Be kind : )

Jade's POV

"Where's Ally?" Cat had asked a second ago. Beck froze next to me, the look on his face read guilty guilty guilty. The longer we didn't answer, the guiltier we looked.

"She's probably at home in bed or something," I said with ease.

"Oh…umm I'm confused," Robbie said looking between Beck and I. "What are you guys doing here?"

"Uh my car broke down nearby," I made up a story. "I called Beck to pick me up. Then I got hungry." I tried to laugh it off. It didn't help that Beck just stood there like a zombie.

"Oh," Cat nodded with a smile, clearly believing me. I breathed a sigh of relief, and avoided eye contact with Robbie who was still looking skeptical. "Well let's all eat together!"

"Sure," Beck finally spoke.

We got our food and went to choose a table while Cat and Robbie got in line to order. Beck sat down next to me, and started panicking.

"They know something's up," he whisper-yelled.

"Relax!" I hushed him. "Just be cool. They don't know anything."

"They've seen us! They're gonna tell Ally and Kris and everyone!" For someone so calm, he sure wasn't handling the pressure well.

"Beck," I looked him straight in the eye, and put my hand on his under the table. "They don't know anything. All they saw was us standing in a McDonald's. Now we're all just a bunch of friends who happened to run into each other." I spoke slowly and he looked like he was starting to believe my words. Good, I'm glad someone did; my heart was still beating a mile a minute.

"You're right," he nodded. "Sorry. I'm usually not so…jumpy. It's just…sorry."

"Sorry for what?" Robbie questioned as he and Cat returned to our booth.

"Uh sorry for not getting her ranch," Beck said as he stood up and headed over to the condiments table.

"So what were you doing way out here?" Robbie asked, narrowing his eyes at me.

"My father just bought a beach house not far from here. He asked me to go look at it to see if I liked it." Not a complete lie, my father really did own property somewhere around here.

"Mmhmm," he nodded, taking a sip of his soda. "So what's wrong with your car?"

"Uh I don't know," I shrugged. Man, he had more spine than I thought. "I guess I'll have to get it looked at."

"Why didn't you call Kris to come pick you up?"

"He's on a snowboarding trip with his friends." True story; Kris being away for today was one of the main reasons I'd invited Beck over.

"Oh," Robbie nodded slowly. "That's too bad."

"Here you go, sorry about that," Beck said as he sat down handing me a few packets of ranch. "So what are you two doing way out here?" Good question.

"Robbie's not allowed at anymore of the McDonalds' in Hollywood," Cat answered in a soft tone. I didn't bother to ask why; it was no surprise that he could manage to get banned from a fast food place.

"Ooo guys look at the cute toy I got!" Cat squealed showing us the Hello Kitty keychain that came with her happy meal. Eventually Robbie stopped asking us questions, and went back to acting like himself. It was still one of the most awkward meals of my life. I ate as fast as I could, and then got up to use the restroom. I needed a break from all the weirdness. When I walked out of the bathroom, Robbie was waiting for me.

"Uh, Robbie this is the girl's restroom," I said moving to walk away. He blocked the pathway, and tried to look stern.

"What's going on?" He asked with his eyebrows scrunched together.

"What do you mean?"

"I'm not buying that your car broke down when your boyfriend just happened to be out of town."

"Well you don't have to buy anything. It's the truth." No way I was gonna let this little punk make me admit anything.

"What's going on with you and Beck?"

"What?" I did my best to look outraged. "Nothing. Beck was just being a good friend. Unlike someone I know."

"Ally is a really great girl. She and Beck love each other."

"That's great. Now move."

"I'm just saying that they don't need someone like you coming in between them."

"What do you mean someone like me?"

"I mean you're rich and beautiful. You could probably have anything or anyone you want, but stay away from Beck. Allison makes him happy. You could only hurt him."

"I would never hurt Beck."

"Maybe not on purpose, but people with lives like yours are used to getting what they want and not worrying about collateral damage. Beck is an optimist so he might not see it, but I do. You're poison, Jade. If you're not careful, you're gonna ruin his life."

