Disclaimer: I don't own Victorious.
Friday
Jade pushes her head through a tight forest green sweater and pulls on a pair of black skinny jeans. She debates whether or not to wear her leather jacket, but, weather be damned, it looks the best with her outfit.
After applying her usual dark eye makeup and running her fingers through her curled hair, she saunters out of her room towards the pile of shoes next to the front door.
"What are you up to today, Cat?" Jade asks zipping up her combat boots.
"I'm getting lunch with Robbie later," Cat replies, bopping in her chair at the kitchen table, playing with her pink PearPad.
"The dude with the 'fro?" Cat nods.
"Sounds fun," Jade tries not to be too sarcastic around Cat, but finds herself consistently failing. Evidently, this is another one of those times.
Her hurt expression quickly fades into a close-mouthed, dimpled grin.
"I will have fun with Robbie!" Cat purses her lips before continuing, "Especially because he's my boyfriend now."
Jade gasps. "Cat! No way." Her mouth breaks into the biggest smile Cat has ever seen from Jade.
"Jadey! You're so happy!" Cat cries, standing up from her chair. In a move so uncharacteristically Jade, she wraps Cat in a tight hug. The two jump up and down in excitement, Cat squealing the whole time. This is her first boyfriend after all, and her first love (although the latter is a thought tucked away in Cat's subconscious).
They calm down after a few seconds and Cat lets out another squeak.
"Okay," Jade composes herself. "I am going to go buy coffee and head over to Beck's." Cat nods, still grinning wildly.
Pausing in the doorway, Jade asks, "Do you know what kind of coffee Andre likes?"
Cat tilts her head in confusion, so Jade clarifies.
"I figure I'd be a good...friend and get Andre a coffee as well, since I'll be at his place anyway."
"Kay!" Cat says. "He likes the one with chocolate!"
"Mocha?"
"Yeah! That's the one!"
Jade rolls her eyes and heads out.
"That was a great session today," Tori smiles at Andre once they leave the studio.
"I seriously can't thank you enough for setting this up." Andre nudges her with his elbow.
"Hey, at least one good thing came out of that short-lived Plutonium Records deal: connections."
Andre lets out a light chuckle as the two continue their walk downtown. He's now officially starting a job as the assistant to the assistant to one of the big music producers in New York. Granted he's at the very bottom, the experience he's gaining from just being in the same room as these important people is more than worth it. He's getting more exposure here than he'd get from a regular ol' internship. Andre's heart beats a little faster thinking about making his own music and sharing it with the masses. While he's obviously all about his love for music, he can't help how proud he feels knowing he'll have an edge over his classmates by the time they graduate.
Tori avoids eye contact as she reaches her hand out and intertwines her fingers with Andre's. The more time they spend together, the more her secret feelings for Andre throughout high school re-emerge. It doesn't help that Andre's unrequited love (not to exaggerate or anything) for Tori is also re-surfacing. He could chat with Cat about his feelings again, but now that Tori is single and Beck is left in the dark, consumed by Jade, he doesn't feel as bad as he should. Maintaining his wonkiness around Beck has been surprisingly easy since he spends as little time at the apartment as possible.
She should feel bad about going out with Beck's best friend, but impulse control is something she's never mastered, particularly when it comes to boys. And nothing is changing now. Tori tries to suppress the memories of kissing Beck in front of Meredith at that improv session on her first day, kissing Cat's boyfriend, and, the worst, cheating on Beck.
The pair stop walking a block away from Andre's apartment. Tori turns to look up at him, and Andre looks down to meet her lips in a quick kiss. Although unspoken, they both know this is a temporary relationship. They are simply testing this out while simultaneously satisfying their desire to live out their high school fantasies. Regardless, their friendship is stronger than any romantic feelings they may have for each other. A reassuring thought for both of them.
When they pull apart they laugh nervously.
"See you tonight?" Tori asks.
"Yep. See ya Tor," Andre bites his lip feeling pretty good about life.
Until he sees someone across the street standing with their jaw dropped and holding a tray of three coffees.
Andre's eyes widen in surprise as he makes eye contact with Jade. He looks away immediately and tries to casually walk in the opposite direction, instead of going back home like he planned.
Jade snickers as she watches his uncomfortable attempt at nonchalance. Her mouth turns up into a smile realizing Tori is now completely taken out of the equation, and she doesn't have to worry about Beck at all.
