Jade's mind raced with a thousand questions all begging to be asked but her voice could only handle one at a time but before she could even attempt to press for more, she stopped herself and adhered to the rules set by Beck. She shifted in her seat uncomfortably as he watched her fight against herself to ask more but he stepped in and handed her some loose pieces of paper from his bag to tear apart as a distraction or a way to calm down. He chuckled a little as she snatched the paper from his hands and took the first one from the small bundle with one hand and with the other reached under her sweater and revealed a simple silver necklace with a pair of scissors adorning the chain. They appeared to be functional as well as she took off the necklace and started to slice the paper into tiny shreds and letting the pieces fall into a small sick bag to avoid causing a mess for the flight crew. "Where in the world did you get those?" Beck asked with a soft smile as he watched her.

His words brought her out of the trance she was in as she looked towards him and then back to the multifunctional accessory as she twirled them between her fingers, letting the light dance across its polished surface. "They were an anniversary gift."

Beck didn't say anything else but nodded in understanding as she went back to cutting the blank pages. The expression on her face said everything he needed to know. The simple question brought up the memories of how she got them which caused a soft smile to grace Jade's lips. She remembered having a terrible day that seemed to get worse and worse with each passing hour. She forgot to set the alarm for her phone and ended up being late for her first class of the day which just so happened to have a guest speaker she wanted to hear. She rushed across campus and ended up having someone bump into her at the doorway while the individual was distracted on their phone and their cup of hot coffee ruined her shirt and gave her a burn that took a couple of weeks to heal fully. The rest of the day didn't get much better as she was late for her shift at her part-time job, got yelled at by her boss for things that weren't her fault, and while on her break someone rushed by with several drinks in their hand and tripped, causing them all to splash across the table and onto her laptop causing the whole thing to short-circuit. After that entire series of unlucky events, she finally managed to make it back to her apartment that she shared with Tori only to have the universe take her down one more peg by making Jade realize that she left her keys to the apartment inside.

Jade's smile stretched a little more as she remembered how she banged on the door for Tori to let her in only to have her girlfriend promise her to close her eyes. She remembered arguing with her and making a couple of empty threats until finally the door was unlocked and she marched in almost knocking Tori aside but she paused when she noticed how dim the lights were. Looking around, she saw a freshly baked dinner and a bottle of wine with two glasses set out on their small dining room table with rose petals scattered across the floor to their bedroom and soft music played from the laptop plugged in and set up in the small kitchenette. The entire apartment was masked in soft shadows as Tori had placed candles all around to give the space a more romantic and intimate atmosphere. Tori herself was flawless as she closed the door to the apartment with a smirk gracing her lips. She wore a dark blue backless dress that had a slit along the side to show off her long-toned leg while the fabric wrapped around her neck but lifted her breasts slightly and accentuated her cleavage. Her beautiful brown hair was combed and left down while she wore very little makeup but had a pleasant fragrance that Jade recognized as the perfume, she had bought her for Christmas. She couldn't remember what had been said but she did remember that Tori had given her the choice between dinner or dessert and before she could even finish the statement, Jade had pinned her to the door and kissed her on the lips. They broke apart and then rushed to the bedroom for their anniversary celebration.

By the time they finished, the playlist on the laptop had finished and their dinner was cold but they didn't care. They had each other and a full year under their belts together and they couldn't be happier. As they cuddled under the covers, Tori broke away and opened the drawer to her nightstand, and held out a jewelry box for Jade to take. She opened it and smiled as she took out the necklace and twirled it around before Tori snatched it from her fingers and placed it around her neck and kissed her forehead and said, "I love you so much."

"I love you too Tori," Jade said before smirking and switching to her impression of Tori, "Who'd have thought all I needed was a little southern hospitality to make my day better?"

"I don't talk like that!" Tori cried as she slapped Jade's arm and stormed off towards the bathroom in a huff. Jade laughed as she followed after her only to have the door closed and locked on her. The next hour or so was spent coaxing Tori into coming back out but only on the condition that Jade made it up to her and she was happy to oblige. And she more than willing to do it as many times as required.

Back in the present, Jade finished cutting the last of the pieces of paper and put her necklace back under her sweater as Beck said, "Feeling better now?"

"Yeah."

He nodded and said, "I was wondering…since you asked some questions, I was hoping you'd let me ask some myself. Same rules apply and everything."

Jade looked him over and said, "Fine…go ahead and ask."

"Question one: did your dad threaten you over your relationship with Tori?"

Jade sighed and nodded her head but didn't offer much of a response beyond that which prompted Beck to move on to his second question, "Did you ever hurt yourself over the stuff he tried to pull on you?"

"No, he wasn't worth it," Jade said quickly.

Beck nodded; a sense of relief washed over him with that answer but the last question was the one he truly dreaded asking. Tori had told all of them about the fights she used to have with Jade and how she would disappear for the night and come back as if nothing happened. While Tori assumed she was off venting her anger with damaging public property or hanging out at a bar, Beck had a different hypothesis but refrained from speaking it aloud to Tori.

