high above me
Robbie/Tori. She kisses him on the way home, but it's only because she's a good person, really.
;;
So, here's the deal. Tori Vega's like, a legit good person, okay? As in, the type that reads to old people, and goes to church on Sundays with her family, and is friendly to people she doesn't enjoy. She does well in school, too (almost all straight A's), and her teachers like her and say she's totally smart without the totally.
Which is why she can't figure out, for the life of her, why Robbie Sharpiro is on her mind so freaking much. Like, seriously! They're friends, except that they're sort of not, and he's okay, she guesses, but he's not amazing or anything, and he's not her best friend like Andre or Cat, so she doesn't know why he keeps popping up in her head.
It bothers her too much for it to be normal. It makes her head spin and her hands twist and grab onto the nearest surface and it makes her feel like she's off balance. Off-kilter.
Tori isn't quite sure. What to make of it, that is.
;;
She calls Robbie on a Wednesday. She's not thinking about doing it until she does, and by that time her fingers are already tracing the numbers on her cellphone.
"Hey…Rob," She starts, as awkwardly as she could possibly start it, "What's up?" She thinks of adding "homie" or "bro", doesn't.
He sounds different over the phone. Tori wonders about this until she realises that static and puberty could be a factor.
"Youwanttohangoutsometime?" She asks. Her voice is trembly, for reasons she can't decide at the moment.
There's a pause. Robbie doesn't answer her for twenty (one) seconds. She knows because she counts.
Then she hears him take a breath.
"Yeah," Robbie says, calmly. "Sure."
She tells him to text her his address.
;;
Tori drives to his house. She sings along to the radio, belts out "Forget You" so loudly the neighbourhood can probably hear. She doesn't think about the implied fuck in the song because she's supposed to be the good girl.
When she rings the doorbell, she looks up.
(The sky is a clear, nice, blue, and she wonders what exactly it is she's doing here.)
Robbie answers the door, which surprises her and doesn't at the same time. He's not smiling, she is. Or at least, she thinks she is.
"Robbie," She says and it's quieter than it's meant to be, softer, or sweeter.
"Victoria." He replies.
She doesn't catch on to the fact that it's a joke until he points it out himself, and by that time it's too late to start laughing.
;;
After he invites her in, they sit on his couch. There is approximately two feet of space between them, though Tori's never been great with the metric system.
They don't talk. He turns on the T.V.
They watch re-runs of Drake and Josh and laugh and it's an hour later Tori realises she's actually having fun. Like, lots of fun, the type of fun where she doesn't want to go anywhere else for a while.
Robbie gets up to make them popcorn. Tori slips her sandals off, gets comfortable.
;;
By eleven o clock, Trina's calling and telling her she has to go home. Robbie walks her out to her car. She decides not to mention that she didn't really need him to.
His hand almost touches hers.
They make plans to hang out next Saturday. Tori will bring the Drake and Josh dvds, he'll order the pizza.
;;
Robbie sits next to her at lunch now.
She doesn't mind.
;;
Sometimes she catches Robbie looking at her. He always looks away, murmurs, sorry to no one in particular. Tori has no idea why this makes her heart beat speed up a bit.
It's only because she feels sorry for him, she tells herself. That's probably why she puts up with everything, walking with him in the hallways and seeing kids turn and snicker at them.
She doesn't owe Robbie anything. It's just because she feels bad for him. That's the only reason.
;;
They start meeting every Saturday. It doesn't mean anything. It's just fun. Not all the time, but most of the time. It's cool, Robbie's sort of really cool.
They're sitting on the swings he has in his back yard. The grass is green, and it reminds her of something, she can't figure out exactly what.
Robbie doesn't talk a lot, when they're alone. But he asks, softly, randomly-
"Why do you do this?"
Tori isn't looking at him, until she is. "What do you mean?"
"I mean," He says, unsure, "You can't really like me, or anything."
She pauses. Her fingers are tapping on her thighs. Robbie's glasses are sliding off his nose.
"There are lots of things I like about you, actually." Tori says.
;;
She likes Robbie's house. She's started going there in the mornings, too, even though she can't explain to herself why. She doesn't know if she needs to, if she cares, anymore.
One day, after they've added a bit of rum to their cokes, because Tori was bored and Rex goaded Robbie into being daring for once (and she can't help but think he's a puppet but whatever), she whispers, out of the blue and irrelevant-
"Sometimes I wish I could stay like this forever."
Robbie turns, leans his face against her forehead and smiles against her cheek so she can feel it.
;;
She kisses him on the way home but it's only because she's a good person, really.
;;
fin.