And if I had to pull you out of the wreckage

You know I'm never gonna let you go

"I'm not doing that."

She narrows her eyes at him and arches a questioning eyebrow at his suggestion, simply daring him to take a step closer to her with his ridiculous plan for the day.

"What do you mean, 'No'?" he questions, frowning at her complete refusal to even consider his idea. "It has to be at least 95 degrees out today; actually going in the pool sound incredibly reasonable to me."

Jade scowls at him, before deciding to completely ignore him and allowing her body to ungracefully fall onto one of the many beach chairs spread throughout her backyard and around the more-than-impressive pool. She takes a moment to straighten the large sunglasses on her face before promptly crossing her arms over her chest and returning her defiant gaze to meet his own.

"No."

"But, Jade-"

"No."

He scoffs, before rolling his eyes at her antics. With a shrug of his shoulders, he declares "suit yourself," and promptly discards his shirt before diving into the pristine water, leaving a splash in his wake. Jade groans when some of it lands on her legs, making a mental note to plot a suitable revenge. She decides it has to be later on in the day, when he's completely forgotten that she's upset and will be the most susceptible for the greatest shock.

Jade watches as he swims in the water, moving effortlessly and submerging himself under it for minutes before eventually resurfacing to take a breath. She almost (because, obviously that is so not her thing) giggles when an image of him as a merman flashes to her mind, and she bites down on her lip to stifle her laughter and stop herself from calling him Ariel. Honestly, his hair is long enough as it is for them to be confused as a pair of lesbians kissing if caught in the wrong angle. There is absolutely no need to add any more fuel to that fire.

She has enough with the rumors going around school about her and Tori, thank you very much.

Grabbing her copy of The Awakening that'd been previously patiently waiting on her arm rest, she flips to the page she left off on and comfortably settles herself on her chair before continuing her reading.

"She missed him the days when some pretext served to take him away from her, just as one misses the sun on a cloudy day without having thought much about the sun when it was shining."

The phrase strikes a chord in her heart, and Jade looks up to find him staring at her with a wide smile on his face. His hair is slick against his head, partly covering his eyes, but she swears that it does absolutely nothing to simmer the intensity of his gaze. And then he's under the water again, gone from her sight but not her mind. Jade turns back to her novel, and that, mixed with the warmth of the sun and the sound of waves he's creating in the pool, is enough to lull her to sleep.

She doesn't realize she's snoozed off, nor does she notice the pair of arms that lift her from her laying position. The only movement she emits are a few ill-fated attempts to subconsciously cradle herself in the firm grasp that currently coddles her.

Just as she finally becomes content in the hold, the support is gone and she's in the air. Her eyes snap open in the exact moment that her body hits the water, and the last thing Jade hears is the scream the rips through her throat before her vision becomes cloudy and panic fills her body. Her lungs become full with water and even though a part of her mind tells Jade that all she has to do to save herself is stand up, she can't regain enough control to do so.

She's drowning.

But then he's there again, pulling her body close to his and helping her regain her footing. Jade coughs violently as she forces her body to expel the extra water, and Beck holds onto her tightly, using his free hand to rub soothing circles on her back and smoothing down the strands of her hair. Perhaps the only thing that Jade is grateful for at the moment is the fact that she's completely soaked, and there is no way in Hell that anyone will ever be able to prove that the droplets on her face may or may not have been real tears.

Ever.

"I'm so sorry," he apologizes profusely, feeling the guilt course though him when he feels Jade clutch tightly onto him. Beck knows that there are people who would cherish a moment like this: people who would find unmatchable joy in seeing a girl as strong as Jade crumble and cry over something as simple as water that didn't pass her shoulders. The shiver that runs down his spine has nothing to do with the unexpected breeze that's beginning to form around them, and everything to do with the fact that he knows that a couple of months ago, he would have been considered one of them.

"I hate you," she rasped out, inhaling greedily at the air and wondering how in the world she had never noticed how absolutely glorious it was.

Seriously: air is good.

"I swear, it was only meant to be a joke. I didn't know you couldn't swim."

"Why the hell do you think I never go into the water, you idiot?"

