Ambiance
AU
Chapter Six
Filming the next day is even more awkward than she would have thought. They have to kiss about a million times (only two, actually, but it feels like more), and they make them do the kisses over and over again. At first, Jade tries to restrain herself, but she realizes soon that her efforts are futile and, well, Beck's not holding back, either.
"Tori Vega was right," the producer crows, his eyes bright. "You two have undeniable passion."
"Kill me," Jade mutters, rolling her eyes, but for whatever reason she can't hide the half-smile that makes its way onto her face.
Since things are still awkward between her and Beck, she forces Andre to eat with them as a buffer, and it feels just like old times. Andre makes all the right jokes, though, and before too long she's laughing with both of them and almost all of the awkwardness has vanished.
"You know," Andre says, a grin on his face, "I think this movie's going to be a hit."
"Of course it is," Beck retorts, flipping his hair. "I'm in it." And for a second, Jade is reminded of everything bad about him, of all the rumors she'd heard, of the hearts he'd broken, of how very conceited he had been, but then he grins at her and adds, "And Jade too, of course," and she nearly forgets all of the bad things. His smile is nearly enough to melt her into a puddle on the floor – and icy Jade West never melts for anyone.
"Yeah, yeah, let's not get all sappy yet. The movie's still not over," Jade informs them, stabbing at her salad. "Though after this, I think I could go for a good vacation before all the promo stuff begins."
"We start not long after filming finishes," Beck points out, leaning back. "So you're not gonna get much of a nap, lazy girl."
She glares at Beck, but Beck just laughs easily and grins over at Andre. "We're going to be rich and famous, dude."
"You're already rich enough," Andre points out, a slight smirk on his face. "If you get any more money, I think you might just explode of cash or something. Can that happen? You could change your name, too. Beck Moneybags Oliver."
Beck laughs at that, of course, and the corners of Jade's mouth turn up in amusement. As Beck comes up with some sort of retort, Jade realizes that she is, oddly enough, going to miss this, going to miss Andre and eating lunches with the cast and even Beck Oliver. She's going to miss her weird relationship with the boy. And she knows that although it's only a month and a half between the end of shooting and the beginning of promotion, but it'll feel like a long time anyway.
And then, after wondering all of this, she starts to wonder when she turned into such a sap. She normally is glad to be done with movies, to get a bit of rest and relaxation (and time away from people), but oddly enough, she kind of enjoys the company of these people. Not that she'd ever admit it.
After lunch, Beck walks up to her and stands far too close, his mouth just above her ear, and whispers, "We still on for that movie night?"
She elbows him in the stomach, causing him to wince, and then she smirks. "Course we are."
"Good," Beck whispers, his lips lightly brushing her ear before he smirks and walks off. She watches him, raising an eyebrow and shaking her head. Beck Oliver is a mystery that she can't figure out.
/
At the appointed time, she bangs on the door, figuring that if he doesn't open it, she can probably find a way to knock it down anyway. After a few seconds, though, Beck pulls open the door, giving her a small smile. "Enter," he says, motioning into his room.
"Yeah, would've done that anyway," she snarls, but the corners of her mouth curve up. "Not bad, Oliver. You're living the good life here."
Beck laughs at that. "Guess you could say that. I've got a decent amount of money. Anyway, what do you suggest we watch? Maybe 'Ivory Palace'?"
"I will smother you with a pillow," she threatens, remembering the movie – her first, actually. She had only been ten, and at that point she had scraggly brown curls that trailed down her back and big eyes. It wasn't exactly attractive, nor was it something that she wanted to watch with Beck, an admittedly cute guy who enjoys teasing her about things. "We could watch 'Last Dance'."
"Touche," Beck retorts, obviously not wanting to watch his first movie ever, a movie about a little boy who wanted to ask out a dying little girl. She fondly remembers watching it with her mom and brother, back in the days when her family wasn't seriously screwed up, and saying that the little boy in it was 'kinda cute' – despite her strong belief that boys had cooties. "How about we watch something that actually doesn't have either of us in it?"
"Good idea," she replies, walking over to his vast collection of DVDs. "Dude, you have like twenty million of these."
"Yeah, I like movies," Beck says with a shrug, putting his hand on her shoulder (which makes her shiver for whatever reason). "So I buy a lot of them. What are you into?"
"I like horror films," Jade informs him, reaching in and grabbing one of her all-time favorites, a horror film called The Scissoring. "This one's really good."
