The weather begins to grow even warmer as the end of the semester turns to summer break. Or at least, it would be summer break for most. Cat and Jade are both still working and taking a class each, and Jade has also begun dedicating time to working on her senior showcase. In order to graduate, she will have to write, direct, and act in some kind of play or short film that showcases her abilities and proves that the last four years of her studies weren't for nothing. As she begins to conceptualize it, she decides that it is going to be a one-act play. Ideas spin around in her head, and it feels good to every once and a while take the time to put them on paper.
Beck's spin-off pilot is announced and begins filming. Every so often a die-hard fan will recognize him in public and say something, but for the most part he can still fly under the radar in most public places. He's aware of the fact that once the show actually premieres on television in the fall, that will most likely no longer be the case. He's prepared himself for that, although he has no idea what type of scale to prepare himself for.
In the meantime, Beck and Jade's relationship continues to flourish. Although they're both busy with their professional and educational lives, they spend almost every spare minute that they have together. While the physical aspect is more than great, with every day that passes they grow closer and closer on an emotional level as well. Dare they say it, they might just be starting to fall in love with one another.
"Where are you taking me?" Beck asks as Jade leads him along one of the many paths through Central Park, their hands intertwined
"Just trust me." Jade smirks "You're still a tourist in this city, remember? Let a local guide you."
"Fair enough..." He chuckles "Lead the way."
It's not often that they venture up into Middle Manhattan together. Although Beck films in a studio not far from Times Square, the two of them usually stick to their neighborhood when they're together...except for special occasions. This occasion isn't all that special, they were just looking to do something different. Jade had offered to show Beck around the city a bit, having more knowledge of it than he does after growing up there, and he had taken her up on it. Before long, they're standing in the middle of Bow Bridge over the park's lake. A few other pedestrians pass them on their way over the bridge, but they're otherwise alone. It's approaching dusk, and the sunset on the water paints quite the beautiful picture.
"Well..." Jade says quietly "What do you think?"
"I think I should come to Central Park more often..." Beck admits "This is...well, it's beautiful."
"It is, isn't it?" Jade smiles as she leans her head against his shoulder "I used to love coming here as a kid. My mom and I would go for walks and when we got to this bridge...we'd race to see who could make it across first. There were usually lots of people around, tourists mostly, and they'd get pissed that there was a little kid in their way...but that never stopped my mom from letting me do it."
"Sounds like it was a lot of fun."
"Yeah..." Jade looks down at her hands as she places them on the edge of the bridge "It was."
"How old were you when your Mom...?" Beck hesitates "You know...?"
He knows that she was young, and he knows that it had been a car accident that took Jade's mother away from her...but he doesn't know much more than that. It seems like Jade doesn't like to talk about it much, and Beck can't blame her for that. However, he gets the feeling that her mother's death helped shape Jade into who she is, at least in some respect, and he wants to get to know every part of her.
"Died?" Jade sighs, looking over at him "Don't give me that look, it's what you meant. Isn't it?"
"Well, yeah." Beck nods "I just didn't mean to make it sound so...blunt."
"Death can be blunt, sometimes. Just comes out of nowhere without warning and takes the people that you love..." Jade remarks, looking down again "I was seven."
"Shit..." Beck reaches over and takes Jade's hand "I'm sorry."
That's younger than he had been expecting. When she said she was young, Beck figured she meant that she was either a pre-teen or young teenager...but she was barely school-aged.
"You didn't have anything to do with it." Jade remarks "You don't need to be sorry."
"But still, for you to be so young..." He sighs "You said it was a car accident...right?"
"Yeah, uh..." Jade hesitates "She had been in Philly for a conference with two of her co-workers. It was supposed to just be a day thing, there and back before dinnertime. Except it was snowing really bad and...they hit a sheet of black ice and spun out into oncoming traffic. It wasn't really anyone's fault...but no one survived."
"Shit..." Beck says again
"I was lucky to have the time with her that I did." Jade admits "My parents were young when they had me, like still in college, so I spent a lot of time in daycare for the first few years of my life but by the time I was three or four...my mom had a job that let her work from home most of the time...and I spent all day every day with her until I was old enough to start going to school all day. I feel like most kids don't get that."
"Yeah, I think you're right." Beck agrees
He certainly hadn't gotten that time with his mother when he was young. For as long as he could remember, both of his parents worked. He went to day care, and then after-school care when he was old enough for that. His relationship with his parents is fine, it's a solid relationship, but he wonders how much better it could be if even one of them had gotten that extra time with him.
"I didn't bring you here to vent about my mom..." Jade admits "I really did just bring you here because it's pretty and I wanted you to see it."