"Because you didn't want it to mess up your hair?" he meekly suggest, helping her move until she's resting against the edge of the pool. She looks away from him then, focusing her attention on her PearPhone, which was currently floating around her pool, but slowly beginning its decent to the floor. She thinks of all contacts and photographs that she's losing, forever gone inside the memory of a now-useless chip. Okay, now she definitely had to plan an appropriate vengeance on him later on.

"Why in the world am I dating you?" she questions him, intensifying her scowl when the phone finally reaches the pool's floor.

"Because you love me," he answers immediately, and there's no doubt in his voice. If there is one thing Beck has ever been able to swear his life upon, it's that the girl in front of him truly loved him. Sure, their love was complicated and definitely not taken out of any fairytale, but it was real and it was theirs.

And, wasn't that all that really mattered?

She scoffs, but a small smile forms on her lips and he knows he's (mostly) forgiven. "You're way too confident in yourself when you say that. Also, remind me to ask my mother how many times she dropped me as a child, because there is obviously something wrong with me."

Deciding to ignore her comment, Beck takes another look at her to ensure that she's over her scare, and cringes when he notices that she's still holding onto him for dear life. "I'll teach you," he offers, smiling encouragingly at her but already knowing she'll put up a fight.

"Teach me what?"

"How to swim, so you're not scared anymore," he explains, knowing immediately that his word choice would either be his greatest benefit or his ultimate downfall. Nobody called Jade 'scared' and got away with it unscathed.

Not even him.

"I am not scared," she emphasizes, digging her nails into his shoulders until he's wincing. "I just don't find the point of flapping around in the water like some sort of gross fish that I hate."

"Prove it," Beck taunts her, challenging her fiery spirit and personality. "Take my hand and I'll show you."

"Fine," Jade snaps.

She takes a deep breath and nods to herself, slowly exhaling as she pushes her back off the wall and begins walking towards the deeper end. Her breath hitches in her throat when the water rises above her chest and her hand instantly searches for Beck's own. Jade sighs in relief when her fingers connect with his, and she misses the look of sympathy that crosses his face when her complexion turns a ghostly pale. Beck moves closer to her then, holding onto both her hands and reminding her of the correct way to stand and which positions she should place her arms and legs in so she can float effortlessly.

He never lets her hand go.

But he doesn't mention her fear either.

They've been in the water for maybe an hour and she's floating on her back with her eyes closed, his hands are spread out underneath her, providing a safe base for her in case she lost her balance. It's when he deems that she's relaxed enough that his questions begin.

"Why are you so afraid of swimming?" he whispers to her, and Jade wants to snap at him that it's none of his damn business, but she doesn't because she knows he's not poking fun at her anymore. He doesn't want to know so he can ridicule or hold it against her; he only wants to understand her.

"I told you already," she reminds him, keeping her eyes firmly shut. "That damn dolphin."

He doesn't buy it. "Jade, tell me the truth."

"You mean an overgrown fish throwing you into the water isn't enough?" she mocks him, but sighs in annoyance when she opens her eyes to find his disapproving gaze set on hers.

"Please," he requests.

She remains silent for a few more seconds, judging his expression and whether she was prepared enough to reveal another piece of her heavy heart to him. She doesn't know why, but she has this sinking feeling that there's not much of it left for her to give before he'll own it completely. Jade thinks that if they were to break up again, there was a deafening possibility that he'd take it with him and she'd never get it back.

"I used to love swimming," she confesses, moving her body away from his grip and straightening up before she wraps her arms around his shoulders and her legs around his waist. When his arms tighten around her, she leans her head on his shoulder and continues on with her story.

"I remember my family would always take vacations to the beach and my dad would take me out to sea so I could practice," she reminisces. "But then my parents started fighting. The last time we went together was the summer before they got a divorce."

"What happened?"

"I asked him to take me swimming, but he was too upset and said he had work to do. He told me I was old enough to go to the pool by myself, knowing there was staff there who would keep an eye on me."

"You didn't stay in the pool, did you?"

She smirks, deciding he knew her far too well. "Of course not. I wanted to go to the shore, so I did. Then I started going deeper and deeper until my feet couldn't touch the floor anymore," she pauses. "The tide took me in, and I remember calling out for my dad, but he was somewhere in our hotel room with his head buried in paperwork and a bottle of Jack Daniels by his side."

"You thought you were going to die," he declares softly, pulling lightly at the strands of her hair to remind her that he's still with her.