"Tori told us how you would leave after an argument," He paused to gauge her expression when she looked at him with cold eyes. She knew what the question was going to be yet she waited for him to say it, "Did you ever cheat on Tori?"

Jade sat across from him with her arms crossed and her leg crossed as she tapped her other foot against the floor. She broke eye contact and looked out the window with a huff and said, "Yes."

The clouds outside steadily grew a darker shade as they continued flying west towards the California coastline. Jade tried to focus her gaze on anything she could that would offer a distraction from the palpable silence that lingered between the two of them. She focused on the white noise surrounding them; the soft chatter of passengers and flight attendants, the humming of engines and turbines to take her away and let her mind drift but she could feel Beck's gaze upon her so she finally braced herself and looked back at him. What surprised her though was that he wasn't even looking at her! He continued to sit across from her instead of changing seats which was a good sign however he had his earbuds in and was flipping through a script he produced from his bag. Baffled, she leaned over and tapped his leg and said, "What? That's it? You're just not gonna say anything?!"

The handsome actor didn't even look up from his script as he shook his head a little and pursed his lips while giving a slight shrug with his shoulders and said, "Nope. I've said what I need to."

"Beck please, just let me explain—"

"I don't need you to explain anything." His voice was stern, serious even as he kept flipping through the script until he found the page he wanted. "I don't want you to explain. I just want you to know how disappointed I am in you. All through our relationship and when you dated Tori, you always came to me to argue or vent how you thought we were looking at other people. You were always so untrustworthy and jealous of every interaction but how come it's alright for you? What gave you the right to pull something like that?"

He took a breath and calmed himself before speaking again and said, "I know you want to fix things or at least try to. But it's an uphill battle and I'm not gonna let Tori go in misinformed. If she gives you the chance to meet, I want you to come clean. Or else I'll tell her for you."

"None of you will even let me near her or tell me where to find her! How is that fair, I can't just tell her these things over the phone!" Jade fired back as a flight attendant hurried past, trying to avoid being caught in the crossfire. "I want a chance to earn it! Just give me a chance to fight for her! Can I at least get that?"

Beck's finger paused on a line he was reading in his script and tapped the page a couple of times before looking up at her and said, "You're right…but I don't know. I'm going to see her soon, sometime later this week, if you want, I'll tell her you want to meet and I'll tell her that you want to apologize. That might at least get her to listen and give you a chance, but if she says no, then you have to accept that and try to move on."

"Fine. But I want her to say it to my face, I don't want it to be over the phone or through one of you guys acting as the messenger. We're adults, she can tell me herself." Jade said while checking the remaining flight time on the screen.

"I don't think you're in a position to make demands, but I'll pass it along," Beck said as he glared at her before turning his attention back to the script in his lap.

The remaining three hours of the flight passed by in agonizing silence as Jade attempted to make a couple more attempts at a conversation, all of which were ignored or shut down by Beck who was clearly done with her. In her mind, the music of the tango was cut short and she was forced to deal with the silence however she could as they soared through the sky in an uneasy atmosphere lingering between them. Eventually, she settled for a distraction through her work, like she always did, and focused on drafting some emails to send when they landed and worked on the edits to her manuscript while Beck continued to read through a script and making notes in the margins. Every passing minute of the clock echoed in Jade's mind as they neared their destination, like a ticking time bomb getting closer and closer to detonation.

Robbie Shapiro waited in his car in the parking complex of LAX, reading various articles on his phone to pass the time until he finally got the notification from Beck that he had landed. With a glance at the message and one short reply later, he turned on the engine of his car and pulled out of the complex, and began to maneuver through the weaving crowd of cars coming and going from the airport. He drove down to the designated exit that would make it easier for the celebrities and VIPS to make a quick exit and waited outside of his car as he parked it along the curb alongside several other company cars that were hired to pick up their clients. After a quick word with a security guard who checked his credentials about whether or not he should be there, he waited about fifteen minutes until finally he saw Beck briskly walking through the corridors towards the exit. Robbie called out his name and waved which made the actor smile and wave back as he looked over one of his oldest friends for the first time in over seven months.

Ever since graduating from Hollywood Arts, Robbie had impressed Beck by slowly becoming more and more confident in his abilities and by taking some advice from him and their friends. Back in high school, he struggled with his self-image and how he was perceived by others and those in their group, always feeling like the odd one out. Tori swooped in and nipped those doubts in the bud by telling and showing him how much they all loved and appreciated him. They all assured him that he had no reason to change unless he wanted to which set off a small chain reaction in Robbie as they went into college. As the years passed, he grew another inch and started jogging which helped his physique a little bit by adding some definition. He went on to make some cosmetic changes with the help of Tori and Cat to his wardrobe while trimming down the hair on the sides of his head which helped him look more serious and mature. The biggest change was when he moved out into an apartment and got away from his family who had a very toxic dynamic which allowed him to learn more about the world and how it operates. With all these small boosts to Robbie's confidence and self-esteem, he managed to put Rex away and learned not to rely on him anymore. Of course, he still uses him for comedy sketches and things like that, but he also uses him as a creative tool to bounce ideas around when he's stuck on a scene.

