As soon as she steps foot on campus at USC, Jade West hits the ground running.

It took her a bit of time in high school to explore the different areas of the arts, but she eventually realized it's her dream to become a writer and director. It's not that she doesn't enjoy being in front of a camera, it's just that she prefers being behind it so much more. There are stories that need to be told, and she is going to be the one to help them come to life.

She's there to study film as an undergraduate and wants to get a master's degree in dramatic writing. That should take the average student seven years, four for her bachelor's degree and three for her master's, but Jade is determined to do it in five. The less time she spends in school, the better. The less time she spends in school, the more time she has out in the industry to make her dreams a reality. So, she loads up her course schedule each semester and takes summer classes in addition to that.

Nothing is going to stop her from accomplishing her goals.

Her father admires her ambition, but reminds her she needs to take time for herself as well. Her mother worries that she's spreading herself too thin. Cat, who had dropped out of school her sophomore year after signing a recording contract with a major label, begs her to take a break and come spend a week with her on the road. But Jade doesn't want to hear anyone's opinion.

"What if you're burnt out before you even really start working?" Cat sighs

"I won't be." Jade assures her "I'm working hard now so that I can actually enjoy my job later."

"I just don't want you to look back and have any regrets."

"You're sweet to worry, Cat." Jade smirks as she transfers the phone from one ear to the other "But I'm fine."

"This doesn't have to do anything to do with Beck, does it?"

"Why would it have anything to do with him?"

Even though both Cat and Tori had given her a heads up beforehand, it had been hard to avoid the headlines when news of Beck's engagement broke. He had made a small name for himself in the industry by that point, with his role on that television show about the paramedics. It had been all over social media and the gossip sites: 'Television Star and Heartthrob Beck Oliver Marries College Sweetheart in Intimate Chicago Ceremony'. Jade could care less, she had moved on to a new chapter in her life. Hell, she had moved on to a whole new book.

"It wouldn't, forget I said anything." Cat sighs "You're sure you can't fly out this weekend?"

"I'm sorry, I really am sure." Jade tells her "I'm up to my neck in assignments and I wouldn't be much fun. I'll be at your show at the Forum next month though, I promise."

"Cross your heart?"

"Cross my heart."

"Alright." Cat says "Don't study too hard tonight, okay?"

"I'll try my best."

"That's all I ask. Love you, Jadey. Talk soon."

"I love you too, Cat. Talk soon."

Of course, Jade isn't a complete recluse. She goes out when she has the time. She meets men. She dates. Her shortest relationship post-high school is six months, and her longest is seventeen months. There was Cody, but he transferred to a college closer to home and they didn't see long distance working out for them. Then there was Brian, but he cheated on her so she had no choice but to break up with him. Ian broke up with her because he 'just didn't see their relationship going any further'. Thomas turned out to be gay. Eric just turned out to be a lying asshole, and after three strikes he was out too.

By that point she was getting close to finishing her last degree, so she decided to take a break from dating and really focus in on her work. Just before her twenty-third birthday, Jade graduated with her master's in dramatic writing and decided that she was done with school forever unless it was absolutely, one hundred percent, necessary to her employment.

Thanks to the connections she had made through her program, her writing skills, and her hard work, it didn't take her long to get hired as a writing assistant for a production studio. By the time she was twenty-six she had been promoted to one of three senior writers on the studio's most popular television drama and had even been asked to direct a few episodes. She was finally living her dream.

Around that time she met Andrew Powell, or AJ as he was known to most. She usually found herself interested in men who had similar interests to her's...writers or actors...but Andrew was different. He was a music producer, a very handsome music producer, who had been called in to work on a soundtrack for a movie the studio was making. They, quite literally, bumped into each other at the Jet Vroom on the studio lot, and there was an instant connection...although it would take them a few weeks to realize it. Once they did, they fell hard for each other, hard and fast.

Her relationship with Andrew was the first relationship Jade could really compare to a 'whirlwind'. What started with one date quickly turned into meeting each other's friends, taking random weekend getaways with one another, and spending weeks at a time at the other's place. Their relationship was exciting, and the sex was hot. But after about eight months...Jade found herself growing bored. She couldn't place exactly why, but she just didn't find herself as invested in him as she had been in the beginning. Although he was two years older than her, Andrew was much more immature. She wanted someone she could start to think about building a life with, and she just wasn't sure he was it.

She decided she was going to break up with him, until something threw a wrench in that plan. A very big wrench.

"Of fucking course..." Jade sighs "I knew it."

Biting her lip, she stares down at the plastic stick in her hands, the word 'pregnant' glaring back up at her in big, bold, letters. When she had missed her period last month, she wrote it off to stress...but she couldn't ignore it a second month in a row. As she was purchasing the test, something in her gut told her that the result was going to be positive...and it was.

She can't break up with Andrew now, how would that conversation go? 'Sorry babe, I think we should see other people and oh by the way, I'm pregnant'. That would be a shitty thing to do. Of course, she could always not tell him about the baby and have an abortion, but that would be a shitty thing to do too. Not to mention the paparazzi would find out somehow and make a whole mess of everything. She hadn't dealt with paps much during the first few years of her career, but they've become a bigger presence in her life since she started dating Andrew.

Andrew.

Jade is sure he's not ready to be a father yet, but then again she's not really sure she's ready to be a mother either. What choice do they really have at this point though? She decides she can't make any decisions until she talks to him first, so she sends him a text asking him to come over once he's finished at the studio. She's going to keep the baby, she's decided...what Andrew does will be up to him.

"Hey." He greets her with a kiss when she opens the door for him a few hours later "I brought Franconi's."

Her favorite Italian restaurant in LA, it's just down the street from the studio he's been working out of the last few weeks.

"My favorite." She smiles a bit, taking the bag from him

"How could I forget?" He grins, pushing past her into the condo and headed straight for the kitchen "Let's eat before it gets cold, I'll grab the plates."

"Andrew, wait." She grabs his hand to stop him "There's something we need to talk about first."

He's about to protest, tell her that they can talk while they eat...but then he sees the concern in her eyes, and he knows it's serious.

"Okay, we can talk." He nods, lacing their fingers together and squeezing her hand tightly "Is everything okay?"

"I'm pregnant."

There was no real easy way to say it, so she decided it would be best to just come right out with it.

"How long have you known that?"

"Just a few hours." She assures him "You're the first one I've told."

"And you're sure?"

"There's a test in the bathroom if you want to-"

"No, no." He cuts her off "I believe you. I just...thought we were being careful."

"I did too." She sighs "But...this happens."

Andrew takes the bag of food from her hand and carries it into the kitchen, setting it down on the counter before turning back to his girlfriend. Her face looks worried, and he's sure that his expression must look similar. In an attempt to bring her a bit of peace of mind, he brushes some of her hair behind her ear and presses a kiss to her forehead before taking both of her hands in his.

"Jade?"

"Hm?"

"Marry me." He says, then realizes it sounds a bit crude "Sorry, that should have been a question. I meant...will you marry me?"

Jade is taken a bit back by the question, mostly because marriage hadn't ever been on their radar. Hell, a few hours ago she was planning to break up with him. Getting married is definitely the wrong thing to do in this situation. She should be honest with him, they should have a mature conversation about this...

"Okay." She tells him "I mean...yes. Yes, I'll marry you."