"There's nothing going on between Beck and I," I said before pushing him back into the wall. "And if you ever talk to me like that again, I'll cut out your intestines with my scissors and force feed them to you."

I got a look at his frightened face before walking back to Beck and Cat at the table. Nobody talks to me that way. Nobody.

Beck's POV

We were driving back into town now, with the windows down and the radio on. Jade had turned the volume up all the way the second I started the car, and hadn't said a word to me the whole time we were here. What had Robbie said to her? I knew I should've checked on them when he got up after her. I lowered the radio and got her attention.

"What's on your mind?" I asked, trying to seem nonchalant.

"Nothing," she said simply and I knew she was lying.

"Why aren't you talking?"

"I have nothing to say," her tone started to sound irritated. I decided to drop it hoping she'd tell me later until she spoke up again. "Do you…never mind."

I hated when she did that.

"Tell me." I urged. She sighed, but responded.

"Do you think I'm poison?"

"What?" Where did that come from?

"Do you think I'm poison?" she repeated louder. "Do you think I'm just some kind of succubus draining the life out of you?"

"No, of course not! Why would you ask that? Did Robbie say something to you?"

"No," she lied again.

"Jade, you're not poison. You're amazing."

"Stop saying things like that."

"Why? It's true."

"NO! It's not," She raised her voice. "It's the furthest thing from the truth. I'm not some amazing, beautiful girl, I'm a poisonous home wrecker."

"Jade—"

"Don't bother defending me. You know it's true."

"Well then it's true about me too. I'm cheating on my person too." She was starting to get me upset. Why did she have to ruin what had been an awesome day?

"Yeah, well you're a terrible person too." That's it.

"You think I like lying to Allison?! I hate it."

"So stop." She crossed her arms.

"You know what?" I called her bluff. "I will."

"What?"

"I'm gonna tell her the truth. I'm gonna break up with her. I can't take this guilt trip anymore. You're worth it, but not if you're gonna make me feel guilty too."

"Beck, you can't tell her. Nothing good can come of it."

"How can you say that?!" I slammed my hand down on the steering wheel. "If we were single, we could be together!"

"We ARE together!"

"Not really," I shook my head. "We barely talk in public, we have to sneak out at midnight to see each other, and lie to our friends about why we're at a freaking McDonald's together. I'm tired of it! I want to take you out to dinner without hating myself. I want you to meet my parents and go to my little sister's soccer games with me!"

"I can still meet your parent's and go to a damn soccer game, Beck! Don't tell Allison! I can't deal with that right now. She'll hate me, everyone will!"

"I won't." I turned onto her street, and tried to sell my argument. "Don't you want to be with me?"

"No. Yes. No…not if it means losing the only friends I have." She didn't think we were worth telling the truth?

"I don't know, Jade, maybe you like lying. Maybe it excites you."

"What?!" she yelled as we arrived at her house.

"Maybe you're onto something with this poison theory," I said making her give me one last dirty look before storming out of my car. Now I've managed to piss off the person I cared about most. Way to go.

Jade's POV

It was around 11pm when I got inside my house. I heard Beck's truck pull out of my driveway and take off in a rush. I hated fighting with him. It's so hard to argue when all he does is make sense. He was right, I wanted to be able to be seen with him in public without lying, but I couldn't risk losing Kris or any of my new friends.

I knew he was saying those mean things because he was upset I didn't want to tell the truth, but I couldn't act like it was okay. Robbie made me feel bad enough, I didn't need to hear it from Beck too. I was about to go upstairs to bed when my doorbell rang. Maybe he came back to apologize. I ran to answer the door, and was slightly disappointed to see Kris standing on my porch…with a half empty bottle in his hand.

"JJ!" He yelled at me. Oh great, just what I needed.

"Hey, what're you doing here?" I crossed my arms. I can't deal with this right now.

