A.N. Happy birthday Bbecks My Boo! Sorry about the delay, but I was busy and had a bit of a writer's block. Welcome to the penultimate chapter.

Epiphany

The next morning Beck woke up earlier than usual for a day off. He wanted to go back to Tori's as soon as possible. He wasn't exactly sure what Jade would do when she wakes up in Tori's house but he preferred to be there when she does. In half an hour he was there carrying four coffees. He knocked on the door, not wanting to wake up anyone still sleeping. Cat opened the door. She seemed ready to go. Beck looked at her with a question in his eyes.

"Are you going already?" It seemed that she was leaving too early and in a hurry.

"Yes, I have to go back home. Someone has to watch my brother while my parents are out shopping." Cat explained to him. Beck anxiously looked at the opened door.

"Is Tori here?" He wanted to make sure she was okay, with Jade being there and all.

"No, she got out to buy something for breakfast. And before you asked no, Jade hasn't woken up yet." Beck grinned sheepishly at the short redhead. He remembered the coffees he held in his hand.

"Okay, thanks. You want to take one of the coffees?" Cat took one with a grateful smile.

"Yes thanks. Okay, bye Beck." With coffee cup in one hand and her bags in the other she hurried down the lane towards her mother's car. Beck waved back at Mrs. Valentine and came in Tori's home. The house was silent. He saw Jade sleeping on the sofa, covered over her head with a soft cotton blanket. Quietly he got to the kitchen and left the carton with the three remaining coffee cups on the table. He took the cup with strong black coffee and put it on the coffee table close to the still sleeping Jade. Then he sat opposite her on the other sofa, waiting for Tori to come home. After observing Jade's sleeping form for a while he noticed the slight tension of her body and the noticeable irregularity in her breathing. He smirked slightly to himself.

"How long have you been awake?" She tried to continue to pretend that she was asleep but after he repeated the question she finally gave up, flipped the blanket, opened her eyes and squinted at the light.

"Half an hour." She covered her head with the blanket again. "Since Vega got out." Jade groaned painfully.

"Does your head hurt?" While his tone was even and polite, Beck felt torn between the desire to yell at her and to comfort her.

"Only a little, but my mouth feels like something died weeks ago in it." She smelled the coffee, grabbed the cup and took several large gulps from it. "Where is Cat?" She asked after looking around.

"Cat left for home, and Tori should be back soon." Uncomfortable silence fell between them, broken only by the sound of sipped coffee. Beck observed her calmly, while Jade's gaze couldn't find a place to rest. After couple of minutes Jade couldn't stand it anymore.

"How did I end up here?" She broke the silence. He told her how Tori had seen Sinjin's post on The Slap and they had decided to go and pick her up. When he told her how Sinjin had helped him to get her out of the club Jade puckered her lips in displeasure.

"I guess he will expect me to grateful or something." Beck knew that the weird boy with his obvious crush on her made Jade feel uncomfortable.

"At least a little bit will be nice." He knew that a few kind words from Jade would make Sinjin's day. "He still has the pictures of you he took." She just groaned in frustration. Being nice to Sinjin was not something she looked forward to. Though unpleasant it wasn't what occupied her mind. There was a question that, ever since she woke up and found herself in the Vega's house, had her rankled. Ever since Beck had broken up with her for the slim brunette Jade had done everything she thought she could get away with to beak them up. Why would Vega let her stay in her house? It didn't make sense to her.

"Why did you bring me here, in her house?" Jade finally asked, her hand clutching the half empty coffee cup to her chest. Her gaze was refusing to meet his.

"There was nowhere else I could take you." Beck simply answered.

"Did you ask her to take me in?" Jade's muffled voice asked. Her gaze was still refusing to meet his.

"No, it was her idea." His answer did not seem to surprise her, but it did seem to agitate her. She left the empty cup on the table next to her. Jade got up and began to smooth out her wrinkled clothes; it was obvious for Beck that she was stalling and buying time to compose herself. He waited until she stopped fidgeting and continued.

"Now it's my turn to ask a question. Why were you in that club with those losers?" Jade expected that question. A tiny part of her even hoped for a hint of jealousy in his voice. As much as she hated to admit it, she didn't detect any. The only thing in Beck's voice she could sense was concern.

"I wanted to blow off some steam. They offered to take me where they don't ask too many questions. It was so easy. I just had to smile a little." In her last words she put hint of defiance. Just because he didn't want her anymore that didn't mean that other boys didn't find her attractive.

"So you wanted to get drunk."

"I wanted to forget, at least for a night." She clarified, her eyes briefly meeting his. "Then things got out of hand." There was embarrassment in her voice. He knew that admitting mistake was one of the hardest things for Jade. Beck sighed, got up, sat closer to Jade and took her hand in his. She tentatively met his eyes. He could read in her sapphire eyes an emotion that very rarely visited her – shame. Jade West was ashamed.

"What did you want to forget?" He covered the hand he was already holding between his palms in a reassuring gesture. She looked him in the eyes, her sapphire ones looking pleadingly for something in his. Her mouth opened, as if to say something, only to close wordlessly again. Jade took a deep breath, sat up strait, as if steeling for something. Just as she opened her lips the front door opened and Tori, carrying a large grocery bag stepped in. Jade quickly pulled her hand away from him and jumped from the sofa. With a brisk step, without even sparing a glance to Tori, she reached the stairs and climbed to the upper floor.

