A/N: so I was in the middle of continuing 'The Red Mill' when this came up and it wouldn't leave me alone so I just had to type it out and get it over with. I always wondered how Beck and Jade might meet again if they didn't get back together in high school and this was how I pictured it. Sorry for any grammatical errors, most of this was written in the dead of night in between visits to Tumblr.

Also, I really meant to use Skybucks as the coffee shop since that's what everyone seems to use in their stories but whenever I watch the show, the coffee tumbler Beck and Jade drink out of always says Jet Brew (or at least I think that's what it says) so I decided to go with that instead.

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

He couldn't help the flash of paranoia that hit him when he saw someone take his picture from the corner of his eye. It was the price he had to pay for being well-known, he reminded himself, the end of the blissful privacy and solitude that he had taken entirely for granted when he was still in Hollywood Arts, dreaming of the day he could be this famous. As he walked on he was grateful, at least, that majority of L.A.'s paparazzi population seemed to be harassing some other celebrity since the streets were fairly devoid of camera men and their incessant questions, questions, questions. Was he dating? What did he think of the Ranger's game last night? Oh, and would he mind playing 'Jew or Not a Jew'?

Still, he was happy; when he had auditioned for his first movie after Hollywood Arts, he had never expected to land the lead role, let alone the succeeding film offers that followed quickly after. Then it all happened so quickly, as it usually does when Hollywood discovers a new heartthrob to place in front of the harsh glare of the spotlight. First it was getting an agent, and then it was his first TV interview, his first photo shoot, his first movie premiere, his first internet scandal, and before he knew it, four years had passed by like ten seconds and he was already a household name.

Beck Oliver.

Walking on, he felt his phone vibrate in his jeans pocket so he stopped walking for a moment to reach back and pull it out, squinting for a moment as the sunlight glared off his PearPhone's screen. His agent was calling him.

"Beck! Good morning big guy!"

Sighing to himself, Beck checked his watch, it was already 8:05 hopefully if Marv makes it quick, he could still get to Jet Brew before the morning rush. Heaven knows he wouldn't be in a good mood all day without his regular dose of coffee, a little quirk that he carried with him after high school. "What's up Marv?"

"Listen big guy, I got a few phone calls this morning, lot of scripts being thrown our way! What's say we meet up for dinner, we look through a few of them and score ourselves a movie deal that'll finally get you that Academy Award eh?"

As Marv prattled on about all the famous directors that had been calling him, Beck patiently waited for him to finish up. For all his faults, Marv definitely was invested in his career (or rather his next big paycheck was), but for whatever the reason, at least the guy always had something for him to do, which made their actor-to-agent relationship a pleasant one. Chancing another glance at his timepiece, Beck suppressed the urge to roll his eyes, mainly because the gesture would be wasted on someone who couldn't even see his obvious irritation; Marv had already taken up ten minutes of his time. "Listen, Marv!" Beck cut in before his agent could book the rest of his natural life, "That sounds great and we'll talk about it tonight okay? But I gotta go now, so I'll talk to you later."

Before Marv could get another word in, Beck hit the 'End Call' button and jammed his phone back into his pocket. Picking up his pace a bit, he knew that if he could at least make it to Jet Brew in the next five minutes, then the line wouldn't be that long and the rest of his morning would be salvaged. He shook his head at himself, surprised at how stubbornly he was clinging on to this little tradition of getting coffee the first thing in the morning.

Finally there it was, only a few more meters away! Smiling cheekily to himself, Beck quickened his pace slightly when the sight of his picture suddenly made him stop. He was standing in front of a tabloid stand, the owner too busy arranging his goods to notice that the face on many of the magazine covers was standing right behind him. Beck had learned long ago to ignore most of what the media speculated about him, especially since majority of it were falsified rumors and pathetic attempts at connecting him with the first starlett he's photographed with. Still, it was always amusing to see what the latest gossip was, and every now and then he'd get a good laugh out of it. Peering inside Jet Brew for a moment, he was grateful to see that the line wasn't as long as he'd originally thought it would be. After a nanosecond of indecision, he took a few steps closer to the tabloid stand and quickly skimmed through the covers.

One cover was a stolen shot of him at the Grammy's congratulating Tori for her fifth consecutive award in the last two years and the headline read: 'Hollywood's most eligible bachelor, taken?' He couldn't help the chuckle at that one, he had been linked with many girls since the start of his blossoming career, but no matter how many times he told interviewers that he wasn't dating any of them, no one seemed to believe him.

