A/N: I, GallaudetLurker, have returned!

Following the conclusion of my story, 'Do She Like Me?', I have started another story. I have attempted to alter my writing style a bit, to be more detailed in my writing. This story starts in the episode, 'Sleepover at Sikowitz's', when Robbie is banished from Sikowitz's house for acting out of character. I was browsing the Victorious wiki when I encountered an animated gif of Jade grabbing Robbie by the arms in the episode when I was struck by this...inspiration and just felt compelled to write it.

How interesting, huh? lol

To be frankly, I think this might be a two-shot or something. Will see how I progress, tho. I'm more of a 'go with the flow' person, I can't plan anything out and stick with it, lol.

Also, I felt I was updating a bit too fast in my previous story, so I'm thinking I might take a little while to update, so I can revise each chapter I write so they would be good. Something like that.

Anyways, enjoy this chapter. Hope you like.

Chapter One: Explaining to do

Robbie Shapiro felt disappointed and a bit embarrassed. And dumb and naive too.

Sikowitz, ever the crafty man he was, had tricked him into getting out of character when he began running around his living room, trying to get a pesky fly before apparently tripping over something and tumbling through a window, to the horror of everyone in the house. Ever the person who had a big heart, Robbie had rushed over to Sikowitz, who was still bunched over the windowsill, out of concern and called out if he was okay. As soon he had stated his real name to Sikowitz's weak voice asking who he was, the bearded teacher had triumphantly turned the table over on him, proclaiming that he had acted out of character and as such was out of the game.

In short, Robbie would be the first person to be banished, forever, from Sikowitz's house. Which was bit of a pity, too, considering that he had come to rather fancy it in the short period of time he had spent there, with its creative and colorful accessories and decorations.

As he turned to the others, Robbie felt disappointment, embarrassment, and shame course through him as he looked at how they managed to stay in character, and yet not let their concern and emotions take them over the way they did to him. He felt a bit envious of them because of that.

Perhaps he was too soft a person? Maybe that was why people constantly picked on him, including his supposed best friend, Rex?

Sighing, with a heavy feeling weighing upon his heart, Robbie began to walk toward the front door, ready to leave Sikowitz's house for good, when Jade ran over to him.

"It was wonderful to meet you." Jade's voice was cheerful as she grabbed his arms, sliding her hands slowly and deliberately over his arms before reaching his hands and grasping it for a second before she let go. The whole time, he felt his arms tingle slightly from her touch as he looked at her.

As his dark eyes bored into Jade's blue orbs, Robbie was surprised to see something remotely resembling sympathy, pity, and...concern shining through them. Jade still had a smile on her face, which he noticed was a bit too strained. This was understandable, though, given that Jade's character was far too positive and cheery for her to handle as it was completely contrary to who she was, a dark Goth girl who had an unhealthy interest in sharp objects, blood, and violence that one usually saw in horror movies.

As he continued to look at her-he'd sworn that time seemed to slow down to a standstill-Robbie felt something stirring inside of him.

He knew perfectly what it was: for as long as he could remember, Robbie had been sort of...attracted to Jade. Heck, he could even call that level of attraction a crush. From the moment he had ever laid his eyes on her, he thought she was one of the most beautiful girls he ever saw in his life, akin to a heavenly angel, a goddess. But given his everlasting fear of rejection and humiliation, an experience that was reinforced by his previous experiences in different schools, Robbie kept it to himself, knowing perfectly that the scissors that were displayed on the inside and outside of her locker, located right next to his baby bottle-covered locker, would serve a double purpose if she ever found out.

And that was not all. Jade was, and is, dating Beck Oliver, his best friend and one of the most handsome guy he had ever seen in his life (he's not homosexual or even bisexual, but he knows what he is talking about). Beck was one of the coolest guys he had ever known, and he was certainly popular with Hollywood Arts' female population, to the ongoing jealousy of Jade.

In short, Beck was everything Robbie wanted to be, but was not.

