AN: haha thanks so much for the reviews so far... i joined the victorious community rly late so its nice to see that people are still around! also! sorry if updates are a bit slow—with school starting up this month, i've been kinda busy! thank you for reading though omg omg omg x_x
"Uh."
Jade glanced up at her boyfriend, cocking a brow. It had been almost two minutes since she'd spoken, and the silence between them was beginning to turn from stunned to awkward. Why wasn't he doing anything? Why was he just standing there like a complete idiot? And what was 'uh' even supposed to mean? What was she supposed to take away from that? Once again, he was contributing absolutely nothing. And it was up to her to actually fix the situation.
Like always.
"'Uh?'" she questioned, acid dripping from her voice. "What do you mean, 'uh?' Do you seriously have no idea of what to do?"
Beck glanced up, his face expressionless. If anything, he looked... nervous? Scared? Even he had no idea how he was feeling. Or. Maybe he was feeling too many things at once. Frustration. Regret. Anxiety. Why did their elevator have to break? When they were in the middle of a fight? Why couldn't they have just gone up to see Tori and then left? Why didn't they just get on that earlier elevator? Why had Beck stopped them from boarding it? So they could argue with each other? In public, no doubt? And why was Jade still acting like that? Shouldn't she have put aside her anger with him aside for the moment so they could work through the problem together? And why why why did she always have to make him feel like such a huge idiot?
Of course, he knew exactly what she would've said if she could've heard his thoughts. 'Because you're an idiot.'
And... maybe he was. But she was a hothead. A big, stubborn, jealous hothead. A loud, know-it-all, attention-demanding, prideful, angry, unforgiving, resentful hothead.
... Whose hand he grabbed when he thought they were about to die.
Whatever. That didn't matter right now. Unfortunately, Beck had bigger problems to worry about.
"Do you?" he questioned, unable to keep the accusatory edge out of his voice. "Exactly how many times have you been trapped in an elevator?"
Jade curled her lip, her irritation increasing once again. She'd gone for a cheap attempt to tease him earlier to test the waters, knowing that if he wasn't upset with her he would've attempted to play along with her or at least not have acted so offended. No. Beck was obviously upset. And, while most people found the aggressive, in-your-face display she put on when she was angry absolutely unbearable, she personally could not stand how passive aggressive her boyfriend was when he was upset. At least she told him how she felt when she was mad. Rolling his eyes at her wouldn't help solve anything. If he wanted to say something, he should just say it. God knows she always did.
But. For once, she wasn't in the mood to fight. Not today at least. Looks like she'd have to be the mature one.
"About as many times as you've actually had something worthwhile to say," she shot back without thinking.
Shit. Okay. That... wasn't mature. This was going to take more effort than expected.
"I... mean," she quickly backtracked, ignoring the frustrated look on Beck's face. "... Whatever. Just. Call someone, okay? Unless you were stupid enough to forget your phone, too."
He sighed, digging his hand into his pocket. "I don't see why you couldn't just call with yours," he muttered, making Jade clench her teeth. God. This passive aggressive attitude wasn't going to fly. At least she was making an effort to play nice? At least... in her own way. She wasn't trying to be mean. Teasing him was just what she did.
"It's dead," she responded, her voice a bit softer—surprising both Beck and herself.
He couldn't help but cock a brow, slightly alarmed by her change in tone. He was sure that she was just as angry as he was... although he was having some trouble trying to remember what he was angry about in the first place. Weren't they supposed to still be fighting? It wasn't like his anger had an 'off switch.' The case was always the same for her, too. At least... he was pretty sure.
Oh well. He silently dug his phone out of his pocket, scrolling silently for a moment. He didn't dare ask Jade who he should call. He didn't need an excuse for her to look through his contacts and yell at him about all of the feminine-sounding names he had added. Seeing her jealous was usually pretty amusing, and he liked entertaining it, but... not right now.
Beck's thumb stopped on Andre's number. Seemed reasonable enough, since they knew for sure that he was at the hospital. And although it seemed completely unlikely that the staff would be unaware of the elevator breaking, he could at least go and ask someone for help or for the status of their rescue. He selected the 'call' button and held the phone up to his ear. It only rang once before the call was answered.
"Howdy!"
Oh God.
The voice of another one of their mutual friends, Robbie Shapiro, answered.
What bad luck. Although Robbie was someone Beck considered one of his closest friends, he definitely wasn't in the mood for putting up with him right now. Andre was always much more collected and to the point, and he admired that quality in him. Long story short: if he wanted to talk to Robbie, he would've called him instead. This was just... pretty much the worst possible time.
"Hey," Beck replied, unable to stop himself from sighing. "Rob... why do you have Andre's phone?" he added, unable to help himself from asking.
"He stole it from him when he went in to visit Tori so he could play Grumpy Gerbils," another voice responded. Rex. Robbie's... puppet.
