AN: Hello everyone and thank you for viewing (and hopefully reading) the latest chapter of this little story; I hope you are all well. I'll start, as usual, by addressing the points raised in the reviews from Chapter 4; my thanks to you all for your continued feedback.

That's My Jay – best Jedi ever? No comment but thank you.

Challenge King – some good points, Jade is finding her "mission" rather more difficult at the moment with Cat starting to look elsewhere.

Fanfic-Reader-88 – yes, if things were just a little different then we could have an interesting situation between the two of them.

SpazzQueen15 – indeed, she likes Stage kissing Freddie.

Pbow – yes maybe she should talk to him, but one could argue that she DID at the end of chapter 3 and he was "just looking for a friend". As she says, is she meant to wait forever for him? Freddie knows exactly what a stage kiss is, having stage kissed Cat last year. Jade was in the class and they DID make it a short course in stage kissing (early in iSwitch Schools) but you have attractive, hormonal 15-year olds so sometimes what they learnt goes out of the window.

OneHorseShay – you're right that there's no obligation if the story evolves in a way that would make the original intent ludicrous. The emotional connection is there, but so are Beck and the pain of Lindsey's action. As for Cat jumping the gun, perhaps she is but as I said above, she could argue that he told her in the last episode that he wasn't looking for anything. Why should she not date, see who's around there and have a little fun, maybe something becomes serious or maybe not but she doesn't feel that she should put her life on hold waiting for him, particularly as she doesn't know the whole story and therefore why Freddie is taking a long time to get over it all.

Agent M – yes, it's a will they/won't they at the moment and yes Jade could get side-tracked if she isn't careful…

Ok, now for the next chapter.

Chapter 5

Recreation room, Hollywood Arts High School, Los Angeles, California.

Thursday, 22nd October 2009.

An overnight and early-morning downpour meant that the usual routine of the kids meeting one another in the Asphalt Café before first period needed to be changed; instead Jade had texted the others and suggested the rec room as a venue for them to see one another before school started. The gothic girl, today wearing her pink hair extensions, arrived at the room with one hand in Beck's and the other cradling her morning fix of Jet Brew coffee. She smiled at the sight of André and Freddie engrossed in a game of ping pong; the Seattle-born was not going easy on his friend as he had the musician leaping all over the place trying in increasing desperation to return the ball. Finally Freddie, who himself was barely breaking sweat, forced him out wide before lazily sending the ball across the other side of the table with an easy backhand. The songsmith thought better of diving along the hard floor and simply raised his bat to his foe in recognition of a point well won while Cat, hereto sat quietly watching them, applauded and gave a small cheer.

Freddie grinned and set his bat on the table, turning to greet the new arrivals with a wave.

"Hey guys, want a game?"

"No," Jade answered simply, reclaiming her hand from her boyfriend and taking a seat next to the red-haired giggly girl. Freddie was slightly surprised that she didn't look at him as she crossed the room.

In truth (though it was a truth the brunette kept strictly to herself) Jade had tried to avoid looking too closely at him at all over the last couple of weeks, ever since they had rehearsed their play at his house. Something about their stage kisses had affected the girl far more than they should have, as she knew that was all they were, and for more than they normally would do. She tried to compartmentalise, to dismiss it as circumstance: Beck was away at the time, she liked Freddie as a good friend, in fact she was his confidant, she wasn't afraid to admit that he was a handsome guy and she had discovered that he was a good kisser but she now found herself feeling rather awkward whenever he was around; the fact that he wasn't acting any different, implying to her that it really was just a stage kiss to him, had in some ways disappointed the girl. In other ways she knew that he was right to not be reading anything into it. Maybe it's just that he's more experienced, she mused, he starred opposite Cat in a few things so he's kissed her a few times while dating the blonde bitch; he's had more practice so he must just find it easier to do it as an act. I need to star in more stuff and kiss more guys, she concluded her thoughts with a snigger that caused Cat to eye her curiously.

"What's so funny?" her friend asked her.

"Oh nothing that would interest you," she replied hurriedly.

"What's that supposed to mean?" she asked, seemingly deeply affronted. Jade rolled her eyes and returned to her coffee, knowing better than to get into a debate with the volatile girl.

