Once again you guys never fail to amaze me with the love. It makes me feel supremely happy to know that my first story has been so successful. I'm just in awe every day reading all of the amazing stories in this fandom, and glad that people are liking this one so much.

Ok, so guess what time it is? That's right...SHOUT OUT TIME!

Grazie mille (ok so I had to use a translator with that one-I'm not that talented...lol) to: ZOMG its Angie (from Chpt 4-comment received after Chpt 5 was posted), xFabinao, ZOMG its Angie (again but this time for Chpt 5), and greenkittycat.

Now for a SPECIALIZED SHOUT OUT! Thank you sooooo much to Kaylee who informed me of the Naturalization Process. I wish I could give you more, but virtual cookies are about all I can afford right now. :D

Obligatory Disclaimer: Still not currently the owner of The Proposal or Victorious

Happy eating!...I mean reading... ;)

CHAPTER 6

Jade walked into the LAX airport Friday morning with her sunglasses on her face and a scowl prominently in place. So far she had not been having a good morning. FIrst her alarm failed to go off, (she adamantly refused to admit it was her fault because she had broken it yesterday morning by throwing it at the wall because it had gone off and woken her up early to get ready for her and Beck's meeting with Mr. Amberson) then her hair dryer died after two minutes, forcing her to throw her hair up in a messy, wet bun on top of her head. Then, she'd only had time to shove down a protein bar as she was getting into the taxi. At least she got to have something for breakfast, but having no coffee this morning was strike three for Jade. The only thing that kept her from completely tearing off the heads of everyone she came across, was the fact that she had already packed her bags last night.

Fortunately for Jade, even though there are many terminals at the airport, the international flights all leave from the same one (I've never been to California, let alone LAX, so I just made it similar to one of the airports in my state). As she neared the check-in desk, she caught sight of Beck and what she saw caused her eyes to light up. She rushed toward him and yanked the cup of coffee out of his hand, even though he had already been holding it out to her, and proceeded to indulge in her favorite beverage. She smiled for the first time all morning, and finally believed that something would go right for her today.

"You're welcome." Beck smiled as he spoke. He didn't expect a thank you since he has never gotten one any other time. He then bent down and grabbed both the bag Jade was going to check, as well as his own, and went to get their boarding passes.

Beck had known Jade long enough to be able to read her mannerisms with practiced ease. This skill, combined with the fact that he was aware she hated Canada, led to his decision that it would be best not to start any conversation with her, at least not at this time of day combined with her present appearance. Rather, he would let her choose whether or not she wanted to speak with him.

Jade was thankful Beck kept quiet, because she was definitely in no mood to participate any conversation on the flight. Instead, she had popped her headphones in and listened to her ipod while reading the latest issue of whatever trashy magazine she happened to grab before they had boarded.

"Ugh I can't believe she's married to him!" Beck smiled to himself at Jade's outburst.

Five minutes later...

"Oh my god. She actually thinks that would look good in public?" At this Beck gave an amused snort, but refrained from looking in Jade's direction because he wanted to hear what else she had to say.

Three minutes later...

"Who the hell knocked her up? Glad I never hired that slut."

Beck, almost sat silently shaking in his seat after that comment. Unlike Jade, he had realized that her voice wasn't all that quiet as she had been making her remarks. Even though Beck was throughly enjoying listening to what was coming out of Jade's mouth, he had finally gotten tired of receiving glares from other passengers, and waved his hand over the magazine to get her attention.

"What?" She had calmed down considerably after drinking another cup of coffee, but still didn't want to be bothered.

"Look, some people aren't exactly thrilled with your commentary. I know you don't care what they think, but for the safety of the public and so my parents don't have to bail either of us out of jail, will you please try to keep your thoughts private?" Beck gave her his most winning smile, hoping she wouldn't choose to create a scene on the plane.

Contrary to popular belief, Jade didn't always like to argue. She knew when to pick her battles while still asserting her dominance. She simply rolled her eyes, huffed out a "whatever," and went back to flipping pages.

