Hello everyone!

Long time, no see! If you've decided to click, thank you so much for doing so! Putting a new story out is always so nerve-wracking, so I appreciate your giving this one a try!

For the first time in my life, I'm working on two stories at once. This one has a much lighter plot line than the other, so it was finished first. I'm hoping to have the other finished/published sometime in the fall. In the meantime, enjoy this story! It presented me with an interesting dynamic that I've never had Bade in before and was a lot of fun to explore/write different sides of each of the characters! I hope you enjoy!

Beck Oliver has it made, compared to other guys his age at least.

For as long as he could remember, he had wanted to be an actor. His parents told him that at one point in his life, very early on, he had wanted to be a firefighter...but he doesn't remember that. Acting has always been his only option, and how many people can say that they're living their dream at the age of eighteen? Probably not many.

Back in November he had responded to an open call for a new network TV show, the producers wanted to take a chance and bring in someone rather unknown in the industry. After three callbacks and a lot of luck, Beck booked the role...and everything that happened after that felt like a whirlwind.

The show films on location in New York, so all of a sudden Beck was packing up his life and moving to the other side of the country. He went from going to school full-time, to working on a set for eighteen hours a day and trying to complete his online classes in between. Thankfully Hollywood Arts was rather accommodating to him and allowed for those online classes to even be an option. Beck can't begin imagine what it would have been like to have to transfer to a new school during the last semester of his senior year on top of everything else.

And now it's May.

May.

Almost June.

The first half of the year had flown by in the blink of an eye. Beck is back in Los Angeles for just one weekend, all that his producers were able to offer him due to the show's busy schedule, so he could graduate in person with his friends and the rest of their classmates. He should be flying high right now. But instead...he's fighting with his girlfriend.

"Do you have any idea how conceited you sound?" Jade snaps, snatching her dress off of the floor to re-dress herself

"I don't understand why you can't just be happy for me!" Beck fires back as he pulls a t-shirt over his head

"I don't understand why you're being such a dick!"

Neither one of them can believe that their night had come to this, especially because it was supposed to have been such a happy occasion. They had graduated high school earlier that evening, and gone for a late dinner with their families to celebrate; Jade's parents and each of their respective spouses, Jade's maternal grandparents, Beck's parents, and his paternal grandparents. Then they retreated back to Beck's RV, Jade promising to be home by her midnight curfew, with the obvious intention of having sex.

It hadn't been the first time they had sex that weekend either, they had been together every night since Beck got into town. After spending so much time apart it had been difficult to keep their hands off of each other, but now it's hard for either one of them to even look at one another. Tension had been building since Jade picked Beck up from the airport about thirty-six hours prior, a sarcastic comment here and an eye roll there, and they both finally reached their breaking point during their after-sex pillow talk when he made a remark about how at least his old life in California was 'still good for something'.

"I'm a television star!" Beck reminds her

"Oh please..." Jade scoffs "Your pilot hasn't even aired yet!"

She had been thrilled for her boyfriend when he booked the part, why wouldn't she have been? Sure, the idea of a long distance relationship didn't sound great, but they knew they would experience that when they went to college anyway. At least he was in New York, and that was a lot closer to her school of choice, Duke, than Los Angeles was. At least they would be on the same coast again once she started school in the fall.

It was hard right from the start. Different time zones and busy schedules made it hard to have a consistent conversation via text message, let alone schedule a phone or FaceTime call. While Jade was in Los Angeles going to school and hanging out with their core group of friends, Beck was off in another city making new friends and developing a new lifestyle. With new lifestyles can sometimes come new personalities...and Beck had brought his new personality back to California with him.

Jade hadn't noticed it at first, she was too excited to finally see him again...and too excited to finally sleep with him again. But after a few hours, her boyfriend's new tendencies started to show their rather ugly head. He was too good for everything all of a sudden. Too good for his old truck, too good for his old clothes, too good to hang out at Tori's with the rest of their friends.

They had presented the idea of one last movie night, just the six of them, before they all went their separate directions for summer jobs and eventually college in the fall. Beck had turned his nose up at the idea. He didn't want to spend 'a boring night at home' the night before his high school graduation, he wanted to go out and spend the night on Hollywood Boulevard. Their friends hadn't shared his opinion, and he spent the night on Tori's couch making passive-aggressive comments about how his 'friends in New York would never go for something like this'. Everyone had been annoyed with him, even Jade.