Since Beck's return from Canada, shortly after the evening in question that she had spent working and rehearsing at Freddie's house, the girl had been rather more affectionate than normal towards her boyfriend. She had been able to mask any suspicions he may have had over her behaviour by simply telling him that she had missed him so much during his family visit. He had happily accepted the claim, along with a suspicion that she also felt guilty about their arguments (he believed that he was right about things and that she was in the wrong) and that this was her way of apologising to him; the actor was enjoying his girlfriend being a little more liberal with her kisses and PDAs both during school and outside of it. Jade, meanwhile, tried to resolutely avoid seeking to draw any comparison between the two boys' kisses, choosing not to dwell on it.

Freddie surprised her by joining the two; he took a seat on Cat's right as Beck took on André; neither Robbie nor Eli had arrived yet.

"So how was your date with Martin?" he asked his friend with genuine interest in his voice. Jade frowned at the question; you're supposed to be getting back together with her, not asking her about the guy she's currently dating went exasperatedly through the mean girl's head.

"Oh it was great; we went for smoothies then saw a movie and finished up at the food court for something to eat. He walked me home and then," she giggled in a slightly embarrassed way, something that caused Jade to raise her eye-brows in horror as she immediately thought the worst. As Cat was looking at Freddie she didn't see this, though the boy could see her over the red-head's shoulder and his own face morphed into one of concern, a look that the girl in the middle either didn't recognise or chose to ignore. "I INTERVIEWED HIM!" she cried happily. Freddie relaxed visibly at this, though Jade looked rather confused.

"What do you mean, you interviewed him?" she asked in bewilderment. The girl turned to face her.

"For my Slap page," she explained. "We were in my house, I turned my computer's camera on and I asked him some questions. He answered them."

"I know what an interview is, Cat," Jade choked through gritted teeth. "Why did you interview your date?" she asked in barely concealed bewilderment.

"Oh, I thought it would be fun. He had to go right after though," Cat finished sadly before turning back to Freddie. "Can you show me how to put it on to the website?"

"Sure, no problem. We can do it after school if you want. I assume the interview is on your home computer?"

Cat confirmed that it was and Freddie arranged to go with her back to her place before heading to his fencing lesson that night. The bell informed the gang that it was time that they headed to class; Jade followed the pair out and watched them uneasily; the brunette felt more and more that she had her work cut out to help fix things between the former couple.

"Do you think we'll get our song finished today?" Cat asked her friend as they headed for the music room.

"I hope so; we're almost done with it. If we can get it done today then it gives us the weekend to rehearse it before we have to perform it to the class next week."

It was true that the pair were on top of their project, having spent several evenings together trying to get it, and their other work, done. Cat was trying her best to keep those evenings free for them to do so by working her dates with her new boy in with the times that Freddie and Jade were at rehearsals for their play (opening night was fast approaching for the pair) or the other interests that took time out of the Seattle-born's evenings (his fencing and gym sessions with André, the effects of which were certainly interesting many of the Hollywood Arts female population, particularly in the sophomore class). Of course the girls knew that he was "back on the market" by now so there was a general surprise when flutters of eyelashes and flirtatious smiles went almost unnoticed by the boy (though not by his two female friends; Jade was generally infuriated by the attention they were trying to give him, Cat was a little more relaxed now that she was finally dating a guy for longer than a few days again – particularly as her friend wasn't reciprocating the girls' advances). As a result of his non-reaction one or two of the girls had gone so far as to speculate that Freddie's sexuality was the true reason behind his break-up with Lindsey; for the time being, though, it was a rumour that had yet to really catch fire – or reach the ears of his blonde ex-girlfriend.

After music they reunited with their friends in Sikowitz's class; Jade joined them to recreate the trio that were working on their next dramatic scene. They had invited Beck to join them but he decided to work with André's group; the long-haired actor claimed that he felt a little more comfortable in a different group to his girlfriend as it reduced the risk of something spilling over into a big argument in class. Jade was far from convinced by his reasoning but felt that if that was what he wanted then she would be happy enough to continue working with her two friends, though she thought that she and her boyfriend would need to talk about it, among other things, later on.

"So will you guys be fencing tonight?" Cat asked over lunch.

