Beck's POV

"Beck…" Tori started. "What's going on?"

I didn't respond right away; I think I was shocked she was giving me a chance to explain and not jumping down my throat. But where do I start?

"I...," I looked up from my spot on the floor. "I'm in love with Jade." They were all quiet for a second, and I almost braced myself to be hit again.

"H—how?" Tori stuttered, looking confused. "I thought you guys barely knew each other." Hey, at least we'd fooled somebody.

"Why?" Robbie sounded outraged a bit, like he didn't understand why it was Jade and not Ally.

"I don't know what you mean…" I really didn't.

"How did this happen?" Tori seemed to regain her train of thought. "Was Ally right? Did you cheat on her?"

"Umm," I sighed. They made it seem so cheap. "It's not that easy to sum up."

"Try." She was clearly trying to give me the benefit of the doubt, but I'm not sure I deserved it.

"Jade and I met the night you guys brought me to that party when Ally was out of town…" she nodded that she remembered.

"That was a long time ago Beck," she started looking disappointed. "Don't tell me this has been going on that long!"

"No…no not like that," It was so hard to explain how I felt. "When I met her, nothing happened. I thought I'd never see her again, but then I did at the party a week later. And then she transferred to HA."

"For you?!" Robbie seemed like he was looking for any reason to get mad at me while Cat looked indifferent beside him. Sikowitz was sitting on a chair reading a magazine upside down as if none of this was happening.

"No!" I defended Jade. "She didn't know I went there, and you've seen her perform; she belongs there. Look, we started out just friends okay? But when I started to have feelings for her, I broke things off with Ally."

"Why?" Tori had her arms crossed now, reminding me of Jade.

"Because I knew it wasn't right to stay with Ally when I knew how I felt about Jade," It made sense to me at the time; I'd done the right thing.

"That time I saw you and Jade at McDonald's?" Robbie worded it like a question, but he wasn't asking anything.

"We were just hanging out," I remembered the awkward situation.

"You guys were all over each other!" He said accusingly.

"I can't take back anything I've done!" Not that I would… "I never meant to hurt Ally…" I shook my head slowly; this had gotten so crazy so fast. "Look, I can't think about all this right now, I need to focus on Jade."

"I knew something was going on." Robbie said more to himself before walking off.

"I better go make sure he's okay," Andre told us before heading in the same direction. Cat sat down in the chair next to me, looking lost.

"And I should go talk to Ally," Tori said, still shaking her head while she left. I buried my head in my hands with my eyes closed. Jade was so right, why hadn't I listened to her?

"Beck?" Cat's small voice reminded me she was still there.

"Yeah?" I looked up at her. She looked sad and like she was about to cry; at least she wasn't mad.

"Have you ever seen Enchanted?"

"What?" I looked at her confused; now was not the best time for a movie review.

"The movie, Enchanted?" She turned to me more animated. "It's about a princess from a fairytale land that gets stuck in New York?"

"Yeah, yeah I've seen it," I nodded, remembering taking Hannah to see it when it came out. "What about it?" She was so strange sometimes.

"Well…in the movie, the princess is friends with the man she meets while she's lost and oh my gosh remember that one scene in central park where she starts singing and it's so—,"

"Cat!" She'd obviously led herself on a tangent. "What's your point?" If there is one.

"My point is!" She seemed to recall. "The man has a girlfriend and the prince comes for the princess eventually, but in the end he wasn't her true love. The other man was."

"Uh huh…" I nodded.

"I'm just saying…sometimes people aren't actually in love with the people they're supposed to be in love with," She looked at me expectantly. "And it's not their fault…you don't choose love, Beck. It chooses you."

Wow. The person I least expected to make sense…made sense.

"Thanks, Cat." I don't know why, but her words made me feel better. She just smiled with those dimples and got up to leave. I assumed she went to look for Ally or Robbie when she left.

I sat there for who knows how long with nothing but Jade on my mind. Why had I been so ridiculously stupid? If she…if she's not okay, I'll never forgive myself.

Soon Sikowitz went back to HA to tell the principal what had happened, leaving me alone with the elderly couple in the corner. I stared at them while they continued to watch the Price is Right.

"$400" the woman said to the TV.

"No, no it's at least $500," her husband disagreed. Bob Barker revealed the real price on the screen.

"I told you so," the woman said to her husband while he just shrugged and put his arm around her shoulder.

I couldn't help but smile looking at them. That's exactly how I want me and Jade to be when we grow old; together. Of course…that plan only happens if Jade is okay.

After what turned out to be a half hour, the doctor we'd spoken to earlier came out to the waiting area. Moments later, the gang, Kris, and Jade's dad resurface too.

"Do you have an update?" Mr. West got straight to the point.

"Yes," the doctor nodded. "It seems Jade had a heart arrhythmia—,"

"Oh no!" Cat squealed and we all looked to her.

"What is that?" Kris demanded to know.

"It's basically an irregular heartbeat, we—,"

"How are you fixing it?" the doctor was cut off again, this time by Mr. West.

"We've already solved that problem in surgery," she paused when Cat squealed again. "The surgeons just finished treating her head injury now."

"What's wrong with her head?" Kris asked, sounding stupid. Man, I hate that guy.

"She had a subdural hematoma, we—,"

"A what?!" Kris exclaimed and I wanted to punch him. Would they just let her finish?

"It's a brain bleed," the doctor spoke slowly. "It must've happened when she hit her head." She side glanced at me and I felt everyone's eyes go to me. "It's under control for now, the doctors drilled a burr hole to relieve the pressure. So far—,"

"You drilled a hole into her skull?!" Mr. West sounded outraged, as if he had any medical background. "I'd like to speak to your supervisor, and see your patient history."

