Wanna Live It Up Just Because

"What is so important that you need to talk to me now, Gaskarth?" Neon questioned.

Arpeggio caught the hint of hostility in her sister's voice. It wasn't because of Jack; Neon would surely get over the situation within minutes. It was just because Alex was talking to her.

"Come sit on the couch," Alex suggested, tugging on Neon's wrist to follow him.

Neon sighed angrily but allowed Alex to lead her to the couch. Arpeggio and Jack watched the two with interest. Jack was happy her anger wasn't directed at him anymore but he was worried for his friend. This was Alex's moment to fix things. If he ruined it, he was on his own. Jack couldn't help him.

Neon flopped onto the couch and crossed her arms. Alex sat next to her, keeping the distance between them wide.

"Do we need to leave?" Jack asked.

"And risk you giving my sister another hickey? No, you stay in here," Neon responded before Alex could.

"I'm sorry. Shit," Jack responded.

"Its fine," Neon waved him off, sighing.

She couldn't stop the couple from doing anything. It was just a good thing they didn't take it further than wherever they got the night before. Armand had given Neon plenty of hickeys in his time dating her; she should be able to understand the feeling.

It didn't help that it was her baby sister receiving the hickeys.

"Alex, what do you need?" Neon asked, her voice on edge.

"I just," Alex stopped.

He didn't know what he was going to say. He spent the whole night thinking about how to apologize to Neon and he didn't know what to say. This was ridiculous.

Alex took a deep breath.

"If you're not going to say anything, can I leave?" Neon asked.

"Wait," Alex commanded.

He dug through one of the Wal-Mart bags and extracted a box of chocolate, holding them out to Neon. He bought them for her the day before in the hopes of clearing the air between them. And then he found out why she was angry. He didn't know if chocolate would fix anything.

Arpeggio cringed when she saw his present. Neon hated chocolate.

"Here," he mumbled.

Neon stared at the box in disbelief. She hadn't eaten chocolate since the incident when she stopped eating. She may have partially recovered from her anorexic habits but she kept some. Like not eating candy.

The most ironic part to her, the man who made her stop eating was giving her the fatty substance.

"I don't like chocolate, Alex," Neon stated.

"Of fucking course," Alex mumbled, tossing the box of chocolate onto the Wal-Mart bags.

"What's that supposed to mean? I'm sorry I watch my weight and avoid eating chocolate. You know, the camera does add ten pounds," Neon responded.

Alex had told her that on picture day.

"I'm sorry, damn it," Alex exclaimed, standing from the couch, "Can't you just let it go?"

"Let what go?" Neon asked.

"This stupid grudge. I didn't mean it when I called you fat."

"Then why did you keep doing it?" Neon stood from her spot.

"I didn't know how else to talk to you."

"Oh really? So you decide to call me 'Miss Piggy' and insult me anytime you saw me eating?"

"Well we met on bad terms."

"You pushed me and called me a 'fat ass.' We didn't have to meet on bad terms. That was all you."

"You're the one who was blocking the doorway."

"So, now it's okay to call me a 'fat ass' because I blocking the doorway? A simple 'hey, could please move' is too much to ask for?"

"That's not what I meant."

"Well what did you mean?"

By now they were both yelling. Arpeggio sighed; she hated when people yelled. Jack put his arm on Arpeggio's shoulder, giving it a squeeze.

"They'll run out of fuel soon," he whispered.

"I hope so," Arpeggio whispered back.

They turned their attention back to the pair. The two were no longer yelling, or talking in general. Instead, they were glaring at each other. Alex took a deep breath and dropped his gaze to the floor. Arpeggio could see he was hurting because of this; why couldn't Neon see that? Alex looked back up at Neon, no longer glaring.

"Look," Alex started, keeping calm, "I'm sorry. You were never fat. I shouldn't have said it. I was young and stupid and I'm sorry for what I said."

Neon's glare fell. She looked like she was about to cry.

"Why didn't you stop when I started dropping weight?" she asked.

Her voice had also calmed; Arpeggio had to commend her older sister for that. She knew how hard it was for Neon to calm down sometimes, especially when matters concerned Alex. She wanted to clap for Neon because she realized how much she had changed, even if no one else in the room saw it.

"I did. You just didn't realize it. When I heard you passed out from not eating, I felt like crap. I should have said something when I noticed that you were getting too thin. I was going to apologize when you came back but you came back with a vengeance," Alex answered.

"Oh. I'm sorry for that."

"No, it's okay. You had a right to be angry. I was an asshole. But I never meant any of what I said. I always thought you knew I was joking."

"I thought you were harassing me for no reason. I stopped eating hoping you would stop. I guess I didn't realize the looks you were giving me when I dropped all the weight weren't because you thought I was fat."

"So it was basically all my fault you stopped eating."

Neon nodded. She didn't want admit it but he got under her skin. She always claimed she was strong enough to ignore other people's opinions and she normally was. Alex just had a way of getting to her.

"I feel like more of a douche than I did before," Alex chuckled to himself.

Neon shrugged. There was still one thing she needed an explanation for.

"Why did you try to get me to cheat on Armand while he was in the hospital?" Neon asked.

"I didn't try to get you to cheat on him."

"You asked me on a date while he was in the hospital. Everyone in the school knew he and I were still together. We stayed together till the end, Alex."

"Armand asked me to do it. He told me to take you out and make you feel special. He felt like he wasn't doing that for you while he was in the hospital. He knew he was going to die at some point; he just wanted you to be okay."

"Why did he ask you? He knew we didn't get along."

Alex sighed, "Just accept the fact that he asked me to do it. I can't answer your question right now."

"Okay," Neon nodded.

"So do you forgive me?"

"Not fully. But I will in time."

"That's all I'm asking for," Alex stated.

They smiled at each other. Alex outstretched his arms.

"Hug?" Alex asked.

He was testing his limits. He wanted to see just how much Neon had forgiven him.

"No, nice try though," Neon turned to Arpeggio, "Go get ready and check your blood sugar. We have to leave soon."