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Were breakups meant to feel like there was a gaping hole in your chest where your heart sat? Like the world— your world, specifically— had ended, yet your surroundings were still the same, people moving on with their lives as the earth continued to spin on its axis without a care about how you felt so empty and void of emotions?
Sometimes, Beck has to wonder if he was just living a weird dream, especially when he sees her down the hall, just striding along without a single glance towards him. (Her first words the day after the break up had been “yeah, hey” with such a bite in her tone after he greeted her that he was left in much confusion.) The other time they had broken up because of Alyssa Vaughn hadn't left him feeling like this, but at that time, he had been so certain they would get back together. Now though, now he wasn't certain they would get back together. Did he have any other choice though? He was— had been— tired of all the fighting and frightening all their friends (even if Jade didn't consider them as friends on the surface) into not spending time with them. He likes to convince himself that he’s made the right choice, even if it means feeling a never-ending ache in his chest.
Sighing heavily, he shuts his locker and runs a hand through his hair, his gaze automatically searching her out in the endless throng of students bustling around the hallway. In his search for a certain female, he sees their usual gang headed towards him (not who he was looking for, but he’d take their company over the dark thoughts that consumed him nowadays), giving them a slight smile and a nod in return as they gave their individual greetings.
“So...” Andre starts, rubbing his hands together nervously while he trailed off, glancing around their small circle— Beck, specifically— before resting his eyes on the girls. “Where’s Jade?”
Tori gives a one-shouldered shrug along with an “I don’t know”, whilst Cat twirled the ends of her cherry tresses around her finger, glancing around the hall before leaning in and whispering as if she was sharing the biggest secret on earth.
“Seth asked to see her before class.”
Who the hell was Seth? Beck shares the same look of confusion with the guys, their brows furrowed at the strange, new name. Tori, on the other hand, gasps loudly, doe eyes widening.
“Seth? The hot senior who Trina tried to get with before but he dumped her before they even met for their date? That Seth?”
Smiling widely, Cat nods in reply, humming a quick ‘mhm’ to Tori, who seemed as if she was about to have a mental breakdown at this new information. Robbie seems to remember or know this dude, but Andre’s just as confused as Beck, who opened his mouth to ask who Seth was, but he gets interrupted by the sight of Jade walking down the stairs with an unknown guy.
He stares, though it’s not out of place since he’s not the only one staring, given their whole group had the same shocked expression (probably with the exception of Cat). Something about seeing her walking beside someone else made him frown, and he has to arrange his features into one that didn’t seem too upset quickly. Jade doesn’t seem to notice, just walks over towards them with a careless “hey”, the guy trailing behind her.
“I’ll see you after class?” He asked, reaching out to place a hand on her bicep gently. She turns to look at him and Beck’s quite sure she’ll snap at him not to touch her, like she always does. Instead, she gives him the tiniest of smiles and a nod, and he leaves, seemingly satisfied with the non-verbal answer.
Once the stranger disappears into the crowd, Tori and Cat start attacking Jade with questions, but he’s already tuning them out in favour of trying to mush down the sudden mixture of confusion and something else, something unpleasant, brewing in his chest.
Jade hated when somebody touched her. Absolutely loathed it, except when it was Beck. Well, the only exception had been Beck... until now. His head is all muddled and he’s not exactly sure what to think; only the fact that she had that smile— the tiny, tiny one where she looks like she’s containing her genuine happiness— on her lips just made him feel as if the whole world had come crashing down on him. He doesn’t feel Andre’s hand on his shoulder or hears him calling his name until he’s being shaken, and he blinks, grunting out a “yeah okay” when his friend informs him that the bell had rung and it was time for classes.
He doesn’t mean to see it, but he does anyway when he’s in the hallway getting his books from his locker— just out of the corner of his eye, he sees the all too familiar combat boots making their way towards the other end of the hallway, another pair of sneakers following her. Beck doesn’t mean to, but he pretends to be busy with studying which books he has to bring for his next class (as if he doesn’t have his schedule memorised already and the fact that it was actually lunch period next), straining to listen to their conversation.
