MERRY CHRISTMAS YOU GUYS! :D

December ninth

I Love You

She's lying across his couch in the RV, chewing on the end of a pen with a slightly annoyed expression.

"Whatcha writing?" Beck asks, seeing the pen and notebook paper. She rolls her eyes, annoyed.

"A play for Sikowitz," She replies, not even looking up from her work.

"What's it about?" Beck prods, poking her stomach playfully as he lies down next to her.

"An irritating boy named Beck who wouldn't stop bothering me," Jade snaps.

"Wow," Beck laughs. "Someone's grumpy," He teases.

"I was in the zone," Jade explains. "You interrupted me. Now the darkness of Lord Cadarmor will never be vanquished by the evil clown, because I am now not in the writing mood."

"You're such a little play writer nerd," Beck says, ruffling her hair. "It's cute."

"I am not cute," Jade corrects. "Bunnies are cute. People are not."

"I think you're cute," Beck defends. "Like when you make that little pouty face.. Like that," Beck says, pointing to the irritated face Jade has.

"How is pouting cute?" Jade asks, raising an eyebrow.

"I don't know. You do this weird thing with your lips that makes me want to kiss you," Beck shrugs.

"And.. You think calling me cute will help you achieve that goal?" Jade wonders.

"I'm just telling the truth!" Beck defends. "Do you not find me cute?" He wonders, his voice playful.

Jade shakes her head. "Are you a bunny? No. So you're not cute."

"C'mon," Beck pleads, giving her stomach a little tickle, which eventually progressed to an all out tickle war on Jade's tummy.

"Stop! Oh my God Beck!" She says in between fits of giggles.

If he told anyone he could have Jade West rolling around giggling, on his couch in under two seconds, he could assure anyone he'd be dead by the next day.

"Fine!" She spurts in between laughter. "You're kinda cute! Especially your hair!"

He stops, a grin appearing on his face. Jade sits up, brushing herself off.

"I'm cute! I'm cute! She said I'm cute!" Beck shouts victoriously, sitting up as well.

Jade stares at him oddly. "You did not just quote Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer on me," She states.

"...I might have," Beck replies. "But you caught the reference!"

"I have a younger brother. It's not like you have an excuse." Jade replies.

"Hey! At least I had a childhood to excuse my Rudolph knowledge!" Beck defends.

Jade looks down, a bit sad and annoyed, and Beck realizes he must have crossed the invisible line.

They try to stay away from talking about their lives as little kids.. They both know Jade's kind of sucked.

"Baey, that was stupid. I'm sorry," He tells her, wrapping his arms around her. She leans into his chest.

"I love you," He whispers in her hair.

She freezes.

That's the first time she's heard the words 'I love you' in nine months.

"Baby is something wrong?" Beck asks, confused as the way Jade completely froze.

"N- no," She stutters, and he perks up when he hears undeniable happiness in her voice. "That's just the first time I've heard that in awhile," She explains.

He nods knowingly, making a mental note to tell Jade he loves her 10 times a day. He does the internal math to figure that if he does this for 27 days, he will have completely made up for the nine months he missed.

"I love you," He repeats, taking her chin in his hands. She brings her lips up to meet his eagerly.

"I love you too," She agrees quietly when they separate.

Beck grins.

It's been awhile since Jade's said that to him, but that just makes it mean so much more.