Saturday rolled around quickly, of course. It was always predictable that something one was dreading would fly into the station like a crazed train.

After multiple different attempts, various fruits, and the help of both his sister and Tori, Andre was sat in the passenger seat of Beck's truck, running vest bulging over the soccer ball he had wrapped around his stomach.

Beside him, Beck cut a dapper figure, in a smart suit, his hair brushed back into some kind of marginally more refined look. He hadn't broken out the accent yet, for which Andre was quite grateful. He had things he wanted to ask of his friend, and having to decipher serious answers through an unintelligible British accent was not his cup of tea, pardon the pun.

"Jade didn't want a ride?" Andre asked, tentatively broaching the subject.

Beck shook his head. "She's pretty keen on keeping the space between us."

"That's fair." Andre nodded. Behind him, Toby squawked and he turned around to extend a hand to the little baby.

"How are things between the two of you?" Andre asked, turning back around. It was hard to play with a baby that was rear-facing, evidence contrary to popular opinion that Beck and Jade were in fact good parents.

Beck shrugged. "We're getting by."

"It's not weird living together?"

The reasons for Jade's relocation hadn't been broadcast to the group, much to the incessantly nosy Tori's chagrin, but everyone was aware that she was now living at Beck's. Andre was pretty sure it was something to do with her family, and therefore a move of necessity rather than sentimentality, but this did little to dampen his interest in the dynamics of such an abnormal living situation.

"We're not living together. I'm in the RV, she's in the house."

"Still. You must be spending more time together."

"Yeah, it's been nice being more involved with Toby's routine." Beck smiled.

"The famous routine." Andre laughed.

Beck shook his head. "Jade's right. This is gonna fuck his sleep up."

"And presumably hers too, then?"

Beck bit his lip.

"How are things between her and your parents?" Andre asked, changing tact.

"They're... I mean, it's Jade and my parents; it's never gonna be all hugs and kisses. But... they're being more understanding than I thought they would. Mom's been working from home to take care of him whilst we're at school, and they're going to sort a new daycare for him. I think they're appreciating having him around more than they thought they would - they would've probably had him tonight but they're at the theatre."

"They're okay with having Jade stay, then?"

Beck sighed. "I mean, I don't know how long this situation will be, and they probably wouldn't be down for a permanent thing, but... she's Toby's mom. And she's a great mom. I think having them both around is making them finally realise that."

Andre hummed in response. It was odd sometimes, to see his friends acting like such... adults. Particularly when Beck's theatrical garb reminded him that they were still teenagers.

Beck's car pulled up to the address they'd been given, and he parked up against the sidewalk, rather than brave the crowded driveway. It appeared that they were the last to arrive, despite the fact that they were still a couple of minutes early. Everyone else must have been looking for extra credit or something.

Unsurprisingly, neither Andre nor Beck had previously been to Sikowitz's house, and both were expecting something a little crazier than the standard suburban semi-detached which met them. Even then, it wasn't until the man himself met them at the door and invited them in to the decidedly normal hallway and living room-kitchen that they accepted that Sikowitz might just have a regular house.

Inside, their friends made a motley crew. Cat, her red hair curled and piled in large tufts around her head, was dressed in a large blazer, and was dangerously swinging a wired microphone around in her hand. Below her, on the couch, Tori cut a humorous figure, sporting an authentic-looking police uniform soured slightly by the explosion of red lipstick around her mouth, dusted by a few crumbs, presumably of the raisin bran, which lay firmly atop her lap. Beside her, Robbie appeared a bit more normal, looking like he was dressed for his own Bar Mitzvah in a smart suit and tie and his own glasses. Finally, Jade lingered by the door, wearing a cowboy hat, short denim shorts, cowboy boots, and a patterned top tied above her navel. She might have clearly been uncomfortably thin, but both Andre and Beck couldn't help but still gawk at her long legs and toned stomach, so rarely revealed in her current state of reclusiveness. It was odd to see her looking so bright and present - she was almost unrecognisable. Not to Toby, however, who, immediately upon seeing her, reached out to his mother, who instinctively took him without so much as a word to Beck.

That wasn't exactly breaking character, he guessed, so much as not enthusiastically breaking into character.

With the final two guests now having arrived, Sikowitz announced that this would be their biggest ever acting test, and promptly headed over to the stove to prepare some enchiladas.

Jade seemed to be occupied with giving Toby a once-over, completely unnecessary given a) Beck was his father, and b) she'd seen him not half an hour ago. Beck did his best not to roll his eyes, and headed over to hear some of Cat's terrible eighties jokes.