“So just the salad and…” He hears the guy— Seth, was it?— and the actor has to squash down the urge to take a few steps forward to hear clearer. The tell-tale slam of a locker makes him stay in place, but he doesn’t hear what Jade says before she moves off in the direction of wherever she was going, and the senior follows her quickly. Sighing lightly, Beck makes to stand, moving the books off his lap into his bag; almost jumping out of his skin when he hears Tori and Andre speak up from where they had been observing him crouched there just listening to the pair that had just left.
“So… Whatcha doing?” was Tori’s question, paired with her eyebrows raising at him while he schools his expression into one of habitual nonchalance (as if he hadn’t almost jumped when she spoke), giving her a one-shoulder shrug in reply. Shoving the last of his books into his bag and zipping it up, he moves it back into place and gives both of them a look that screamed ‘what are you talking about?’
“Man, we saw you just squatting there, listening in on Jade and Seth.” Andre tells him, knitting his brows together into an expression of disbelief before sharing a glance with Tori and emphasizing his words again. “We saw you.”
Tori snaps her fingers then, cutting off any remarks or replies from both males as she started pointing at Beck excitedly while gesticulating wildly in realisation with wide eyes. “Oh my god, you’re jealous, aren’t you?”
The male in question only runs a hand through his hair, pondering how to phrase his next reply without sounding like he was what she believed he was. He wasn’t jealous. Beck Oliver did not do jealousy. That was more of Jade’s thing. Sure, he hadn’t been comfortable with other guys looking at her when they had been dating, and sure, he didn’t like how creepy Sinjin was all the time towards Jade, but the bottom line was that he wasn’t jealous. He just hadn’t felt like this ever since he saw Jade flirting with Moose, and it kind of sucked that the weird feeling was back. His friends just watch, letting him gather all his thoughts even if they had already figured out exactly what it was that he was feeling, if Andre’s gleeful face and Tori’s knowing look were any clues to go by.
“I’m… not jealous,” he says at last, raising his eyebrows to prove his point (his very weak point) before he runs his hand through his hair again, but the looks on his friends’ faces don’t change even if Tori shakes her head and shrugs her shoulders like she couldn’t help it if he insisted so.
“Alright, if you say so. Let’s go get lunch.”
With their trays in hand, the three of them made their way over to their usual lunch table, taking their respective seats with Tori sitting next to Andre before they both turned their gazes to Beck. He was deep in thought right after setting his tray down, not picking up his burrito to take a bite like the other two. They share another glance before Tori calls out his name to get his attention, and the actor finally, finally looks at her. Smiling, the brunette asks softly and kindly, like she always does, “Beck… do you want to know what’s going on with Jade and Seth?”
Does he want to know? Yes. No. Not really, but yes. He’d be lying if he said he wasn’t curious, yet he feels like if he were to know the truth behind the new guy and his ex girlfriend, the probability of him not liking it was high. But he did want to know, maybe it would stop whatever this thing that seemed to never stop building up inside his chest (it probably started that time she said she had a date but it ended up being a lie, and only snowballed back when he had seen her flirt with Moose, and even more when Moose had kindly informed him that he and Jade had kissed while they were doing their little ‘Tinkle-Aid’ event). Taking a deep breath to steel himself first, Beck nods his head twice after, making his brunette friend smile wider in encouragement. Perhaps she thought that if he knew their relationship, he could get over Jade quicker (deep down, he already knows he could never get over Jade).
“They’re just dating for now. Nothing official, just a few dates so far.” Tori explains with a shrug (because just going on dates didn’t mean they were in a relationship), and in that split second she sees how her friend’s usual cool demeanor falter; eyes darkening, brows furrowing and a frown pouting his lips— before he quickly settles his expression into a facade of calm indifference. She cocks her eyebrows, waiting for a reaction to rise out of him, sharing another glance with Andre.
