Chapter Text
Beck was practically vibrating with pure rage as he sat in the taxi from the airport. His flight home had been less than pleasant. Normally, he actually loved flying in planes. He liked staring out the window at the wisps of cloud that looked oddly solid from his usual position standing on solid ground, but when he was on a plane, it showed just how wrong that was. It always gave him good ideas for scripts and monologues and characters, for some reason.
But tonight? This specific flight? Yeah, he spent the entire time brooding, practically counting down the seconds until it landed. He’d spoken with his parents and explained the basics – Jade was really upset and in a bad way because of something their idiot friends did and he needed to make sure she was OK (they’d been just as annoyed as him when they found out that Jade’s play had been dumped for a glorified school dance), so they had agreed to him just heading straight to security and out to the taxi rank, with them promising to get his luggage for him and then head home in their own taxi, as luggage at LAX was ridiculous and could often seem to take longer than the flight itself.
As he glared out the window of the taxi, he remembered his phonecall with Trina (who he had no clue how she got his number, but for once was thankful she had it either way) and the rage that had been simmering came roaring to the surface and he had to dig his fingers into his jeans to stop him punching the taxi door.
“Beck? It’s Trina-”
“Trina?! How did you get my number?!”
“Never mind that, listen Beck, it’s about Jade-”
“I’m not reigning her in for Tori, Trina. Jade has every right to be pissed at your sister and that stupid Prome-”
“No! It’s nothing like that! Will you just listen to me! Listen, shit went down and there was some Diaper dude who came and he won prome king and Jade won Prome Queen, well, Tori lied and announced she won. So the diaper dude picked Jade off and carried her out of the dance-”
“WHAT?! Did none of the guys stop him?!”
“No. They continued dancing and cheering and singing. She’s OK Beck. I mean, the Diaper dude and his little friend weren’t creeps, thank God. But it seems like she had a panic attack and they didn’t want to just leave her alone in case something happened. They’ve gone now, but...she’s freaking me out Beck. Like, her breathing is all over the place and she’s just shaking and not talking...”
“Shit. OK. OK. Listen - I’m at the airport now, just waiting for my flight to be called. It’s a three hour flight. I should be in LA and outta the airport in 4 hours maybe. Are you OK to stay with her?”
“Me?! Beck, Jade hates me.”
“She doesn’t....OK maybe a little. But she can’t be left alone right now and I don’t want any of those assholes who call themselves our friends to be with her, if they just let some guy carry her out into the night without caring. Listen, can you just take her to mine? She should have a spare key to the RV with her, if she has her house keys. If not, just kick the lock hard and it’ll open.”
“Fine. But she better not kill me when she realises. Text me when you land so I know how long you’ll be.”
“OK. Just take her to my RV and....thanks for this Trina. I know Jade’s not your favourite person but....yeah. Thanks.”
“Yeah, yeah. You two owe me.”
He couldn’t believe he was thankful to Trina Vega, of all people. He couldn’t believe that Trina had been the only person at that damn dance to see something wrong with Jade being carried out by a half naked man. His friends had continued partying. And what the hell. Were there no chaperones or teachers at the dance who would have seen how wrong the situation was? But no. It was Trina who had followed the diaper guy and his struggling girlfriend. It was Trina who had found her mid-panic attack (it was a bad one, he could tell just from when Trina held the phone upto her ear; no whimpers or quiet cries, just pure silence, minus rapid shallow breaths. Beck had only seen that type once or twice, but it was always when things had really scared her, not just a small flash back). It was Trina who took her back to the RV, despite the fact that neither girl really liked the other. He really did owe her one, and only hoped that what she asked for in return wasn’t something like a date or a kiss.
When the taxi finally pulled up outside his drive, Beck all but lept out, throwing a $50 at the driver and telling him to keep the change, rushing straight to the RV, practically bursting the door open and leaping up the 2 steps that led from the door to the RV floor. And there Jade was; laying under a fleecey blanket he normally kept on the back of the couch (for her, when they were watching movies or TV, as she always got cold), dead to the world, her make up a little smudged and hair a little ruffled. He took in her slow and deep breaths, the grey tint to her normal paper pale skin that came with the exhaustion of a severe panic attack, a furrow on her brow like she was thinking hard – or remembering something bad, which made his blood run cold; he really hoped she wasn’t dreaming of her childhood. The thought alone made him feel sick.
