Jade sat up slightly in bed, propping her head up on her hand and stared at Beck. He seemed different. Quiet. Distant. A ticking time bomb. His mind was one thousand miles away, even though his body was right next to her. She knew they were going through something particularly stressful, but it wasn't that.

"Are you going to tell me what's wrong with you?" Jade asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Something is wrong with you." Jade stated, anxiously tapping her fingers on Beck's shoulder, gaining his full attention. "You were very pissed off when you got here last night."

"Sorry."

"Now I've known you since we were 14. I know you. So don't even think about lying to me. What's wrong?"

"I just found out something horrible last night." Beck said. "That's it."

"What?"

"Rayna and I were talking, and she got me thinking. I figured out who leaked the story."

"Okay..."

"It was Tori."

Jade wanted to be shocked by this news, but she wasn't. She was still pissed, however. She simply shrugged and twisted her fingers into Beck's shirt. "It doesn't surprise me that Tori would do this. She doesn't care about Bianca."

"I'm not finished."

"What more could I possibly need to know?"

"My cousins are the ones who gave Tori the idea."

"Let me guess. Tracy?"

Beck nodded, "Apparently they like to sit around and talk about how since you lived 3000 miles away, there is no telling who you could have been sleeping with. And since there was no paternity test-"

"They think there's a chance that Bianca might not be yours."

"Exactly."

Jade sat up and crossed her legs, "You don't believe her, do you?"

"Oh no, of course not!"

"Do you want a paternity test? If that is what it'll take to shut her up then I don't care."

"We aren't going to entertain the idea of one." Beck grabbed a strand of Jade's hair and pushed it out of her face. "You and I know I'm Bianca's dad and we're the only people that matter."

"I know, but if it'll stop all of this-"

"No buts." Beck kissed the top of Jade's forehead. "Don't stress out over this, okay?"

"It's hard not to. When is enough going to be enough? When is this going to stop? Tori is getting some sort of sick pleasure out of torturing our daughter. "

"Try not to stress. For me, at least."

"I'll try."

Beck pulled Jade into a kiss, "I love you."

"I know." Jade said.

This was new. Jade never said something like, "I know." when Beck told her he loved her. It was slowly starting to seep in to his brain. Jade really wasn't the same girl he knew in high school. She was much more self aware and confident.

Beck frowned a bit when Jade didn't say 'I love you' in return. Did she still love him? Was it supposed to be an unspoken reply? Was he overreacting? Maybe he was overreacting. He nodded. Yeah, he was definitely overreacting.

A cry erupted from the baby monitor on her bedside table before Beck could say something in return. "Someone is up and probably needs her diaper changed."

"Ooh diaper duty. That's on you, Mommy."

Jade glared at Beck. She slid out of her bed, grabbed her robe, and slipped it on. "Well I hope Bianca leaves Daddy something really special one day."

"I don't."

A few minutes later, Jade re-entered her bedroom, Bianca in her arms. The baby was sporting major bed head, and she had a sleepy look on her face.

Beck smiled, "Good morning, sleeping beauty."

"Someone is still tired."

"I can see." Beck held his hands out for Bianca to come to him, but she didn't. Instead she clung to her mother.

"Bianca, you get so clingy when she's tired." Jade rested her cheek against her daughter's soft head. She didn't mind a clingy Bianca at all. Nothing was better than her daughter wanting to be as close to her as possible. "I love it."

Beck silently watched the two. It was always nice to see the moments where Jade was calm and happy. If only more people got to see this side of her. If they knew the Jade he knew, the one was was fiercely loyal and protective, the Jade that stayed up with Tyler until four o' clock in the morning to help him with a science project, the one who sang songs to Bianca when she was sad, the one who genuinely enjoyed being a mother, they wouldn't hate her.

"I told you you've gone soft."

"Well how could I become a big softy around my little munchkin?"

"It's becoming hard to leave my place or Beck's house without the paparazzi in my face."

"You want some cake?" Cat asked. "I made a cake."

"No, I'm fine." Jade said, eying the chocolate cake her bubbly best friend had made. "I still have the cake you made me yesterday."

