The RV was cold when Jade returned. A metal shell, it had never been the toastiest, but with Beck there it had always been the cosiest place she'd known. Now, it felt little different to the outside world, from which she'd just escaped.

She also hadn't anticipated seeing so much baby paraphernalia. After the night she'd had, the sight of little scraps of Toby's life was just too much to bear. Jade sunk onto her ex-boyfriend's bed, dropped her head in her hands and began to cry.

Hours later, Beck was tired, naturally. The clock had just ticked past three AM, and he'd now been awake for the best part of nineteen hours. Toby had been asleep for perhaps an hour, having been painfully restless on the flight home. Beck wasn't sure whether it was having to sit next to a fussing baby for three hours, or some other pressing feeling, that had convinced his mother to insist that they forego the hotel stay they had planned and head straight home. If he was being cynical, he would've guessed it was a desire to reduce the time Jade spent on the Oliver premises alone.

When he finally stepped over the threshold of his parents' house, Beck struggled to feel the relief of returning home after a long trip. Sure, it'd been great to see his family, and Toby was absolutely doted on for the duration of their stay, but the baby hadn't been the only one that had missed Jade. It was weird to go without seeing her for two weeks. Even now, when they were broken up, they spent so much time together. It felt alien to not speak to her and see her in person for so long.

Putting Toby to bed was a quick process, and he really should have just fallen asleep in the bed next to him. There was no reason for him to quietly unlock the front door and head out to the RV, no reason at all. But with his son safely tucked away in bed, Beck felt his pangs of protectiveness find a new target.

He thought he'd be in there for a minute, if that. He'd slip in, check Jade was asleep and everything seemed okay, and then he'd head out just as quietly, go to bed, and no one would ever have to know that he'd checked on her in the first place.

A spanner was thrown in those works when he saw Jade asleep in his bed in a full gown, and with black tear tracks swept across her cheeks.

His heart jumped. He didn't want to overstep any boundary but, equally, what the hell had made Jade West cry herself to sleep in her prom dress? The image was so utterly woeful, so utterly un-Jade that Beck found that, even in her sleep, Jade was able to break his heart.

She didn't even look peaceful, despite having fallen out of consciousness. It was as though Beck could see her pain even as she could not feel it herself. He wanted to do something - he had to, surely? But that wasn't reality. He was her ex for a reason - the reality was that his only option was to walk out of there.

Perhaps it was fate, then, or a subconscious desire in his mind, which led him to knock a pot off a shelf as he opened the door to leave. The contents, a sheaf of pens, flew out and clattered onto a set of drawers below, causing Jade to stir.

"Beck?"

Almost immediately, he closed the door to the outside breeze.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you up."

"What are you doing here?"

"We got back early. Mom didn't want to stay in a hotel."

"No, I mean here. The RV."

"Oh." Beck blushed. "I don't know. I just felt like I should check that you were okay."

"Oh."

"Why are you still in your dress, Jade? What happened?"

He expected her to make some excuse. Brushing people off was Jade's forte, and, really, he didn't have much sway given that they'd broken up. But she took him by surprise.

"I had a miserable evening. That's why. I came back and I cried and then I must've fallen asleep." She shrugged, noncommittally.

"Jade." Beck breathed out, sympathetically. "The prom was that bad?"

"Pretty much." She replied, wryly. "I- I wanted Tori to know what it was like to work really hard for something and have it ruined. I know that makes me a spiteful bitch - I'm a spiteful bitch, not an idiot, remember - but I'm just so tired of everything just falling into place for her. As it did again tonight, obviously."

"I don't think that makes you a spiteful bitch."

Jade raised an eyebrow. "Really? Even I do."

"I think that makes you someone who's hurting. You work hard for opportunities that you deserve that are handed to others so easily. Because you feel that it's impossible for good things to come your way, the only other option you can see is to stop other people getting those good things. I'm not saying it's right, but I think it's understandable. And I certainly don't think it makes you a bitch."

Jade shook her head. "You're being too nice to me." She sighed. "It's pointless anyway. Things are meant to work out for Tori just like they're not meant to for me."

"It won't last forever. The world hasn't been kind to you, but you're an enigma, Jade. You're too unique and talented and goddamn hard-working not to succeed in life. You just haven't had the headstart that others have, but it'll happen."

Jade gave him a weak but genuine smile. "I hope so. I don't really feel too big time crying myself to sleep in my prom dress."