It was then he spotted Trina, sitting on the sofa and looking at him with a raised eyebrow, an episode of CSI on the TV in front of her.
“Hey..” He uttered quietly, giving her an exhausted smile. He never thought he’d give her anything other than a pained smile/grimace, to be honest. He really needed to be a bit nicer to her, didn’t he? “Thanks again Trina....seriously. You have no idea how much this means to me...and to Jade.”
“It’s whatever. I get it.” She stood up, brushing down her skirt and flipping her hair.
“What even happened? Why the hell did Prome end with my girlfriend being carried off by a stranger?!” He asked, his voice quiet but almost shaking with anger. Because yeah, just because Jade was safe and sound – well, as safe as she could be when she was no doubt dealing with some seriously horrible memories as she slept – he was still beyond livid at their apparent ‘friends’.
So Trina told what she knew – there was drama between Jade and Tori – Beck knew about it, and Tori had already called him earlier that night about Jade ruining prome, but to be honest, he didn’t care and he had told Tori that he couldn’t do anything to stop Jade so she best just prepare for the worst (he was on his girlfriends side on this one), some weird ass stuff kept happening that Trina assumed correctly had been Jade, and then told of how Tori had lied and purposefully made Jade Prome queen and the diaper guy Prome king. When he heard that everyone laughed and cheered as Jade was carried off struggling, his fists clenched. What. The actual. Fuck .
“All of them? Not just Tori but...Andre, Cat and Robbie too?”
Trina gave a small shrug and a sympathetic grimace; whether the grimace was for him and Jade, or for Tori, Andre, Cat and Robbie, Beck didn’t know. But he did know it was probably for the best it was Saturday; if he had to see them in school tomorrow, he didn’t know what he’d do.
“Well...I’m sure you need to get back home. And I know I keep asking a lot of you but could you...keep this underwraps? Not that you helped her out but...just the panic attack? At least from the general student population...”
“Won’t hear a thing from me. Like I’d let people know I did something nice for anyone else.” Trina rolled her eyes and picked up her bag. “I’m going to get going. I didn’t give her anything other than that bottle of water next to her but she hasn’t drank it. I just helped her get changed and she passed out asleep straight after.” With that, she flounced out of the RV and Beck was once again struck by an odd feeling of gratefulness and respect towards her, something he was pretty sure he’d never feel for Trina Vega of all people, but it was a pleasantly odd feeling; like when you’re surprised by getting a better grade on a test than you expected, or when Jade reacted strongly to something small he did during their ‘alone time’.
Once Trina had driven away – he could tell from the headlights flashing in his windows for a few moments before she pulled away – Beck perched on the edge of the bed, reaching out and resting his hand on Jades neck, just above the junction where her neck and shoulders met, thumb rubbing back and forth over her skin softly. As odd as it may seem for someone who hates being touched like Jade did, and from her past, his hand on her neck helped calm her; it didn’t have to be a hard grip (that only really happened during their ‘alone time’), or even on the front of her neck; even just a hand on the back of her neck helped her relax.
She stirred a little, her eyes flickering under closed lids and Beck was quick to whisper assurances to her, to remind her before she even fully woke up that he was with her and she was safe. By the time her unfocused eyes fluttered open, he could tell she was fully aware of where she was and who was with her.
“Beck?” Her voice was small and wavering, exhausted still even after she must have slept for a few hours. “What...”
“Hey, you’re OK. You’re ok..” He hushed, his thumb not stopping it’s soft stroking. “You’re in the RV and it’s just you and me, OK?”
She nodded and sat up slowly, looking down at herself, dressed in his clothes, with confusion. “What happened? Why am I here?”
“What’s the last thing you remember?”
“Prome...” Jade’s voice darkened and her lip curled a little, even as she sagged fully against him, his arm wrapping around her waist to give her some stability. “Tori announcing I was fucking Prome Queen.” Here she put a high pitched whiny tone to the title. “And...then Doug the Diaper Guy was announced Prome King and....” She froze, her eyes widening. “They all just laughed and watch as...as...”
