Welcome back. Sorry for the late update, I was sick literally all week and on top of that my sister had a band thing that I had to go to. Updates should be regular from now on.

This chapter I will be delving into the rest of Andre and Tori's conversation, then I follow that up with Jade's first night on the Oliver estate.

"I cannot believe her!" Tori vented. After she stormed off she took me to her room, then slammed and locked the door and threw herself on her bed. For the past five minutes she's been ragging on her sister, and telling me every little instance of her being wronged by the woman. I was still standing awkwardly at the door, my thumbs hitched on my pockets. If she expected me to do anything, she never told me.

She sat up and looked at me. "I'm sorry; you don't have a place to sit. You can sit beside me, if you want." She smiled and patted the space beside her; and I didn't have any other options, so why not? I sat beside her on her (very) comfortable bed and tried not to be awkward about it. It was difficult though; I was sitting on a girl's bed that I hadn't even said fifty words to yet.

I was surprised when she put her head on my shoulder. "You probably think I'm crazy. I don't blame you. It's just…I love her, but sometimes she just gets me so mad. Then she's just this big pain in the butt and it's not even like it's a random thing, because then maybe I'd be able to deal with it. It's all the time." She laughed humorlessly. " My family can be pretty dysfunctional. That's what it feels like, anyways. And to think, you have to deal with me, and probably her, the rest of your life…" She started. I knew I was in for another rambling session if I didn't stop her.

"Stop blaming yourself. I'm here for a reason." I didn't comment on the life thing because I knew I wasn't gonna be here for the rest of my life, but she didn't. And the less she knew about that, the better.

"What is that reason, anyways? Well that is…if you don't mind me asking." She asked as she picked her head up and looked at me. Of course I minded, but it wouldn't help my situation very much if I started off keeping secrets. Besides, the question part was probably just a formality. She would've forced me to answer if I didn't willingly.

"I um, robbed a bunch a people with my friends." I said reluctantly.

Her eyes widened. "…Cool. Were you any good? And you said friends, who are they?" Of course she thought it was cool. She's a sheltered rich kid; anything that seemed like it gave you would probably be 'cool' to her. And I'm sure if she ever tried to doing anything, daddy would bail her out.

It was wrong of me to be so bitter. I didn't know her, so I couldn't judge; but it's just hard not to think like that when you're (were, I guess; I don't know) as poor as me, and suddenly you're working with people who practically bathe in cash.

"Good enough to get away with it for a couple of years." I said, turning to her and shrugging. "My friends are…well, with your friends right now."

"That's even cooler. Not to mention really lucky." She said with a small smile. I thought I would have to convince her to let me see them, but suddenly I'm thinking I don't have to do much convincing, judging by her reaction.

"It is if I get to see them." I said. She was quick to respond.

"Of course, of course! I can only imagine how hard it is to know your friends are so close, and that you might not get to see them as much as you normally would. Don't worry," She put her hand on mine. "I'll help you."

I looked down at her hand, and then back up to her face. She was still wearing that smile; surprisingly, she looked…sincere. Already she was different than the other high-class jerks I'd met before. Maybe I could trust her…?

No. Not yet. But I guess I could fake 'til I made it.

I smiled back. "Thank you. That…means a lot." I finally said. "Really."

"This is my house. It's the only house you'll need to know about, because it's the only one you're going to…service." Beck said as he turned around to look at her. After Jade left the town car, they walked to literally the other side of the land to get to his house. He briefly summarized what the other buildings were, including the main house, before telling her she wouldn't need to know many of them. "Your main house is this house." He pointed to the small building behind him.

She bit her tongue before the sarcastic comment in her head made its way out of her mouth. She really needed to control that. Who knows how this guy would react to stuff like that?

He unlocked the front door held the door open for her. It took him fifteen second to realize she wasn't going to go through it with him standing there. "Well? What are you waiting for, an invitation?" He asked, sounding a little irritated already.

Oh, so he's frustrated now? She crossed her arms and said, "What do you think? I'm waiting for you to get out of my way." She couldn't keep the bite out of that one.

"I was trying to be nice and hold the door for you." He took his hand off the door and walked in the house, then swept his arms out. "There."

She smiled triumphantly and uncrossed her arms, then sauntered past the door and walked into the relatively small building. He closed the door and locked it behind her as she took the time to scan the place. It was a true house, complete with the separate rooms and kitchen. Not what she was expecting, she'll admit.

"You'll sleep in the room across from the bathroom; that's where all your clothes are. Of course you'll be using the bathroom across from you." He said. "Now tonight there's really nothing for you to do, so you can go sleep now. If you want to eat, there's enough in the kitchen." He began to walk to the back, but turned around. "Oh yea, one more thing: What just happened at the door? That can't happen again. Won't happen again, especially in front of people."

She smirked and crossed her arms again. Looks like tonight's gonna be that night. "What, you don't want anyone thinking you can't handle an eighteen year-old girl?" She just told herself she wouldn't do this.

