The next month was hectic. Between Beck having to learn all his lines as one of the mains in a class play, he was also spending most days after school to work on Jade's show. Since they weren't being giving time in class to work, it was almost like having an extra class at the end of the day. Granted, everyone was pulling their weight, and with the cast lists up, they were even more people Jade could put to work, and she did. Minor roles that only had a few lines were ordered to help with painting or other set jobs, some worked on the lighting and sound checks. When Beck actually had a moment to rest, he couldn't help but smile at the way Jade was commanding her team. Either she was naturally good at being efficient, or she thought about this so often that she had everything planned long ago.

Jade was obviously feeling more tired and stressed during this month. She would stay up making check lists of what still needed to be done and what could be done when and how. She made sketches of how things should look, made everything so simple, even these idiots helping her couldn't mess it up. Somehow, she was both more irritable, but calmer throughout the final week. She was more easy to rile up, but too tired to actually follow through.

Despite the lack of sleep, both were pulling off what they needed to. Beck was still able to give an amazing performance on his class play, although he almost froze when Jade delivered her line with that seductive tone she did in his RV. They hadn't worked together, alone, in quiet awhile, so he never knew what she was planning to do with that line. Either way, the play went perfect and he only had to worry about Jade's show the following Thursday. Then this month of constantly work would be over, but so would how much time Jade and Beck spent together.

You would think after all this time, Jade would have become a part of the group, but she continued to keep herself at a distance. She still sat separately at lunch, ignored them in the halls, and made rude or sarcastic comments in class to or about them. The rest of the group still weren't fans of Jade West, but they knew Beck wanted to help her, and they would stick it out for their friend.

Beck was thankful his friends dealt with Jade's attitude for him. He didn't approve of the way she treated them, and had worked on her to be nicer. She had shown a soft point once or twice, and they might not have picked up on it. Beck noticed though, and he would tell her he appreciated her kindness, in hopes she would show some more often. Sometimes he would reward her with staying later than the rest to help her finish one more thing, wanting to ease her mind a bit more, but also so he could be with her, when she let her walls down just a bit for him, like one night.

"You're gonna stay?" Jade asked, seeing everyone had packed up and left when she told them to go home early.

"Yeah. I figured I could stay and just finish this blood splatter." Beck shrugged.

"Okay." Jade shrugged back and began to walk away.

"Thanks for letting everyone go home early, I know they are exhausted like us." Beck exclaimed, before Jade was out of ear shot.

Jade stopped and turned sharply to him, "Whatever, they are useless when they are tired anyway."

Beck gave a light chuckle, "Am I?"

"No, but if you are tired you should get some sleep. Go home." Jade spoke, monotone, as she walked closer.

Beck grinned at her before putting his brush down, "How's it look?"

Jade scanned the wall, giving no clue to how she felt. Finally, she squatted down and slightly dipped her hand into the red paint. Carefully, she stepped closer to the wall and slapped her hand against it. This resulted in a big, bright hand print with splatter framing it. Beautiful. Beck smiled big and proceeded to do the same, but his hand slid over to look like someone was being dragged while they reached for anything.

"Perfect." Jade said, a wicked smile on her face.

Finally, Jade's play was tonight. Everyone was getting hair and make-up done, the set was getting placed, and the techs were preparing the lights and sounds. Jade was still keeping up her commanding presence and keeping all the bullshit and drama to a minimum. She was really feeling the pressure, though she hid it well, and only Beck really knew how important this night was to her. He wanted to comfort her, just a bit, but he knew she was not in a state to be touched or shown kindness, it would only freak her out more.

The play began and Jade watched everything like a hawk. She made sure the lights switched and the set was place properly, and that the actors were giving their heart and soul to the performance. Jade had considered being the lead herself, but she didn't want the rest of the play to fall short because she didn't have time to manage everyone. She grew to like the actors she had picked enough. She didn't like them as people, but they could act, and she didn't really have a choice.

While Jade watched the play, Beck watched Jade. It had really hit him that after tonight, he wouldn't have any real reason to hang out with her, or even talk to her. She had let him in a little bit, but she still kept physical distance when she could. He would obviously take the opportunity to help her with another play, but who knows when she'll be allowed to put on her play, this one wasn't even supposed to happen. Beck was taken out of his thoughts by the groan and screams of the audience, they must have been at the climax scene. Knowing that only made him feel worse. The play was coming to an end, and so was his and Jade's relationship, what little one it had been.

The cast took a bow and then motioned for Jade to come out too, she was surprised but strode out on stage with confidence. The crowd cheered and applauded loud enough for it to be heard in the halls. The actors proceeded to leave and go talk with their family and friends, while the set crew began to tear down all their hard work. Beck was putting some severed heads and chains into the back when he noticed Jade and her parents talking. They looked like business people, but he had no idea what they actually did for a living. Like Jade, they were expressionless, so he had no idea how the conversation could be going.

"Hey, what's up?" Tori popped over by him.

"Oh, Jade is talking to her parents. They don't exactly approve of ….. her." Beck explained quickly.

"Oh, do you think they liked it?"

Beck frowned, "It's really hard to tell."

The two continued to frown at the family, trying to see some emotion, good or bad.

