"And he cooks too!" Jade chuckles as Beck sets a plate down in front of her "What can't you do?"
"Plenty of things." Beck winks before sliding down in the chair across from her "And don't praise me until you taste it."
"Well, it looks and smells delicious." Jade tells him "So I'm feeling pretty optimistic."
The new couple is spending the night in, rather than out, for the first time, and Beck had offered to cook. His only condition had been that Jade let him use her kitchen. He's not quite ready to introduce his girlfriend to his daughters, and wasn't sure how he would be able to explain her presence in their home without causing any suspicion. Sure, he could have waited until they went to bed, but he didn't want to risk Chelsea waking up and coming downstairs.
Jade had been more than willing to let him cook, and even offered to help. Beck insisted that she relax instead, so she sat on one of the stools the opposite side of her kitchen bar grading papers and talking to him while he cooked shrimp scampi risotto for them both.
"I was right." Jade nods as she swallows her first bite "This is delicious."
"Thanks." Beck smirks "Sometimes I like to remind myself that I'm capable of making more than macaroni and cheese and dinosaur chicken nuggets."
"Don't knock the dinosaur nuggets." Jade tells him "My roommates and I lived on those in college."
"I have nothing against them!" Beck laughs "But like I said, it is nice to have some adult food for a change."
He caves and lets her help him with the dishes after they eat, which ends up taking them three times as long as it probably should. Beck accidentally splashes some water onto Jade's shirt, and is profusely apologetic about it. In turn, she scoops up a handful of soap suds from the water and smears them across his forehead. They both laugh and after a brief moment of intense eye-contact end up pressed against one of the cabinets, making out.
This new relationship with Jade, Beck decides, is already so much different than his relationship with Alyssa had been, and different in a very good way. He's older now, and more mature, and Jade matches that maturity...but they're still able to have fun. She makes him happy, and it just feels...right.
Jade also knows that this relationship with Beck is much different from any other relationship she's ever been in. Every guy she's ever dated has turned out to be an immature asshole, but Beck just seems like...such a good fit. She's always been wise beyond her years, probably because of everything she's been through, and he seems to be as well. He's responsible, and independent, and kind. He can communicate, and respects her, and gives her just the right amount of attention without being clingy. It's the most secure she's felt with someone in a long time.
Eventually, the dishes do get washed, and Beck and Jade move from the kitchen to the living room to watch a movie.
"Those shelves look great." Beck smiles as he moves to put the DVD in "Who put them up?"
"Oh, this sexy carpenter my friend recommended." Jade smirks, sitting down on the couch "You should have seen him."
"Sexy?"
"Sexy as hell." Jade nods playfully "Toned as hell, pecs and abs of steel. Not to mention that he's a great conversationalist and all around good person."
"He sounds great." Beck chuckles, pressing a kiss to Jade's lips before sitting down on the couch beside her with the remote "I'd love to meet him sometime."
"Yeah, I think you two would get along really well." She nods, snuggling up next to him and allowing him to wrap an arm around her "What movie are we watching?"
"Notorious." Beck informs her "The one directed by Alfred Hitchcock in 1946...not the one about Biggie."
"I figured." Jade laughs "Not that I have anything against Biggie, the Hitchcock one just seemed more likely based on everything I know about you."
"I love this movie."
"I don't think I've ever seen it." Jade admits "...don't be upset."
"That excites me more than it upsets me!" Beck assures her "I get to watch you experience it for the first time. It's such a good movie. It was a real turning point for Hitchcock's career and Cary Grant's first real experience with something other than comedy. It's argued that it's one of the top ten best movies of all time and has inspired so many-"
Jade could listen to Beck talk about movies forever. She had considered herself more versed in film than the average twenty-five year old, but Beck is clearly an expert. And so passionate too. She loves how excited he is to share new movies with her, or tell her fun facts or stories she hadn't known about movies that she had seen many times. He loves movies the way that she loves books, she decides, and that seems like it would be a decent relationship match.
About halfway through the movie, Jade's phone starts vibrating to tell her that she's getting a call. She apologizes to Beck immediately and ignores the call, but not before rolling her eyes at the sight of her father's name lighting up the screen. Jade puts her phone back on the coffee table in front of the couch like it's nothing, but Beck takes notice. It's not the first time he's seen that name light up his girlfriend's phone, and it's not the first time he's seen her ignore a call from that name.
"You never answer him." Beck remarks, reaching over to pause the movie
"Huh?"
"John West?" He looks to the phone and then back to his girlfriend "You never answer when he calls."
"S'my dad..." Jade sighs "He...I dunno, he just can't take a hint."
She's alluded to having a complicated relationship with her father on more than one occasion, but never given any details. Beck can tell there's more than what she's telling him, and that it seems to be weighing on her.
"What do you mean?"
"It's a long story."
"I've got time."
The look on his face is genuine, as is the tone of his voice. Not to mention he had admitted to loving the movie they're watching, and he's willing to pause it to let her talk.
"He and I have always had a very...complicated...relationship." Jade admits "He and my mom split up before I could ever remember them being together, and then he was kind of...absent, I guess. He was there for birthdays and major holidays and everything...but he worked a lot, and he traveled a lot, I didn't spend weekends with him or see him regularly. I had a much better relationship with my step-dad, I still do. I lived with him and my mom and my half-brother...until my mom died."
