"Have you ever been to a movie premiere?" Beck asks Jade one afternoon, seemingly out of nowhere
It's Sunday, Beck's only true day off from filming. Now that she has her senior showcase behind her, Jade is finding it much easier to actually relax during their lazy Sundays. She had spent the night at Beck's the night before and they had slept in late, then gone out to brunch and are now back at his place. Beck has a hockey game on, Jade isn't even sure which teams are playing, while they snuggle up next to each other on the couch.
"A real one?"
"Are there fake ones?"
"I mean, I've been to the first viewing of short films some of my friends have made." Jade tells him "Do those count?"
"No, I mean an actual movie premiere." Beck clarifies "Like with a red carpet and photographers and all of that."
"Why would I have ever been to one of those?" Jade laughs
"I dunno! Maybe your dad represented someone who had an in at one at one point and you got to go."
"My dad is in employment law, remember?"
"So...is that a no then?"
"No, I've never been to an actual movie premiere." Jade shakes her head "Why?"
"Would you like to?" Beck asks her "Go to a movie premiere, that is. With me...as my date?"
"I'd love to." Jade grins "Wait, did I miss something? Were you in a movie?"
"No..." Beck chuckles "No, I wasn't. Jack was though, and the studio thinks it will be good for publicity if other people from the show attend the premiere. They invited everyone in the main cast, myself included. I get to bring a plus one, if you're not busy two Saturdays from now."
"That's kind of short notice don't you think?" Jade raises an eyebrow at him "Don't get me wrong, I'm going with you. But you're telling me I only have two weeks to find the dress I'm going to make my red carpet debut in?"
"Already taken care of!" Beck assures her
"I love you, but I'm not letting you dress me."
"No, not me." Beck smirks "The studio is dressing all of us...they'll dress you too. The wardrobe department has these connections with different designers. They let us borrow the clothes to either wear on the show or wear to different events, but we give them back when we're done with them. I guess you could say it's all 'rented'."
"So I would get to attend a real Hollywood movie premiere, and wear a designer gown?" Jade clarifies "If I wasn't in before, I'm definitely in now."
"The premiere is here in the city, so technically not a Hollywood premiere..." Beck corrects her "But otherwise, yes to the rest of it."
"Sounds like fun." Jade tells him as she leans in to kiss him "I can't wait."
"Oh my god!" Cat squeals as her face appears on Jade's phone "Jadey! You look so pretty!"
"I told her the same thing." Beck jokes as he leans into the frame "I did all of my squealing on the inside though."
It's true. When Jade came out of the girl's wardrobe trailer at the studio, Beck's heart and stomach started doing backflips. He's thought she was beautiful from the first moment he met her. He still think she's beautiful no matter what, whether first thing in the morning with messy hair and no make up or all done up for one of their date nights...but seeing her all dressed up in a designer gown with professional hair and makeup had almost brought him to his knees.
"Shut up.." Jade laughs a bit as she shakes her head
"It's true!" He tells her, pressing a kiss to her cheek before turning back to the FaceTime call "Doesn't she look drop dead gorgeous, Cat?"
"She absolutely does." Cat nods "Wow, have so much fun tonight you guys. I can't wait to hear all about it!"
"I promise to fill you in on all of the details tomorrow." Jade assures her "Try not to let the FOMO hit you too bad."
"I won't." Cat laughs "Talk to you guys later."
"Bye Cat."
"Bye Cat!"
"Byyyyye!"
The call ends and Jade places her phone back in her purse, then reaches over and takes her boyfriend's hand. Beck smiles and gives her hand a reassuring squeeze, a sign that she has no need to be nervous.
She's dressed in a navy blue evening gown. The designer is a new up-and-comer, which Jade found fitting because in a way...she supposes that she is too. It had been the first time she had ever had her hair and makeup professionally done, and despite being nervous to walk the carpet...she also feels more confident than she ever has.
Beck wears a light grey suit with a white shirt underneath and navy blue tie to match Jade's dress. They both know they'll barely be a blip on anyone's radar tonight, there will be much bigger stars who are actually in the movie walking the carpet that people are sure to care about more. They're just excited to get to attend such a big event, and to get to do so together.