“... Dating.” He reiterates at last, raising both eyebrows and nodding solemnly. So they were dating. It didn’t mean anything— didn’t mean they were official— not yet, anyway. It took him and Jade half a year before deciding to be official; this guy, on the other hand, had barely been with Jade for, what, a few days tops? It still felt weird to him to see her with another guy, though, and he tries to push the lid back onto this negativity swirling in his chest. Running a hand through his hair, Beck takes another deep breath, nodding again before he picks up his burrito to take a bite, making his friends smile at him (somewhat in concern because he hadn’t said anything besides dating). After chewing and finishing the portion in his mouth, he puts his burrito down and shrugs, trying to make the jerky motion seem carefree. “She can date whoever she wants, we’ve broken up.”
“So…” Tori trails off, furrowing her brows and sharing yet another glance with Andre before she regards their friend again with a contemplative look. “You’re cool with that?”
He gives another shrug, nodding his head while studying the patterns of dots along his burrito; raising his gaze to meet his friends’ before speaking. “Yeah. I mean, she was cool with it when we hung out for our opposite date. Why wouldn’t I be okay with her dating a new guy?”
His words sounded robotic even to himself, like a script he’d been forced to memorise and parrot whenever prompted to; why would his friends believe him when he couldn’t even convince himself that he was totally fine with Jade dating another guy? Thankfully, both his friends seem to acknowledge that he doesn’t want to talk about it further, and Beck is forever grateful when Andre decides to turn the conversation topic into their next class with Sikowitz instead.
Holy shit, Andre, where are you? is the thought that immediately springs to his mind when he’s at Nozu, supposedly to get dinner with his best friend, but the dude hadn’t even shown up on time. Beck had already ordered several waters, hoping he wouldn’t get kicked out in the ten minutes he hadn’t ordered anything else besides the clear beverage. From the two-seater booth he had chosen, the teenager had the perfect view of the entrance, where he could immediately go into his spiel when Andre walked through the arch. Tapping his fingers against the spine of the menu impatiently out of the mind-numbing hunger he felt, Beck kept his eyes on the arched entrance, finally seeing some people turn the corner.
Immediately, he ducks behind his menu for cover once the new customers come through the doorway, his heart pounding loudly in his chest. Oh shit, he thinks, slowly peeking over the top of his menu to look at the pair who had just taken their seats in a booth at the other side of the restaurant. Oh shit. Jade, who looked gorgeous as always, with her dark tresses up in a sleek ponytail and her usual combination of black on black on black, and her date… Seth. Something just didn’t sit right about this guy with him, and it wasn’t because he was jealous. There was just a nagging feeling, like it was all wrong and he was supposed to be where the other guy was instead. To be where he could sit opposite of Jade and stare at her all day, listening to her interesting stories and theories. Yet here he was, sitting all alone in a booth for two at the other side of the restaurant. What would she think if she saw him? It’d probably look like he was stalking her and her date, for sure. His head whirled with the endless possibilities of what the pair’s conversation was about, not even registering the body that slid into the seat opposite of his.
Andre stares at his friend in amusement, lacing his fingers together as he nodded his head knowingly, glancing between Beck and who he was staring at. Honestly, people said Jade was as stubborn as a bull, but his friend was exactly the same. Waving a waiter over, he places an order for the both of them, given his companion was still busy with his attempts to stare a hole through Seth’s head, and then watches him some more. It was interesting to see just how Beck reacted to Jade going on a date with someone else— every single twitch of his eye and quirk of his eyebrow, how tightly he pressed his lips together and how his knuckles turned white from gripping the menu too hard— all little things showing disdain that Beck Oliver had never been associated with. He’d seen Beck roll his eyes out of exasperation before, casting a silent oh God, why into the skies like they could help him solve his problems, but never this. He’d never seen Beck so restless before, and he was pretty darn sure that his friend was experiencing some type of jealousy.
