A/N: Just an idea that popped up while I was trying to sleep last night. Reviews are appreciated. :)
He ran his fingers through his dark, curly hair, wondering what on earth persuaded him to come here. It surely wasn't Rex; he would have laughed at him and told him he was insane. Robbie wasn't particularly friends with her, either. Maybe it was how she was sometimes kind to him, or how she picked on him all that much recently. Whatever the reason, though, he was here, and he wanted to make sure she was alright.
He tapped his pale knuckles on the thick hardwood door, shifting uncomfortably. The seconds dragged on for what seemed like forever, his nervousness growing as each ticked by. He tugged on the black sleeves of his tuxedo, adjusted his bowtie, glanced around the lawn. Robbie wondered if she was even home. Perhaps she'd seen him on the porch and decided just to ignore him. Discouraged, he turned, stepping onto the sidewalk. What was the point of all this anyway?
All of the sudden, the door flung open, and he whirled around on his heel. There she was, no longer in the cerulean strapless dress she was wearing earlier. Now, Jade was clad in a pair of gray sweatpants and a baggy Kiss t-shirt, her hair tied up in a sloppy ponytail. Her face was clear of make-up, just pale, clean skin. It was a sight Robbie had never experienced, and he couldn't say he disliked it.
The two stared at each other for a while. Jade didn't look angry, exactly. Confused, maybe. Her expression was soft, no crease between her eyebrows, no dissatisfied frown. She lookedkind of sad.
"H-Hi, Jade," he stammered after he can no longer take the silence. He manages a small smile, lifting his hand in a careful wave.
She blinked. "Why are you here?" Her voice was as gentle as she appeared, and Robbie wasn't even sure she had spoken at first.
"Well, I—May I come in?" He lifts a slender finger, aiming it towards the door.
Jade nodded her head, silently stepping out of the way. Robbie stepped over the threshold and into the home, and although he didn't feel as nervous as he had when he arrived, he was still slightly unsure. He closed the door quietly, looking over to where Jade had been standing. She was no longer there, though, instead walking down the hallway, glancing over her shoulder to see if he was following. The ventriloquist scurried over, and she led him into what he assumed was the living room. She immediately curled up on the cushiony, brown leather sofa, staring up at him.
"So." She said plainly, chewing on the inside of her cheek. "What do you want?"
"I, um…" Robbie ran his hands over the scratchy material of his black pants. "I wanted to see if you were okay." Hesitantly, he sat on the other end of the sofa, his hands folded neatly in his lap, his gaze fixed on her.
The usually cold girl sighed deeply, her eyebrows furrowing together, summoning that ever so familiar wrinkle of irritation. "Well, Shapiro, let's see. My play got cancelled for a stupid dance, and Sikowitz says I can't have it on any other night. A grown man in a diaper carried me away from the thing, not letting me go until I yelled that he was a kidnapper. Everyone still seems to adore Vega, even after she ruined something I'd worked hard on. And Beck is in Canada. So, yeah, Robbie, I'm fantastic." She spat out the last sentence like it's the school's meatloaf, and he saw that, despite her furious verbal response, her chin was wavering. Jade turned her head away, covering her mouth with her right hand, her eyes squeezed shut.
He sat mutely for a few minutes, his mouth open as he tried to conjure up the right words to say. He didn't want to upset her anymore than she already was. Slowly, Robbie replied, "I guess…I guess it was wrong of Tori to have Prome on the night of your play, especially if she knew it was tonight." His shoulders rose and fell, and he eyed her intently as she nodded her head in agreement. "And it was wrong of her to make you and Doug King and Queen. Because, well, no king wears a diaper." Robbie could have sworn he heard her laugh, but he brushed it off. "As for Beck being out of town, he'll be back soon, right? Just a family matter. He'll be back here before you know it to…do whatever you two do together." His face flushed and he waited patiently for her to respond.
Jade sat up and folded her legs beneath her, facing him. "He wouldn't have cared about this, anyways. He would have wanted to go to her Prome instead of watch my play. He never goes to them, you know. And when he does, he always looks bored or unimpressed. But if it was Tori's play, he would watch it intently and congratulate her at the end and hug her and—" She took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down. "Half the time I wonder why I'm even dating him if he's as unresponsive as my dad."
