Wanna Live It Up Just Because

The table was quiet for a moment. Sounds of silverware hitting plates could be heard clearly. It wasn't awkward, though silence was not normal with RxN unless they were tired. With the amount of coffee the non-diabetic members of the band had consumed, that could not be the case.

Realizing the pungent smell of coffee in the air, Arpeggio looked at the mugs in front of each band member. She wanted coffee. But she knew she couldn't have it today. Damn the hypoglycemic episode she had earlier in the morning. Until her blood sugar had fully leveled out, she wouldn't be getting coffee. In fact, she would have to prick her finger again in about an hour to see how her glucose level was.

She hated days like this. On a normal day, it was simply her sister who watched her every move; on a low blood sugar day, the entire band treated her like she was made of porcelain. She wouldn't be allowed to do anything without consulting them as a whole first.

Why couldn't they just let her be?

"So," Dorian broke the silence, "I didn't quite catch when you and Jack were going to fuck."

"Dorian, I'm going to kill you," Neon threatened.

"Hey, I was going to provide protection for them. I just need to know when I need it by."

"Protection?" asked Arpeggio.

The band members stared at Arpeggio for the second time that morning. Dorian burst into a fit of laughter.

"Condoms, Arpeggio," Lestat stated.

"Um, what?"

Dorian began laughing harder, clutching his stomach and falling out of his chair. Lestat's eyebrows drew closer together in confusion, as did Dante's and Jazz's. Neon leaned back in her chair, shock evident on her face.

"She doesn't know what condoms are," Dorian exclaimed through his laughter.

Arpeggio flushed and diverted her gaze to the table cloth. Dorian calmed his hysterical laughing to small chuckles and returned himself to his chair.

"Didn't you learn about this in sex ed.?" asked Neon.

"We were on tour for the full year I was supposed to take that."

"But you had course work to do on tour right?"

"No, it was a seminar, not a class. It didn't affect my grade."

"I thought it was class."

"Health is a class. Not all Health classes cover sexual relations," Lestat stated.

"The way you say that makes sex sound like a chore," Jazz mumbled.

"Shut up."

"He's just mad 'cause he can't get it up," Dorian joked.

"Get what up?" asked Arpeggio.

Dorian laughed again. Could he help it? The girl apparently knew next to nothing about sex. At seventeen years of age, that was quite a feat. Neon most likely had an unknowing hand in this.

"I think you need to have a talk with your sister," Dante stated.

"Agreed," Lestat confirmed.

How Arpeggio managed to go so many years without knowing any of this was beyond Neon. She always assumed her sister had learned these things in sexual education. She was never aware Arpeggio never took the class.

Or seminar.

"I can give her the talk right now," Dorian exclaimed, "Arpeggio, when a man and woman love each other or get super duper drunk—."

"I know the basics," Arpeggio cut in.

"Really? Well that's a load off my plate. Let's discuss foreplay."

"Dorian, stop trying to corrupt her," Neon demanded.

"If I don't, someone else will. Face it, she can't be naïve forever."

Arpeggio was a tad hurt at the accusation. She didn't like being called naïve. Its not like she could help not knowing about sex. There was no one there to help her understand. She couldn't ask her sister or the rest of the band. The only person she would have willingly asked would have been Armand. Arpeggio didn't read romance novels, she didn't watch much television and when she did it was cartoons, she didn’t have friends at school, she didn't listen when the band talked about their sexual adventures; there was no way she could have known about it.

"She and I will talk later," Neon asserted.

"Fine," Dorian huffed, crossing his arms over his chest.

Arpeggio ignored the rest of the conversation. They were talking about the stage or something. Whatever it was, she didn't care about it. What she did care about was how Jack would respond to her lack of knowledge on relationships. Would he care? Would he think she was a freak?

Normally, Arpeggio didn't care about what other people thought of her. After the incident where she tried to kill herself, she learned to let things bounce off of her. But this crushing thing had her worried about how another human being viewed her.

She didn't like that side of it.

She didn't want to care but she couldn't help it. It was something she would have to get used to. She would have to be prepared to be more self-conscious then she had ever been in her life.

Part of her wished she could go back to when she believed she would die single, though that belief existed a mere day ago. It was an idea that she was content with. If she were to die from a drop in her blood sugar, she wouldn't leave someone she loved with all her heart behind. She wouldn't be Armand. He left Neon on this Earth alone and they were in love. Arpeggio didn't want to do that to someone.

Sure, Arpeggio had an admiration for Armand but he left. He could have been okay had he just gone to the doctor when he first realized he was sick. But he didn't. Instead, he decided to be stubborn. He could have prevented his death; he could still be alive. Arpeggio could never forgive him for not taking care of his health.

Its one of the reasons she let her sister take control of everything the way she did. She knew deep down Neon felt like Armand's death was her fault. Had Neon just pushed him harder to go to the doctor, he would have been okay. Or at least that's what Neon thought. In Neon's eyes, Arpeggio had a tiny bit of Armand in her. Neon wasn't going to let her die without putting up a fight.

And Arpeggio was okay with that. Neon was a good big sister, the best Arpeggio could ask for. Others may not have been able to understand Neon's controlling hand, but Arpeggio did. She didn't want her sister to change. She didn't care what other people thought of Neon; Arpeggio loved her big sister and that was all that mattered.

No one would change that.

"Are you guys ready to leave?" Grim asked, pulling Arpeggio's attention to him.

The group nodded collectively.

"Alright, let's head to practice," he instructed, leading the way out of the hotel.

The band followed.

Practice would not be fun for Arpeggio. Because of her little episode, the tour nurse and doctor would be onstage near her drum set while she played. She most likely wouldn't be allowed to head bang, move her hands wildly, or toss her drumsticks during breaks in the songs. The doctors never allowed her to do that after a blood sugar drop.

But, today, she didn't feel like obeying their orders.