Lemonade Mouth

1 + 1 = fish

By Ella Lavender

This story was requested by LindsayR, please enjoy and leave me a note!

I don't own Lemonade Mouth or its characters, nor do I own the quote:

"We're all mad here. I'm mad. You're mad," which belongs to Lewis Carroll, writer of Alice in Wonderland

(^^)

They didn't belong together.

That's what everyone said.

Their personalities were too similar yet too different at the same time. They were so stubborn, so proud, so utterly, simply impossible. No one knew why they lasted or how. The conclusion was universal: Ray and Stella were mad.

How did anyone manage to fall for someone they considered enemies? It was too cliché for two of the biggest rockstars of Mesa.

Yet it was so deliciously predictable that no one ever thought about it.

It wasn't like they were Wen and Olivia.

Everyone knew they'd get together from the start. There was chemistry and interest between them, both of which was as mutual as can be. It would be completely idiotic if they hadn't at least tried at being a couple.

They were compatible for one thing:

Both teenagers were kind and friendly.

They had just enough differing personality traits to make them a perfect match:

Wen was a naturally laid back, easy-going kind of guy while Olivia tended to be rather rigid and nervous. His affinity to going with the flow was balanced out by the patience, humility and understanding she taught him.

They were a good match. Stella and Ray were not.

She snorted quietly under her breath.

She loved her friends, honestly she did, but sometimes they didn't understand. Stella wondered if they'd ever tried.

Just because people were dating didn't mean that everything had to change. There would just be some added…bonuses. The people themselves didn't have to change. For example: People expected the two teenagers to stop fighting. That wouldn't happen. People thought they'd argue less. That's not fun. People figured, hey, they're together now; does that make Stella a cheerleader or Ray a groupie? Uh...how about: neither?

For one thing, they fought because it was their way of entertaining each other in public, Stella was not too keen on PDA and Ray was determined to have a relationship that wouldn't involve so much public tonsil hockey.

Another thing was that they argued because that's how they started. They got to know each other arguing and they got to understand each other arguing. No, it didn't mean all their conversations were like that. In fact, both hardly saw it as arguing; to them it was more like: passionate discussion.

As for the Mr. Stella Yamada and the Ray's Official Cheerleader, they supported each other's endeavors in whatever field their partner committed to but that didn't mean that was all they were based on.

Yes, Stella did go to all of Ray's soccer matches and on occasion his practices and yes, Ray did go to all of Stella's performances with Lemonade Mouth and when time allowed, her band practices. But they weren't just each other's cheerleaders.

Every time Ray got mad on the field and got a red card from the ref, Stella would jump off the stands just to slap some sense into him.

Every time she performed, he'd make sure she was calm, pumped for the gig and completely out of her nervous guitar plucking stage. Despite what people thought, Stella would get so excited she'd automatically turn nervous and he prevented her from freaking her band out with her rather bipolar mood swing.

Every time she caught him being too harsh towards either his team or the juniors' team he occasionally coached, she'd charge him with the silent treatment and then he'd regret it because it was just too quiet without her.

Every time Stella had band practice, Ray would throw in some ideas of his own; suggestions more to her than the band because the band hated him after all.

Well maybe not all of them.

Olivia couldn't hate anyone. Wen was too nice a guy to try. But Charlie was wary of him, Mo outright disliked him and volunteered this apparently mutual feeling with her offhand and candid behavior towards him. Scott was trying to ease the tension but Ray only resented him more.

After all, betrayal is a hard pill to swallow and if anything, Ray doesn't do what other people want him to.

In any case, Olivia and Wen kept their opinion to themselves and this led to the band having constant fights over Stella's relationship status with the soccer player.

"He isn't a nice guy."

"He's an asshole."

"He's just going to hurt you."

Were some of the many things she was told by Mo and Charlie; Stella shoved open the door leading to the back yard of her house and all but stomped her way towards the big tree in the middle with its tire swing and outstretched branches.

Stella knew better than anyone that Ray wasn't a nice guy. She wouldn't pretend that his bullying was attractive or endearing because it wasn't. But considering she saw through his mucho act, he was at least worth the benefit of the doubt. And he at least proved them wrong in her eyes.

What jerk stands up for the new girl anyway?

She also knew that Ray had many words to describe him; the amount of adjectives would be endless and mostly made out of insults. She wasn't blind to that fact either. But the fact that he knew how to stand up for himself, fight for what he wants and claim what was his, changed those insults into actual words. Besides, they weren't too different.

Just because he used his God given talents, he was a bad guy? Didn't she use her talents to start a revolution? Didn't that make her an ass too?

How about claiming his place as a soccer player and rockstar? Stella had a reputation as a troublemaker and prankster, not to mention guitar goddess. Did that make her a bitch?

If they described Ray like that, then she had every reason to believe it applied to her too.

He was rough around the edges, but then again so was she. They just had different ways of handling it and maybe that's all what it came down to.

But that didn't matter. Neither needed anyone else's approval in any case.

She heaved a sigh.

The worst one was the last though: "He's just going to hurt you."

Everyone will hurt you; you just have to find the people worth suffering for. Stella was sure he was. But she questioned her friends, and that's what angered her.