Beck savored his little victory and settled back to take a nap for the rest of the flight.

/

After Beck collected their bags, he and Jade made their way outside to where Beck's parents, along with his grandma, were waiting.

"Mom, Dad, Nana, I'd like you to meet Jade West. Jade, this is my mother, Mary, my dad, Craig, and my Nana, Betty (Yeah I'm sure you can guess why I chose those names)." Beck was fervently praying that his family wouldn't create a scene when they realized Jade was with him, since he never told them who exactly would be accompanying him on this trip.

Although his mom was burning with the need to ask why Jade was there, luckily for Beck she was able to pick up the subtle hints he was sending, and settled for saying, "It's nice to finally meet you Jade. We've heard so much about you."

"Yeah, um, thanks." At Beck's slight glare, she added, "It's nice to meet you guys too. Happy?" The question was directed at Beck, and ignoring the looks his family was sending in their direction, he responded affirmatively.

"Enough small talk. Let's get your stuff in the car ." Beck's dad had started lifting the bags as he spoke, but was then helped by Beck to load them into the car's trunk.

The car ride was silent, save for Beck's Nana trying to sing along to the music on the radio, but always ending up a few beats off. Each person was lost in thought, and no one attempted to begin a conversation.

Roughly one hour later, (57 minutes to be exact-guess who had been counting?) Beck began to perk up as his hometown came into view. He didn't really miss Canada per say, he was simply overcome by a feeling of nostalgia. Seeing the familiar 'Irricana Welcomes You. Population: 2375' sign, with Alberta's motto, 'Strong and Free' underneath, (Both the sign itself and the population total are made up, but the motto is true) stirred up both good and bad memories. He was so lost in reminiscing, he failed to realize they had pulled up to the dock where the family boat was tied. The boat would be their final mode of transportation before reaching the family home. Jade, however, didn't know this, so when she let out a groan of disproval, Beck was hardly surprised. "Relax. It's only a 15 minute ride, then we'll finally be there." His words failed to appease Jade, for she had begun to internally freak out at how long Beck said they would be in the boat. She had an irrational fear of water, be it oceans or lakes, and vowed to never tell anyone, not even Cat, that secret.

Unlike Beck, Jade had been paying rapt attention to everything they passed on the drive from the airport. She wanted to catalogue all that she saw so she could add it to her ever growing list of 'Things I HATE about Canada.' As the car entered the town of Irricana, Jade began to notice a pattern developing. On just about every other store they passed, the name Oliver was displayed. Jade knew that was Beck's last name, but seeing it all over town was causing her to think that she really didn't know much about her assistant at all. She decided that she was going to question him more about it when the time was right.

Following Beck and Jade's exchange once they had gotten to the dock, everyone proceeded to board the boat, albeit with Jade going at a much slower pace than the rest. Finally, after 15 of the longest minutes of Jade's life, the sprawling grounds and spacious house came into view. After seeing all the stores in town portraying the Oliver name, Jade was hardly surprised at how luxurious everything seemed, and was beginning to put the puzzle together in her mind.

Beck noticed tents set up around the house, along with random people walking around holding plastic cups. "Mom, what is going on? Nana's birthday isn't until tomorrow and I know these people aren't camping out here for her." Turning to Betty he replied, "No offense Nana."

Betty just smiled and waved Beck off to say she wasn't at all bothered by his comment.

"No Beck, these people aren't here for Nana. Only family will be celebrating with her, because that's what Nana wants." It was Mary who had spoken.

"She's right Beck." Betty had interrupted Mary. "I don't want some big fancy shindig. I just want the people I love the most to be with me. We're not even having a party at all. We're going to the seafood restaurant, Shellfish for Life, for a nice dinner, and I don't think that place is big enough for 20 people, let alone half this town."

"Ok, I understand and respect that Nana, but that's tomorrow. So Mom, again I ask, why are all these people here right now?" Beck was starting to believe that this party had something to do with his coming home. As soon as he confirmed to his mother that he would be here this weekend, she had sounded extra excited, and couldn't wait to get him off the phone.