After rearranging her grip on the coffees, she reaches for her phone and texts Andre, "I won't tell."
Jade sees Andre take out his phone and turn around to look at her briefly before continuing to walk away.
With a breath and an eye roll, Jade makes her way to Beck's place.
Beck pops up from the couch when he hears the obnoxiously loud buzzer ring. With a smile, he opens the door.
"Hi-
Beck interrupts her as he takes the coffee tray from her hands and places it on the table next to him. He takes her now free hand and spins her into the apartment. Wrapping his arm around her waist, he pulls her in to kiss her on the lips. He lets go and chuckles at Jade's look of surprise and confusion.
"Well, you're peppy this morning." Jade says, following Beck as he moves the coffees to the kitchen table.
"Just excited to see ya," Beck throws her a cheeky grin. He hands Jade the cup with her name on it before taking his out.
"Three coffees?" Beck questions.
"Yeah, the last one is for Andre," Jade decides not to mention seeing him at all. That may cause more questions to arise.
"Oh, he's at the studio today."
"Ah, I see. Go put it in the fridge then." It's less of a statement, and more of an order. Beck shrugs in response and moves to the fridge.
"What are we doing today?" He calls from the fridge. "Have you eaten lunch yet?"
"No. I'm drinking my coffee first."
"Cool," Beck walks back to Jade and put his hands on her hips. "So, you like horror movies right?"
"I love horror movies," Jade corrects him with a devious smirk. Beck throws back a crooked smile in response.
"There's a new movie out that is supposedly the best horror film of the year. Would you want to go see it? I know there's a showing at 2-"
"Yes. We're going." Jade's expression turns serious but her eyes shine with excitement.
"Great," Beck clasps his hands together and smirks, amused. "It's 1:00 now, want to walk to the theater in the village?"
"What is with you and walking so much?"
"Didn't you just take the subway and walk to my apartment?"
Jade rolls her eyes. "Just...go grab a coat or something." She waves her hand in the direction of his room.
Beck shakes his head and gets his jacket.
"Let's go!" He announces.
Jade nods her head as he holds the door and allows her to walk out first. Jade grumbles to herself that she could have opened the door on her own.
The pair scurry down the stairs and out into the brisk air. Although the sun is shining, it's still 45 degrees. Most of the snow from the other day has already melted. Unfortunately, the leftover snow caked up into dirty piles along the edge of the sidewalk and over the curb. Jade groans when Beck takes her hand to carefully walks over the mound so they can cross the street.
Once they make it to the other side, Beck's arm wraps around Jade's shoulders. He kisses her temple and squeezes her closer when he catches her smiling.
Beck takes Jade's hand as they walk to the ticket booth. Instead of waiting, Jade drops his hand and brushes past him muttering, "I want popcorn."
"Can you get me a Coke?" Beck calls to Jade's retreating form.
"We'll see," she calls without turning around. Beck rolls his eyes and steps up in line.
Gathering the tickets, he meets Jade standing off to the side with a bucket of popcorn and a medium cup.
"Thanks, babe," He says as Jade hands him the soda.
"Ugh, this is water!" Beck's face turns to one of disgust.
"Ha. Ha," Jade smirks. "Soda rots your teeth. We seeing this movie or what?"
Beck ignores her comment and leads them to the screening room.
"I love what the director did with the music in the opening. Panning over the dude's bedroom with a child's lullaby playing in the background. Seriously chilling," Jade almost trips while walking sideways to look at Beck. He's never seen her speak with so animatedly.
"So freaky, right?!" Beck matches her excitement. "She made such interesting choices- I'd love to find out why she did the close ups on the objects behind the person speaking in some scenes. Was it just to emphasize the disjointed feel of the movie as a whole?"
"My thoughts exactly!" Jade hits his arm. "Making the audience feel distressed and unsettled the whole time- it was such a visceral experience! With those weird close ups- like wandering eyes or something."
Jade's passion for film runs deep, and seeing Beck's adoration and appreciation makes her like him even more. Shocking herself once again, Jade finds herself accepting the amount of fun she's having, ignoring any deep, angsty thoughts to dampen this...strangely happy feeling.
Beck clears his throat, "Do you think it's better or worse than The Scissoring?"
Jade scoffs, then turns deadly serious. "I love that movie more than I love my own mother. Nothing comes close to The Scissoring."
