Sunlight beams down on Jade, warming her skin and providing her with light as she sits upon one of the multiple grassy areas within Washington Square Park. One hand holds a mechanical pencil, scribbling down notes in the notebook on her lap, while the other holds her sandwich as she reads from the textbook open in the grass in front of her. The park is populated with other students studying just like she is, or playing frisbee with friends, or simply just sitting around talking. Other residents of the area cut through on their way to and from other places, or simply enjoy a leisurely stroll down the multiple paved walkways that run through the park. Now that spring has finally started to soften into warmer and dryer weather, everyone finds it much more desirable to be outdoors.

It's not uncommon for Jade to take her lunch breaks in the park when the weather is warm. Sometimes she'll do so with friends from her classes, or she'll meet up with Cat, but today she's on her own. With the end of the semester just barely a week away, she wants to make sure that she spends her time devoted to studying to, well...actually study. She's maintained a perfect GPA throughout her entire college career so far, and she's not about to let that go with less than half of it left.

"Hey you." A familiar voice says from not-so-far off

Jade looks up to see Beck making his way over from the nearby sidewalk towards her spot in the grass. He's dressed more casually than she's seen him in their past encounters, wearing a t-shirt, jeans, and a pair of Converse sneakers.

"Hey yourself..." She smirks as he approaches her "What are you doing here?"

They hadn't made a plan to meet up, and she can't imagine who would have told him where to find her. Unless he physically went to the music building to find Cat and asked her where she might be, and even then Cat wouldn't have known exactly where she was.

"I remembered you saying that you liked taking your lunch breaks here when you could." He says as he sits down in the grass beside her, squinting in the bright sunlight "I've been out exploring the neighborhood today and thought I'd come check it out. Didn't expect to actually run into you though."

"Well m'glad you did." Jade admits

"Yeah..." Beck smiles, leaning in to kiss her "Me too."

As their lips meet, she feels her stomach flutter and her heart beat a little faster. After being with Marcus for so long, kisses became almost routine. Jade had forgotten how exciting they can feel when they're new and unexpected.

"I don't have a ton of time today, m'sorry." Jade tells him as she checks her phone "My next class starts in about half an hour."

"S'okay." Beck assures her as he tucks a strand of hair behind her ear "School is important, more important than some guy you met at a bar last weekend at least."

"I'd like to think of you as more than just 'some guy'..." Jade chuckles

"Good." Beck smiles a bit "Because I definitely think of you as more than just 'some girl'..."

"Oh yeah?"

"Oh yeah."

"Well, are more than just 'some girl' and more than just 'some guy' still on for tomorrow night?" She asks him, raising an eyebrow

Although they've been texting close to non-stop for the past two days, about anything and everything, their plans for Friday night hadn't been brought back up since they made them on Monday.

"Of course they are." Beck nods "Why? Did something come-"

"No." Jade cuts him off before he has the chance to finish his question "We just agreed to meet up and then never circled back to it so I was just wondering if there was any kind of...plan...?"

"Oh..." Beck chuckles a bit "Yeah, might help if I filled out in on what I was thinking, huh?"

"It might, yeah." Jade smirks "Wh...what are you thinking?"

"How about I cook for you?" Beck suggests "At my place? I'll take care of everything."

"That sounds great..." Jade admits "But..."

"But...?"

"Are you sure you want to take care of everything?" She asks him "You bought food last weekend, you paid for dinner on Monday, now you want to cook me dinner. The least I could do is-"

"Just show up and be your cute self..." He smirks, reaching out with his pointer finger and thumb to tilt her chin towards him before kissing her softly again

"Can I at least bring wine?"

"Wine would be wonderful."

"Perfect." She smiles "What time?"

"Seven?" He looks at her for confirmation and she nods "Great. I'll text you the address."

"I'll be there at seven then." She smiles as he stands up "Wait, are you leaving?"

"You have to leave for class soon, don't you?" He clarifies "I don't want to be the reason that you're late or that you don't get the work done that you need to."

It's a sweet gesture, Jade knows that. She wishes he would stay though, she doesn't think she can get enough of him.

"S'nice of you..." She sighs

"What's the matter?" He chuckles "Don't want me to leave?"

"No..." She admits "I think I'll miss you."

"You think or you know?"

"I know."

"Aw, well..." He kneels down beside her and kisses her quickly again "I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"

"Okay." She bites her lip as she smiles "Wait, before you go..."

She takes his face in her hands and pulls it closer to her own, kissing him again but a bit more aggressively than he had kissed her just seconds prior. They both chuckle a bit as they break away, smiling as Beck stands up again.

