Right then, so things are pretty dark in all of the chaptered Rade stories right now. Tell Your Story Walking, Perfect To Us and even my latest update. It's all a bit melancholy, so I decided to write something to lighten things up a little.
The sun's fallen somewhere behind the horizon.
Robbie's car gives a pathetic cough and dies as Robbie brings it to a halt. In the absence of its shuddering machinations, Jade West laments her present predicament. Currently fumbling through his backpack beside her is possibly the biggest dork in school. Jade is currently on a date with said dork. It's not that she likes him, he just happened to ask her out in the aftermath of a particularly nasty spat between Beck and herself. Casting an unimpressed eye over the dilapidated lot around them, Jade's scowl only deepens. What a waste of a Saturday night. She could be washing her hair, or writing a new play.
"Really?" Jade asks, eyebrows dragging down as she catches sight of a large white block on the building in front of them. With her words, Robbie's eyes snap away from the crumpled bag in his lap, and blow open in surprise.
"What? What's wrong?" He squawks, eyebrows scrambling together in consternation. As Robbie's fingers attempt to strangle his bag out of pure panic, Jade watches his white knuckled neurosis curiously. Bile burns her throat as she realizes that she's never seen a boy get so worked up over one word before. Not even the one that had so adamantly claimed to love her.
"A Drive-In movie?" Jade hisses, a vicious edge creeping into her tone as the withered organ in her chest gives a particularly painful squeeze. Robbie blinks like a deer in the headlights of a Big Rig as Jade's words plough through him. His grip slackens, and the bag he'd been so tightly gripping a moment ago falls uselessly into his lap.
"What's wrong with that?" He asks, desperately trying to twist his mouth into something happier than the frown that's currently weighing it down. When his lips curl upwards, Jade finds unhappiness crawling up her throat. The harder Robbie fights, the more she's reminded of Beck's failings. That and the fact that his claws are still embedded in the carcass of her heart.
"Geez, Shapiro. Where do I start? I don't even know how you found out about this place. I thought these things went out with the mullet. What have you been reading, Dating For Dummies circa 1975?" Jade bites out, dragging shrapnel from her tongue and hurling it at Robbie. When the smile on his lips flickers and finally dies, Jade's left with nothing. Not even the sense of grim vindication that she'd expected. Just a disconsolate figure and the gloom of a nearly empty Drive-In.
"So you hate it…" The words crawl through Robbie's lips after several heavy moments limp by, and Jade realizes some things are worse than silence. Robbie's voice barely scrapes the air, and Jade's eyebrows drag together. Since when has a wounded nerd slowed her down? She kind of wishes she could fall back into her memories. Anywhere that she could squash him like an insignificant bug. The grim reality of it is that he's burrowing into her skin and out of reach though.
"Not entirely. Your music selection was…tolerable. The uh, roses were nice too I suppose." Jade grumbles, screwing her arms over her chest and tilting her head towards the bouquet laying in the backseat. Catching Robbie's eyebrows making a run for the top of his head, Jade wonders what went wrong between leaving her house and arrive here. Robbie had shown up on her doorstep holding roses, and had managed to wrangle an extra hour of curfew from her militant father. If only he knew how to plan the actual date part of a date, he might actually be half a chance of being more than a one night wonder…
"So what crappy film did we drive 45 minutes for?" Jade blurts out all of a sudden, drowning that horrifying thought beneath her words. Robbie jitters slightly, before eying Jade wearily. Even behind the wall of glass in front of his eyes, Jade picks out the uncertainty swelling in his eyes.
"Uh, Twin Scissters." Robbie answers, a cautious smile beginning to flicker onto his lips. It's the one he'd worn when Jade had first answered the door earlier in the evening, and this time she's not as unnerved by it.
"Really?" Jade asks, daring to echo Robbie's smile. It flies from her lips only seconds later though, chased away by memories of her previous attempts at seeing Twin Scissters years ago. Shaking her head in a singular stabbing motion, Jade jangles memories of Beck's stubbornness loose. It's almost unperceivable, but the weight that's weighed on her shoulders for the past four months lessens when she meets Robbie's gaze again.
"Yepperoonie." He chirps, the smile on his lips only growing wider. Retreating into her seat again, Jade screws her eyes shut and pushes the raven locks that have spilled over her eyes behind her ears. His dorkiness is actually physically painful.
