A/N: I'm living in my happy drama filled Victorious bubble of Hearts a Fire when One Thousand Berry Balls aired and sent me into Cabbie heaven and my muse on overdrive it would seem. Loved confident Robbie and the sudden enraged , crazy , jealous Cat just fueled my inspiration until Jade kept yelling at Cat about dealing with Robbie until it wouldn't leave me be .
So sit back and be prepared to deal with my aftermath of the fateful Cow Wow events .
Disclaimer ; I still don't own Victorious , sadly.
Robbie Shapiro was confused .
Confused , baffled , and hurt on more levels than he cared to acknowledge at this particular moment , watching as Cat ran away from him again .
Only this time , it was after he had given in to his feelings and the fact that she was holding his hand , and kissed her . A kiss in which she had kissed him back .
A pretty amazing kiss .
Except now Cat couldn't run away fast enough from him or away from him.
Daren't all !
The week had started out normal enough and with the Cow Wow , the schools very own western-luau themed dance, set for the weekend , he had been excited to ask Cat to be his date . He had been feeling for a while now that things had shifted and changed between them and so he was pretty hopeful that this time she would say yes to be his date .
He couldn't have been more wrong in his life and couldn't understand why this time the thought of him asking her out sent her running all over the school in order to avoid him .
Robbie took the hint and took it in stride .
Yuperdoo, Cat didn't want to be his date , loud and clear .
Rather than make her more nervous ( she had seemed awfully nervous to him) he had asked Gabriella out instead and was pleasantly surprised when the girl had said yes .
She had been sort of flirting with him since he posted his ham boning skills on the Slap but he hadn't been all that interested back and that was mainly because of his feelings for Cat . However , he was really lonely and he didn't want to spend his high school year alone and dateless so first date with Gabriella was set .
Cat had looked ..hurt ( or maybe he just hoped she did ) when he told her about his date but he brushed it off . He and Cat were best friends and obviously that was it .
It would take some getting used to but he might as well start trying to focus on that .
The dance was in full swing and he had been enjoying dancing with Gabriella though out of the corner of his eye he couldn't help but notice that Cat was acting awfully weird , dancing with Sinjin and talking loudly , almost as if trying to get his attention .
Which was completely crazy …why would she do that if she hadn't wanted to go with him in the first place ?
He didn't understand girls and he thought he knew Cat better than most .
Then in the freakiest of accidents , Sinjin's insane dancing had knocked Cat out .
Concerned , Robbie had gotten Lane who fixed the redhead up with a band aid and said that she would be fine which was a relief .
Cat had looked up at him with hope shining in those big brown eyes and asked him to stay with her until she felt better .
Robbie couldn't say no to her so he had climbed up on the table to sit with her and was surprised when she had intertwined their fingers together , perfectly .
He knew it would be a perfect fit , him and Cat .
It felt as if time had stood still and magic floated between them , the almost shy way Cat had looked at him, as if she felt the same way too that had given Robbie the courage to tilt her chin to his and kiss her gently .
The kiss had been wonderful and natural except she ran off from him .
Dejected , Robbie sighed into his chin and debated on chasing after her or just admitting defeat . He honestly didn't know what to-do anymore where the redheaded angel was concerned so he sat and stared at his phone instead .
Tori, Andre, Beck, and Jade had caught enough of their friends moment and wanted to know more so they approached Robbie and found him looking pained .
Jade was the first to speak ." Hey Rob, what do you keep doing to make Cat run away from you ?"
Robbie threw up his hands in despair , frustrated ." I don't know, Jade ! You tell me ! I just don't know anymore ! I thought Cat and I ..I thought we were closer …I thought I read her right this time , but obviously I know nothing about her! Cat keeps running away from me ! I should just give up once and for all ! Right ?"
Beck laid a sympathetic hand on his friends shoulder ." Calm down, Robbie ," replied Beck, all the practical thinker ," I know you were busy with your date earlier but let me tell you that Cat was pretty wazzed off that you brought Gabriella instead of her "
" Beck, I asked Cat to be my date ! I wanted to go with Cat ! She didn't want to go with me ! "
" Okay that makes no sense ," replied Beck," but I do know that this has to be the first time I've ever seen Cat mad before. I 'm pretty positive the girl was jealous …"
" Jealous ? "
Tori and Andre turned to Beck and jade ." Cat jealous because Robbie brought a date ? What exactly did Andre and I miss tonight ?"
" A very wazzed off , super jealous Cat mainly " answered Jade , simply ," it was fun at first but now its not . This whole night explains so much …Robbie , don't leave "
" Why not ?"