What was Robbie, exactly? He was the nerdy, geeky, freaky, lanky guy who sported a curly afro, who wore glasses that was probably a bit too big for his face, and who carried around a puppet named Rex Powers, who was little more than an outlet for his real personality to manifest itself. Robbie knew perfectly that Rex was not real-after all, he was THE ventriloquist whose skilled hands brought Rex to life-but Robbie continued the impression of Rex as his own person, despite the too-clear fact that he was generally talking to himself, insulting himself, putting himself down. Still, the dummy provided Robbie the only way, the only outlet, for him to channel his true feelings and words to anyone without fear of humiliation or retribution.

What was highly ironic, Robbie knew, was that Rex was considerably more popular with females than the shy, nerdy ventriloquist who was controlling him. More than a few times, Robbie felt like a coward, that he could not properly express himself out loud, and he constantly mentally beat himself up in the form of insults and taunts that Rex usually leveled at him on a daily basis. Taking this into account, Robbie knew perfectly well that Jade, being a tough-as-nails personality with a higher social standing than his, would never go for such a pathetic form of a person like him. He was sure that Jade would rather choke on a scissor several times than go out with him.

One of the most intriguing paradoxes of Robbie's personality was that he was not the type of person to give up easily, thus his (undeserved) stigma as one of the most annoying persons at Hollywood Arts (and the other schools he had been to). No matter the fact he had been picked on, spat upon, mocked, scorned upon, even beaten up by pretty much anyone (not limited to females) that he had encountered in his life before he went to Hollywood Arts and found 'decent' friends that was now standing in assorted costumes in the house that he was currently in, Robbie always kept on working toward something that his mind was set on.

The reason he chose to pursue Trina Vega, Tori's older but hopelessly untalented sister, and later on, Caterina "Cat" Valentine, a sweet but ditzy redheaded girl who constantly flirted with every boy that crossed her way, was just that-a way to try to get over his feelings for Jade before it spiraled out of control and landed him into a hospital, courtesy of Jade, or worse. And not only because Trina and then Cat kissed him, and his romantically-deprived heart and brain desperately latched on this as a sign that a single (or in this case, a couple) member of the female species was even remotely attracted to him. Despite the now-familiar acts of humiliation, embarrassment, and shame that would make any normal boy leave Hollywood Arts and possibly even L.A. itself-but ever since when was Robbie a 'normal' person?-that was heaped upon him (quite literally in the form of various soups, food, and liquid that was either poured into his head or spat into his face), Robbie continued to pursue Trina and Cat, sometimes even at the same time.

Patience and persistence pays off, Robbie had learned at some point in his life, and it certainly applied to him. Through his annoyingly patient and persistent attempts to get through to Trina and then Cat, Robbie had succeeded in lessening his feelings for Jade.

Until today.

The very moment Jade walked through the front door, months of Robbie's efforts to reduce his feelings toward her from a crush to simply a friend dissipated into a puff of smoke-eerily similar to the way his hopes, ambitions, and self-confidence at times had vanished, gone forever. His eyes nearly popped out of his eye sockets, of which would surely crash through his glasses had they done so, his heart skipped a beat, his throat constricted like the way a boa constrictor squeezing the life of its victim, and his latent feelings flooding over him with the force of a raging, ferocious tsunami that had the power to sweep away everything that stood in its way.

For lack of a better description, Jade looked simply...hot. For her role as the sickeningly sweet Betty-Sue Goldenheart, a peppy Southern farm girl whose personality would have landed her the death penalty in Jade's dark world-courtesy of Tori as part of her clever ploy to torment her rival-Jade was dressed in a denim shorts that not only hugged her shapely thighs, but cupped her ass in a way that made his mouth water. A red Southern-style midriff covered most of her shapely body, being tied in the front that not only exposed her well-toned stomach, but helped to actually push up her perky breasts. The way her breasts swayed so gently but in a maddeningly seductive way across her fabric as she walked into the house with a too-bright smile on her face, accompanied by Beck, dressed up in a Cockney detective uniform, made Robbie wonder if she was wearing a bra. Topping off her costume, quite literally, was an old-fashioned cowgirl hat that fitted her head perfectly and enhanced her apparel in a sensual way.

In other words, she was absolutely gorgeous.