"Somehow I guessed that," Beck tells her with a chuckle, grabbing the box. "Haven't actually watched this one before, but I hear it's terrifying or something like that. You sure that you're up for this?"
"I live for this stuff," Jade snarls, jerking the DVD from him and smirking slightly. She really does enjoy it, though, especially The Scissoring because of her obsession with scissors – not that Beck Oliver would know anything about that. "One day soon I should get a leading role in a horror movie instead of some cheesy romance film."
"But then you wouldn't get to work with me," Beck says, his voice half-teasing, half-serious, and she glances over at him. There's something innocent about his expression, something that makes her purse her lips and then frown. This boy couldn't possibly the heartbreaker that rumors are constantly circulating about. He just looks so young, so pure, so innocent, and all of a sudden she feels like a bad person. Quickly, she pushes those feelings away.
"Yeah, yeah," she mutters, then glances up at him. "We've only got a few more days to work together, anyway. Just like, four."
"Yeah." Beck glances up at her. "It's gonna be weird."
"You're gonna miss me, in other words," she teases, a small smile tucked into her pale features. "You're gonna miss working with the infamously bratty Jade West."
"And you're gonna miss working with the infamous player Beck Oliver," Beck retorts right back, smirking because he knows it's true.
She has to laugh. "I won't miss your over the top confidence," she growls, punching him lightly in the arm.
He pretends to look wounded. "Come on, then, let's watch the movie, Miss West," is his brisk reply, and he slips the DVD into the DVD player. With a small smile, he glances over at her. "Will you hold my hand if I get scared?"
"As if," she scoffs, but secretly, she doesn't think that she would mind all that much.
/
He'd known before that Jade West was a freak. Heck, everyone went around talking about the weird things that the diva did. But honestly, this movie (her favorite movie, she'd said) takes freaky to a whole new level, and honestly, he thinks it's intriguing more than freaky. It just proves that she's having some sort of an influence on him.
The bright smile on her face as she watches almost makes this incredibly disturbing movie worth it.
"So, this is what you're into?" he chokes out, barely managing a smile, because seriously, this is some creepy chiz.
"Please don't tell me you're scared." She laughs, glancing over at him. "Please, Oliver, this is nothing. Some of the other movies I watch… I mean, I guess you won't be co-starring in a horror movie with me any time soon."
"You want me to?" He nudges her and sits back up, his arm pressing up against hers.
"I'm just saying that you're not actually a horrible actor," she informs him. "Take that however you want." Despite everything, though, he can tell she's starting to get tired – it is, after all, getting sort of late, and he can tell by her incessant quoting that she's seen this movie about a billion times before. So when her head falls onto his shoulder, he doesn't move her. And when she starts to snore softly, he doesn't wake her. Instead, he pauses the movie quietly, then stifles a yawn and leans his head on top of hers, thinking that he'll take a quick nap.
(It kind of feels nice, not that he'd ever admit it.)
/
When he wakes up, though, someone is shaking him roughly. He tumbles over and hears a loud shriek like, right in his ear, and that is enough to wake him up. Jumping up, he finds that he's looking right into the piercing eyes of Jade West.
"I think you crushed my ribcage," she groans, glaring at him. "That's not exactly the best way to wake up, being bruised by your co-star. I could go tell the tabloids you abuse me now."
He glares at her, then spins to see that Andre is staring there, an amused look on his face. Throwing up his hands, he says, "Hey, look, lovebirds. You're due on set in thirty minutes. I was just doing you a favor."
"Lovebirds," Jade snarls, looking about ready to murder Andre, but thankfully he escapes out the door before Jade can do any damage.
Beck smiles over at her. "Your hair's looking nice today."
"Shut up, Beckett." Quickly, she walks over to the door. "I'm going to get ready. See you on set."
"Yeah, see you," he echoes, watching her walk out the door and feeling an unfamiliar pang in his chest. After all, he has a feeling that this 'liking her' thing isn't going to go away any time soon, especially since he thinks she's beautiful even with messy bedhead.
And really, he wants to know when he went from hating her guts to wanting to kiss her all the time, because he'd rather like a refund on that one.
/
By the time Jade gets to the set, she's almost managed to make herself look presentable. The hair and makeup people just make faces at her, though; probably her poor fixup job isn't up to their standards. Whatever. She bares her teeth in response, and they cower because she is nothing if not terrifying.