" Vega and I are going to talk to Cat so you need to be around " informed Jade ," and since you missed it , Cat did want to be your date to this shindig "
Robbie was doubtful ." I don't know , Jade "
" I do ," Jade grabbed Tori's arm," come on, let's go find Cat . She wouldn't have gone very far ….and once the panic dies down she'll feel guilty about leaving Robbie "
" Guilty about Robbie ? Are you sure ,Jade ? I still don't get why all the running ..Robbie's asked her to every dance since I can remember and she just says no. Why would she be freaking out this time ?"
Jade shot her a scathing look ." Do you ever watch her and Robbie lately ? Never mind , your in your own Tori world so you probably missed all of the signs "
Jade led her inside Hollywood Arts leaving Andre and Beck to deal with a rejected Robbie .
" What freaking signs , Jade? I don't know what you're talking about ..they hang out a lot together . So what ! What signs are you talking about ? "
Andre and Beck sat down on either side of their friend and decided this might be deep .
" You made a move on Cat finally ? A real one ?"
" She held my hand first , Andre ! You should have seen how she looked at me ! I thought she wanted me to kiss her, I wanted to kiss her, and I did "
" She kiss you back ?" asked a curious Beck, already guessing the answer .
" Yes , she did ! It was even better than when she stage kissed me two years ago ! "
He sighed again." You guys know more about girls than I do and you know how my relationship with Cat is ..maybe relationship isn't the right word , but don't you think Cat has been giving me signs that she's into me too or am I still dreaming ?"
Both of his friends grew quiet and thoughtful , wanting to be honest .
" She does seem awfully flirty Cat with you lately " decided Andre ," and expect for that skunk bag Evan, the girl hasn't been dating anyone for a while "
" Rob, I know jealous ," Beck tried a different approach," Jade practically invented the word and I love that passion it brings out in her .."
" No offense , Beck, but I don't want to talk about your girlfriends passion ! That has nothing to do with me and Cat ! "
Beck held up a hand ," Let me finish , Rob. Cat can get a lot of crazy but she's also the sweetest girl we all know and that same girl was using Sinjin ..Sinjin..to make you jealous . If Cat isn't into you, Robbie , then I'm equally lost too "
" I think we should just hang out and let the girls sort this out with Cat until we hear from them " decided Andre ," oh hey Robbie , what happened to your date ? "
" Gabriella hooked up with Sinjin "
" Oh ..well, you want Cat anyway so it shouldn't be a problem "
" Cat ! Cat, come on out ! We know you're here !"
" No, I'm not ! Go away " pouted Cat, softly .
Tori and jade found the tiny redhead sitting cross legged on the floor by Robbie's locker , Mr. Purples with her , and twisting her hair , nervously .
" Cat " Tori sat down beside her ," are you alright ?"
" I don't know ..how did you find me ? Is Robbie with you or did he go back to his ..date? " She practically spat out the word date with venom .
" Cat, stop it ! " Jade was sick of the whole thing and wasn't going to sugarcoat the obvious truth ," this is stupid ! "
Tori gaped at her ." Jade , don't yell at her ! Cant you see how upset she is ! "
" I am upset ," Cat worried her lower lip ," I don't know what I'm doing …I have all of these ..feelings ..God, my heart hurts ! "
" Feelings ? You mean for Robbie ?" asked a tentative Tori, earning her a glare from jade .
" No, she has them for Sinjin, Vega ," growled an impatient Jade ," yes for Robbie ! This stopped being funny the first time you ran away from Robbie because he was going to ask you to this thing . He asked you to prome last year , Cat, and you turned him down "
" I had another date "
" You go to every Friday Night Jam with him even if its not a real date," Jade wasn't finished and was only getting warmed up ," you sing songs together and you freaking know who Robbie's pen pal is . Stop running away and just deal with the fact that for whatever dumb reasons I don't even understand you're in love with Robbie , Cat "
Cat's heart thudded loudly in her chest and she pressed a hand there as the clarity of everything hit her straight in the face .
" Oh my God ! "
" Jade , you cant just assume that Cat suddenly fell in love with Robbie . That's a little strange and kind of ..gross and oh, no "
" it's not gross though ," Cat's voice was soft ," Jade's right . I…I am in love with Robbie ..I love Robbie " She bit her lip ," I ..I don't know when it happened ….I've been hurt by every guy I've ever went out with and ….oh gosh, I'm scared of what I feel for him "
Tori leaned back against the lockers and absorbed Cat's announcement .
" Robbie adores you, Cat . He would never in a million years hurt you "
" I know that but these feelings are different than what I felt for the other guys I went out with ," admitted Cat, softly ," so much more and its Robbie . You know , he kissed me tonight …."
