Estrangement

Disclaimer: Don't own Victorious

A/N: TO THE ANON REVIEW QUESTION-I'm gonna answer the question, but as I always tell people, please leave a signed review if you're going to ask a question so that I can PM you the answer instead of having to put it in an authornote that's unlikely to be read, but here goes. You asked about Trina's miscarriage and the doctors not talking to the parents. A legit question and here is my response: Studying in the medical area I've come to learn about patient-doctor rights. When a child reaches the age of 18 (and this happened with my own doctor once too) a patient is considered a full legal adult and can advise the doctor whom to inform or not to inform about their situation. At the time of Trina's miscarriage, she was 18 years old at least. With as negilgent as her family was to her, it would not be hard for her to cover up an early pregnancy miscarriage. The doctor, by law, cannot inform the parents at the risk of breaking patient-doctor confidentiality rights and would be open to a Tort or libel lawsuit. Does that answer your question?

Chapter 20 (A Mystery Solved)

A few days later, Jade surprised Tori by showing up just as she was downing a bottle of Lambrusco wine in her apartment. Tori sat up and Jade took the bottle from her. "What are you doing?" Jade narrowed her eyes and Tori lifted her shoulders.

"Being depressed and irritable. What are you doing? I thought you weren't coming back for another couple of days…" She slouched into the couch and Jade sat beside her, feeling her forehead and snapping her fingers in front of her. Instinctively Tori swept her hand away. "Stop that, I'm not feeling well." The good thing was, she didn't have to work today. The bad thing was, she was on the verge of drunkenness. "I don't even like to get drunk, I just…can't help it." She chuckled vainly and buried her hands into her face, hunching over. "Trina and I are sisters after all!"

"Okay what's wrong." Jade put her arm around her shoulders and pulled her into a friendly hug. Tori's heart flipped as her tears ran down her cheeks. "Is everything okay? Did you have another confrontation with Trina? Did things not go well with Zack? Talk to me, I'm here now." Tori shook her head to both questions and tossed her head back onto the couch. How could she tell Jade about Beck? How! The bank robbery even happened around the time Jade and Beck divorced, if not a couple years later.

"What…what are you doing here?" She sniffled and took a tissue offered by her friend.

"Well I had all your stuff packed up and thought I'd clear my schedule to show up. I didn't know I'd find you downing a whole bottle of wine." Tori scoffed. She wiped her eyes and blew her nose. "What's going on that you're drinking? How does this even apply to Trina?"

"Because Trina was alcoholic for a bit, remember what I told you about Robbie? It's funny!" Tori threw her hands into the air, growling angrily. "Our friends affected Trina and she brushed them off like she didn't care how they affected her. She's not angry at them at all, she doesn't even care! Nancy says it's because they weren't family, she had no reason to be angry with them or any of that…"

"Okay, first of all, take a deep breath and relax. Then tell me what's going on. Why are we bringing them up again? I thought we were done with Robbie."

"We are!" She put her hand to her chest and took a slow deep breath while Jade rubbed her back. "It's not even him. It's something else Nancy revealed to me, something I can't even talk to Trina about because it's one of those super personal things. I'm angry because it also affects Megan. Did you-did you know Megan was hospitalized a few years ago?" Jade's eyes widened for a second as Tori swept the tears from her eyes again. "Someone-someone broke into my sister's house when they found out she was rich, neither Trina or Sinjin were home, both at work…Megan was supervising her siblings-I guess the babysitter was asleep or something-but the burglar struck Megan apparently without even realizing it-and put her in the hospital!"

Jade's hand flew to her chest. "Oh my god." A look of confusion spread over her face as Tori buried her face in her hands. "Wait a sec…what does this have to do with our friends?"

"Trina knew the burglar, Jade. We knew the burglar!" Jade pulled her hand away slowly, her lips thinning as curiosity and horror began to spread over her. "Let's just say…you know why we don't know where Beck is?" Jade's eyebrows shot up and her hand tensed onto her shirt. "Well now we do. He's in New York State Penitentiary. For armed robbery, as well as assault with a deadly weapon…"

"It-It can't be…" Jade began trembling and swept her hand through her hair. After the nasty divorce, Beck really was left with nothing, no career and no money. He never signed a prenuptial agreement and Jade essentially took everything he had, which was almost nothing. He vanished after the divorce, leaving no trace or location. "Beck wouldn't…I mean, maybe if he were desperate for money."

