Ambiance
AU
Chapter Five
Before they call places, Jade West walks up to Beck, a sneaky smirk on her porcelain face. "Can't wait for our kiss. Oh, I meant stage kiss." She taps him on the nose in a way that would be friendly had it been anyone else, but since it's Jade, nothing she does is ever really friendly. He just stares after her with wide eyes, fear making its way into his heart. For about the millionth time since agreeing to do the movie, he wonders why in the world he agreed to do this.
Over the past couple of minutes, he has realized that being friends with Jade only entails a few benefits, like that she'll attempt to be nicer to her friends (of course, she makes no promises). And it surely doesn't exempt him from the odd games she likes to play.
The director starts talking then. "And here we are at the infamous kiss scene. Beck, Jade, you'd best be ready, because I can assure you that this won't be done in just one take."
As always, Jade looks freakishly confident as she says, "Sure thing." She smirks over at Beck, and he feels his heartbeat speed up. Probably just the intensity of his hatred for her – yeah, it doesn't sound good to him either, but it's better than saying that he might be attracted to Jade West.
"Beck?" the director asks pointedly, staring at him.
He shakes his head, as if to clear it, and then gives a small, poignant nod. "Yeah. Sure. I'm ready."
"All right," the director replies dubiously. "In this scene, Kyra is sitting out under a tree, sulking over the fact that she saw Zander with another girl. Then she goes off on him, explaining that she hates him and that they could never be together, when Zander cuts her off mid-sentence with a kiss. Got that?" When both of them nod, he finishes with, "Beck, I'm assuming you know when to cut Jade off?"
Beck nods, biting his lip. There's something about the annoying smile on her face that worries him, although he doesn't show it. Instead, he just backs up as the director yells things at the cameras, makeup artists, and staff. He's redirected to a space quite a few steps away from Jade. As he waits for the cue, he reminds himself, All right, Beck, you're Zander Daniels, not Beck Oliver. You've got to get this right, unless you want to kiss Jade West over and over. And judging by her lovely personality, she can't exactly be a wonderful kisser. Of course, he feels slightly guilty for thinking these things, but it's either this or zone out while thinking about how nice she looks when she's playing Kyra.
"Action!" the director calls, shocking Beck out of his reverie. He shakes his head – get it together, Oliver – and walks up to the tree that Jade is slouched against.
"Kyra." His voice is flat, just as he imagines Zander's would be.
Jade jumps to her feet, giving him a suspicious glare. "What are you doing here, Time Boy?" Jade questions, crossing her arms across her chest. "I told you I didn't want to talk to you."
"And I told you that I think we would make a good team, Kyra," he replies patiently. "Honestly. You kind of... balance me out, if you know what I mean?"
"I don't think I do," Jade retorts venomously, taking another step closer to him. "You like me, Zander. Don't even deny it. I can see it written all over your face." Her biting tone makes him realize that he is kind of staring at her oddly, so he blinks and tries to look more composed. "I hate you, Zander. You're just a Time Boy, consumed by power, and even if you don't realize it yet, I'm just a simple human, so irrelevant. Sure, I act like the universe revolves around me, but it doesn't actually, and if you even think of turning back time to turn things in your favor – mmph!"
Something in the back of his mind is telling him that it's not his cue, that he's supposed to cut her off at 'we can never be together', but somehow he ends up stepping forward and pressing his lips against hers anyway.
And boy, was he wrong. Jade West is an amazing kisser.
–
It doesn't hit her until five seconds into the kiss that she is actually kissing Beck Oliver. And, more importantly, that she is liking it. For whatever reason, she isn't pulling away, even though he'd kissed her at the wrong time. Maybe it's the fact that his hands feel good against her skin – on her face at first, but slowly moving downward. Or maybe it's the fact that the kid's not a half-bad kisser, and – wait, what is she even thinking? Quickly, she pulls away, her mouth open in disgust – or maybe it's something like disbelief. She doesn't even really know.
"CUT!" the director screeches. "That was fantastic!"