"I'll see you tomorrow night." He tells her

"See you tomorrow." She confirms

Beck winks at her before turning over his shoulder and walking back towards the sidewalk. He turns back when he reaches the pavement and gives Jade a small wave that she returns before shoving his hands into his pockets and disappearing into the crowd of passersby.

Jade can't stop herself from emitting a small sigh, happy that she got to see him but upset that he had to leave so soon. For almost a week now, he's been the first thing she think of when she wakes up in the morning and the last thing she thinks about before she falls asleep at night. Dare she say it, she's falling hard for this man...and that continues to both excite her and terrify her all at once.

Beck considers himself to be a decent chef. He'd never win an episode of Chopped or Cut Throat Kitchen, but he can follow a recipe and have it turn out decent. He feels a little less confident in his abilities on this night in particular though...he really likes Jade. He had promised her a home-cooked dinner and he wants to impress her. As he moves around the kitchen, he can't help but feel a bit neurotic as he checks on each part of the meal, not wanting to mess any piece of it up. If he burns something or overcooks it, he'll have to order out...and the hypothetical embarrassment he would feel would probably haunt him for weeks.

His panic is interrupted when the buzzer at the front of his apartment sounds, signaling that someone downstairs wants to speak with him. Throwing the dish towel over his shoulder, Beck jogs over to the speaker and presses the button to speak.

"Hello?"

"Beck?"

"Jade!" He can't help but smile as he pushes the button to unlock the door for her "Come on up."

Beck moves back to the kitchen and turns the flames on the stove to low so that there is less of a risk of something burning or boiling over when he goes to answer the door. He does his best to tidy up the countertops; even though he told her that he was cooking, he doesn't want Jade to think that he's a slob. A knock on his apartment door signals that Jade is outside, and Beck stops at the mirror in his entry way to make sure his hair looks alright and that there is nothing in his teeth before greeting her.

"Hey..." He grins when he opens the door for her "Wow...you look..."

"I look...?" Jade chuckles nervously

Beck can't find the words. Their meet-ups before have always been more on the casual side, and even now Jade is only dressed in a simple black sundress and sandals, but something about her takes his breath away.

"Beautiful..." He finally manages to tell her "You look beautiful. C'mon in."

He steps to the side so she can enter, placing a hand on the small of her back as she passes him. Jade hands Beck the bottles of wine she had brought along with her and he quickly places them on the counter before returning to greet her with a kiss.

"Hey..." She smirks as they break away "Miss me?"

"I did, yeah." He chuckles a bit, resting his forehead against her's "Dinner is almost ready. I thought we could eat outside on the terrace."

"Sounds great." Jade agrees "What's on the menu?"

"Shrimp scampi and pasta." He tells her proudly

"Beck, I'm allergic to shellfish..."

"Fuck!" Beck exclaims, stepping back from her and running a frustrated hand through his hair "Fuck! I'm sorry! I should've-"

He stops when he sees that Jade is laughing, an amused look on her face.

"You're not actually allergic to shellfish, are you?" He asks her flatly

"No, I'm not." She shakes her head, stepping towards him and taking his hands in her's "I was trying to loosen you up a little bit. What's got you so nervous tonight? S'just me, Beck."

She's nervous herself, but she hadn't expected him to be. From what she can tell he carries himself with a great deal of confidence wherever he goes, always cool and collected.

"I know, I just..." He sighs "I want to impress you tonight, is all."

"Don't worry about that." She assures him, pressing a kiss to his knuckles before dropping their hands and stepping back "This is the third time I've agreed to see you, I think it's safe to say that I like you a little bit."

"Just a little bit?"

"Alright, maybe a lotta bit." Jade smirks

Of course she likes him, and he likes her back. They had established that the day before when they bumped into each other in the park. They're more than 'just someone' to each other. This could go somewhere, if they play their cards right. That excites Beck, and it scares Jade...but she's decided that it's a good kind of scared.

"Okay..." Beck sighs with a smile "Dinner will be ready in five minutes."

"Can I help with anything?" Jade offers

While she's impressed that he cooked for her and has put an entire evening together for them, she does feel a bit useless just standing there waiting for him to finish getting everything ready.

"Uh..." Beck looks around him "Oh! Here, take these out to the terrace for me? I'll bring everything else out there in a minute."

"Okay." Jade takes the two wine glasses Beck had gestured to in one hand and grabs a bottle of wine with the other "See you soon."

"Don't miss me too much." He teases

"I'll try..." She laughs

Beck will admit, he watches her walk away...and he likes what he sees. He considers himself to be a gentlemen and a romantic type, but at the end of the day...he's still a twenty-one year-old guy. And Jade has a great ass.