"Yeah well none of our friends liked Trina. I don't know-I know I want to know why he decided to try and rob my sister. I want to know why he thought he had to take a weapon into my sister's house, to disrupt her family! I know you'd probably say not to get involved, but-but I can't! I can't just sit around knowing that one of my former best friends put my niece in the hospital!"

"I-I know. I mean I'm in shock too, this-this is kind of a difficult position for me. You shouldn't get involved, but-hell even I shouldn't-though he was my ex…"

So the counselor was confused, which wasn't a big shock to Tori. How was a woman going to react to hearing their ex husband tried to rob someone they once knew? This was different than the situation with Robbie, in a way, this was more personal to Jade, and Tori knew that. "I didn't want to bring it up with you, to be honest. I knew it would upset you-but I-"

"No, it's a good thing. As much as I don't want to hear it, I know it's something I…I should probably know. I-This is one of those times I don't know the right thing to tell you, Tori…You want to know why he did it, you want to rip his head off I'm sure, but confronting him might not help you. Or Trina, who I'm sure has moved on from that by now." Jade slowly stood up, rubbing her fingers along her forehead. "No, you shouldn't confront him. You shouldn't contact him at all, no matter how angry you are…" Tori whined as Jade moved to the kitchen sink with the bottle of wine, then proceeded to pour it out.

"What a waste of good wine."

"You don't need to start drinking, Tori. There's too much on the line for you. Namely your job-your relationship with your sister."

"What relationship?" She scoffed.

"You're working on it, Tori. Now you just…stay here and I'll be right back. Okay?" She whined again, knowing there was no more alcohol in the apartment. She leaned over the couch, watching as Jade pat her hands together and walked towards the door, a nonchalant expression remained on her face.

"Where are you going?"

"I'll tell you in a little bit-there's just something…I need to do." Tori took a deep breath and closed her eyes as Jade hurried out the door. Her heart was still racing a mile a minute, and she was still half tempted to call Trina up and start bawling her eyes out. Of course, she knew that would be the wrong thing to do, she just wanted to be there. How many things had Trina been through, both good and bad, that she'd missed out on? Because of her own stupidity she'd never been there for her sister!

With a scoff, she slammed her fist into the couch and curled up into a ball. "I hardly deserve to be a part of her life at this point!" She grabbed the couch pillow and threw it over her face, screaming loudly into it, only to let her scream become a muffled echo.

The prison was cold as the stoic guard led Jade to the communication area. She stuffed a wad of tissues into her purse and broadened her shoulders as she took a seat. Her face was still nonchalant, but inside she was teeming with rage. How could Beck do this? How could he do something so malicious? She knew he was a pathetic and arrogant bastard, but she never thought he'd be so cruel.

She didn't want Tori to confront him, there was no business in it. This wasn't about Trina either, at least not all of it was. This was her ex husband, so this was a conversation that had to happen.

When she saw him finally being led out, his face twisted in shock and mild horror. His once shaggy lion-mane style hair was in straggly lines that hugged his jaw line. He was wearing a red jumpsuit and had a nametag with a series of numbers on it. Her stomach twisted with anger, hatred, and hurt. She watched him sit down and pick up the phone on his side of the booth. "You found me?" His first words to her were full of curiosity. She closed her eyes and clenched her fists.

"Of all the places I thought you'd be, I never once thought it would be prison. Should I even be surprised? Let me guess, you couldn't charm your way out of a jail cell." Jade's eyelids lifted halfway and a growl worked its way up her throat. "I hope Bubba's still working on you, Beck."

"What is that supposed to mean!"

"You know damn well what I mean. How come I had to just find out you were in prison! For what? Breaking and Entering, Assault with a deadly weapon! And who-exactly?" Her voice started to rise as Beck cringed. "Oh right! The nine year old daughter-at the time-of the older sister of one of our closest friends! My best friend's niece! You're a bastard! An asshole!"

"Would you calm down and let me explain myself first?"

"You have nothing to justify this! There is nothing!"

"It's not like you left me much choice! You took everything I had after the divorce!"

"Oh don't you try to pin this on me. You're the one who should have known not to resort to robbery. And why even Trina Vega, Beck? Why her?!" Beck tapped his hand anxiously on the table and clicked his tongue as he looked back to the Guard on his side, then back to Jade.

"Because she was fucking rich. She'd just become CEO, I figured she'd have money, and I didn't want to just steal from some random hack…I mean-hell I didn't have any options. Homelessness wasn't going to work for me."