"I've been in a cake mood recently."

"You've been in a food mood, lately." This was very Cat-like right now. Whenever she found something enjoyable, she did it all day, every day.

"I know. I think I might have an addictive personality."

"You think? I know."

Cat shrugged, "Robbie loves it. He's gained five pounds since we got married."

"Good. He's too skinny."

"No teasing my husband. You know he's sensitive."

"You're husband is an adult."

"Yeah, but just be nice to him. For me?"

Jade sighed, "For you."

Cat smiled, "Thank you. And doesn't your dad have a beach house in Malibu?"

"Yeah."

"Why don't you just stay there? It's relaxing, you are right on the beach, and it's Malibu. It doesn't get any better than that."

"Yeah, but that means I have to deal with my dad. And his stupid wife."

"You told me she was in Mexico."

"She is, but still. I don't really feel like dealing with my dad any more than I have to."

"Isn't he your lawyer?"

"Yes. But you know my dad and I aren't close. You really think he'll let me stay there?"

"Yeah. It's not like he lives there. He lives in Calabasas. He'll let you stay there. And I can come as well."

"Did you have ulterior motives, missy?"

"It's a beach house in Malibu. Of course I had ulterior motives."

Jade's phone rang. A picture of Tyler appeared on her screen. She picked it up and answered.

"Hey, Ty. What's up?"

"Jade!"

"Tyler?"

"Jade, we have to get to the hospital. Where are you? We have to-"

"Whoa, slow down." Jade ordered, trying to remain calm. It was obvious her brother wasn't, which was completely out of character. "Why do we need to go to the hospital?"

"Dad." Tyler breathed out.

"What about him?"

"He's in the hospital. He had a heart attack."

Jade seriously thought that the world was conspiring against her. The universe must have been like, "Let's fuck with Jade. Let's add on more chaos than needed to her life." And the last thing Jade needed was her father to be having a heart attack.

After searching many floors, high and low, Jade finally found her brother. "Tyler!"

Tyler stopped pacing the floor long enough to turn around. He ran to his sister. "I'm so glad you're here."

"What's wrong? What's going on?"

"I was at dad's office because we were about to go out for lunch, but he kept complaining about a chest ache, so I told him to take an aspirin, which he did. When we were in the parking lot, he collapsed. Thank God I know how to perform CPR."

"Well, where is he now?"

"These fucking doctors aren't telling me anything!" Tyler snapped. "They just took him."

Cat, who accompanied Jade to the hospital, walked over to Tyler, "Hey, Ty let's go take a quick walk. Maybe we can go find a doctor for you to talk to."

"Okay."

Cat slung her arm over her friend's brother's shoulders and started walking away.

Once Jade couldn't see her brother anymore, she let out a deep breath and ran a hand through her hair. She needed time to think and focus, and she couldn't do that if someone else was freaking out besides her.

Jade turned around and saw a doctor. She quickly rushed over to her and touched her shoulder, gaining the older woman's attention. "Excuse me, I'm looking for my father. His name is Richard West and he was rushed in due to a heart attack."

"Coincidentally enough, I'm treating Richard West." The woman extended her hand. "Doctor Wright."

Jade shook the doctor's hand, "Jade West. How's my dad."

"I'm going to be honest with you Ms. West, it wasn't looking good. It was a pretty serious heart attack."

"My father has high blood pressure. Could that be the problem?"

Dr. Wright nodded, "Yes, we checked your father's blood pressure, and it was extremely high. We think that is what caused the heart attack."

"How is he now?"

"Unconscious."

"Is he going to be okay?"

"Can I be brutally honest with you?"

"Please."

"Your father could have died."

It felt like the air left Jade's body. Like someone just punched her in the gut. She took a deep breath and nodded, "Keep talking."

"Now your brother told one of the paramedics that he took an aspirin before his heart attack."

"Yeah, my brother told him to take one."

"That possibly saved his life."

"How's my dad right now?" Jade asked.

"Unconscious, but he's stable." Dr. Wright replied. "He should wake up soon, but he might have to have a surgery in a few days."

"Surgery?"