"Don't say that. In fact shut up." She grits out, trying to conjure a tone vicious enough to eradicate that word from Robbie's dictionary. This time his smile doesn't waver, and Jade finds herself feeling more than a little infuriated.
Throwing her arms out, Jade grabs Robbie with the intention of strangling him. When his arms pool curl around her shoulders, her attempted felony melts into what normal people might call a hug. That's normal people though, not Jade. Flying away from Robbie as abruptly as she'd yanked him into her arms, she's still trying to convince herself that it was just a murder gone wrong.
"W-what was that for?" Robbie rattles out, eyes as wide as saucers. His cheeks are bone white, and Jade's not sure if it's the moon that's washed the color from his face, or her vicious assault. Grudgingly, she admits it's aesthetically pleasing either way. Stupid Shapiro and his stupid cheeks. Who does he think he is, Vega?
"You're stupid and your puppet annoys me." Jade answers irritably, dragging her knees up to her chin and curling her arms tightly around them. Her bitter words are the only thing anchoring Jade to reality. A date with Shapiro that isn't a complete disaster? She's fairly sure it's a sign that 2012 heralding the end of the world might just be more than hype.
"Then why did you say yes?" Robbie wheezes, gaping at her woefully. His eyebrows are crumbling above his nose again, but it's not so bad this time. The curved edges of his lips are the antidote to the guilt that had briefly been brewing in Jade's gut.
"I was bored and apparently it turns out you have good taste in movies." Jade drawls, recomposing herself and loosening her entwined fingers. Her knuckles had been stained a depressingly Shapiro-esque shade of white.
"I've never seen Twin Scissters before." Robbie admits, glancing sidelong at Jade with a hesitant twist. Jade's emerald oceans have swelled, and she's regarding him through widened eyes. Running a palm over her cheek, Jade tries to make heads or tails of Robbie's logic. She'd suggested a much closer theatre, but he'd been dead set on this specific one. Twin Scissters isn't exactly screening in multiplexes everywhere anymore, so it can't have been a coincidence either.
"Then why did you insist on driving all the way out here?" Jade cries, exasperation having ridden into her voice in the wake of her mind coming to dead end after dead end.
"Uh…" Robbie grunts dumbly, creases appearing between his eyebrows as he deliberates on what to say.
"C'mon, spit it out Shapiro." Jade demands, having sat through more than a few moments worth of Robbie's feeble contortions. Jade's voice brings Robbie to a stand still. He blinks at her silently for a moment before the sound of the Drive-In theatres welcome screen almost jars him from his seat.
"You have until the popcorn starts dancing across the screen." Jade states decisively, glowering at Robbie and jabbing her index finger in the vague direction of the screen. Robbie's lips part, but nothing comes out of them for a moment. Jade's all set to unload on him when Robbie takes a deep breath and finally eeks out an explanation.
"I remember you being angry because B-be…your ex wouldn't sneak you into it when it was playing at the real movie theatre. Well I always kind of wanted to take y-you but you know…so this is the best I could do." Robbie explains, jangling his shoulders intermittently, and stitching sentences into a fractured paragraph that's just barely cohesive.
"You remember that?" Jade asks, a hitch in her voice as she fidgets nervously. Amid the festering guilt she'd been feeling and the lingering corpse of her relationship with Beck, something vaguely reminiscent of hope begins to bloom.
"My arm remembers it." Robbie states, mouth twisting into a dismissive smile. It flickers for an instant as he reaches down and pulls the cuff of his shirt up his forearm. Jade's kohl rimmed orbs, blow wide open at the jagged white line carved into his flesh.
"I did that?" She asks, feeling stupid for asking the obvious. The sight of Robbie's arm dredges up memories of stained concrete and a strained relationship. The lump in Jade's throat feels like razorblades when she tries to swallow it. Her shoulders tense up, and she's not quite sure what to do. Absently, Jade fingers her fingers tracing the scar on Robbie's arm, like it's somehow going to fix him.
"Yeah, stray plate the day after Twin Scissters stopped playing at the Multiplex." Robbie shrugs, gently prying his arm away from Jade's flittering fingers and cradling it self-consciously.
