If you're following my story Misery Loves Company, this is sort of a gift to you for 100 reviews. There's a lot of angst in that story right now, so I thought I'd write something a little bit fluffier, I little Rori-er to hold you over.
If you aren't following that story then check it out if you like this. It's a better and more fleshed out story about this pairing :)
To enhance your enjoyment of this piece, I would recommend having Existentialism On Prom Night by Straylight Run ready to listen to (you'll know when you play it I'm sure)
"Oh, we've been studying for six hours." I lament, slapping my hands against the table to emphasize just how long I've been studying. It's been the longest I've had to cram for a test in a long time and frustration is laced in my every word.
"Tell them what we've been studying for…" Robbie calls from the kitchen, the comical inflection in his voice jarring me from what few thoughts I had been focused on. We're taking a short break because I think my mind was beginning to dissolve into a fine paste, judging by Robbie's tone, his brain is not exactly holding up well either. He's getting something sugary because the clock passed midnight some time ago, we're both struggling to hold our eyelids open at this point and the idea of sugar rush doesn't seem so bad.
"A trigonometry test." I answer automatically, barely a second passing between his words and my own. Sliding a hand through my hair, I look back at my test paper almost out of habit, it's so deeply ingrained in my movements that even while we're on a break my body is replicating my earlier movements.
"Tell them what trigonometry is…" Robbie proclaims, his voice growing louder as he returns to his seat next to me. At the sound of him stepping ever closer, I can't help but steal a glance at him. As quick as I had been staring at Robbie, I quickly turn back to the camera with a shake of my head. I'm just sleep deprived, I wasn't just leering at him like a creep, my heart isn't thumping ever to slightly faster.
"Trigonometry…" Ignoring the knot in my stomach as Robbie arm brushes against me, I begin to explain why exactly I had to beg Robbie to come over on a Saturday night. I can feel the heat of his skin, there's got to be something wrong with me, I should be moving away, not awaiting his latest accidental caress.
" Also known as trig…" Robbie interrupts helpfully. I bite the inside of my lip to avoid collapsing in laughter at him nicknaming this accursed subject, at him treating it like an old friend instead of the hated enemy it so is. Then again, he is the top of the class, so I guess he doesn't hate it nearly as much as I do.
"Yes, it's a branch of mathematics that studies triangles and the relationships between their sides and…oh! …no one cares!" As I'm explaining the basics of this ridiculously complicated subject, I can see Robbie's face contorting and waving too and fro in the corner of my eye. Combining this with his arm grazing against my own as he sways from side to side once and a while, my mind just gives up, throws the towel in on explaining this ridiculous subject. With a humorless laugh, I halt my explanation as Robbie's movements catch my eye fully and I find myself staring at him again. He merely returning to his full height and pulling up a chair
"I'm gunna check my requests…" I yelp, feeling my stomach clench as his eyes lock with my own for a brief second. Dragging my eyes from him, I drape an arm over the table in front of us and open my slap page. Pursing my lips, I focus on the computer, determination gathering in my eyes, determination not to stare at my friend like a creep.
"What requests?" Robbie asks innocently, his tired limbs falling into a seat next to me. I feel my heart jump into my throat as he slides ever closer, the graze of his arm becoming something more. Momentary instances of contact between us dragging on, lingering and becoming something more. My eyebrows dig down, coming together over my nose as I notice my red flush creeping onto my cheeks.
"Oh, you know it that thing I do here on the slap. I take random requests from people, and then I make a video doing whatever they ask me to." I babble, my voice quivering ever so slightly. The cracks widen with my every passing word, exposing my vulnerabilities to the world, to Robbie. I stare intently into the glass lens of my Pearbook as I try and forget about the glass lenses of the boy next to me. I'm sure my heart is about to leap through my chest when I feel him shift, when I feel his warm breath against my ear.
"I have a request…" An entirely unfamiliar voice begins to speaking into my ear, sending a shiver up my spine. That's not Robbie's voice, it just can't be. My throat tightens and I feel as though I can't breath, there's something so raw, so animalistic in his voice. As much as it scares me that Robbie is the one bringing these out feelings, I feel a pinch of excitement deep within me.
"W-what is it?" I whimper, my voice rising an octave, as my tongue finally wraps itself around a coherent thought. Robbie's eyes are darkened, clouded by something that's got nothing to do with trigonometry. Staring back at me intently, a muscle in his jaw twitches and for a second I think he's going to lean forwards. The worst part is that instead of recoiling in horror, my traitorous mind is simply wondering that his lips might feel like, what they might taste like.
