Disclaimer: I don't own.

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In many ways, Beck was as lost as the rest of them. He knew his whole thing with Jade was a high school romance, and their differences would eventually drive them apart. It didn't make him love her any less, just soured a good amount of the time they spent together. The pale beauty was so negative, a blight on many conversations, it made it hard to appreciate the good she brought. Beck had long ago accepted they were on borrowed time, from the moment they'd gotten back together.

Beck had found the perfect guy for her. Problem was, this was hardly the first perfect guy for Jade, and worse, he was one of their friends. 'It's just, Robbie may be a creeper, and lets be honest, how long would Rex last in that relationship. But would losing Rex, and possibly a limb or two, really be that bad for Rob? It would get him to grow up, which is always good, and Jade, she needs someone who will challenge her. Robbie can be a real challenge, especially once Rex has been ripped to shreds and she finds out just how needed he can be. But I feel that Jade would be good for him. Plus, the two have had a couple of adventures together, like helping Cat, and she managed to avoid hospitalizing him. Far better then that one time Sinjin asked her for help…'

Only the talented and handsome Canadian wasn't ready to try and hand the goth off on someone else, as much out of his need to have her for the rest of high school as his guilt at trying to offload his problems on someone else. 'Jade CAN be a handful, I suppose…'

If it was just his issues with Jade, that would be bad enough. The real problem he had was that he wasn't the best actor. As good as he was, and as many leads as he got, he'd seen how good Andre, or Robbie could be. To admit that the nerdy boy was a better character actor hurt, even as he used it to motivate him to strive to be better. Beck loved the challenge of trying to be better. It was even one of the reasons he wanted to swap places with Robbie, peruse Cat, who had more manageable problems, and lat the talented but creepy Rob have his biggest problem.

Jade was already making it.

The pale girl had seemed to be back at square one after the whole Platinum Music Awards. Only, that's not how the industry works. Tori and Jade both now had massive amounts of interests, with Jade using hers to help finance a small, indi movie. Beck knew that much because he had a small roll in it. As much of a roll as Jade could arrange. They all did, but with a couple of exceptions, they were minor rolls, supporting and giving them a chance to pad their resumes.

'Tori made it happen. Jade started, but given the bad taste her betrayal left in Masons mouth, she had almost no favors to spend. Tori did. So she argues that Jade, of all people, could build a staring vehicle, and the fame would only help her future music sales. Mason agreed, with tight controls, and each of us had to audition to his shadow director. Funny, as much control as that guy had in the beginning, he knew talent when it was right in front of him. I don't know how much of Jade's work he changed, but it was so seamless…. A horror film made on a shoe string budget, and it'll make a decent profit, thus making Jade, and giving all of us a boost in our careers.'

Beck still stung that Robbie fit so well into the roll of one of the bad guys, the man who'd summoned the succubus in order to get revenge, and wound up falling for her. Beck and Andre were reduced to popular kids Jade's character, the succubus, kills, while Tori got to be the popular girl who plays the hero in the end, killing Robbie and saving the school. Cat, of course, played a popular girl who got wacked. 'Rolls for each of us, though I have no idea how Sikowiz got so confused trying to find his character? I mean, please, he played a teacher. Sure, he got killed by Jade, devoured and everything. But the parts before that, like the day he made the whole class debate how a teacher should act in front of his class…." He shook his head, now aware he was putting off the real meat of his thought process. 'What to do about Jade, now that she won't need me any more…'

Of course, he was dead wrong. The best of intentions, and yet, the handsome boy often missed the most basic of facts. Yes, Jade needed to grow up, stop being a bitch. She'd seen as much on the set, getting things done while having the other director watching her every move. But at the same time, she was insecure, and vulnerable, just not obviously so. Only a couple of people saw it, and they weren't going to use that against her. Not unless they needed to. No, Beck was trying, again, to fix his problems and letting Jade be the canvas he used to work things out.

Beck had always used acting as a way to work out his thoughts, his feelings, everything. He was the cool guy with no secrets, because as long as he projected that image, he could fool himself into believing it was true. Ad that was the thing Robbie had that he wanted the most, the ability to own his own faults. The nerdy boy had slowly been accepting those since they first became friends, and Beck was in envy of that fact, because it was the very growth he secretly suspected he needed, but wasn't having. 'It's that honesty that helps make him such a good actor…' Beck mused, even as he sat in his trailer, trying to make sense of a world he pretended to have under control.

Only, he was in high school, and the only two girls who, to his mind, were close to good enough for his image, were Tori and Jade, and he knew just how screwed up each of those girls was.

It may have been the one thing he was certain of. Of course, that didn't offer him any comfort, just doubts about his future, which undermined his confidence, and reinforced his disguise as the mature, confident member of his group with no secrets to hide.

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A slightly more narcissistic Beck. Narcissistic, and maybe a touch clueless… Thoughts?