Freddie nodded. "Yes, I have my class and these two will be sparring again. Neither of you are going to take lessons though?" he asked curiously.

"I might," André commented thoughtfully, "I've enjoyed going ever since we started last year so to learn a bit more about it would be good."

"I'd like to," Beck added, "but cash is going to be an issue until I can get a part-time job in a few months."

"You're waiting until you're sixteen before finding something?" Freddie asked in surprise.

"It's just going to be easier; the law's a little less restrictive," Jade supplied.

"Oh, I'm looking at the moment," the ex-Seattleite commented, "for once our performance is out of the way and I've some more free time, especially on a weekend. The extra cash will come in handy even if, from what you're saying, I can't do that many hours yet."

"Looking for some more cash for a reason?" Eli asked curiously, causing his friend to shrug.

"Well my allowance from mom doesn't go that far," he declined to repeat that it was still a paltry eight bucks per month, "though she does pay for my gym and fencing stuff – things she approves of," he dragged out the word with mild bitterness and disgust at the restrictions it imposed on him, "or at least stuff that she can tolerate. So I'd like a bit more cash of my own and some more independence," he concluded with a brief explanation, which the others nodded at.

"Where have you been looking?" Cat asked.

"Everywhere," he shrugged. "The Pear Store would be ideal for me, of course." The others chuckled a little at the veracity of that statement, "I applied there last week but," he continued, "I've looked at a few others as well."

"How does your mom feel about you getting a job?" Jade asked shrewdly.

"As you can imagine she doesn't love the idea," he grinned. "Oh," he muttered as his Galaxy Wars ringtone suddenly emitted from his jeans pocket and withdrew the trusty device, standing and walking a few paces away from the hubbub of the tables and teenagers.

Cat watched him curiously, wondering who he was talking to as he paced a small area with the phone pressed to his right ear.

The girl wouldn't have too long to wait as he returned to the table smiling broadly. "Coincidentally," he announced, "that was the Pear Store; I have an interview tomorrow after school."

"Awesome," André declared, happy for his friend and offering a high-five that the tech producer eagerly returned; the others added their congratulations as well.

"You'll ace it," Eli told him; Freddie nodded.

"I should really, shouldn't I?" he laughed, giving his friend a grateful smile.

"Maybe I should start looking earlier," Beck commented; the idea of getting a bit more cash and even more independence from his parents (he lived in an RV in their driveway after all) was appealing to him. André nodded next to him, thinking that a little more money wouldn't hurt him either.

Last period of the day saw Freddie and Jade together in Theatre History class. As the two were leaving they met up again with Cat, who was waiting in the locker area for them. Freddie quickly deposited a few items in his locker before catching up with the girls and following them out of the main building.

"So I'll swing by yours now and show you how to upload your interview," he recapped, falling into step with the red-head, Jade was a fraction behind them, "then I need to head home, grab my bag and a bite to eat, then I'll hit the fencing studio. Going to be a busy night," he laughed.

"You could have dinner at mine if you like?" Cat offered. "I can fix us something while we're putting the video up."

"That would help, thanks," he told her gratefully.

Jade smiled behind them; even if it was still just friendly, the thought of the two spending a bit more time together would hopefully help her with her aim of getting them back together. She pushed a couple of rather stubborn thoughts to the fringes of her mind and made sure she continued in this vein instead.

"Have you anything planned for the rest of the evening Cat?" she asked as a stroke of inspiration hit her. "I was wondering if you'd help me rehearse a little more."

"Oh I can't, I'm meeting Martin at seven," she sounded genuinely regretful. Jade had to work hard to keep the frown from her face as the red-head turned towards her as she answered.

Valentine Residence, Hollywood Hills

"Hey mom, I'm home," Cat called, surprisingly quietly, as she and Freddie entered the house. "My brother doesn't like loud noises," she explained.

"What was that place you went with him over the summer?" Freddie asked as Mrs Valentine joined them, smiling at her daughter and her friend.

"It was a specialist place in Idaho; respite care they call it, it gives the family a couple of weeks' break from having to deal with near full-time care," the matriarch explained wearily.

"Is there anything they could do for him longer term?" he wondered aloud.

