A/N: Just so you know, there is some potentially triggering stuff to some people alluded to in this chapter but it actually doesn't/hasn't happen(ed) and is a misunderstanding.

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Beck's P.O.V:

Jade's waiting in my car while I speak to my parents. I feel bad for leaving her alone, but I realise my parents are probably not going to be too optimistic about the idea so I don't want Jade to witness what's about to go down.

My parents stand in the kitchen, scepticism blatantly evident on their faces. They turn their backs to me, muttering something in a hushed voice, and after a few minutes they face me again.

My father speaks first, and in a very matter-of-fact tone. "Sorry son but we can't let this girl- who we've never met, might I add- sleep here."

I retaliate quickly. "But Dad, she'd only be sleeping on the couch and-"

"Hasn't she got anywhere else to stay?" It's Mum's turn to intervene now. "Another relative or at a friend's whose parents know Jade better than we do?"

Rubbing the back of my neck, I answer her question, not meeting her eyes. "Well her family is staying at her grandma's-"

"And why can't she stay there?" Dad questions.

I hesitate. Telling my parents the truth would be betraying Jade's trust. And, I also suspect that Jade is not telling me the whole truth. I understand that she's embarrassed to go back to her family since the fire brigade will have likely discovered and disclosed the cause of the fire to her family by now, but Jade's exactly the type to shy away from a situation- she confronts it head on and puts up a fight. Whatever may be going on with her family right now I can tell she feels this may push it all over the edge.

I struggle for a believable lie. "She- she just can't."

I'm not one for lying anyway.

"Well that's not a good enough reason, Beck. I'm sorry but the answer is no."

"But Dad-"

"Beck as long as you live under our roof, you live under our rules."

Without another word, I walk out and semi-slam the door, leaning against it dejectedly. Jade's going to be crushed. There is no way she will go back home- you don't exactly have to know her that well to know she's as stubborn as a mule- and honestly I don't want her there, just in case her family problems are more serious than I would like them to be.

Glancing over to my car, I watch Jade as she fiddles with a pair of scissors. Fascinated by her attachment to the sleek, metallic, objects, I watch her curiously, eyeing the scissors' every movement in fear of them slipping and penetrating her perfect, pale skin.

G*d she's breath-taking.

I'm not going to let Jade down, but I can't disobey my parents either. I find myself in a twisted maze of predicaments which I see no way out of.

Except one.

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Third Person:

"Welcome to my humble abode." Beck grinned, stepping aside to let Jade through the doorway and spreading his arms apart grandly. "My Dad said as long as I live under his roof I live under his rules." He motioned upwards with his head and folded his arms. "My roof, my rules."

"Touché." Jade stepped into the decked out RV curiously. "So, you live in your RV?" It was meant to sound curious, but it came out a little judgier than she'd intended. Thankfully, Beck didn't take it the wrong way.

"Well, no, not exactly. My dad bought me this when I was a kid because I was upset we had no backyard to build a treehouse in. So, this became my treehouse substitute." Beck smiled fondly at the memory and Jade thought that was oddly cute.

Jade looked away and rubbed her arm. "What if your parents come in here?"

"They won't, don't worry. I haven't been in here in ages, and neither have they. I say the chances of them wandering in here are about as high as Trina Vega admitting that she cannot sing."

"Fat chance." Jade said, smirking, and Beck smirked back.

"Hey, what are you going to tell your parents?"

"I'll just text that I'm at Uncle Ned's. They hate Uncle Ned. They won't call him to check."

Beck nodded, preparing himself to ask the question that had been nagging away at his mind for the past half an hour. Beck rubbed the back of his neck and coughed slightly. "Jade, um, is there another reason you don't want to go back home?-" Beck's eyes widened at his accidentally insensitive-sounding slip-up. "Ah, I mean to your family?"

A line formed between Jade's eyebrows as she tilted her head. "What do you mean?"

"Well, I know it might not be my place to ask, but… is ho- being with your family not safe right now?"

It took second for Jade to realise what he was insinuating. "Oh! Chiz. No, no, that's not what I meant at all."

Beck cringed. "Sorry. From the way you were talking I thought-"

"No. No. All it is is that in the eyes of my family, especially my father, nothing I do is right. I imagined the grief I was going to get from my parents and I just… just couldn't deal with that tonight." Jade's crossed around her middle. "Guess you think I'm really silly, huh?"

"No, not at all. I get it. Sometimes you know when you need to take a step back from some people for a bit." Again, he rubbed the back of his neck (which he began to notice was his nervous tell). "I'm just glad everything's ok."

Jade smirked, teasingly. "It's cute that you care." To her amusement, a flush creeped across the boy's cheeks as he rolled his eyes.

Then her face fell as quickly as her smirk had emerged and stared at the floor. That is, until her eyes moved upwards, aligning with Beck's. "Thank you."

A seemingly insufficient amount of words considering what she was thanking him for. What she really meant was "thank you for going out of your way, just to save me the embarrassment and trauma of facing my family. You could have just turned me away and told me that I was being ridiculous, but somehow you understood. So thank you- again. For tonight. And for the coffee."

However, when she tried to say it all, "thank you" was all that escaped her.

Despite this incomplete communication, Beck knew exactly what she was trying to say from just those two words. "You're welcome."