"Shut up!" Robbie shot back, frustrated. "I didn't steal it! He said I could borrow it! Besides, Beck, Grumpy Gerbils is too hard on my phone. I'm trying to download it here to see if I got a wonky version or something."
"Nope. You're just horrible," Rex responded, followed by a soft shuffling noise that was probably Robbie shoving Rex in response. The two of them quarreled like children. To an outsider, they probably seemed like the funniest ventriloquist duo ever. But, to most of the Hollywood Arts students... they were unbearable.
Beck paused, closing his eyes in frustration. He was not in the mood for this right now. Usually Robbie and Rex's antics were tolerable to the very most, but. Not now. "Dude. Just listen to me, alright?"
"Oh," Robbie responded, ending his silent argument with Rex. "Is everything okay?"
"Yes—" Beck began, catching himself. His automatic impulse whenever a question like that was asked was to answer affirmatively. Didn't matter if he was actually having the absolute worst day of his life. It was his business, after all. He didn't wanna bother anyone with his problems. The only person he really felt comfortable talking about deep stuff around was, well... Jade. But it didn't seem like they'd be doing anything like that anytime soon. "No," he amended. "I mean... not really. Jade and I are, like... trapped in an elevator? I don't remember which one it is, but... Can you like, tell a nurse or something? Because we're... yeah."
"Oh!" Robbie exclaimed. "Was that because of that power outage?! Wow! I thought stuff like that only happened on TV... Are the lights off? Wait! Is it shaking? Wait, wait... Are you sure you're really stuck? Did you try pressing the buttons?"
Beck rolled his eyes to himself, causing Jade to cock a brow. Although he still wasn't really in the mood for entertaining Robbie right now, he didn't mind a little help. She seemed to have caught on to the fact that he was talking to Robbie, but she'd only heard Beck's side of the conversation. Amused, he couldn't help but smile a little. "Robbie wants to know if we're really stuck," he explained.
Jade huffed, not missing a beat, and stepped closer, leaning in towards his phone. "If you're so curious, why don't you just come in here with us?" she demanded, almost yelling into the phone. She was using that cocky, teasing tone she usually used when they were at school—and almost always around Tori.
"Can I?!" he questioned, never able to pick up on her sarcasm and dry sense of humor. "Is there room for me?"
Jade gawked, amazed at how incredibly stupid the boy on the other line was. She called Beck an idiot, but she was rather lucky compared to who else she had to put up with. Okay. Usually his level of stupid was fun to tease, but. She was already wound up and he was being even more stupid than usual and her stupid stupid stupid boyfriend wasn't doing anything to help her mood. A little bit of yelling wouldn't hurt anyone, right? "I HOPE that there's room on your BODYfor all the places I'm going to KICK you once I get out of—"
Before she could say anymore, Beck pressed the 'end' button on his phone, cutting her off. Threatening their friend wouldn't do any good. At least... not right now. Jade huffed, crossing her arms and rolling her eyes, but she said nothing.
Interesting. Usually she'd scold him for cutting her off. She sure was acting different today.
Utilizing the free moment, he typed a quick text message to Andre—er, Robbie. Dude, can you please just tell someone what's going on? We are definitely stuck. Please reply with updates. Thanks. Jade commonly made fun of how he refused to type in anything but proper grammar, but he couldn't really help himself. He'd always felt silly using abbreviations and things like that, even if it was the 'cool' thing to do.
After he locked his phone and put it back in his pocket, he noticed how closely Jade was standing next to him. When did that happen? Was that so she could yell at Robbie? Was she just noticing this too? Or... did she stand this close to him on purpose? Was she trying to make him uncomfortable... make him crack and apologize for whatever he did wrong and hug her? Was this what this whole timid, shy, silent treatment was?
It wasn't. Jade knew this, of course. But, as she stole a glance up at her boyfriend, it was obvious that he was clueless. Yeah, she'd stepped this close to him on purpose. But it wasn't to make him uncomfortable or anything. She just... didn't feel like fighting. And, in her opinion, she'd made that pretty clear. He'd even smiled at her just a second ago, for God's sake! Weren't they supposed to be okay? Sure, she was still pissed about Beck and Vega and her ever-so-vague surprise plans for him getting ruined, but... whatever. This wasn't the time. And one thing that she absolutely adored about their relationship was their physical connection. They could communicate through a shrug or an eye roll, a tap on the shoulder or a light kick in the shin. So... sue her. She wanted to get close to him so they would drop the talk and just... be with each other. This was a prime opportunity for alone time, after all.
But, whatever. Nothing ever worked out like it was supposed to with him anyway.
Silence.
Absolute silence.
Jade studied her fingernails, picking at the chipped black paint. Beck ran a hand through his hair, furrowing his brow. How long had they been stuck by now? Ten minutes? More? She still hadn't moved... Was this her version of a white flag?
