"Parker!"
Drake hadn't expected Jade to be planted on the couch, upright and facing the door when he came home from a night out with the guys. Her piercing gaze held him at the entryway as he shut the door. Arms crossed over her chest, she was the picture of seriousness. He had expected her to be gone by now. And yet, here she was, still not moved out.
"I'm about to offer you a deal. You might want to take me up on it."
"Oh, really?" Drake scoffed, matching her defiance with his own. "What's it going to take to get you out of here?"
Jade held up a finger. Interestingly enough, it wasn't the one she usually held up at him. Drake arched a brow, standing his ground.
"I can get your music back onto the charts."
That surprised him. Drake hadn't really been expecting anything in particular, but music was probably the furthest from his mind. He shook his head, reddish brown hair falling into his smoldering eyes. "No, Jade. I don't need your help."
"What would you say if I told you we could write a song together that would be so feisty, so catchy, that every record producer in LA would be itching to sign you to their label?"
He almost let himself be tempted for a moment, but still, Drake refused Jade's pressing. He missed being signed, but Jade's efforts were as likely to help as his own, and even less than that. He knew there would be a catch, one he certainly didn't want to live with. He eyed her, waiting to see how much longer she'd bark before she finally shut up.
Jade had no intention of taking no for an answer. "Get over here, Drake. We've got work to do."
"Will you just stop it? I'm not writing a song with you!"
"If you don't get over here," she said through gritted teeth, "I will personally slam your tongue in a car door- after I've cut every single guitar string in this house with scissors."
Drake slid into place next to her on the couch. He didn't doubt her for a moment.
"Better." She said, the picture of sweetness. "All right. I've had a tune stuck in my head all day." Jade reached over to grab the guitar that rested next to her. Drake cringed. His precious black Les Paul classic. The thought of it in her hands, especially after her only-moments-old threat, made him nervous. Jade rolled her eyes. "If I wanted to cut them, I would have already. Do you see scissors in my hand?" Aware she held the upper hand, Jade began to pick out an infectious little tune. The notes floated to Drake, a delicious melody in the air. Like strong coffee, it woke him up. There was a hint of bitterness, a dash of mystery, and quite a bit of magic.
"Okay, yeah." Drake nodded as Jade played it again. "Keep doing that." He nodded along with the beat, tapping out a rhythm on his leg. He began to hum, but his sounds were lost in a frown. "No, no… let me see." He took the guitar from her hands, playing the same notes she had. He kept humming, eager to make something of the music that was flowing through his veins.
The notes had an air about them that was unlike anything he had ever written before. A new flavor fused to the tune, creating something spicy, dangerous, and brand new. It settled into his soul. Drake liked it.
"Getting anything?" Jade asked, cutting through his thoughts.
"Not yet," Drake mused, strumming. "What's your catch?"
"Whatever do you mean?" Jade feigned innocence.
"What do you get out of this deal?"
"I help you write a badass new song. You don't kick me out. Easy as that."
Drake looked at her, but made no promises.
Jade figured she'd have to be satisfied with that. At least, for now.
He kept playing the same parts over and over until Jade wrenched the guitar from his hands. "I got it."
"Hey!" he protested. "I love that guitar more than I love myself!" Jade's sassy look sank Drake's shoulders. "I love it a lot, okay?"
"Can you just relax?" she breathed. Closing her eyes, she inhaled, commanding her focus to the music. The same tune drifted from the guitar. Jade turned the amp up a bit, hoping the louder the volume, the easier the ideas would come. Ten minutes passed before Drake suggested that maybe they were working too hard.
"What inspires you?" With a tilt of her head, Jade questioned Drake. "What makes the music in your head work?"
"Sometimes I just get stuff," he answered. "Sometimes music first, sometimes lyrics. Lately, I haven't written much. The last few things I wrote were for Noel, and well, we all know how that turned out."
"You know she only left you because Blake got a record deal, right?"
Drake's expression revealed that he did not.
Jade continued. "Noel loved you, sure, but she loved money more. She started dating you when you looked like you were climbing fast enough up the ladder. Then, you stagnated. Blake didn't. It was as easy as that. She hid it for a while, mainly because she didn't want to lose you. But in the end, it was the promise of money that she didn't want to lose." Her voice was quiet, without a trace of malice or a hint of satisfaction. She spoke as if she was merely reciting a piece of history. It took Drake a moment before he responded.
"Did she tell you this?" His voice hard, his eyes glittered angrily. The last pieces of his heart were breaking. He began to wonder if he had ever really known his ex at all.
"She didn't have to." It had been obvious. Jade had suspected Noel was cheating long before Drake had even come close to stumbling in on the pair. She was still smugly satisfied, but she didn't dare let it show. Not with her home hanging in the balance.
It wasn't that Jade particularly enjoyed living with Drake. Yes, easy access for torture and revenge was a definite perk, but she really just hated the process of moving. Packing, unpacking, actually bringing all of your things somewhere else, and possibly losing them- ugh. She wanted no part of that until she actually got to move in with Beck. That would be worth it. Until then, she was determined to stay put and save herself a ton of stress.