Bent on breaking the mould, Andre wasn't a betting man, but one didn't need to be to presume that Robbie would be the first to break. He just had that look of weakness about him. Honestly, it was a shock that he even lasted an hour.

In the end, it hadn't even been something serious that had caught him. Sikowitz had earlier pretended to fall through his own window in an attempt to get his students to crack, but even Robbie hadn't batted an eyelid. Therefore, it was strange that, when Andre jokily asked after the whereabouts of his vertically-challenged 'business partner', Robbie suddenly freaked.

"I...uh... what do you mean?"

"Your business partner?" Andre laughed, with a faux wheeze. "You know, super short, makes bad jokes, is he not with you to hand out advice?"

Robbie seemed oddly fazed by this, almost failing to compute what Andre was saying. "You mean Rex?"

"Yeah." Andre replied, throwing in an exaggerated sound of pain in order to stay in character. "That guy. Where's he at?"

"I- he's not here."

"Yeah. Where is he?"

"At home. I mean - he should be. That's where I left him." Robbie's face flushed with panic. "But what if he's not? But he is, right? That's where I left him and that's where he'll be. But he wasn't last time..."

Andre raised an eyebrow as Robbie spiralled, confused as to what could possibly have inspired such a reaction.

"I have to check on him."

"You got a motivational speech for him or something?"

"No Andre, I need to check that Rex is okay!"

"Ah Robbie, you don't seem to be acting much like a motivational speaker right now." Sikowitz warned, coming closer.

"I don't care!" Robbie cried. "I need to go - right now!" Then, he promptly collected his belongings and hurriedly rushed from the room.

The remaining participants looked on in surprise, but not exactly shock. It was Robbie after all, and anyway, they were currently midway through a method acting exercise; they weren't exactly in the best frame to be considering the behaviour of others as odd.

Jade looked on in concern. She knew that a better friend would have followed Robbie out, but the idea of that seemed to her a lot of energy, and anyway, she and Robbie weren't even that close, right? If everybody else had seemingly continued about their day as if Robbie hadn't just had a blatant freak-out, then why should someone as unempathetic as she do something?

Still, she couldn't help but stare at the door through which Robbie had just departed. Having heard snippets of his conversation with Andre, she gathered that he was panicking about Rex once again. It seemed as though his attachment issues had grown worse since Danny had inadvertently stolen the puppet, and Jade worried for how something so serious could be solved in a boy that was so nearly an adult. Not that she was in any position to be concerned about the stability of others, of course.

In her periphery, Jade spotted Beck and Cat sitting closely on the sofa, Beck playing into his part by examining fistfuls of Cat's red hair. It shouldn't have bothered Jade so much to see her ex-boyfriend and ex-best friend together, especially when it was part of an act, but there was a slight gnawing within her at the sight. She was unsure whether to attribute it to seeing Beck with another girl, or seeing Cat being so amiable with her other friends whilst she was still refusing to talk to Jade.

Although... she wasn't currently Jade. And who was to say that an unnamed but particularly galling comedian wouldn't want to chat with the ray of sunshine that was Betty Sue Goldenheart? In addition, she and Beck had not long ago put Toby to bed, meaning that she was currently free from having to bring him into conversation, something that worked in her favour in regard to cat. She knew that Cat loved Toby, but it was clear that she was beginning to feel a little replaced by him, so it couldn't hurt to try and speak to her sans the baby, for once.

She walked over to the couch to face the pair, though pointedly looked towards Cat, rather than Beck. "That sure looks comfortable." She said in an exaggerated Southern accent, accompanied by a forced grin.

"Well it is a right old lovely sofa." Beck replied in a similarly comical accent, though British this time.

Jade ignored him. "You mind if I join y'all?" She asked, cocking a hip. Beck gestured for her to go ahead, whilst Cat only stared back, warily.

Jade settled herself next to Cat, squeezed up to her side. The redhead avoided eye contact and looked down at her nails, painted with intricate red-and-pink heart patterns.

"They're real pretty." Jade commented, gesturing to Cat's hands.

"Well you know what people say about nails!" Cat replied, in a wild yet somewhat reluctant accent.

Jade cocked an eyebrow, but Cat didn't seem to feel as though the 'joke' had a punchline and the trio were left in silence.

"You on the circuit a lot? As a comedienne?" Jade tried once again.

Cat shrugged. "I'm here, I'm there, I'm everywhere!" She answered, almost to the whole room, rather than Jade.

"You enjoy it?"