"Whatya think I'm doing? The boys and I got home early so I decided to come pick up my sexy girlfriend for a night on the town!" He was slurring his speech, which usually didn't happen till he was wasted. My head was already throbbing in pain, He's gotta go.

"Oh. Thanks, but I can't right now. I don't feel that good," I started to close the door, but he pushed it wide open, stubbing my toe and hitting my face in the process.

"OUCH! Damn it Kris!" I shouted, holding my hand to my eye and standing on one foot.

"Shh…shh…JJ calm down," he rubbed my shoulder roughly while I tried to keep my balance. "You're too uptight. You need to calm down…shh, you need a drink," he held the open tequila bottle out to me. I pushed it away and he lost his grip on it, letting it fall to the ground with a crash.

"Damn you, Jade!" He screamed at me. "That was the last bottle! You're such a bitch sometimes!"

"Okay. You need to leave," I said calmly. I really don't have it in me to fight again.

"No! What's your problem?! All I ever try to do is get you to have fun! And all you ever say is no!"

"Kris—"

"You know, just 'cause some drunk guy killed your mom doesn't mean you can't have a drink once in awhile! It's not like she's here to be disappointed in you!"

I froze in my place, not able to speak. I took a deep breath, and felt my eyes start to water. No. Not here. Not now.

"Get out," I said through gritted teeth.

"Wait, babe, I didn't—"

"GET OUT!" I screamed at the top of my lungs. I pushed him out the door, and slammed it shut as hard as I could. As soon as it was closed, I burst into tears.

My mother was the kindest most wonderful woman to have ever walked this planet. And she was gone.

My phone buzzed and I looked to see Kris' stupid photo staring up at me. I threw my cell phone as hard as I could and listened to it shatter as it hit my living room wall.

I slid down the back of the door and sat on the floor with nothing to do but wait for the tears to stop.

Beck's POV

I had driven back to my house in a rage. Why did Jade always make things so difficult? She just had to look at the downside of every situation; even us! I had spent the entire drive home counting the reasons that fight wasn't my fault. Still, the second I got to my house, I made up my mind to go back to her house and apologize. But when I put my car in reverse, the door to my RV opened.

Allison had come out waving happily to me and I'd had no choice but to go to her. She said she was there to surprise me; she succeeded. She brought her overnight bag so I assumed she was sleeping over. She'd slept here before, and no, nothing ever happened between us.

Ally and I had only ever kissed, she had told me she wasn't ready for anything further and that was fine with me. Honestly, it was. I never had any problems resisting Ally…at least not like I had with Jade. Everything was just so screwed up in my head, I didn't want her to notice, but she did as we sat at my tiny foldout table, eating macaroni and cheese she'd made for us.

"Beck," she said while I was trying to fit three pieces of macaroni on my fork. "What's wrong?"

"Hmm?" I looked to her.

"You're acting weird. And you look sad. Did something happen?"

"No…nothing happened." It's not like I could tell her.

"Are you sure? Cat told me you had to drive out to pick up Jade or something? What happened?"

"What do you mean?" I fought to keep my eyes from bulging.

"I mean I thought you had plans with your dad today? To build a shed or something?" Jeez. Jade had me so messed up I could barely remember my own story.

"Oh. Yeah. He uh cancelled on me," I lied again. I really hate all this lying, but if I tell the truth…well I don't know what would happen.

"Oh…" she made a sympathetic face and put her hand on my arm. "Do you wanna talk about it?"

"Mmm there's not really anything to talk about."

"Really? I know it's been awhile since you guys spent any real time together. How does that make you feel?"

"Umm…look I'm really not up to it right now…do you think we could just go to sleep?" Please say yes. I don't have the energy to come up with another lie.

"Yeah of course," she smiled at me obviously trusting my words and I felt even worse than I did before.

Jade's POV

I managed to get myself into my pajama shorts and a tank top but failed to fall asleep. I laid in bed for at least an hour tossing and turning before giving up and coming downstairs for a drink of water. I sat on a stool at my kitchen counter looking at the broken mess that used to be my phone. I tried to fix it but knew it was beyond repair when it literally split in two.

