Wanna Live It Up Just Because

Arpeggio sat on Alex and Jack's bed, legs crossed in front of her, a bowl of sugar free ice-cream in her lap. Neon was fast asleep on the bed they shared. It was past midnight and the band had another long day ahead of him. Arpeggio should have been sleeping too, getting rest so she would feel better.

But she wasn't tired yet.

The television in front of her blared with some program that she was only half paying attention to. She had turned it on after the start and she had no idea what was happening. Occasionally, she would mute the television and make up her own story for the characters. Not that anyone was really there or conscious enough to hear her adlib.

Jack hadn't returned yet. Neither had Alex. Arpeggio figured they were out at a club of some sort. After all, they were grown men in a band. What else would they be doing this late? Other than playing for millions of screaming fans.

Arpeggio hummed to herself while she took a bite of the sugar free treat. Neon told her she could have it before she fell asleep. Arpeggio was not going to pass up the opportunity to have strawberry ice-cream, sugar free or not.

Arpeggio reached for the remote to mute the black and white film.

"No, Martha, I'm in love with someone else," Arpeggio attempted to deepen her voice to play the role of the man on the screen.

"But, Brett," she continued, this time putting on a fake southern accent, "I love you. I do, I do."

The screen switched to a close up of the man and Arpeggio switched her voice accordingly, "I'm sorry, Martha. I'm in love with Waldo."

The man and woman, that Arpeggio had been adlibbing for, kissed. Arpeggio scrunched up her nose.

"Swingers," she muttered, taking another bite of her ice cream.

There was a knock on the hotel room door. Arpeggio turned her attention to it, slight fear taking over her being. She placed the ice-cream on the nightstand and stood. Who ever was at the door knocked again. Arpeggio inched out of the bedroom area and to the door.

Who would be knocking this late at night?

Arpeggio peaked through the eyehole of the door, meeting the sight of another person's eyes. She didn't pull away immediately; she recognized the eye from somewhere. The corners of the eye crinkled. The person on the other side of the door was smiling.

Was that Jack?

It had to be. There was no other place that she had seen those Labrador brown eyes. Or at least no where that she could consciously remember.

Arpeggio pulled away from the door and opened it. Jack and Alex stood in the doorway, both looking completely sober and holding mass amounts of Wal-Mart bags.

"Hi, cutie," Jack exclaimed.

Arpeggio shushed him, "Neon's asleep. Where have you two been?"

"Wal-Mart; it helps me de-stress," Alex stated.

He held up the bags in his hands to prove his statement. Arpeggio nodded slowly. She had only been to Wal-Mart a few times: once with her parents for a school bake sale, once with Neon after Armand passed away, and once with Dorian and Lestat. It was safe to say that after going with the pair, she never wanted to go again.

And she was pretty sure it wasn't legal to pour the store's sugar on the ground to hold, what they called "The Grocery Olympics."

Arpeggio moved to the side to let them in. Alex walked into the room before Jack. As Jack entered, he stole a kiss from Arpeggio. She smiled after him, watching him walk through the living room area to put the bags on the coffee table next to the ones Alex was holding.

"So what did you need to de-stress from?" asked Arpeggio, shutting the door and walking to the pair.

"The photo shoot, being here, the upcoming concert. Just typical stuff," Alex answered.

"I can understand the photo shoot. RxN was pretty distraught after ours. I'm sure it was more difficult for you than it was for Neon."

"No, I don't think it was. My brother's been gone; I didn't have watch him relive it. Neon had to watch you attempt suicide again. I'm sure she felt worse than I did. I know Jack didn't even want to do our shoot after watching you."

Arpeggio didn't realize Jack was that shaken up about it. She had to be pulled from his arms by the director to do her makeup and then sit in a fake hospital bed. It was kind of sweet that he cared that much.

"Dude, cock blocking," Jack stated.

"Dude, you're not getting any while Neon's here," Alex retaliated.

"If it helps, I think that's pretty sweet," Arpeggio said.

Arpeggio was uncertain as to whether or not the statement would help. Jack smiled, putting her uncertainty to rest.

"Why are you stressed about the concert?" Arpeggio asked.

"It’s a big concert. We're lucky to have this opportunity. I know we're popular but it's still a big deal that they handpicked us to perform," Alex said.

"But you've performed before. This isn't something new for you. Relax, you'll do great."

"Is that your logic?" Alex asked, an amused smile on his face.

"No one knows who I am; I don't have to worry," Arpeggio answered.

"I'm sure more people know who you are now that you've done that interview."

"Don't remind me. I'm trying to forget that I ever did that interview."

"And why's that?"

"Because I'll get stressed and that's dangerous to my glucose level. Anyway, what's so bad about being here? It's like a vacation from life going to these things."

Alex sighed and shuffled around through the bag for a moment. He extracted a Barbie doll, whose appearance Arpeggio couldn't see because the back of the box was facing her. She vaguely recognized the box from somewhere, not because she played with Barbie's. She hated them with a passion.

"It's all because of this creature," Alex turned the box around so Arpeggio could see the doll inside.

On the top of the box it read "RxN" with their "family crest" underneath the words. Across the bottom, was Neon's name and inside was a Barbie made to look like Neon.

Arpeggio remembered where she had seen the box. RxN had to approve the design to let the Barbie company produce dolls of them. Arpeggio's were never actually released to stores; they had to be ordered from the band site or the Barbie company.

But what did Neon have to do with Alex's frustration? And why did he buy a doll?

"I don't understand," Arpeggio admitted.

"Neon fucking hates me. It's obvious in her eyes even when she tries to be civil towards me. Because of her, your entire band basically hates me too. I can't take it," Alex answered.

"Do you know what you did to her?" Arpeggio asked.

"No idea."

Arpeggio looked to the bedroom entrance. Neon wouldn't wake up till the morning, regardless of how loud they were. She was heavy sleeper, until someone changed the lighting in the room. Arpeggio bit on her lip; she wanted to tell Alex but she didn't know if she should.

She had been taking a lot of chances lately, taking one more wouldn't hurt.

"You called her fat," Arpeggio stated.

"What are you talking about?"

"In high school, you terrorized her about her weight. She stopped eating and she had to be admitted to a psychiatric hospital."

"I was just joking; she was never fat."

"She knew she wasn't fat."

"Then why did she stop eating?"

"To get you to stop. People do crazy things to avoid harassment."

Arpeggio knew that well; she was a prime example of that.

Alex was quiet. He stared at the doll in front of him.

"And you tried to get her to cheat on Armand," Arpeggio added.

Alex placed the doll on the table, "I never tried to get her to cheat on him. Armand and I were good friends. The day before he came home from New Mexico, he told me he felt terrible. When he started getting worse, he told me to watch over Neon because he was pretty sure he wasn't going to be okay. The day before he died, he told me to take Neon on date and make her feel special for him. I was only doing as asked."

"Why didn't he ask someone else? He had a lot of friends."

Armand was always telling her about the crazy things he did with his friends. There were too many different names for her to remember.

"Because he knew I liked Neon too."

Arpeggio's jaw dropped. Her eyes darted to Jack to gauge his reaction. Jack simply nodded in confirmation. Of course he would already know this; he was Alex's best friend.

"I'm going to sleep," Alex stood and walked to the bedroom, leaving Jack and Arpeggio alone.