Here we go. "That doesn't have anything to do the fact that legally, you're my property now. So if you don't want to do this the hard way, then I suggest you listen to me. What am I saying," He chuckled. "Of course you'll listen to me. It might take you your whole life, because we have that kind of time, but you will learn to listen. Got that?"

By now he was closer to her, close enough for her to spit on him. Boy did she want to; who does he think he is? He's not going to talk to her like that. "I won't be treated like an animal. I'm a human being who deserves to be treated like one." She said slowly, trying to keep her anger at bay. This wasn't about who was right anymore; this was about who would win the argument.

"You wanna see respect? Show some." He managed to get closer. "Know your betters. Or I'll be forced to show you who he is." He said seriously. Of course, he wasn't really mad or anything. Yea, he was kinda irritated at how she's acting, but it wasn't anything particular to her. He's gone through this countless times already, some criminal with a chip on their shoulder feels like they can boss him around or even talk back and it's his job to break them of that mentality. Just business. He was hoping he wouldn't have to do it this time, even though he knew the odds were against that. He could tell by the way she acted just hours ago that she had a fire about her that couldn't be toned down. It's a shame; she seemed like someone he could get along with at the auction. Now…not so much. Oh well.

"What are you gonna do? …Hit me?" She challenged. She honestly wouldn't be surprised if he did; she'd gone against Cat and Andre's wishes before the end of the night. Barely an hour has gone by and she's caused nothing but trouble. It's a piss-poor excuse, but it was her nature to act like this. Especially if she felt cornered, like right now. She couldn't control it. Well…she wasn't really trying right now, with the way this asshole was acting she didn't want to. Maybe, just maybe she wanted to hit him, hard enough to leave a big bruise.

He quickly replied with, "Keep up and we'll see."

"You touch me, I swear to God I'll – " Her hand flew up, fist ready, out of principle. He smirked; cocky.

"You'll what?"

"I'll kill you, and everyone else here. And by the time the cops get here, I'll be far away."

If he had the space, he would've put a hand to his chest. "Ouch; I'm somewhat offended. And I thought we were gonna get along pretty well. There's no need for talk of killing."

"Isn't there?"

"No. Now put your hand down." When she didn't do it herself, he grabbed her fist and forced it to her side. "That's better. Now I don't think you know what you're getting into, so I'll ask you again: We can do this the easy way, or the hard way. The easy way being, you can see your friends sooner, or even at all. The hard way being, well, you know."

"You wouldn't." She said, but she knew he would. And he knew she knew. The sooner she figured out he was serious, the better. He didn't really want to keep her away from her friends, or even hit her, but desperate times call for desperate measures.

She couldn't stand the thought of not being able to see the two people she'd grow up with and stayed around for such a long time. How'd she even know when the time is right if she couldn't come into contact with them? Her best friend…her girlfriend…her ego could wait. She'll play nice, for now.

He could see the underlying fear in her eyes. He suddenly hated it; it was his job but he hated it. Her reaction was the worst he'd ever seen, and all she did was stand there. You could see in her eyes that Andre and Cat were so important to her, more than he could ever understand. He didn't think he'd ever felt anything that intense for anybody, not even the people he grew up with. He was jealous.

Could she ever maybe feel that way about me…? No. The option for a friendship or anything of that sort seemed nonexistent by now. He'd be lucky if they could be civil towards eachother, and that hurt him. He felt like he wanted to be important to her, like being that important was similar to being in an elite club, one with tons of benefits.

That doesn't say that he wanted anything more than a friendly relationship with her. He saw her girlfriend, and from what he saw in his glimpse of them in that auction room, breaking them up would seem like a criminal offense. They really worked together. Again, he was envious of her.

He's the one with everything. He had money, friends, a girlfriend, a fucking house of his own, and yet he found himself wanting what she had. Which wasn't really much of anything, just companionship that he'd never felt before. It shouldn't have meant so much to him, nothing should've meant much to him, but it did. In his complex life and this complex world, he just wanted something as simple as a fucking actual friend. He could've had that if he really wanted it before, but he didn't; and suddenly she came in and changed all that.

It just makes this situation that much more fucked up. She had that, what he so desperately wanted, yet she was poor and now she's gone from that, but unable to be with her friends freely. She wouldn't be able to for the rest of her life. He, on the other hand, has time for all that, the important people, and he's far from the poverty line. He doesn't have it. She has what he wants, and he has what she wants.

Damn.

"So do we have a deal?" He finally said, breaking away from his thoughts.

She broke eye contact and looked down. She nodded.

"Look at me." When she didn't move, he forced her head up towards his. "Look at me. Are we clear?"

She clenched her jaw. "Yes."

"Good." He took his hand off of her. "Now go to sleep."

She listened and got to her room door before turning around. "Hey."

He turned towards her. "Yea?"

"What's your name?"

"Beck."

"Well Beck," She smirked a little and flipped him off. "Fuck you."

Well her fire's back, if it was ever even gone in the first place. He smiled. "Be careful what you wish for, Jadelyn."

The smirk dropped and she walked into her room, locking the door behind her. "Of course," He said, and nodded.