" Gross "
" It wasn't though ," murmured Cat, more to herself than to her friends ," it was sweet and wonderful but then I realized he came with that ..that Gabriella "
She began pacing angrily in front of her friends , fists clenched as she walked .
" I wanted to punch a wall and her ! How could Robbie do that to me ? Why would he ask another girl out ? I never thought …ooooh , it makes me so angry "
Her heart hurt all over again just thinking about it but that and making Robbie jealous and want to be with her were the only things on her mind tonight .
" That might be fun to watch " Jade couldn't resist ," never seen you like this before , Cat . You got it really , really bad for Robbie "
" Okay , I think we have all established that Cat is in love with Robbie ," Tori tried to be the voice of reason ," a little thing that confuses me is why you turned Robbie down . You had to know there was the slightest possibility he would ask another girl out …I've seen him ask Trina for a pity date before a couple years ago "
" I don't know , Tori , I guess I wanted to actually be his date this time . That's never happened before with Robbie and me ! Okay so I probably would have gone to prome with Robbie if he has asked me first and who knows what might have happened …but Gabriella ? She's ..she's such a grunch "
Jade chuckled at her friends logic ." You wanted it to be a real date tonight which it would have been so you panicked . Makes perfect sense "
" I think you're really jealous ," Tori tried to get Cat focused ," and cant think straight right now . I heard from Burf than Gabriella likes geeks which is why she probably agreed to go out with Robbie tonight in the first place but that isn't the most important thing you need to focus on, Cat '
" Why wouldn't she go for Robbie ?" Cat stopped , her nerves skittering along the edges of her skin yet she was calmer inside now ," He's such a great guy , Tori . He's sweet , really smart , and a gentleman and he always makes me laugh "
She grew solemn ." What if he doesn't want to be with me anymore ? What if I scared Robbie with all my crazy running away from him ?"
" That's enough ," Jade pulled out her pear phone ," you need to talk to Robbie "
Cat chewed on her bottom lip, nervously ." How did I not realize …..why did it take me so long to see ? I honestly think that deep down inside of me I've always known I was in love with Robbie , I was just too scared to admit it to myself "
Tori smiled , warmly and touched her shoulder ." What changed ?"
" Robbie and I did " It was as simple and as complicated as that .
" Robbie's on his way to find you , Cat ," stated Jade ," and you guys better be together once you hash all this crazy chizz out together . Don't waste any more time apart "
Like she and Beck had and now that they were finally back together and better than ever, she didn't want Cat to blow her chance at love with Robbie .
" Jade , I don't know if I'm ready to talk to him yet "
" You're ready ," Tori gave her a hug ," good luck and just be honest with Robbie "
" Come on, Beck and Andre are waiting " Jade headed back outside with Tori trailing behind her .
" You don't want to watch them ?"
" We're not spying on Cat and Robbie ! Let's go ! "
Cat twisted her hands together nervously , chewing on her lip, and waiting as the butterflies collided with her jittery nerves and she contemplated going back to pretending once more . Except now that she had admitted the truth of her feelings to herself and her friends , she really did want to talk with Robbie .
" Cat ! Cat , Jade said you were in here " Robbie spotted her instantly and noted that though her cheeks looked flushed , he didn't think she had been crying ," sweetie , are you alright ? I never meant to upset you earlier or again …."
Cat nodded ." I'm good . I'm sorry I ran away from you, Robbie "
Robbie tucked his hands inside the fronts of his short pockets and shrugged, attempting more nonchalance than he felt .
" Cat, I need for you to be honest with me about ..about how you feel about me . I don't know how much longer I can do this ….you confuse me sometimes . A lot tonight actually …."
" Do you like her ?" Cat had to know or she would always worry and wonder about it .
He blinked behind his glasses ." Like who ?"
" Gabriella ? Your ..date " Venom was laced in the question though she tried to not be so mean but her stomach churned with apprehension and fear .
" What …..no . No ," Robbie stepped closer to her ," I only asked Gabriella out because you made it pretty clear you were repulsed by the idea of tonight being a date "
Cat pressed a hand to her hand and brown eyes met brown and the awareness between them spun around them .
" It felt like you stuck a knife in my heart, Robbie . It hurt me so much "
He searched her face and knew she was telling him the truth which only added to his confusion .
" I'm sorry that I hurt your feelings , Cat, but what did you expect me to do ? You told me you didn't want to go with me and Gabriella did . ..this is our Senior year and I didn't want to start by spending it dateless and lonely "
Cat stepped closer to him, her heart speaking what she had been hiding and denying for so long couldn't be contained . She didn't want to keep it hidden from him anymore .