"Are you insane?" Jade splutters, giving the director and applauding staff a rough glare. "He kissed me at the wrong time! How was that fantastic? The boy doesn't even know his cues!"
"Yes, but it only worked to your advantage," the director informs her curtly, raising an eyebrow. "It gave you the element of surprise, and it was pretty passionate, if I do say so myself."
Jade feels herself flushing despite herself. With a glare, she scowls over at Beck Oliver, who still looks like he's in some sort of trance. With an exaggerated sigh, she turns back to the director. "Let's run it again. Except can someone throw some water on this idiot?"
"I'm not an idiot," Beck gripes at last, the annoyingly smitten look wiped off his face, probably because he's been reminded of how much of a jerk she actually is. It's for the best, she tells herself.
"Good to have you back, Beck," Jade says curtly, glancing at the ground. "Now can we run it again?"
"Sure," the director relents, a confident smile upon his face. Probably he thinks that he's going to prove her wrong, but Jade West is never wrong. Surely he should know that by now.
She runs her lines again with perfect precision, careful not to miss a single word, while trying to convey emotion to the best of her ability. This time, Beck manages to wait until she gets to 'we can never be together' to kiss her. And even though he's still a great kisser, something is off. In the sanctity of her mind, Jade West admits that the director was right. This kiss is definitely not as passionate, not as spontaneous, not as first-kiss-like as the other one. Whatever method acting exercise thing Beck Oliver is doing is actually paying off.
She pulls away and stares at the ground as the director yells, "CUT!"
"Yeah, so you were right," Jade tells them, glancing up from the ground to stare defiantly at the crew and the director. "First one was better."
"Glad you agree, Ms. West," the director says curtly. "That's why I didn't even bother taping the second one. CREW! Let's break for lunch, and then we'll meet back here to film the kiss aftermath."
Everyone begins filing off, but Jade and Beck are left standing there, staring at each other. Jade speaks first. "I'm going to my trailer. Don't think this changes anything, Oliver. We're barely friends. No need to mess any of that up."
"I didn't – " Beck begins.
She decides she doesn't want to hear it, so she cuts him off. "I don't care. Bye." Then she marches off to her trailer, where she can hole up and pretend that none of that had happened and that she hadn't liked kissing stupid Beck Oliver.
Maybe in there she can forget that she is actually starting to like the stupid boy actor, because Jade West doesn't like anything, much less a boy who thinks that he's better at acting than she is and that he can kiss her any time he wants, both of which are false.
(Though, in the back of her mind, she'd kind of like the second one to be true. She just won't admit that to anyone.)
–
"How'd the kiss scene go?" is Andre's warm greeting. Beck just sighs and leans back in his chair, wishing that his friend hadn't brought it up. After all, he'd just been trying to forget about the whole kiss fiasco and the fact that Jade had seemed angry after the kiss. He has kissed enough girls to know that's not really a good sign.
"Awful," is Beck's eloquent response.
"Man, are you really that bad a kisser?" Andre jokes, elbowing his friend in the ribs. "Seriously, dude, what with all the girls you've dated, I thought that you would have developed some skill."
"Those days are over." Beck sighs. "Seriously, Andre, I screwed up."
"Do you like Jade or something?" Andre inquires, raising an eyebrow. "You seem really messed up over this, like you're actually genuinely concerned about her. And lemme tell you, dude, I've never seen you actually genuinely concerned about someone. I almost thought you were a robot at one point, y'know."
"Thanks," Beck groans, leaning forward to thread his fingers into his hair. "I kissed her at the wrong time and she got all angry and demanded a redo, which apparently wasn't as good, and then she stormed off all mad-like, okay? But she didn't pull away, you know, during the first kiss. She kissed me back for a long time. And I liked it."
"I knew that girl would be a good kisser," Andre says suddenly, snapping his fingers. When Beck gives him an odd look, Andre quickly follows up with, "Well, that sounds like a tough situation. I mean, it's Jade, so you can't just like give her flowers or something. She'd probably cut them up."
"Or shove them down my pants," Beck amends with a chuckle.
