It had started as a seemingly ordinary Wednesday for Beck. He had woken up, prepared a coffee for Jade for when she finally dragged herself out of bed, and had just slipped into the shower of their tiny new one-bedroom apartment when the morning takes a sudden turn.
"Move," Jade's voice shouts, pushing her boyfriend out from under the nozzle head as she slips into the shower with him.
"Oh. Hey, baby."
A smirk immediately lights up Beck's features as Jade's naked body presses close to his in an attempt to reach more of the water.
"No, Beck. No shower sex today. I am running so late for class," Jade explained, frantically reaching for her soap while knocking Beck's wondering fingers away with her other hand.
"Fine," Beck sighed dejectedly, "Hey, don't use up the last of my shampoo."
"Babe, not a good time to get all territorial," Jade grumbled.
"Yeah, well you used up all my shaving cream last week," Beck teases, poking her lightly in the ribs.
Jade rolls her eyes before slipping out of the shower. She doesn't even bother to put on a towel as she begins to brush her teeth and doesn't bat an eyelid when Beck makes his way to the toilet for a wazz.
In fact, the couple hardly notice one another as they both hurriedly get ready for the day. Jade has a quiz coming up in one of her TISCH classes and Beck was meant to meet Tori for coffee that morning. Because neither of them were morning people, it wasn't unusual for a somewhat chaotic start to the day, and they only address each other again as they rummage through their closet to find clothes.
"Don't flirt with Vega today," Jade calls over her shoulder as she slips into a pair of jeans.
Beck rolls his eyes playfully at his girlfriend's words, knowing that unlike a few years ago, she wasn't really worried about that at all.
"I'll try to restrain myself," Beck sarcastically bites, "Yunno, seeing as the whole point of this catchup is to introduce me to her latest boyfriend."
Beck grins cheekily at Jade, but his playfulness is cut short as he sees Jade's hand suddenly rummage in one of his draws to pull out a pair of his socks.
"STOP STEALING MY SOCKS, YOU SOCK THIEF," Beck yells dramatically, pointing an accusatory finger at his partner who had sworn up and down only a few days prior that she was not the one responsible for his missing garments.
Jade has the decency to shoot him a guilty smile. "Sorry, babe," she shrugs, not sounding very sorry at all as she slips her feet into her combat boots.
"I knew you were jealous of my growing collection," Beck accuses, huffing as Jade ignores him to instead rummage through her bag. "How about I start stealing all your bras? How would you like that?"
Jade's about to bark out a snarky remark when she gets distracted by the empty box she's just pulled out of her bag.
"Oh shit," she moans miserably, ignoring Beck's pout.
"What?" Beck asks in concern, all thoughts of her sock thievery forgotten.
"I'm out of tampons. Fricken hell."
Jade plus PMS was not something to take lightly. Beck, being the supportive, feminist boyfriend he prided himself in being, was quick to ask, "Want me to run downstairs and pick you up some from the corner store?"
Jade bit her lip but with one glance at time on her phone, she fervently nodded her head. "Yeah. Thanks, babe. I need to finish getting ready."
"No worries," Beck assured with a rather false sense of confidence.
Confidence that only lasted a few minutes as the second he stepped into the dreaded feminine hygiene section of the aisle, a thousand pink and black boxes stared back at him and yet not one looked familiar.
He's starting to panic and only is distracted when his phone starts buzzing with an incoming call. Glancing at the caller ID, he sighs in relief and quickly clicks accept.
"Thank god it's you, Tori. Jade needs tampons but they're out of the usual brand she buys. What do I do?"
Beck is aware that he sounds slightly hysterical, and his mood is not improved by the loud giggles coming over the phone.
"Well hello to you too, Beck. Yes, I've had a great morning so far. Thanks for asking."
"Tori, please help me," Beck pleads.
"Poor Beck," Tori torments, sounding far too gleeful for seven-thirty in the morning.
"What the fuck does slim fit ultra plus mean?"
"Just get one that says regular," Tori laughs. "Now hurry up and get the café. Your coffee is going cold."