Mary knew she couldn't avoid the question forever, so she told Beck the truth. "When you told me that you would be here this weekend, I decided to invite some people over for a Welcome Home party."

Knowing how much Jade hated parties, unless there was scissors somehow involved, Beck tried to get himself and Jade out of socializing. "Mom I think Jade and I need to just rest and recover from the flight. We can catch up with everyone tomorrow." He saw the look happiness? gratitude? relief? on Jade's face and knew he had done the right thing.

"Nonsense. It's not even 5 o'clock yet. Besides, all these people showed up just to see you since it's been years since you've been home Beck. YEARS!" She had started crying as she said the final word.

"Look at what you've done again Beck. Who do you think has to console her every time she gets like this? Me, that's who! Well, not this time. Since you're here, you fix it." Craig had always hated seeing his wife cry, but when the reason was because of their son, it made him feel all the more helpless.

Beck, feeling properly chagrined, walked over to his mother. He hugged her while saying, "I'm sorry mom. I know it took a lot of work to put all of this together, and I'm very appreciative for all of your effort. I can see how much the party means to you, so we'll stay and be good guests of honor." He could see Jade, arms crossed across her chest, shooting him evil looks over his mom's shoulder. He knew she wouldn't be happy, but in a way he was glad that he would get to catch up with some of his old friends. He stared back at Jade and mouthed the word 'deported,' causing her to lose the murderous glare.

"T-thank y-you Beck. T-that's all I-I ask." Mary was smiling and wiping away the remaining tears on her face as she pulled away from the hug, and Beck was glad his mom was happy again.

"Well, let's get this show on the road then, shall we? I'm on the prowl and looking for some lovin' tonight." Betty may have been pushing 90, but she still had plenty of spunk in her.

Three jaws simultaneously dropped, while expressions of "Mom!" "Nana!" and "Betty" were uttered. Jade just smirked and thought that she might actually like a member of Beck's family.

/

They had been at the 'party' for 16 minutes, (Jade knew she was obsessed with counting, but when she was in the presence of, in her opinion, the dumbest people in the world, she needed something to distract her from her bad thoughts. "Jade, just because they live here does not make them dumb." During a break from reminiscing, Beck had tried to get Jade to see that his old friends were actually fun people, but she wasn't buying it. "Oh yeah? Then why do they continue to live in Canada?" He didn't want to get into a pointless argument with Jade, so he had dropped the conversation entirely) and Jade had started to think that going back to Italy wouldn't be all that bad. The more distance she put between herself and Canadians, (she shuddered as she thought the word) the happier she would be. Ironically, she had conveniently forgotten that Beck himself was a native Canadian.

Not even two minutes after joining the party, Jade had gotten herself a cup full of liquid refreshment. The more she was in the presence of Beck's friends, however, the quicker she drank, and as of last count, she had gone through five cups of 'punch' while only pausing slightly to refill her cup. She knew that if she kept drinking she wouldn't have to talk to these people, but now she was beginning to regret drinking so much. She hated to leave Beck's side, for he was the only one she could handle being around, but she thought asking him to accompany her to the bathroom would seem a little awkward. She figured if she hurried, she could be back by his side in less than a few minutes.

Not even Jade knew how it had happened, but somehow the most meticulous director in Hollywood, who only needs to hear something once and it's memorized, got lost as she tried to find the bathroom. She started swearing like a sailor internally (because there were too many people around and she didn't want to look crazy). Jade flat out refused to stop one of 'them' (as she is now calling all Canadians) and ask for further directions, but after five minutes of searching like a lab rat trying to find the cheese in a maze, Jade broke down and stopped the next person she saw with a finger snap and a, "Hey you!"