"Possibly," she answered with a sigh, "there's a waiting list for full-time patients there though. We have signed up for it so hopefully someday we'll be able to get our boy back."

Freddie bowed a little, reflecting on how awful it must be for the parents to see their son reduced to a shadow of his former self.

"I'm going to fix Freddie and myself something to eat while we put the video I made yesterday on the school website," Cat informed her mother. "He needs to go soon for his fencing lesson," she explained.

"Well I can make you something if you two need to work on it," she offered. Her daughter smiled and the two teens accepted the offer graciously before heading upstairs.

Cat loaded up her computer and found the video file she had recently shot. "Want to see it before we put it up there?" she asked playfully.

"A sneak preview?" he grinned. "Sounds good to me." Cat opened the file and the two sat back, leaning against their chairs.

Cat was lying on her front on her bed smiling at the camera. "Hey, it's me Cat. HELLO!" the bubbly girl began. "Ok so I'm here in my room and I spent all last week trying to think of a cool new video to put on my Slap page," she snapped her fingers a few times as she continued, "The Slap dot com. Then I remembered the guy I've been dating, Martin, so I decided to interview him!" she announced happily. "So, BRB." The teen leaned forward and pressed a button to shut off the camera.

The next scene started immediately; Cat was now sat on the edge of her bed with a dark haired guy, who Freddie presumed to be Martin, sat next to her.

"Hi, I'm back – and this," she tickled the boy's chest, "is Martin. Say hi Martin," she told him giddily.

"Hi," he replied with muted enthusiasm.

"Martin came here to be interviewed," the girl declared as her target palmed his forehead in growing regret over his decision to agree to his belle's request; Freddie briefly speculated on whether the girl had lured the boy there under slightly false pretences.

"So, where are you from?" she began.

"Well I was born in Phoenix but grew up here in LA."

"Nice. Brothers? Sisters?"

"One of each; an older brother and a younger sister."

Cat nodded. "So what sort of girls do you go for? Tall girls?" She leaned in towards him as she continued, "Short girls? Brunettes?" She gathered up some of her hair from her left shoulder and waved it in his face as she continued, "Red-heads?"

"Uh," the poor boy looked uncomfortable, "I don't have a specific type – but I do quite like a short, red-haired girl."

The short, red-haired girl smiled. "Interesting," she noted brightly before randomly changing topic. "Here's a grilled cheese sandwich, just for you."

"Uh thanks," the confused Martin replied before taking a polite bite.

"I made it," Cat giggled after he set the remainder down. "And now, we dance," she announced to his utmost bewilderment.

The video began to fade to black as the pair danced together. "You're a good dancer," Cat commented just before it ended.

Freddie turned to his friend with a smile as the clip finished. "You like him," he observed.

"He's nice," Cat countered non-committally, keeping her face unusually emotion-free. "So, how do I get it on the website?"

"Alright," the former Seattle native explained after the redhead had logged in to the school's unofficial website. "It should be fairly straight-forward; if it isn't then I really screwed something up," they shared a laugh, "you just click here," he pointed to the appropriate link, "then find the file on your computer," he sat back and let the girl locate it, "click here and… that's it."

"Oh that's so easy," she commented with a smile. "I'll have to upload more things!"

"Go for it, that's the idea behind the site," he laughed along with her enthusiasm.

"Thanks Freddie," she gave him a quick hug, partly in gratitude and partly in trying to gauge his reaction to doing so. He readily returned it but seemed willing enough to release her, and didn't look overly upset to have done so, when she pulled back a little, something that disappointed her a little. Maybe I really do need to be looking elsewhere, she thought sadly, though she reasoned that she was having a lot of fun with Martin and it was at least an opportunity to see if there could be anything between the two of them. "I think dinner will be ready," she commented. Freddie nodded and followed her out of her room and downstairs.

The boy left after they had finished eating, thanking Mrs Valentine for her hospitality as he did, and made a quick stop at his own home to swap his school bag for his fencing one. Marissa wasn't yet home so he left a short note, explaining that he had already eaten and would see her after his class, before heading for the bus stop.

Pear Store, 189 The Grove Drive, West Hollywood, Los Angeles

Friday, 23rd October 2009.