"See you soon," Beck promises, grabbing the item and heading to the cash register where a 15 year old looking boy stared at him in a mixture of horror and awe.
He races back to their apartment and manages to catch Jade just as she's stepping out the door and heading over to her car.
"Thanks, babe," she yells as he throws the box over to her. "See you later tonight for dinner."
And with that she's off. Beck tries not to feel glum that he hadn't even got a little thank you kiss after being all manly and heroic. Then he chides himself because it's probably not a very feminist train of thought. See, Jade, those gender studies tutorials hadn't been a complete waste.
The little detour for his girlfriend did have him running late for Tori though, so refusing to dwell on it further, he hopped into his truck and drove to the café they were meeting at.
As he enters the small shop, he's immediately met by Tori's enthusiastic waving arms from across the room.
"Beck, Beck, over here," she says eagerly. The boy sitting next to her looks rather unimpressed by this behaviour and coldly nudges Tori's side to make her settle down.
Tori looks momentarily affronted but picks up again as Beck plonks himself down in the vacant seat in front of her, giving the strange man the side-eye as he reaches for the third coffee at the table.
"Sorry I'm late, guys," Beck apologises, "Thanks for ordering."
"No worries. Girlfriend troubles, I hear," the male beside Tori smirks, extending forward to shake Beck's hand.
"Something like that," Beck agrees with a good-natured roll of his eyes.
Tori bites back a grin before turning to the boy next to her and taking his hand in her own.
"This is Joshua, Beck. The guy I've been seeing."
Moonbeam rays looked as if they could be pooling out of her soft, brown eyes as she started up at the blonde man beside her. Joshua, by contrast, shot her a half lazy smile before tugging his hand free to instead fiddle with his phone.
Beck feels a sudden rush of dislike towards the other male at this action, but masks his expression into a polite smile as Joshua turns to face him.
"So, Tor has been telling me all about you and your babe," Joshua exclaimed, opening his phone to reveal a photo of Beck and Jade from the Slap.
Beck hadn't touched their high school social media page since graduating two years ago, and couldn't hold back the large smile as he looked at the photo of Jade and himself (albeit a few years younger) grinning up at each other like lovesick fools on stage at the Full Moon Jam.
"Wow," Beck beamed, "crazy seeing how young we were."
"Crazy," Tori concurs. "You really love her, huh?" she asks, smiley softly at Beck's dopey expression.
"Yep," Beck agrees, smiling back.
"Just as much as you did six years ago?" Tori questioned, "Or did this morning's shopping episode quelch the flame of your burning romance?" she goaded.
Beck's about to laugh back, knowing full well that he wouldn't be able to live that down anytime soon, but Joshua's booming voice cut him off.
"Are you kidding? The same chick for six years. Man, how are you not bored?"
Beck's dislike for Joshua was increasingly growing. Tori certainly had a knack for picking them.
"Trust me. I'm not bored," Beck gritted out, forcing out a fake chuckle while simultaneously narrowing his eyes in a silent warning.
Joshua apparently couldn't let it go. "But how would you even know? You have no idea what else is out there if you're tied down to one girl. You can't tell me you're not over the sex by now?"
Beck's anger is only subdued by the hurt expression that casts over Tori's features as she bites her lip and sadly stares down in his lap.
"I guess it's different when you're in love." Beck drawls, attempting to control his temper only for the sake of Tori. "It's literally the opposite of what you think. We've been together for so long that we trust each other completely. There's a lot more room to be adventurous when you are that comfortable with your partner." Beck raises an eyebrow coyly, silently conveying that Joshua does not need to worry about his sex life.
"But-"
"Oh, shut up, Josh," Tori snaps, effectively cutting him off.
Joshua finally shuts his mouth, but he leans back solemnly and refuses to engage with the table after that. It's a rather tense breakfast, and Beck's relieved when after 30 minutes Joshua makes up some excuse to leave. He exits without paying and Beck glares at him as he walks out the door.
The second he's out of the room, he turns to Tori in annoyance.
"Please tell me you are going to break up with that jerk, because I'm not going to hold Jade back from going after him with her scissors if you keep him around," Beck warned seriously.
