For Those We Are Truly Grateful For

(Beck/Jade) An alternate take on B plot from "Star Spangled Tori." Beck and Jade have gotten back together, and work to help Cat with family issues.

The second half of the school day has arrived, and Jade is changing out books at her locker, when Beck comes up with two cups of coffee in hand. He hands one to Jade while the two share a kiss. It's been a week since these two got back together, and things have been going well so far. They agreed to talk more, and not let the anger build up to the point where they end up in a shouting match. Beck admitted to her that sometimes he does like the attention he gets from girls flirting with him, but he promises to make it clear that he is in a committed relationship, and not flirt back. Jade has also admitted to letting her emotions get the better of her, and that sometimes she does over react when girls are talking to Beck. Deep down she knows Beck would never out and out cheat on her, but the flirting does bother her, and she's working on communicating that in a more positive way with her boyfriend. At the moment, they are confirming their plans for later.

"So are you still coming over tonight?" Beck asked.

"Yeah, I can stop and pick up food if you want. Burritos sound good?"

"I'm good with that. Thank you, Babe."

"You're welcome." Jade smiles, and Beck leans over to kiss her.

Over Beck's shoulder, Jade notices that Cat is at the vending machine loading up her bag with cans of Wahoo Punch, and she motions for Beck to look behind him.

"What's that about?" Jade asked.

"I don't know."

"Hey Cat." Jade called out.

Cat looked up at them, quickly gathering her bag, and ran down the hallway. Jade and Beck hurried after her, but they weren't able to catch up to her in time, and they lost sight of her.

"That was weird. I wonder what's got her loading up on drinks." Beck said.

"Yeah, I know. Last night my mom and I were driving by the school, and we saw Cat parking her bike at the bike rack."

"We'll have to get to the bottom of it later." Beck said.

For now the two made their way to the Black Box Theater for improv class. Sikowitz had them working on a scene in pairs, where they had to play two people trapped during an earthquake. This being California, there was surely no shortage of earthquakes, and all of them hoped that this situation would never be for real. All the while, Beck and Jade were concerned about Cat, but they didn't want to ask her about it in front of everyone, so they'd have to try and get her alone after class. The moment their class ended, Beck silently motioned to Jade to start moving towards Cat, but by the time they started to follow her, she had already made her way out the door, and they lost her down the hallway. Andre took notice of Beck's shifty eyes during their acting exercise, and he wanted to know what was up.

"Hey, what's going on with you?"

"We've been worried about Cat." Beck told them, with Jade standing next to him. "Have any of you noticed anything weird going on with her?"

"No, nothing out of the ordinary." Andre answered.

"Actually, yesterday I saw Cat brushing her teeth here, in the girls bathroom." Robbie told them, and everyone looked at him funny.

"Why were you in the girls bathroom?" Tori asked.

"No reason."

For now they ignored Robbie being weird, and focused on the matter at hand.

"I'll keep an eye on her, and see if I notice anything strange." Andre said.

"Yeah, us too." Tori said, and Robbie nodded.

As they were leaving, Beck and Jade tried looking for Cat again, but she was nowhere to be found. All they could do now was keep an eye on her, and try talking to her if they were able to get her alone.

Beck heard a knock at his door, and opened it to let Jade in with their burritos in hand. They share a kiss, and the two sit, opening the bag of food. Beck sat watching Jade arranged her veggie burrito on her plate. He couldn't keep his eyes off of her, and how particular she was, from getting comfortable on the bed, to folding up the rapper in case she didn't finish it all, to scraping the loose pieces of lettuce from her burrito into a pile. It was a detail many didn't notice about Jade while they were at school, but Beck found it endearing as he kept smiling at her. Jade became aware of Beck's stillness, looking up at him, slightly annoyed.

"What?"

"Nothing, just watching you." Beck said.

"Well stop." Jade said, while turning away smiling.

"Why am I making you nervous?"

Jade pushes his plate at him. "Just eat your burrito. "

Beck laughs while hitting play on their movie. They ate in silence as the film played, and Beck couldn't help but notice that all the while, Jade kept checking her phone. It stopped after the beginning of the film, but then she started again as the film was drawing to a close. Beck couldn't ignore it anymore, and asked her about it.

"Something going on?"

"I called Cat several times, but she still isn't answering." Jade told him.

"Maybe she went to bed already?"

Jade tried calling Cat once more, and finally she answered.

"Hey, there you are. I tried calling you three times already. "

"Oh sorry, I was in the shower. " Cat said.

"Oh, well I was just calling to make sure everything was okay with you."

"Of course; why wouldn't it be?"

"I don't know, Beck and I saw you loading a bunch of drinks in your bag earlier, and then you ran away from us." Jade said.

