(One month later...)
"Where are you?!"
Beck couldn't help but smile at the sound of his girlfriend's voice over the phone. "In the elevator," he replied.
"Good," Jade said. "You said you'd watch the remake of The Scissoring with me tonight."
"I know, I remember," Beck said. "I'll be there in thirty seconds." He hung up as the elevator dinged, and stepped out into the hallway. His keys jingled as he pulled them out of the pocket of his jeans and opened the door to his and Jade's new apartment.
There was a sudden shuffle and a thump, and a male voice cried out in the dark, "Ouch!"
"What the–?" Beck flicked the apartment lights on, revealing a very frantic-looking Robbie Shapiro, standing in the middle of the living room, turning around wildly.
"Beck! I mean, uh–SURPRISE!"
"Way to blow it, Shapiro," Jade scoffed from where she was sitting on the sofa, laughing at Beck's bewildered face.
She stood up and made her way over to him as three more figures popped up from behind the couch, chorusing a very late "SURPRISE!" Beck blinked as Tori, Andre, and Cat struggled to file out from the space between the couch and the wall.
"Beck!" Cat squealed, running over to hug her friend. Beck stared at Jade, who was still grinning at him.
"Why didn't you tell me we were having guests?" he asked.
"She planned it!" Cat exclaimed. "She said we all had to come out to San Francisco and celebrate!"
"Celebrate what?" Beck asked.
"Well, for starters, we figured we hadn't properly congratulated you on breaking free from your last relationship a month ago," Andre explained.
"I brought champagne!" Robbie interjected, earning stares from everyone except Cat, who giggled fondly at him.
"And," Tori continued, "Jade told us about your new job!"
"Yeah, congrats on the new TV show!" Cat said. The others chimed in their words of congratulations.
"I'm glad things worked out well in the end," Robbie agreed. "Especially with all that drama with Brie."
"Yeah, Brie sure tried to drag that story out for as long as possible, but I guess it flipped on her when word got out that she'd actually been cheating on me for a year with a bunch of different guys that work in her Dad's office," Beck chuckled.
"At least the stuff about you blew over," Tori said. Beck nodded.
"Well anyway, thanks for coming out here, guys," he said. "It's really great to see you all, and it means a lot to me that you guys wanted to come celebrate. I've missed you all."
"Alright, alright, before Mr. TV Man gets all heartfelt speech on us, let's crack open that champagne!" Andre interrupted, gesturing at the bottle Robbie was clutching. Beck laughed, as everyone nodded in agreement.
"Cat, come help me grab the glasses!" Tori said.
"Kay kay!"
Beck watched as the two girls rushed towards the kitchen. He turned towards Jade and slid his arm around her waist, pulling her to his chest.
"Thank you for planning this," he murmured into her hair. She wrapped her arms around him.
"Don't drop all your heartfelt speech stuff on me," she replied. "But you're welcome. I figured you deserved it, and that we could all use a little celebration."
"They aren't all staying overnight, right?" Beck asked, eyeing Andre and Robbie as they struggled to get the bottle open.
"Why, did you have plans for tonight?" Jade asked, smirking up at him.
"Maybe, but those plans only involve you," he said in a low voice, his breath hot on her ear.
Before Jade could reply, Tori and Cat returned, balancing champagne flutes in their arms.
"Just in time! We just got the champagne open!" Robbie exclaimed.
"I did," corrected Andre.
"He did!" Robbie echoed, taking a glass from Cat. Once the glasses were passed out and filled, Beck raised his in the air.
"What are we toasting to?" Robbie asked.
"Here's to...freedom?" Andre suggested.
"Friends!" Cat cried.
"Following your dreams!" Tori said, prompting an eye-roll from Jade.
Beck looked around at his friends. "Sure, we can toast to all of those things," he said. He looked at Jade. "And us." He gestured to the entire group with his glass. "All of us."
The gang whooped and cheered and downed their drinks. Beck looked out the window, where the sun was just setting over the skyline of San Francisco.
"Wondering what the future holds?" Jade asked, eyeing his thoughtful look. He turned back to her and shook his head.
"Nope," he said. "I like where I am right now."
The End
AN: ...and that officially concludes this story! Once again, I really appreciate everyone who took the time to read this, and of course everyone who reviewed. Hopefully I'll be back with more fics in the future. In the meantime, let me know if you've got any requests! Much love :)
