Hello again.

First of all, this whole fic is set near the end of season 2. No sooner, no later, just Right. There. Good.

So this chapter basically has three parts. Robbie and André are in the first one, followed by Cat and Tori and finally I go back to Sikowitz's room to see Beck and Jade again, the latter probably a bit off character to most people but I like it so :P

And I'll get to Sikowitz and introduce Nottle in chapter 3 or 4, as well as bringing Jade and Mrs Cox together eventually... ;D

Again, any feedback is welcome, and if I'm doing anything very much wrong please tell me what it is and why. I'll try to explain myself or just change it, although there are some things (like my version of the showcase as opposed to the show's one) that are there for a reason.

Read at your leisure,

Very Sincerely Yours.

A Grade Acting*

(*A Grade Acting being an advanced class that runs for the second semester of every year at Hollywood Arts High and is almost impossible to get into. (a student must be put forward by three other members of the staff as a candidate and is chosen after auditioning multiple times) It is, as it's title suggests, one of the more advanced classes although isn't aimed specifically at seniors.)

Hollywood Arts High-school

Chapter 2- Reasons Why

(In this chapter, time is going backwards.)

Thursday afternoon...

"André? André! André please, don't ignore me!"

It is safe to say, without taking Robbie's feelings into consideration, that André was in fact ignoring his socially awkward friend. He was doing it quite on purpose, engaging in random conversation with his peers (and teachers, although that soon became more than a little awkward...) just to avoid being caught out by Robbie and then have to do what Robbie would no doubt ask of him. They were mates after all, and André was obliged to help when help was needed. The task was far less than ideal however, and André would rather not be forced into any such situation if he could help it.

Robbie wanted Rex back.

That in itself seems simple enough, I suppose, but the problem was one quite large and immensely scary* costume design teacher named Mrs Ursula Cox, who was said to use her students as pin cushions and mannequins if they ever got on her bad side. She'd been at the school longer than anyone could remember. Even Mr Sikowitz, who was also openly afraid of the dubbed 'psycho seamstress', couldn't recall her first day despite his ten-year position at Hollywood Arts.

(*Immensely scary meaning, quite literally, look at me the wrong way and I will make you shit yourself without so much as saying boo. Her power to induce fear in others was second only to Jade's, which is quite a scary realization in itself, for Jade is still developing her skills and yet surpasses someone of Mrs Cox's age, effectiveness and experience. These two have never met, mind you, and the rest of the school would happily keep it that way in case the world decided to explode when they finally crossed paths for the first time.)

So it was safe to say that André had a fair and just reason* behind his behavior towards his (so called) friend.

(*Reason- he didn't want to die.)

Robbie, however, was not so easily swayed, nor did he plan on giving up in his quest so soon. He'd just remembered, quite suddenly*, that Mrs Cox and the other stage coordinators helping with the rehearsals today and the rest of next week would all be in the theatre that afternoon, meaning that the sewing room would be locked all night and all through Friday as well, for there weren't any lessons in any of the economics rooms on the last day of the week. Mrs Cox didn't seem like the type of woman who would go out of her way to return an obnoxious, irritating and (quite frankly) whorish doll to an awkward and equally irritating teenage boy.

(*Quite suddenly in the middle of advanced stage tech, which may or may not have resulted in the accidental damaging of at least a thousand dollars worth of lighting appliances and expensive stage enhancing equipment, as well as Robbie's non-existent pride, image and self-esteem.)

The fact still remained, Robbie didn't particularly want to be mauled by a savage puppet come Monday morning.*

(*And really, could you blame him?)

"André! Please, please just help me! Rehearsals start in a hour, Mrs Cox will start moving in around half that time, we need to go! Why won't you come? Why won't you do this for me? André!"

André, who had been walking down the main hallway at Hollywood Arts, finally turned to face his pursuer, his face a mask of irritation and exasperation. It wasn't that he didn't want to help Robbie, even though he was considering letting Jade loose on him right about now*, he just really, (really) didn't want to die.