("These rumors are good though!" Marv had encouraged once, when they were browsing through a few online articles of him, "They keep you current big guy!")

Now that this rumor was out however, Beck knew that it was only a matter of time before they'd find the connection between him and Grammy award-winning, RnB artist Tori Vega, and no doubt the paparazzi would flip with the knowledge that the two of them went to the same performing arts school together. He made a mental note to text Tori about this later, to see what she thought of it.

Just at that moment, the owner of the tabloid stand turned around and saw him. The comprehension dawning on the guy's face was unmistakable as his eyes widened and he pointed an awed finger at Beck. Grinning sheepishly, Beck gave the guy a quick salute before quickly pivoting around and entering the safety of his favorite coffee shop.

The effect was instantaneous, as soon as he heard the acoustic guitar strumming from the speakers and the smell of freshly brewed coffee hit his nose, he felt ten times calmer, a relaxed smile gracing his features. As he waited patiently in line for his turn, he realized absently that he didn't appreciate Jet Brew enough, after all, he'd been buying their coffee ever since high school. As he looked around, he felt an odd wave of nostalgia hit him, remembering days when he would walk in as a teenager, admire those same ocher walls, sit around on the same plush sofas, line up in the same line and order two coffees; one would be black with two sugars…

"Uhm…sir? You can approach the counter now."

He was shocked out of his reverie by the barista waving him over, her smile rather hesitant and nervous. Raking his hair back with his hand, he grinned at the floor sheepishly and walked over, his eyes glazing over the menu just behind the counter. "Uhm, I'll have- -"

"A grande, mocha espresso with extra cream."

Even after four years, he recognized that voice anywhere, mainly because only one person in all of L.A. could sound angry, bored and mischievous at the exact same time. Chuckling to himself, he nodded at barista to take the order before turning around, his deep brown eyes searching the café frantically before finally meeting a familiar pair of exquisitely bright blue eyes smirking at him from one of the seats near the shop window. Without averting his gaze, Beck paid for his coffee and stepped out of the line, shuffling his feet awkwardly as he did so; it had been a long time. "You remember how I like my coffee!" He called out, one corner of his mouth turning up in a wry grin.

She shrugged his statement off nonchalantly instead holding his gaze with hers before dropping her eyes to stare at the empty chair opposite her, motioning for him to sit down with an elegant tilt of her head. Running his hand through his hair again, he walked over, only too aware of how long it's been since he'd last seen her yet here they were, having coffee together just like before.

"It's good to see you Jade."

"I know." She replied brusquely, taking a sip of her own coffee before leaning back into her chair a little, the sunlight streaming in from the window lighting up the curve of her cheek just perfectly. In truth, he was surprised at how much she hadn't seem to have changed, it was still the same face he had memorized all those years ago, from the perfect arch of her eyebrows to the curve of her lips. Her hair was still long and black, with thick, lustrous curls that tumbled attractively about her shoulders and he could even see a few purple streaks peeking from behind her ears. Still the same Jade yet there was a difference that he couldn't quite place, chasing the thought away for a moment; he decided to think on it again after he had talked to her a bit.

"So how've you been?" he asked, leaning back into his seat as he absently drummed his fingers on the arm rest, the ghost of a smile playing across his lips. They had never gotten back together after that night at Tori's house, and even though he had eventually persuaded her to be his friend again (after weeks and weeks of being ignored and having his favorite shirt cut up in front of him, oh god) things never really felt the same. Even when they had graduated, the last memory he had of her was catching her eye in the crowd and the brief nod she had given him before she was hauled away by Cat to be congratulated by her parents.

"I wrote a short movie that got nominated this year. Big whoop." Despite the nonchalance and sarcasm that dripped in her tone, Beck could see the immense pride welling in her eyes; this was what she had always wanted and he felt immensely happy for her.

"You wrote an Academy Award nominated short movie?" He couldn't help the surprise in his voice and immediately he regretted it. Almost instantly he felt his entire body tense out of habit, waiting for her to explode, to say something along the lines of 'why you didn't think I was talented enough to be in your league?' Instead, she surprised him.

"Yeah, I directed and starred in it too," she added, taking another sip of her coffee.

At that moment, Beck realized what felt so different about her, even though it was the same Jade, same black clothes, tightly laced combat boots, and immensely applied eye make-up, the vicious fire in her eyes that he had gotten so used to in high school seemed diminished. She was much calmer now. Happier. "That's really - -"

"Excuse me, but could I take a few minutes of your time to talk about this petition?"