With this...vixen strutting around in close proximity, it was a wonder, indeed a miracle, that Robbie was able to continue acting in his character, despite his rapidly-beating heart, the flood of blood into his face, and the lengthening erection in his pants that he had managed to hide by collapsing into the floor every couple of minutes because of his 'jelly legs'. Indeed, Jade's appearance had turned his leg into jelly in a way that he wondered if he was acting or doing the real thing.

As he peered into Jade's eyes, something seemed to snap in Robbie as his heart seemed to wrench and lurch while it was saddled with feeling of strong desire.

Without really thinking, Robbie leaned toward Jade, slamming his lips into hers and letting his desire, lust...love flow out of him into her lips. As he did so, he felt sparks enter his body, emanating from his lingering contact on Jade's frozen lips, and gently coursing throughout his body, covering him with a warm, comforting sensation that he couldn't describe.

Immediately, scores of gasps greeted his ears, affirming to Robbie that he had either made the biggest mistake of his life or the greatest decision he had ever made.

Pulling away, Robbie opened his eyes and let them refocus themselves as he peered into Jade's shocked face. Her eyes were wide, so many questions swimming around in her orbs, her pouty, slightly-swollen lips were gaping into an 'O'.

Around him, everyone was shocked beyond belief. Beck, for one, was stunned into silence, his hands that were groping Sikowitz's bearded face frozen into piece as he watched his girlfriend of one year and eleven month being...kissed by Robbie. Cat's normally ditzy face was transfigured into a face of shock, disbelief...and hurt as she stared at her friend, and secret crush, press lips with Jade. Andre's eyes were wide as he remained frozen in his chair, his hands clutching his 'pregnant' tummy. Tori was gaping, her eyes full of shock and disbelief as the Bran Raisin box laid out on the floor, its contents spilling over onto the floor. As for the teacher himself, he had an expression of surprise etched into his face, his eyebrows raised and his mouth slightly open as he watched the unexpected scene unfold before him.

Shocked himself, and dimly aware of everyone's attention on him, Robbie heaved out a sigh as the signals from his brain finally reached his frozen legs and instructed them to put one foot in front of the other toward the door. This, he did with considerable effort and difficulty as the front door for some reason looked it was drifting away from him like a mirage. Grasping the doorknob, Robbie twisted it and pulled it open, walking through the door, for the final time, without as much as a backward glance.

As his legs carried him to his car, parked by the sidewalk in front of Sikowitz's house, Robbie's mind felt like it was under assault by his conscience.

'Why the hell did I just kiss Jade like that? Jade out of everyone?' He raged mentally to himself as he yanked his car door open, stepped into his car, plopped into his old, worn seat, and slammed the door closed with such a force that the car all but shook from the sheer force. 'Beck was there!'

At this single thought, a new emotion came flooding into him, one that he was distinctly familiar with: guilt. His face twisted into a grimace as he thought about what he had, less than a couple of minutes before, done. He had kissed the girlfriend of someone, a person who he was good friends with. And the worst part of it was, that, he had done it willingly, deliberately even. This was not an act done as a part of his acting character; this was an act done by nothing other than Robbie Shapiro himself.

He let out a groan. "What the fuck did I just get myself in?" He muttered out loud to himself as the weight of the situation finally settled down on his heart with such a force that it nearly took his breath away. He let his head drop into his steering wheel, banging it several times, each time a bit harder, before a screeching sound abrupt took him out of his thoughts and forced him to draw his head back in shock. He had accidentally set off the car horn.

Heaving a heavy sigh, Robbie inserted his keys into the ignition, turning it over and feeling the car hum to life. Shooting a last glance at Sikowitz's house, with the kiss permanently seared into his mind, Robbie drove away.

As he cruised through the road, perhaps a bit too fast, Robbie got this...sinking feeling, a feeling of despair and guilt, that he would have lot of explaining to do to his friends when he returned to school on Monday. For that reason alone, he really, really was not looking forward to that, not at all.

Thank God it was Friday.

A/N: Well, here it is. Hope it wasn't too detailed, but constructive criticism would be appreciated. If you don't like it, I suppose I can revert to my earlier, 'simpler' style.

As always, review! And review! :)