"I did," she admits. "I was under the water for maybe a minute when a man pulled me out. He was surfing nearby and he saw me just in time. I was eleven years old."

"So, the dolphin story…?"

"All a load of crap. I guess it just seemed more dignifying in my fourteen year-old mind to say I was attacked by a dolphin to my new boyfriend than having to explain my weird and extensive Daddy Issues and why I was scared of swimming."

"I would have understood," he offers quietly. Jade smiles, burying her head in his shoulder and softening her hold on him. "I know that now, but I didn't before."

They stay silent after.

Beck moves them towards the pool steps until he settles down on one of them, and the quiet is comfortable, but Jade doesn't want it anymore. She's had enough of quiet homes and silent stares to last her a lifetime. She wants noise; she wants reality and she wants truth.

She wants life, and all that it entails.

"Tell me a secret," she requests.

"A secret?"

"I just told you one of my deepest, darkest ones. Just, tell me something embarrassing so that I can feel less awkward and gloomy," she explains, grabbing onto one of his hands and beginning to trace patterns on his palm. "You're always so calm and collected; tell me of a time when you freaked out."

Beck stares at her with wide eyes, furrowing his brows in concentration and wondering if it was possible that his tiny, red-headed friend had actually kept their secret.

"She didn't tell you, did she?"

"Who?"

"Cat," he replies. "She never told you of the time I visited her after we broke up?"

She shakes her head, motioning for him to go on. "It was a couple of weeks before we got back together," he starts off, pulling her closer to him and throwing his arm around her shoulders. "I went to her house looking for you. Mind you, I was drunk out of my mind, but I swore that I was going to get you back. I had my guitar and everything. I think the plan was to serenade you."

He scrunches his face, deciding that he most definitely must have been out of his mind. Beck did not consider himself a good singer; at all. "Anyways, she opened the door and I demanded she let me see you. When she told me you weren't there, I broke down crying like a baby and had to stay over in her guest bedroom. Not my brightest moment."

"You missed me," she states, a full smile on her face.

"Always."

And that's enough for them.

"Come on," he pulls her up until she's standing on her own. "Let's go swim now."

She follows him, and as awkward as it is, she starts swimming besides him without letting go of his hand. She laughs when he dips under the water and comes back up, splashing her and making sure to tangle her hair in the process. "Hold your breath," he demands, and Jade does as she's told.

Then he's pulling her underwater in the deep end of the pool, and he lets go.

Again, Jade feels the first surges of panic fill her, but then something happens. She opens her eyes and can make out his blurry figure swimming besides her; ready to help her in case she can't get up. He's giving her the chance to prove herself, while showing her that she can trust him.

And so, she starts to swim.

Jade forces herself to regain control of her body and focuses on her task, pushing fear out of her mind. When her head breaks through the surface, the triumph that washes over her feels just like (or even better) than the first time she got a lead role.

"That's it, babe," he encourages her. "Just keep swimming."

She does a lap around the pool, pushing her boundaries and dipping under the water again only to resurface besides him. Wrapping her arms around him, they both laugh when her sudden weight on his back pushes him off balance and they both fall head first onto their knees. When they stand up, Jade presses a kiss to his lips and hugs him as tightly as she can. Beck doesn't need to hear her say it to know this is her way of thanking him.

"I kind of love you, ya know?" she declares.

"I know."

It's not long before they climb out of the pool and they each wrap themselves up in a pair of thick towels. Sitting side by side on a small patio bench, Jade cuddles up to him and is close to falling asleep when a quote from her novel flows through her thoughts.

"We shall be everything to each other. Nothing else shall be of any consequence."

Jade thinks that she can finally understand what the enigmatic Kate Chopin meant, and how a woman so wonderfully independent as she'd been could love a man the way she did, but love herself enough to walk away from all the chains that reined her in.

And then another thought crosses her mind, but this is one that she can share with him.

"Hey, Beck?"

"Yeah, babe?"

"You're still buying me a new phone."

-Fin-

AN: Guess who's back…?

So, this is my entry for the Final Round of Bade Prompts Challenge.

Also, this is dedicated to my babe, Suzy, who spent all day telling me to write this and giving me pointers or telling me to just stop thinking and write. Love ya, bitch.

Hope you guys liked it!

Don't forget to leave a review!