Was it because he still loved Jade? Or was it because he couldn’t stand the idea of her having another lover beside him? Perhaps he didn’t think that they could be apart for so long, because they had been Beck and Jade for years. Andre continues to muse to himself until the food comes, deciding that perhaps he should talk to his friend. Snapping his fingers in front of the other’s face, he watches as Beck flinches from the sudden movement, blinking rapidly as their table filled up with food and drinks.
“What? Oh, when did you get here?” He hears his friend ask confusedly, and he only gives him a teasing grin in return.
“Oh, you know, while you were off in I’m so jealous I want to die land with how you were about to stare holes through Jade and her date over there.”
A furtive glance is thrown towards the couple again before Beck addresses his friend with a steely gaze, making sure to pause between each word for emphasis. “I am not jealous.”
Shoving a piece of sushi into his mouth, Andre chews joyfully at how he managed to ruffle their chill friend’s feathers, raising his eyebrows and nodding in a mhm, if you say so movement, making sure to finish his sushi before he spoke. “Okay, sure. What are you then?”
“I… I just want to make sure he’s an okay guy.” Wetting his lips, the teenager begins to tuck into his food as well, though he keeps casting more glances towards the other end of the restaurant much to his friend’s absolute mirth.
“Sure, and Robbie’s going to ask Cat to be his girlfriend tomorrow morning.” His friend sarcastically deflects immediately with a casual shrug of his shoulders while he popped another piece of sushi in his mouth. Beck casts an exasperated look skywards, knowing that any other excuses he uses would be pointless because he didn’t even believe himself. Pressing his lips together, he decides to take a sip out of his drink instead, turning over his feelings in his head. Andre raised his eyebrows at the pensive look on his friend’s face before piping up again. “Listen, I just think if you really don’t like that she’s dating him, just tell her.”
“Tell her what? Hey, Jade, I don’t think you should date that guy. Why? Because I said so.” He mocked, rolling his eyes again at the faux scenario Andre had hinted at. If he actually said that, his head would be the thing to roll first. Fixing his friend with another look, he watches as his companion shrugged, shaking his head.
“All I’m saying is, maybe you should just talk about your current feelings with her. Maybe that would make you feel better. You said you weren’t jealous, which is absolute nonsense to me by the way, but you’re definitely feeling some kind of way and I think it would do you good to actually talk about it.”
Pondering Andre’s words in his head while they finished the rest of their meal in what seemed to be a peaceful truce to their tiny disagreement, Beck knits his brows together as he watched Seth wipe the corner of Jade’s mouth, paid the bill, and left with her arm hooked around his. When he turns back to face Andre once the couple had left, he pauses at the knowing look on his friend’s face, throwing both his hands up in an ‘I surrender’ motion.
“Okay, fine, I’ll try to talk to her.”
Smiling satisfactorily, Andre pulls out his wallet and asks for the bill, paying before Beck could take out his share of money, jerking his head towards the entrance. “C’mon, let’s go get you some courage. I think you need it.”
Obviously, Andre’s idea of courage wasn’t the kind of item they could purchase legally given they were still underage, so to bide by the law, they had gotten two bottles of sparkling juice from the convenience store nearby along with lots of snacks, and retreated to Beck’s RV for the night.
After downing their drinks and finishing up the snacks, they got to talking— Andre about Cat and Robbie’s game of (ironically) cat and mouse, Tori, and finally, Jade. Just what were Beck’s reasons for feeling the way he did? Just what was he feeling in the first place? Andre wanted answers.
Beck shrugged half-nonchalantly, because for one, he honestly didn’t get it himself. It just felt so unreal to see Jade with another guy, almost as if he had never considered the possibility of any guys in Hollywood Arts asking Jade out. She was gorgeous, yes, but she also scared off any guys (and girls) within five feet in the vicinity. Other than that, it felt wrong. Plain wrong. How could Jade be happy with another guy when he was so miserable without her? Why couldn’t he be happy with another girl? He just wanted to forget her and move on, but he couldn’t. He wouldn’t. He shouldn’t, because he’s Beck and she’s Jade and they were supposed to be Beck and Jade, not Beck and Jade, and— holy hell, he was still in love with her.
