A/N: Okay, finally. I'm getting to the juicy bits of the story. Also, hi, I just wanted to say that.

"Was looking for honey; found poison instead

- Toxic Friendships"

― SHIVANGI DHAWAN

Present day

Jade

"Hey Jade. Long time no see."

"Andre?"

Yea, no, this is definitely Andre. His light brown locs are longer, and impossibly so, he filled out even more. But his easy going smile and eyes are still the same.

He is still so very handsome.

I feel uncomfortable in my skin seeing him here, before me now. I haven't seen him since I moved to New York to live with my dad. I haven't talked to him either. I figured it was for the best. Seeing as how things went down.

"Dang girl, I knew you were rich, but I didn't know you were rooftop parties rich." He chuckles looking around and taking in the scenery around us.

"I'm not anything. It's my father's wealth. What are you doing here? I thought you were on tour, promoting your album?"

"Why? Are you disappointed to see me?" He gives one of his trademark smiles and I feel my stomach do somersaults. I fight to keep the smile from spreading across my face.

"Shut up, you know I'm ecstatic to see you."

"Then give me some love girl," he opens his arms and I step into the embrace. He smells like vanilla and cocoa butter. I pull back quickly before my face can get too flushed. "You look amazing by the way. But I do miss the streaks of color in your hair." he comments, touching the top of my head.

"Hey, come on now, your hair is so long now. And you still didn't answer my question about your tour."

"Yea, I only have a couple of shows left. Today would have been a day off but I got an offer that I couldn't refuse from, who I'm assuming is your long lost older sister?"

"I don't have an older sister."

"Well shorty is way too bad to be your mom." I roll my eyes.

"Well she is my mom. Step mom, she planned this whole event and she told me that she had a surprise for me. But how does she even know that I know you?"

"We both went to Hollywood Arts. She might just have made an assumption." he shrugs. But that still doesn't add up to me. I don't like nor tolerate many people.

"Andre, we're ready for a mic check man," someone calls out to him. He looks in their direction and gives them a nod.

"I'm going to go get ready to do my set, but afterwards let's catch up. I was heading to this bar on the lower east side, I would really like it if you came with me." His eyes are magnetic. I can't imagine saying no.

"Yea, I would love that," I smiled at him.

What in the absolute fuck Jade?

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Beck

I wake up in my small studio apartment in Cobble Hill, to the sounds of music drifting in through the walls. Yesterday was a miserable day. The flight was delayed, so although I was up at 5 to make it to the airport by 630, so that I could catch the 7 am flight. We didn't really depart until about 10.

When we finally landed, I had to wait a ridiculous amount of time for my luggage, and I had to eat with the producers, who wanted to discuss the show. Then I had to have coffee with the writer and the casting director, as they were still looking for a female lead for the show.

I'm so fucking jet lagged and tired and these walls are paper thin, and I am almost certain that i either saw a small dog or a huge rat scurrying around my apartment earlier.

My stomach rumbles loudly, telling me that I'm in desperate need of food, otherwise I will pass out again.

I check my phone and see that it is 10 pm. I guess it would be time enough to grab something to eat. I climb from my bed and grab my phone and keys. I could also check out the neighborhood and see the night life.

It isn't long before I come across a city block filled with bars, cafes and eateries. I don't really know what I'm in the mood for. It's always so hard to decide what you want to eat when you're hungry.

I pass by several women, who quickly turn to their friends and whisper and fall into a fit of giggles. I know what they are saying. It's not like I'm unaware of the effect that I have on people. I'm not the most attractive person in the world, but I'm up there. From the moment I hit puberty, I have garnered the attentions of both girls and boys alike.

Also, a lot more disturbingly, grown ass women. I don't like to think about them too much though. Being a teenage boy and having to fight off the unwanted advances and flirtations of grown women.

Ha. To be honest, when I started dating Jade, I really didn't have to stop older women from coming on to me. Whether we were on a break or not, she had them keeping their distance with a well placed insult or a horrifying look. It was such a relief. Some would think that an older woman liking them is a score, but in truth it was incredibly uncomfortable. Jade was a shield that protected me from it.

Now, I don't really have that worry. Yea older women still come on to me, but I'm an adult now. I'm able to set my boundaries. I had to learn quickly.

Jade was a very good lesson.

Fuck, I got to get out of my own mind.

I spot a pizza place and I might as well grab a slice or two. Or maybe even a whole pie.

I enter the restaurant with its fluorescent lighting, and aromas of basil, garlic and pepper. There are a few people in line ahead of me, so this place must be good.

"Bitch! We have to go to 169"

"No, I have to get up early tomorrow. I have a presentation on Monday that I am not prepared for in the slightest. I have to go to the library, they have the book I need on reservation."

There are a couple of girls having a conversation in front of me. I try not to pay attention, but something they say captures my attention.

"No, so you know this new artist Andre? He sings that song Song2You?"