"You know, you run pretty fast for someone who skips P.E."

Her head snapped up at the voice, her gaze meeting that of the brilliant blue that she associated him with, his presence alone, however, made her blink in confusion.

"Oh my god."

He chuckled. "I prefer to be called Ray, or the boyfriend, and I'll consent to Stella's hot hubby but I guess that works too."

She continued to stare at him, the confusion written ever so plainly on her face. Her dumbfounded expression wasn't lost on the front-man as he tucked the daisy he once held out for her, in the nest of her hair just above her ear. Her bronzed locks was like silk beneath his touch as he brushed it away from her face, still chuckling softly at the confused look that still remained in her eyes.

Her eyes were still the same; a dull, non-extraordinary shade of brown. But he could easily read the intelligence, humility and determination in their depths giving her eyes just the right amount of hues and tones to make her gaze utterly enticing.

So distracted in his observation that he didn't notice how her hands reached up for his jacket.

He only felt her weight on him when he hit the ground and was facing the cloudy storm mosaic that took up the sky. She was nestled beneath his chin, her hands tightly clutching the folds of his jacket and even the shirt he wore underneath. Ray barely heard her whispered astonishment, "You're back."

Pulling himself up to a sitting position and rearranging his girlfriend onto his lap, he kissed her forehead.

"I got bored at the after-party last night and decided to go home early."

"All the way from Phoenix?"

Ray chuckled. "What can I say, I was really bored."

Translation: I missed you way more than I'll admit.

He left two days ago to attend a tournament; their goodbyes were quick and easy, like ripping off a bandage. They still texted and called as if Ray was still in Mesa and carried on as they did. Nothing changed.

Except in school.

No one outwardly said anything about the two's relationship when both were present, but as soon as Ray was out of earshot and out of Mesa, the words flowed freely.

Stella was used to having her two band-mates trying to dissuade her from furthering a relationship with him, the entire school; however, was a different matter entirely. Whispers followed her constantly which she managed to easily ignore up until the bathroom stall she was bunking in got stuck.

Cheerleaders and 'Rayella' haters alike seemed to congregate there, their opinion about the couple spread and shared where Stella could neither block out nor defend herself. The constant hammering of insults on her relationship eventually broke her and she decided to go home as soon as she managed an escape.

That's why she was currently in her backyard, sitting on her boyfriend and not in a classroom doing her art project.

"Are we crazy for being together?"

"Crazy? I wouldn't go that far."

"I'm serious."

"Funny I thought you were Stella."

"Hardy-har-har," she commented with a roll of her eyes, shutting them quickly as Ray's lips pressed into the crown of her head. "What brought this on?"

"Everyone talks."

Translates to: I'm hearing the rumors…do I have any reason to doubt?

He hummed thoughtfully. "That depends what you hear?"

"Does it matter?"

"Duh," Ray claimed, running a hand down her back and up again as he felt her tense up. "I hear rumors that you're just using me to turn me into a better person, I hear rumors that you're just 'taking one for the team' by going out with me," he claimed and felt a grin dance across his lips as he saw the annoyed turn of her lip, something between a frown and a pout. "But I've also heard that I'm going to propose to you one day, that I actually like you and that you actually like having some undeserving asshole as your boyfriend."

Dramatically, he paused.

"If it's the second, I would have no reason to doubt. I intend to make it true. If it's the first, I wouldn't even waste the thought, that's how much of a unimportant it should be."

Stella buried her head into his chest.

"People think we're mad, like, crazy, they-belong-in-a-mental-hospital mad."

"Now why would they think that?"

"Because one minute we're insulting each other's dogs, the next we're kissing as if the world's going to end in third period," Stella pointed out, inhaling the scent off spices and wood smoke that clung to him.

"If there's something mad about having a verbal spar of actual intelligence and sense, and then having the pleasure of kissing the most amazing girl on the planet, then they're mad, you're mad and I'm mad. In fact, it's just us. So," Ray paused again to tilt her chin and meet her eyes, "would you mind being mad together? Insanity is best enjoyed in company."

So maybe they were mad, crazy beyond belief with their bipolar relationship and their understanding of one another, but that was that.

The people who judged them were mad. They weren't part of the relationship; they shouldn't even have an opinion.

He was mad because he wanted her.

She was mad because he let her.

They were mad here. He was mad. She was mad. Why not be mad together?

FINIS

So there's another one-shot done and done, that's officially four stories in two weeks, three if you exclude the rant fic.

Hope you guys enjoyed!

Also to LindsayR, your request was quite hard to work with. I never considered such a quote so I'm not sure if I did it justice. Forgive me if it didn't meet your expectations.

To the rest of you guys:

I'm having a little contest:

To those that are interested, I want you to write a one-shot (drabble, poem, songfic, etc) for a title that I'll give you. The prize is a one shot dedicated to you (not requested, dedications is probably where I write my better stories) so if you're interested send me a PM when the story is complete with the title of the one-shot.

The title of my contest is: Just between us

My only rule is that it has to be Rayella. Any other pairings is your choice.

If you need any help with the story (or any Rayella story really), I'll be glad to help I'm just a PM away!

Thanks for reading!

Ella Lavender