"Wow!" Jade calls back into the apartment as she steps through the door to the terrace "It looks great out here!"

There's a table set for two, and white lights strung up above and along the wall. The terrance has a great view of the neighborhood, with the city skyline lit up and visible in the distance just beyond it. Again, Jade is left wondering exactly how Beck can manage to afford a place like this at his age. She knows that he told her work had gotten him set up with it, but are they continuing to pay his rent or his he paying it on his own? Regardless, she guesses it has to be worth close to seven figures.

"Thanks." Beck smiles as he appears behind her with two plates of food "Have a seat."

"Don't mind if I do."

He sets up a bluetooth speaker so that they can listen to music while they eat, but keeps the volume low so that they can still hear each other while they're talking. Jade shares some of her stresses from school, there are plenty with her finals week approaching, and Beck happily listens. He does his best to offer advice, but he doesn't know much about college. In the end he decides it's jsut best to offer his support, and Jade appreciates it.

After they finish eating, Beck clears their plates and takes them inside, then returns with the other bottle of wine Jade had brought. They continue to talk outside for a bit longer, admiring the view of the city and talking about movies. Before long, half of the second bottle is gone, and the air begins to grow colder, so they move inside to the couch.

"We could watch a movie?" Beck offers

"But I like talking to you..." Jade pouts a bit playfully, resting her chin in her hand "You're not supposed to talk during movies."

"You're right..." Beck agrees, sitting down beside her "What if we did this instead..."

His lips move closer to hers and he pushes her onto her back, laying on top of her as they begin making out on the couch. Soon, Beck lets his hand wander up beneath her dress, and she doesn't push him away. If anything, she seems to encourage it.

"Wanna show me your bedroom?" She asks him, breaking their kiss momentarily "You've seen mine. It's only fair."

"I'd love to..." Beck chuckles "Right this way."

He sits up, pulling her into his lap so that her legs are straddling either side of him, continuing to kiss her as he stands up and carries her towards the bedroom. His arms are wrapped around her tightly as he holds her, and her right hand holds his face as she kisses him while her left slips through his hair. Beck kicks the door to the bedroom closed behind him out of habit, even though there would be no one else coming home to possibly walk in on them, and sets Jade down gently on the bed.

"Let's get this off." She demands, pulling at the buttons on his shirt "I've got it, worry about your pants."

"Yes ma'am." Beck smirks, quickly undoing his belt and zipper "Here, let me help you with that dress."

"Thanks." She laughs as he pulls the fabric over her head "Now where were we?"

"Right, about here...I think."

They fall backwards into Beck's bed, not even worrying about climbing beneath the sheets. They kiss each other and touch for only a few more seconds before Beck reaches over to get a condom out of his bedside drawer.

"You might be the most beautiful woman that I've ever laid eyes on..." Beck admits as he runs his hands down her body "I mean, god...look at you."

"You're pretty handsome yourself..." Jade tells him, bringing her hand to rest on the back of his neck "We can compliment each other later, though. Let's-"

"Right, less talking...more of the fun stuff..." Beck smiles

Somehow, the sex is even better than it was the weekend before. Neither one of them thought that it would be able to get any better, but somehow they manage to prove themselves wrong.

"This is something really special..." Beck admits as he lays beside Jade, one arm wrapped around her as he traces circles on her collarbone "I mean it. Being with you is so...easy and wonderful...in every meaning."

"Are you saying I'm easy?" Jade is momentarily offended

"No! Never!" Beck is quick to assure her "I mean...this thing between us...it's so natural. We can talk all night, we make each other laugh, the sex is...well it's phenomenal...I've never experienced anything like this with anyone before."

"Me either..." Jade admits, relaxing back into him a bit "I really like you, Beck...and it scares me."

"Why?"

"I've really liked a few guys before, and it's never worked out." She tells him "I'm afraid that you'll end up hurting me...or that I'll find some way to hurt you."

"That's just the risk that we have to take, isn't it?" Beck reminds her "We shouldn't let the 'what if's ruin something wonderful before it even starts."

"You think this is the start of something?"

"I hope it is." Beck tells her genuinely "I'm not saying we have to put a label on it or anything right away but...I want you in my life. Not just as a friend or someone I catch up with now and then, either. I want you like this, always."

"I...I think I want that too."

"You think or you know?"

"I know."

"Will you spend the night?" Beck asks her, kissing her neck gently "Please, Jade. Stay here with me tonight."

"Okay." She nods with a smile "I'd like that."

"Great..." Beck grins "Wanna have a little more fun?"

"Oh my god, yeah." Jade begins to climb on top of him again "I'll stay up all night having fun with you."