“I know baby, I know.” Beck soothed, pressing a kiss to her temple, pushing down the blistering hot rage he felt because he had to be gentle right now. “You’re OK. Nothing happened to you. You had a panic attack not long after getting away from the dance.” He softly explained what Trina had told him; the two men weren’t creeps or anything, they put her down the second they realized she was having an attack but didn’t want to leave her alone in case she passed out or hurt herself. “And...well, Trina found you with them. They left when they were sure you were safe and she brought you here, got you changed and waited for me to go home.”
“Trina? As in...Trina Vega?” Jade asked, blinking a few times and he was sure if she had the energy she’d have jumped to her feet in shock.
“She...well, she followed them when they carried you out.”
“And none of the other did.” She replied flatly but Beck could hear the hurt in her voice, and it made that boiling rage inside him flare up, like someone had poured lighter fluid on an open flame. “Four people who claim to be my friends...even my best friends just...watched. And cheered.” Cat she could maybe understand, Beck guessed, because he could too. Cat would no doubt have assumed that she’d just won, no cheating or tricks involved. But she still should have known that having anyone other than Beck himself carrying Jade was a bad idea.
“I know baby. Believe you cannot understand how pissed-” He took a deep breath. He couldn’t get angry right now. He needed to be calm and gentle for Jade. She was still grey with exhaustion and he could see the utter helplessness and a hint of fear still in her eyes.
“Why...I mean...I know maybe I went too far...but...this is the first time one of my plays was put on at the school since Freshman year.” Jade had written tens of plays, maybe even hundreds, but the Powers That Be at Hollywood Arts always refused to let them be performed as they were too ‘dark’ or ‘disturbing’. Clowns Don’t Bounce only just made the cut because it was a dark comedy, not a tragedy. There was just enough humour to skate by. “And...none of them cared. They all just cared about Tori’s stupid little ‘Prome’. Cat, Andre, Robbie...all of them just happily ignored the fact I had reserved the space in advance. All because precious Tori fucking Vega wanted a Prome, and what Tori wants Tori gets. Am I that much of a bitch, Beck, that I can’t even have one fucking thing? Am I that horrible a person that even my own fucking friends don’t care about me? That a girl who hates me and I hate, cared more about my safety tonight that my supposed best friends?”
“Jade, no.” Beck uttered, feeling his anger now calm a little, to a rolling boil. It was still there, and still strong, but he had to put a lid on it right now. Jade needed him, no matter how much he’d love to drive to Tori’s house and shout some sense into her; if Andre or Robbie were there, maybe he’d knock some sense into them. Because if Tori was short for ‘Victor’ instead of Victoria, you could bet a punch would be thrown on Monday. Luckily for Tori, Beck knew he would never be able to hit a girl; well, any girl other than Jade, and that was only during their ‘fun times’. “ They are the assholes here. They’re in the wrong. Yeah, maybe you tried to ruin their shitty ‘Prome’ but that’s because they fucked you over. Maybe you went a little too far, but that was their fault; they can’t be surprised how you reacted, they know how important your work is. But the fact that they just...they just let you get carried out...” Beck could feel himself almost vibrating with rage. “I’ve never been this angry in my life Jade. Seriously. I could kill them right now.”
“I just...I hate them Beck. All of them. They don’t care about me? Fine. They can go fuck themselves, because I’m done.” She sagged against him again, thin and shaking fingers clutching at his shirt as his arms tightened around her. “I’m done being second best to that little twit Tori. I’m done being treated like the worlds biggest bitch for not fawning over her like she’s Lady fuckin’ Di every time she fucks something up and needs us to help fix it. Andre, Cat and Robbie want to be best fucking friends with that useless excuse of a human being? Fine. They can. But I’m done with her and I’m done with them.”
Beck winced a little, unseen to Jade. It seemed like even Cat wasn’t getting the benefit of the doubt like he’d maybe suspected. And he wasn’t sure how long this would last, but he wouldn’t be the one to try and get her to make up with them. He knew for sure that the next few weeks, it’d just be Beck&Jade, alone. No Tori or Andre or Cat or Robbie. And with the mood he was in right now, with how angry he was at them? He was perfectly fine with that.