"I love that song."

"Me too. Anyways, he was playing at this private party and I heard that he was heading to 169 afterwards!"

"I don't know Jessica, last time you said that Taylor Swift was going to be at Sarabeths and that was a total bust."

"Oh my God, how many times do I have to apologize for that?"

"Well once would be nice-"

"Listen, he isn't as big as Taylor. He would totally be there."

"Well you can go there and send me a picture. I can't afford to fail this class."

Andre….here…I wasn't expecting that.

Like, I knew the chance that I would run into him would be there. But I didn't think it would be immediate.

I mean…it's not immediate. I don't actually see him. I'm just getting secondhand information from a girl who already, from her friend's perspective, is an unreliable source.

And I would only run into him if 1, that information is accurate, and 2, if I am stupid enough to actually go to that bar and see if he's there.

But that is stupid. That is the dumbest thing that I could possibly do. Why would I even do that?

I mean…

I do want answers from him. I want…no, I need an explanation.

I was told a long time ago that ghosts were nothing more than unfinished business. I really don't need to go ghost haunting.

But I want fucking answers.

I feel an incredible rage take over me. One that I thought was long left in the past.

I turn and abruptly leave the pizza place, my hunger long forgotten.

I need fucking answers.

Has he spoken to her since she left?

Where did she go and why did she leave so suddenly, to the point where she wasn't even at the fucking graduation?

Was the aftermath worth it?

Was breaking my fucking heart worth it?

Is she fucking okay?

Is she happy and doing well?

FUCK!

I open my phone and order an uber to whatever the fuck is 169. This is literally psychotic. I should turn around and grab my pizza and go home and just forget all of this and move the fuck on.

Maybe I should call Robbie and get his opinion on this?

Robert is 2 mins away

I guess I'm doing this.

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20 minutes later I'm outside the bar.

What the fuck, did I actually do this? Is this really a good decision?

Fuck it, I'm going in.

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Jade

"No I was not!"

"You totally were."

"Bullshit. I was not that bad"

"I can list off the top of my head 10 famous Jade West tantrums."

"I call bullshit, through and through."

"The time that you yelled at Sinjin and told his mom that she gave birth to the wrong thing."

"It's true, Sinjin is a weird little freak who makes people feel super uncomfortable. He was always lurking about, spying on us."

"The time when you chased me and Tori around the school and threatened to kill us with toilet paper."

"You cannot tell me that I wasn't justified. You paid some poor schlup to ask me out on a date."

"Yea, that was stupid,"

"Exactly!"

"I should have just taken you out myself."

It takes everything that I have not to turn completely red. I hope that he attributes it to the drinks and the warm, crowded bar and not from what he said. I look down and pick up my glass, finding it really interesting. I'm not sure if I should linger on the topic of him asking me out or if I should change the subject.

I don't get a chance, before I can say anything, he goes on with his list.

"Let's not forget, the time when you knocked the batteries out of my casio, when I was laying down a particularly sick beat."

"Really? That was a sick beat?"

"Yes it was. I'm still thinking about that beat and a song that I can use it for."

"It wasn't just you being annoying for the sake of being annoying to everyone?"

" I don't recall ever being annoying."

"That's only because we were surrounded by morons in school. Finding someone who was only mildly annoying was a godsend. We had untalented freaks, weirdos who stalked people, Robbie carried around a puppet for his entire highschool career and don't even get me started on Cat."

"Cat was weird…adorable as hell…but also equally weird. Have you met her brother?"

"Oh God, yes. Only once, but he was…a different type of weird. I mean, I like disturbing and macabre things a little more than the next person…but I'm pretty sure that he is a serial killer."

"I made the mistake of going into his room once…it changed me…" Andre has this far away look in his eyes. I don't want to know what he saw in that room. Cat's brother was, and probably still is completely unhinged. Its no wonder that she took the first chance that she had to go on tour and open for Ginger Fox.

"How's the tour going?"

"It's amazing. I'm getting to do what I love and how I want to do it. It's my music my way…it's absolutely the hardest thing that I have ever done and it's the best." His face lights up and I see the sincerity and pure joy. Person number 3 that I respect. "Tell me about you? How is school? Are you going on any auditions?"

There it goes. The bitter sting of rejection and failure. I don't want to talk about it. So I changed the subject.

"How is…" I'm trying to think of a name, any name that will take the focus of my failing acting career. "Tori?" Why the fuck did I mention her?

I see him lift an eyebrow, a very amused look on his face. Well fuck.

I close my eyes and prepare for the oncoming slaught of ridicule.

"Well, my, my, if is isn't our own little miss Jade West." Is this actually God? Am I truly blessed and highly favored?

"Hi…Betty Sue…I guess it is true. The freaks do come out at night." I turn to see Charlene at the bar. Her sophisticated party attire, traded for a sleek black and revealing body con dress and her long, strawberry blonde tresses, loose and spilling down her back and over her shoulders.