"Nice to see you've made it, Jade," the director says stiffly, raising an eyebrow at her before turning back to Beck. "We're closing up this film, so we'll be starting on the last few scenes today. I trust you all have had an appropriate amount of rest."
"Yes," Jade says in a snarky tone. Behind her, someone squeezes her shoulder, and she turns to see Danny giving her a sympathetic smile.
"Remember, after this we have promotion and everything," Danny reminds her. "It's not over."
"I'm not upset about that," she splutters. "I'm not upset about anything, actually; this is just how I am!"
At that point, though, everyone is laughing at her, which she hates, so she storms off to hair and makeup so that she can look a bit more attractive before they start filming. She fumes for a bit before deciding whatever. (After all, she is a bit sad that the movie is finishing. It'll be weird, not seeing these people every day.)
/
Filming today is thankfully less awkward. Beck and Jade end up laughing between takes, and they act like good friends instead of awkward frenemies that secretly like each other. Beck ends up messing up a lot, forgetting his lines or accidentally (purposely) saying the wrong things, and in retaliation Jade glares at him, but he can tell by the slight smile on her face that she thinks it's fairly funny. (She messes up too, trips over a cord or something, but she stays in character and Director Lane thinks it's so funny that he decides not to redo it. She smiles, looking fairly proud of herself.)
Beck can hear the agents muttering on the sidelines between takes. "It's amazing how far they've come," Jamie murmurs.
"It really is," Danny replies with a laugh. "They hated each other for ages, and now they're acting like they're best friends."
Jamie lowers her voice (but not low enough that Beck can't understand her). "I hear she's still intent on pranking him. Beck better hide his shampoo."
Danny hoots at this, and Beck rolls his eyes, but he runs his hand through his hair anyway. Just to check. (It feels the same as always, so he figures that Jade hasn't gotten to his shampoo yet.)
Then, surprise of all surprises, Tori Vega, the one who originally got them the parts, shows up. Of course, she has the most awkward timing ever – Jade had fallen onto the ground, tripped on something during a take, and Beck had helped her to her feet, so it kind of looked like they were holding hands. Tori walks over, a huge smile on her face, and says brightly, "Hey! Jade and Beck. Nice to see you guys getting along so well!"
Beck raises an eyebrow – he certainly hadn't expected Tori to show up today, and by the look of murderous surprise on Jade's face, he reckons Jade hadn't known ahead of time either. He gives Tori a small smile to make up for Jade's glare and replies, "Oh, hi, Tori. Didn't know you were coming…?"
"It's one of the last days of filming," Tori responds, smiling. "Trina and I came to see the last few days and see how it was all going."
"Yeah, right," Jade snarls, putting a hand on her hip. "You just wanted to see 'hottie Beck Oliver' and 'horrible Jade West' fighting, because you're evil." This kind of startles Beck – over the last few days, he's kind of forgotten what horrible Jade West was like. All he remembers now is Jade, his Jade, and it kinda startles him that he's begun thinking of her as his Jade, but it mostly makes him smile.
"I – I what?" Tori stares at Jade, looking confused. "I told Trina to cast you guys as the leads because I thought you'd get along well, and well, I'd heard of your infamous rivalry and I thought you guys would portray them in the beginning really well. It's nice to see that you guys were able to work past that!"
"Stop playing all innocent," Jade hisses, and then she spins around and storms back to Jamie and Danny, probably to complain about Tori. Beck has to laugh.
"You look happy," Tori says with a teasing smile. He's worked with her before on past movies, so they're sort of friends, and he really does need someone to talk to besides Andre, who would never let him live it down. So he ends up blurting out, "I like Jade. Like, a lot, like more than I should. And I can't stop liking her. But she – she thinks it's just some showmance, that it won't last."
"Just give it time," Tori replies, patting him on the shoulder. "She'll come around. Every romance between actors is like that. It just takes a lot more time and patience, and hey, at least you can be sure she likes you for you."
"Yeah." Beck barks out a laugh. "Don't think Jade's exactly the type to date me for money or fame." The mere notion brings a smile to his face.
"Congrats, anyway," Tori says with a grin. "Jade doesn't normally take well to people, from what I've seen. And she seems to legitimately enjoy your company. That's definitely rare."
"Yeah, well…" He smiles. "I enjoy her too." It sounds wrong, he realizes after saying it, and then he dissolves into laughter. "I… you know what I mean."