"I'll be right back!" He announces, suddenly bouncing out of his seat and towards the door, leaving my trying to catch my breath in his wake. My tongue runs across my lips as I take a shallow breath, feeling entirely flustered. Regaining something resembling composure, I turn towards the camera once more.
"I've got a bad feeling about this." I state, brows drawing together as I shut off the camera. My mind wonders just what Robbie could be retrieving from his car. Eyes skittering around the room, I brush a hand through my hair nervously and wait for Robbie at walk back inside. Hearing the sound of his car door slamming shut, I brace myself for what's to come, brace myself for what I might do.
We're sitting in the living room now, Robbie returned with a camera, tripod and a guitar. Robbie's long limbs are draped over a stool in front of the camera as I make sure the camera is pointed in the right direction. My heart never does completely stop fluttering as I watch his fingers carefully tune his guitar. Satisfied the angle is going to look good, I step towards Robbie, lowering myself into the stool next to him slowly. My quivering legs making the task harder then I should have been.
"Alright, we're back here with Tori takes requests. I'm Tori." The waver of uncertainty never quite leaves my voice, try as I might to remove it. Finishing my introduction, I allow my eyes to slide shut for a second, enjoying to momentary sense of peace it gives me.
"And I'm Robbie." Just like that, my peace is shattered, Robbie's voice filling ear ears in way that's so complete that I wonder if anything could ever compare. My eyes are pulled open and I find myself looking at Robbie once more, finding more questions than answers.
"Ok, so what is it that you want to request?" I ask, unfolding my arms and placing them on my knees. He's not looking at me, peering into the camera as he prepares to clearly explain his request to the viewers. It's a good thing too, I feel as though I might shatter under his gaze. I had expected this feeling of weakness, of puppy love to disappear. The longer this day has stretched on though, the more I find it consuming me.
"Ever since broken glass, nobody will listen to my songs. I need somebody to listen to this one to make sure it's going to pass my assignment." He states sadly as he looks down at the guitar that's resting upright just in front of him. I blink once, then twice and feel as though I've been robbed of the ability to refuse his request, like yes is the only answer I can give. There was a time when I could hear Robbie's voice and not fall completely apart, the tightening in my throat tells me this time has passed, that I'm just putty in his hands now.
"Oh god, why me?" I mumble, my resolve shattering as I crumble into a heap of limbs. As my head slumps into my lap, I know he thinks it's because I have a problem with his music, it's not that though. I have a problem with the fact that I could sit and listen to him play music all day if it meant staring into his eyes, staring at him. I shake my head slightly, trying to shake all of these new and confusing thoughts from my mind. They're determined though, clinging to my mind with an iron grip.
"Please?" Robbie's words draw my eyes from the floor to his pleading face. His lower lip has puckered in the most adorably pathetic pout I think I've ever seen. Somewhere behind his glasses and the dark shroud in his brown irises is hope, a plea that I'll actually hear him out, and actually believe in him.
"Fiiine." I reply, my hand flying to my hair and raking through it nervously as I bow my head and fail to meet his gaze. Only when I hear the movement of him shifting and pulling his guitar into a position he can play from does my gaze flicker back to him. Robbie's eyes are shining brightly, satisfaction written in his every movement as he quickly rechecks his guitar and makes sure it's in tune before strumming the opening chords of his song.
"When the sun came up
We were sleeping in
Sunk inside our blankets
Sprawled across the bed
And we were dreaming"
My breath catches in my throat and I couldn't look away from him, even if I wanted to. This song is like nothing I've ever heard Pass Robbie's lips, he's not making a joke, he's actually singing about something important to him. My heart begins to thud in my chest just a little bit harder as I realise he's singing about a time we all went to the beach for a party. Everybody else had already paired off with somebody and there was only one sleeping bag left, we slept next to each other under the stars that night. I think it was the first time my voice began to fail me around him.
"There are moments when
When I know it and
The world revolves around us
And we're keeping it
Keep it all going
This delicate balance
Vulnerable all knowing"
Robbie's head is bowed slightly, his eyes shadowed even though they're pulled shut. His fingers skate over the fret board of his guitar with a grace I didn't know he possessed. His lyrics seep into me, floating into my very core and pulling at my heart. I find myself becoming lost in the melody, everything falling away until it feels as though it's just the two of us.
"Sing like you think no one's listening
Would you kill for this
Just a little bit
Just a little bit
I would, I would..."
His gaze rises, eyes coming to rest on me. There's pain in his voice, like with every word hope is seeping out of him. My cheeks burn under the intensity of his gaze, I'm almost relieved when he looks away from me, eyes sliding shut once more.