Beck was cut off suddenly by a rather quirky sixteen year old girl with a side pony tail, a hideously bright yellow shirt, and a clip board hugged tightly to her chest. She didn't seem to be looking at them since her eyes were focused on a small index card she was reading out of.

"Uhm, we're not really interested- -"

"Good morning," the girl began her voice rather monotonous and loud, "I'm from Beverly Hills High and just recently we have been assigned to do a project that would care for nature. For my project I decided to create a petition on duck awareness."

Beck had to subtly cover his mouth with his hand to prevent the grin that was threatening to spread across his face. Other than the fact that the project sounded silly and clearly this girl needed to put a little more effort on her homework, the look that suddenly appeared on Jade's face was priceless. Out of all the things he remembered about Jade, it was that she really, really hated ducks and the color yellow for that matter. So sure enough, when he chanced a glance at her, he could see that her lips were pursed impatiently and she was glaring steel daggers at the unnoticing student. Clearly her fire wasn't that diminished.

"Although not an endangered species, ducks are still being hunted to this very day and I believe it is important to spread awareness of their condition before they too- -" Looking up from her index card momentarily, the girl was about to drone on when her eyes suddenly caught sight of Beck and she instantly realized who she was talking to. "Oh my god! You're Beck Oliver! You're actually Beck Oliver! I'm a really big fan and I love your work and oh my god I can't believe I'm actually talking to you! Hannah and Kathy won't believe that I actually- -"

"Hey! Little girl!" Jade cut in suddenly, enunciating every syllable like cut glass, which was just as sharp as her tone. "I don't care about your stupid duck petition, and I'm pretty sure Beck Oliver doesn't appreciate you fan girling all over him while he's taking his morning coffee!"

Wincing at Jade's sudden ferocity, Beck made a mental note to do bring up the possibility of him doing charity work at Beverly Hills High to Marv later that night. Judging by the sudden look of fear on the poor girl's face, this was something he definitely had to make up for eventually.

"So take your horrible yellow shirt," Jade's tone had turned condescending, as if she were speaking to someone with difficulty understanding, "rethink that assignment of yours, and walk out of this café before I kick you out with my foot."

With a final whimper, the poor student rushed out of the café, her sobs fading as the shop's double glass doors shut behind her. Once the girl had run off, Beck turned to look back at Jade, both eyebrows raised disapprovingly. When she turned to look back at him she widened her eyes slightly, a smug smile still etched on her lips. "What?"

Despite his obvious disappointment, Beck couldn't help his amusement at the entire situation, it all felt so natural now. "Was that really necessary Jade? Really?"

"She was trying to get us to sign a duck petition Beck!" Typical Jade, despite the fact that she just came from terrorizing a poor little girl she still found a way to blame the victim. "Plus did you see the way she was just fan girling all over you? It was pathetic! If anything, I did you a favor, you should be thanking me."

It took a lot of conscious effort not to chuckle at his ex-girlfriend's entire argument, albeit the new calm she had gained since they had last seen each other he was glad that he could still see pieces of the same old Jade that hated ducks, the color yellow and bras that hooked in the front. He couldn't let her get away with it though. "She was a fan Jade," he chided calmly, "they all act like that. You can't just go around making them cry! She could tweet about it or something and then the whole internet community could be taking it out on me!"

"Oh please," she scoffed, waving her hand as if swatting away a fly, "I'm sure all twelve of her followers couldn't care less about who she ran into today!"

"Jade."

"That's right, I forgot" she replied, smirking at him as she placed her mug back down on the table. Clearing her throat she deepened her voice and straightened her spine in an attempt to mock and impersonate him "I'm Beck and I'm a big-shot Hollywood actor now! Oh no, a little girl might hate me, what do I do?"

He rolled his eyes at that, despite the smile that easily found its way to his lips. She had always been able to make him smile, even when she wasn't making a conscious effort. It was one of the things, he remembered, that he loved best about her. Even though other people found her brash, mean and scary, he had always been the one who was amused by her; everyday she managed to surprise him. Her dark sense of humor and black wit had been the only thing that truly jived well with his cool indifference.

They went on like that, arguing and bantering back and forth, just like they used to, and in truth, it surprised him how familiar everything felt with her. They talked for what felt like hours, about her accomplishments and his, how none of their group really bothered with college after high school because they were so eager to get a taste of the fame they had been promised when they first walked through the big double doors of Hollywood Arts; and it all worked out well for all of them didn't it?