"Yeah." Tori smirks. "Well, anyway, from what I've seen, you guys are doing amazing in this movie. Pretty sure it'll be one of the next big blockbusters. I know I'll go see it. And now Trina wants to talk to you, I think."
"Great," Beck says, unable to hide his sarcasm. He and Tori are friends, but he and Trina… well, Trina's always had a not-so-secret crush on him, one that he most certainly does not reciprocate. "See you later, then."
"Maybe I can go convince Jade that I'm not evil," Tori informs him with a giggle.
/
There's something about Tori that makes Jade hate her. Maybe it's the way that she always seems to score leading roles without even trying, maybe it's the ever-present smile on her face, or maybe it's the fact that she could get any guy she wanted, but any way, Jade doesn't like Tori at all. So when Tori comes over to talk to her, Jade gives her a long glare. "What do you want?"
"I just wanted to say that you and Beck are doing a great job in the movie so far," Tori told her, grinning. "Oh, and that you guys make an adorable couple."
"Shut up," Jade retorts. "I know you planned this. You… you knew we hated each other."
"Well, you don't hate each other anymore," Tori says innocently. "Anyway, Trina had a part in it too." This just makes Jade groan more – if there's anyone she hates more than Tori Vega, it's Trina Vega.
"Just… leave me alone," Jade moans. Her eyes, though, are focused on Trina talking to Beck, and for some reason, the way Trina keeps looking at Beck makes Jade green with envy. Not that she'd ever admit it or anything.
/
The next few days seem to fly by for Jade. Tori and Trina try their best to stay away from her, probably because they're scared of her (and with good reason, really), but she can see the small smiles on their faces whenever she and Beck do a scene that is particularly good – and really, all of them are good, but whatever. Their secret pride pleases her in an odd sort of way. (And besides, one of their scenes is a fight scene, and Jade is still rather good at portraying hatred and anger. Even after everything.)
Off-set, she finds herself spending more and more time with Beck Oliver. It's not like there's much else to do, really, and the boy can be particularly amusing, especially when he's paranoid that she's going to do something to him – what, exactly, she has no clue, but his paranoia is amusing nonetheless. They have movie nights and eat popcorn and talk about particularly odd topics, and really she enjoys it more than she would like to let on. Andre teases her about him occasionally, but then she gives him one of her infamous death glares and socks him in the arm and most of the time, that makes him shut up. Thankfully.
She can't shake the feeling that Beck still likes her, though, even after everything, because she catches him staring at her more often than not. And it's not a passing stare, not even an oh-look-she's-pretty stare, but one of those intense stares that those 'super romantic' guys in the movies give to the girls they love. (And really, the word love scares her more than anything. She doesn't know love, doesn't do love, so no way could Beck Oliver be in love with her.)
The last day of filming comes far too soon. A sense of melancholy has settled over the set instead of the usual energy, and Jade doesn't like it much, but she can't bring herself to break it because she's sad too.
Beck pulls her into a hug. Normally she would push him away or say something about how annoying he is, really, but all she can do now is settle her head into his shoulder and wrap her arms around him, breathing in his scent. After all, this is the last chance she'll get for a month and a half.
Once Beck lets her go, Director Lane grabs them both and drags them over to hair and makeup. She has to look absolutely perfect for this last scene – a dance scene, she knows, a final makeup, a conclusion. The word conclusion actually makes her upset. She hadn't known she would feel this way. But she still feels an odd sort of pride. After all, she's been doing this movie for ages; it's only natural that she should feel pride upon completing it.
They finally release her from hair and makeup, and she strolls down to the set, some people following her to do touchups or whatever. Her eyes fall upon Beck, who looks pretty spiffy in a suit. Beck grins. "You look gorgeous."
"Shut up." She nudges him, laughing. "You don't look so bad yourself." She's starting to understand why exactly he's a heartthrob – he's pretty irresistible when he looks like this.
"I know," he replies confidently, giving her a spin, which makes her laugh more. "I'm supposed to be like your prince or something, remember?"
She kicks him lightly in the shin. "Let's just get this over with, Oliver."
He grins at her. "Maybe I don't want this to be over with."
/
The last scene is perfect, or at least he thinks so. There's something magical about the whole thing – something magical about the two of them dancing together, something magical about the way she's looking at him, and most assuredly something magical about the end kiss, because they keep kissing even after the director yells "Cut!". Everyone has to laugh at that, and then it turns into this big cast group hug. Some of the minor actors are crying, and the director looks like he's about to be in tears. Even Jade looks more melancholy than usual.