"Well you certainly would know more about that than I would Jadey. Now, be a dear and introduce me to your handsome friend here?" She smiles at Andre, whose amusement is growing by the second I am sure. She dainty holds her hand out for him to take. Of course, it's not the one with her engagement ring on.

"I'm Charlene Blanchard, it is absolutely wonderful to meet you." Andre takes her hand and shakes it awkwardly.

"Andre Harris, I'm an old friend of Jade's."

"My, you are a lot more than that. Your album had debuted as number five on the charts and it is steadily climbing, almost at number one. You're on a completely solo and sold out tour in North America and there are talks about you being nominated for a grammy for best new artist."

Is this bitch fucking for real? She's a fan?

"Sounds like you're a fan?" He asks her.

"Well I just like to know who's coming in and out of my city?" She responds flirtatiously.

"So you can add them to the long list of who cums in and out of you perhaps?" I interject.

"Let me know if you get bored with your tired, old friends and would like to make some new ones?" She ignores me and lays on the charm real thick for Andre.

"Thank you, but its a hard pass. There's really no place I'd rather be right now." He gives me a wink before turning back to look at Charlene.

"Excuse me?" She asks, perplexed.

"You heard him. Now beat it raggedy Anne before you embarrass yourself anymore," I smile sweetly at her. She gives me a nasty look before moving on from us to her awaiting heard of socialites and wannabes. You would think that the world would be a lot less highschool when you grow up. But you sadly realize that it isn't. It's all just highschool on a larger scale. It's human nature, I guess.

"Wow, how do you even know her?" Andre asks, taking a sip of his drink.

"Our family runs in the same circles. I think I might have embarrassed her at a function a year or two ago. I don't really remember."

"You always had a way of getting under people's skin."

"I guess you can call it my gift. It often went underappreciated."

"I can think of a few people who liked it."

"Oh yea? Like who?"

"Beck for instance."

My blood runs cold. Beck? Why is he bringing him up?

My face must give it away, because Andre becomes real interested.

"Yea, Beck loved it when you antagonized people. Almost as much as he loved antagonizing you himself."

I don't say anything. I feel oddly sober now and exposed. I can feel my mask falling into place.

"See, why do you do that?" He shifts in his seat and looks me in my eye. I look away. I don't want him to be able to read me and figure out what I'm thinking.

"Do what? I'm not doing anything." I can't meet his eyes.

"You're shutting down. I get it…things…things went down badly…for all of us really."

"Yea…I know…"

"Have you heard from him…"

"No…but like…I…I like it that way. I don't know how…I don't know what to say…about any of it…"

"Yea…me either…"

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Beck

I've been standing outside of this door for what feels like forever…what the fuck am I waiting for?

I close my eyes and take a deep breath. Fuck it.

I pull the door open, a bit too harshly and a woman falls into me.

"Yo fuckface, what the actual fuck?!" her yells are muffled by my chest. I grab onto her arms to steady her. Shit man.

"I'm…so sorry. I shouldn't have pulled so hard on the door. That was idiotic of me."

"Yea no shit, asshole…do I know you?"

I look at her, like really look at her.

She is completely unfamiliar to me.

But she is beautiful.

Her skin is a silky, peanut buttery brown, her light blonde locs are in a ponytail, piled high on top of her head. Her eyes are a mesmerizing hazel, and in them hold secrets and mischief. She bites at the corner of her red painted lips as her eyes narrow in concentration.

I smile at her.

"I don't think that we've met before. I"m certain that I would have remembered you." I told her.

"I know that I've seen you-Midnight Ride! You were in that movie, Midnight Ride!" she exclaims. Her eyes light up and intrigue takes over.

"Yea, I was in that. It was one of the first films that I was featured in. You must have a very eclectic taste in film." I tell her, honestly impressed that she not only watched the movie, but that she recalled that I was in it.

"I have a thing for tortured men…the fictional ones anyways." Her eyes recapture the mischief that was in them earlier. Suddenly, the need to talk to Andre and get answers are a lot less important. "Since you almost killed me and everything, how about you buy me a drink?" It's not really a question, it's more of a statement.

"I would love to, but you see, I don't really make it a habit of buying drinks for people who call me names like asshole and fuckface." I smirk at her, which makes her own smile widen.

"Well give me your name and I'll see about calling you that."
"What, you don't already know? I thought you were a fan?"

"I only know you from the one movie, I think your ego is showing."

"It's Beck."

"Beck? I think I prefer asshole…"

"I can think of a name for you too…"

"Well in case you struggle, you can call me Jay,"

"Jay? That's not a name, it's a letter."

"It's short for Jalisia,"

"Jalisia, well it's nice to meet you. How about we go in for a drink and you can tell me about how you are my biggest fan."

Yea…Andre can wait.