Agent Taggert you're the man. Thanks for Beta-ing this story.
[Tori's POV]
"No, it's just…ugh, I hate talking about feelings." Jade mutters, sinking into her seat and drifting off into thought. Beck's eyes dart between his girlfriend's and his would be therapists. I chew the inside of my cheek, and nervously twirl a strand of hair around my finger. I've never been good with handling Jade, so I turn to Robbie. He presses his knuckles to his lips in thought for a few moments before a solution catches fire within his eyes and he leans forward.
"Beck, Jade is being a total gank because she's unhappy with this whole open relationship thing you two are trying out. She feels as though you're drifting apart, and the onset of Tori's relationship with me has only served to inflame those emotions." My jaw hangs slack and I blink with a start. Turning to Robbie as he leans back into his seat, I notice something akin to smugness crossing his lips. I wonder to myself if he's ever considered becoming a couple's therapist, because from the look on Jade's face he's nailed the root of her issues.
"What? I can deliver wisdom…" Robbie states after a few moments as the stunned silence lingers around the table. He sounds totally indignant, and the way his lips push into a childish pout only serves to make the sight even more amusing. Beck's eyes flitter away from Jade for a moment as I lean over to Robbie and plant a chaste kiss on his cheek.
"I know you can, honey." My words are patronizing at it's worst. Biting down on my lip to stifle my laughter, I peer up through my eyelashes at Robbie. He's giving me an evil glare, that I'm sure in his mind is quite terrifying. The only thing frightening about the look on Robbie's face is that way his lips have begun to part. I'd recognize the curl anywhere; he's about to launch into some kind of long winded explanation of why he's right. In a flash, I seal his lips with my own, and drain the fight from him with a kiss that's nothing if not laced with passion.
"So Jade, what else were you saying?" Beck states with a cough, apparently having lost patience with us. At the sound of his voice, I reluctantly drag myself away from Robbie's lips and slip back into my seat. In spite of the serious look on Beck's face, my lips quirk into a satisfied curve. Maybe if they were paying us, we would be more professional. As it is though, these are the kinds of things that Beck and Jade will have to deal with when we're helping them out.
"Shapiro over there kind of, well kind of really nailed it. How did you know that?" Jade's reply trickles out of her lips to start with, her voice soft and contemplative. But with her question towards Robbie, the daggers slip back into her tone. They fly past Robbie's head and I'm surprised when he doesn't flinch at the glare Jade's tossing in his direction. Her eyes are narrowed into slits, and honestly, I'm a little uncomfortable just being in the same room as her right now.
"That night at the hospital. You made it pretty obvious from the way you were talking." Robbie counters, his voice is smooth and lacks the inherent rattle that seemed to accompany most of his responses in the past. Despite my lack of knowledge on the subject, I find myself backing him up nodding along with him. We're nothing if not a united front. With the hospital mentioned, my mind circles away from the events unfolding before me and back to the night Robbie swept me off my feet. I'm picturing Robbie crooning beneath the pale lights of a gazebo when Jade's irritated sigh of resignation wrenches me away from my memories.
"Alright then…" Jade mumbles quietly as she sinks back into her seat. Her eyebrows drag together, as she struggles to hold her face in a neutral expression. Peering closer, the fissures in her façade are gaping widely. The pain beneath shines through like a scarlet light. Beside her, Beck's eyes are aimed directly at the ground. His hands lying before him on the table. His fingers are entwined and his thumbs are flittering uncertainly, never quite settling in place. The silence only seems to separate Beck and Jade even further, a gulf appearing between them.
"In that case, I don't want this anymore." Beck announces, tossing the words carelessly from his lips. I feel the whole room tumble into chaos with his admission. Jade's eyes blow wide open as Beck draws his arms close and falls into the deepest recesses of his seat. I'm quivering like a leaf in the wind when their eyes meet once more. At the sound of a pained whimper, my eyes dip to where my hand in linked with Robbie's. My knuckles are bleached white and I'm constricting his fingers like some sort of overly emotional Boa Constrictor. Wincing sheepishly, I relinquish my death grip on his hand and rub small circles around his injured appendage.
