Not Afraid to Die

"Hi, guys," Lolita chimed, falling to the floor in front of the coffee table.

The amount of pancakes decorating the surface shocked her. Dante had to have known people were coming over early. He never made this many pancakes.

"Holy shit," Annabelle mumbled, "Lolita, is that you?"

"That what it says on my Medical Alert bracelets," Lolita answered, stacking pancakes onto her plate and dousing them in syrup.

"You look good."

"Except for the fact that my hair is about to eat the next thing that touches it."

"I meant you look healthy. Last time I saw you, you were skinner than Neon in the worst part of her anorexia. Seeing you with weight on you is nice. Even your skin looks healthier."

"I was never that bad."

"You kind of were."

"She's right," Joseph nodded, "You were a scrawny kid."

"It was only two years ago," Lolita said.

"Annabelle," Claudia whispered, "Who is that?"

A laugh rang from Joseph's mouth. "Claudia doesn't even recognize you."

"She was seven when she met me," Lolita retaliated.

No one seemed to listen

"Its Lolita," Annabelle said, "She's Dante's sister."

Claudia studied Lolita for a moment, her blue eyes boring into Lolita's moss green ones. Lolita fought the urge to fidget under the young girl's gaze. Honestly, Claudia freaked her out sometimes. She didn't know what it was, but Claudia was strange.

There wasn't anything wrong with that. Lolita had her moments where she was sure she came off extremely odd to people around her.

But it was different with Claudia.

Lolita had decided long ago that Claudia could pull of being the Claudia in the movie Interview With the Vampire.

A flash of recognition sprang to Claudia's eyes. Her face broke out in a warm smile. Lolita took note that there were no fangs poking out from her mouth.

"You look pretty," Claudia stated.

"Thank you," Lolita said.

"Hey," Dante's voice called over the conversation, causing everyone's attention to turn to him. He pointed to Joseph, "You're boyfriend's not showing up, right?"

Joseph took a bite of his plate of pancakes, shaking his head, "He's taking Rainbow to the vet to get some shots."

"Maybe he should get some shots," Dante grumbled, leaving the living room.

"Why don't Dante and Dorian get along?" Lolita asked.

"They do get along," Joseph said, "They just fight a lot."

"Why?"

"That's how their friendship works."

"Have you ever seen them not fighting?"

"Once or twice."

"Then how do you know if they're friends or not?'

Joseph placed his plate on the table. "Dante and Dorian have more in common than you realize. They both like men, to some extent, and because of that, they've been victimized. When they met, Dorian was being picked on for being gay. Dante and Neon had stood up for him. Dante's been picked on before for being attracted to the same sex. He knows what Dorian goes through, and vice versa. They may act like they don't like each other, but they would do anything to keep each other safe."

"But Dante likes women, too."

"The fact that he likes men at all is enough for a straight man to be intimidated and want to attack your brother. Some straight men are assholes when it comes to gay and bisexual men," Joseph said, "Plus, I don't see Dante being with a woman for the rest of his life."

"So you think Dante and Dorian are close because they've been through similar things and can relate to each other."

"I know it."

"How are you so sure?"

Joseph held up a finger. "Dante," he called.

"What?" Dante yelled from the kitchen.

"Dorian got in a car accident. He's in the hospital."

Glasses clattered in the sink. Footsteps rushed to the living room. Dante appeared in the entrance to the living room, eyes wide. The corners of Lolita's mouth curved upward. She knew the expression on her brother's face. That was the same look she got when she almost died with pneumonia.

It had been an exhilarating experience.

"Is he okay? What happened? How badly is Dorian hurt? Tell me he's not dead," Dante halted, noticing smiles on the faces of the inhabitants in the room, "Why are you all smiling?"

"Dorian didn't really get in a car accident," Joseph stated.

Dante's expression morphed into a snarl, "You're on my list, Alan."

"If I set you up with that cute guy from 3A, how will that affect my position on your list?"

"How do you know about the cute guy in 3A?"

"I didn't. But now I do."

"You suck, Joseph."

"I could make a very Dorian-like comment to that, but there's a child in the room."

"Thank God for small miracles," Dante said, "I'm going back to cleaning the kitchen. Don't call me unless Lolita is dying."

Dante turned on his heels and left the room again. Lolita burst into a fit of giggles. Her brother did care about the eccentric bassist. It was nice to see him care about someone other than her or their father like that. Around his band mates, he never seemed to care as much. Sure, he would say things to make them feel better or tell them how to take care of themselves, but he never looked like he cared for their health the same way he cared for Lolita's.

Lolita swore he was about to pass out when Joseph said Dorian was in the hospital.

Joseph sighed, "No wonder Dorian messes with Dante so much. It's kind of fun."

"Jazz does it sometimes, doesn't she?"

"She teams up with Dorian. Often actually. They're an odd pair."

"She seems really different. What happened?"

Joseph fidgeted in his seat, "Some things about Jazz's past life came out that we weren't aware of. She's changed a great deal since then."

"Is this something I'd have to ask Jazz about?"

"Or look at YouTube videos," Annabelle interjected.

"It was all over the tabloids for awhile," Joseph agreed.

"Well, I like the change," Lolita stated, "And I like actually being able to hear your drummer when she talks."

"Yeah, Arpeggio's become more vocal. We thank her fiancé."

"Wait, she's engaged? She's only a year older than me. That's insane."

Joseph shrugged, "When you know, you know. Nothing is going to stop her from getting married to Jack. Except not having a Skittles cake, which I don't understand why she wants when she can't eat it."

"She'll sneak a slice," Annabelle said.

"And screw over her blood sugar."

"I don't think she cares."

"She never seems to."

"She's changed," Lolita mumbled, "Everyone's changed. Dante's right, I missed a lot."

"You've been sick," Joseph said, "You have every right to be out of the loop right now."

"I guess. So, is it just us today?" Lolita asked.

"Kara would be here if she and Rian didn't break up," Annabelle answered.

Lolita's heart fluttered at the sound of his name. Despite the sudden palpitation, her façade remained calm. She wasn't going to let this affect her.

But this was strange. First the breath-stopping smile, now a fluttering heart caused by his name. Why was her body reacting like this?

Did she like him?

That couldn't be it.

Could it?

"Poor guy," Joseph said.

"I still can't believe it happened. I thought they would be together forever. They were so perfect together. Its going to be weird not seeming them around each other," Annabelle said.

A flash of jealousy ran through Lolita. She stifled the surge of emotion just as quickly as it occurred. She wasn't going to allow herself to be jealous of the relationship Rian shared with his ex-girlfriend. That was absurd.

"I just hope he's okay," Joseph said.

"He should be fine. He's strong enough to handle this," Annabelle said, "Lets start planning this Christmas special."

"Sounds good to me."