Chapter One
It's spring - another seemingly normal dry humidity, the kind that causes Robbie's chest to tighten by afternoon, day. They're lounging around the clubhouse (they of course meaning the entire gang give or take a Trina lurking around and clubhouse of course meaning Tori's living room) and no one really thinks much of it when Tori suddenly announces: "I'm going to miss you guys." She's been saying stuff like that since the start of January and with each passing month, it's getting more frequent and more sappy. The brunette beauty is under the impression that with their senior year coming to a close and college looming on the horizon, the group is going to scatter to every point of the world and never see one and other again. Which is kind of loopy since Cat is the only one leaving the state (she's moving to New York with her brother because 'yay subways system' which seems to Robbie is just the same as saying 'yay potential mugging').
Regardless, this causes Jade to let out a thick groan from where she sits sandwiched between Andre and Cat. She then rolls her face to one side, grumbling something into Cat's dress sleeve, causing the redhead to look more than horrified as her hands shoot up to cover her mouth.
This, of course, has Tori looking a little offended. When Cat leans over and whispers into Robbie's ear, and his eyes go just as wide - Tori becomes entirely offended.
Robbie nods to confirm her reaction is accurate but he refuses to tell her just what Jade has said because he grew up in a moral, Jewish household.
"I'm serious, you guys, every day is moving us forward and high school is about to be over!"
"Oh, is that how time works? Someone get to a phone and alert the presses, Tori finally cracked the case. Turns out it goes forward and not freakin` sideways like they've been teaching us. Tell us, Vega, the earth - flat or round. " Jade intones.
"The presses, is that a 1-800 number or 1-888?" Andre asks.
Tori huffs.
Beck makes a sound in the back of his throat.
Cat lets out a breathy giggle, looking like she's on another planet.
"Maybe it's a 555 number." Robbie chimes in.
Andre shakes his head, not convinced. "They only use those on TV shows."
Robbie and Andre keep this banter up for a while longer with Robbie stating that 'everything on TV is real' and Andre questioning how he knows this to which Robbie replies 'he read so on the internet.' Everyone seems amused by this except for Tori, who drops down dejected on the carpet, upset that no one is upset about their world slowly falling apart and Jade, whom is widely known to get heartburn from any sort of positive emotion.
To be honest, Robbie gets where Tori is coming from. The gang - they were his first (and only) real taste of friendship, and he's kind of scared shitless at the prospect of having to let them go. But he's not about to go around publically lamenting like the girl on the floor for a number of reasons but mostly because anytime he shows too much emotion, people seem to get creeped out by it. And well, okay, not so much anymore since he's learned the right way and wrong way to court a girl but that stuff sticks with you. So instead of being mocked like Tori, he's going to make jokes with the others and maybe somehow Jedi mind trick her into realizing he feels the exact same way.
"Don't be sad, Tori, we'll have the whole summer to hang out!" Cat randomly decides to offer. It's a helpful undertone somewhere in the pitch of her voice.
And, of course, it's precisely the kind of lifeline Tori needs to pull herself back up.
"The summer!"
Everyone just sort of stares.
"Living together!"
Andre tosses a glance to the others, confusion furrowing his brows and shaping lines across his forehead. "Did she cut out for anyone else? Was there a middle part that somehow connects those two things?"
"No, we pretty much got what you got." Beck answers from his spot in the chair.
"We'll get a summer house!" Tori is practically foaming at the mouth with excitement, and it's actually kind of adorable if you ignore how terrifying it is. "We'll split the rent six ways and get a summer house! Guys - guys! It'll be so amazing!"
"Hey, yeah!" Cat cheers her on.
"You won't even be here, you leave the last week of school." Jade reminds, having no issues with raining on the redhead's parade.
"Oh…" Cat starts, ready to slip into one of her brief downward spirals." …yeah."
Check, parade rained on.
"We can have skype slumber parties." Tori consoles.
"No one agreed to any of this. No one is even sure what they'll be doing for summer except for Cat." Beck interjects, quick to beat Jade to it who would have used a tone way less gentle.
This is where Tori starts to jut out her bottom lip and her eyes go wide like a Disney princess. It's sort of like Cat's pout only it's way more effective because it's not used every 3.5 seconds. Robbie shifts in his seat, russet eyes scanning the faces of his friends before landing back on Tori. His decision comes sudden but it ends up taking a couple of seconds for him to find the words and let them topple past his teeth in the correct order.
"It would be great to get out of my parent's house sooner. I can't move into the dorms until August."
Tori looks over at him hopeful.
"Yeah." Andre agrees. "I'm going to be interning at this recording studio all summer and I know it's gonna have some late hours. It'd be nice not to have to deal with my grams every time I come home at two in the morning."
Now Tori looks overly grateful and she's staring at Robbie with a smile and it makes the shells of his ears hot so he just offers a timid ghost of a smile back before looking down to the carpet.
It takes some doing but Beck is on board. And they get a uninterested 'whatever' from Jade which they're all taking as a pretty good sign (though Robbie is a tad fearful of the prospect of living with the black haired girl which is why he's already making plans to go out deadbolt shopping).
Later on, when everyone is on the way out of the door, that's when Tori grabs hold of Robbie's wrist and pulls him back in the house. He thanks whatever cosmic force that actually runs the universe that he managed to contain the girly shriek that wanted so badly to escape his lips.
"Robbie."
"Uh, hey. Yo." He holds the spot she grabbed him at with his free hand because if the cold air hits it, that's all he's going to be able to focus on. "What's up, lady?"
She smiles but that's okay, because she does that all the time.
"I wanted to thank you for what you did today."
"I didn't do anything." He shakes his head.
"Yes you did!" She pursues. "You got everyone to come around and it means a whole lot to me, Robbie - like, it honestly does. I'd be so lost without you guys and I'm not ready to give everyone up. Not yet."
She's so weirdly intense about it that Robbie can't help but feel touched that he's included in this group of people that she can't give up (though he wonders if he's just a part of it because it's like a package deal. Which isn't anything new, it's actually how he approaches a lot of things in life).
He hasn't said anything for a bit and she's sort of looking at him like he's left her hanging out in the breeze.
"Me too, Tor. I mean, I'd be lost without you guys too. This summer… it's gonna be a lot of fun."
Robbie knows he's redeemed when she pulls him in for a hug. He goes stiff as a board but she doesn't seem to mind.
The noise he makes when she gives him a little squeeze causes her to laugh.
It echoes through his head the entire drive home.
A/N: So this exists because 'circuswheel' promised me a Robbie/Beck bromance oneshot and I wanted to collect.