"I don't think I ever said it…but I'm sorry, Shapiro. Really, I am." Jade mumbles, forcing the words through the regret that's crowding her chest. Far from being a relief, the confession feels worse than the razorblades she'd just swallowed. Staring into her lap, a pasty arm that's not her own suddenly slides into Jade's view. Robbie's dragged his cuff up again, and is smiling bravely. It's a flickering grin, and one that Jade returns as her fingers skate over Robbie's skin again.
"Go on, I know you want to look." Robbie states softly.
"I know me grabbing on this is creepy, but you letting me is kind of…sweet. I guess." Jade grumbles, trying not to sound like a girl whose heart is starting to kick for the first time in an age. Robbie's eyes drop to Jade's fingers, which have wandered away from his forearm and found their way into the gaps between his digits. The resulting smile on his face almost blinds Jade as it blows away the last vestiges of her denial. In its wake, all that Jade's left with is the grim reality that she's actually enjoying a date with Robbie Shapiro. The worst part is that her stupid lips have decided to curve upwards as well.
"You're not hating this as much as you thought you would, are you?" Robbie asks, his voice remaining soft and cautious as it navigates the minefield that makes up Jade's emotions. Jade bristles under his accusation, wondering if there's any possible way to deflect it without lying outright.
When a sudden chord stabs through the speaker in Robbie's window, Jade empties her lungs. She's never been more thankful for the beginning of a movie.
"No Robbie. Jade like movie though. You quiet now. We watch." Jade states, dropping her voice several octave and mimicking a caveman. Turning to the screen, she blames that sudden and severely uncool behavior on her present company. Yeah, it's definitelyhis fault she feels comfortable in her own skin.
"Popcorn? Chocolate? I wasn't sure what you'd want, so I got everything…" Robbie pipes up a moment later as the opening credits begin to roll. He's peering over at Jade, having retrieved the twisted remains of his bag from earlier. Leaning over and inspecting the contents, Jade wonders if he went and held up a Convenience Store. He really wasn't kidding when he said everything. Silly boy.
"Oh trust me, you're not gunna be wanting to eat during this." Jade chortles, feeling uncharacteristically merry as she wrenches the bag from Robbie's grasp and tosses it into the backseat. Slumping back into her seat, Jade feels a spring jab her in the back and dives forward again.
"Your stupid car stabbed me." She growls, scooting across the bench seat and taking possession of Robbie's arm. Draping it over her shoulder, Jade almost manages to convince herself that it's to prevent any further stabbings taking place. The happy jig that her dumb heart does puts an end to that though.
Ugh.
"Oh, alrighty then…" Robbie squeaks, still processing Jade's flurry of movement as she settles on a place in the crook of his neck. Sliding her fingers across Robbie's lap, Jade finds a stray hand and grips onto it. Not because she's scared of course, but because as weird and unnatural as the whole thing is, being this close to Robbie isn't wholly unpleasant.
"I said quiet, Ace." Jade snipes, snapping out of her daze and remembering to not only slap Robbie on the leg, but also to slap a nickname on him. It's a tenuous link at best to one of her childhood favorites, but where there's a will there's a way. Peering up, Jade doubts Robbie has even taken note of his new nickname. He's just sitting and smiling in a daze. It's kind of a nice change from detached coolness, to be honest. Beck had never been particularly affected by any kind of distance between himself and Jade, be it inches or continents.
Jade sets her eyes on the screen, and for the first time in a long time she's not affected Beck Oliver either.
When the end credits crawl over a blood drenched scene, Jade's certain that Shapiro has outdone himself. All previous notions of the Drive-In Theatre being a dive have drifted from her mind. Jade actually wonders what other kinds of movies they might be showing here in the future, such was her enjoyment of seeing twin Scissters on a massive screen. Disturbingly to Jade though, her mind's eye has seen fit to include Shapiro in these future engagements. Lifting her head from his shoulder, she decides that it's because he didn't accidentally give her a black eye like the one time she got within arms reach of Beck at The Scissoring. There's nothing like watching two twins dispatch a wedding party with nothing but a pair of scissors to change a girl's opinion of things.
