Sorry for the short chapter, but I hope you enjoy it anyway!

CHAPTER 5
Jade's POV

Beck pulled away from Tori's house and I didn't take a second look back. I was starting to feel worried that she thought she knew everything and then she would tell her cop of a dad and get involved in my business.

Stupid Tori. Always assuming the worst, but right now the worst was probably the best.

"So how did things go?" Beck asked me in a tight voice.

Back on Wednesday, after he had come running after me, he had demanded to know everything, especially after Cat let it slip that my dad might've had something to do with it. I told him as little as I could, saying that my dad liked to throw parties and I accidently slipped and fell onto one of the beer bottles on the floor. And that of course, sparked a whole new conversation of keeping secrets from each other.

"It was…it was all right," I mumbled, looking out the window at the dark blurs we passed by.

"Am I supposed to drop you off at your house?"

I thought back to the phone call I had just had with my dad. As much as I didn't want to go there, I knew I had to unless I wanted Beck to be even more suspicious and paranoid than he already was. "Uhm, yes." Risky moves, Jade. You know your dad is home and drunk.

Beck frowned and he gripped the steering wheel harder. "I don't think I want you going to your house tonight," he said slowly.

"Why not?" I questioned, turning to look him in the eye. But of course, he was watching the road so he couldn't look back at me. And it's not that I really wanted to go to my house, but I had to act like that so he wouldn't suspect anything. "You're not my dad, Beck. I can do whatever I want." I was very happy indeed that he was taking these things into thought, though.

"Well, seeing as your actual dad fails to take proper care of you, being your boyfriend, I feel like I need to take some control here."

"You're being so paranoid," I sighed, even though I was glad he cared about me. More than my dad did, anyway. "Just because I let you in on one little secret doesn't mean anything."

"Oh, yes, it does. It means everything Jade," he responded. "And I'm wondering if you're keeping any more secrets from me."

I kept looking out the window awkwardly.

There was a silence.

"Jade," he said in a soft voice, "you can tell me anything. I promise I won't tell anyone else. You know that."

"It's not that I don't want to tell you," I said, feeling hideously guilty, "It's that, for one, I don't have anything to tell you." Okay, that was a complete lie. "And two, sometimes keeping secrets is the best way to protect someone." All right, that was perfectly true.

I agreed with everyone that Beck had just said, especially about keeping secrets from people. I would hate it if my boyfriend kept a secret from me, and of course I would want to know, especially if his life was being greatly affected by it.

But the only reason why I had never told anyone what my dad did to me was to keep them safe. Because I knew that once I had told them, they would want to try and help me, and that would put them in danger, and I couldn't bear to do that.

Most people thought of me as someone who was always very blunt and mean and honest with my opinions. Well, that was because I was always used to responding to my dad in that way, I did it to other people without thinking ninety-five percent of the time. So, my dad was to blame for my behavior.

And he was also the reason why I had to keep secrets from people that I cared about the most.

Yes, I had told Cat everything, but that was because she was a lot different from most people. Of course, she had wanted to help me, because she hated seeing me so sad and hurt all the time, but I told her I didn't want it. She respected me for that choice, and that's why we are such close friends. She understood things that no one else would. And for the most part, she kept her promise well.

But telling Beck, or anyone else for that matter, would be entirely different. Especially since he was my boyfriend, he'd probably want to go and pound my dad into a pulp. Not that I didn't want that, because of course I wanted to see my dad feel my pain for once, but then it would put Beck in danger, and that's the last thing I wanted to happen.

Life is complicated.

And sucky.

Geez, what is wrong with this world?

"Jade." Beck's voice brought me back to the present and out of my thoughts.

"Huh?" I asked, looking over at him.

He slowed the truck down, and looked right back at me. Although it was dark, I could still see that his eyes were blazing with determination.

"Jade, if you're keeping secrets from me to try and protect me, I appreciate that. I really do. But right now is not the time for secrets. I know there's something you're not telling me, and it's hurting me not knowing what it is," Beck said.

God, that boy was so intuitive. He was kind of like a dog, except dogs don't try and barge in to your life and ask you to tell them all your secrets.

"Trust me, Beck. You're heck of a lot better off not knowing."

"So you do have a secret," he said, his eyes twinkling.

"Yes," I said slowly. I never planned on letting him know this much…ever. "But it's my secret, not yours. And I'll let you know what it is when the time is right, okay?"

Beck sped the truck up. We were almost at my house now.