"Like I said, this was serious. It's just to make sure stuff like this doesn't happen again."

Jade nervously wrung her hands, "Can I go see him?"

"Follow me."

A few minutes later, Jade was in her father's hospital room. He was hooked up to a bunch of different monitors, and an oxygen mask was covering his mouth and nose.

Jade scanned the room and saw a chair next to the bed. She made her way to it and sat down, her eyes never leaving her father.

The room was silent, save the beeping of the monitors. Jade didn't really know what to say or do. Was there a book of things to say to your dad who couldn't say anything back?

"Well, this was extremely selfish of you, dad." Jade started. "My stress levels are already high enough, and to put icing on the cake, you have a severe heart attack. This was the last thing I needed at the moment."

Jade scoffed, "You know what's crazy? You were the crappiest father on the earth. You missed every dance recital, every parent-teacher day, every career day, you laughed at the fact that I went to Hollywood Art's, you only came to one of my plays, you cheated on mom and then had the gall to marry your mistress. That one still makes me laugh because your wife is horrible. And let's not forget about the day I told you I was pregnant. You called me stupid."

"For the most part, I was pretty much non-existent to you throughout my high school career. Cat and I were talking earlier. We were talking about how I was being harassed by paparazzi. Cat said I could just hide out at your beach house, but I told her you didn't care about me enough to lend me the beach house. I don't think you care about me or Tyler at all. You provided for us, financially, but that's about it. We were your obligations. Maybe you're the reason I'm so crazy. Maybe I can blame you for my first failed relationship with Beck. I was so afraid of him leaving me, I held on way too tight and I drove him away. And even this go around, I feel like I'm holding him at arm's length because I don't want history to repeat itself. I have a guy who I can see is in love with me, but I am trying to hold back, because I don't want to be the overbearing, clingy girlfriend again. But despite all of that, here I am, sitting at your bedside worried sick, hoping you don't fucking die, like a good little daughter. I hope I'm not the only one who is feeling this irony."

"You better wake up." Jade continued, her tone sharp and tight. She knew this wasn't a very encouraging or sweet monologue, but she didn't care. "You don't get to have the last laugh, Richard. You don't get to die without me getting some sort of closure, so wake up."

Now that the initial shock had worn off, and Jade had said her piece, she could now do what she had to do. She could go into daughter-mode and focus on her sick father.

She stood up. She had people to call and things to do.

Jade was jolted out of her sleep by a tap on her shoulder. She shot up and looked around the room, her eyes landing on Beck. "Beck!"

"Hey, babe."

Jade got out of her seat and raised her arms over her head. Her muscles were tight and sore from sitting in that tiny chair.

"I'm glad you're here."

"I figured you could use the support. Cat called me." Beck grabbed the back of Jade's head and planted a kiss on her temple. He then wrapped his arms around her.

"Where's Bianca?"

"My mom has her. I was thinking of bringing her here, but-"

"She doesn't like hospitals." Jade finished, flashing back to the time Bianca spent in the hospital due to her pneumonia.

"Right. And I thought seeing Richard hooked up to so many machines might scare her."

"Good call. I could use all of the support in the world right now."

"Have you called your family?"

"Yes, I called my grandmother, my aunts, and my mom. I think the chances of her showing up are slim, but it was worth a shot."

"You didn't call Tiffany?"

Jade cocked her head to the side in confusion, "Who?"

"Your dad's wife." Beck asked.

"Oh. No, I haven't called her."

"You should call her. Her husband just had a heart attack. She should be here."

"Why? So that gold digging trash can cry crocodile tears over my father's body, and then tell the doctors to pull the plug on him?" Jade shook her head. "I don't think so."

Beck looked at Jade, a bit shocked. She seemed...protective over her dad. He never thought he would see this.

"How are you feeling?"

"I'm all over the place right now." Jade replied, honestly. "I'm conflicted."

"What do you mean?"

"You know better than anyone how I feel about my dad." Beck nodded. "What has he done to deserve me and Tyler running around like chickens with out heads cut off? The answer is nothing! He has done nothing, but, he's my dad. I couldn't not come to see him. I want to hate him, I want to curse him, but I can't. What would I do if he died?"

