A/N: So StarUchiha is the only other writer of Juke on the entire internet basically, and she did this song meme thing (for Juke, too, incidentally). It seemed like fun and Nanowrimo is sucking all my fanfiction-related plot bunnies away, so it seemed a good way to force my muse.
Enjoy!
Paper Planes –M.I.A.
Julie doesn't generally get drunk or high, but with her head sticking out of the window of Mike's car as he goes way too fast, she thinks that this might just be what it feels like. She sticks her hands out and lets out a whoop, grinning widely, back arched. She is free, she's a butterfly, she's feeling awesome. She feels a hand on her waist pulling her inside, sees his smirk as he starts going faster the minute she's in. She misses the feeling and it prompts a pout to decorate her lips. She misses it. The high that comes with being free and restless and the wind in her face.
Then he stops, pulls over, and his hands are tracing her body in a way that gets her high in a completely different way.
Pumped Up Kicks – Foster the People
Sometimes Mike thinks he just might be psychotic. The way he craves freedom, wildness, makes him wonder if he's not maybe just a little insane, a little violent, has a little too much pent-up aggression. If maybe, just maybe, a part of him doesn't enjoy fighting too much.
If maybe one day he'll just snap and really hurt someone.
But then Julie smiles at him, and he's okay, because no matter how crazy he might be, she won't let him snap. He knows that much for sure.
Pitter Patter – Erin McCarley
Rain drums softly against the roof of her car – no, it doesn't because it doesn't rain down here. It's just her imagination.
She wishes it would rain. Rain reminds her of mom. Of happiness. Of good things. Of a time before Dad was a murderer and a tyrant. Of a time when he tucked her into bed.
She pulls her knees to her chest, biting her lip to keep from crying and crying anyway. She doesn't even care when the passenger door opens and he slides in, pulling her across the car without a word to sit on his lap, holding her close and shushing her broken sobs gently. He doesn't know that her mom is dead or that her father is psychotic, and he doesn't care. He just wants her to feel safe.
Pitter patter, goes her tears.
Neptune – Ronald Jenkees
Watching Mike fall to sleep is better than the sunset. It is gentle and gradual, the tiredness that takes his eyes, the drowsiness that turns his excited grin into an affectionate smile, the way his hands around her waist loosen and pull her closer.
Waking up to Mike's smiling face is better than the sunrise. It is sudden but it is there, always, the smile, still a little tired, the barest hint of a blush, the muttered, "Morning, Jules." It is all so perfect.
He is her sun, her light, her warmth.
Porcelain – Helen Jane Long
Everything is breakable, everything cracks eventually. The best lives end and fall apart, the best plans fail, the best people let you down.
Like she has.
Julie sobs into one hand. She's driving too fast, even for them, but she doesn't care. She told them.
They yelled and screamed. They hated her. They still hate her. She hates herself.
Mike had been the angriest. Liar, he'd called her. She'd lied to them, she hadn't trusted them, and that was the worst. She's ruined everything.
She drives faster, a sob ripping from her throat.
The communicator pops open with a ping. It's Mike. "Jules? Jules, come back! It's okay! I'm sorry we yelled at you I'm sorry we hurt your feelings I'm sorry you didn't feel safe telling us, I'm sorry!" His voice is intense and sharp and panicked, and she realizes he thinks she's going to kill herself.
She can't decide if he's right or not.
She closes the communicator.
Ghosts of Reach – Halo
He sees her in places he shouldn't, which, hell, is everywhere.
He hears her, gentle words sometimes, angry and loud sometimes, but he hears her, which Dutch tells him is bad.
Chuck doesn't tell him anything, but he always looks scared when he talks about it.
"They don't want me to see you anymore," he says, laughing softly, one night as they lay together in his bed.
"They're right, you know," she says softly. "Although I'm glad you haven't forgotten me."
"How could I forget the girl who turned my world upside down?" he asks, and she giggles.
"Thanks. I wish I could set it right-ways up. But you've got to do that."
"…I'm not sure I want to."
He turns to look at her, and she's gone, like dead people are supposed to be.
Even Fairy Tale Characters Would Be Jealous – PlayRadioPlay!
They are a silly teenage love story, all disapproving fathers and sneaking out at midnight and pebbles knocking against the glass of her bedroom window and her climbing out on a bedsheet.
They are a stupid teen love story that can't last because she's a traitor and he's honest and trusting and naïve.
They are an ending teen love story.
And then, one day, they cease to be any kind of teenage anything. And older and wiser, he finds that he can forgive and she finds that she can forget, and they turn into a silly, perfect, happily-ever-after-fairy tale.
Sweet Talk – Kito and Reija Lee
Julie's all sorts of crazy beautiful and it pisses him off sometimes, because she doesn't have any right to be swaying to the music like that in that stupid little black dress with her gorgeous hair shining red as she shakes her head (and other body parts) with laughter.
So he stands from the bar, approaches the giggling, dancing girl, and politely offers to dance with her. She reads the silly anger in his eyes and, laughing, says, "You're gonna have to catch me first~!" and she takes off across the dance floor, prompting an impromptu game of tag between masses of body.
When he finally catches her hand, pulls her to him and kisses her hard on the lips, he swears he can feel her smile.
Born to Die – Lana Del Ray
They live fast, they live free, and that's the best way to live. The only way to live. But if Deluxe does have one thing going for it, it's that living slow and restricted, it's much safer.
And holding Mike's bleeding in her arms as she sobs into his chest and screams for help, her mind traitorously offers that this is why Deluxe is better.
He brings a shaking hand up to brush her bangs from her eyes, smiling weakly. He simply says, "You made it…worth it."
His hand drops.
She faces the sky that isn't there and screams.
Na Na Na – My Chemical Romance
They're crazy. They're Burners. They rule the whole frigging world, and they're gonna take down the one man trying to stop them from living. They're gonna change the goddamn world. They're gonna give their world sunlight again.
So as they drive way too fast, dodging lasers and laughing (except for Chuck, who's obviously screaming) he shouts at her avatar on his dash, "This is the only way to live, right, Jules?"
As another blast sends her car flying and then rolling on the ground, coming to settle on it's wheels. She keeps going with nothing more than a bruise and a headache, and she has to laugh and answer, "Yeah, Mike, it is."