We Don't Want to Ever Fall at All

Alex watches with curious eyes as Jack scuttles around their rented home, zipping in and out of his bedroom and the nearest bathroom, various curses and hisses emitted while he's out of sight and doing who knows what.

At one point, he scuttles past completely naked from the bathroom, only to dash back wearing only a t-shirt.

"Uh, Jack? What exactly are you doing, bro?" Alex's curiosity gets the better of him, and he follows the hyper boy back into his room now he's finally pulled pants on.

"I have a date."

"You're supposed to be recording-."

"I'll be back by this afternoon. We're only going for coffee before Mari starts work."

"Oh, so it is with Mari! I was beginning to wonder."

"Shut up," He kicks out at Alex's shin as he pulls on yet another different shirt, "She fucking asked me as well, and I panicked and just sort of grinned at her for twenty minutes. She probably thinks I'm such a douche."

"She clearly wants in your pants."

Jack kicks out again but Alex is quick enough to dance out of the way, laughing as he leans against the doorframe.

"This is quick right? I've only known her a week."

"Well, you're only here for another two months, so you may as well stop beating around the bush and ask her to go down on you."

"Dude."

"Don't act like you haven't been having all of sorts of thoughts. I know you."

"She's just really cool."

"And nothing like the girls you normally chase."

Jack shrugs, "I don't know what it is, but I do just want to hang around with her all the time. She's witty."

"I'm witty!" Alex protests.

"You lack a certain amount of cleavage, sorry bro."

-----

"I've got to say, this isn't the type of date I usually go on."

"Oh, are you the more, high activity kind of guy? Or maybe you like to ply women with drinks at thumping clubs?" She smirks as he wrinkles his nose at both suggestions, "Anyway, who ever said this was a date? This is just a morning coffee between friends."

"You know you want to be able to hold my hand and be all mushy."

"Hell, I don't even know your last name - you can forget physical contact."

They're sat in a relatively small joint of Starbucks, tucked into a corner on one of the smaller tables, both of their chairs on the same side to make room for the next table that's jammed into the small space.

"It's Barakat." Jack puckers his lips dramatically only have a napkin pushed against them, he opening his eyes to see Mari shaking her head with a grin on her face, "Hey, now you've got to tell me yours."

"Binks."

"Like Chloe Binks? The model?"

Jack's not sure how to react to her answering groan, her head dropping to rest in her palms, but just as he's reaching out to pull her hand away from her face she sits back up straight.

"She's my sister." She raises her eyebrows like she's finally admitting it to herself, "I think I'm gonna head out now."

"Whoa, no way. That doesn't change shit." He stops her hand reaching for the bag that's hung over the back of her chair.

"I'm sure it doesn't, but before you begin to wonder - I look nothing like she does without any clothes on." Jack suspects she's waiting for him to look disappointed, but hey, Jack isn't that shallow.

"I'm done with people who are more plastic than anything else anyway."

"Sounds like personal experience."

"I recently split up with Holly Madison."

"The playboy bunny?"

"Ex playboy bunny, but yeah."

"Dude, she fucked Hugh Hefner for like a decade!"

Jack holds his tongue before he automatically protests, so used to defending the blonde, but that's not his place anymore, and he can finally admit that it was off-putting at first.

"Yeah, that was kind of weird to begin with."

"So is she the type of girl you normally go for? Because, lets be honest here, I am the complete opposite."

"Maybe that's just what I need."

"Less boobage and more brains?" Mari practically giggles and Jack is pretty sure that's the cutest sound to leave a human ever, and yeah, if less 'boobage' means he gets Mari, he could deal with
that.

-----

They hang out a lot the following week, and with each day Jack gets more and more confused on exactly where this is going.

Technically, if you look at things closely, by the next Tuesday, they've been on five dates, and by this time he's usually, wined, dined, kissed and most likely fucked whoever he's pursuing, but alas, Mari has only let him hug her once.

And Jack is a hugger, dammit.

Both times he'd tried to discuss it with Alex, he'd been laughed off, Alex just telling him to grow some balls and actually do something, because clearly letting Mari pace their relationship isn't working for him.

The thing is, is he doesn't want to ruin this.

To end up a few months down the line, back in a dingy bar, drinking away all the misery that comes when he gets unceremoniously dumped.

Jack's not talking marriage by the end of the year, but he's coming up twenty three and the longest he's ever dated someone was Holly, and that only lasted six months.

What make it especially worse is that Alex and Rian have both been in semi-serious relationships for years, and sure Alex's probably wasn't stable, but it worked most of the time.

With all that in mind, he escapes the studio for a minute, bringing up his recently called list and immediately clicks Mari's name.

"Yo, Jack."

"I'm picking you up at six." No arguments, he hopes, because he'd turn up even if she didn't agree and just sulk around outside her apartment block until she let him in.

"I'm working, idiot. What's up?"

"I've got some stuff to talk to you about. Now."

"Well, I'm free until five?" She sounds so utterly confused at his words.

"I'll be there in twenty then."

"Wait! Don't you need my address?"

"I have it saved in the GPS from when I dropped you home the other day."

"OK.. Well, I'll see you soon?" Mari sounds completely spooked at how domineering he's being, she usually being the one to organise coffee 'dates' and such trips.

"Twenty minutes."

It actually takes him over half an hour, not factoring in the time he took to persuade Alex that this wouldn't take long and he'd be back to discuss chord progressions before it got dark, and you know, Jack never does think about traffic, even in LA.

Mari buzzes him in immediately when he clicks the little silver button by her name at the main door of the building, he counting the floors to her apartment, loft, whatever, even though by the time he gets there, she's already hovering outside her door.

"What the fuck is up with you?"

Jack quickly thinks back to his earlier inner monologue and swoops down to press his lips securely against hers, smiling gently into the kiss at the soft 'hmph' noise that Mari huffs out at the sudden attack.

When he pulls away again, he watches with a careful eye as she licks her lips and nods in a distracted way, finally glancing up to meet his eyes.

"Interesting conversation there." She coughs, shifting her bare feet on the concrete floor before awkwardly tugging the sleeves of her hoody over her hands.

"You think so?"

"I think maybe we should try it again though."

She reaches up this time, standing on her toes as she cups a hand around the back of his neck and pulls him down to meet her, biting down gently on his bottom lip before locking them together with her own, humming as he fights the grin trying to spread across his face.