"Are you nervous?" Jade asks him
"No." Beck answers quickly "Are...are you nervous?"
"A bit." She admits "I mean...I've seen videos of what these premieres look like online. All of the paparazzi screaming at you? Telling you where to look?"
"That's nothing we haven't encountered on the street before." Beck smirks "Right?"
"I think it's a bit different." Jade says "This won't be three or four of them...it's going to be twenty or thirty."
"It'll be fine." Beck assures her
At least he hopes it will be.
Their car comes to a stop at the entrance to the premiere and Beck opens the door to slide out first. There are fans gathered behind barricades who scream when they see him. He chuckles to himself a bit as he extends a hand to help Jade out of the car, wondering if any of those screaming people actually know who he is...or if they're just screaming in hopes of getting the attention of someone exiting one of the cars.
"You look fantastic." He tells his girlfriend as she finds her footing "Are you ready?"
"I guess so." She smiles "Are you?"
"I guess so." He smirks
There are people working the premiere who are in charge of keeping everything in order. Jade jokingly calls them 'handlers', because they spend most of their time telling people where to go and when. Another one of Beck's co-stars, Danny, arrived shortly before them with his wife, they're in line in front of Beck and Jade to walk the carpet. They make small talk for a bit while they wait, about how it's Beck's first premiere and also Jade's by default. Danny's wife gives them advice on how to pose, about how they shouldn't look directly into any of the cameras but just slightly above the one that's right in the middle. They'll be asked to move and look other directions at some point, but it's a good place to start.
"BECK! LOOK THIS WAY!"
"BECK OVER HERE!"
"GIVE US A SMILE, SWEETHEART!"
"COME ON, BECK! GIVE HER A KISS!"
"BOTH OF YOU! LOOK THIS WAY!"
The photographers are relentless, commanding attention from both of them at every moment. They clearly seem to be more interested in Beck, but Jade had expected that. She's still just an unknown college student, and she's content to just be arm candy tonight. They look in various directions and pose a few different ways, everyone's apparent favorite to be the ones of Beck kissing Jade's cheek, and then another of them both kissing on the lips.
Thankfully, their time in front of the cameras is short-lived. There are other stars, bigger and more interesting stars, coming through behind them that the photographers are more intrigued by. There are a few interviewers waiting by the theater's entrance who want to speak to Beck, and Jade is content to stand to the side while they do so. He talks about the show and how thankful he is to be on it, and how thankful he is that it's doing well. He gushes a bit over Jade and how beautiful he thinks she looks. After about another twenty minutes or so, they're finally able to head inside.
"Should we head to the bar?" Beck suggests
"Please." Jade can't help but laugh "I definitely need a drink after that."
"I thought it went well?" Beck admits "Those cameramen seemed to love you."
"They loved you." Jade clarifies "I'm just the relatively-unknown girlfriend...for now."
"For now." Beck agrees with a smile "Give it a year and you'll be more famous than I am."
"No one ever said it was a competition."
"S'not a competition." Beck tells her "It's inevitable. You're crazy talented and crazy gorgeous. The world is going to fall in love with you, just give them time."
"What about you?"
"I'm already in love with you." Beck smiles at her "I fall deeper and deeper into it every time I see you."
"S'not what I meant..." She smirks "...but I love you too."
They order their drinks then spend some time mingling with the other guests of the premiere. Beck sticks close to his co-stars for the most part, not yet comfortable with talking to the bigger stars. Jade can't help but roll her eyes when he admits so, because she knows very well that within a few years, he'll be just as big if not bigger than the stars he's nervous to talk to.
Jack comes over to the group to thank them all for coming, and buys them all another round of drinks. Shortly after, an announcement is made that the movie screening is about to begin. Beck takes Jade's hand and laces their fingers together, leading her towards their seats.
Once everyone is settled and the lights dim, Beck reaches over and rests his hand on Jade's thigh. In return she hooks her arm with his and leans her head against her shoulder. With a smile he leans over and presses a gentle kiss to the top of her head, before turning his attention back to the movie starting in front of him.