Then at graduation he needed to make sure he had 'the perfect shots' to post on his social medias. How was his hair? How was the lighting? Jade, turn just a little bit to the right so there aren't any shadows on his face. One with the gown. One with the gown open. One with just the cap. Even his own parents were rolling their eyes.

"But it will." Beck reminds her "And then so will the rest of the season. The test groups love it, Jade! It's going to be the biggest show on television! I'll have a million offers by the end of the year, I won't even have to audition!"

"How is there enough room in your trailer for you and your big head?"

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"It means that you're being an asshole!" Jade throws her arms up in frustration "I swear to god, Beck Oliver went to New York and a completely different person came back! This isn't my boyfriend, this isn't you."

"You're right, I am a different person now." Beck agrees "I'm an actor."

"Oh for the love of..." Jade buries her face in her hands "You know...one of the things I always loved most about you was how down to earth you were. When I would go off the deep end or loose my cool, you always pulled me back. You were my rock, my compass, my...my...everything! But now..."

"But now...?" Beck is waiting for her to finish her thought "What? I'm not those things anymore?"

"Fame changed you, Beck..." Jade shakes her head "And the scary thing is...you're not even really famous yet."

"Hey! I-"

"The show hasn't aired." Jade says flatly "No one knows your name yet, but I don't doubt that they will. You're a very talented actor, Beck. I know you're going to be very successful in whatever you do. But..."

"But...?" Beck is growing impatient

"If this is what six months in the industry has done to you, I'm not sure I want to stick around for the next six months...or the next six years and watch it get worse." She says matter-of-factly "I think we should break up."

"There it is!" Beck chuckles "My career took off before yours did and you can't handle it. You don't want to date someone who is more successful than you!"

"I don't want to date a narcissistic asshole, actually." Jade tells him patiently as she reaches for her purse "I'm sorry, Beck. I just...I can't do this."

"If I asked you to come back to New York with me, would that change anything?" Beck asks her "You could see-"

"It wouldn't." She assures him "I really hope everything works out for you, Beck...and I really genuinely mean that."

So this is it? He thinks to himself This is how it ends?

He hadn't seen any of this coming at all. He thought Jade would be happy for him, supportive of all of his newfound success. But instead all she's done is harp on him and bring him down. She's been berating him and insulting him for the last twenty minutes. This isn't what a supportive partner looks like...and if this is how she's going to act...he should probably just let her go. Even if it hurts him to do so.

"I..." Beck hesitates "You too, Jade. Good luck at Duke."

She's surprised that he doesn't fight harder for their relationship, that he doesn't beg her to stay. Part of her wishes that he would, that he would show her that even a little bit of his old self is in there...but he doesn't. So with an upset and slightly angry heart, she heads for the door.

"Thanks." She nods "I, uh...have a nice life, I guess."

"Thanks."

With that, Jade leaves. She knows she's left some of her belongings behind in the RV, after four years of dating she'd made herself more than at home there, but she doesn't want to waste time with that now. She'll come back in a few days after Beck has gone back to New York and ask his mom to let her in to grab everything. She'll probably be glad to do so, Mrs. Oliver has never really liked her much and will be happy to see her go.

As she starts her car, Jade can't stop herself from thinking about how she hadn't seen this coming. She had been looking forward to seeing Beck for so long, and now she doesn't think she can be in the same room as him. It must be true what people say about the industry, how if you're not careful it can change you...she just always thought Beck was the careful type. Years from now at a party maybe she'll be able to say she knew Beck Oliver way back when, before he was a narcissist, before the industry changed him for the worse. Maybe she'll laugh about it with friends, or maybe it will turn the tone of the conversation somber. There's no way of telling what this breakup will mean or if they will ever see each other again.

She's not sure what comes next, what a life without Beck will look like or how long it will take her to move on. Maybe this is for the best...she can start over fresh once she gets to college in the fall. Regardless, Jade knows that the weekend's events have changed her life...she just doesn't yet realize that they've changed her life in more ways than one.