As I mentioned in the chapter "Shaken Emotions and More" of "The Peculiar Particulars of Premature Parenting", I wanted to do a one-shot on the earthquake scene from "Andre's Horrible Girl" not just from Cat's perspective (as seen in that chapter). This one-shot focuses on Beck, as I have read lots of fans reacting with either love for how he protects Cat or distaste that he doesn't help Jade. I wanted to explore what I thought about it, so ... enjoy!
...
Beck's stomach flipped as he felt the house begin to shake. Here he was, in a stranger's house, during a Californian earthquake.
This was a much more complicated evening than he had signed up for when he agreed to hang with Robbie for the night!
He automatically started yelling orders for everyone to take cover. Robbie reacted instantly. He could not get to much cover in that instant, but he dropped underneath of a side table. It might not be full-body coverage, but at least he was low and his head was protected.
For himself, Beck could see Cat's eyes - already teary from unrelated disaster - go wide and frozen as she stood up from the chair. He grabbed her - the girl who was almost more child than friend - and dragged her with him to the relative safety of a doorframe, curling around her to protect her to the best of his ability. He leaned against the doorframe, focusing on protecting Cat's head rather than his own. In the crashes and shaking, he hoped and prayed that Jade had taken cover. He looked across the room - filling with debris - and saw Jade in the middle of the sofa, her only protection a pillow held over her head.
What is she thinking?! Does she want to die?! was Beck's only thought before another shake threatened to pull him from his positioning in the doorframe and he adjusted, concentrating fully on not letting go of Cat. She was the one he could get to. Going out into the room to try to help Jade would only expose himself and Cat to more danger too.
As soon as the quake stopped, Jade shakily stood. Beck was going to ask how everyone was when Cat's mom's boss came into the room and started an assessment of his own. From there, the focus was on convincing Cat to go along with his assumption that the earthquake had caused all damages, then on beating a hasty retreat after quick calls to let parents know they were alive.
"Yes, Mom, I'll be home as soon as I get Robbie and Cat home."
He could see Jade frown even in the dim light of the evening at the idea of him driving Cat home instead of her. He was not going to budge on that though. He had to deal with a lot with Jade, but he was not going to let her decide willy-nilly to endanger Cat more that night.
"I promise I'll be safe. Yes, if there's any aftershocks I'll find a safe place to wait them out. No, I won't go on any bridges - there's no bridges or overpasses on the way home."
Beck noticed that Jade had not made a single phone call, simply sending what looked like a one-word text. She looked up and noticed him watching her. She sneered at him while he ended his call, "Yes, I love you and Dad too. Bye."
That was it. Adrenaline and fear were creating a potent fury in his core, and her disregard was triggering a response. The thought of her curling up in the middle of the room with nothing more than a little fabric and stuffing to guard her life was a spark to the fuse. He shoved his phone back in his pocket and strode over to her, grabbing her wrist and swiftly tugging her out of earshot of Robbie and Cat, still deeply engrossed in calls of their own. No need for them to listen in on what he already knew was a doomed conversation. Talking to Jade while angry never got them anywhere, but he was too infuriated to bother with tact.
"Let go of me, Oliver," Jade growled.
"What the heck was that in there?" he hissed.
"What?" she demanded flatly.
"We were in an earthquake, Jade. Is a pillow all the protection your life deserves?"
"It was my first response," she snapped.
"I've been here only a few years compared to your lifetime here. How do I have better reaction skills than you?!" He could feel his body shaking from shock. Only his fresh anger at his ex kept him standing.
"Emergencies are different than drills," she muttered. But she did not make eye contact. He knew her ... too well.
"Stop lying to me. I'm done of it, Jade. You barely covered your head! You could have come over with Cat and me, or gotten under a table like Rob..."
"Shut up, Beck!" she cut in with a dangerously acidic tone.
He began breathing harder, intensity in his voice mounting as he poked her shoulder while making accusations. "You didn't care, did you? You just curled up and ... what? Hoped you'd get hurt in your own masochistic way of once again punishing yourself and the people who care about you? We broke up and I won't play bad guy anymore, so you just give up? Playing a game with fate to see if you survive the spin of the tectonic wheels...?"
"I DON'T CARE WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU, IDIOT, SO DON'T GIVE ME FIRE FOR WHAT CHOICES I MADE!" Jade turned on his with aggression in her face. She stepped toward him, shoving him backward with both hands on his chest. Her touch felt like fire.
"I HATE YOU!" he yelled back, the cruel words an utter lie. He turned and marched off to his car, grabbing Robbie with one arm and Cat in the other. The two teens yelped as he pulled them to the car before yanking the back door open and gesturing for them to get in.
"We're going to get you both home," he said. "Since you both actually seem to AT LEAST WANT TO STAY ALIVE!" He yelled the last words in Jade's direction. She responded with a rude gesture and disappearing into her car with a mighty door slam. He echoed it with his own.
He sat in the driver's seat, never feeling less equipped to be there. His entire body was shaking, this time from fear and emotion, shock and grief. It wasn't until a full three minutes later when he startled from a gentle tap on his shoulder and Cat pressed a tissue into his hand that he released his face was wet from tears. He did not feel like he was crying, but he must be. Glancing back at Robbie and Cat, they were embracing one another as if their life depending on it, their own faces lined in terror tears.
Lights. Engine. Crunching gravel under tires. Jade was leaving. He watched her lights disappear in his mirror.
"I should get you both home before your families worry," he mumbled, putting the car into drive.
They drove silently, all words expended. He hugged both of them as he dropped them off - Cat from protective habit, Robbie from a silent comradeship that surviving the night seemed to demand. When he got home, it was his turn to be held, rocked gratefully by his mother and questioned with concern by his father on if they had all been okay.
Much later, he sat on his bed, still stunned, flipping his phone over and over in his hand. Finally, with a shaky sigh, he turned it on and navigated to texting. There was her name - or the angry moniker he had give her in the throes of their initial breakup. Guiltily, he changed it back to Jade. Petty name calling seemed stupid in the light of what had just happened. He did not need to call her "Babe" or "Ja" or "Queen of my Heart", but he could restore her to simply "Jade" in his contact list.
He quickly tapped out a message.
Hesitated.
Erased. He was still angry after all.
Tapped it back out.
Hesitated for a second.
Forced himself to send.
I'm glad you're okay.
He let out a long sigh, a little less shaky this time.
His phone buzzed with an almost instant response. He read it with eager eyes, then smiled weakly.
I could tell.
There was a pause.
Then another buzz. Another text coming in.
Glad you're okay too.
He let his thumb hover for a moment, then clicked the little black heart emoji. Then he turned off the phone and gratefully sunk into bed, exhausted and shaken in all interpretations of the word.
...
I had so much fun writing this, although it is heartbreaking and sad. I really felt like it clicked in as I was writing it. This is probably my favourite thing I've written for fanfiction this month. :)
Expect a little tie in to this in the next chapter of "The Peculiar Particulars of Premature Parenting". I couldn't help but mention it.