"Sure do!"

"So life's treating you well, huh?"

Cat paused and surreptitiously moved as far away from Jade as the couch would allow. "Yes, ma'am." She mumbled, before turning to Beck to ask about the weather in London.

"That's good. I'm glad you're happy." Jade said, more or less to Cat's back.

Cat froze, but did not turn around. Beck looked warily between the girls, choosing not to continue his unintelligible comment about rain in Hampstead Heath.

After several awkward moments in which no one spoke, Cat lifted her head to look directly at Beck. "You were saying?"

Beck glanced nervously at Jade. "Yes, it can get all higgeldy-piggeldy-"

Jade couldn't help but pique at the injustice of it all.

"You know it wasn't just me that forgot." She said, just loud enough for Cat to hear. "I am so, so sorry, and I will be forever. But I wasn't the only one who fucked up."

"But you were the one who mattered most!" Cat cried suddenly, and spun around to face Jade. Her face was flushed, and tears sat on her waterline, threatening to spill. Jade was taken aback. She had wanted something from Cat, sure, but she hadn't expected this.

"Ah, Cat, you broke character!" Sikowitz yelled, but he was entirely invisible and inaudible to the redhead, whose focus was entirely transfixed on Jade.

With the entire room now focused on the scene, Jade could no longer speak under her breath, and to talk to Cat about such a serious topic in an exaggerated Southern Belle accent seemed like such an insult that she didn't even consider it. Instead, she simply sat there, silently staring back into Cat's eyes. They held a thousand emotions, but not one of them was forgiveness.

"Well, Cat, I'm going to have to ask you to leave the game." Sikowitz sighed, crossing his arms.

"I know." Cat replied, quietly, still not looking away from Jade. She didn't break the stare, not when she lifted her microphone from where she'd dropped it to the floor during her outburst, and not when she took her coat and bag from the stand by Sikowitz's door. It was almost eerie how much she was instilling Jade's importance upon the girl, and everyone in the room began to feel a sense of discomfort at what they had apparently missed. Only when the door closed on Cat did everyone seem to let out a silent exhale of relief at the returning normalcy to the room. Everyone but Jade, who could only hate herself even more, once again not due to what she had done, but what she had not.

With both their daughters out, Holly and David Vega had been looking forward to a quiet night in. A meal, a movie, and sex, if they weren't too tired. It could be so hard to maintain a relationship whilst living with two girls with as much zeal as theirs. There was usually someone singing, or whatever verb could be used to describe Trina's 'talent', or planning an energetic scheme, or filling the couches with their equally loud friends. This latter issue was mainly Tori, obviously - Trina's 'friends' tended to be social cutoffs or people who didn't actually like her. Needless to say, she rarely had people round at the house.

The couple were only a quarter of the way through the movie's runtime when their doorbell rung. They exchanged a disappointed yet unsurprised look, sure that it would be one of their girls having forgotten their key, and their romantic night together would have to wait until a later date.

David heaved himself off the couch and opened the door to not one of his daughters, unless something had happened in the few hours that they had been out, to make them look uncannily like Robbie Shapiro.

"Robbie?"

"Hi Mr Vega, or can I call you David?" Robbie grinned.

"No." David replied awkwardly. "Tori's not in."

"That's okay." Robbie replied brightly. "I'm actually here to see-"

"Trina's not in either." David interrupted, concealing his surprise that Trina had a visitor, even if it was Robbie.

"Oh." Robbie's face fell.

"I'm sorry to disap-"

"Hey, what are you watching?" Robbie asked, sauntering into the house, to the disbelief of both David and Holly.

"Terms of Endearment." Holly replied, irritably.

"Oh cool, I've never seen that." Robbie replied, throwing himself on the couch with such ease that both David and Holly had to recall whether they had in fact invited him in.

The pair shared a look, Holly glaring at David to do something. David sighed - this wasn't the kind of forced removal he was used to in his day job.

"Hey Robbie-"

"No way, what kind of a name is Flap?" Robbie sniggered, as the man in question was mentioned. "I didn't realise this was a comedy."

"It's not." Holly replied sternly. "It's about family tragedy and loss."

"Oh." Robbie said, somehow deeply affected. "Well, I know a thing or two about loss." He continued, with a short laugh that barely disguised his emotion.

There was an elongated pause. David and Holly both willed the other to say something, do something, in this last window of opportunity. But neither did.

David sunk onto the couch in defeat and Holly dropped her head into her hands as Robbie began his monologue.

"Sometimes I feel like I use Rex as a coping mechanism..."