I'm back! Woo! Just within my couple-of-days-deadline! Thanks so much for all the feedback on the last chapter, I'm surprised I still have so many readers after abandoning this for so long. I really do appreciate the support and encouragement!

A note about the previous chapter: I originally wrote it to be set a few years ago, after the group got the idea for the Ping Pong team (and my Lemonade chapters), but before Jade and Beck became "exclusive" (see some of their slap videos for mention of their non-exclusive period). Hence, also, the lack of Tori. But readinf some of the reviews I realized it could also maybe be taken as a getting back together type fic. So yeah, it could work either way, I guess :)

This chapter is inspired by the latest ep "Driving Tori Crazy" and set from "The Worst Couple" onwards, really. It's a bit different, because it's mostly/all about Beck. And also it's a little sad, to me at least. But I hope you enjoy it. And I'll try to get some more fluffy stuff up soon(ish)!

The first time it happened was about four or five days after he and Jade broke up. He couldn't be sure because those first few days were pretty much a blur, turns out life without Jade was a lot more than just not fighting. All he knew was that it was definitely after the first weekend, because that was weekend was hard to get through. He'd spent both days hanging out with Andre, Tori and Robbie, but he couldn't ever remember feeling more lonely.

But sometime the next week, he stepped out of his RV one morning only to find a leggy blonde in a very short skirt leaning against his car and texting furiously. She looked a little familiar, but he couldn't seem to place her. He looked around uncomfortably for a second before remembering there was no one there to yell at him for the blonde's presence.

"Hi?" He cocked his head, confused.

"Hi, Beck!" She smiled widely, putting her phone back into her sparkly handbag.

"Do I – Sorry, do I know you?" He asked finally, forcing a smile through the awkwardness.

"I'm Stephanie. We were in the same English class last year."

"Oh yeah, hey," he said, his recollection of her not becoming any clearer.

"I'm totally super sorry to bother you, but my car didn't start this morning and I was wondering if you could give me a ride. I mean, we go to the same school and -"

"Uh, sure. Hop in," he nodded, thinking this is all a bit weird. But hey, he's pretty sure she does go to Hollywood Arts. Maybe she's a dancer; their classes don't mix too much with the acting ones.

She slid into the passenger seat before he even had a chance to get to his door, and smiled at him the whole time he's pulling out of his driveway.

The trip to school doesn't take longer than 20 minutes on a busy day, but the first few minutes of this ride felt like forever. He really can't remember driving anyone else but Jade to school in the morning, or least not without Jade being in the car. She always took control of the radio and changed it to a station he didn't want but ultimately enjoyed. And she rolled the windows down to yell at bad drivers. And sometimes she'd be quiet for a moment, and he'd glance over at her only to catch her smiling at him. And he would smirk back because he knew this was her way of thanking him for driving her.

"So anyway, thanks for driving me, Beck!" Stephanie said again, her voice chirpy and cheerful.

"No problem," he nodded, "How do you know where I live anyway?"

"I live really close by," she said.

He nodded, realizing that it didn't actually answer his question. "Cool, what street?"

"Like Norton Avenue."

Beck glanced at her quick, his face scrunched in confusion. He knew where Norton Avenue was, he had to drive past it to get to his dentist. And it was at least 20 minutes away, by car, on a good day. If she had walked to his placed it would've taken her more than an hour. And by the looks of her heels she definitely didn't walk for an hour to get to his place.

Stephanie caught his eye and smiled at him, humming along to a song on the radio. A song Jade would have hated immediately. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Stephanie flick her long blonde hair over her shoulder. Beck focused on the road, and tried not to get distracted by whatever was going on. They rode the rest of the way to school in silence, apart from her light humming to songs he wished he didn't have to listen to. After he parked, she gave him a hug and thanked him profusely for the ride, again and left to meet a group of girls that had just pulled up in a car. A car he didn't see why she couldn't have fit in.

After that they didn't really bother with excuses. He just opened his door in the morning to find a couple, or a bunch of girls, asking for a ride. Part of him liked it. That he could choose any radio station and they wouldn't yell at him. That they asked laughed at every joke like it was on Comedy Central. That they never got angry at him because L.A. traffic decided to stall. But an even bigger part of him wanted to tell them to leave. But he didn't. He was the friendly guy, after all. He didn't want to become mean, just because he didn't feel like talking to anyone some mornings.

Or flirt. They flirted with him big time. He didn't always have the greatest sense for that kind of thing, especially when he had Jade to point out every time a girl that even looked in his direction. But he was pretty sure that that's what all the hair-flicking and giggling was all about.

To his credit, at least he liked to think, he never really flirted back. Not intentionally. He was polite, friendly, whatever. But mostly he just wanted them out of the car as soon as they got in. Sometimes they even mentioned Jade, in an "I'm so happy that you're free to be yourself, Beck, now that Jade can't control you anymore" way. He always had to bite his tongue to stop himself from defending her. And immediately afterwards wondered why it would be so bad if he defended her, anyway?

The worst time was about a week after he, Andre and Robbie managed to mess with Trina, when he drove some random girl to school. She insisted she went to Hollywood Arts, even though he was pretty sure she went to Northridge. When they got out of the car she ran around to his side to give him a tight and uncomfortably long hug. As he looked over her shoulder he noticed Jade standing by the coffee cart by the parking lot, staring at him. He clenched his fists in anticipation for her to come storming over to them, to yell at him and this girl he didn't know. But she didn't look angry, or jealous, and maybe that was what bothered him most. After watching him for a moment, she brought the giant coffee cup in her hand to her lips and took a long gulp from it, before turning around and walking toward the school's main door.

The next day he put a couple of his favourite CDs in the car so he wouldn't have to listen to the radio.