"Sir, right now my supervisor is closing the open wound on your daughter," the doctor spoke with more backbone. "Would you like me to call him to come talk to you or continue saving your daughter's life?"

Whoa, you go doctor…I forgot your name, but thanks for shutting this guy up.

"Well…I demand to speak to him as soon as he's done," Mr. West's rebuttal fell short.

"Is she gonna be okay?" I asked finally.

"So far so good," the doctor looked at me with a sincere expression. "They're taking her out of surgery now and moving her to a room on the 3rd floor."

"Can I see her?" I asked hopefully.

"No!" Kris shouted as if he had any say.

"She's still unconscious," the doctor said despite Kris' outburst. "As soon as the nurses set her up in her room, it's up to her parent or guardian who she sees, but try not to crowd the room." She looked around at our group of nine.

"Do you know when she'll wake up?" I wanted to know. I hope it's soon.

"It could be a few hours or a few days," she shrugged. "It all depends on her. We'll be monitoring her closely, though. If you have any questions, ask a nurse or have me paged." She left us again with Mr. West following her; at least this time we were in a somewhat better mood.

Jade was okay. She was still unconscious, but she was alive. For now, that was good enough. My legs started moving to find an elevator before anyone had even said anything.

"Beck, where are you going?" Tori's voice stopped me.

"To wait outside her room," I said, wasn't it obvious?

"There's no way I'm letting you see her ever again," Kris said conceitedly.

"Well that's not up to you is it?" I shrugged, no one could keep me away.

"No, but I know Mr. West will see things my way."

"I guess we'll find out," I said as I left and went directly into an elevator. I'm not wasting my time arguing with that idiot when Jade was up here alone somewhere.

I went up to the 3rd floor and got her room number from the much nicer receptionist there. She was way more friendly and gave me the location right away. I walked to the room to see the nurses leaving; does that mean I can go in?

Without waiting for someone to stop me, I walked inside the small room to see Jade laying on the plain hospital bed. She had a bandage around her head and her eyes were closed. She looked like she did when she slept, only smaller for some reason.

I walked over to her bed and pulled a chair next to her bedside. I sat down and took her hand, praying she'd hold mine back. I knew she wouldn't, but still the limp feeling of her fingers in my hand made me sad.

"I'm so sorry," I whispered as I kissed her hand. I don't know if she can hear me, but I had to say it. "I love you so much."

"Hey," I heard Kris' voice boom and turned to see him standing in the doorway. "You can't be in here!"

"Keep your voice down," I shushed him, and stayed where I was.

"Don't tell me what to do!" He ignored my warning. "Get the fuck out of here!"

The more he yelled, the more attention he brought to the room, and soon a security guard showed up.

"Is there a problem here?" the man in uniform asked with his hand on his baton.

"Yeah," Kris' voice was still raised. "This asshole needs to stay out of my girlfriend's room! She wouldn't want him here."

"That's a lie," I started to raise my voice too. He didn't know anything about me and Jade, about what we had.

"What is all this noise?" I heard Jade's father say as he entered the room. "You two can't be in here if you're going to disturb the peace. My daughter needs her rest."

"As if you have any clue what your daughter needs!" I let slip out.

"Excuse you, young man I—,"

"No! I'm sick of you two," I gesture to him and Kris. "You guys pretend you know Jade, but you don't!"

"And I suppose you do?" Kris stared at me pompously.

"No," I admitted. "But I know enough to know she'd want me here."

"Look, sir," the security guard spoke to Jade's father. "If you need these boys escorted off the property—,"

"No, no," Mr. West surprised me. "If they can be civil, they can both stay." He gave us warning looks and we both nodded; the security guard shrugged and left. "I've got to settle some things at my office, I'll be back later." He said before leaving.

Really? I shook my head and sat back down where I was. Jade wasn't even awake yet and he was already abandoning her.

Kris sat down on the reclining chair on the other side of the bed and folded his hands on his lap. I ignored him completely and continued my mental chanting, begging Jade to wake up.

.

.

.

.

I woke up when someone kicked my chair. I looked up to see Kristofer with a K standing next to me, holding a cup of coffee out to me. I took it skeptically and nodded thanks to him.

I searched the room groggily for the clock to see that it was now 2am. Jade was still unconscious, but I didn't remember falling asleep. I stretched and drank a sip of the coffee while Kris sat back down in his seat and stared at Jade.

At least he'd stopped yelling. He didn't even look mad, just worried; a feeling I knew too well. I put my cup down on the nightstand to take Jade's hand in mine again.

"You know," Kris broke the silence a few minutes later. "Jade was the first person I'd ever met…who had no friends."

Seriously? I looked at him incredulously. He was gonna make fun of her while she was lying in a hospital bed?

"People say they don't have friends, but really they have a few people they hang out with," he continued. "Or at least that one best friend…but she didn't have anyone. I mean her dad was there, but you see how he is…she actually had no one—,"

"What's your point?" I stopped him, not seeing any reason he was saying these things.

"My point is," he looked at me now. "She loves me. You might not think so but she does. I've been her only friend for three years."

"Things change."

"Not for us," he shook his head. "She needs me."

"No," I corrected him. "You want her to need you so you keep telling her that she does."

"You barely know her!"

"I know enough," I was getting angry now. I always hated the way he treated her. "She's the most incredible person I've ever met. She's stronger than you think. She doesn't need anyone, and she DOESN'T need you."

"Then why is she still with me?!" His words stopped me in my tracks. That was the one question I had no answer to. Every time Jade left my arms to be in his, I wondered why.

I stayed quiet and he accepted my silence as we continued to wait. I guess we'd have to wait for Jade to respond that question herself.

I can't help but be a little afraid of her answer.