"It's because you're a good person."

Jade scoffed, "Yeah, that's it."

"I'm serious. You're a good person, despite what you think. You wouldn't be here if you weren't."

"Thank you."

Beck grabbed Jade's hand and squeezed it. He could tell she was nervous. Even though Jade and her dad weren't best friends, he knew that on the inside, she was just a girl who wanted her dad. He was her Achilles heel. But Jade would never admit that.

"Anything you need me to do?"

Jade shook her head, "No. I'm okay."

"Well you're not okay." Beck argued, not wanting to leave Jade, but not wanting to press her either. "But I'll leave you alone if you want."

Jade gave Beck a sad smile, "Thank you."

"Grandma's here." Tyler's said, touching Jade's shoulder to get her attention. She was so wrapped up in their father, he doubted that she even noticed him walking into the hospital room.

"Really?"

"Yeah, she's in the hall, with aunt Olivia."

"Good."

"I finally got in touch with Tiffany." Tyler added. "She should be back here by tomorrow morning."

Jade rolled her eyes, "Yay."

"Come on, Jade. She's his wife."

"She's also the last person I want to see. Like ever in life."

"I'm not her biggest fan either, Jade but she had a right to know."

"Save me the speech on Tiffany, Ty. It's falling on death ears."

"Fine. No more talk of Tiffany." Tyler grabbed Jade's hand and pulled her up.

"Thank you."

"Let's go see grandma."

The two siblings walked into the hallway, where they spotted their grandmother, Madeline and their aunt, Olivia talking to a nurse. Olivia spotted the two and grabbed her mother's arm to get her attention.

"There are my lovely grandchildren!" Madeline exclaimed, opening her arms to engulf the two in a hug.

"Hi grandma." Jade and Tyler said simultaneously.

"How are you guys?" Madeline asked. "Are you okay?"

Jade glanced at Tyler before looking at her grandma, "We're better than we were a few hours ago."

Madeline smiled, "That's good. How my boy?"

"Unconscious, but stable. We're just-"

Tyler was cut off by Dr. Wright walking over to them. "Richard is waking up."

"Can we go see him?" Jade asked.

"Yes, but one at a time."

"Jade, why don't you go? Tyler suggested.

"Me?"

"Yeah."

Jade shook her head, "I don't think so."

Tyler nudged Jade forcefully, "Go."

"Fine!" Jade said, throwing her hands in the hair. She didn't have enough energy to bicker with her younger brother. "I'll go."

Jade muttered something under her breath before walking away from the small group of people.

She felt extra nervous going back into his room. Her father was easier to deal with and her emotions were easier to control while he was unconscious.

Upon her arrival, Jade saw him waking up and looking around the room at all the wires, tubes, and machines.

"Hi." Jade greeted, getting her dad's attention.

Richard turned and looked at his daughter with unfocused eyes, "Am I dead?"

"No, you're not dead."

"Oh."

"But you came pretty close."

"What?"

"You had a heart attack." Jade answered.

"Really? I always thought your mother would break in to my house and stab me in the throat and that would be my doing."

"Never say never, Richard." Jade joked, trying to lighten the mood.

"How long was I out?

"Some hours. I don't really know how long exactly."

"Huh. A heart attack."

"How are you feeling?" Jade asked.

"I don't know. I can't feel anything right now. Is that normal?"

"Probably just the pain medication."

"I'd like more of this stuff then. It's good."

Jade looked around the room, "I'm gonna go get your doctor to make sure you're okay." She stood and turned on her heel, but Richard grabbed her arm and stopped her from moving. "What's wrong?"

"We need to talk."

"About?"

"I heard, or at least I think I heard, you talking. You were talking and you were talking about me and-"

"Dad!" Jade interjected. "You need to save your energy."

"But we-"

"-We can talk later." Jade promised. "I'm going to get your doctor."

Before Richard could even reply, Jade was out the door.

"Start from the beginning, Jade." Tyler said, trying to speak to his sister. "I really don't understand what's going on."

