Hi there!

I found this oneshot on my laptop that I wrote last year around this time. I don't know why I never published it on here, but after re-reading this again, I've finally decided to share it with you all. I know it's been a while since the final episode of Victorious, but I still really love Bade and their relationship. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this and don't forget to leave a review on the way out. :)

The Truth About 'I Hate You'

There's love behind every 'I hate you.' Beck knew this very well. No matter how many times he's fought with Jade, no matter how many times she yells 'I hate you!' to him at the top of her lungs, he knew she loved him. She may have not admitted it verbally throughout the course of their relationship, but there were those very few times that he's heard her say it under her breath. He teased her about it and she always says the same thing. "Jade West does not love." As expected as her response was, he would always have a smug expression on his face, indicating that he knew Jade was lying. Jade would just roll her eyes, and hit him.

The two barely talk now that they're broken up, but they still have their encounters considering they both have the same group of friends. There's usually tension between the pair when the others aren't looking or paying close attention. Beck and Jade would casually catch each other staring, and they couldn't help but feel awkward. Of course, it's hard to be friends with your ex, given that you used to mean the world to them. It's especially hard when your ex starts dating again. Fortunately for the both of them, they were still single. There's been an overwhelming amount of girls that started throwing themselves at Beck, with an increased population than when he was still with Jade. He turned them down, nonetheless. Jade, present for most of these rejections (a lot of them took place in front of all their friends), couldn't help but release a self-assured look on her face. Even though he wasn't hers anymore, she still felt the jealousy inside her whenever he talked to other girls. As for Jade, many boys have been flirting with her and trying to get her attention. A lot of these boys wouldn't have done it before, but right after the break up, Jade had been showing her vulnerable side for a while. It reassured everyone that even Jade, the tough girl with the scissors, had feelings too.

Both Beck and Jade had wondered why they weren't in a new relationship with other people yet. Jade wondered this the most about Beck, since girls were always showing up at his doorstep, if he was in a relationship or not. She tried to make herself believe that he only rejected them because he still had feelings for her, and is just too embarrassed to admit it and ask for her back. A more realistic belief she had was that he's just got out of a three year relationship, and is not ready for another one at the moment. Beck, on the other hand, was surprised that Jade didn't start dating the next hottest guy in school. He expected her to try to make him jealous so that he'd come crawling back to her. But, to be honest, he would crawl back to her, even without a rebound. He held his pride, knowing that if he did do that, he would get a reputation he wouldn't like. Beck didn't show very many emotions, and he doesn't even get scared! So if he begs on his knees to get Jade back, what would everyone say?

Beck knew she still loved him. The 'I hate you' is heard more often now every time he tries to start even the nicest conversations (meaning, conversations that had nothing to do with them being broken up), but he would try to hide a smile. Even though they might not get back together soon, (or at all, which was a horrible thought for the both of them) he still knows she loves him.

They ended up in Beck's RV once to work on a school assignment with the others, and Jade was the first one to arrive. She hadn't intended on arriving early. She actually thought she was going to be the last one to show up. Beck had apparently texted everyone to come at a later time, and he purposely didn't text Jade this information. He wanted to talk to her about her 'hatred' towards him. He wasn't assuming that she would take him back, but he wanted to get things straight. He couldn't stand her telling him she hated him, when all he could think of is how much she still loved him.

"Hey," He said casually, standing at his door. Jade had felt the need to actually stand outside and knock on the door now, rather than just kick it to grant herself access to the RV.

"Where is everybody?" Jade inquired, not even bothering to say hi to her ex-boyfriend.

"Didn't you get my text?" He replied, keeping his tone even. He only mentioned it so she doesn't get suspicious. "I texted everyone to come an hour later."

"I didn't get that text," Jade answered. "I'll just come back later then."

Jade turned on her heel to leave, but Beck grabbed her hand just in time.

"Just stay," He offered calmly. "You're just going to waste gas if you're going to drive home and drive back here later."