"Wow," I heard my father say. I looked up to see him staring at the mangled device on the counter. "What happened to it?"

"I uh dropped it."

"Oh," he kind of nodded and pulled out his wallet. "Here, buy yourself a new one." He said as he handed me a glossy platinum credit card.

"Thanks," I smiled as big as I could force. He looked like he was about to leave but stayed where he was.

"Jade," He used his professional voice. "Can I ask you a question?"

"Uh sure," I nodded slowly. He never asked unnecessary questions, just accepted whatever answers I chose to give him.

"Why did you and Kristofer break up? He seemed like a nice boy from a good family." This was so awkward.

"We uh didn't break up," I looked away. This was obviously about what he saw with Beck today.

"What?" he creased his eyebrows together.

"We're still together," I said as casually as possible while taking a sip of water.

"Then—then who was that boy in your room today?" I can't tell what he's getting at, but I don't want to know either.

"He's…a friend," Or something.

"Is that how you act with all your friends?" he started to raise his voice. What's going on here?

"Dad, I thought we minded our own business when it came to our personal lives?" I pointed out our unofficial understanding.

"Well that was before I found out you were sleeping around!"

"What?! I am NOT sleeping around!" I stood up. He may be my father, but that doesn't give him an all access pass to insult me. "And even if I was, it has nothing to do with you!"

"It will when people start finding out about your ways!"

"What 'ways'?! All I've done is have a friend over. You don't know me so stop acting like you know my life!"

"Jade, no daughter of mine is going to whore around this town tearing apart my reputation when I've worked so hard to build it up." He snapped at me.

"So you think I'm a whore?"

"That's not what I said."

"That what you meant." I could feel my body shaking in anger. Where the hell was all this parenting when I needed it? And what the hell was this, pick on Jade day or something?

"No, I'm just saying that you owe me and yourself enough to be faithful."

"I don't owe you anything!" I shouted before throwing my glass at the wall behind him. It shattered around me as I stormed up the staircase and ran into my room, locking the door behind me.

I turned my stereo on full blast and climbed into bed. I learned, to my sorrow, that my eyes still had plenty of tears left to shed.

Beck's POV

I stirred a bit wondering where the buzzing noise was coming from before realizing a phone was ringing. I reached across Allison's sleeping form and picked my cell phone up from my nightstand. I pressed the answer button with my eyes still closed.

"Hello?" I said, my voice sounding lazy and gravelly. I heard a quiet sniffle and opened my eyes wide.

"Beck?"

"Jade?" I sat up in my bed. "Why are you calling so late?" I kept my tone hushed.

"I don't know," she said slowing, sounding unsteady.

"It's uh kinda hard to talk right now." I looked down at Ally, making sure she was still asleep. I heard a sniffle over the phone again and recognized that she was breathing unevenly. "Jade? Are you crying?"

She sniffed again and I heard her inhale shakily.

"No," she whispered, but I heard her sob quietly.

"Is everything okay? What happened?" I'd never seen her cry, or heard her for that matter. Something must've been really wrong. I should've gone back to apologize. "Jade? What's wrong, babe? Are you okay?"

"Yeah…" she sounded like she was calming down a bit. "I'm—I'm fine…I just…thought I needed to talk to you…but if you can't…"

"No!" I said too loudly. Ally was still knocked out when I looked over at her, though. "Just…hold on, give me a sec."

I climbed over Allison as carefully as I could, and tiptoed towards my door. I opened it as soundlessly as possible and went outside, shutting it slowly. I sat down in the bed of my truck and ignored the cold quickly chilling my body.

"Jade? Are you still there?"

"Yeah."

"Okay, I can talk now."

"Where are you?"

"Outside, on my truck. Ally slept over…"

"Oh."

"Tell me what happened. Why are you crying?"

"I shouldn't have called. I'm sorry."

"Don't be. I was dying to talk to you…"

"Really? Why?"

"I feel horrible about how we left things." I sighed and shook my leg nervously. I hope she's still not mad.

