Simon just stared at him. "So?"

"So? That's all you can say? I kissed him! This is going to ruin our chances for Contest! We're going to get a 3! It's going to be awkward, because it's just going to be me and him in a practice room with whoever is helping us and-"

"Shut up!" Simon yelled, "You're freaking out. Now stop hyperventilating and then we'll talk about what you're options are."

"I left my saxophone there! That means I'm going to have to go back!"

"JACK!" Simon roared, "SHUT UP!"

Jack quickly closed his mouth and made an effort to slow his breathing.

"Good. Now calmly tell me what happened. From the beginning," Simon said sternly.

"We were sitting there and playing and it was so awesome. I felt like I had never played good music until that very moment. And then we were done and he started talking about where we went wrong and… I kissed him. And then I kinda… left," Jack said in a rushed mutter.

By the time he was done, Simon was shaking his head and looked like he wanted to hit it off of the nearest wall.

"What?"

"You're such an idiot," Simon said, "He's probably confused right now. Or pissed. But I'm going to lean toward the first one because Ralph's a good guy. Now go back there, get your sax, and talk to him. No chickening out."

Jack was about to object, but thought better of it.

"And then, you will come back here and tell me all about it. Wait, wait, don't do that, Roger is coming over, so just write me a note or something," Simon continued, "or better yet, Facebook me."

"Simon, you know I don't have-"

"Oh yeah, I forgot you were Mr. 'Having-A-Facebook-Is-Too-Mainstream.'"

"Hey, I-"

"Why are you still here? You should be gone! Go, go, go, go!

Jack hurried out the door and ran down the street to Ralph's apartment. Huffing and puffing, he pressed Ralph's button.

"Hello?" Sam or Eric said.

"Is Ralph there?" Jack panted.

"Yeah he is-"

"No dummy, you're not 'posed to say Ralph is here! He told us not to, remember?"

"Oh yeah! No, Ralph's not here-"

"Well, you gotta let him in now; he already heard all of the stuff I said. You're supposed to take your finger off the button!"

"Oh, I did-" Sam or Eric got cut off and the door buzzed to let him in.

Jack opened the door and sprinted up the stairs, remembering successfully where Ralph's apartment was. He stopped for a second to try to control his breathing before he knocked on the door.

Samneric opened it and stood staring at him. He cleared his throat awkwardly, "Um, so can I see Ralph?"

"Just a sec," Sam or Eric said, and then they huddled together, whispering fiercely. Jack just stood to the side, staring at the corner, not even bothering to try to listen. He whipped back around when he heard a door opening or closing.

It was Ralph. He was rubbing his eyes, shuffling out of his room. He looked up to see the debating twins, the open door, and Jack with his ruby red cheeks. His eyes widened and he quickly walked back into his room and shut the door. Jack could hear the ominous sound of a lock clicking into place. Pushing past the murmuring twins, he knocked on Ralph's bedroom door.

"Ralph? Please let me in."

No reply.

"Look, I'm sorry I ran away. I was stupid and thoughtless and I didn't really want to face you. Because I'm not good at that, facing people. It's just, with the music and all, I really, really wanted to kiss you, and then I did, and I ran away because I didn't know what you were going to say. I was so sure you were going to reject me. I was terrified. I'm sorry. Even if you hate me for it, I still like you," Jack announced to uninterested door, and hopefully, to Ralph too.

Said boy didn't respond, he just left Jack standing there, feeling stupid. Making another decision, he said, "Okay, but I'm not leaving until you come out and at least acknowledge my existence."

Jack sighed and sat down, leaning on the door. Closing his eyes, he tilted his head back onto the door that suddenly wasn't there. In its place were Ralph's legs. Jack quickly stood up and said, "Ralph?"

Ralph just stared at him before taking a big breath and saying, "You are such an idiot. You are a dense, inconsiderate, idiotic idiot. You don't think first, you don't take other people's feelings into consideration, and you can't remember to play in the right key signature to save your life. But, even after all that, I like you too."

Jack's eyes widened and he grinned, "Really?"

Ralph rolled his eyes and planted a loud, wet, smacking kiss on Jack's lips. "Really. Now, are we going to get back to practicing or what?"

"Or what sounds like a good idea," Jack said mischievously, trying to subtly work his arms around Ralph's waist, only to get them slapped away.

"No, we need to practice, and besides, we aren't even official yet," Ralph rolled his eyes.

Jack sighed overdramatically and got down on one knee. With all the cheesiness he could muster, he took one of Ralph's hands into his own and put the other one over his heart. He looked lovingly up at Ralph and said, "Ralph Idon'tknowyourmiddlename Finnegan, will you do me the honor of going out with me?"

Ralph giggled girlishly, batting his eyelashes and flipping his hair, "Why yes, Jack Insertmiddlenamehere Merridew, I would simply love to!"

They laughed and went into Ralph's bedroom for an afternoon of… practicing. After all, what kind of band geeks would they be if they didn't?

Author's Note: And here it is! The plot is over right? Wrong! We still have to go to Solo and Ensemble Contest!

Thank you for Reviewing and Favoriting! (hinthint)

To Anonymous E- Thanks for the very helpful review! I do admit my characterization needs a lot of work :P

Leave any kind of reviews you want! Helpful ones! Adoring ones! Scathing ones! I love them all the same! (Except I like the adoring ones the best. Can you say ego boost?)