"Yeah. That might hurt." Andre looks like he's deep in consideration. "Maybe you should just tell her, man. Jade likes when people are honest with her."
"And you know this because?" Beck questions, raising an eyebrow.
"I talk to her. You know, actually try to talk to her, unlike some people." Andre laughs. "Just tell her, okay? I don't care if you write it in a note or whatever. Just tell her so you won't have to keep this inside of you and go all wonky."
"I'm not wonky," Beck protests with a sigh. "I'm just confused."
"Nah, you ain't goin' all angsty teenage boy on me." Andre grins and gets to his feet. "I'm going to help out with getting props ready and chiz, so you can sift through your oh so important feelings by yourself. Good luck with that!"
"What is chiz?" Beck wonders aloud.
"I think it's a German sausage!" Andre calls back as he walks off.
Beck sighs and puts his head into his hands again, running a hand through his hair like he always does when he's confused. And boy, is he ever confused. Telling Jade flat-out seems too risky – he has a feeling she'll laugh in his face, like always, and tell them that he'd like any kiss because he's just a typical teenage boy, and he won't have the courage to tell her that he's never liked a 'stage' kiss before. So he thinks that maybe the best option is just writing her a note.
The director yells for them to come back onto the set, so he decides that he'll write her a note after they film the next few scenes – which, coincidentally, involve a good amount of kissing. It is a teen romance, after all, and he plans on making it noteworthy.
No pun intended.
–
Jade still doesn't have her thoughts together by the time they say that break is done, which she doesn't particularly like. If there's one thing that defines her, it's confident, and to be insecure like this – because of a boy, no less – just makes her feel absolutely torn apart inside. She yells back that she needs a few more minutes, but the assistants insist that she has to come now. Quickly, she glances over her appearance in the mirror to ensure that she still looks together, even if she's coming apart on the inside. Then she steps out. "What do you want?"
"You'd best get to the set," one of the assistants says snidely. "That is, unless you want them to start filming without you."
Before, she might've snapped at the assistant and informed them in no uncertain terms that she is the real star here and that the show could most assuredly not go on without her. Now, she just glares at the assistant and stomps off. Behind her, she can hear Danny muttering something about how she's really improving.
She pretends like she doesn't hear it.
Once she gets back to the set, she doesn't look at anyone, but silently sips into the position she was in when they stopped filming. Beck gives her an uncertain smile once she finally looks up at him, and she sighs audibly.
As soon as the director yells for them to start, she launches in with her 'questions' – loaded questions, she realizes, but she hopes no one else will pick up on it. "Why'd you kiss me?" she demands, feeling like it's as much of a Jade question as a Kyra-question.
"You were right," Beck mumbles, barely meeting her eyes.
"What?" she hisses, taking a step closer. She doesn't really like the proximity to Beck, but she's fairly sure that it's necessary. "I can't hear you, Time Boy; you're going to have to speak up."
"Like it needs saying," Beck says in a noticeably louder voice. "You were right, Kyra. All right? You were right. I like you. But since you're obviously not okay with that..." He snaps his fingers, a defiant look on his face. Jade steps backward, trying to portray the confusion that Kyra would be feeling.
"WHAT did you just do?" she bellows, giving him a hard glare that she wishes would burn right through him.
"I turned back time, Kyra," Beck says patiently, in one of those stupid patronizing tones he has used on her before. "Now you've never kissed me. Easy as that."
"What if I liked the kiss?" Jade retorts quietly, glancing down at the ground. She can't help but think about how well this correlates to their current situation.
"What?" Beck asks, as if he can hardly believe it himself.
"I wanted to kiss you, you idiot," she informs him, and then she's taking steps – one, two – until her lips are pressed against his and she's back in his arms. It's odd how comfortable it is kissing him, even though it's just their third kiss and it's supposed to be a stage kiss. From prior experience, she knows that stage kisses are supposed to be awkward. This, unfortunately, is not awkward.
