. Tori's voice had risen to a higher octave while Andre wasn't even pretending to be in character anymore and openly watched the pair with the rest of the class. Even Sikowitz was looking on in interest.

"OH YEAH? SURE DOESN'T SEEM THT WAY." Beck yelled back, completely unaware of his surroundings.

"DO YOU KNOW ANYTHING, YOU IDIOT? HOW COULD I BE WITH ROBBIE WHEN I STILL LO…" Jade stopped screaming abruptly, her eyes widening at her loss of control.

"Jade?" Beck breathed.

Jade looked around widely, searching for an escape route. The class was all staring at her wide eyed and open mouthed. She couldn't take it. Angrily she shoved Beck aside and legged it to the car park. Oh, screw it. She was bunking off school for the day. Time to see what Mother dearest had been up to.

Robbie's anger lasted for no more than three whole seconds the next morning when he saw the infamous Jade West. Or rather, saw what was on her.

Though Jade's head was bowed low, he could see as clear as day her purple, bruised eye.

"JADE" He shrieked shrilly, internally cringing at his high pitch tone before flinging himself to her side. "What happened to you?" He panted, trying to get a closer look at her eye which she had now slapped a hand over in the hopes of concealing.

Jade looked horrendously appalled by his loud sounds that had drawn attention to her and briskly slapped her other hand over his mouth before hissing, "Shut the fuck up, Shapiro." Robbie boldly licked her palm in response which caused Jade to yelp in repulsion and let him go instantly.

"Seriously, what the hell Jade? What happened to your eye?" Robbie cried in concern, trying to poke her hand away that was attempting to hide the bulging black and blue swell around her eye. Letting out a small wail of despair, Robbie also noticed a few little cuts on her left cheek. "JADE!" he screamed, his voice reaching a new octave of high.

Jade looked mortified before dragging him harshly by the cuff of his sleeve into the janitor's closet, muttering under her breath the entire way and only stopping once to snarl at some onlookers who quickly made themselves scarce.

"I told you to be quiet." She hissed angrily after she had slammed the door rather loudly, causing Robbie do a nervous jump in the air. "What happened to not talking to me?" She demanded rather bitterly, attempting to glare at him but her eye was so swollen it was a rather pitiful attempt.

Tears were actually beginning to prickle in the corner of Robbie's eyes as he looked at her brokenly. Seriously. SERIOUSLY? She wants to think about their fight when she's standing in front of him looking like some bikie has assaulted her and-

The blood drained from Robbie's face, "WHO DID THIS JADE?" Robbie yelled, waving his arms frantically about like a lost child. "Oh my God, did they hurt you? Did they TOUCH you? Oh my God this is all my fault! Why wasn't I protecting you? I'm awful. I wish I were dead. I should have-"

"Christ's sake, Robbie, would you please be quiet." Jade moaned. "No one did this to me so just stop getting your panties in a twist." She continued, wincing at her own use of the word, 'panties.'

Robbie looks at her patronizingly, "You're telling me no one used your face as a punching bag."

"I visited my mum." She half whispers, turning her back to him so he can no longer see her face. Judging by her stance which was now hunched over rigidly, it was safe to say this wasn't a pleasant trip and Robbie could feel his blood run cold.

"Oh, and how did that go?"

To his horror, Jade actually let out an audible sniff in response as she wrapped her arms around herself for support. "She didn't even know who I was. I could hardly even recognise her myself. Robbie, she's so sick. Her veins… and her skin… it's like she's the walking dead. I mean I knew she had a drinking problem but now she's a user as well! And she's living with this absolute creep! The rat tried to feel me up right before trying to snag my wallet. I was just so pissed and so upset… I tried to slap my mum but she's a lot quicker. I think it was self-defence and the adrenaline. I dunno. She threw a vase at me and some pieces chipped my face. It was an accident, I'm fine now."

"And your eye?"

"Oh, well, something must have been in my eye cause my vision was funny. I walked into a pole on my way home."

Robbie doesn't believe her even for a second but Jade clearly was uncomfortable discussing the issue so he decided to let it drop. "Well, okay then." he finally sighs, rubbing his elbows nervously. "We should put some ice on it though, to reduce the swelling."

"It's fine. I just need my stage makeup to cover it. I've got some in my locker." She replies somewhat uncomfortably. The fact that Robbie was being so caring even after their argument unsettled her. It reminded her of the way Beck treated her when they first started dating. No matter how much they fought, he would always return promising to look after and care for her.

"I'll grab everything, wait here." Robbie instructs, and almost instinctively he cups her cheeks and places a gentle kiss on her forehead.

They're both momentarily stunned before Robbie comes to his senses and dashes out of the janitor's closet.

Jade gapes but can't prevent the small smile that briefly appears on her face.

After Robbie had helped patch Jade up, the pair did all they could to remain unnoticed for the remainder of the day. Sadly, this was becoming an increasingly difficult mission as both Tori and Beck seemed to want to talk to Jade at any opportunity.

They had just finished their English class when Tori grabbed Jade by her jacket to pull her to stop.

"Never touch me." Jade growled, furious at being caught before she could leave with Robbie who stood loyally next to her. Beck, noticing that Jade was unable to escape quickly, strode over to try and talk with her too.

"Wait, Jade, I just wanted to ask if you were coming to the auditions for Sikowitz's play tomorrow? Maybe we can run lines together?" Tori gushed. Tori was clearly trying to be kind after the incident from the previous day, but Jade wanted to keep as much distance as possible from anyone who might notice her injured eye and start asking questions.

