Here's chapter six - enjoy!

In two years of dating Jade, one thing Beck had never quite mastered was when to follow her after her, admittedly frequent, storming offs. Sometimes, it would seem so obvious that she wanted space, only for him to face an earful later for leaving her to be upset alone. Other times, he would scurry off to comfort her only to be told he was only exacerbating the situation.

On this particular day, he really hoped he had picked the right option.

Jade's first day back ending only hours in and being characterised by multiple unhappy friends had not been in the meticulous plan Jade, her mom, Beck and Lane had devised for the new mother. Knowing how difficult her reabsorption into school life and the separation from their baby son would be for her, Beck had made every effort to make her more comfortable, offering her a ride to school (which she declined upon learning that he was going early in order to practice with Russ), walking her to all her classes and buying her lunch, but something simply wasn't right. Even once they had seemingly resolved the Tori argument, the scene at lunch demonstrated that it would take more than a hand to hold to make Jade feel comfortable at school once again.

For the rest of the day, Beck had been mulling over her exit, wondering whether he should've followed her. Sure, she had told him not to, but that never really meant anything with Jade. It was a complete toss-up whether he would face the music next time he saw her. However, that wasn't even his greatest concern right now; there was something so defeated, so unlike Jade in the way she had acted earlier that gave him a sense of unease far greater than any fears he had for his own head. Jade West had never been a quitter, but the events of the day had veered worryingly close to its definition.

Standing at her doorstep half an hour after the bell had tolled for the end of the school day, Beck was no less anxious than he had been sitting in music class only hours earlier. He knew she would be expecting him - he'd come over after school every day to see her and their son ever since the latter was born, and there was no reason why today would be any different. But she was ignoring his texts, forcing him to ring the doorbell and potentially face the wrath of hurricane Jade blaming him for waking the sleeping baby.

When the door opened, he was met with rolling eyes, something he could've expected. The perpetrator, however, was a little more surprising.

"Hi Amber, is your sister in?"

Amber was Jade's older sister. And not a great fan of Beck... or Jade... or anyone really. Also, the whole having-a-baby-at-16-and-giving-Amber-a-screaming-newborn-roommate thing really hadn't helped the couple's popularity with the 18-year-old.

"She's upstairs. Don't wake the baby up." She glared, before stalking away from the door.

"Thanks." Beck nodded awkwardly, entering the house and shutting the door behind him.

Jade's mom's house (her only house these days) wasn't greatly expansive, although being a house in LA, Beck was sure it still probably cost an arm and a leg. The kitchen stretched out at the end of the hall, whilst the den was to Beck's right. Upstairs, there were four bedrooms, belonging to Jade, Amber, their brother Luke, and their mom, each painted according to their own tastes and personalities. Only Jade's was black.

Arriving at the first door, Beck knocked softly, careful not to wake the presumably sleeping baby, and gently pushed it open. Inside, Jade was sat half-upright on her black bedspread, her laptop balanced precariously on her knees and the baby soundly asleep across her chest, his dark locks nestled under her chin and tiny fingers spread across her chest. Gone were the coloured highlights she had clipped in earlier in the day and the make up she had been wearing and Beck couldn't help but notice how motherly she looked in that moment. He thought she was beautiful.

"Hey." He spoke softly.

"Hey." She replied, any anger either absent or undetectable.

"How are you feeling?"

She shrugged, her eyes momentarily widening in alarm as the baby was nudged by the movement but didn't wake.

"Can I-?" Beck asked, gesturing to the empty side of the bed.

"Be my guest." She replied, allowing Beck to sidle up beside her, and shutting her laptop.

"How's he been today?" Beck asked, placing a hand on the baby's warm back.

Jade sighed. "Not great. I don't think he liked daycare."

"He didn't or you didn't?" Beck asked, earning a glare from his girlfriend.

"He didn't." She replied, gritting her teeth. Beck made a mental note not to try that joke again.

"So he's been screaming all day and falls asleep when daddy gets here?" Beck smirked, stroking the baby's back.

"Pretty much." Jade said, lacking the same humour.

"Do you mind if I-?" Beck said, moving to take the baby.

Jade tensed a little but didn't stop him. "Don't wake him up, I only just got him to sleep."