The girl appeared to be around Jade's age, but that's where the similarities ended. The girl's looks were the polar opposite to Jade's. Where Jade's hair went almost halfway down her back and was black as night, the other girl's went just past her shoulders, as bright and golden as the midday sun. Jade had eyes resembling the bluest of oceans, while the girl standing in front of her possessed eyes of an earthly greenish brown. Jade was also happy to note that she stood at least three inches taller than the other girl, and could therefore use this fact to intimidate the fair haired girl. Jade got no further than, "Where's-" before she was interrupted.

"Hi! Are you looking for a specific room or a person?" The girl was nice and polite, but didn't seem ditzy like Cat. She actually reminded Jade more of Tori, and for that Jade decided she was never going to like this girl (though she would grudgingly admit Tori was kind of a friend now, but it had taken years to get to that point).

Wanting to stab this girl with her scissors for interrupting, Jade restrained the urge because the need to pee was becoming severely urgent. Instead she gritted out, "Bathroom."

Ignoring Jade's irritated tone, the girl said, "Ok, here let me show you. By the way my name's Violet, what's yours?" (For those of you who've seen the movie, you know which character she is, although I know I didn't keep with the pattern. I just thought this was a better name choice).

Violet tried to grab Jade's arm to direct her the right way, but Jade's shout of, "Never touch me," halted her attempt in mid-air.

"Alright, how about you just follow me then?" Violet then led Jade to the correct room and left her with a, "Goodbye. It was nice meeting you. I hope we'll get to talk more later!" The smile never left Violet's face throughout the whole interaction, even when Jade slammed the bathroom door in her face before she had finished speaking.

/

Finding her way back to the party took Jade significantly less time than finding the bathroom. Fortunately for her, and the partygoers, she was never stopped in her search for Beck. After a few minutes of looking, Jade found him with his back to her. He was talking to someone, but Jade was unable to make out anything identifiable about the other person. She decided to change her path to see if she could get a better look at the person with whom Beck was speaking. As the person's appearance was revealed though, Jade began quickening her pace for a reason she was no where near ready to admit yet, even to herself. It was the girl who had showed her to the bathroom. Ruby, or Scarlet, or some other colorful sounding name. The fact that Beck was talking to the girl wasn't what made Jade speed up. It was seeing the chick's hand comfortably rubbing Beck's arm, like it was the most natural thing in the world, that gave Jade the weird feeling of needing to be next to Beck as soon as possible.

When Jade got into Rose's? line of vision, she heard a, "Hey you found me!" The words made Jade scowl in annoyance, not caring who witnessed the action.

At Violet's words Beck turned towards where she was looking, effectively knocking her hand off his arm, and gave a small smile while raising an eyebrow in question as Jade finally reached the duo.

"So you two know each other?" The question was directed at Jade, and Beck received an eye roll in response.

"No. Lavender here happened to be in the house as I was looking for the bathroom."

"Actually my name is Violet, but they're both in the purple family, so that was close. I still don't know your name though, but I'm guessing that you know Beck?"

Once again, Beck had to deflect what could potentially be a murderous situation. "Yes. Actually, she's here as my guest. Violet, I'd like to introduce you to Jade West. Jade, I'd like you to officially meet Violet Leblanc, my ex-girlfriend." Beck had absolutely no idea why he told Jade that Violet was his ex (actually he had some idea, but like Jade, he couldn't yet admit anything).

Jade's eyes had momentarily widened upon hearing how close Violet and Beck had once been, but they were back to normal so quickly that thankfully no one had seen the action.

"Wow, Jade is such a pretty name. Isn't it cool that we both have names that are colors? Have you ever been to Irricana before? Beck do you remember going to the drive-in theater on Friday nights? You should show Jade around town and take her there." The questions were asked in Violet's cheery way, but only Jade had noticed the underlying current of jealousy in Violet's voice as the last statement was made.

Knowing he was going to try and stop her again, Jade gave Beck a look of warning as she opened her mouth to speak, but was cut off by a familiar squeal of, "JADEYYYYY!"

A/N: Dun dun dun...lol. Hope you had fun reading this one. Sorry about the cliffhanger, but I can't give you guys everything just yet. Until next time, Ciao my charming cheetahs :)