Fuck. Beck thinks to himself
"Fuck." He says out loud, and then immediately regrets it "Shit, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have-"
"It's okay." Jade assures him "It sucks. There's no sugar-coating that."
"How old were you?"
"Twelve." Jade sighs "A drunk driver. It was awful, my brother was only four...and I had to go live with my dad. Which sucked because I had almost no relationship with him and I wanted to stay with my step-dad, but the court didn't really care because of the custody agreement. Chris, my step-dad, fought it though, and I was allowed one weekend with him and my brother each month. Until I turned eighteen and was allowed to start making my own choices. But...my dad is a fancy corporate lawyer, and he makes a lot more money than my step-dad...so he's the one who put me through college. He thought that would mean that he got a say in my degree but it didn't, obviously. If it were up to him I would also be a fancy corporate lawyer, so the bachelor's in English Lit and a master's in teaching really pissed him off. Then he decided if I wasn't going to be a lawyer, he wanted me to marry one. And I didn't do that either...then I moved here. But he doesn't know where I moved, he just knows I left LA. Which is what I want. Even when I was living with him full-time, he left me to be raised by babysitters and a step-mom who hated me as much as I hated her...so it's just a bit too late to start acting like he cares."
"God, Jade...I'm so sorry." Beck frowns
It's clear that she had wanted that off of her chest, but it's still upsetting for him to hear. That isn't what he wants for Chelsea and Aspen, and he could never imagine putting them through turmoil like that. He doesn't understand how anyone could be so uninvolved in their own child's life; he's obsessed with his girls...and he doesn't know how Alyssa could have walked away from them...or how Jade's father could have treated her so poorly. It proves a theory he's had for years now...some people just shouldn't be allowed to be parents.
"S'okay." Jade assures him "I'm...the happiest I've been in a very long time. And part of that is because I'm away from him...but part of it is also because I met you."
"I'm happy to be of service..." Beck smiles a bit "But...I'm sorry for the circumstances."
"I'm okay." She promises, leaning over to kiss him "But thank you for listening while I told you that. It felt good to be open about it."
"Of course."
"We shouldn't let him ruin this movie for us though." Jade nods towards the TV "I'm invested, I need to know how it ends."
"Right." Beck picks up the remote again "Where were we?"
"I can't believe I've gone my whole life without seeing that movie." Jade admits as the final scene of the movie fades out "That was..."
"Amazing?" Beck raises an eyebrow at her as he moves to take the DVD out "Phenomenal? Fantastic?"
"I was going to say brilliant." Jade smirks "I loved it."
"I'm glad." Beck chuckles "Obviously, Hitchcock was a genius. Everyone knows that. Cary Grant might be my favorite actor of all time...I think there's a parallel universe out there where I decided to become an actor and if that's true...I think he's who I would want to model myself after. The man was so fucking talented."
"I love listening to you talk about movies."
"Good." Beck laughs "Because I do that a lot."
"That's okay." Jade smiles "Answer one question for me though?"
"Sure."
"Do you think Ingrid Bergman is hot?"
"I mean, I think she was a very beautiful woman, yes..." Beck admits "But I'm not sure if I can use the word 'hot' to describe a dead person."
"You're more respectful than I am then."
"Oh yeah?"
"Yeah." Jade laughs "James Dean was hot."
His girlfriend's comment causes Beck to laugh as he moves to sit beside her on the couch again.
"You know what?" He asks her
"What?"
"It doesn't matter what I think of Ingrid Bergman, because the most beautiful woman to ever exist is sitting right here in front of me."
"Aw, you're so cute when you lie."
"I mean it." Beck kisses her quickly "You're beautiful, Jade West. And I think..."
"You think...what...?"
"I think I'm in love with you." He admits "No, I know I'm in love with you."
"I-"
"You don't have to say it back." Beck assures her "I know it's still early and I hope that you're not freaked-"
"I love you too."
"You do?"
"Yeah." Jade grins "Hearing you say it, and then actually saying it myself...I love you. Is that crazy?"
"If it is, then we're both in trouble." Beck laughs
He leans forward and kisses her again, but this time Jade lays back on the couch and pulls her on top of him. This is a different kind of making out than they had done in the kitchen earlier, this is less playful and more...serious. His lips move from hers to her neck, and she runs one hand through his hair while the other fumbles with his belt.
"Jade, wait." He stops her "Are you sure?"
Sex is a serious step. They've almost gone there on multiple occasions, but they've always stopped. Beck has only ever been with Alyssa and while he knows Jade has been with more than one man before, he doesn't want her to feel like she owes him anything.
"Positive." She nods
"We should move to the bed then." He tells her "I'm not doing this on the couch...at least not the first time."
"Okay." She smirks "The box of condoms is in my room anyway."
Jade begins to sit up but Beck stops her, pushing her back so she's laying on the couch again.
"What the f-"
"Shhh..." He cuts her off, sliding one hand under her knees and the other behind her back "I'm carrying you."
"Oh." Jade smirks, wrapping her arms around his neck "Well, let's go then."