"I'm glad that you did." Beck smiles, taking Jade in his arms and holding her close "Bring me here, that is. And...that you told me a bit about your mom. I don't want you to feel afraid to talk about things like that with me."
"It can be hard to talk about..." Jade tells him "Even still."
"I know..." He presses a gentle kiss to her forehead "But when you need to, I'm here."
"Thank you..." She smiles up at him "Y'know...they describe this bridge as 'architecturally romantic'."
"What does that mean?"
"It means..."
Jade doesn't finish her explanation, she doesn't need to. The two of them are immersed in each other, kissing like they're the only two people in the world. They don't allow themselves to get carried away, although it would be easy for them to do so. Neither one of them feels like paying a ticket for public indecency.
"Oh..." Beck chuckles when they break away "That's what it means."
"Something like that, yeah." Jade smirks "What do you think?"
"I think this bridge is really special." Beck tells her "Thank you for bringing me here."
"Of course." Jade smiles "C'mon this way. I want to show you the boathouse."
"The boathouse?"
"The Loeb Boathouse." Jade clarifies, but Beck still looks confused "Oh, c'mon! It's been in a ton of movies! When Harry Met Sally? 27 Dresses? Any of those ring a bell?"
"Uh...nuh uh." Beck laughs, shaking his head "I'd love for you to show me though."
"Follow me..." Jade smiles, taking his hand again
"So things are going well for you two, huh?" Cat asks, sitting cross-legged on Jade's bed
"For sure..." Jade smiles as she finishes straightening her hair "More than well, I think."
"What does 'more than well' mean?"
"I mean...it's been over a month and a half and we haven't gotten sick of each other yet." Jade laughs "We have a sexual connection, and emotional connection...it's good, Cat. It's really fucking good."
"Good." Cat grins "I love seeing you happy, Jadey. Seriously, it makes me so happy."
"Thanks, Cat. I appreciate that."
Her phone buzzes from it's place on her dresser, a text message from Beck lighting up the screen.
"He's here." Jade says to Cat "I'll see you later."
"Are you staying over with him tonight?"
"No." Jade shakes her head as she grabs her purse "We're just getting lunch before he has to go to work. He has a night shoot tonight, it'll be super late by the time he gets back."
"You could be there waiting for him."
"What would I do in the meantime?" Jade raises an eyebrow at her "S'not like I have a key to his place or anything either. We're not there yet."
"Yet."
"Yet." Jade nods as she heads for the door "I'll see you later."
"Later."
Jade exits the apartment and heads to the elevator, taking it down to the lobby and practically running out the front doors to where her boyfriend is waiting for her on the sidewalk.
"Hey." Beck grins as he greets her with a kiss "I've missed you."
"I've missed you too." She tells him
Even though it's only been about eighteen hours since they saw each other last.
"I wish you could get into the building without me having to come let you in..." Jade admits as Beck takes her hand and they begin walking "Might make things easier."
Their apartment complex is technically a dorm that is owned by the university, so anyone who wants to enter needs a student ID card to open any of the doors. They also need an ID card to open the doors to the stairways or to make the elevator move. Jade understands that it's all a precaution meant to keep the students who live there safe, but she still wishes there was a way for Beck to gain his own access.
"S'alright, I don't mind waiting for you to come get me." Beck admits
"Let's see if you're still saying that when it's cold and snowing."
"Again, I don't think I'll mind." Beck laughs "Because if I'm standing out in front of the building in the winter, that means you and I have made it at least six months...and that in itself is exciting."
"That's a good point." Jade allows herself to blush "I guess I can't argue with that."
"No." Beck stops walking and kisses her again "You can't."
They order sandwiches from a deli a few blocks over, then take them to Washington Square Park to eat. It's a beautiful day, and it's lunchtime, so the park is crowded with families with children, tourists, other couples just like them, and countless others who are out to enjoy it all. Beck and Jade find a spot beneath a tree in a grassy area and make themselves comfortable.
"I see now why you like this place so much." Beck remarks "Not only is it beautiful, but the people-watching is fantastic."
"S'true." Jade laughs in agreement "You never know what you're going to see here. I guess that's New York in general though, isn't it?"
"Or any major city, really." Beck chuckles as he finishes his sandwich "Oh! Dog-walker on roller skates! Ten o'clock!"
"Oh, that's not that strange." Jade admits
"S'not that normal either." Beck counters "Is...is it?"
"I've definitely seen it before." She laughs
"Guess I'm still getting used to New York." Beck shrugs
"Aw, that's okay..." Jade leans over and pecks him quickly on the lips "I'm here to help you."