"It's a wrap!" Director Lane yells at last, which just brings another round of cheers and tears.
"The afterparty's at six," Director Lane announces as everyone starts to disperse. "Be there or be square!" A cheesy saying, Beck thinks, but kind of appropriate.
He manages to catch up with Jade and hook his arm around her neck. "I can't believe it's over."
"Yeah, me neither." Her voice is soft, softer than usual, and it makes him smile slightly. "It's been fun, though. A lot more fun than I thought."
"I'd have to agree there," he tells her, rubbing her shoulder soothingly. "We're going to be a hit. Just you watch."
"Yeah, because of me," Jade says confidently. "Oh, and you too. Maybe."
He has to laugh at that. "Your confidence in me is so assuring, Jade." Then he stops and turns so that he's looking right into her eyes. "Look, do you remember what you told me? That maybe we could try… try this after filming if I still liked you?"
"Yeah." She stares at him, raising an eyebrow.
"Well… I still like you. A lot," he remembers to add, then stares at her, wondering if he should kiss her. Thankfully, he doesn't have to make that decision, because she leans forward and kisses him first. He hooks his arms around her and she wraps her arms around her neck, and this is better than any stage kiss, really.
It's better than anything he could've imagined.
/
At the afterparty, he decides to take a chance and ask Jade to dance. She accepts with a small half smile, then lets him lead her to the floor. As they start to dance, she smiles slightly. "You're not a bad dancer."
"You're not half-bad yourself," he retorts, giving her a grin as he spins her around. "It's our second time dancing today. Guess this time it's as Beck and Jade."
That makes her frown a little. She stops dancing, her eyes dark. "Look, Beck," she whispers, letting her arms fall to her sides. "It's not me, it's you."
"Why does it sound like you're breaking up with me?" His voice is barely a whisper as well, because he might as well just admit it to himself – he likes her a lot, too much, really. In fact, he might be falling in love with her, and for her to break up with him before they're even really together would be too much.
"We're not dating, therefore I can't break up with you," is her crisp reply. Then she sigh, looking down. "Okay, I'll just admit it. I like you. But there are things that have to be considered, including your actions in the past, and I just… give it some time, okay, Beck? You probably just think you're into me because of this movie and all of the romance in it, not to mention I'm not exactly a bad kisser. But you'll probably leave here and find some other hot girl to get with, and I just… I'm not that kind of girl." She glances up at him at last. "Give it time, a couple weeks, at least. See how you feel when you're not around me. Then maybe, if you're still into me and I still like you, maybe we can try this out."
"Jade, I…" he begins, but he stops as she begins to back up. As she turns and flees, he calls, "Okay" behind her.
He gets nothing in response. (Not that he really expected a response, anyway.)
/
He packs alone that night, throwing all of his clothes and shoes and memories into a suitcase and sealing it tight. The hardest thing to pack is all of his movies, because every time he sees her stupid face on a DVD cover he wants to die. Instead, he just throws it into the box and then tapes it up and seals it tight, halfway wishing he could do the same with his feelings for her.
(He doesn't pack The Scissoring. He just can't bring himself to do it.)
He falls asleep alone that night, images of her playing in his mind, and he wonders what it would (will) be like if (when) they're together.
(Already, he misses her.)
/
A knock on her door awakens her from her sleep. She glances in the mirror quickly, wiping away the tracks of stray eyeliner, then opens the door, probably looking like the poster girl for a horror movie. Inevitably, the person on the other side is Beck Oliver.
"I'm leaving now," Beck says, glancing down and running a hand through his hair. "I just thought it'd be proper to say goodbye."
Every inch of her is dying to kiss him, but instead she pulls him into a casual, albeit awkward hug. "Bye, Beck. See you in a month and a half when we become superstars."
"See you," he echoes, and then he absently presses a kiss to the top of her head. It sends tingling throughout her body, and she kind of hates it.
As he walks off, dragging his suitcase behind him, she just wants to run after him and kiss him. Instead, she just watches him go and tells herself that it's better this way.
/
A/N: OKAY SERIOUSLY DEPRESSING ENDING .whoops. Also hi it's been ages, hope you still remember this fic? LOL. This is a sucky chapter, sorry, I've forgotten how to write, but I hope you enjoy it anyway.
Please review for a quickish update and thanks, guys, for all of your amazing reviews! I love you all to pieces xD