"I'm not auditioning." she huffed agitatedly.

Tori frowned miserably but turned towards Robbie,

"What about you Robbie?"

"I went to sign up, but Sikowtiz crossed my name off the list." He sighed with a shrug.

"Oh. Well, we'll see you at lunch then?" Tori challenged, her eyes narrowing in suspicion as she leered at the pair then glanced over at Beck.

"No. Shapiro here is going to buy me sushi." Jade replied impatiently, picking at her nail polish and making a point to position her body so she was completely cutting off Beck who was staring rather intently at her. His face twitched slightly at this news, but he remained silent.

"Yeah!" Robbie agreed, catching onto Jade's apparent desire to ditch their friends (and Sikowtiz said he needed to work on his improvisation), "We're going to discuss our script for Ernie's class."

"You sure have been working on that a lot." Beck finally scoffed from the door frame, trying to make eye contact with Jade who was now pointedly staring at her wrist.

"Have we? Oh well, we'd better be going. Later guys." Robbie breezily declared, then grabbing Jade's elbow he hurried away to their film class.

Tori turned to look at Beck when Jade and Robbie had disappeared out of sight, and with hands on her hips she muttered, "Something's going on between them. We definitely need to get to the bottom of it."

Beck nodded in agreement, but he was more concerned about the way Jade had stood trying to conceal herself from him. He knew her like the back of his hand, and just like yesterday he could tell something was not quite right. He also noted the heavy application of makeup on the left side of Jade's face. This alone made his gut twist. Silently, he formed his own plan in his mind, he wanted to talk to Jade properly, and hopefully this time it wouldn't end in a screaming match.

Beck knew Jade's timetable back to front. He used to insist on walking her to every one of her classes, something that both amused and frustrated Jade. He would also try and be there for her after class to walk her to his car. Obviously, it had been quite some time since he had done this, which was why Jade flinched in surprise when she spotted Beck leaning against the closest locker to the classroom she was exiting later that day. The way he casually smiled and walked over to her brought back such a flash of memories that she had to pinch herself to focus on reality.

"Hey." He greeted gently.

"Not this again." Jade snapped, looking away from him.

"Jade, I won't try and force you to listen, but it would mean a lot if you could hear me out. Please, can we talk?"

Beck's voice was so earnest that Jade felt her stiff resolve soften. Glancing at Beck's pleading eyes, she stiffly nodded once and beckoned for him to follow her to the janitor's closet.

"Okay," she breathed. Robbie would be waiting at his car for her, but Jade was certain he wouldn't leave without her. She'd apologise later for being late.

It felt oddly family falling into step beside Beck as they walked to the closet. As Beck held the door open for her, she had to take a deep breath in to calm herself.

For a while they were silent, both lost in their own memories. A ghost of a smile was etched on Beck's face as he looked around.

"Remember the last time we were in here alone together?" He asked gently, chuckling as he saw Jade's cheek flush."

"Yes, you horny bastard." Jade spat, causing Beck to laugh harder.

"I believe it was you who convinced me to ditch Sikowitz's class so we could, 'have some quality time together,' as I remember you saying."

Jade smirked guiltily. "I remember nothing of the sort." Seeing that Beck's grin was only growing she quickly asked, "So what did you want to say?"

Beck's smile vanished and was replaced with a serious expression. Slowly, he edged closer to her. Jade was frozen, unable to move. Ever so gently, he brushed some thick strands of hair that were covering her face aside and softly began to rub some water around her left eye. Jade winced in pain as he lightly pressed against the sensitive skin. Immediately, Beck pulled back in horror.

His face was a ghastly white as he stared at her swollen eye.

"Oh, my Jade." He whispered, gently stroking the bruised skin. Before he could stop himself, Beck had pulled Jade into a tight embrace as he looked down at her sadly.

Jade was still frozen in shock, but as Beck looked at her with a storm of emotion in his eyes, she felt a sense of calm wash over her.

"You promised you wouldn't visit your mum again."

"And you promised to always be there for me."

Beck looked distressed

"Jade, let me make this clear. I know I don't deserve an inch of forgiveness or respect from you, but I will always be there when you need me. I don't care who you're with," Beck looked pained at this but continued, "I still want to be the rock in your life."

Jade's harsh features softened as she listened to the sincerity in Beck's voice.

"Thank you, Beck. And for the record, I'm sorry too. I guess I was getting a little out of control."

They stayed still, holding each other just like the use too when they were dating. To Jade, it felt like home. Not that she'd ever admit it. However, she knew she had to pull away. She didn't want Beck to feel obliged to look after her, after all, they were broken up.

Lightly she punches Beck's shoulder as they part.

"Shapiro's waiting for me. I gotta go."

Beck's grin fades slightly, but he nods in understanding.

"Hey, will you come watch me audition for Sikowitz's new play tomorrow morning?"

"Nope." Jade breezily replies. "I've booked out the auditorium. I'm… well, that's none of your business, is it?" She teased. "Have fun playing Tori's lover again." She called over her shoulder as she strutted away.

It reminded Beck so much of the old times that he couldn't stop the grin from spreading across his face. Smiling, he made his way to his locker. Perhaps there was still hope for him and Jade. There was only one small problem left to deal with. Robbie Shaprio.

Please review! On another note, I'm writing up a purely BADE fanfiction. Would people prefer a really long one-shot or multiple shortish chapters?