"Thank god for that." Beck laughs "I don't know what I'd be doing without you."
"Probably spending more time with Andre."
"Probably." Beck laughs again "I don't think he'd mind though."
"I don't think he would either." Jade agrees "I wish you didn't have to work today."
"I know you do..." Beck smirks a bit as he picks up Jade's hand, lacing their fingers together and placing them in his lap "But at least we got to see each other, right?"
"Right." She nods "And we should take the time to enjoy a moment like this, because who knows how much longer we'll have them."
"What do you mean?"
"Just the two of us alone in public without anyone bothering us or interrupting us?" She raises an eyebrow at him "In a few months from now, you'll be 'that guy' from one of the most popular shows on TV. Everyone will want to talk to you or get a selfie or have you sign something weird."
"I don't know if I'll be quite that popular after just a few episodes of a network drama..." Beck laughs "Maybe in a few years after I book my first movie or something..."
"No way." Jade scoffs "You're insanely talented, babe. Not to mention insanely attractive. All of the guys are going to want to be you and all of the girls are going to want to be with you."
"Too bad I'm already spoken for, huh?"
"Yeah..." Jade smirks as Beck leans in to kiss her "Too bad."
"I'll be sure to plaster you all over my social media before the pilot airs." Beck assures her "That way anyone who looks me up will know right away that I have a girlfriend."
"You don't want to leave a little mystery?"
"Nah." Beck shakes his head "Not when it comes to you, at least."
He still has a while before he has to leave for the studio, so the couple lingers in the park for a while. After discarding their trash in a nearby bin, they find an empty grassy patch in the sun and lay on their backs. Beck wraps an arm around Jade's shoulders and she rests her hand on his chest as they watch the few patches of clouds moving slowly across the sky, discussing what they think each formation looks like. Eventually their conversation turns to plans for the next few weeks, things they want to do, restaurants they want to try, and so on. Before long, the alarm on Beck's phone goes off, signaling to him that it's time to start walking Jade home so he can get to work on time.
"What are you filming today?" She asks him as they make their way back up the block towards her dorm "Or are you not allowed to say?"
"I think I'm assisting with a surgery." Beck admits "And then delivering a patient's family bad news..."
"They died on the table?"
"No, the surgery was successful but it looks like the cancer has spread." Beck tells her "I've already said too much! You're going to have to watch the show when it airs!"
"Alright, alright, fine..." Jade smirks "I don't want you getting in trouble for leaking information."
"Maybe we can work out some kind of NDA for you..." Beck ponders out loud "Then I could share information with you, you just wouldn't be able to share it with anyone else."
"That's a sweet gesture but it's not a good idea." Jade laughs "I'd get myself sued pretty quickly."
"Oh?"
"Yeah for sure." She nods "I tell Cat everything. Even when I try to keep things from her, she finds a way to interrogate it out of me."
"Ah..." Beck chuckles "I guess I should have known that to be true by now."
"NDAs for both of us would be too much."
"You're probably right."
"I usually am." Jade grins as they reach her dorm "Well...here we are, huh?"
"Here we are." Beck agrees "Thanks for getting lunch, sorry it couldn't be for longer."
"S'okay." She assures him "You have fake lives to go save and real people to entertain."
"Something like that." He smirks "I'll call you later?"
"I'll answer." Jade grins as he kisses her goodbye "Talk to you later, love you."
"What?"
As soon as the words left her mouth, Jade realized the seriousness of what she had said. It had just slipped out almost instinctively and routinely, like she had been saying it to him for months now. Her eyes grow wide as the realization sets in.
"I-I'm sorry!" She apologizes "That just slipped out. I know that you might-"
"You love me?" Beck can't help but smile "Did you mean that?"
"I did, yeah..." She says quietly "I do. I don't want to freak you out though."
She's never been the one to say it first in the few serious relationships that she's been in. Marcus had said it to her first, and it had scared her at the time. She doesn't want to scare Beck.
"It doesn't freak me out." He assures her with a grin "I love you too."
"You do?"
"I do, yeah." He nods "I would't still be standing here smiling at you if I didn't. I would've just walked away."
"So...we love each other?" Jade can't help but chuckle nervously "That's kind of...well, huge."
"Kind of." Beck agrees "And exciting."
"Very exciting." Jade bites her lip "I kind of wish you didn't have to go to work right now so I could take you upstairs and rip your clothes off."
"Raincheck?" Beck laughs
"Definitely."
"Alright." Beck leans in to kiss her again "I've got to get going, but I love you and I'll call you tonight."
"Sounds good." Jade gives him a small wave goodbye as he begins walking away from her "I love you too."