"Well, even if they don't like it, I think Jade is happy." Tori cooed, always the optimist.

"Yeah, and she should be. She did a great job and her parents might just be too dumb to realize." Beck said nonchalantly, not taking his eyes off Jade.

Tori's eyes widened slightly and she grinned a little. Tori was of course a hopeless romantic, and she could see the way Beck's eyes focused in on Jade, with a caring look.

"Right, besides Jade is a very unique person, with lots of great qualities."

"Exactly, she is confident, creative, strong, independent, um-."

"Beautiful." Tori added.

"Beautiful." Beck repeated. "Wait, um," He turned to Tori, who had a knowing smile. "Well, I can admit a friend is beautiful. Hey Andre," Beck called out, "you're beautiful man."

"Thanks Beck, you have pretty hair." Andre responded sincerely and calmly.

"Thank you. See." Beck gestured to Tori.

"Oh, don't try to pull the 'just friends' card, you like her."

"Maybe a little but it's not a big deal." Beck said, running a hand through his hair and checking back in on Jade, no change.

"Well you should ask her out if you like her."

"Yeah, I'm just not sure she is into me that way, you know we haven't spent a lot of time together outside of school activities."

Tori nodded, "Okay fair point."

Just then Beck noticed Jade and her parents had started to split up. He walked over to Jade quickly, trying to gauge her mood.

"So, how'd they like it?" He asked, a smile on his face.

Jade shrugged, "They liked it."

"That's awesome!" Beck exclaimed.

"Yeah, they actually admitted I have some talent."

"I always knew you had talent." Beck said, showing Jade his flirty smile and eyes.

You could see Jade physically react to the compliment. She lowered her head, probably to hid her blush, and took a step away from him. Beck took it as a good sign, she was just embarrassed about how much she liked it. If he offended her, she'd let him know.

"So, uh Jade, I was thinking, um," Beck stumbled.

He had never had a hard time asking a girl out, probably because they would scream 'yes' before he fully got the question out. He honestly had never been rejected before, and it scared him. Jade was giving him a stern look, a bored look, and it wasn't helping him form words. Tori and the gang were within ear shot, but only Tori was paying attention to the two's conversation.

"Hey," she cut in, "do you guys want to go to B.F. Wangs for some food?"

Now the rest of the group came over, a little confused.

"I didn't know we were going-." Robbie started, but was cut off by Tori's elbow.

"Yeah, we were all going to go celebrate the show!" Tori exclaimed, giving everyone a look.

The rest got the hint and agreed that that was the original idea.

"So, you guys want to come with?" Tori motioned towards Beck and Jade.

"Yes, I would like that. Jade?" Beck nodded, thanking Tori with his eyes.

"Whatever. I'm hungry." Jade shrugged.

Everyone finished cleaning up before setting out to B.F. Wangs. It was a popular place, but at this time of night, it was close to dead. The teens got to order and get their food quickly, which helped everyone avoid becoming irritable from lack of food. Everyone ate in silence for the most part. Someone occasionally made a comment about the play or some school assignment, but the conversation would quiet down after a while. Beck assumed it had to do with the fact that everyone was tired and ready for this week to be over, unfortunately, they still had one more day of school tomorrow. This meant, once they all finished eating, the group would disband for the night and Jade would move on.

Beck continued to steal glances at her, not knowing what to say to her, but in his mind, he begged her to eat slower, just so he could get a few more minutes with her. Tori was the only one to notice, and realize the same as him, and she needed to do something.

"Oh my gosh, I just remembered!" Tori exclaimed, "Trina needs our help tonight!"

"Doing what?" Andre frowned.

"Um, she has a goat, that needs to be bathed." Tori stumbled with her words, "And it needs to have its pajamas put on it before it can go to bed. If it doesn't get a full 8-hours, it will destroy everything in the house."

"Where did she get a goat?" Robbie asked.

"I love goats. Baaahhh!" Cat screamed and giggled.

"I don't know, but we all need to go help her."

"Okay." Andre sighed and began to get up.

"Not you!" Tori whipped around and pointed at Beck, "The goat will only want to eat your hair."

"Okay." Beck said slowly, and gave her a secret smile.

Tori smiled back before following the rest out of the door.

"Your friends are weird." Jade stated.

"Yeah." Beck nodded, "But they are nice."

"That's a word for it."

"Come on, they helped you with your play. Can you say one nice thing about them?"

Jade looked up from her food, thinking, "I guess, depending on the time of day, they can be fun."

"See, did that hurt?"

"Yes, but I liked it."

Beck smirked and went back to his food.

"Thank you." Jade said.

"For what?"

"For getting them to help me. I never would've been able to do this without you."

"Yeah you would have." Jade frowned, looking at him, "You're too stubborn to give up easily."

Jade allowed a slightly smile to spread on her face, and Back sucked in a breath at the sight of it. Suddenly, his hands were sweaty and he felt his face burning up too. He felt like he needed to say something, do something, but he just couldn't bring himself to follow through. He had these doubts inside him he had never had before and it wasn't going to go well if he tried.

They shared a few more conversations but the night ended rather quickly after that and they left in separate cars. Beck cursed himself the whole way home, knowing he should have asked her out. He may not know for sure that she'll say yes, but he knows there's a good chance she will.