"Sing me something soft
Sad and delicate
Or loud and out of key
Sing me anything
we're glad for what we've got
Done with what we've lost
Our whole lives laid out right in front of us"
My heart lurches in my chest, it's painful to hear Robbie's feelings come pouring out one after the other all in one song. His eyes tighten their seal, shutting even tighter as his voice picks up in volume, though it never goes out of key as it occasionally does during his joke songs.
"Sing like you think no one's listening
I would kill for this
Just a little bit
Just a little bit
I would"
Robbie repeats the bridge, though it's only accompanied by an occasional sustained note, giving it the sound of somebody that's been broken, tossed aside, but never quite given hope. My fingers lace together and unlace again several times as I struggle to come to terms with what Robbie's lyrics mean, what they mean to me.
"Sing me something soft
Sad and delicate
Or loud and out of key
Sing me anything"
His eyes lock with my own as he finishes the song, I wilt under his gaze as I realize that this isn't just a song about anybody, it's a song about me. I swallow nervously, attempting to calm my heart as it clatters against my rib cage. As the final note of Robbie's song dies, I can only sit and stare at him, my tongue flailing uselessly in the bottom of my mouth.
"So?" He asks, eyes shooting up from his guitar and flying to where I sit in a stunned silence. To say I'm in shock would be an understatement, my tongue flails in my mouth uselessly, the ability to speak seemingly lost to me. Robbie studies me silently, eyes skating over my face, trying to glean an answer from my features.
"Oh man, was it bad?" He groans suddenly, the composure that had spellbound me wilting and flaking away before my very eyes. Robbie's entire form seemingly shrinks before me, his eyes dull and I see his jaw tighten, like he's trying to hold something out of his expression. Seeing Robbie having a meltdown seemingly breaks the spell he had cast over me, my mind reengages and a crease forms in my brow. I get a sense of just how worried he's getting so I open my mouth, planning on reassuring him that his song was fine, but before a word can pass my lips, Robbie flies out of his seat and begins pacing in front of where he had been sitting.
"Oh god, I'm going to fail!" Robbie laments, words continuing to fly from him as his lean frame conspires to wear a hole in the carpet. I detach myself from the seat I'm currently occupying and haul my limbs upright. Taking a deep breath, as if I'm soaking up any spare courage lingering in the room, I step forwards.
"You're not going to fail." I announce, taking hold of him and halting his progress in one fluid motion, thus preventing him from wearing a hole in the floor. As the words float from my mouth, something akin to realization takes control of Robbie's features, his eyes fly towards where my fingers rest and then to my eyes, as if he needs some sort of reassurance that I'm not joking.
"I'm not?" He whispers, sounding every bit the broken boy and nothing like the person that had my mind lost in a fog. There's a plea in his eyes, a plea not to hurt him, I wonder just how many times Robbie's been lied to in the past. His eyes flicker to the ground and his hands clasp in front of him uncertainly; I wonder just how much of his earlier bravado had been an act.
Shaking my head slightly, I push all of my doubts aside and drape my arms over his shoulders, drawing him near, holding him close as his hands fall to uselessly to his side as he almost falls into my embrace, eyes focused on the ground. After a moment, I feel Robbie's hands attach themselves at the small of my back with movements so rigid they're bordering on mechanical. Even so, my eyelids flutter and I find my eyes sliding shut as I melt into his arms.
"Hey Tori, what did you honestly think of the song?" Robbie murmurs, pulling me back into the real world. My eyes flicker eye once more, coming to rest on Robbie's questioning gaze. Blinking slowly, I draw a ragged breath into my lungs, still unsure of what I'm about to do. I graze my palm over his cheek, feeling my heart pounding the whole time. It almost quakes through my chest when he flinches slightly under my touch. Drawing on the very last reserve of my courage, I lean forwards, pressing my lips to his. It's barely a kiss, the graze of our lips barely the ghost of a caress before I pull away slightly, my cheeks feeling as if they're aflame.
"Uh, that…that's what I thought." He's standing still, not having moved, the color having drained from his face since our kiss. I begin to wonder if Robbie even knows how react in this sort of situation, before I see his lips begin to curve upwards, before I see happiness begin to swell within his eyes.
"G'glad you liked it." He stammers, though his arms wrap around my waist, drawing me ever closer. A smile tugs at my lips, uncertainty and joy shimmer within his eyes as I decide that I like this Robbie, the vulnerable Robbie much better than the Robbie that had whispered in my ear.
I definitely like this Robbie a lot.
Maybe more than a lot.
Well there you go. Obviously it was based off The Slap video up until Robbie whispers in Tori's ear.
Leave me some reviews and whatnot why don't ya!