Behind the Eight Ball (On Hiatus until BTSV comes out)

ACT 1 - Chapter 7: Crime

The following morning, Beck ended up sleeping in, a habit they'd often fall into, but which they'd slowly been climbing out of, thanks to Johnathon, who'd usually come and wake them up at a more decent hour.
However, that morning he didn't come knock on their door, and when the green haired artist woke up and went to the living room, they'd find it completely empty.
Had Johnathon gone off on another job interview? But... usually he'd wake them up and tell them he'd be going out. This time, he hadn't even left a single note on the table or post-it on the fridge, nothing.
Did he just choose to go on a random walk?
They wondered, while making themselves some toast. They weren't too worried though; he was a grown man, he could protect himself, and Beck knew he'd eventually be back.

But then, the wait became hours long, and soon, they began to get legitimately worried. Where the hell was he? He usually was never gone for that long- did something happen? Had he gotten into trouble again perhaps?
Beck dropped the project they'd been working on after they had their breakfast and was about to go out looking for him, when suddenly, a portal opened up right above the couch, and Johnathon popped right out of it with a little yelp.

Beck yelped too, but soon went to hug the man "Dude, you had me worried!!" they shouted, holding him tightly "Oh Johnathon- where the fuck have you been?! And- wait what happened to you? You're full of bruises and- and where are your spots?!"

The man visibly blushed, not expecting such a panicked Beck to greet him "W-woah! Y-yeah I'm- I'm sorry I made you worry but- I wasn't even supposed to take that long I just ran into a uh... sudden obstacle" he tried to explain.

"An... obstacle?"

"Y-yeah, but that doesn't matter now! L-look what I got!" he said, triumphantly holding up a few hundred dollar bills "Is this enough for your studio? It is right? Please tell me that's the case, this is all I managed to save" he rambled frantically.

Beck widened their eyes in shock and took the money from Johnathon's hand, exactly 500 dollars. "Yes they're enough but- John... where did you get these?" they asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Who cares about that? They're enough! You can get your studio now!" he said, completely avoiding the question, which only served to make Beck more suspicious of what was going on.

"No, John- I care. One doesn't just come back full of bruises and 500 dollars in hand on a normal day" they said, looking at the man more sternly than they ever had before. "What happened?"

"N-nothing, I tell you!" the man replied, nervousness clear in his voice.

"Did you steal these from someone?"

"N-not from someone!" Johnathon said in a panic, immediately covering the area on his face where his mouth would've been upon realizing his slip-up, only to sigh and look down to the ground as his friend sat beside him "I-I took them from an ATM Machine! I didn't steal from anyone, I promise!"

"It still counts as theft! I-I can't use this money to buy the studio, John!" Beck said, furrowing their brows. They couldn't believe he'd ever do something like that!

"W-why not?" he meekly asked.

"Because we didn't earn this money!"

"OH I EARNED IT ALRIGHT!" Johnathon suddenly shouted, slamming his fist on the couch's armrest. "I risked my damn skin to get that money! And I did it for you! I got beaten, crushed by debris and humiliated to get you enough money to get that studio! Isn't it enough? The economy isn't gonna crash from just a couple hundred dollars missing!" he yelled in distress, looming over Beck. Somehow, his empty face looked pretty unsettling compared to his usual spotted one, and the artist backed down a little.