Wanna Live It Up Just Because

Arpeggio stared at the bedroom doorway where Alex had walked through. Did he really like Neon? This situation must have been killing him on the inside. But he kept teasing and picking at her. He couldn't like her.

Unless he was trying to get any form of attention from her.

"Cutie, don't stress on it. Things will work out for him," Jack said, pulling her attention to him.

"I guess. It's just," she paused, "Neon hasn't been happy since Armand passed away. Maybe Alex could help her."

"She's seems pretty happy lately. You're opening up to her; I think its helping her a lot. You know, you're a lot like Armand."

"How?"

"There's a mysterious element to you; just like Armand. I mean, your's is mainly because you don't talk to anyone and Armand was social as hell, but you guys have that in common. You both love the drums. Armand rocked harder than anyone I knew until I watched you during that solo. You guys are both sweet, neither of you would hurt a living creature. He had this weird obsession with unicorns and when you mentioned them earlier, it reminded me of him. That unicorn sticker I gave him is still on the front of his drum set. You two even have similar smiles. When he taught you, he put a lot of himself into you. Maybe without realizing it or maybe he was doing it intentionally because he knew he wasn't going to live on. But connecting with you is giving Neon that closure that she needed. She’ll be able to move on soon enough."

"You're smarter than you look, Bear-cat," Arpeggio stated.

She took the comparison as the greatest compliment she had ever received. She adored Armand, idolized him. Though she admitted he had flaws but she had flaws too. His flaws killed him; hers almost killed her.

"Bear-cat?" Jack asked.

"You're last name makes me think of the word Bear-cat. Though I'm pretty sure that's not an actual word. Maybe it could be a Native American tribal name," she tapped her chin in thought.

"So you're going to call me Bear-cat from now on?"

"No, it's too long. I think I'll call you bear."

"Because I'm super ferocious?"

"Yeah, that's it," Arpeggio giggled.

Jack attempted to roar, stood from his seat, and walked around the coffee table to grab hold of Arpeggio. He picked her up bridal style and brought her back to the couch, sitting down and placing her in his lap.

"You are now my mate and we will repopulate the bear population," Jack declared, pretending to nibble on her neck and claim her.

"Are you calling me fat?" Arpeggio joked.

"What?" Jack pulled away from her neck.

"Bears are fat. I don't want to be fat."

"Well, I'm pretty sure we can't interspecies breed."

"But I like leopards better. Can I be a leopard?"

"No, you can not be a leopard. They don't even put bears and leopards next to each other in the zoo."

"But, Jack," Arpeggio whined.

"No, cutie, you can't be—," Jack stopped talking.

His mind filled with images of Arpeggio as a leopard. Or, rather, clad in leopard print underwear. Were his already tight pants getting tighter?

"Never mind, you can be a leopard," Jack exclaimed.

Arpeggio tilted her head to the side, examining the grin taking over Jack's face. She didn't know why he was smiling. Maybe he liked leopards too.

Jack made a mental note that Arpeggio was not sitting over his crotch so she couldn't feel it hardening. This was good; he didn't know how much of a talk Neon had given Arpeggio but he didn't want to freak her out. He just needed to think of something else to get rid of his excitement.

"Do you want see what I bought you?" Jack asked.

"You bought me something else?"

"Yep."

"You didn't need to do that."

Arpeggio didn't need Jack wasting his money on her. He had already bought her the special order bear with drumsticks. And the drumsticks were good quality. He didn't need to buy her anything else. In fact, he didn't need to buy her anything in the first place. She liked him enough without all the presents.

"Well I wanted to," Jack replied.

Jack leaned over her to rummage through one of the Wal-Mart bags. He pulled out a rainbow unicorn blanket and handed it to Arpeggio. She examined the blanket, a smile on her face.

"This is so cute," she stated.

"It was the only unicorn thing I could find. Do you like it?" Jack asked.

"Of course I like it. It's got a unicorn on it," Arpeggio responded.

"Okay good," Jack sighed.

"But you didn't need to buy me anything."

"Get used to it," Jack responded.

Arpeggio shook her head at him. She would have verbally responded but her throat was throbbing. She spoke more today than she did on most days. Her throat was not happy with her.

But her blood sugar was normal again.

Jack noticed the pained expression on Arpeggio's face.

"Are you okay?" Jack asked.

"My throat hurts," Arpeggio responded.

Jack smirked down at her, "We don't have to talk."

Gently, he lifted her from his lap, stood, and laid her on the couch. He took the unicorn blanket from her hands and placed it on the coffee table. Arpeggio watched him, curious of his actions. Jack straddled her hips with his lanky legs, placing his hands on either side of her head. He leaned down—eyes closed—and captured her lips with his. Arpeggio caught on quickly and moved her lips with his. He tugged on her bottom lip, forcing her mouth to open. His tongue slipped into her mouth. This time, her tongue didn't need prodding to respond to him; their tongues fought for dominance. Arpeggio's tongue pushed his down, becoming victor of their battle.

Jack had the feeling the girl would something else in bed.

Arpeggio's tongue caressed Jack's, an attempt to heal his "battle wounds." Jack immediately responded. One of his hands removed itself from the cushion next to Arpeggio's head and slipped under her oversized shirt. His hand traveled up and down her side, earning a moan from Arpeggio. He pulled away from her lips, trailing kisses up her jaw to her ear. He tugged on her earlobe with his teeth, receiving another moan from Arpeggio.

Arpeggio could feel her lower stomach catching fire like it had at the picnic table and on the stage. She tilted her head to the side; Jack took the opportunity land kisses on her neck; he nipped at the skin. Arpeggio took her hand from her side and tangled it in Jack's hair, keeping him in his spot. Whatever he was doing, she liked. Jack sucked on her neck; Arpeggio whimpered and tightened her grip on Jack's hair. She craned her neck more to the side, giving Jack more freedom to explore her neck. He kept to one spot, sucking and kissing on it. The bulge in Jack's pants grew with each of Arpeggio's noises. He ground his hips into hers; Arpeggio could feel her panties dampening at the pressure.

"Jack," she moaned.

The sound of his name pulled Jack from his lust filled haze. He sat up, ending the contact he had with Arpeggio's body. Arpeggio stared up at him, eyes clouded over. She didn't look confused this time. But she did look disappointed at the loss of contact.

"We have to stop," Jack stated.

He didn't want to stop. He wanted to keep going. He just didn't want Neon to kill him.

Wordless, Arpeggio nodded. She still looked disappointed.

"Cutie, I know you don't want to and I don't want to either but Neon will castrate me if we take this further," Jack said, "And trust me, it would have gone further."

"Okay," Arpeggio whispered.

She understood. Neon was a force to be reckoned with. She would have been disappointed if Arpeggio didn't wait.

Arpeggio didn't want Neon to be disappointed in her.

"We can sleep on the couch together," Jack offered.

A smile worked its way onto Arpeggio's face.

"Okay," she said.

Jack grabbed the unicorn blanket and placed himself next to Arpeggio. Her back was against the back of the couch while Jack was facing her with his back away from the couch. He slipped the blanket over them and rested his arm on Arpeggio's waist. Arpeggio snuggled into his chest.

"Goodnight, cutie," Jack kissed the top of her head.

"Goodnight, Bear-cat," Arpeggio responded.