Freddie left the store smiling broadly; he had been offered a job on the spot after his interview; he would be working at the store's "Brilliance Bar" fixing and upgrading computers and devices that customers would be bringing in. His contract was signed and he would be working on a Saturday afternoon, starting the next day, and also a couple of hours on Monday and Wednesday nights, with a review of his hours once he turned sixteen in February.

The sound of the traffic as he walked up the street almost caused him to miss his phone ringing; he ducked down a side street to dampen the ambient noise as he answered, having first checked the caller ID.

"Sam? How are you?" he greeted his friend happily and grinned as he heard her response. "I'm having a good day, thanks; I just got a job! You can start trying to get some money out of me again next time you're in LA," he jibed lightly.

"Don't tempt me Benson or I'll be sneaking on the next bus down there," she laughed before turning serious. "I did want to talk to you about something, Freddie," she commented, "I was looking on your school's website last night and I saw that interview that your friend Cat did with that guy. What was his name? Martin?"

Freddie confirmed the boy's identity.

"So are things like, serious between them?"

"Who knows?" he answered lightly and with an unnecessary shrug, given that his friend obviously couldn't see it. "She's been seeing him for a few weeks now but with Cat you can never tell how serious anything is – she doesn't do serious very often," he finished jovially.

"Uh huh. And you're okay with that?" Sam, being her usual unsubtle self, decided to press the issue.

"Why wouldn't I be?"

"I thought that you still liked her."

He took a deep breath and glanced around the area as he pondered on how best to phrase his answer.

West Residence

Jade kissed Beck goodnight on the doorstep of her home; the couple had been to the movies during the evening and had plans to see one another at the mall the next day. The girl had been a little distracted at the back end of the date after her phone alerted her to receiving an e-mail on The Slap during the film. She had tried to hide the news from her boyfriend, due to the content and the explanations and debate that would result from sharing the information with him. If he had detected her being a little more aloof then he didn't comment on it; she was still being more affectionate towards him so she hoped that he didn't suspect that anything may be troubling her. She gave him one last kiss goodnight before he turned and left; she leaned against the front door and watched as he headed down the driveway, waving as he turned to give her one last look.

The girl closed the door, pulled her phone from her pocket and re-read the e-mail while she walked past her mother, greeting her as she did.

"Jade?" Mrs West called as her daughter continued, head down and staring at her phone, towards the staircase; she was intending to head to her room to deal with the situation.

"Huh?" she looked over her shoulder at the speaker.

"Have a seat," Mrs West patted the couch next to her, "we don't talk all that often."

The West teenager rolled her eyes a little but complied with the request. "What do you want to talk about?" she asked.

"Oh just stuff. Y'know, about how your day was, what's going on with your life, things with Beck. Stuff like that…"

"Mom I know about things with boys, you don't have to worry," she tried to insist.

"I don't just mean that," the matriarch raised her hands in an attempt to calm things a little, "but I am interested in how things in your life are going, including things with your first real boyfriend, especially now you've been together for more than a year."

Jade sighed again, still worrying about it turning into one of those talks.

Half an hour later the brunette had been able to escape to the sanctuary of her room. However there was to be no tranquillity for her as she knew she had another issue to contend with. She booted up her computer and read through the rather annoyed-sounding e-mail on The Slap again, closing her eyes and frowning as she began to formulate a reply.

Sam, she wrote,

Of course I know about Cat and Martin; she's my best friend after all. I agree with you that it's not a good sign that she's dating him and not Freddie but it really is up to him to figure things out and move on from what happened between him and Lindsey, something that he seems not to be any closer to doing right now.

I promise you that I'll speak to him, and soon, to see how he is and what I can do about it.

Jade.

The girl hit the send button and sighed, resting her head between her hands with her elbows planted on the desk. She closed her eyes and reflected wearily on just how messy this whole thing was starting to become.

Black Box Theatre, Hollywood Arts High School.

Monday, 26th October 2009.

Freddie had left the music room shortly after the bell signalled the end of the day; Cat was at his shoulder, the two having spent the lesson making a couple of final amendments to their song and getting it perfect for performance during the following class.