Poor Tori. Sweet, naïve, Tori. The same brotherly protectiveness that kept him worrying about Cat was certainly extending to the crestfallen half-Latina in front of him.
"Yes. Definitely will. I can't believe he'd talk to you like that in front of me." Tori sighed, biting her lip. "You and Jade are so lucky, Beck. I wish I could find my soulmate too."
Beck softens slightly and gently takes one of Tori's hands in his own, giving it a friendly squeeze. "He's out there. But there's no rush to settle with someone."
"I hope you're right," Tori tentatively agrees. She bites her lip somewhat nervously before rather delicately continuing, "Hey, I hope I don't offend you in asking this, but how do you keep your romance alive with Jade? I mean, I evidently can only make it a month with someone before they stop acting doting and chivalrous."
Beck pauses to reflect on this question. How did he keep their romance alive?
"Honestly, I don't really know," Beck says slowly. Then thoughtfully, he adds, "Dating isn't always chocolate and giggles, Tor. I guess real love sometimes comes down to how you handle the dull and hard moments."
"So, no candlelit dinners and walks along the beach?" she sighed sadly.
"Well, that can still happen," Beck shrugs, "It's important to surprise your partner from time to time to keep the romance alive, but sometimes just washing the dishes is a more thoughtful display of love."
Tori nods considerately at his words, then smirking slightly, she couldn't help but add, "Well I'm sure being with Jade definitely keeps things interesting."
Beck chortles, but he feels oddly uneasy at these words.
It's a feeling he can't seem to shake as he hugs Tori goodbye and makes his way back to his truck. With a churning in his stomach, he tries to recall the last time he and Jade had shared a proper date night. Sure, they had watched Drake and Josh in bed together on Friday night, but that wasn't very exciting. Jade hadn't complained though. She seemed content enough, and surely she would vocalise if she wanted more from Beck.
Unless she really was growing tired of him.
I mean, she didn't look twice at him in the shower this morning, and she hadn't kissed him with passion the way she once did when they were 16 and merely saying goodbye before heading to separate classes for two periods.
Aware that he was being silly, Beck still makes a decision. He's going to blow his girlfriend's mind with a romantic night so overwhelming that it would make Patrick singing "Can't take my eyes off you" to Kat look like a childish, half-arsed gesture. He'll show everyone that his romance has not dwindled, and he'll remind Jade exactly why she loved him so much.
Unfortunately, things don't go to plan. He had texted Robbie asking if he had any candles lying around, ready to fill the lounge room floor with them. Robbie had enthusiastically assured him that he had heaps (something about a home video that Beck refused to ask further about).
What Beck doesn't expect is for them to absolutely reek of burnt pumpkin and rotting strawberries. The fumes are gag-inducing, and the candles are so cheap that the wax immediately falls in globs onto the floor. Beck desperately blows them all out and hopes he can distract Jade instead with a bubble bath and a fancy dinner. Apparently, cupid was not on his side today because disaster after disaster hits in rapid succession. By the time Jade walks through the door later that evening, Beck was a sweaty, soapy mess standing helplessly in the centre of their lounge room.
"Jesus, what is that awful smell?" Jade yelled, covering her nose.
"The candles, bleach or burnt food?" Beck cringed.
Before Jade could respond, her eyes fell upon the centre of the room where her favourite, fluffy, and once pristine white carpet now had an angry red stain spread across it. "What the hell happened to my new carpet!" Jade screamed.
"I accidentally kicked over the wine glass. I thought we could have a romantic dinner in front of the fireplace," Beck simply sighed. "Tried to bleach it out. I think I made it worse."
"I see," Jade seethed, breathing in heavily through her nostrils.
"Also, maybe don't go into the bathroom," he meekly added.
Jade blinked slowly, instructing herself to count to 10 slowly in her head.
"Why shouldn't I go into our bathroom, Beck?" she whispered, her voice dangerously low.
"I was trying to make us a bubble bath. I may have left the water on for a bit too long. And put in too much bubble mixture."
It was rare for Jade to find herself at a loss for words, but she truly was speechless. What would possess her generally emotionally stunted boyfriend to go to such ridiculous lengths on a seemingly normal Wednesday night astounded her.