"Fair enough," Beck smiles. "Where to now?"
"Let's walk around."
"I thought you said you hate walking?"
"I said what's with you and walking," Jade snaps. "I never said I don't like walking. Plus, it's more fun to walk at night."
"You mean dangerous?"
"I mean what I mean," Jade snaps again.
"Got it, got it," Beck shutters, fortunately Jade doesn't notice.
"So, what are you looking to do after graduation?" Jade asks after a beat. Beck reaches his hand out and Jade interlocks her fingers with his.
"Well, I love acting. I also did a bit of directing in high school, and made one or two short films my freshman and sophomore year, which I enjoyed. I'm not sure yet. Maybe both!" Beck laughs.
"Interesting," Jade's voice trails off at the end as she takes it in.
"How about you?"
Jade perks up. "My original plan was to be an actor, but when I started school I took a music composition course. I am an excellent piano player," She eyes Beck, making sure he's paying attention.
"And I also love screenwriting. I think I'd like to combine the two somehow."
Beck squeezes Jade's hand, "That sounds awesome."
Jade smirks and dramatically flips her hair over her shoulder.
Beck throws his jacket over the couch. He pauses when he hears the shower going. Looking at the coffee table he sees Andre's phone.
Sweet! He's finally home.
His excitement dims when he see Andre's phone start ringing. He doesn't mean to pry, but he can't help it now. Now that he sees Tori's name on the screen. A second later, a text from Tori comes through:
"URGENT: I think I left my bra on your couch."
Beck scans the area. Sure enough, his eyes lands on a lacy, navy blue bra hanging haphazardly off the couch, under one of the cushions. Beck lets out a light, unamused, scoff.
Wonder if she's wearing the matching underwear…
His mind drifts to the night before high school graduation. Tensions running high with the world stretched before them, so many uncertainties, and apprehension for the impending unknown. The only thing definite is where they'll be going to college. Which doesn't help when they're moving across the country from one another.
They're hanging out in his RV, watching TV and making out. Tori suddenly stops and stands up. With a sly grin, she announces she has a little surprise for him. He remembers his eyes widening and his eyebrows (and something else) shooting up when she begins to strip. He can still hear her giggles as his hands reach out to trace over the material, before pulling her in and flipping them over. The pair pause, catching their breath. He sees her deep brown eyes soften under his gaze. A swell of emotion he's never felt before takes over. He tells her no matter how far away we are from each other, I will love you forever.
Beck takes a deep breath. The memory hitting him unexpectedly hard. Taking another breath, his thoughts move to the actual graduation ceremony. When Robbie tripped on his robe and almost took down the podium; Andre's performance above the Asphalt Cafe; Cat bouncing in her Jupiter boots post-graduation ceremony (supposedly her brother brought them to give to Cat, even though he had to stay in the car the whole time).
His heart ached, but not for Tori. But for his friends and that time in his life. Nostalgia washes over him..facing memories he's tried to block out. Refusing to let his mind wander to a time ripe with intense emotions and all relationships felt like they could break any second, because he feared it would hurt too much. But now, finally letting himself go there, he feels okay. Better than okay, actually.
His mouth slowly turns up into a small grin when he notices, for the first time in months, he truly feels nothing. A weight lifted off his shoulders.
Not a trace of numbness, or emptiness, or sadness- just a feeling of indifference.
His grin turns into a full blown smile. Relief rocks through his body, and he suddenly feels excited as he's jolted back into the present. Some new friends, new relationships, new experiences. He realizes his future is so much more exciting than dwelling on the past.
He exhales another sigh of relief and takes his phone from his pocket. There's only one person he's looking to celebrate this revelation with. And he means celebrate hard.
Jade finds a seat on the subway to start her trip uptown when her phone starts vibrating in her bag.
She smiles, "Long time no talk, Beck."
"Where are you right now?"
"I'm on the subway, weirdo," Jade rolls her eyes.
She hears Beck take a shaky breath before saying, "Okay! Get off at Union Square. I'll meet you there."
"You okay?" Jade laughs nervously.
"More than okay!" Beck practically shouts. "Text me when you're there!"
"Kay," Jade shrugs when the line disconnects. Strange kid.
A/N: Let me know what you think. I have some fun/cute bade stuff coming up, which I think (hope) you'll enjoy :)