"Good luck Freddie," she had told him as they parted ways at the locker area, "I'll be in the audience to cheer you both on."

The cast of the play were in costume and going over their final preparations for their opening performance. Jade stood next to her brown-haired friend; she had been unable to broach the issue of Cat, Martin and Freddie's feelings over the weekend as she had spent a lot of it with Beck and Cat while the Seattle-born was working at his new job and keeping up with his schoolwork (and his spare time had been spent with Cat practicing their song; the red-head had also helped him with a little more rehearsal for the play, as Beck had done for Jade). The gothic girl mused on just how much simpler it had been to kiss her boyfriend when they had worked through the play together. Simpler – it was a good description as it meant she didn't have to think any more about it; with Beck it didn't have to be a stage kiss, there was no need to try and separate her feelings from her character's or anything like that, she could simply put her heart into it – an experience she was looking to draw upon during the show tonight in order to mask the anxiety and awkwardness she was feeling over those particular scenes since they had rehearsed them a couple of weeks ago.

"Are you ok?" Freddie asked, seeing his co-star's increasingly nervous expression; it wasn't like Jade to appear this emotional, this vulnerable in public, so the boy was concerned.

"Yes," she vehemently insisted before smiling at him. "Just wanting to make sure I nail it."

"You will," he reassured her, gently taking her upper arms in his hands and looking her in the eyes, something that did little to alleviate her discomfort at the present moment, "you know the script inside and out, you're… we're ready for this."

She nodded, putting on all the bravado that she could muster.

"Curtain in five minutes guys," Marty called to his charges. The oft-nervous acting teacher was actually in a fairly relaxed mood, having seen how well the youngsters had done in dress rehearsals.

"Let's do it," Freddie declared with a smile and making his way to the middle of the stage, taking a seat on the couch; Jade followed him and sat next to him, indulging in some momentary lock-jaw to keep the nerves from her face. The boy nodded to her in the dim light that made its way to the stage from the wings and past the curtain from the theatre's seating area and shot her another reassuring smile. She appreciated the gesture, though she found herself unable to explain that her nerves were not down to having to do the performance, but more one particular part of it. Just like you practised with Beck was becoming the mean girl's mantra.

"Here we go," the Slap staffer's low voice caused her to turn in his direction; she saw the light dimming beyond the curtain and closed her eyes, allowing her lines to flood back to the forefront of her mind, as she heard the curtain rising, opening her eyes just as the stage lights were turning up.

"You have to go," 'Freddie' was told while 'Jade' looked on wearing a crestfallen expression as the love of her life was being taken from her.

"When will you be back?" she asked through a few well-crafted tears.

"I don't know," Freddie's voice was soft and he cupped her cheek tenderly; she placed her hand on his to hold it in place as a few stray tears left her eyes. The boy assumed that she was such a good actress that she could cry on demand; in truth Jade was unsure how much was an act and how much was brought on by all her thoughts about the teenager stood before her. He used the thumb of his other hand to softly wipe the tears away. "But I will be back. I love you."

"I love you too," she whispered and slipped her arms around him, turning her head slightly as his hand moved from her cheek to her back. They leaned in and their lips met; for Freddie it was a tender kiss as he said farewell to his girl, Jade drew on the memories of her recent kisses with Beck, closing her eyes and putting her heart and soul into it. They pulled away after a few moments, the meeting of their eyes curtailed as the lighting level on stage dropped, the audience applauded and the curtain began to fall.

"That was awesome," Cat enthused as she clapped wildly in the centre of the auditorium. To her left Beck was also clapping, wearing a passive expression as he did. To Cat's other side Eli and Robbie were also applauding and enthusing over their friends' performances so far. André had been unable to attend tonight as he had to work on one of his own musical performances; he would, however, be attending the following night. "Yay, ice cream," the red velvet-haired girl cried, standing and dashing past Beck and towards the doors so that she could pick up a treat for during the intermission.

Back-stage Marty was in high spirits. "That was dynamite you guys!" he declared, smiling broadly. "Freddie, Jade – fantastic, keep it up," he told his leads, clapping both on the shoulder as he passed them. The boy smiled at his co-stars look, which was a mix of irritation and murderous death glare at somebody, even a teacher, touching her without invitation. He handed her a bottle of water and they began to rehydrate ahead of the second act.