"Let's sort that out then." Beck said, affirmatively. "Where are your pyjamas."

Although quirking a sceptical eyebrow, Jade pointed to a drawer, and Beck quickly handed over the items.

"I'll-" He pointed to the door, as Jade picked up her clothes to get changed. He'd seen Jade naked hundreds of times, but he knew that the time where that was comfortable for her had lapsed.

"Actually Beck, could you…" Jade asked, gesturing vaguely at her zipper, as she turned around to show him her back.

He nodded as if she could see him, and walked over. There was a waft of jasmine as he gently brushed her hair out of the way, and a warmth coursed through Beck at the familiarity of the smell. He carefully clasped her zipper and began to pull it down.

"This is a really nice dress. You look really nice."

Jade snorted. "You're such a liar."

"I mean it. You're too pretty to be dulled by a few tears."

Jade turned around slowly, mulling over his words. He meant every one, of course, though he wasn't sure she believed him. He would always think she was the most beautiful girl in the world. Whether she was crying or smiling, there was no one he would rather look at.

His hands were still outstretched, brushing over her arms. Their eyes were practically intertwined with the intensity of the contact. And then suddenly they were kissing.

If you asked Jade, she would say that Beck initiated it, and if you asked Beck, he would probably say the same, given that he was so focused on having her in his arms that he paid no attention to anything other than her lips on his. The truth, however, was they simply fell into each other, simultaneously, as equal measures of longing converged.

His hands were immediately on her cheeks, thumbs running over her jawline, before one quickly strayed to her hip. Hers were around his neck, in his hair, pulling him desperately closer.

They collapsed back onto the bed in record timing, their lips failing to disconnect even for breath. Their kisses were constant and desperate, with neither having time to think, or act on anything but their immediate impulses.

Within minutes, Beck's T-shirt was on the floor, Jade's dress following shortly after. Beck's hands ran over her bare sides, hers clasped to the rivulets in his abs. He kneeled over her, pressing her into the bed with the ferocity of his kisses, whilst she pulled him towards her.

And then his hand was between her legs and she snapped out of it.

"Wait, wait-" She gasped, pushing him away by the chest and grabbing at the wrist by her thighs.

Beck immediately pulled his hand away and hovered over her, concern painted across his features.

"What is it? Are you okay? Did I hurt you?" He asked, worriedly.

"No, no." She reassured him quickly, pushing him further back so she could sit up. They sat side by side, Beck turned towards her, still looking worried.

"Beck, we can't."

He looked genuinely confused. "What?"

"We shouldn't, Beck. It's not right."

"Jade, we can make this work." Beck pleaded, hating how desperate he sounded.

She simply shook her head. "No we can't." She sighed. "Beck, we owe it to Toby not to rekindle a dysfunctional relationship just because we want to have sex."

"It doesn't have to be that. This isn't just sex to me."

"And that's why we can't do it. It could never be 'just sex' between us."

"Jade, I know we can function. We can work on this."

"No we can't." Jade said, for what felt to Beck like the millionth, scalding time. "We're not on the same page, Beck. I don't think you can love the person I am anymore."

Beck wished there was a less comical word than flabbergasted to describe his emotions, because he was utterly, heartbreakingly flabbergasted to hear that.

"I will always love you, Jade." He affirmed, with stern seriousness. "I don't even have a choice in the matter."

"I mean love as an action," Jade sighed "Not as a feeling."

Beck wanted to retaliate, but he had to halt himself as he realised the verity of her sentence. Reacting was exactly the wrong thing to do.

"You're right." He said, with a choking level of defeat present in his tone. "You're right."

Jade looked around her, at the mess of their clothes in the bedsheets and on the floor.

"I'm gonna go to sleep." She said with complete emotionlessness, picking up the pyjama top which had earlier been discarded.

Beck looked around as she made herself comfortable. Jade's dress made a crumpled green pile, on top of which was his discarded shirt.

He took a risk. "Do you mind if I-" He gestured to the bed, certain she would say no. Instead, she simply shrugged and waved a hand as a go ahead.

As Jade moved onto her side, Beck curled loosely behind her, not quite with her, but not quite apart. Beck's arm reached out tentatively, and the warmth returned as she took his hand.

They fell asleep almost simultaneously, Beck's arm wrapped loosely around Jade's stomach. They lay with their hands intertwined, as they had done so many times previously, both of them silently hoping that this wouldn't be the last.