"Beck! Hey man, how was your flight?" Robbie asked as he walked over and hugged Beck before taking his bag and going around to the trunk.

Beck glanced over his shoulder and said, "It was alright. Talked with Jade and learned some things, I'll fill you in on the drive," he spotted Jade coming towards the exit with a woman in a tailored business suit showing her some papers, most likely her manager or agent, and looked back to Robbie and said, "She's right over there. Did you wanna say hi before we get going?"

Robbie looked a little confused but looked past Beck and scanned the area and spotted Jade approaching and said, "Honestly…I want to just go and surprise Tori like we planned." He paused and looked between the car keys in his hand and back towards Jade and said, "No, no. I'm at least gonna be nice and hello. You can get in the car if you want and try to sleep."

He closed the trunk and handed the keys to Beck and patted his shoulder to which his friend simply nodded and ducked inside the car and started to recline the seat a little to try and take a power nap. Robbie waited with his arms crossed but a smile on his face as he waited for Jade to exit the sliding doors of the airport and called out to her as she and the other woman turned towards one of the cars. "Jade! Hey there!"

Jade stopped and glanced up from the papers and back to the woman and whispered something to her and handed her the purse she carried before walking right up to him, her expression was calmer than he expected. "Well, well, well…Robbie Shapiro. You're looking good."

"You look great, how have you been?" He said as he offered her a hand to shake as he smiled brightly.

She raised her pierced eyebrow and looked at the hand and back to him and said, "You sure you should even associate with me? It kind of feels like you all are ready to pounce on me like a pack of attack dogs just for coming back here."

Robbie let his arm go limp to his sides and said, "Yeah…honestly I don't know what I'm supposed to do here. I just thought I'd try to be nice. I-I'll just get going. It was nice to see you though Jade."

He started to turn and walk towards the car but Jade spoke up and said, "Wait!"

He froze in place and turned back towards her as she took a couple of steps towards him and said, "Thank you. For being kind to me, I know I don't really deserve it, but I know Cat told you why I'm here. It's mainly for Tori but she's not the only person I wronged and you're on that list so…I'm sorry."

Robbie looked genuinely surprised as Jade swallowed her pride in front of him and said, "What are you sorry for? I wasn't around for anything that happened during the breakup."

"No…but I wasn't the nicest to you in high school and even before then I wasn't too great towards you either. I-I just want to try and patch things up with you and everyone, if you'll let me."

The nerdy boy before her had clearly changed into a man over the past few years while she was away and she waited for his verdict as he studied her closely for a clue as to if this was some sort of trick. He paused for a moment and said, "Yeah...yeah we can do that. Why don't we get lunch sometime while you're in town or maybe grab some coffee?"

"I'd like that," Jade said as she offered him a genuine smile.

Robbie nodded and went in for a hug but stopped as he recalled how much Jade despised physical contact unless it was from those special to her but what caught him off guard was that as he tried to pull away, she wrapped her arms around him and squeezed him tightly. He couldn't see her face and he was glad she couldn't see his as he looked baffled and slowly but hesitantly placed his arms around her back and hugged her. They held on for a moment longer until they finally broke apart and she started to walk away while still facing him and said, "Give me a call or something when you want to meet. You have my number?"

"I-I think so, I'll have Cat or Beck send it to me in case it changed," he said as he motioned towards the car.

"Cool," she gave him a small nod and turned around before calling over her shoulder, "Later Shapiro."

The woman who used to torment Robbie for years walked away and ducked inside of a black SUV and closed the door as he went around to the driver's seat of his car and buckled up as Beck said without opening his eyes, "Not what you were expecting, right?"

"No…not at all. She must really want to fix things," Robbie said as he started to pull out of the lineup of cars and onto the road away from their airport. "What do you think? Learn anything during your flight?"

"Yeah," Beck said calmly, "I learned a few things. We'll talk about it later but right now, just keep driving to Tori's place. We'll worry about all of that later."

Author's Notes:

Surprise! Two chapters in two days! Don't get used to this sort of update schedule though, I just had a lot of time off from work and school so I was able to crank these out and work on them a lot in my free time. I'm still working on several chapters to get some sort of a steady update schedule going and I'll keep you posted on that if I manage to get one set.

So yeah, finally in L.A. and now things will start to slowly come together.

For sticking around and reading this section, I'll give you another peek behind the curtain to my work. In chapter one, when Tori was adopting Nyx into her family, that entire scene and the idea that she has started her own little family of four legged creatures is based on and inspired by the first episode of the show Hannibal with the character Will Graham. I love that show a lot and as I rewatched it, I got inspired by that scene as I came up with the idea for this story.

Thank you again for the feedback so far, it really helps me to keep going at times while writing!

Songs Used for Inspiration:

1. ?

2. "She Got the Best of Me" by Luke Combs

3. ?

4. ?