"Jack was barely in that movie!" Jade points out as they stumble though the door to Beck's apartment
Between the premiere and the afterparty, they had both consumed their fair share of alcoholic beverages. They're both more buzzed than they are drunk, but they're definitely not sober either.
"Maybe not..." Beck shrugs "But now he has an acting credit with that director. That's huge for his resume and his career."
"And his wallet!"
"That too." Beck laughs "Hey, c'mere."
"I'm coming..." Jade chuckles as she moves closer to him
He wraps his arms around her waist and pulls her as close to him as he possibly can. She had been wearing his suit jacket to keep warm on the ride home, but she quickly shrugs it off and lets it fall to the floor. Their kisses are gentle at first, but they both know that the gentleness isn't going to last for very long. They gradually become more aggressive as they move towards the bedroom, with Beck eventually picking Jade up and carrying her the rest of the way, kicking his jacket out of the way as he does so. She's barely able to wrap her legs around his waist beneath the fabric of her dress, and Beck stumbles a bit over the material as well.
"Alright..." He chuckles as he sets her down on the bed "You look gorgeous in this dress, but it's gotta go. We need to rip this thing off right now so I can-"
"No, don't rip it!" Jade exclaims "It's a rental, technically. They'll make us pay for it!"
"You know what I meant." Beck smirks "Roll over."
Jade rolls onto her side and Beck begins to undo the zipper of the dress, fumbling a bit with the small piece of metal in his slightly inebriated state.
"Are you being careful?"
"Yes, I'm being careful."
He gently slides the dress off of her body and tosses it to the floor, leaving his girlfriend laying naked on the bed.
"Holy shit..." He gasps "Were you really not wearing any underwear this whole time?"
He had known she hadn't been wearing a bra, the straps on her dress had been too thin for her to do so.
"Nope." She smirks "I thought it would be a nice surprise for you at some point."
"Well, I'm definitely surprised." He admits with a chuckle as he begins kissing her shoulder softly "It's your turn to undress me now though."
"Gladly..." Jade smiles, rolling over onto her back again to face him "I'll do my best not to rip any buttons off."
"Uh, you better not." Beck laughs "This suit is a rental too!"
In less than two minutes, Beck's suit lays in a pile on the floor beside Jade's dress, the two of them now oblivious to the existence of their discarded clothing as they climb into bed together. After nine months together they had expected some of the excitement of their relationship to fade, for some of it to start to become routine, but the sex keeps getting better and better as time goes on.
"I think I love you more than I've ever loved anyone in my whole life." Beck murmurs to her later
She's wrapped up in his arms now, both of them exhausted from both the night's events and the activity they had just engaged in as they lay beneath the blankets. The effects of the alcohol have worn off, and now they're waiting for sleep to come.
"You think? Or you know?"
"I know." He responds
"Yeah, me too." Jade admits "Can I tell you something?"
"Sure."
"When we first met..." Jade begins "I was terrified of dating you."
"What?" Beck gasps "Why?"
"Because I liked you so much...and that scared the shit out of me." She tells him "I had just gotten out of a relationship where I thought-"
"Right, Marcus." Beck interrupts her "Asshole."
"Yeah, he was an asshole." She agrees before continuing "But I had at one time liked him so much it scared me, and I didn't want this to turn out the same way...but now I know I had no reason to be scared...because this is so much better than that. This is so much better than everything. I love you so much, and I don't even want to begin to imagine what my life would be like right now without you in it."
"Good thing you'll never have to find out, huh?" Beck kisses her forehead gently "Thank you for letting me love you, and for loving me right back. You've made me a better person, I'm sure of it."
"Oh, I dunno about that."
She has a lot of her own shit she's still trying to figure out, and Beck has been instrumental in supporting her. If anything he has made her a better person.
"S'true and s'not up for debate."
"Can we settle on we both make each other better?" Jade poses
"Alright, yeah...that seems like a fair compromise." Beck smiles, yawning a bit "I think we should get some sleep. We can keep telling each other how much we love each other in the morning. Sound fair?"
"Sounds fair..." Jade chuckles, resting her head comfortably against his chest "I love you."
"I love you too."