The lanky boy had no idea where any of that had come from. He'd expected her to just agree and send him on his way, not for her to vent to him about her boyfriend. "I'm, um, I'm sorry, Jade." As soon as the words fell from his mouth he gave himself a mental slap, because, quite honestly, that was the lamest response he could have given. "If it means anything, I would have wanted to watch Clowns Don't Bounce," he added. "It definitely would have been more fun than tonight."
Her eyebrows arched upwards as she asked, "What about tonight could have possibly been bad for you?"
"Well, uh, I'd asked Cat to go with me as my date, but she turned me down for some guy named Tug." Robbie fiddled with the cuffs of his jacket, avoiding the stare she was giving him. "I yelled at her, because I thought she'd just made him up, right? But then I found out he was real, and that he'd already asked her to go, and…" He trailed off, sighing. "I feel rotten."
Jade ran her tongue over her teeth, looking at a stray string popping out of the cushion's seam. "Guess both of our nights sucked," she muttered finally.
He laughed halfheartedly, draping his arm over the back of the sofa. "I expected my prom—Prome—to be so much better than this. I didn't even get to slow dance with anybody. Not that Cat would have in the first place, but you know." Robbie shrugged again, looking down disappointedly.
He felt the couch move and then there was a figure standing in front of him, a hand reached out towards him. He shifted his gaze upwards, meeting Jade's. "What are you doing?" he questioned, his eyebrows knitting together with confusion.
"I had a sucky night. You had a sucky night…One of us should have a less sucky one, and since we can't make mine any better, we'll make yours." She shoved her hand in his face again, palm up. "Dance with me." Her lips were curved in a half smile and Robbie wondered if maybe Doug had drugged her or something because she was being all nice to him and it was so out of the ordinary, coming from her.
He took her hand anyways, getting up from the couch. "There's no music," he noted, earning a glare from her. There she is.
"Do you want me to dance with you or not, Shapiro?" she snapped, tightening her grip on his hand. He winced and nodded his head fervently, and the grin returned to her face. "That's what I thought." Jade released his hand and wrapped her arms around his neck.
Robbie reciprocated the smile, stiffly circling his own arms around her waist. He made sure there were six inches between their torsos, not wanting to agitate her, or Beck, for that matter. They awkwardly moved from side to side, the only sounds coming from their feet moving about on the plush carpet.
"Jesus, Rob, loosen up. It's like I'm dancing with a block of wood." Jade rolled her eyes, laughing quietly at herself.
He gulped and obliged, relaxing his arms and letting them just hang there. "Better?" he asked. Jade made a sound of approval, accompanied by a small nod.
He, not knowing what else to do, looked down at her, studying her facial features. Her eyes were a brilliant shade of blue, something he had never noticed when they were surrounded by dark eyeliner. Are those…? he thought as he squinted his eyes. They are! Sprinkled across Jade's skin were light colored freckles, and he broke out into a toothy grin.
Robbie hadn't realized that Jade had been watching him look at her until her eyebrows dug together above her nose. "What? Something on my face?"
"No, no," he assured her, shaking his head. "I just—you have freckles."
"Thanks for reminding me." Her tone was coated with distaste and her eyes rolled once again.
His smile disappeared and he looked at her apologetically. "I'm sorry. I'd never noticed before, that's all. They're…They're nice."
"Uh, yeah. Thanks, Rob." She tore her eyes away, bowing her head, and Robbie could have sworn her cheeks were tinted a shade of pink. He didn't comment on it, knowing that, despite his upper hand in footwear, she could easily stomp on his feet with her own sock-covered ones.
Another silence fell over them, and he fixed his eyes on the fireplace over her shoulder. Back and forth they went, side to side, and Robbie wondered if this was all there was to slow dancing, because it was fairly easy. He liked it, though. It was nice dancing with Jade, even though he was sure she didn't like it and that she was probably imagining that he was Beck or Johnny Depp or something.
"Thank you for coming," she whispered, pulling him from his thoughts. Her eyes were on him again, and her voice was as gentle as it had been earlier.
"Thank you for not throwing a rock at me and making me leave."
Jade snickered and he chuckled along with her, and he thought of how odd this must look. The typically mean girl having her arms around the nerdy kid she sometimes picked fun at, laughing together. No matter how different they were, they were there, together, having a not awful time after how terrible they had felt before. It was kind of funny, the way the night had worked out.
Perhaps Prome Night wasn't wrecked after all.