Playing Yesterday

Beck/Jade

based loosely on Little Numbers

Epilogue

Sunday, January 29th

Babe.

Babe, text me back.

What, have you forgotten my name now?

No, Jadelyn, I haven't.

Well, I have a name, Beckett, use it.

It seems that you've forgotten what today is! ;D

No, I very well haven't. I'm glad you remembered, though. Sort of. Ish.

Like I'd forget.

You forgot your own middle name once.

...untrue.

Very true.

Don't lie!

You'd probably forget that I was your girlfriend if I didn't remind you.

That is a blatant lie! You sit on a throne of lies, Jade.

No need to reference Elf (which is a halfway decent movie so long as you don't ruin it for me).

Anyway, I've planned some... stuff.

Stuff? Don't try to be all mysterious. It doesn't work for you.

Can't you go five minutes without insulting me? Honestly, Jade, you've got no self-control.

Not true.

Prove it. Compliment me.

You... you have nice hair. I like running my hands through it. And you're fairly sexy too, I must admit.

That was two compliments. Way to go overboard ;D

Oh, shut up.

Not shutting up. That was amazing. I'm making it my new phone background.

You wouldn't dare.

Received photo: background . Jpg

You are an idiot and I hate you. And now, you have to compliment me.

Why?

Because it is my birthday and you are my boyfriend.

Fine. You're gorgeous and intelligent and wonderful. And you have nice eyes. And hair. And... well, I'd suppose you know what else. ;)

Innuendo is not appreciated.

Aren't you going to say thank you?

Thanks, but I knew all of that already.

Jerk.

Cheeseball.

You know, it's kind of weird. Random guys tell me I'm gorgeous all the time. And I punch them in the face.

You haven't punched me in the face, though. Not that I want you to. I like my face the way it is. (And you obviously do, too.)

No. Because when you say it, I get like... butterflies. Or some chiz. BUTTERFLIES, BECK. I AM NOT A BUTTERFLY GIRL. I'm a bat girl. Not Batgirl, though.

Whoa, Jade, chill; you're rambling. I mean. Is that you getting all soft on me? Because really, Jade, that's adorable. :)

Stop with the smiley faces. This is no time for smiling. This is an emergency situation. I should probably call 911.

So that they can remove the butterflies from your stomach?

SHUT UP!

Anyway, birthday girl, I'll pick you up at 5, okay? I've got reservations at a nice restaurant, so please dress accordingly.

Are you implying that I don't usually dress accordingly?

No, I'm not implying anything. Breathe, babe. I'm just implying that I want to take you somewhere nice. Is that so wrong?

Fine. I'll be ready then. Don't forget your pants.

… you're never going to leave that alone.

Hey, it's not my fault that Robbie was more than willing to tell me the whole story.

You're never speaking to my friends again.

And your other friend – Hannah or whatever – she was more than willing to tell me all of your childhood stories. I mean, honestly, Beck, swimming in creeks is not cool, and even less so when you don't wear pants. I swear that you've got an obsession with taking off your pants.

I hate you.

Pants-a-phobe.

So much.

You're never talking to my friends. Ever again.

Now Beckett, is that any way to speak to your girlfriend on her all-important birthday?

…

You love me really.

Who says?

You.

Maybe.

–

Beck picked Jade up at their agreed time, knowing that if he didn't, he'd end up with his head displayed on the table beside his bed, which truthfully would not make a very pretty sight. She marched to the car, sweeping her long black waves behind her head. "What took you so long?"

"I'm on time." He sighed, rolling his eyes. It was hard sometimes, having a high-needs girlfriend.

"So?" Her lips were curving up into a smile, though, reminding him of why he liked (read: loved) her.

He grinned back. "You're smiling, Jade."

"Am not," she protested crossly, clambering into the seat across from him. "You're hallucinating, Beckett. You might want to go see someone about that."

Smiling good-naturedly, he started up the car and began to drive off. Jade fiddled with the dials on his radio as always. He'd learned over the past few weeks that she had one of the most eccentric tastes in music ever. She liked generally everything except pop, which, frankly, didn't surprise him at all. Truthfully, he wasn't much for pop either.

She found a song that she liked at last and began to sing along. He grinned over at her. Hearing Jade West sing was something you never really got over. Her voice was amazing, phenomenal – he could probably go on about it all day. It was sort of like seeing a caterpillar transform into a butterfly, though he wasn't sure how much Jade really had in common with a caterpillar.