The realisation hit him like a ton of bricks, and man, did it hurt. He obviously knew it would be difficult to just switch off his feelings after years of affection and being together and loving, but he had been so insistent that it was just natural to pine after separating from a loved one. Andre had laughed his head off at how Beck seemed to be scandalised at the fact that he was still in love with his ex (actually, he never did fall out of love), and then laughed a whole lot more when Beck finally admitted that perhaps he was feeling jealous.
He scowled at how much his friend was cackling loudly like a hyena at him being dumb, but his annoyance cracks almost immediately because holy hell, had he been an idiot. A stubborn idiot that wanted Jade back. Andre shakes his head, telling him that it wouldn’t be easy and he’d have to get on his hands and knees and grovel before the ice queen gave him his position as boyfriend back. And even then, there was a high possibility that his head would still roll.
“I’m going to do it anyway,” Beck insists, lips set in a determined line as a fire lit up in his eyes. “I’m going to talk to Jade, pour all my feelings out and let her decide if she wants to take me back or not.”
“What happens if she takes the or not route?” Andre asked, mildly curious as he shuffled all their litter from the small table into a plastic bag they could toss into the bin later.
“Then I guess I’ll just try to forget about the romantic feelings I have for her and be her friend.”
“Well, if you need any advice regarding that…”
“What?”
“Nothing! If you need advice about being her friend, you should ask Cat. Or Tori. Definitely not me.”
Narrowing his eyes, Beck lunges at Andre, tickling his sides until the other gave in with two squeaky ‘uncle! uncle!’ before he backed off and asked for what he meant behind his words. Andre takes a deep breath before he claps his hands together, pointing them towards his friend.
“Okay, so… just promise you won’t get mad at me.”
“That’s kind of weird, but okay. I promise.”
To say the least, perhaps he had broken his promise just a tad, because right after Andre revealed that he had had a crush on Jade while they were together, Beck had grabbed a pillow off his bed and hit him with it. It wasn’t anger because his friend had a crush on his girlfriend, if he were being honest because no matter what, Andre didn’t ask her out in any way, but more of anger that his friend hadn’t told him earlier. Especially about the song… the stupid song that he and Jade had jammed to, because it was a good song, but now it was stupid because it had been about his girlfriend. (He had made sure to hit Andre a couple more times before forgiving him.)
However, he had bigger fish to fry, and he hoped that Jade was in a good mood to listen to him talk. They had gotten on much more decent speaking terms than when they broke up, which was a good thing, but Jade’s moods were wilder than the wildest seas, and he didn’t fancy being murdered so young.
He approaches her locker carefully, leaning against Robbie’s locker so she wouldn’t get irritated by him touching any part of the locker that was hers. His fingers are curled around the largest cup of coffee (two sugars, of course) from Jet Brew, sort of a bribe so she wouldn’t maul him to death once he was done with their talk. Or, perhaps, so she wouldn’t maul him before they even got to talk.
Loud, familiar footsteps head towards him, making Beck take a deep breath as he steeled himself and looks towards the source of the noise. Jade and… wait, where was Seth? The hallway was still empty given it was still early in the morning, and he had asked Andre to tip off their circle of friends that he was going to talk to Jade so they shouldn’t walk into school too early (anybody else unlucky enough to do that, well… to each their own.)
“What are you doing in front of my locker?” Jade asks, but her tone isn’t as snippy as it usually can get, stopping right in front of her scissor-clad rectangle.
“Actually, I’m in front of Robbie’s locker—.”
“And you were gonna look for him this early in the morning? Yeah, I didn’t think so.”
Beck pauses, pursing his lips momentarily before offering the cup to her. She stares at it for a second then reaches for it, but he pulls it out of her reach before she can wrap her fingers around the cup of heaven.
“Give it to me.” She growled, the ocean in her eyes flashing dangerously as she took a menacing step towards him.