Jade bounced Bianca anxiously on her lap as she sat in a café down the street from the hospital. She felt like she was going to suffocate if she stayed in that hospital any longer. So she had Beck drop Bianca off. Her baby was probably the only thing keeping her calm at the moment.

"What?"

"Why are you freaking out so bad?" Tyler asked, grabbing Jade's hand so she could stop tapping it against the table.

"When I first got to the hospital, I was so freaked and the doctor said dad could have died. I was scared and anxious and he wasn't conscious and I just started talking. And I was saying some mean stuff about how he was a bad father and how he didn't care about us, and him cheating on mom. Long story short, my daddy issues came out full force. And dad, even in his unconscious, weak hearted state, heard me and he wants to talk! Talk!"

"Whoa, Jade. Pretty ballsy of you to yell at an unconscious guy who just had a heart attack."

"What if I would have sent him into cardiac arrest?"

"You didn't. So calm down."

"I don't know how to calm down. I don't calm down."

A waitress walked over to their table, "Coffee, miss?"

Tyler shook his head, "She doesn't need coffee. She's had enough coffee in her life to stay up for the rest of her life. Get her some tea. Chamomile, if you have any."

"Coming right up." The waitress smiled and walked off.

Jade glared at her younger brother, "I don't need you talking about me like I'm a child."

"Shut up. Now back to the problem at hand. I don't see what the big deal is. You've never been quiet when it came to your feelings about dad."

"Yeah, I make sarcastic, smart ass remarks, but I actually laid my feelings out there."

"Oh. Like how deep?"

"I said I felt like I was his obligation, and he didn't care about me. And I may have implied that him having a heart attack was selfish because I have so much," Jade looked down at Bianca who was playing with a set of toy keys, "s-h-i-t going on right now, which was pretty narcissistic of me, because he didn't have control over this situation."

"Jade, you don't have to spell curse words to me. Bianca has no idea what's going on."

"Babies can hear, Ty. I don't want her first word to be an obscenity."

Tyler rolled his eyes, "Shouldn't you be glad? I mean, if dad actually wants to talk about how he's treated us, we might be able to actually get closure."

"It's just that, I don't know if I'm ready to have this conversation with him."

"Why wouldn't you be ready?"

"I'm just freaking out right now."

"That much I can tell. I think you should just talk to dad, and get everything out in the open, and move on. Doesn't that sound good?"

"Yeah, it does." Jade leaned on Bianca so that her cheek was on Bianca's head. Bianca gurgled, happily. "I'm such a mess right now. My brain needs a vacation."

"You and me, both sister."

"Hi." Jade greeted, nervously walking back into her dad's room.

Richard pulled his attention away from one of the many monitors surrounding him and looked up. "Hi. You know, when you said you were going to get my doctor, I assumed you'd be gone for about five minutes. I think an hour has passed."

"Sorry, I just needed some air. I'd been in this hospital for too long."

"You can come closer, you know." Richard joked. Jade was standing in the doorway, stiff as a board. "I don't bite."

"Don't be so sure." Jade took a few more cautious steps into the room.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm just tired. I haven't been sleeping well."

"I know someone who is great with-"

"-I'm fine. I just need to sleep. In an actual bed. For more than an hour at a time."

Richard nodded, and sat up a little straighter in bed. "When you were in here, we were in the middle of a conversation, or at least I thought we were, but you bolted out of here."

"Like I said, I needed some air."

"Or you didn't want to talk to me."

"Maybe."

"I'm good at reading people." Jade scoffed. "What?"

Jade shook her head, "It's nothing. I have something I could say, but I won't say it."

"Yeah, it'd be best for you to keep whatever you were about to say in your head. At least for now."

The conversation came to a halt with that. Neither of them really knew how to start the conversation off, despite having so much to say.

But how do you start off a serious conversation? Do you say, "Hey, you were a pretty horrible father"? Or something like, "I know, I was a bad father, but I want to make it up to you, twenty-five years later"?

"So where should we begin?" Jade asked, trying to start something.

Richard chuckled, nervously, "I'm not so good at this either, but I just want to say I'm sorry. I know I didn't do my best in the dad department."