"Wow." Drake swallowed. "That blows."
"It was kind of bitchy, yeah." Jade agreed. "Wait a sec." The notes came freely as she strummed Drake's guitar. "Imagine that as kind of a trumpet, or a tuba, or a saxophone. Something like that." She repeated it after she fell silent, giving Drake time to imagine it. "I didn't know you collected souls… Gambling fire, rolling bones. I should have known you would take it all, but I never planned to be your voodoo doll." She looked up at Drake, a rare smile on her lips. "Yeah?"
"Yeah!" he said excitedly. Snapping his fingers, he suggested she speed up the beat a bit. "Make it something you could dance to if you wanted." He jumped over the back of the couch, disappearing into his room. Returning, he carried a notebook and his red Les Paul classic. "Baby why you gotta act like that- You're not the girl that I thought I had. I guess I thought I knew who you were, and it's a drag knowing you're so quick to kill. It's the only way you get your thrills… But baby I'm about to show you how it feels!"
"Yes!" Jade applauded. "Awesome! I love it!"
The night stretched on as Drake filled pages of a notebook with lyrics. His terrible handwriting was nearly illegible to anyone but him, but both Drake and Jade had the song committed to memory by the end of the night. His heart raced in his chest as fire heated his veins. He hadn't felt this good about a song in years. He knew Jade had held up her end of the bargain. Time would confirm, but this one felt like a winner.
"I'm done with all your bitchcraft! I gotta get my soul back. We've played this game so long, I'm not sure that it will come back-"
Drake cut in, adding to the chorus, "I'm not trying to make you feel bad, but baby I just can't live with all your bitchcraft!"
It was a hell of a song. His one shot to get a new record deal. It had to work. That beat found its way through his heart into his bones, and stayed with him. Surely, it would wow the scouters at his next show. He had to get it on the radio. He even caught Jade tapping her foot a few times. He had never seen her like this before. So relaxed, so unwound. So… human. The way she lit up when she thought of new lyrics or lost herself in playing guitar was almost beautiful. The way she cheered when his proposed lyrics wowed her, or smiled as the song progressed was so vastly different from the shades of Jade he had seen up until now.
"Every time you cast another spell, I lose a little more of my free will. Put me in a kettle full of broken hearts- Add a little pinch from your magic jar. Just so I forget the kind of girl you are." Drake sang on, the lyrics coming easily now. It was well past midnight. In fact, a look at the clock reminded him three am was on its way. He hardly felt it. Elated, Drake played on. They weren't loud enough to wake the neighbors, only enough to wake themselves. It was fun, refreshing fun. Drake hadn't felt this at peace in his own home since… well, since forever. Certainly since before Jade had moved in.
Her rich voice, better than Drake could have ever imagined, cast a glow in the music as she sang along. Drake gave her a smile, shocked to see she smiled back through the song. Relaxed Jade was a completely different person. As she lost herself in her element, Drake found himself more relaxed than he ever thought he could be with her.
As the night rolled on, energy began to wane. Jade found herself yawning more often than not. "Okay," she said finally, laying aside the Les Paul. "I'm done. This… didn't completely suck. We could do it again sometime."
"That would be fun." Drake agreed, his fingers still flying frantically over the neck as he finished the song. He scribbled down the last of the lyrics in his note book, still singing under his breath to make sure he had them right.
The sight made Jade snicker. "You sure you'll be able to get all that in the morning? Your handwriting looks like a dying parrot's suicide note."
"The mark of a genius." Drake muttered, finishing his notes to himself. "We could start a band. That song is freaking amazing."
"Nah. I'm a solo act." Jade grinned. "Besides, what would we call it? Scissors and Guitars? That just sounds stupid."
Drake laughed. "Seriously, thanks for all your help."
"Eh." Jade shrugged. Maybe it was the lateness of the hour, but her hardness had seemed to completely fall away. "I didn't do that much. You really wrote it all."
"No." Drake disagreed. "Okay, yeah. But you contributed. You lit that fire. Thank you."
"Anytime, Parker."
Silence hung suspended between them for a long moment. It was an easy, comfortable silence, unlike any they'd ever shared before. Jade's ice blue eyes had a rare warmth in them as they smiled at Drake, a rare happy upturned curl of her lip betraying her usual scowl. Drake couldn't help himself.
Without a moment's thought, he leaned into her, catching her mouth in a warm kiss. Her lips were soft, welcoming even. He loved the way they felt against his. Nothing like the vicious sting of the slap she delivered to him for taking such a liberty.
Her red handprint shone on his cheek as she stormed off to bed. Forsaking silence for the slam of her door, Jade's fury could be felt in the very air. Drake leaned back in the couch, suddenly wide awake and horribly embarrassed. He couldn't believe he'd been so utterly stupid.
Something warm spread in his hand. He pulled it away from his cheek. Blood dripped off his skin, onto the couch.
Damn. She'd been wearing rings.