"Jade, you're up." Tori greeted the retreating brunette, who didn't give an intelligible answer. Beck got up, took the bag from Tori's hands and put it on the kitchen table. She thanked him with a quick kiss.

"How was Jade last night? She didn't give you too much trouble, did she?" He asked her. They began pulling out of the bag meat and vegetarian burritos, a whole stack of pancakes, bottle of orange juice, a loaf of bread and a carton of eggs. There was enough food for a dozen people to have breakfast.

"No, she threw up couple of times, mumbled something and fell asleep." She looked at him with an amused smirk. "You came so early to make sure we didn't kill each other, right?" He didn't bother denying it, just smiled sheepishly in return. They began setting up the table and together did it fairly quickly. Soon Jade joined them by the table. Jade's stomach was still unsettled from last night so she took just some toasts and a glass of orange juice. Tori offered her some jam with the toast but Jade refused. The breakfast went along quietly. During the meal Jade kept observing Tori intently, as if her host was some puzzle she was trying to solve. Jade blocked Tori's attempts to engage her in a conversation by responding with monosyllabic answers. Once the meal was over Jade turned to face Tori and took a deep breath. Beck thought that she looked like she was preparing for something very difficult for her.

"Vega, I mean Tori, why did you let me stay the night?" She continued to observe the other girl intently, as if trying to decipher the truth behind her every move.

"There was nowhere else for you to go." Tori was feeling awkward under the intense, scrutinizing gaze of the pale brunette.

"Did Beck ask you to do it? Am I a favor for him or Cat?" Beck thought that he was sensing almost hope in her words. Hope for an affirmative answer to her question.

"No, you are not a favor. It was my idea. You had already told your dad that you are with Cat, so if he checked he wouldn't suspect anything." Beck could see that Tori was getting irritated by Jade's attitude. He could imagine why. Here she was once again extending a hand in friendship and Jade seemed determined to find alternate explanation.

"But why? Why do you care if I get in trouble with my father?" Jade seemed genuinely perplexed. Beck was wondering if she really understood Tori so little. "I have been nothing but hostile to you ever since you came in Hollywood Arts. After you… got together with Beck I have been downright horrid. You were one step away from getting rid of me for ever." She stood up and moved behind the chair she was sitting on. "Why would you do me any favors?" The exasperation in her voice was clear.

"All last week you seemed sad and depressed. Before this thing with me and Beck happened, I and you were becoming a kind of friends. So I decided to help you. It's not such a big deal, really."

"You think we were friends?" Jade seemed genuinely surprised by this. "We were adversaries. With your second day here, when you kissed Beck, you accepted my challenge. No one else had done it. They were too easily intimidated by me. You were good. The way you took the lead roles, the way you began to take over my circle of friends. You even took Beck." She dismissed with an impatient gesture Beck's protest of such interpretation of the events. "Are you telling me I lost and you were not even fighting?" Beck couldn't determine whether she was insulted or shocked.

"I wasn't waging campaign against you, Jade. I swear!" Tori couldn't believe that someone could have such distorted view of reality. "I just wanted to be your friend, and to get you off my back." Jade looked at her intently for a minute, then shook her head and smiled bitterly.

"You know, I actually believe you, Vega." She threw her head back and laughed at the absurdity of the situation. Jade sat down heavily back on the chair. "Anyway it doesn't matter, you won." Jade turned to look at her ex. "Beck is a very good actor, but even he can't fake the deep feelings I saw when you two sang at the damned Sing-Off."

"Does this have something to do with why you were so unhappy all week?" He had seen her leave the Black Box Theatre with tears in her eyes after the concert.

"Partly, but the real kicker was the next day, when my father announced that my stepmother is pregnant. Now he can finally ignore his infuriating and disappointing daughter." Jade just sat there defeated and hopeless. Beck had always known that Jade's relationship with her father was problematic at best. She badly wanted his respect, but only on her terms. He didn't want to give it unless it was on his. At least two of her tattoos were result of especially intense quarrels with her father. He didn't know how to help Jade. During the years he had tried everything. Nothing had helped. These two would never come to terms with each other. They were too much like each other.

"You know that if you want to talk to someone, or help with something I'm always here." With that Tori just stood up and took Jade in a hug. For a moment Jade just froze in the other girl's arms. Then she tried to get out of the pretty brunette's arms. In return Tori just held her tighter. Unexpectedly the pale girl burst in tears. She began sobbing uncontrollably, her head rested on Tori's shoulder. Tori just continued holding her tightly inn her arms. Beck took a couple of steps and joined the girls in this unlikely hug. When Jade's sobs finally subsided they let her go. The two girls went to the bathroom to freshen up Jade. After they came back, Jade told them that it was time for her to go home. Beck offered to take her there with his car. She accepted, but before they left, she suddenly enveloped Tori in her arms.

"Thank you… Tori, for everything." Jade said softly to her shocked hostess. Then just as unexpectedly she let go and with brisk step left the house. Beck exchanged a shocked look and bemused smile with Tori and followed his ex to his car. On the way to Jade's house they didn't talk. Beck didn't know what to say and Jade was too immersed in her own thoughts to talk. In front of her house, just before they parted ways, Jade gave him a quick friendly hug.

"You made the right choice." She whispered in his ear. "If not with your mind, then with your heart."