"Ace, I'm hungry. Does this date include dinner?" Jade asks out of the blue, head tilting curiously. Robbie claws an unruly clump of hair away from his eyes, and a loud breath rakes through him. For a brief, terrifying second, Jade thinks she's about to be turned down by Robbie Shapiro.
"I thought you said this movie causes loss of appetite?" Robbie counters, peering down at Jade. A crooked grin slithers onto his lips, and Jade thinks he looks much too smug for somebody that's just seen Twin Scissters for the first time.
"Yeah, for you." Jade scoffs, elbowing Robbie in the ribs and shoving herself upright. Robbie winces and his lips flicker for a second. Robbie wets his lips with his tongue, as if to speak, but silence is the only thing that follows. Jade's fingers become increasingly erratic as the pause stretches out. They twist and curl in her lap, and Jade wonders if Robbie is about to cut their date short. How embarrassing and unexpectedly distressing.
"So…uh, that's a no then?" Jade wonders out loud, swallowing hard. Robbie's eyebrows perk, and instantly protests comprised of half formed words begin to fly past his lips. It's actually kind of…endearing. Sort of.
"N-no! No way! I'm just trying to think of where to take a girl after you've seen an entire funeral service hacked to death by a pair of undead scissor wielding sisters." Robbie blathers, finally wrestling coherence from his tongue and seemingly trying to stuff as many words into a single breath as possible. When he finally rattles to a halt, Jade find herself biting down on a smile. It's been tugging at her lips much too persistently for her taste.
"Good Burger, duh." Jade deadpans, having recomposed her smile into something closer to a smirk before allowing it to curve her lips. Robbie remains silent for a moment, before tilting his head towards the roof and chewing on his bottom lip thoughtfully. While she waits, Jade drums on her knee impatiently and wonders why there's an irritating thump in her chest. She's certain it hadn't been there an hour ago.
"Good Burger it is." Robbie states decisively. With a sharp movement, he twists the key in the ignition and the engine roars to life. Well, not roars really. Actually, it's more of a yelp Jade realizes.
The trip to Good Burger isn't a far one. That's not to say it doesn't take a long time though. Robbie Shapiro has the driving senses of a ninety-year old woman. It could be worse though, at least Robbie doesn't share Beck's fetish for music that was popular in 1993. Jade even recognizes a few of the albums in Robbie's CD collection from the mountain of music in her room.
"Drive-thru or do you want to go in?" Robbie asks, drawing Jade's eyes away from a particularly enticing AFI disc. Looming before them is a bustling restaurant, almost overflowing with people. He's smiling earnestly, unabashedly happy to be with Jade. It's yet another trait that separates him from Beck, she realizes. He's not too cool to care.
"Why ruin a perfectly good night with other people?" Jade answers, crinkling her nose at the very prospect of human interaction. Robbie's eyebrows sail upwards briefly, before a snort of amusement rips through him and he shakes his head.
"Can't have that, can we?" Robbie retorts flippantly, pressing his foot down. By the time Jade's recovered from the shock of Robbie's backtalk, he's in the middle of an overly complicated order. Jade can almost picture the furrowed brow at the other end of the speaker, too.
"So uh…Good Burger with cheese and no pickles, right?" Robbie asks, halting his order twisting towards Jade. Blinking with a start, Jade gives a slow nod. Robbie's lips quirk happily at her response, and he spins around again to rattle off the details of Jade's order.
"So…how'd you know what I wanted, creeper?" Jade asks, catching Robbie's ear as he falls back into his seat. Robbie's lips flicker for a second and his cheeks stain crimson, as he contemplates his answer.
"I remember stuff like…oh man, this is gunna sound so stupid. Like when I made a food run for everybody after Tori's birthday party last month." As Jade stares at Robbie's profile, she notices the confidence draining from him with every passing word. Recalling that night, memories of a rather unpleasant fight with Beck sour her mood for a moment. She doubts that she had been terribly nice to anybody after that.
"That's kind of cool Shapiro. At least you won't forget to buy me a birthday present…" She replies, trying to forget about that night. Robbie's lips lift again when the words drift past Jade's lips. As Robbie pulls up to the window and turns to exchange small, awkward pleasantries with the person serving them, Jade sinks into her seat. She finds it a little disturbing that he's able to sift through her unkind words and find the intended meaning so easily. Relieving, also.