"What, so you're breaking up with me?" Jade shrieks, her voice rushing into the air as something like a primal growl. I inhale sharply as Jade erupts from her seat and digs her fingernails into her hair. Jade's about two steps away from a nervous breakdown, and we're right in the line of fire if her eyes ever stray away from Beck.
"Are you gunna keep acting like such a gank?" Beck asks, rising from her seat. My eyes dart between the two warriors before us. In my mind's eye, the room around us falls away, and a boxing ring encircling us all. Beck's words land like heavy blows to Jade's midsection, and she doubles over slightly, the wind rushing from her lungs.
"I'm always going to act that way. I can't fucking help it. I know it's crappy, but you're everything to me, so when some Northridge girl starts slither up to you, my first reaction is to freak out. I'm sorry; it's just how I am. I've tried changing everything about us to stop, but it's killing me. I can't carry like this…I guess we're over." Far from being a battle cry, the stench of defeat hangs over Jade's voice. Her long black curls sweep across her face, but her shoulder cut jagged lines against the air and I can hear the unmistakable sound of Jade's walls crumbling. She falls back into her seat, and then her head spills forth into her hands as the seams come undone and the collapses totally. Beck stands before her, stunned at the admission. I think he'd been expecting her to construct some sort of promise that she'd change for him. Instead, Jade's raw honestly tore her apart.
"I don't want to be over." Beck states, finally speaking after a few moments. He emphasizes the final word, and it seems to snap Jade out of her misery. She aggressively wipes away the tears that have ruined her make up, and peers up at Beck. He's looming over her, but the look in his eyes holds nothing but love for the mess in front of him.
"You don't?" Jade asks with a sniff, still trying to pull herself back into her original shape. Beck shakes his head and drags his chair close to Jade. Sinking back into it, he leans forward and brushes a loose strand of hair away from Jade's eye.
"Of course not. I just…can we not do this anymore?" Beck again places emphasis on one word. The way he says this attaches months of pent up emotions and frustrations to those usually vague four letters. I hear Jade swallow the lump in her throat as she nods along with him. For the first time in the long while, it seems as though the couple before us is on the same page of the same book.
"You two are so cute!" Before I can stifle them, the words erupt from my lips and shatter the reconciliation before me. Beck's arms freeze just as they were about to land on Jade's shoulders, and his eyes shift toward me. I can count the amount of times I've seen Beck upset with me on one hand, this is another addition to that rare collection of memories. My throat tightens as though an invisible hand is strangling the air from me. Watching Jade's narrowed eyes, I'm almost certain that her thoughts have simply become corporeal and she's somehow responsible for it.
"I ruined a moment…" I lament, choking the words out. Beside me, Robbie's soft chuckling seems to loosen Jade's grip on my throat. Feeling his arm curl around me protectively, I feel assured that he's not going to let either of the murderous couple sitting across the table from us throttle me.
"Yeah, again! Good one Vega." Jade snarls, trying to bare her fangs. She's toothless though. Her threat cuts through the air, but it's been dulled by Beck's arm as he finally hangs it over her shoulder. Jade quickly melts into his touch and for a second, the Beck and Jade of old slips into view before us.
"I like the way you ruin moments." Robbie whispers conspiratorially, breathing the words into my ear and sending a white flame shooting up my spine. I lean into his lips and feel them brush against my ear. It only serves to erase my patience for this situation. Tearing myself out of my seat, I stride towards Beck and Jade with the intention of hastening their reconciliation.
"Look, love's not perfect. But Beck, if you love Jade, you'll accept that. Jade, you'll do the same. Things happen, people act stupid, time moves on! What I'm saying is…Just cut the crap and figure this out so Robbie and I can go back to bed." What had started out as an impassioned speech about the complexities of love and human emotion devolved into a semi coherent rant. My shoulders slump and I retreat back into my seat, deciding that if anybody is going to speak, it should probably be Robbie.
"This pains me since it comes from her. But she's right." Jade mumbles, refusing to acknowledge me any more than necessary. I catch glimpses of her emerald eyes through the strands of her midnight hair. There's a brightness shimmering within them that's been missing for some time.
"That she is." Beck replies, his lips curving ever so slightly at the edges. The clock flicks through another few seconds before Beck moves again, but when he does it's to sweep Jade into his arms. She melts into his arms as they kiss, truly kiss, for what seems like the first time in an eternity. I wonder how long it's been since they both let their guard down and allowed themselves the freedom of this kind of embrace.