André had gone on to win multiple Grammy's in the last few years, with most of his records going double platinum (she had used one of his songs in her movie). Cat became a huge Broadway star and many critics were calling her the 'Broadway Princess' (they had both received tickets to her next big show, matinee of course). Even Robbie had been successful, winning an Academy Award in the last year for the cinema effects he had done on his last two projects (he was supposed to work with him in his last movie but Beck had backed out in the final minute, the script didn't feel right).

They both leaned back on their seats in a mutual silence as their conversation seemed to wind down for the moment. Opposite him, he heard Jade give out a rather pleased sigh as she cast her gaze out the window and began tracing the mouth of her coffee mug. Beck realized absently that he missed this, the comfortable silences that he only ever experienced with her.

"Any truth to that?"

Her sudden question confused him for a moment, until he looked up and followed her gaze outside. She was staring at the tabloid stand.

Ah.

"No," he admitted, staring at the tabloid stand himself, "I was honestly just there to congratulate her. I actually haven't dated in a while." The statement felt so rehearsed to him, probably because it was the same thing he said over and over to countless of talk show hosts and TV interviewers. Jade probably felt the same seeing as how she rolled her eyes then raised a perfectly arched brow at him.

"Is that what you tell all your interviewers Beck?" she deadpanned, the hints of a smirk playing across her lips.

He ran a hand through his hair sheepishly, shrugging his shoulders as he too stared out the window. "Are you interviewing me Jade?" He challenged, turning back to face her, a teasing look on his face.

She chuckled sarcastically at that, no doubt like him, remembering the last time she had interviewed him; which had, ah, ended quite nicely for both of them. Leaning forward slightly, she placed both elbows on her chair's arm rests and laced her fingers together, a mischievous smile growing on her face. "So no girlfriend?"

"Nope."

"Project?

"Just finished."

"RV?"

"Penthouse."

"Nice."

"Thanks."

Averting his attention from her momentarily, Beck took a brief glance at his watch. It didn't surprise him much to note that he had already spent practically two hours at the coffee shop with Jade. The morning rush had come and gone and already the café was beginning to empty out as people left for work or the lunch rush.

"How come you never opened the door?"

He felt his heart lurch for a moment; after all those months in high school that he had spent waiting for her to ask him this even when they became friends again she had avoided this issue like the plague. After all those sleepless nights that he continually second-guessed his answer, wondering if he should just apologize and try to win her back, finally here was his chance to explain himself. All of a sudden his throat felt particularly dry and he could feel the tips of his fingers tingling. Turning to look at her, he could see that her face was expressionless. She had her arms and legs crossed in front of her and her jaw was tensed just enough so that her bottom lip jutted out ever so slightly. A solid barrier he remembered so well.

"Because," he said at length, hunching forward until his elbows were propped against his knees and his hands were folded together, "I stopped being enough."

He could see her brow furrow with confusion and irritation as she drew her head back slightly, no doubt his answer seemed kind of stupid, and finally hearing himself say it out loud, he couldn't blame her if she thought that.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean Beck?"

"You remember how it was Jade," he tried his best to make his voice sound calm, "I mean, before, you would get angry and all we had to do was talk it out and you'd be fine but when Tori started getting all the lead roles I could see you letting your insecurities get the better of you." It didn't escape his notice how her shoulders stiffened when he mentioned her insecurities, a part of her that she'd only ever let him see.

"Whenever I tried to cheer you up, you would never let me and I couldn't blame you since I got a lot of the male leads, so I knew I'd be the last person who could make you feel better. Eventually I just realized that I stopped being enough you know? You wanted more and you had so much ambition and, god I really love that about you! But Tori got all the opportunity and you just kept getting angry so it just slowly got worse and I just needed to breathe you know? But more importantly, I knew you needed space too. You needed to find more of yourself and overcome a lot of your issues and you couldn't do that with me there holding you back.

"I kept trying to talk to you about it but you never wanted to talk ever, so I had to come up with my own thing or else we would have killed each other by the end of the week. The day before Sinjin's game show," he continued, "I knew I had to let you go so that you could go get everything you wanted without the boyfriend keeping you back so," Beck took a deep breath then, for he was about to admit his biggest regret, "I acted like a jerk! All day I pretended to be mean and fed up and basically just kept trying to make you see how dysfunctional we were because we were pretty messed up back then. At Tori's house, when you started counting I almost opened the door because I didn't want you to think that I didn't care or that I gave up on us but I knew that if I did, it would just get a lot harder to try and let you go the second time. So I didn't.