(*And yes, he would have held Beck back as well, leaving Robbie with absolutely no hope. It wasn't that Beck was particularly good friends with Robbie either, rather that he knew he was the only one who had any chance of calming Jade down even slightly and didn't want her to hurt herself, never mind her innocent victims. André was sure he could find some reason to get Jade to go predator on Robbie relatively easily; it was just Beck he needed to worry about, although in his current state Beck didn't seem able to put up much of a fight...

...André was also worried about how much thought he'd given this and decided to just shut up and face Robbie before his head got anymore... wonky.)

"Why? Why!? I'll tell you why, because I'm not going to risk becoming a pin cushion for a stupid toy doll!"

...vaguely harsh, but André thought Robbie needed to hear it.

(Sorta.)

Robbie stood in shocked silence for a few seconds, his face a crumpled mass of disheartenment, shock and betrayal, before turning and running away*, his worn sneakers squeaking as they rubbed against the Lino flooring. After a pregnant pause, André sighed loudly and followed him.

(*And seriously, if that didn't make André feel like a grade A jack-ass, then nothing else ever stood a chance.)

(page break)

Thursday break.

"Hey...Tori? Do you think... think Beck's gonna be okay?"

"Sure, why wouldn't he be?"

"Well..."

Tori watched Cat's face screw up in concentration and deep thought as she sipped at her soda, trying to focus on sorting through her music theory notes even as wind blew them all around the Asphalt Café. If she was honest*, Beck's behavior had been troubling her as well. He was usually the most energetic one, (save Cat of course, although that was more of an insanely hyper energy while Beck's was just the usual kind) and definitely not one to whine or even openly display weaknesses. The fact that he actually looked exhausted in public and slept (in Jade's lap) in front of the entire class that morning was nothing short of worrying.

(*Tori did make a habit of being honest to herself. And André... but mostly just herself. Most of the time.)

Then there was Jade, openly showing concern.*

(*which she did... on occasion.)

"Well, he seemed really tired," Cat continued, still deep in thought. "He's never really tired, right?"

Tori sighed softly, catching another piece of paper as it flew out of her grasp. Yes, Cat was right*, very right, and that only made Tori worry more.

(*Cat, although ridiculously oblivious, is also incredibly insightful. Now if only she'd use that insight to do something other than color tigers purple...)

"I know, Cat, he's not...like he usually is."

"So, what are we gonna do?"

There were a few seconds of questioning silence, Cat looking at Tori hopefully, as if she could reveal the perfect answer to everything*. Tori was surprised at her obvious concern for Beck, and the bond there that she just realized she had been unaware of. She supposed that they all had some kind of bond, in their own ways, spanning across murder, maim and destroy to one true love territory. She'd have to work them all out sometime...

(*the perfect answer to everything which, in this case, is not 42.)

The point still stands, what where they going to do? And, as an extension of that, did they need to do anything?

Yes, Tori's mind supplied, because it's Beck, who saves you from Jade and is nice to everyone. It's your friend.

No, another, more pessimistic, part of Tori's mind chimed in, because Jade's there with him already; she'll probably (definitely) get jealous if you help and then try to kill you with a pair of scissors.

"Umm... Tori?"

Tori snapped out of her head with a loud, unladylike 'huh?' to find Cat tugging at her sleeve.

"What are we gonna do? We have to do something."

"Not... not really," Tori replied, giving up on the flying papers around her and closing her theory folder. "Jade's looking after him, he's in... capable... hands."

"Jade's doing one of her performances for the Hollywood Arts Semester Showcase*, just like you and André. She's not gonna be able to make sure he's okay all the time..."

(*The Hollywood Arts Semester Showcase is exactly what you'd expect, a showcasing of young talent hosted by Hollywood Arts twice a year, in which all students have to perform or contribute to a performance. It is also the night that A Grade use for their end of year performance, which usually ends up as the highlight of the evening. Unfortunately, it had completely skipped Tori's mind, and so she spent approximately forty three seconds gaping at Cat like a dead fish.)

When she finally found her voice, Tori quietly exclaimed, "What are André and I doing!?"