"Explanation. Now." She fumed, snapping her fingers impatiently. Before she used her hands to strangle Beck as she spotted the wax from the cheap candles hardening on the wooden floors, she quickly reached for a pair of her emergency scissors and began shredding the closest magazine.
"I wanted to do something spontaneous and romantic." Beck wailed. "I just… I wanted to show you how much I love you. And maybe I've been a bit worried that you're starting to get bored of me."
These words were enough to momentarily stump Jade from assaulting the perfume ad in her hands. "Why would you ever think that?" she gasps in bewilderment.
I don't know, Jade. We're both always busy, especially while we're both out auditioning for things in all our spare time. And then this morning, it just made me realise that we're so comfortable together. I was trying to bring a bit of spice back," Beck explains miserably.
"And why the hell do we need spice?"
"I don't want you to fall out of love with me," Beck protests.
He ran an aggravated hand through his hair in defeat and dejectedly stared at the ground. Jade wanted to stay mad, really she did (because that rug had cost a lot, okay), but seeing Beck look so crestfallen tugged at her insides.
Taking a deep breath, she crossed over the lounge to take hold of Beck's forearms and force him to make eye contact.
"Do you love me any less than you did six years ago?" she quizzed, her pierced eyebrow slightly raised.
"Don't be crazy. I love you even more if that's even possible." Beck mumbled back.
"See. Beck, the fact that we're so comfortable around each other is not an indication of our dwindling romance. It's just a sign of our commitment."
"I know, I know." Beck groaned, cautiously moving to wrap his arms around Jade's waist. Thankfully Jade's stabbing mood seems to have subdued, and she allows Beck to pull her in a tight hold.
"I literally had this conversation with Tori and her jackass boyfriend today."
"Well that's a story that needs some more detail," Jade exclaimed, her mood picking up already.
"Tell you later," Beck promised, giving her a quick squeeze. "I really do love you, Jade. I hope I show you that enough."
Any of Jade's lingering anger completely evaporated at those words, and with a small smile, she pulled Beck's head down towards hers so she could capture his lips in a kiss.
"You do. And I love you too," she assured gently. "And just saying, Beck, I'm always down for some spontaneous, passionate sex on the kitchen counter if you want to spice up our relationship, as you so wonderfully put it."
"Totally holding you to that." Beck grinned, kissing Jade deeply again before she finally pulled away and walked into the kitchen to assess the damage there.
"Promise me that you won't try to be romantic ever again, babe," Jade requested as she shook her head at the completely charcoaled meal she assumed was meant to be their dinner sitting on the counter. Tsking, she opened the cupboard and pulled out two cup noodles.
"As if I'd ever agree to that," Beck scoffed, appearing behind her to kiss the side of her neck.
"Fair enough, but stay out of the kitchen at least."
Thankfully Jade's annoyance had shifted into amusement now, and she had to bite back a smile at Beck's reluctant agreeance.
"Hey babe, I have one more question for you. It's been bugging me all day." Beck says nervously, inching closer so he can whisper the words close to Jade's ear. "What are slim fit ultra plus tampons? Is that referring to the size of your lady parts? Am I a bad feminist for not knowing this?"
"Oh my God, I should dump you." Jade snorts, and before she can help it, she throws her head back and begins to laugh heartedly. "Such an idiot," she snickers, kissing Beck deeply even though she hadn't stopped laughing, and it feels kind of weird to be smiling and kissing someone at the same time.
Beck mulls that they're probably not a very romantic couple, but it doesn't matter too much because they're in love, and that's so much better.
Wow. Hi. It's been a minute. Last time I posted was pre-global-pandemic, and I just can't comprehend how much time has passed. About 80% of this story was written back in 2019. I think boredom resulting in scanning Beck and Jade fanfictions has reignited a bit of a spark in me – though I feel woefully out of practice when it comes to writing. I have a good handful of half-finished fictions that I'd love to complete and share over the new few months. They're not great, but they make me smile, so I figured I'd share them anyway.
If you're around still, please leave a review. Xx