It is, however, unfortunate that she should be feeling this way, because stage romances are the worst type. People assume that they're brought on only by the movie, gossip spreads like wildfire, and well, most stage romances don't survive the first few months. Jade has no way of knowing if her relationship with Beck would work like that, but she doesn't really want to risk it.
Once she pulls away from Beck at last, the director yells "CUT!". He then proceeds to make them go through the scenes about a million more times, and by the time they finish, Jade is so exhausted that she leaves Beck with a curt 'goodbye; I'm exhausted'.
She can't sleep once she gets back to the hotel, though. For what seems like ages, she just lies on the bed, her head filled with images. She replays the kiss over and over until her head feels like it's going to explode, then she reminds herself that she's Jade West and if she wants to get over that idiot Beck Oliver, then she will, because she can do pretty much anything. And since when does she care what people think, anyway? She's strong, independent, and talented, and that's more than most actresses in the business can claim.
At least, that's what she tells herself until 1 AM, when a note appears under her door, all neatly folded and stuff.. Slowly, she picks it up and reads it.
I liked the kiss.
Well, this complicates things, she thinks. That absolute idiot. Then she slips it into her drawer and tells herself that it's just for safekeeping.
–
Jade confronts him the next day before filming. He notices that she has an odd look in her eyes – despite the fact that she's back to the normal, too confident Jade, there's this weird uncertainty in her eyes that he's not really used to seeing. She tells him bluntly, "I'm not another of your girltoys."
"I'm not like that anymore," Beck protests, but he can barely speak. His words come out all jumbled. (This, he notes, is most assuredly not a good sign.)
"Yeah, I've seen the whole aftermath and trust me, it's not pretty," she deadpans, moving closer so that he's pinned up against the wall. "I realize that I'm hot and a good kisser, but that doesn't mean that you can pretend to like me, date me, get more famous, and then dump me."
"I'm not like that," Beck informs her, his eyes blazing. "I wouldn't even... it's not like that, Jade."
"Do you even like me?" she demands. This seems like it would be the question that's been on her mind ever since she got that cursed note. "I mean, romantically like me. I thought you hated me!"
"I did." Beck stares at the ground. "But I don't know. I've been seeing you in a new light lately, and I guess that kiss... well, it made me think, and I think that maybe I do. Like you, that is."
"Do you want to date me?" she inquires, her eyes blazing.
"Maybe." He shrugs. "If you wanted to date me."
"Showmances don't last, Oliver," she reminds him.
"Sometimes they do," he allots. "I guess it just depends on the people." He doesn't know why he's even doing this. Why would he want to date Jade West? But every time he looks at her, he loses his breath and his heart speeds up to an unheard of speed, and he's reminded of why.
"Look." She looks uncomfortable again, not the confident Jade he's so accustomed to. "Let's wait it out until the end of the show, okay? If you're still convinced you like kissing me and well, you 'like me' and you aren't 'like that anymore', then maybe we'll give it a try."
"Kay." He gives a small nod. It's a good idea, actually; he's actually starting to grow fond of the bratty girl and he wouldn't want to lose her, really. "We can still be friends?"
"Yeah, sure, we can still be our 'weird version of friends'." Jade rolls her eyes. Then, as if on impulse, she leans over and plants a kiss on his lips. Not a long one, much to his displeasure, but a short, sweet kiss, something that seems so un-Jade. He stares at her in shock and she snickers. "Just... to hold you over until we get to kiss again during filming."
He laughs too. As she turns to walk away, he grabs her shoulder. "Jade," he asks awkwardly, "um, after filming today, do you wanna watch a movie in my room? As friends, of course."
She seems to be considering it. After a moment, she just shrugs. "Sure, why not?"
–
A/N: That was probably a really bad chapter but it's 2 AM so um, I'm sorry. It was very eventful, though, and we're seeing the first real romance between them? XD Don't worry; it won't end once the movie ends – half the fun is seeing how Bade deals with the paparazzi, right? ;)
Review if you want an update soon :D Thanks so much for all your reviews. Seriously. They mean the world to me and I love you all to pieces.