" Our relationship changed , Robbie , and it frightened me a lot . Do you know that you're the first person I want to call when I want to share something or that I couldn't think of sitting anywhere in class except next to you ?"
" I did not know this ," Robbie touched his hand lightly to her forehead where the band-aid still held ," you know how I feel about you, Cat . It's never been a secret , I've always been honest about my feelings for you , and I guess I just need to know if I need to try to move on from you . "
A stricken expression filled her face and she pressed her hands across her mouth .
" Oh God , you do like another girl ! "
" I don't , Cat , but gah ! Please talk to me about this ..about us ! "
Her emotions gurgled and bubbled to the surface like a spring water fountain and Cat took his hands into hers .
" Our hands fit "
" They always have " Robbie hoped that this was a sign ," I want to be with you, Cat ."
Cat stood on her tip toes and pressed her lips to his and the kiss shimmered and shined , soft and gentle , easy and warm, leisurely and delicately , it went on and on as Robbie 's hands found her tiny waist and pulled her closer to savor every moment with her .
It was a perfect moment in time and neither of them wanted it to end .
" Robbie " Cat's voice was barely a whisper , still feeling the emotions so heady from their kisses as she pressed her forehead to his ," I saw us just now "
Robbie smiled tenderly at her and kissed her brow ." Us ? Was that with the fireworks because I was seeing them all over the place , sweetheart "
" Robbie ," Cat leaned into him again, happily ," yes "
" Uh, Cat , are you going to run away again or what did this mean ?"
Cat slid her arms back around his neck ." No more running away , I promise "
" Good cause I think you're swell …" His eyes twinkled behind his frames and he prayed she finally realized the truth of his song for her and he waited ," and in case I haven't been clear about my feelings , I'm in love with you, Cat Valentine "
Her smile was radiant ." I'm in love with you too, Robbie Shapiro "
Robbie held her close , loving how right holding her felt , and didn't want to let go.
" We're together now ?"
" Yes ! Yes, we're together now ! " Cat kissed him, softly ," oh my God , your new song was for me ! I'm such an idiot ..here I was worrying about stupid Evan and I think about you all the time too. Robbie , why didn't you tell me ? "
" I did but it doesn't matter now ," Robbie kissed her hand ," all that matters is that we're finally together and we found each other , Cat "
" You want to go back to the dance , Robbie ?" Cat played with the curls at the nape of his neck , secretly she had always loved his curly hair ," we haven't danced together yet "
Robbie drew her in for another dreamy kiss that had her sighing against him .
" Maybe later "
" Awwwwwww , " Tori poked her head back from around the corner ," that was sweet . I never really noticed till now how adorable those two are together "
" Great ," Andre grabbed her hand and led her back to where Beck and jade waited for them at the dance ," now lets go. I don't know why I let you talk me into spying with you…Cat and Robbie were having a private movement "
" Because its exciting news , Andre ! Cat and Robbie are in love ! It's a little weird but its happy news ! Our friends are a couple now "
Jade lifted a dark eyebrow ." Cat last five minutes before she caved and told Rob how she felt or what ?"
" We didn't time them, Jade " Andre joined Beck at the table ," it is pretty cool about those two. Now that I think about it , Cat and Robbie make a lot of sense together "
" Not quite two years , Beck ," grinned Jade , slyly ," I was right and you lost "
" We're not going to do this now , Jade ," replied Beck as his lips curved upwards in a smile of his own ," and I am aware of what you speak of but its only half a bet "
" You guys made a bet ? " Andre looked at the couple as if they were insane .
" Long time ago " told a calm Beck ," Jade had a theory and I disagreed at first "
" Wait ," cut in Tori ," the bet was on Cat and Robbie falling in love ?"
" It was after the Trina kiss and yes ," informed jade, matter of fact ," we did . I am always right so now you and Andre need to get it together , Tori "
" W..what ? " Andre sputtered , not quite meeting Tori's gaze and avoiding Jade's all too knowing one as she was barking up a tree that he had thought of a lot that way .
He so wasn't ready to go there and he doubted Tori had the slightest clue .
" Me and Andre ? " Troi tried to laugh it off but it sounded hollow .
Jade allowed herself a smile and figured those two would figure it out eventually , if Andre didn't burst first from hiding his feelings for Vega for too many years .
Just a matter of time .
" Hey guys ," announced Robbie as he and Cat walked hand in hand to rejoin their friends ," Cat and I wanted you all to know that we are officially a couple "
Cat was all smiles and practically bouncing from happiness ." We're together now "
Amid the hugs and the back pats, the band encouraged Tori and Andre to sing another round of 'Here's To Us ' as Cat and Robbie danced together , whirling and rocking, dancing and waltzing and being completely in love with each other as it had always been meant to be .