The quality acting continued after they returned from the short break; Cat and the others were disappointed by the lack of interaction between their friends (as they were mostly in different scenes) but the two more than made up for it with their performances and the finale where their characters reunited.

"I knew you'd come back," the girl's voice was soft yet delighted; she sounded almost overcome with the emotion of seeing her lover again. "I never doubted it."

"I promised you that I'd return – and I meant it," his reply was heart-felt and he had a powerful determination in his voice.

"Then promise me that you'll never leave me alone again," she whispered.

"I'm back for good now, nothing will keep us apart," he reassured her.

She threw her arms around him and kissed him again joyfully, showing genuine passion for his return as she did so. They broke the kiss, looked at one another for a long moment, ignoring the applause from the audience. Freddie caught himself in time but the pair still found themselves a little off script slightly by embracing tenderly, with Freddie resting his chin on the top of the girl's head as she nuzzled at his neck; the change took their co-stars a little by surprise as they were supposed to just pull apart, smile at their friends and let the curtain fall. The talented supporting cast were able to cover it, simply looking on and smiling at the reunited pair, though as the curtain fell they did cast a few confused glances at one another.

Up in the audience most of the viewers were unaware of the subtle change; those that were included Cat and Beck. The two shared a quizzical look before joining in with the applause, though privately both found themselves a little troubled by the little alteration to the final scene.

The two teenage actors grinned at one another as they pulled away after their unscripted embrace.

"We need to take our bow," Jade said flatly as she recovered her poise. The girl took his left hand in her right and they made their way to front, centre stage and their castmates lines up either side of them preparing for the curtain to rise again. The students took their bows to rapturous applause before the curtain fell for the final time and they made their way back-stage.

"Can you warn us next time you're going to go off script?"

"Sorry guys, I think it worked quite well though, don't you?" Freddie casually asked his co-star. Jade grinned mischievously and wholeheartedly agreed with his point, happy to be able to use his statement to help cover the uncomfortable feeling she was developing. A little unscripted hug, that's all it was she insisted to herself, happy that it meant that she didn't have to feel that she was doing anything wrong regarding Beck. Speaking of whom…

"Hey guys," Cat called as she joined them back-stage; Robbie, Beck and Eli were a few steps behind the eager red-head.

"Hey Cat," Freddie smiled as he pulled her into a celebratory hug. "What did you think?"

"You were great, both of you," she released him and turned to hug her best friend, who looked rather unhappy that the girl did so, although she was willing to accept it without major complaint.

"Nice going man," Beck congratulated his friend and the two shook hands. "You were great too," he told his now-extricated girlfriend and bent down to kiss her cheek. She turned her head to capture his lips and the two began kissing quite enthusiastically, a little to the embarrassment of their friends as they witnessed the rather intimate moment.

"I'm going to get changed, see you guys in a minute?" Freddie asked, thankful to have a ready-made excuse to depart the scene momentarily. The others waved him off and withdrew a few steps from the still-kissing couple.

Inside his dressing room Freddie closed the door and leaned against it. Feeling so comfortable around Jade – for some reason it bothered him. She's Beck's girlfriend, yes we're close and she's been my confidant, a shoulder to cry on quite literally and my emotional crutch over all the Lindsey chizz, he rationalised, and she's hot – there's no denying it – but that's it, he squared his jaw and turned his thoughts to another of his classmates. What about Cat? Yeah I like her but she's happy with that Martin guy right now and… am I even ready for something else? He closed his eyes and groaned as he thought for the first time on just how much things with Lindsey had messed him up; he had avoided thinking about it for all this time but now he found himself having to try and work through it all. It doesn't matter, he decided, I'm not ready to put my heart out there again right now – to risk another girl breaking my heart like that. With that he was able to tuck the chizz back into the corner of his mind where it couldn't bother, or hurt, him and let the adrenaline rush heighten his mood again.

Happily back in control of his feelings and his emotions again, the boy changed out of his costume, showered and dressed back in his own clothes before making his way to meet the others.

AN: Thanks for reading, feel free to drop a review and let me know if you liked or hated it. I hope to see you all next week for chapter 6.