"I don't know," Cat replied, sipping at a can of pink lemonade. "I don't know everything. My brother once said he knew everything, then I asked him what the capital of Australia was."

There were a few seconds of silence until it was clear that Cat wasn't planning on continuing without being prompted.

"...and?"

"Oh!" Cat continued, smiling widely before lowering and shaking her head seriously. "He doesn't know everything."

Tori's eyebrows rose, but she decided not to comment.

"Alright, what about you and Robbie, what are you doing for the Showcase?"

"I'm working on costumes and backdrops, and Robbie's doing some tech stuff for A Grade's performance. We're all gonna be really busy, and then we've also got Sikowitz's play for the Monday after next which we don't know anything about yet. What if Beck gets sick or something, because he's so tired? What if he hurts himself?"

"He won't, Cat..." Tori said with conviction, although as the words left her mouth a niggling feeling began to eat away at her stomach and she shifted uncomfortably. Cat didn't seem completely convinced either, fingering her can and tracing the metal table with her eyes.

Tori took a deep breath and steeled herself, deciding that it was best to take some action to ensure that none of their friends* succumbed to exhaustion, stress or ended up overworking themselves.

(*and yes, this includes Jade, although watching out for her was more dangerous that checking a starved lion for fleas.)

"Sunday, there aren't any preps then are there?"

Cat looked up, startled, before shaking her head, a small pout still marring her features.

"Then we'll all spend the day at mine. Watch a movie, eat some ice-cream..."

"Keep an eye on Beck!"

"Uh, yeah, that too," Tori mumbled, gathering her effects and pulling Cat to her feet. "Text Robbie and André, tell them to meet us in Sikowitz's room in ten minutes. We might as well all move over to the theatre together, and I need to talk to André about our performance..."

They began to move towards the main building, Cat practically bouncing along next to Tori, quickly texting their friends on her pear-phone as she went. Tori still struggled to hold on to all her books and thick folder, grunting as it almost slipped from her arms yet again.

"Lets hurry and get to Sikowitz's..." Tori groaned, stumbling down the hallway. "Before I drop all these papers on my feet."*

(*which, because of the heaviness of Tori's burden, would not have been especially pleasant, although Jade would have been more than happy to witness (and record) it whenever and wherever, before instantly uploading the video to YouTube so she could send the link to everyone in the entire school.)

"Kay kay," Cat replied, crying out happily as she skipped along beside her struggling friend, occasionally spinning around in circles with a large grin on her face. She moved without a care in the world, surging ahead even as Tori groaned loudly and shifted her books again.

"Oh, why are you so heavy?" Tori muttered*. "You should think about losing some weight..."

(*and no, Tori didn't make a habit of talking to her school books, but there was always a first for everything.

...Sikowitz would be so proud.)

(page break)

Thursday (around the middle of the day. ...probably a bit before.)

"...Beck?"

There was no reply, only the continuation of the light snoring* that sounded below.

(*Beck hated the fact that he snored although Jade, in her weaker moments, proclaimed it quite cute. She's probably just teasing him, but Beck can't help but wonder how often Jade watches him sleep... not that that's weird or anything.)

"Beck."

This time it was said more sternly and part of the sound broke through his foggy, sleep-addled brain. She wants him to wake up. He needs to do what she says*, right?

(*and no, this wasn't because Jade was a bossy, jealous gank. (even though she kinda was...) This is because she needs him and he needs to be there when she needs him because that's just what needs to happen. It is, as you'd expect, not so difficult a concept to grasp.)

...no, wait... what does he need to do?

"Beck."

Okay, now she was becoming impatient. He should answer her. Yes... he should answer... now... soon...

"BECK!"

Beck woke with a start, jolting upwards and knocking his head against Jade's painfully hard elbow.* He laid back down with a groan, only to find that Jade had shifted and he wasn't so comfortable anymore. To try and remedy this, he started to turn over, his forehead a heavy weight on her straightened knee, and moved his hands under him.

(*yes, painfully hard. If you don't believe me, whack your head against your own elbow sometime. What's that? You can't? Oh well...)

It didn't improve his situation at all.