"Well I sure as hell hope prison's good for you, Beck. May you rot in here…"

"For a woman who makes a living out of helping people and giving advice, you're sure friendly today." Jade rolled her eyes, scoffing as her anger intensified.

"Oh I'm sorry! Forgive me for not having the patience to be calm after realizing my ex husband tried to rob my best friend's sister and put a kid in the hospital!"

"Hey! That was an accident! She jumped on me from behind, startled me!"

"Oh? And how'd that story work for the judge, hm? Let me guess…the Judge didn't like it!" Jade leaned back and clenched her eyes shut. "I'm glad I divorced your ass. I always knew you were a prick."

"I was desperate! My acting career was in shambles and I'd just gotten divorced. What else was I supposed to do?"

"Get a job like normal people? Try to find a way to work? You know…not everyone turns to crime."

"Funny coming from you, considering how you treated everyone back in the day." His snide remark stabbed her, burning her. She clenched her fists as her stomach curled in disgust.

"I'm done with this, Beck. I only came because I wanted to know why-and to keep Tori from tearing your head off."

"Oh-ho-so she cares about Trina now? Is that it? You too?"

"Fuck you Beck. Just…fuck you." She hung the phone up and stood up, feeling nauseous as she made her way to the prison guard. "I'm done." She looked back to Beck, watching his eyes darken with anger and malice. She turned away and shook her head, now feeling nothing but pity, but even her pity on him was too good for his pathetic soul. "Lead me out please, officer."

For Tori, it was nearly an hour before Jade even returned. When she did, she could see streams of tears running down Jade's face. Concerned and frightened, she shot up from the couch and hurried to her friend. "Jade! What happened?"

"Oh nothing." The woman lifted her head high and sniffed. "I just…I went to the prison-had a discussion with my ex husband." Tori's heart sank and she lowered her hands from Jade's shoulders.

"I see…Went pretty badly, I guess." It looked like it was her turn to comfort Jade. She was a lot calmer now, considering she'd called Zack up and talked to him a little. He made her laugh by making a few random jokes and calmed her down with some stories of his time on the cruise ships. "I um…I talked to Zack, he calmed me down a little. So…if you want to talk-you know I'm here now."

"Yeah, it's just…I wanted to see what he was like-what he became." Jade fell onto the couch, groaning softly. Tori moved beside her, instinctively grabbing a tissue and offering it to Jade. "Thanks…You know, Beck's just an asshole. He doesn't even deserve the time of day. I-I lost my head. I'm supposed to be the calmest, most patient counselor, and I lost it."

"No one's perfect, Jade. You have your limits, we both know that. Trina had her limits, I have mine, and you have yours. You just found out your ex did something, any woman in your shoes would be going crazy. You know how I know that? Because you've told me that…"

"Yeah…"

"So don't second guess yourself. You had nothing to do with what Beck did. I'm sorry I even brought it up."

"No I-I needed that. Just…closure for me, I guess." Jade took a deep breath and cleared her throat. "Anyway-apparently he was just desperate. Needed money or something and found out Trina was rich. Since he already knew her, he went for her home, didn't want to steal from some random person for whatever reason was going through his brain at the time. Apparently it was an 'accident' what happened with Megan. Screw that, though. Striking a young child isn't a fucking accident. It doesn't just happen." Jade slammed a fist into her palm. "I hope he rots in that cell!"

"Yeah…" Tori knew Jade just needed to blow off steam. She could see the hurt in the woman's eyes, and practically felt the venom seeping from Jade's tone. "It's been a long day…why don't you lay down for a while and I'll make some dinner." Jade raised an eyebrow and gave her a skeptical look.

"You're going to cook?"

"What? I'm not that bad of a cook."

"Have you tasted your cooking?"

"Okay I have been working on that! I've been learning with recipes and stuff! Plus, I have other things to talk to you about-like I'm actually looking for colleges and stuff." Jade's tone changed to suspicion as Tori whirled up and hurried over to the counter.

"O-kay…so you said you talked to Zack? You seem like you're in a good mood now."

"Yeah, he made me feel better. He is…a good man…"

"Glad to hear. Good to know there are some good men still out there, and maybe chivalry really isn't dead."

Well, Beck's mystery is definitely solved. What makes it okay for Jade to seek him out is, as said in the chapter, she is his ex-wife. It is her right to seek the man out-and chew him out-and she could have found him in any possible way. It would not have looked good if Tori had done so.