"Fine, you win," he said, "But if I notice that something's not right, I'm going to start questioning you again. Or I'll just stop talking to you until you tell me what's up." He laughed lightly, taking a huge left turn onto my street. He stopped in front of my house.

I leaned over and gave him a kiss.

"Call me later again?" he asked as we broke apart.

"Sure," I said in a growly voice, but of course I meant it. I went to the front door, unlocked it and stepped inside.

"I love you!" he called to me from an open window.

"I love you too!" I said back. I turned around, shutting the door firmly, leaving myself in the pitch-black darkness of our living room. I sighed and leaned back, feeling suddenly happier and in a better mood.

I could see the outlines of our furniture, and the dimness from the kitchen sending rays of lights bouncing off the walls, reflecting off the windows and mirrors.

So...where exactly is my dad? I wondered.

I stiffened suddenly when I saw something move sharply by the couch.

"You want to tell me who you're saying 'I love you' to?" a voice said from the shadows.

Oh crap.

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Beck's POV

I watched as Jade shut the door behind her. I rolled up the open window, sitting in my truck. I wasn't just ready to drive back home yet.

The things Jade had said were very interesting, yet disturbing.

She had a secret that she wasn't telling me, and I was worried that it would be something serious. But of course, I was very glad that she had finally confessed to me that her dad had parties a lot, because I had known something was up for a while, but I just didn't know what.

Sometimes she would come over to my RV, or house, and start acting extremely paranoid about something. Like she would have some sort of dried blood on her shirt, which kept coming from her 'bloody nose,' but I realized now that she had probably been tripping over the trash left from her father's parties. Or once she came over and completely passed out and I found three bruises on her head. She later claimed that she ran into a fence, but I didn't really believe her.

But know I knew the truth behind those lies.

If you think I'm being a bad boyfriend by letting her go back to her house when her dad could be home and hosting another party, then you're wrong. I knew she was keeping more secrets from me, and I wanted to find them out.

I glanced over at Jade's house again.

The front blinds started shaking wildly, and I paused, staring hard and tensing up. My hand was on the handle to open the door and I watched with hawk's eyes.

They came apart, and a hand waved at me. I waved back slowly, feeling slightly relieved before turning the engine on.

I was still not completely satisfied yet.

I waited another full five minutes, sitting there silently. Nothing else happened. I turned the engine on and drove away from the curb slowly.

It was dark, the only light being the dim streetlights. I went driving down the street, when suddenly I heard my phone vibrate. Even though there was no one around, I still pulled over to answer it.

My phone was hiding in the glove compartment and I examined the message on it.

Bep em –Jade

What the heck? I thought. I don't think we had any secret code or anything, and 'Bep em' didn't ring any bell in my mind. I sat there, wondering.

Bep em, bep em, bep em, I repeated in my head, trying to make sense of the words.

I glanced down at the touchscreen keyboard on my phone. She obviously typed whatever she was trying to say wrong. I looked at the keys around the B, E, P and M. I couldn't figure anything out.

My phone vibrated again.

This time it was a call from Jade. I brought the phone up to my ear.

"Hey, baby. What do you…" I trailed off, realizing that the only thing I heard was panting. I listened closer.

I heard some muffled sounds like someone was trying to say something, but they kept getting cut off. My free hand gripped the steering wheel. Then I heard a crash, and a faint scream.

Someone, not Jade, said very loudly, "You're a filthy little liar. You never lie to me. Not unless you want to pay for it."

And in that moment I suddenly realized what the text had been trying to say.

Help me.

I dropped my phone; it landed by my feet, and I jerked the truck forward, making an extremely tight U-turn on the one-way street. I stepped on the gas and sped towards Jade's house.

I parked in her driveway and jumped out, sprinting to the door. I banged on it with both of my fists as hard as I could.

"Open up the door!" I yelled. "Open up!"

There was a hushed silence on the other side, but I kept pounding away. My girlfriend was in there, and I didn't know what was happening to her. Judging from the brief noises I had heard on my phone, I guess that someone, possibly her father, was in there with her.

I backed up, running towards the door as fast as I could and kicking it open with my foot.

The door slammed against the wall heavily before rebounding and almost hitting me in the face. I grabbed the doorknob to stop it, suddenly realizing that it was unlocked this whole time. I looked around the dark living room, my eyes adjusting to the poor lighting.

My heart sank when I found Jade pinned to the wall by the man who was her father.

Cliffhanger! Well, I'll be updating sometime soon...so until then...review!