"Actually," at that moment he was talking to himself more than he was talking to her and Beck felt a chuckle escape his lips as the relief of finally explaining everything washed over him. "I kept wishing you'd find yourself quickly so that I could finally come back to you, but you never did so I just kept waiting."

He had been watching her face throughout the entirety of his explanation, observing as each emotion flashed through her crystal blue eyes; confusion, comprehension, hurt, even anger especially when he basically admitted to acting like an ass just so that they would break up. When he had finished, however, her expression became guarded and thoughtful, almost like she was mulling over everything he had said. Clenching and unclenching his fists absentmindedly, Beck couldn't help the uneasy feeling growing in his stomach, once more he found himself tensing up and anticipating an explosion from the brunette in front of him.

Jade was absently rubbing at her left palm and her wrist, despite the noticeable pout of her lips her eyes seemed lighter; once again the fire was diminished. Shaking her head slightly, when she turned to look back at him, there was the ghost of a genuine smile flitting across her lips. "You know, I forgot to mention that I might be in this big blockbuster at the end of the month. Yeah, my movie might just kick your movie's ass at award season."

For the second time that day, Beck found himself stunned. True, when they had still been dating, Jade usually acted a lot calmer when the two of them were alone, but this was entirely different. Before, he could predict every single one of her reactions to a tee, from when she would suddenly explode to when she'd give out a particularly cringe-worthy comment, now she was just surprising him all over again. Just like when they had first met.

Chuckling quietly, he raked his hair back as he congratulated her again, even going so far as participating in the 'my-move-is-better-than-yours' argument. She won that dispute.

Several minutes and five topic changes later, Jade was disrupted from her anecdote of how she got out of getting a traffic ticket by using her favorite pair of scissors and the shovel she always kept in the back seat by her phone suddenly vibrating on the table. Turning away from Beck for a moment, she tapped her PearPhone's screen absently and held it up to her ear. "What?" As the caller on the other line said something, Beck noticed her rolling her eyes, "Ugh, quit your whining Joe, you sound like an idiot!" Pausing for a moment to glance at her wristwatch, she gave out an impatient sigh, "Yeah alright you pansy, I'm coming."

"Agent?" Beck asked, an understanding grin spreading on his face.

"Yeah and he's a real pain in the ass." Chucking her phone back into her bag, Jade stood up from her chair and dusted herself off slightly, smoothening out the creases in her long, black cardigan. As she slung her bag over her shoulder, she looked down at Beck and tilted her head slightly in the direction of the double doors. A silent invitation to walk her outside. Flashing a smile, Beck stood up himself, shoving his phone and wallet back into his jeans' pocket before following her out the front door. As they walked out the café doors, Jade silenced the greeter with a hard stare before the poor boy could manage out his 'have a nice day'. Beck laughed to himself.

Once they were outside, the hot L.A. sun shone on them like a spotlight, highlighting the purple streaks in her hair and the paleness of her skin. Shuffling his feet awkwardly, Beck couldn't deny the reluctance that was rooting him to the spot. He didn't want to leave just yet.

"Well," she started, jerking her thumb behind her, "I'm this way."

Sighing briefly, Beck nodded in acknowledgement, "I'm that way." He replied, tilting his head in the opposite direction. "It was good seeing you again Jade."

She nodded at that, rolling her eyes at the sentiment in his voice despite the obvious smile on her face. "You too Beck."

Pivoting on the spot, Beck walked off, feeling her eyes bore into the back of his neck as he did so.

Ten steps.

"Hey Beck!"

He turned around to find her still standing on the same spot, her left arm resting on her hip and a mischievous grin on her face. "You're still waiting for me." She calls out, her voice ringing out through the distance between them.

He loves how it's a statement, not a question. He shrugs his shoulders casually before he jams both his hands into his jeans' pockets.

"Who said I stopped?"

A/N: This was REALLY hard to write since it's so hard to create dialogue that stays true to their characters so that Beck doesn't sound like a sap and Jade doesn't sound too soft. I tried to make it as in-character as possible but then again...I may have slipped up in some places. SORRY D:

In case any of you are still confused as to why Jade seems much...nicer in this story it's because I kind of envisioned her character to mellow out that way once she got out of Hollywood Arts and finally began receiving the big breaks she deserved. I figured, once she started getting the success that she wanted, she'd be somewhat happier and calmer and not so insecure anymore. Besides, it's not like she's suddenly all nice and spewing butterflies out of her pores or anything, I'm sure her character would still hate a lot of stuff and as you just read, she still torments a lot of people. (poor duck petitioner girl)

I'd love to hear ALL your comments though! :D