For some reason, Beck wasn't entirely ready to accept her surrender. For once, he wanted to be the angry one. Of course, that role didn't come easy to him. He didn't even know how she would handle it. And, to be honest, he didn't really know how he would handle it. Maybe it was time for him to surrender as well, even if it felt a little wrong. Besides, it kind of seemed like something was up with her. After that huge scene she'd caused... was that just Jade being irritated by petty things like usual, or was something actually wrong?
Okay. Fine.
"Uh," he began, causing her to flick her eyes up at him. "I didn't know that Robbie was coming to the hospital too. Did you?"
Ha! Was he serious? Jade sighed loudly, dropping her hand and narrowing her eyes. She glared up at him, still maintaining the close proximity between them. Yes, this time she was trying to make him uncomfortable. Maybe he hadn't meant to engage her, but he definitely had. And since their fight earlier had been cut off, it was only fair. Sure, she might regret this later if the two of them ended up getting hurt, but. It was better than this awkward silent thing. Fighting and yelling was her territory. It was what she knew. She could handle this.
Besides. It's like he was begging her to start a fight with him. So... if he insisted. "I didn't even know that we were going," she hissed. "And you expect me to keep tabs on that giant afro, too?"
... Okay. Beck frowned, unable to stop the heavy sigh that escaped his lips as well. So much for playing nice. It was like they were playing a game. One person would try to make peace, and then the other would only wind them up further. Well... whatever. He'd entertain a fight for once. It wasn't like they were going anywhere soon.
"Jeez," he sighed, looking down at her. "Why do you try so hard to make fun of all of our friends?"
"Oh!" she exclaimed, her eyes widening. Fuel to the flame. She could see that the sparks were spreading to him, too. It was about time. She didn't mind increasing the rate a little, though. Egging people on was her specialty. "I think you mean your friends, Beck. It's not like I chose any of them!"
Beck scoffed. "Well, it's not like I'm forcing you to hang out with them!"
"You SIT with them! And you HANG OUT with them!"
"Because they're my friends! You don't have to!"
A screaming match. Beck had used this term before to describe their fights, and he couldn't help but apply it now. They could go from having a calm, pleasant evening to an intense argument only minutes later. Their comebacks were fast—one after another, in quick succession. They excelled at screaming matches. They could go pro.
"Well, I'm your girlfriend! What am I supposed to do?!"
He shook his head, frustrated to his very core. "Oh, now you're asking me to make a decision?" He rarely engaged her like this, and he knew that he would regret it later. It was an unspoken agreement between them—she'd heat up, and he'd cool her down. And then things would be okay. But now they were both on fire, and there was no water in sight.
Jade was about to pull her hair out. Although she usually loved picking fights with him, they were always petty; meaningless. But fights like this... she absolutely dreaded. They'd had so many of these in the week before they broke up, and all of them had been torturous. He was supposed to put up with her—be her catalyst. Shorten the time of her outbursts and her episodes. Listen to her. Be her impulse control, her voice of reason... not this. Not yell back at her. Not push her back.
She hated when he pushed back.
"What the hell do you mean by that?" she demanded, her entire body radiating with anger—the fire spreading, flames licking her hair, her cheeks. She knew what he meant, of course. But she wanted to hear him say it. Not do the passive-aggressive thing he always resorted to.
Beck scoffed, not even thinking before responding. "Both of us know that you're the one who makes all the decisions in our relationship."
"And you never seemed to have a problem with that until now." She'd already had her reply ready. Whether or not Beck was aware of it, she knew him like the back of her hand. Just as well as he knew her. Which is why they were oh-so good at insulting one another.
"There are a lot of things I have problems with, actually."
Just as he said it, his phone buzzed. Saved by the bell. Beck was desperate for an interruption to their fight. As soon as he'd said it, he'd regretted it.
As frustrated as he was, he hated conflict. And... he couldn't help it. The idea of being in an enclosed space with Jade while she was this upset was a little scary—even to him. While he pulled his phone out of his pocket, he caught a glimpse of her. Although her brow was still furrowed and her lips were still white with anger, her eyes seemed... distant.
It was true. They were good at insulting each other. Too good. Beck knew just how deep her insecurities ran, especially those involving their relationship. No matter how much she may have pushed him, he shouldn't have said that. The rational part of him knew that. The rational part of him was sorry. But the irrational part... couldn't focus on much else besides anger right now.
Beck glanced down at his phone. Sure enough, there was a new text from Andre-Robbie.
they called the fire department but it doesnt seem like they can get u guys out anytime soon. call me 4 details if u want. sry. ily
... Oh no.
He looked up at Jade, who was still flaming, her eyes glaring up at him. They were still dangerously close. And she was still dangerously angry. And they were still trapped in this goddamn elevator, their rescue seeming so, so far away.
And he had no goddamn clue of what to do next.