"I won't. I think Amber would have my head if I did." Beck replied, moving the baby into his own chest as gently as possible.

He couldn't deny that their situation had been harder on Jade than himself, but he had also experienced a fair share of difficulties. One being that he only saw his son for a few hours each day and, as the days passed and the little boy grew, he felt as though he was missing out on time that he would never get back. Now, with the baby securely placed on his chest and not stirring against this new body, he felt a small pang of appreciation for the bonds that he had been able to attach with the little life in such minimal time.

Beside him, the newly unencumbered Jade straightened up and leant back against the headrest, closing her eyes.

"You should get some sleep. I'll look after him." Beck said, running a comforting arm along her leg.

Jade shook her head. "What if he wakes up and needs feeding or has breathing problems or-"

"Jade." Beck interrupted. "You can't spend your life thinking the worst is gonna happen. You'll run yourself into the ground."

"That's the life of a parent, Beck." Jade shrugged, defeated.

Beck paused and the two sat in silence for a few moments.

"I'm worried about you." He spoke, breaking the silence. The roll of her eyes in response should've annoyed him but, in reality, it flooded him with relief - clearly her personality hadn't been completely squashed by exhaustion.

"Of course you are." She replied, a lack of sincerity detectable in her tone.

"What happened at school today?" He asked, and she looked away. "Jade?"

She shrugged. "Why does it matter?"

Now it was Beck's turn to sigh. "Because I care about you, a hell of a lot, and I don't want to feel like I don't know what's going on in your head."

"I'm just tired, god."

"Jade..."

"I am, Beck! I'm so exhausted and everyone at school is so loud and annoying. That's what happened!" She said, raising her voice. The baby stirred and she took a sharp intake of breath, whilst Beck rocked him gently.

"That's everything? That's why you kicked off at Tori, and Andre, and Cat?"

"Don't chastise me like you're my fucking dad."

"I'm not, I'm just-"

"You're just telling me off like normal boyfriends do? Right, got it." She said, rolling her eyes.

Beck sighed. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to patronise you." He began. "But," She rolled her eyes once again. "I just want to know whether that's all. I know you're tired and I know that can wear you down, but I don't like what I saw today. I don't want to see you so down and we've got to work out some way for you to be back at school-"

"No we don't." Jade interrupted.

"What?"

"I'm not going back."

"Jade..."

"I'm not." She threw her hands up defiantly. "I'm not spending six hours each day sat in a stuffy classroom with people I don't like whilst strangers look after my baby."

Beck cocked his head. "Is this what this is about? You don't want him to go to daycare?"

She groaned in annoyance. "Don't make this a thing. I just don't see why he should when he doesn't like it there and I don't like it at school."

"Jade, it's been one day."

"One day too many."

Beck sighed. "So what? You want to drop out?"

"Online school exists."

"And your mom knows about this?"

"Beck, do you really think my mom has any say over what I do?"

Fair point.

"What about acting? And singing? And all of the reasons you went to Hollywood Arts in the first place? What about your dreams, Jade?" Beck pleaded.

Jade just looked down. "Beck, do you know how many people actually make it in the industry?"

"No, but-"

"Just about one in a fucking million. Beck, I can't even get the lead in a shitty semester play, do you really think I'm gonna end up on broadway or something?"

"Yes."

She exhaled with irritation. "You just want to get laid."

Beck laughed, and a smile even crept up on her face. "I'm being serious, honestly. You're the best actress in the entire school; who else has passed the Bird Scene first time? And you can get the lead in a play, it's just sexist idiots that took it off you."

Jade said nothing but smiled silently.

"Please come back to school. The world needs to see Jade West." He begged.

"Fine." She gave in after a pause, and a wide smile stretched across his face. "But I can't promise I'll be nice to anyone. And you have to sleep here tonight so I'm not as tired tomorrow."

"Deal." He grinned, leaning over to kiss her.

"Oh, and," she added as they pulled apart. "Trina Vega."

Beck raised an eyebrow. "Excuse me?"

"You said who else has passed the Bird Scene first time? - Trina Vega has."

Beck snorted. "See what I mean, babe?" He said, wrapping his arm around Jade. "You're in good company."

And with that, the baby began to cry.