"So where do you want to eat?" Robbie asks, handing their orders to Jade. Hesitating, Jade shoves a fry into her mouth as a buffer between herself and Robbie. His thick eyebrows shuffle closer together as Jade points at her mouth innocently. She feels totally ridiculous, since when does answering Shapiro require actual thought.
"What, you mean burgers in the parking lot isn't your idea of romance?" Jade counters, falling into the familiar sanctuary of sarcasm. Robbie sucks his lips between his teeth, and for a moment all is silent between them.
"Give me five minutes…" He blurts out, catching Jade off guard by peeling away from Good Burger. Digging her fingers into the seat beneath her, Jade wonders where in the hell this burst of speed has come from. It's almost surreal seeing the buildings fly past at more than a snails pace with Robbie behind the wheel.
The drive is a little longer than five minutes, but Jade holds her tongue. Maybe it'll be worth the effort like last time. They're somewhere in the Hollywood hills, and Jade can see the glimmer of the city beneath them. As Robbie's eyes dart along the roadside, Jade busies herself by wondering what stories those little specks of light might hold.
Eventually, Robbie finds what he's looking for and veers into a little dirt road. They skitter across the uneven surface for a few more minutes before Robbie pulls into a barely defined track that melts into the horizon. A large tree emerges from over the tall grass, and apparently that's what Robbie has been looking for, because he crawls to a halt beneath it. Killing the engine, Robbie pops his door open and hops gleefully into the night before Jade can say a thing. Since when has he been such a free spirit?
"This is…actually really nice." Jade admits grudgingly, cradling their bounty of Good Burger food against her chest and knocking the door shut with her hip. Spiraling around, she catches a flash of Robbie as he clambers onto the hood of his car.
Sucking in a quick breath, Jade marches forward and climbs onto Robbie's car a little more gracefully than he had. Lowering herself beside Robbie, Jade dives into the paper bag in her lap and hands Robbie's food to him. While they eat, the only sound is the faint whistle of a summer breeze swirling in the air. Soon the stack of fries in Jade's grasp begins to dwindle, and her restless tongue burns with words unsaid.
"So, uh…I have a question." Jade blurts out, glaring down at the scarred surface of Robbie's hood. From the corner of her eye, she watches Robbie splutter and cough for a moment, before gathering his bearings. It's more than a little reassuring to realize that some things never change.
"Shoot." Robbie states, curling his fingers into the shape of a gun and miming a fired shot. Leaning back against the windscreen, Jade screws her eyes shut and a grunt of annoyance bursts through her lips. Yeah, some things will never change.
"You make it really hard to like you, Ace." Jade bites down on her lip, but it's not nearly fast enough to stifle her admission. She can't even bring herself to repeat it in the sanctity of her mind, as Robbie gapes in her direction.
"Y-you like me?" Robbie squeaks, all coiled muscles and widened eyes. Reluctantly, Jade pushes herself upright again. She looks away at first, but eventually something drags her eyes back to Robbie. Her throat's tight, and it's utterly ridiculous. Here she is getting bent out of shape over Robbie of all people.
"That's not the point! Why did you suddenly decide to ask me out? You've been making googly eyes at Vega for like six months now." Jade demands, a torrent of barely connected sentences flowing from her tongue. She's painfully aware when Robbie's shoulders unbunch and he smirks slightly. The worst part of it all is that she feels more highly strung than ever.
"Uh, no I haven't." He states easily, taking a sip from his shake. Taking another deep, raking breath, Jade sits forward and regards Robbie. His coffee colored orbs are dancing happily, like he's got nothing to hide.
"Answer the question, Ace." Jade hisses, demanding that he admit to some kind of wrongdoing. Nights like tonight don't just appear out of thin air. They're constructed out of hidden agendas and held together by mistruths. For the first time, Jade catches a flicker of nerves in Robbie's eyes, and a grim sense of triumph tugs at her lips. Too good to be true. It had to be.
"Who on earth is Ace?" Robbie asks stupidly, sitting up and twisting toward Jade.
"Ace as in Ventura, as in you saying alrighty then like some kind of goober. Answer now or I'm bringing a wood chipper to school on Monday." Jade growls, forcing the words through gritted teeth. Gnarling her hands, Jade lets the irritation that's rapidly strangling her rational side pool in her fists, and reminds herself who's she's dealing with. Just because Shapiro has somehow pulled together a decent date doesn't mean he's suddenly going to become a fully functional human being.