"Me too…"

"I was gonna go back. Jade I promise I was about to turn around and apologize but Ally was already here and—"

"It's fine Beck. Really. It's probably better that you didn't come back…Kris stopped by."

"Oh. He's not there now is he?" I questioned, trying not to sound too curious.

"No. he was pretty drunk when he showed up," she sighed. "We got into a fight and…it was stupid. I should know better than to take anything he says seriously when he's wasted."

"What did he say?" I wondered out loud. That douche bag couldn't keep his mouth shut. She deserved so much better.

"I'd really rather not say…it was dumb."

"Is that why you're upset? Because you and Kris fought?"

"Partly…and then there's my dad." Her dad?

"I thought you guys had an arrangement or whatever?"

"Yeah so did I…until he started calling me a slut."

"What?! Seriously?"

"Well he said that he hadn't realized I was—and I quote—sleeping around."

"Because of me…" I realized slowly.

"Yeah…he asked about Kris and kind of went off on me when I told him we were still together."

"I'm sorry." I never wanted to make her life harder for her, but it's not like either of us planned this.

"It's not your fault Beck. It was all just a little too much arguing and fighting for one night. And now my head is killing me and I…" she sounded like she might start crying again.

"It's gonna be okay Jade. You're not a slut, Kris will probably apologize as soon as he's sober, and…you still have me." As if that made anything better.

"Beck?" she sounded unsure of herself for once.

"Yeah?"

"Do you…never mind."

"No say it."

"I just—what do you feel when you're around me?" Indescribable emotions.

"Why do you ask?"

"Just tell me."

"Umm okay. Well it's usually like this weird—"

"Weird?!"

"Let me finish!"

"Go ahead."

"It's like this weirdly amazing feeling. Like when we kiss…its fireworks and I feel like I'm flying or something. I get knots in my stomach 'cause you make me so nervous," I took a deep breath, I can't believe I'm telling her this. "And it's weird because at the same time I feel completely at ease. Like you're a safe place for me to go."

She didn't say anything.

"Jade? What's this about? Did I say something wrong?" I know how much she hates the cheesy talk, but she asked!

"No…no, not at all. I was just…trying to figure it out for myself."

"Oh…did I help?"

"No. not at all." She laughed lightly. "I just have all these questions and no one to answer them."

"What questions?"

"Just questions…"

"You can always ask me…"

"…I wanna know why I can't breathe when I think about you. And why I can't speak whenever someone brings you up in a conversation? Why do you make my heart beat out of my chest when you look at me? And…how do I make it all stop?"

It was a little surreal hearing her tell me how she felt. She was usually too guarded for me to get a read, but here she was; an open book. We were both silent for a minute before I finally spoke.

"I think you already know why. I think we both do…but we're afraid to admit it…'cause it would make things too…real. And we don't know where admitting those feelings would leave us…and I don't think you can stop it from happening. I think it's too late for that…at least it is for me."

It was like I'd fallen before I had the chance to realize it, and from the sound of it, she felt the same.

"I don't want things to be this way." What did that mean?

"Do you…want to stop?" I held my breath waiting for her answer, which took her awhile to say.

"I don't think I can do that…"

"Neither can I."

"So…where does that leave us?"

"I don't know," I said honestly.

"Goodnight, Beck."

"Sleep tight, Jade." I said before hanging up. Although it seemed like we hadn't made any more sense of our relationship, I felt like we did. Now, I know I'm not just projecting my feelings onto her. She feels the same way about me. I don't know why, but having someone as incredible as Jade feel that way about me makes me feel like I'm capable of anything.

As luck would have it, two minutes after I hung up the phone my RV door opened, and Ally stepped out, looking sleepy.

"Beck? What're you doing out here? It's freezing!"

"I couldn't sleep."

"Oh. Well come back inside, you're turning blue."

I followed her back inside and fell asleep beside her. I've never had an out of body experience so I can't be sure, but right now it feel like my body is here…and my heart is somewhere else entirely.

Happy day : )