"What?" she asked self-consciously, tilting her head to the side. "Stop looking at me like that."

"Once you stop singing so beautifully, maybe I will," he responded guardedly, picking up one of her hands and threading his fingers through hers. Of course, she didn't pull away. She just sat there for a moment, staring at their hands.

Then she shook her head. "Stop being such a cheeseball." But the smile on her face told him that he had definitely said something right.

Once they got to the restaurant at last, Beck held open the door for Jade, which made her stick out her tongue at him. Hoping to avoid one of her long-winded speeches on feminism and women's rights, he put an arm around her and drug her through the door.

"It's your birthday," he hissed into her ear, pressing his lips gently to the top of her ear. "Really, Jade, you could just be happy."

"I am happy," she retorted, elbowing him, but he didn't loosen his grip at all as the two of them walked to their table.

Once they were seated, both of them started digging through the menu. Beck ended up ordering a steak, whilst Jade ordered a salad and lasagna.

"Oh yeah, and it's her birthday," Beck was sure to add as the waitress walked away.

Jade stabbed her napkin. "I hate you," she hissed as the waitress grinned and nodded.

"You don't really."

"If they sing to me, I will never forgive you."

"I think it'd be adorable."

"I think you're an idiot."

They sat in silence for a moment before Jade smirked. "Where's my present?"

"Didn't get you one," Beck joked.

"Beck."

"Don't you want to wait until your cake comes out and they sing to you?"

"No." Jade shrugged. "I was actually planning on escaping before then."

"Not happening."

"Darn. Just give me my present already!"

At last, Beck produced a precariously wrapped present. "Be careful with it," he warned quietly.

She rolled her eyes, but took special care as she peeled back the wrappings anyway. Once she finally unwrapped it, her usually morbid eyes lit up. "Oh my chiz."

Beck grinned at his unusually happy girlfriend and her present, the llama and the pair of scissors. "Do you like it?"

"Of course I do!" she exclaimed, her face twisted into a smile. She grinned up at him, and then said the words that were so rare coming from her. "Thank you. You're amazing." The way she looked at him right then was all the thanks he needed – as if he was the most amazing thing in the universe and she couldn't believe he was hers. It was the way he caught himself looking at her most of the time.

"So are you," he said quietly, reaching out to tuck a piece of hair behind her ear. She looked down shyly, a sensation that he noticed only happened with him. She was never shy around anyone else.

Their food came not long after that, and they ate in contemplative silence. Jade was the first one to speak. "Beck, when we first started accidentally texting, did you ever imagine it'd end up like this?"

"Of course not." Beck laughed. "I just thought it'd be fun to pass the time."

"When did it change?" Her voice was innocent, as if she was merely curious. He couldn't resist her in anything.

"I don't know." He scrunched up his nose in thought. "I guess when... when I realized how brilliant you were. Then I saw you and it all kind of clicked into place, you know?"

"See, you are corny." She rolled her eyes again. "But yeah. I know."

He grinned again and began leaning in to kiss her, but of course the restaurant employees took that moment to show up, singing and clutching a big chocolate cake. So instead of a kiss, he got a punch to the shoulder. Close enough, he thought with a smirk.

Besides, it was even more enjoyable kissing Jade when her mouth was covered in chocolate icing.

–

Ily.

You know, if you're going to say something meaningful like that, I'd appreciate it if you didn't use an acronym, freak.

Fine. I love you.

I love you too.

–

A/N: Well, there we have it. Playing Yesterday is officially over. Don't fret too much – I'll be writing lots more Bade. In fact, there's a poll on my profile if you guys want to go vote for which one I should write next? ;)

Anyway, I'm sorry I couldn't reply to your reviews again – like I said last chapter, RL problems are being stupid and all. Thank you for your condolences, everyone, and thanks so, so much for your reviews.

To the Anon who asked – no, it's not based off PLL! It's based off of Little Numbers, which is a wonderful Glee fic. Very loosely based, though.

Again, thank you so much to all of the continuous reviewers! The response that this story got was amazing. Up until now, this story has had 297 reviews (the most I've ever gotten for a story, might I add), 13094 hits, 102 favorites, and 128 alerts. I'm so glad that all of you like it, really. Please keep up your wonderful reviewing for this last chapter! And goodbye! :D