"Awww!" I gush, getting swept away in the moment. As I realize what I've done, I hurl my hands over my lips and try desperately to shove the sound back into my mouth. It's too late though. I've broken the spell between Beck and Jade, and they're glaring at me again. Well Jade is, Beck's still lost in the haze of their embrace.
"That's it. Look, we appreciate you two coming down here. But you've been little to no help. We're leaving." Jade states plainly, before shoving her chair away from the table and leaping to her feet once more. My mouth flickers open and shut incredulously. It's hard to assist people when they glare at you with every word that passes your lips. From the corner of my eye, I can see a similar mutinous look on Robbie's face.
"Thanks guys." Beck whispers, rising out of his seat and hovering above the table across from us. With those two words, the mutiny slides off our faces. We may have been mere ornaments in their reconciliation, but the ends justify the means. If they've truly begun to sift through their problems, a few lost moments down here was definitely worth it.
"Hurry up Beckett, we have time to make up for." The words sail over Jade's shoulder as she steps toward their room. It doesn't escape my attention that her steps are a little lighter than usual. It also doesn't escape my attention that Beck's gaze flies away from us and within seconds he's bounding towards the sound of her voice. My lips drag themselves into a smile as I turn to Robbie who looks completely baffled. Beck and Jade have always been an enigma, I guess.
"What…the hell… was that?" Robbie asks, as his eyebrows upturn in utter disbelief of the ordeal we just went through. My eyes trail Beck and Jade as their forms are swallowed by the darkness. Shaking my head lightly, I'm not entirely sure of what we just witnessed either. The lack of screaming emanating from their room is encouraging though.
"I think we just fixed their relationship?" I'm not entirely sure if that's true or not, but it can't be any more broken than it was when they burst into our room. Rolling my shoulders, a smirk finds its way onto my lips as Robbie draws back slightly. I can see him chewing the inside of his cheek in contemplation, and my heart begins to jump within my chest as I realize that we're free from commitment once again.
"We said like three words" He mumbles, throwing his palms into the air in mock outrage. Our shared laughter sails in the air as the tension Beck and Jade brought into the room seems to recede into the past. Robbie's eyes lock with mine, and my thoughts begin to drift away from their problems.
"At least it's fixed…sort of." I counter, still speaking through a smile. I'm certain there's a devilish glint in my eyes, because Robbie's chocolate orbs widen with realization as he notices my gaze drifting towards the stairs. He drags a deep breath into his lungs and I feel his shoulders stiffen behind me. Catching my bottom lip between my teeth, I wait anxiously as Robbie begins to formulate words.
"So…back to bed?" Robbie asks, an impish grin curving his lips as he pushes out of his seat and hovers over me. My heartbeat begins to pick up as his confidence returns and I realize the thoughts floating through his mind echo mine. With Robbie, this sort of confidence is usually fleeting, but I can't deny the thrill that it sends spiraling up my spine when it does appear.
"You read my mind." I answer, nodding my head and pecking his lips as I push myself out of my seat. Encircling his wrist, I whirl around and drag him towards the stairs. I catch the white of Robbie's teeth flashing through the air behind me from the corner of my eye as he trails me. I catch my bottom lip between my teeth again as nervous excitement floods my veins. This night has lingered for an eternity; I can't wait to get back to our room.
This time I will not be forgetting to lock the door.
I know this took an age, to come out with, but I ended up totally rewriting it about three times in order to get more Rori into the middle of a Bade therapy session. Anyway, everybody go nuts on reviewing and I'll have the next chapter up on Monday if y'all show some love now? To show you it's all done, here's an excerpt:
The material slides away and the toned perfection of Tori's body comes into my line of vision. Not for the first time, it robs me of my breath. I'm a spluttering mess as I realize that she hadn't been wearing a bra downstairs. As Tori walks towards me, her hips compose a sirens melody that paralyzes me. All of my thoughts seem to drift out of reach and I swallow thickly as the distance between us evaporates. She clasps my shirt in her hand and lifts it up, as a devilish smile appears on her lips.
Yeah, it's M rated. No interruptions this time, I promise.