Thanks to Boris Yeltsin and Lucifer143 for their reviews on the last chapter! It is appreciated.
So now we are onto the "Jade Dumps Beck" episode. I had fun getting into Beck's head a little in this chapter, which definitely helped in preparing for the next two chapters in which he is also very prominent. As Beck is a little ... uncharacterized apart from his fights with Jade (and the moments in The Slap videos he does with Jade are ADORABLE!), it is a lot of fun to write him because I get to figure out what kind of Beck I want! So, I hope you enjoy!
...
Can't cry in front of Cat. Can't cry in front of Cat. Can't cry in front of Cat. I need to find someone to talk to, but I can't talk to her. Maybe ... Tori lives near here and she's not cool enough to be any threat if I am crying near her. I need someone to fix this kite.
Jade went to Tori's house instead of Cat's that night. Maybe it was the right choice because Tori was a curious soul and thus able to "meddle" in a very loving way to help Beck and Jade get back together. But even if Jade had decided to go to Cat's house instead that night, she would not have found her best friend. The Cat was out on a prowl of her own.
...
Can't cry in front of Cat. Poor kid - she's trying to cheer me up but she's going to panic if she sees any of my true feelings. Got to keep her from seeing how I really feel.
"Want a grilled cheese?" Beck asked from the mini stovetop in his RV where he was making himself supper. Cat had showed up twenty minutes before and had spent most of that time looking at him with big eyes that alternated from understanding to reproach ... and desire for his sandwich. She was hungry at the moment, and although Jade was not there, she had hoped that Beck would still offer her at least a snack. The question injected some sparkle back into her brown eyes as she nodded.
"I love grilled cheese!"
"I know," he laughed, having become aware of that fact long ago as she would often stop by for supper with him and Jade. Even as devastated as he was about Jade having broken up with him, it was still healthy to feel other emotions - or so his mother had told him once before during a previous three-day breakup. And around Cat, it was best to try to keep things upbeat. She faced a lot at home. He did not know quite as much as Jade did about the situation, but he had seen enough to be careful of what he said and did in front of the redhead. He knew that darker emotions scared her - unless they were from Jade. Why the goth girl was an exception was something Beck could not fully understand, but he figured that her strangely compassionate nature singularly toward Cat probably had something to do with it. He had always loved that about Jade - how she was really not quite as tough under her facade as people thought that she was.
"Did you ever notice how Tori and Alyssa Vaught look a bit alike?"
Cat's innocent question startled Beck out of his contemplation and made him pause. He had not realized that before, but once Cat mentioned it he could not help but think that they practically looked like twins.
Suddenly, Jade's freak out about him talking to Alyssa made a whole lot more sense. He knew well how Jade felt threatened by Tori. Although he thought it was silly, maybe he had not fully appreciated how insecure it made Jade to see him be friends with not one but two girls with the same appearance. It would look like he had a "type" that did not include her.
Oh no. What did I do?
...
Jade had come by earlier that day to ask to get back together, but he did not want to agree right away. She had asked with folded arms and an emotionless face: "Want to be my boyfriend again?" There was no acknowledgement of the fact that she had broken it off because she was mad. There was no acknowledgement of the fact that she might actually owe him an apology. He did not expect that of Jade often, but there were some times when a "sorry" was appropriate. Today, he had felt that one was appropriate and she hadn't delivered.
When he had asked, "Is there anything you want to say first?" she had looked at him blankly.
"You're so self-centered. Try caring about someone else's opinion of you for a moment," he had snapped out of hurt and frustration. He did love Jade, but her lack of social skills was sometimes aggravating beyond belief. It went beyond not giving him anything beyond lemonade - but, if he thought about it harder ...
Beck could remember that she had met his parents on his birthday and she had poured nearly a week into trying to find an outfit and side salad that she could make to impress them. She had called him countless times with questions like, "Do you think I should wear less eye shadow? I know you like it, but will your mom?" and "Does your dad like sports? Because maybe I still have time to watch some YouTube videos and learn enough about sports to be able to talk about then sensibly." She had made him try at least ten salad options before eventually showing up with two, having been unable to settle on only one. No wonder she had not been focused on a physical present - she had known that starting a decent relationship with his parents would be far more valuable to him!
And he had accused her of not caring!
Her face had gotten even colder at that accusation and she had turned and walked away without another word. He had regretted calling her self-centered instantly, but he had been too stupid to follow her. Of anyone, he should know that she often presented as self-centered because she had learned not to trust others to champion her best interests for her. Change takes time, and Jade had not had a lot of time to learn how to trust others to truly care for her emotionally and not just monetarily. And she was not truly self-centered. She might come across that way to outsiders, but he knew better. Jade was loyal and cared for others in her own manner. Just look at Cat and how Jade was a surrogate mother to her at moments of greatest need...
...
"Your face is twitchy, Beck, in a sort of sad-thoughts way. Are you thinking of something sad?" Cat had asked.