"Uhm, it's, it's a surprise science project. "

Jade looks toward Beck, confused, then keeps talking to Cat.

"Uh, okay, well would it be okay if we hung out at your house tomorrow? We haven't gotten together in awhile."

"Sorry, I can't. I'll be busy with my science project. "

"Well, maybe I can help you. " Jade said.

"Sorry, you can't come over. I gotta go." Cat said, before hanging up.

"That was weird. " Jade said to Beck, while sitting up.

She explained to Beck about how Cat made excuses about some surprise science project. Obviously neither one of them believed her, and Beck and Jade agreed to follow Cat after school tomorrow to find out what was really going on.

Beck parks his car just past the bike rack where he and Jade can see Cat parking her bike, and moving towards the building. Easing the doors shut, they follow Cat inside the building, through the window outside Sikowitz's classroom. Beck pulls out his phone, turning on the flashlight, while they continue to follow her. They follow Cat all the way to the Black Box Theater, and watch her climb up the catwalk, and then up another ladder to the attic space. Soon they are able to see Cat slip behind a small attic door, and the two of them ease the door open, finding Cat sitting in the room with some things from her room set up. As soon as Cat sees Beck and Jade she turns the light off, but they urge her to turn it back on.

"Cat, what are you doing here?" Jade asked.

"Well, I kinda live here now."

"What do you mean you live here?" Beck asked.

Cat explained to them that her parents are in Idaho with her brother after having to take him to a treatment facility for his, and everyone else's safety. He needs to be under observation, and it could take anywhere from six months to two years at the most. Jade sits next to Cat trying to get more information on her living situation.

"So have you been staying here this whole time?" Jade asked.

"Well no, my parents wanted me to stay with my Uncle Walter and Aunt Pearl, but they're mean. They don't like my red hair, they won't let me have unlimited texting, and they won't let you flush the toilet unless absolutely necessary."

"Well you can't stay here. There must be another relative you can live with." Beck said.

"Yeah, what about your grandmother? What do you call her, Nona?" Jade said.

"I would love to live with my Nona, but she moved away to Italy." Cat explained.

"Look Cat, we don't want to just leave you here. Why don't you stay in my RV until we figure this out." Beck said.

"Really, you'd do that for me."

"Yeah really, it's no problem. Come on." Beck said.

Beck and Jade helped Cat gather her things, and they all climbed down, and headed back to Beck's RV to stay the night. When they got back, Cat was set up on Beck's couch while he and Jade slept in his bed. It was late, so Jade planned to call Cat's parents tomorrow after school, so they could help Cat find a better solution to her situation.

The next day after school, Beck, Jade, and Cat were at Beck's house, watching a movie. Jade came in the door to the RV after getting off the phone with some news for Cat.

"Cat, get your stuff; we're going for a ride." Jade said.

"Where are we going?"

"To your Nona's house."

"But I told you, my Nona moved to Italy."

"No Cat, I talked to your parents. Your Nona moved to Venice."

"Right. Venice is in Italy. I looked it up."

"Venice, California. It's twelve miles from here." Jade explained.

Jade told Cat that her parents talked to Nona, and said that she'd love to have Cat come live there, and Cat happily gathered her stuff, grateful to have somewhere else to go. Beck and Jade loaded Cat's things into his car, and drove her to her Nona's in Venice. When they got there, Nona welcomed Cat in, and her friends helped bring her stuff inside. After things were settled. Cat talked to Beck and Jade out on the front porch.

"I can't thank you guys enough. I don't know what I would do if I had to stay with my aunt and uncle."

"It's no problem. We were happy to do it." Jade told her.

"Well, thank you again. I guess I'll see you guys at school tomorrow." Cat said.

She looked at Jade like she wanted to give her a hug, but before she could say anything, Jade wrapped her arms around Cat, and Cat returned the hug, smiling into her. Beck gave her a hug as well, and they left, Jade telling Cat that she would call her later. On the drive home, Beck looked at Jade in the passenger's seat, and Jade looked next to her, noticing the smile on her boyfriend's face.

"What?"

"You. You did a good thing for Cat."Beck said.

"It was nothing." Jade shrugged. "Just helping out a friend."

"You're a good friend."

"Thank you." Jade smiled.

Beck reached over, placing a hand on her shoulder. Jade turned toward him, placing her hand atop of his, returning his smile.

"I promise not to mess this up this time. I'll remember how lucky I am to have you, and I won't forget to let you know it."

As they approached a stop light, the two met in the middle for a kiss. It felt good to help out Cat the way they did, and Beck got to see the soft side of Jade that he always knew was there. From here on out, it was his job to remind Jade what she meant to him, and what she meant to those closest to her. Because to lose her again would be the biggest mistake Beck could ever make.