"Finally, get off."

"Huh?" Beck mumbled, awkwardly rolling down the two steps and onto the floor. He blinked open one of his eyes, the light making his throbbing head ache, and watched Jade stand and stretch above him. She caught his questioning glance and shrugged.

"My leg was falling asleep."

Of course.

Beck would have asked what time it was (despite the fact that he knew that Jade's answer would no doubt be 'I'm not your clock', or at least something equally rude and sarcastic) but was really far too tired to form coherent speech. So instead, he simply grunted and rolled over, dozing off again even as his body protested against this new, less than comfortable position.

Jade turned her attention back to him with narrowed eyes.

"Do you need coffee?"

"Coffee would be nice," he mumbled back, his words muffled slightly by the floor he was pressing his face into.

"Then go get it."

"Maybe when I'm not dying of sleep deprivation."

"You were just sleeping then!"

"Yes, because a pounding headache and two stairs poking into your back are perfect for an adequate sleep!"

There was more near silence, Beck desperately trying to stop himself from groaning when his back started to cramp up painfully. Jade watched him like a hawk, completely aware of how awfully uncomfortable he must have been, his neck twisted strangely as his head was hidden in the floor. She was sure he was grimacing at the very least but couldn't actually see his face, making her wonder what he was hiding from her. There was something, she knew it.

Yes, idiot, her brain supplied, seemingly having no quarrels about insulting itself. Of course there's something. He's hurting.

She couldn't stop her jaw from clenching at the thought.

Just as Beck was slipping into an uneasy sleep again, he felt Jade kick his side and went to grunt automatically, only the sound that came out was more like the whimper of a kicked puppy*. He returned to groaning after that, both at his inability to hide his discomfort and because of said discomfort.

(*and don't get me wrong, Jade liked kicking puppies (so long as they were annoying and not completely adorable, and it had to be when Beck wasn't around, or else he'd get upset and she'd feel bad and he'd ignore her for the rest of the week). Wait, yes, so Jade liked kicking puppies and the sounds they made as she did so, but the sound that escaped Beck made her want to cut up the whole world with her special scissors.

...and she didn't really think that would be very good for her special scissors...)

The next thing Beck knew, was Jade turning him onto his side and then his head was once again cushioned on her jean-clad thigh and even though the sudden movement made him nauseous he was far more comfortable than before. He thought he heard himself make another noise, possibly more of a contented whine, but was too tired to either keep track of his vocal cords or berate himself (or both) and dismissed it without a second thought. (Mainly because he was too tired to form a second thought, but oh well...) Jade was less than pleased, however, and with a heavy sigh she shifted slightly, moving one of her hands soothingly across Beck's aching back and the other through his ridiculously fluffy hair*.

(*this was mainly because she loved his hair and playing with it was her favorite past time, but she was doing it for him too. Yes, of course she was, he definitely liked it when she played with his hair...)

Beck sighed again, feeling his aches dying down and sleep coming easily.

"Jade..."

"Shush!" she exclaimed, her movements never faltering. "Shut up and sleep. I'm kicking you off as soon as I start loosing feeling in my leg, understand? Man, I hate pins and needles."

Beck chuckled sleepily, and Jade thought it was probably the most adorable thing she'd ever heard.

"Night Jade," he yawned, eyes slowly closing.

"It's the middle of the day."

"Mm-hmm."

"You can't say night, the sun's still up!"

"The sun's," -yawn- "really bright..."

"Shut up and sleep before I make you sleep!"

There was a small pause and Jade* thought he'd finally succumbed to his exhaustion.

(*and it was strange, because she also could have sworn that she felt just the slightest bit disappointed that the last words he heard were rude and Jade-like, but that would be vaguely corny so it mustn't be right at all.)

She waited, and sure enough it was only a few seconds before Beck spoke again.

"...Jade?"

She wanted to sigh loudly or bite back with something harsh and sarcastic. She wanted to, she had to want to, she was supposed to want to; that was the way it worked.

So then why didn't she?

"Yeah Beck?"

"Love you."

Jade stopped and smiled.

Right.

That's why.