“Only if we can talk.” He replied instantly, backing away a few steps in case she pounced on him with his eyebrows raised. Watching as she placed her hands on her hips and contemplate his offer, she finally concedes with a loud sigh, nodding her head as she held out a hand for the cup.
“Fine, we can talk.” Smiling, he allows her to take the cup and have a few sips before he steers her towards the janitor’s closet. She willingly allows him to guide her to the familiar room, just as she had promised, and once the door is closed behind the both of them, she turns to him, raising an eyebrow as a prompt for him to start talking.
He’s supposed to start pouring out his heart and soul, but instead what comes out of his mouth is: “So where’s your boyfriend?”
She snorts, rolling her eyes at the question while taking another sip of her coffee, crossing her arms after. “He’s not my boyfriend, so why should he be with me every single second of the day? Also, why do you care? We aren’t together anymore.”
“... Oh. I just… I care because you’re my friend. Or you’re supposed to be, but…” Beck hates that he’s suddenly so hesitant, his words weren’t coming out right and his tongue felt like it had been tied up or cut off and left in the desert to dry out.
“But?” She prompts after a few seconds of silence from him, raising her brows in both curiosity and a hint of amusement, because despite seeing many sides of the enigma that was Beck Oliver, she had never seen him so unsure of himself. Wetting his lips, he takes a deep breath and looks straight into her eyes. This is it, Oliver. Don’t mess it up. Just tell her. Tell her everything.
“But I don’t want to be your friend. I mean, I don’t want to be just your friend. I’m sorry I didn’t open the door and hurt you in the worst way possible. I was, still am, a jerk for doing so. I didn’t want us to break up that time, but I also don’t regret our separation, because I feel like that gave me some time to think about a lot of things. To find out more things about myself. And I felt emotions I never thought I’d be capable of… feeling. Like how when I didn’t open the door, it felt like the whole world had crumbled and I wasn’t myself anymore. Or when you posted that you had a date, I felt upset that you already had someone else. Or when you were flirting with Moose, and all I wanted was to grab you, kiss you and make him back off.
“... I had to keep all those inside, because no matter how crushed I feel, I thought that you deserved to be happy. Even if it’s without me. But seeing you with… with that guy just made me so jealous and so mad, Jade. I know it’s selfish of me, but I want to be the one beside you instead of him. I want to hold your hand, hug you and kiss you; I want to pick you up for coffee every morning and drive you back home every night. I want us to be us again, and I should’ve said this all that night instead of now when we’ve broken up for so many months. This probably sounds like I don’t want you to be happy, but that’s not true because I do want you to be happy. The thing is, I want to be the one to make you feel that way, not some other guy. I just… I still love you. And that’s really dumb of me, because you can do better than me, a stubborn idiot who refused to believe he was jealous until now. But please, please trust me because I really do still love you, and I want you— no, I need you back, Jade, because you mean so much to me and I’m dumb for just realising that now. I won’t tell you to take me back, because that’s your decision to make and… just know that no matter what you decide in the end, I’ll… I’ll always love you.”
She hasn’t said a single word since he had started talking, clearly giving him time to get out everything he had wanted to say. From halfway through his confessions, Beck had moved from where he stood into a kneeling position, as if he was begging her to come back to him. If he had to grovel, so be it, because if she refused… he shuddered to think just how he would actually get over that. He gives her time after he’s done, knowing it’s a lot to take in and just how whiny he sounded, then he hears her sigh and freezes in place, eyes trained on her figure.
Uncrossing her arms, Jade eyed the boy who she had loved with all her heart— after they had broken up, she spent time mulling over what had gone wrong and where they had messed up. At first, she couldn’t even look at him because of how hurt and betrayed she had felt, but despite those feelings, never once had she stopped actually loving him. And that was the kicker, wasn’t it? That they were both so drawn in to each other and practically drowned in their own emotions during the separation. She had been surprised when Tori informed her Beck was jealous, of all things, but seeing him now after all his admissions shed him in a new light. To hear him saying ‘I love you’ again was like nothing she had ever felt before; all the pain and joy seemed to melt together and she was left with nothing but her heartbeat thundering in her ears.