"Fine." She rolled her eyes. Beck moved out of the doorway to let Jade in. The RV was much cleaner than the last time she visited. The last time she was there was the day before the break up. She hadn't bothered to gather her things after the split because she thought the separation wasn't going to last for very long. But there they are now, several months later, still broken up and desperately missing each other. They wouldn't admit it, but they were so lonely without each other. Jade had wondered why she still hadn't collected her possessions that she used to leave in the RV. But after looking around, she noticed they were all gone. Beck doesn't possibly have enough space in his RV to keep everything organized.

"Sit," He gestured towards the couch. Jade rolled her eyes, but took him up on his offer.

"What are we supposed to do until they get here? We can barely keep a conversation going," Jade scoffed.

"Stop with the attitude, Jade," Beck said sternly, taking a seat beside her.

"Don't tell me what to do," She retorted. "You're not the boss of me anymore."

Beck would disagree. He never was the boss of her. She just so happened to listen to things he would advise her to do. She didn't have to do what he told her, but she did anyway. He was probably the only person she respected. Not anymore though, or so he thought. Beck furrowed his brow upon hearing that she considered him to be the boss of her in their relationship.

"We may suck at talking now," Beck began, "but I say we should at least try. It's better than sitting in silence, for like the next half hour."

"Ugh, whatever you say." Jade crossed her arms, focusing her vision on the TV in front of her. It wasn't even on, but she found it more interesting than looking at Beck.

"Listen." The volume of his voice decreased. He didn't try to make her look at him, because that would just cause her throwing a fit and he'll never get his answer that way. "You don't have to look at me, but just listen."

"I don't want to look at you anyway," Jade countered.

"Every time you tell me you hate me," He paused, unsure how to continue. "You don't really mean it, do you?" He moved his gaze away from her, even though she wasn't even looking at him. He was just nervous. What if all his assumptions behind every 'I hate you' were wrong?

"I can't believe you have the nerve to ask me that," Jade rolled her eyes. She seemed really annoyed from the moment he opened the door, but now she just really wanted to get up and storm out of there. But they really did need to do their assignment, and so that was the only reason why she's staying. If he'd let her, she would even just sit in her car until the others came.

"Well excuse me for having doubts," He sassed. It's not that he had doubts, but if Jade was going to give him a lot of attitude, he might as well do it too.

"If I told you I hated you, what would you think it meant?" Jade asked as if it were the most obvious thing ever. She didn't wait for me to respond and answered her own question. "That I hate you."

"No, seriously?" Beck said sarcastically, earning a soft snicker from Jade. He's only started learning the language of sarcasm ever since he befriended her a few years ago. "I heard you laughing, Jadey."

Jadey. He hasn't called her that in forever. The last time he referred to her as Jadey was back when they were just developing their friendship and decided to call each other cute nicknames. She used to call him Becky, but it really annoyed him because he kept complaining that it was a girl's name. Jade just used it as another excuse to tease him. But of course, when they started dating, the Jadey and Becky turned into baby, babe and sweetie.

"Because your use of sarcasm makes me laugh," She admitted, finally turning to him. Beck responded with his half smirk that Jade loved so much. "But at least it got better. I remember when I first started teaching you about sarcasm; you used to be so obnoxious."

Beck ignored her comment about the past and insisted her to answer his question seriously.

"Of course I loved you," She breathed, looking down at her hands, tapping her legs nervously.

Beck's face dropped. She said it in past tense, he thought. That must mean she doesn't love me anymore.

"So you're admitting that every time you said you hated me, you really loved me?" Beck raised a brow, waiting for her eyes to meet his. It took a while, but Jade was finally looking into his beautiful brown eyes.

"Well, yeah," She shrugged.

"Oh, 'cause you rarely told me you loved me when we were together," Beck recalled. "But you said 'I hate you' to me so many times that I started considering it as an act of love."

Jade didn't say anything. She got lost in his eyes, as sappy as that may sound.

"Telling you I hated you was my way of telling you I loved you," Jade let out an uneasy smile. It made her look kind of silly, but Beck still thought she looked beautiful.

"I realized that." He returned a smile. "You tell me you hate me more often now, though."

"That's because I'll always hate you."

Even though they weren't together anymore, Beck was absolutely sure she still loved him. He had the 'I hate you' to prove it.

I actually really liked this, I hope you did too. Let me know what you think!

Reviews = love!

- Trisha :)