With Or Without You

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

Author's Note: Wow, so sorry guys. Life is getting increasingly more busy for me, so I rarely have any time to do anything just for myself. I can't do art projects, but I do write when I get the time, so there a few stories that I've kept stored until now. I'll be uploading them a little at a time. So sorry! * hugs and lurve *

Also, is anyone know / is a good beta reader? Right now, I'm doing all of my proof-reading myself, so I'd greatly appreciate it if someone could go over my stories after I do. I'm still searching, but if anyone's open, please feel free to drop me a line!

Again, requests for stories are open! Check my profile to see what kinds of genres/franchises I'm familiar with, or simply ask. I'll be happy to try and write what you drop in, as long as it's reasonable.

Anyway, all that blabbing aside, about the story. I usually see, if there's any conflict in the Simonette pairing, it's usually Simon's fault. It makes sense, but I wanted to write a short story where Jeanette is the one who causes the falling out, and has to apologize and make it up to Simon. Either way, I adore Simon x Jeanette, so that's always a plus. Simonette for the win!

Anyways, enjoy!

XOXOXOXOXOXO

"Ah, now I hear it."

"Hear what?" she sighed, closing her eyes momentarily. She had been staring at the same sheet music for a whole two hours now, and all she wanted to do at this point was crumple it up and chuck it into the nearest trash bin.

"You're a little flat at this part, I'm afraid," he pointed out, walking over. He traced his finger along the part she apparently was having trouble with. Her violet eyes scanned over the notes.

"How am I flat?" Jeanette inquired. She sat back, resting her aching back on the mauve pillow on top of her bed.

"It indicates clearly that you're supposed to go up a note, and then ease back down, see?"

"And I did that!"

"I'm sorry, but you didn't," Simon said softly, but firmly.

Irritation began to become evident on the girl's usually calm, caring face. She mentally counted to ten, attempting to calm herself. Her father had often told her that counting to ten would prevent her from getting angry and upset. It hardly seemed to be working.

"Okay. Then how would you go about singing it?" she said, admittedly a bit rudely. In the back of her mind, she knew that she had no good reason to get snappy, but she couldn't help herself. "Show me."

Simon, wisely, decided to ignore her bitter tone and took a step back. Taking a deep breath, he sung a brief score from the music sheet. To her annoyance, his rendition sounded exactly the same as hers, and she wasted no time in pointing this out to him.

Simon laughed. "It's a bit slight, but it's there. I had to sing a slightly higher note for a few seconds, but a trained ear will catch it."

"Obviously," she hissed, gritting her teeth.

"Do you want to take a break, Jeanette?" the taller chipmunk asked, rubbing the back of his head. "Let's go have some lunch or something. Then, maybe later we'll-"

"No!" she protested, shaking her head. "I want to get this right! I have to."

It had all started with the Chipettes' latest concert, in Washington D.C. They were on a nation-wide tour arranged by Dave, who wanted to get the girls some well-deserved attention and build up their status to equal that of their male counterparts. The concert had gone well, with Jeanette and her sisters singing their hit original song, Diamond Dolls, which seemed to be a fan favorite the world over. That was, until a popular music critic (she had forgotten the woman's name, and at this point didn't care) said that the performance would have been better had Jeanette not brought down the band. How? The woman had said that her voice was too low compared to her sisters, and that she seemed to hit flat notes for the majority of the songs.

The feedback shouldn't have had much effect on her. Even Brittany and Eleanor had waved it off with little care, reassuring her that it was common for celebrities to be criticized even when there was little or nothing that needed fixing. But Jeanette just couldn't shake it off. The fact that the critic had alluded to the horrible possibility of her actually hurting the band's chances had hurt.

A lot.

She couldn't, no, wouldn't, sit by and knowingly ruin the Chipettes' chances at stardom. Especially now, when it seemed they were so close of living their shared dream.

Jeanette's thoughts were interrupted by Simon's hand resting on her smaller one and giving it a gentle squeeze. She looked up at him, blushing slightly when he gave her a warm smile.

"I know what that woman said bothers you a bit," he said soothingly, rubbing her hand. He always seemed to know what was bothering her, whether she talked about it or not. "But there's really no need to get so worked up over it. We've all gotten criticism, and it's good to listen to it. But always take it with a grain of salt."

"That's easy for you to say, Simon," she said bitterly, looking down at her lap. "I bet no one ever said that you were a burden to your brothers, and that you might be the reason they fail."

"Aw, come now, she didn't say all that," he chuckled, playfully rolling his blue eyes. "You're being a little dramatic."

"I am not!" she yelled, sitting up abruptly. Her tail bristled in anger and frustration, and her small hands were balling up into tight fists. "I don't want to be a burden! I don't want to ruin all of this! You don't understand what we've had to go through!"

"Jeanette..." Simon said, looking up at her in surprise. "I didn't mean it like -"

"You wouldn't, would you?" she continued, her voice rising. "You're just making light of the situation, and it's not helping! I just asked for a little help, and you're just thinking this is all just me being silly, right?"

He frowned, standing up to meet her. "That's not what I think at all!"

"Then why don't you try helping me instead of trying to change the subject? I'm not tired, I just want to get this right!"

"Look," he cut in, glaring down at her. "I offered to help out because I knew how upset you were. I had no idea you would get so tense over this."

"Maybe you're just not helping enough," Jeanette said, folding her arms.

Taken aback, all Simon could do was gape at her. Sure, he had known his girlfriend of three months to get emotional and have small bouts of depression, or insecurity. Heck, he knew he could be a bit of a downer at times himself. But they had always done their best to support and comfort one another at times like this, with a great amount of patience. But he had never seen her so spiteful. If he didn't know any better, he would have thought that his sweet, innocent little bookworm was actually trying to wound him.

He wouldn't let this escalate. He had heard so many situations where couples would resort to yelling and insults, many times ending in a passive-aggressive break-up by the end of it. There was no way he was going to let them be another statistic to that.

"You know what?" he said, holding up his hands in surrender. "Fine. Maybe I should just leave."

"That's the best idea you've come up with all day," Jeanette said coldly, turning her back to him. "Maybe now I can focus on this."

Simon's cheeks flushed red with anger. Unable to bear anymore, he hopped off of her bed and made his way towards the door, keen on returning to his bedroom and distracting himself with a good book. He hoped that reading would calm his nerves. It usually did, after all.

"Good luck, then," he offered, standing in the doorway and glancing back. Somewhere inside him, he held out a small hope that she would realize how silly this argument was, apologize, and join him for the rest of the day. "If you need me, I'll be in my room."

"I won't," she said flatly, not bothering to look at him. "I can manage just as easily without you."

He visibly winced from the bite of her comment, his ears lying flat. Without another word, he left Jeanette's bedroom, closing the door with a soft click.

Now alone, Jeanette forced herself to focus on the task at hand.

XOXOXOXOXOXO

Author's Note: I know Jeanette seemed awfully cold, but I just want to point out that I can honestly see her being easily frustrated when she becomes insecure. I don't see her doing something like this often at all, but I think if something really bothers her, she can sometimes lash out at her loved ones, even Simon.

Don't worry, this is not the end! At least two more chapters will be uploaded, and will be longer. Also, if you haven't noticed, they are CGI versions. (Love them!)

Reviews are appreciated, as always. If not, thanks for reading! More coming soon!