She moves at last, and Beck has to physically stop himself from flinching because Jade deciding to pour her coffee over his head was still very much a possibility. He tries to scan her expression, but very much like him, she can mask many of her emotions well (probably except for her anger), and he can’t read her face at all. Taking the two steps towards the actor kneeling on the floor, she heaves a sigh as she went through the options once more— dump the coffee on him and leave, never to see him again, or accept his confession-apology and have a go at their relationship again. Would things be different? Would they be able to work out future issues? Or would it be the same as last time, for them to love each other but have it crash and burn because they couldn’t communicate with each other instead of dragging their friends into it?
Honestly, she could argue with herself logically all day, because there was only one thing her heart had longed for ever since they had separated— Beck. To trust her heart again after the hurt was… was a challenge for her, because she didn’t open up easily, and he had taken that and smashed it into smithereens against the cold, hard ground. But (there was always a but when it involved Beck, for some reason) she still loved him. She still wanted him, and if he could take away the pain just by being there for her…
Silently, she crouches down in front of the boy who seemed so broken, yet his eyes are aflame with determination and sincerity, and sets her coffee aside for her decision. She just hoped it wouldn’t be a bad one. Breathing in deeply, she notices that he’s yet to take his eyes off her, and she’s honestly overwhelmed by just how much genuine sincerity his chocolate irises were oozing out. Without another second’s hesitation, she cups his face and brings him forward into an intense kiss. Instantly, his arms are around her elbows and he kisses back just as passionately, and everything feels alright again.
They finally part, though not very far from each other, and Beck adjusts his position so he can sit on the floor instead, feeling the ache in his bones from kneeling so long. He threads his fingers through her hair, pulling her to partly lie on his chest so she didn’t have to crouch uncomfortably anymore. He’s hopeful as he asks his question, gazing into her oceanic eyes with the slight confusion of a puppy that couldn’t find the ball its owner faked throwing. “So… does this mean we’re back together now?”
He can practically hear her eyes rolling in exasperation at him, and he can’t stop the grin forming on his face at how Jade it was and how much he missed this. “Yes, Beck, I’ve accepted your lame apology so we’re together now. But.”
Pausing, he regards the girl in his arms with more puppylike confusion. “But?”
“But things can’t be the same as before. We probably need to lay down some ground rules… like… if we argue and it gets too out of hand, we can call a time-out of sorts to settle down before we blow each other up again.”
Beck nods seriously, taking her hands into his and playing with her fingers as he mulled over the suggestion. “Yeah, that’ll work. We can lay down some rules we can follow so what… happened won’t happen again.” Raising her hand towards his lips, he presses soft kisses all over her knuckles, looking into her eyes again. “I don’t want to lose you. Also… what’s going to happen with Seth?”
“Oh, him? He just wanted my help on a project so I made him buy me coffee, lunch and dinner.” She doesn’t want to admit it— him kissing her hands was nothing short of a turn-on, but she rolls her eyes again and mutters a short “cheesy”. He chuckles quietly, wondering how scandalized their friends would be that she hadn’t actually been going on dates with Seth— but the bell chimed loudly outside, and they’re both distracted by it announcing the start of classes. Had they been here that long?
“You know what, we’ve got a lot to discuss… Maybe we should skip the first and second period.” He suggested, running his lips over her knuckles again with a cheeky grin.
“... Fine, but we’re going for third period because I have a script to turn in.” She sighs after a second before she leans in and brushes her lips against his, moving to straddle his waist with her coffee forgotten on the ground. “Since we’ve got much to discuss… we’d better get started.”
With a content sigh and darkening pools of chocolate, he runs his hands down her sides, pulling at the hem of her shirt that was tucked into her skirt; a lazy smirk forming on his lips as he leaned up to catch her lower lip with his teeth, earning a low moan from her.
“Yeah… we’d better.”