Beck had almost lied to her, but then shrugged as he refocused on making her a sandwich. "Yeah, I guess I was."
"Jade?"
He paused. "Yeah."
"Do you still love Jade?"
"Of course, but I don't know if she loves me - at least not now with how stupid I am. But, hey, why don't you find the ketchup in the cupboard over there so that we'll be ready to eat once these sandwiches are toasted," he said, redirecting the conversation to a topic that would not over-involve Cat on his side of the fight. He never wanted to make Cat into the "kid with divorced parents" who felt pressured to go with one side. He knew that the girl (platonically) loved both him and Jade, and he did not want to make it harder on her than it already was by explaining his relationship difficulties with her best friend.
Cat went to find the ketchup, but still commented, "I'm glad you still love her. Because Jade likes when people love her. Not a lot of people do, you know."
His heart broke a little at the honest truth.
"Yeah, I know. She deserves more."
"So will you be her boyfriend again?" Cat asked hopefully, sitting down at the table with the ketchup bottle as Beck flipped the sandwiches onto two plates and cut them into triangles (Cat's preferred shape).
"We'll see. Now eat up and we'll talk about something different, okay? Have you made any clips for the Slap lately? I see that you've been doing an interview series with 'cute guys'. How about you tell me about how you choose which ones you are inviting into your bedroom, and maybe we can figure out a way to make that process a little safer."
...
"JadeJadeJade!"
"What?" Jade yelped, wincing as she lowered her phone from her ear. She was sitting on Beck's lap as they watched a movie and made out after finally getting back together, thanks to a dog attack, Tori's eager over-involvement, and - most importantly - Jade finally letting a crack in her defenses show. Beck had been frustrated and nearly ready to go back inside when she started blaming the whole dog attack thing on Tori, but the moment she took responsibility and showed that she still did care for him, no matter what an idiot he was, it was as if he had been struck in the dead center of his heart by Cupid's arrow. Jade being sweet was the strongest aphrodisiac for Beck, and he started kissing her passionately. She had been surprised that he still cared - she had just gotten his father mauled after mauling his heart - but had been elated to feel secure once again in his affections.
Cat, Jade mouthed to Beck, motioning to her phone.
"I know who it is. How could I ever misidentify that squealing?" he whispered good-naturedly against her neck, making her smile. The kiss he followed it up with made her smile more, even as she ducked away to focus on the call.
"I'm a little busy here, Cat. Can it wait?"
"You got back together with Beck?!"
Jade rolled her eyes and turned her phone on speaker phone so Beck could hear their excited little friend too. "Tori tell you that?"
"Yeah! Is it true? Is it? Is it? Is it?"
"Hey, Cat," Beck said in answer. A grin was lighting up his face and voice.
"Clearly, yes," Jade added.
"Yay yay yay yay YAAAAAAAAAY!" Cat squealed excitedly. "I'm so excited!"
"We can tell," Jade said drily but with more tolerance than she normally had when a make-out session was interrupted.
"Now it's like you're a family again," Cat said, sounding incredibly pleased with herself. "I knew that you should be one again because Beck told me he still loved you when he was making sandwiches, and I just knew you still loved him!"
"Good guessing, Cat. Now, we're a little busy, so we're going to go now," Jade cut in. She appreciated Cat's enthusiastic commitment to cheering on her relationship with Beck, but she also wanted to be able to put her full focus back on him.
"We'll see you at school tomorrow," Beck said. "Sleep well, okay?"
"Kay kay!"
Jade hung up and turned her attention back to Beck with an amused smile on her lips.
"You made her a sandwich?"
"I even made them into triangles. I wasn't going to let her starve while you were off crying with Tori about a kite," Beck teased lightly, having been informed on what happened on the previous night.
Jade rolled her eyes. "Hey, if you weren't teasing me, I'd say that you being all caring and responsible for the kid while I couldn't handle keeping an eye on her was sort of sexy. But if you prefer making fun of me..." She moved as if to stand up, but her eyes were twinkling with her teasing intent.
Beck held her waist and pulled her back down into his lap. "Where do you think you're going?" he asked with a sparkle of his own in his eyes.
Jade almost teased him back, but then decided to smile instead as she leaned in and whispered, "Nowhere. I'm not going anywhere."
And in an instant, they were back to kissing. It was as if Cat's little interruption had never happened.
...
I hope you enjoyed!
The next chapter that I will be writing (not posting - I'm writing ahead) is episode 10, when Rex "dies". There are some cute moments in there with Cat, and I am so excited! If you have any requests for that chapter, now is a good time to make them.
I'm also working on another story that will be up soon, based on the idea of why in one episode Beck gave Jade a time out. Although my intro to that story will explain it better, I find it odd that Jade - who usually fights anyone over anything - doesn't even substantially protest to Beck telling her to sit down on the stairs. I have my theories (that don't involve Beck trying to publicly humiliate her), but any insights you have would be fun for that too!
Anyway, more to enjoy is coming soon! If you liked this, please leave a comment. Have a great day! :)
