Title: "Ten Things about Robbie"
Rating: K/FR7
Genre: Character Study-ish, Fluff, some Romance
Pairing(s): Rori!
Summary: There are ten things Tori definitely knows about Robbie. Rori.
Notes: I know, I know. I still have to update "Hit Reverse" yet, but I couldn't resist! I have to write something Rori immediately. I've been watching too much Victorious, thus the fic fodder for me. :P
This is slightly AU-ish, by the way, because I haven't seen the very first episode of the series. Boo. :(
Enjoy, anyways!
She had met him almost two years ago as a result of an accident. Or, she should say, a blessing. Quite honestly, when she saw him on her first day of school at Hollywood Arts High, he didn't stand out much at all. Save for the puppet he carried around, he was almost like any of the other boys in the hallway.
He was also pretty timid. Rarely did he speak up and voice his opinions (though she thought it the contrary whenever Rex, his "alter ego" as she had been calling him nowadays, spoke up). So, for a while, he maintained the simple description 'odd but sweet' in her mind.
However, as moment by moment sauntered them by, she found little intricacies about him that slowly endeared him to her. By each tear, by each smile, by each laugh, she began to feel closer to him. She found out a little more about him every time. Those may not be much, but it was enough.
Out of all of them, there were ten things about him that she was definite about. It was a list which made him…peculiarly normal and normally peculiar to her.
One: A girl had bullied him into swallowing his favorite toy car ten years ago. He cried, not really because he almost choked to death, but because he was rather fond of it. His father gave it to him a year before then, so he held it dearly to his heart. When he came home, he didn't tell his mother about the incident. He had been a coward—Rex made sure he understood that—and he was scared that his mom would tell him that he should have stood up to that girl.
But when that past came back to take its toll on him after a decade, her bond with him became one link stronger.
Two: He met André and Beck when he got into Hollywood Arts High in ninth grade. He was more awkward and reserved back then, the first day of high school pictures of him that his mother took serving as witnesses, but after the two guys befriended him, he learned to be better at certain things. Socially, for example, which seemed to be André's expertise. His communication skills might not be stellar, but it sufficed for light conversation.
And thanks to Beck's example, he had grown accustomed to wearing skinny jeans and non-pattern shirts occasionally, which was quite a cure for sore eyes to her.
Three: Jade couldn't stand him eight days a week. The extra day was whenever there was a leap year. He didn't seem to mind, and neither did she. With this, at least she gets to spend more time with him.
Four: Shiva—seven, the number of days he and his family stayed at home in silence after his dad died. He was only six. He did not really understand what was happening, but he knew in his little heart that his abba will not be with them anymore. A lot of people came to console them, but he found their words meaningless. He lost his best friend, and the tza'ar would always be there. It was always going to be painful, especially since he had to assume the position of man of the house, the place of being the strongest.
He did not know how to, and if he could even do it. He was afraid to find out. That was perhaps why, after years, he had let certain pieces of his soul and brain adrift to a land of broken glasses hidden somewhere.
Five: He retouches his male make-up six times a day. He had made a comment before that he didn't want people to see his blemishes, which earned a jeer from Jade and an awkward silence from the rest of the group. While they thought him weird, including her, there was one point when she wondered how he saw himself in the mirror. When everybody left for their classes after that lunch, and he looked back and smiled at her, she had almost challenged the inner demons that she knew he had.
Almost, because that time she thought that he could do it himself, and he needed not her saving. But not long after, her refusal to do so became her own inner enemy.
Six: Out of the five songs that he sings frequently, "Forever Baby" is his top preference. He kept saying that it was Rex's favorite, but with the way his eyes brighten up, his head slightly bobs from left to right, and his body sways even if he just hums the tune, she dismissed it as an excuse not to fully give into a lively and joyful song.
Seven: There are certain days when he wears quasi-tight size four skinny jeans. It is rather tragic most of the time, especially when people poke fun at him. However, it does not go entirely unappreciated. Sometimes she had to smother a sly smile that threatens to spread on her lips after she sees him.
Eight: There are also certain moments when he wears no shirt at all, and she witnessed three times out of those few. She always irritatingly wondered why he did so, but in all honesty she was only doing that to distract herself. He may not be as muscled as the other guys she had seen before, but he still make her exert so much effort not to blush.
Nine: He had been easily infatuated by meaningless kisses twice. One was when he kissed Trina for an audition, and the other was when Cat tried to prove to him that the latter meant nothing. For a while, he pined over both girls. After Trina made it clear to him that she had no feelings for him, then his yearning was then centered on Cat.
She could not really tell whether the red-haired girl liked him back or not, but all she knew was that she made him feel special. He was happy with her every day. When he gradually stopped worrying about his appearance, rarely sang his favorite song, and became a little more normal, it was then regret haunted her. If she had been the one to be there whenever he doubted himself, would she be the girl who made him feel contented?
Ten: Of all the times they kissed, there was only one that stood out to both of them. After the dress rehearsal for the school's upcoming spring play, she found him backstage in one of the dressing rooms, putting blush on his cheeks while singing "Forever Baby" over and over again in front of a mirror. With her eyebrows arched, she asked him what he was doing. He told her what he was doing. She asked him why. He told her there was no reason.
She asked him what the matter was. He said his skin looks pasty, and it was so quiet in his room.
She asked if it was because of Cat. He paused momentarily but didn't answer. He continued on putting make up, although his cheek is turning a sore shade of red, as if someone had slapped him.
She grabbed his hand, halting him. He glanced at her, and then lowered his head. He said Cat had told him that she loves him…but only as a best friend. Then, he declared himself pathetic.
She asked him to look in the mirror. He did. She asked him what he saw, and he answered her. A pretty girl and a loser.
She disagreed. She said she saw a boy that just didn't know what to do, and that was okay. Being lost did not make him a loser.
They smiled at each other. Still, she could read from his eyes that he did not have faith in what she said. She knew that it was her chance to help him.
So, she kissed him, thinking it was just a friendly gesture to make a point.
But when he kissed her back, she, odd as it was to admit, felt hurt—maybe what he felt that time. He also started to make sense; all the things that he was did. She understood him.
He drew back, terrified. He opened his mouth to apologize, but she told him not to. She placed her hand over his and gave it a squeeze. He nodded, grinning weakly. He understood her.
From that night on, that one kiss gave way to more warm embraces. Those warm embraces, in turn, became shared laughter. When those became full, it resulted to several stolen kisses, and she hopes that there will be a hundred more.
Because, quite honestly, those revealed a thousand things about him and a thousand more about her.
Reviews and constructive criticisms are loved! Flames are used to make Krabby Patties for the nice people. ^_^