"Twin Scisstors!" Robbie cries, the threat of a grisly end for his best friend fueling his reply. Jade's lips part and she reaches up and absentmindedly tugs a strand of purple hair in her fingers. If Shapiro wasn't going to be fully functional, couldn't he be at least partially functional?
"Uh…yes. That is the movie we just saw." Jade states blankly, shaking her head lightly in Robbie's direction. He hesitates once more, swirling the words around in his mouth before speaking again.
"No, no. Well yes, but that's not just it. Rex made me take him out to Northridge to meet some girls last week, and on the way we drove past the drive in theatre and…" Robbie blathers, eyes dipping lower into his lap with each mumbled word. Leaning forward, Jade tries to catch the tail end of what Robbie's saying, but the words get lost in the air between them.
"I can't read lips, Robbie." Jade interjects, catching his chin and dragging Robbie's eyes away from his lap. Her voice lacks it's usual venom, and Robbie smiles a little when the sound sails into his ears. The hesitation begins to drain from his features, and the worried lines in his forehead soften.
"I saw the title and it reminded me of all that stuff…and I don't know, I just thought it would make you happy. You're really pretty when you smile, Jade." Jade spends exactly three seconds lost in Robbie's eyes once he's finished speaking. After that, she flops dramatically against the windshield again, and glares up at the stars.
"Ugh." It's not exactly an intelligent, nor a charming statement. But it's the only thing that feels right coming off Jade's lips as she realizes that Robbie has just done.
"What's wrong?" With those words, the shape of a wild shrub blots out several of the stars Jade had just been watching. In their places are two furrowed eyebrows and shimmering eyes filled with panic.
"I think I might actually want a second date with you now. Nice going Shapiro." Jade grumbles, lashing out and socking him on the shoulder. Robbie braces himself with one hand, and presses his free one against the affected area, but still hovers over Jade. He's not close exactly, but Jade can still vaguely feel his jagged breaths sweeping over her.
"R-really?" Robbie yelps, apparently having recovered from whatever kind of minor panic attack he'd just been going though. Screwing her eyes shut and filling her lungs again, Jade bites down on the stream of obscenities that are threatening to spill from her lips.
"Yes." She intones, quickly sealing her mouth again.
"C-can I kiss you?" Robbie asks, his eyes darting around for a moment, before a crooked smile finds it's way onto his lips. Jade wasn't expecting that, not at all. She guesses that Robbie isn't exactly the robot she'd thought he was though. He's caught her off guard too many times tonight for that to be true.
"If you must." The words just leap off Jade's tongue without a second of hesitation. The worst part of it is that she wonders if hesitating and considering her answer would have even changed a thing.
When Jade props herself up onto her elbows, Robbie looks elated. There's been a rush of blood to his cheeks, and idly Jade wonders if there's any blood left for the rest of him. When Robbie's hand cups her cheek, and his lips collide with hers, flames ignite in Jade's chest.
Kissing Robbie Shapiro…apparently it's not the nightmare Jade had once though it would be. Robbie's movements are self-conscious, and his tongue flickers uncertainly, but it's still extremely effective at thawing the ice Jade has let grow inside of her. When he finally relinquishes his grip on her, Jade's breath comes in jagged waves. Sweeping a hand over her cheek, she realizes Robbie's not the only one that's flushed now.
"You taste like tomato sauce." She mumbles, watching Robbie through bleary eyes. Instantly he starts diving in the other direction. Jade's not sure why, but it doesn't really matter anyway. Her reflexes are faster, and Robbie finds himself ensnared in her grip.
"Not so fast, Ace. You're mine now." Jade purrs, crushing her lips to Robbie's again. His hands flail in the air for a moment before settling on Jade's hips. Curling her fingers in Robbie's tangled locks, Jade's vaguely aware of a thumping sensation in her chest again.
Somehow it's not so much of a problem anymore.
Well damn, this turned out a bit longer than I had expected. Anyway, that's my little slice of Rade fluff. Review are delicious and I'm hungry, just in case anybody was wondering…