Beck woke up to the surprising, but not unusual smell of coffee beans. Did Jadelyn make coffee? Why? Maybe because she wanted to make up for their little stand-off last night, but…how did she know what to make? This should probably be investigated.

He threw his covers off of him and sat up on the bed. "Ugh, what time is it?" He asked before he ran one hand down his face and the other through his hair. It was rhetorical, but the woman at the door still decided to answer him just to scare him a bit.

"It's seven thirty. Get up; I made coffee." Jade said, leaning against the doorway. When she woke up, she immediately took a shower and got dressed. She was disappointed to see that her entire collection of clothes consisted of nothing but white shirts and khaki shorts, and half the shorts were too short for her liking; then she thought maybe if she kissed up to him he'd buy new clothes. It was a long shot, but she was willing to try.

He didn't look frightened, or even turn her way. "Good. Is it still hot?"

She was surprised, to be honest. How come he didn't jump? What, is he unscareable or something? "Yea, I made it like two seconds ago." She said, her underlying suspicion evident in her voice.

He noticed, and smirked. "You thought you could scare me, didn't you?" Her silence answered him. "Well, at least you learned sooner than later. Nothing scares me, okay? So if you do try again, it won't work. Just putting it out there."

She scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Whatever."

He smiled, teasingly this time, and turned, so that his legs were hanging off the side of the bed. Wait a minute…what's he wearing? A better question would've been what wasn't he wearing, because she didn't see any clothes on him. "…Are you naked?" She asked as she backed off of the door frame and stepped back.

"No, I'm wearing boxers. See?" He stood up to show her, but she didn't really want to see that either and turned away. It was almost as bad as not having clothes on, and there was only one person she wanted to see at that level of nakedness.

She stepped back again, saying, "No, I don't care that much. It was a simple question. Just do you want the coffee or not?"

He chuckled. "Right. Are you going to bring it to me, is that why you're asking?"

She inwardly sighed. "Do you want me to?" He better not say yes.

Smirking, he answered, "Yea, as a matter of fact. I need to get dressed, so why don't you make me a cup and bring it to me?" He wanted to test her boundaries. If this really was a ploy, then he'd find out just how much she wanted what she wanted, whatever that was.

Oh, now he's just taking advantage of the situation. "Fine." She managed to say before turning around and walking away.

"Wait, you never asked if I wanted sugar or anything!" He called out after her with a playful smile.

"Do you?" She stopped walking, but she didn't turn around.

He pretended to think, and only stopped when he saw her physically get more agitated. "Three tablespoons." He said with a chuckle.

She walked away without saying anything, leaving him to get dressed. This wasn't going to be fun, she could already tell; she just hoped he didn't see through her fake kindness. Not wearing she clothes she wanted to (not to mention wearing white) pained her in the worst way possible.

With a sigh, she got to the kitchen to remember she didn't know where anything was. There were a lot of cabinets for such a small kitchen, for some reason. If I end up 'accidently' trashing this place, that's my excuse.

A minute later, with a crisp white mug full of coffee in her hand, she walked to Beck's room. None of the doors were closed and he was nowhere to be found, so she carefully tiptoed (she didn't want to be heard and have to suffer through another conversation) into the room and put the cup on his nightstand. When she turned around to leave, she noticed the curtains encompassing the whole left side of his room and immediately went over to them. What the hell?

"Is this whole wall made out of glass?" She asked, as she pulled on the curtains. The view answered her, and so did Beck a moment later.

"Yes. I have to look after the crops, after all, and it's hot out there." He said, closer to her than she expected. She jumped and let go, then turned and stepped back.

He was a foot away, in jeans and a grey wife beater. The mug was in his hands and he had an amused smile on his face.

"Don't scare me like that. Why are you so quiet, anyways?" She asked defensively as she crossed her arms.

"I didn't realize I was being quiet. You should've heard me walk out of my closet; I don't know why you didn't."

She wanted to call bullshit, but she didn't, as hard as it was to stop herself. It'd only lead to an argument. "Whatever. Is there something I should be doing right now?"

He thought for a couple of seconds, and then shook his head. "No, I don't think there is. I actually do have to go outside right now, so I won't be here for about thirty minutes. You can do whatever you want, as long as it's not destructive and in this house. You saw the TV and the bookshelves; you can entertain yourself, right?"

She rolled her eyes. "Of course I can. And don't act like I'll burn anything down or something, that wouldn't help anything."

With a shrug, he said, "Just making sure. I'm going to finish my coffee in the living room, you can go…wherever." He walked out almost immediately after, leaving her alone.

What should she do? Considering he was in the living room, she couldn't go in there like she planned to. There was nothing in her room, unless she decided to take a book maybe, from the…living room. And the kitchen is beside – yup, you guessed it – the living room. It's like the fucking center of the house. His unfortunate position leaves her with only two options: stay in here or go in her room. At least there's a window in here…

She turned to the wall again. "Well, if there's nothing else to do, I might as well check what the field workers are doing."