Jade nodded, but stayed silent. She wasn't sure if she was ready to accept that.

"I didn't know you felt like I didn't care about you."

"Then I guess you aren't as good at reading people as you think you are, Richard. Because I have always felt like you just tolerated me because I was your daughter and you had to. And it just got worse after you got remarried. You just didn't care. Mom would have to beg you spend time with me, and even then, you were practically glued to you cell phone. And let's not forget how you acted when I told you I wanted to go to Hollywood Arts."

"Jade, could you honestly blame me? Do you know how many people actually break into this industry? You got lucky. I'm sorry I wanted my daughter to do something sensible."

"That doesn't matter. It wasn't your job to tear me down, because I get enough of that from the rest of the world. It's your job to support whatever I do because that's what parents do. All I wanted you to do was just be there for me, but if wasn't about business deals, and numbers, and facts, it didn't matter to you. Sorry I didn't want to go to Wharton. Sorry I didn't follow in your footsteps and go Harvard Law."

"I didn't want you-"

"Maybe that's why you like Tyler more."

Richard shook his head, "That's not true!" He argued.

"It is true."

"I mean, did Tyler fight me on everything? No. Did he sneak out in the middle of the night to sleep at his significant other's house? Thank Heavens, no. Did he pierce his face after he was given instructions not to? No. Just because he listened to me and your mother, and he's pre-law, does not mean I like or love him more than you. I love you just as much as I love your brother."

"Really?"

"Of course."

Words couldn't describe how Jade felt after hearing that. There were a ton of different emotions swirling around. Joy. Relief. Maybe even some anger.

"Wow."

"And I know I am horrible at showing it, but I do. I love you, I love Tyler, my granddaughter is impossible to not love, and I even love your mother."

"You love mom?"

"I've known your mother since our college days. She managed to put up with me for twenty-two years and I didn't do her justice."

"Not at all. But that's a story for another time, so unless you want me to say some very mean things about your wife and all the other undesirable home wreckers you were sleeping with, I suggest you move on."

"I would actually like to hear what you have to say about Tiffany."

"You know how I feel about Tiffany. I think of her as your trailer trash, opportunistic, gold digging, cheap perfume wearing, air-headed child bride, considering she's only six years older than me. And that barely scratches the surface, but we can talk about that some other time."

"I agree." Richard didn't think he could listen to the verbal beat down his absent wife was receiving. Speaking of that...

"Where is Tiffany?" He asked.

"Still in Cancun."

"Did you even tell her I was in the hospital?"

"Yes, I did. But she can't get out a flight out of Mexico until tomorrow."

"Good. I would like for her to be here." Jade gave her dad an obviously forced smile, but he ignored it. "Will you play nice?"

"I will try. That's as much as you're going to get out of me."

"I'll take it." Richard stuck out his hand for Jade to shake. She just eyed him. Didn't they just have a conversation about him treating her like a business deal? "Sorry. Force of habit."

"It's okay."

"Should we hug?"

"I don't think you should move with all those wires."

"Fair point." Richard looked around the room. "I'm having surgery tomorrow, so I'm not going to be any good to you, on the legal front, concerning the whole, Bianca paternity thing, but I know some great lawyers who can help you."

Jade shook her head, "You're in the hospital. All the other stuff isn't important to me right now."

All it took was a near fatal heart attack for Jade and her father to actually find some type of middle ground. It may have been a small step, but it was a step in the right direction. And that was all that mattered.

I wanted to update this story so much sooner than today, but here is how my life has gone:

Philosophy: Write a four to six page paper

Math: Oh you have a paper due? Cute. You're going have an exam on the exact same day. No sleep for you.

Biology: Quiz!

English: Don't forget about me!

History: Have fun working on you PowerPoint presentation!

Friday: Sorry, you don't get to relax. You get to volunteer for six hours! Yay.

Health: Haha we're going to give you an abscess and ruin your weekend by having you take antibiotics and complain about your sore mouth.

So long story short, life kicked my ass this week. Anyway I hope you all had a good weekend, and have an even better week! xo