Disclaimer: I own nothing!
I would also like to tell my epic and amazing beta Maybewolf that I am forever grateful that you edited this
"She has two hands let her do that herself." Jade's biting words cut through the air as she lifts her cup of green tea to her lips. I glance to my right and see the lean figure of Robbie Shapiro in the seat beside me. He jerks his hand away from where he was brushing a stray piece of hair out of my face, and it lands heavily in his lap. My eyebrows cut into my nose as Jade's snide comment bothers me more than it usually would.
"It's okay Jade, calm down." Beck states mechanically. It's as though he's been caught in this situation a thousand times before and the response has been programmed into him. As he rubs her back soothingly, I find myself shaking my head slightly.
"You okay?" I whisper, turning to Robbie and resisting the urge to plant my hand on his shoulder.
"Yeah. It's just Jade being Jade." He mumbles, trying to sound self assured, though his words just seem disjointed and sad.
"I'm sorry Robbie." I murmur, gripping his hand discretely beneath the table. A distinctive titter sweeps through the air as Cat bounces through the doorway and over to our table.
"Hi!" She squeals, sitting down at the head of the table between Beck and Andre. Her bright eyes flitter past all of us, something like gee registering in her smile.
"Hey Cat." I say, popping the bubble of silence that had settled over the table. Cat waves back enthusiastically and starts to babble about something her brother had done. Seeing her gaze shift to Andre, I glance over at where Beck was calming Jade down. I feel Robbie's fingers tighten around mine, so I turn to the thin boy beside me.
"What?" He whispers, trying to hide the smile pulling at his lips.
"You're kind of adorable." I grin, poking his nose gently when it seems like everybody is focused on Cat for a moment. From the corner of my eye, I see Jade's eyes snap towards us and realize my catastrophic error.
"Vega…I'm saying this as someone who likes to see you suffer, but if you know what's good for you then you won't date Shapiro. Between Shapiro's puppet and your sister, you two could possibly be the worst couple in history." Jade's words slash right through us and I feel old wounds reopening as Robbie bristles beside me.
"Jade, can we have one night where you don't bring someone down?" Beck pleads, turning his head and tossing an expression that could melt the coldest of hearts her way.
"No. Vega's here, you know I can't do that." She huffs, leaning against Beck's shoulder. He grimaces for a second before lifting his hands and attempting to massage the tension from her shoulders. His movements are slow and disjointed, something like an un-oiled machine.
"Hey Robbie, I um…forgot my phone in your car." The lie flies off my tongue and gets tangled in my lips as I stand up from behind the table.
"Come with me?" I ask, placing a hand on Robbie's shoulder and letting my gaze slip to meet his questioning brown orbs.
"Sure." He stutters, sliding his chair across the floor before gracelessly hauling himself into an upright position next to me. I catch my bottom lip between my teeth and fight the urge to dissolve in a fit of giggles.
We step away from the barely contained madness that makes up our friends, but Robbie's mood remains the same. My eyebrows tumble over my eyes as I wonder what's bugging him.
"Now it's my turn to ask, are you okay?" I ask, wrapping my fingers around Robbie's as we disappear out of earshot.
"Yeah, I'm fine. I just wish they that weren't so against me and you dating." He laments; reaching out and hurling open the front door of Nozu. I trail behind him as he lashes out against the ground with each step, tension written in his every movement.
"Guess what though?" I ask, a conspiratorial grin flying across my lips as we come to a halt behind his car.
"What?" Robbie asks, trepidation in his voice.
"I don't care what they think. You're perfect the way you are." My smile gives way to a grin as I lean back against the trunk of Robbie's car. The black cloud that's seemingly hung over his head since Jade opened her mouth gives way to a flash of white as Robbie's lips curl upward.
"Did you really leave your phone out here?" He asks, grinning impishly as realisation sinks into his skin.
"Nah, I just wanted to get away from Jade." I admit, rolling my shoulders and mirroring his grin.
"Come here then, I need to tell you something" Robbie asks, raising his hand and beckoning with one long finger.
"What?" I murmur, taking a long step towards Robbie and dropping my head onto his shoulder. He smells something pine and apprehension, I'm fairly certain that it should repulse me, but I only want to drag him closer.
"Let me look at you" He says seriously, a finger finding it's way beneath my chin and inclining my gaze to meet his. My heart flinches within my chest, there's hint of something else in his voice and I'm not sure what it is.
"Okay?" I mumble feeling confused. I take a small step away from Robbie and offer a nervous twirl in a dress Trina lent me. Paranoia surges within my thoughts and I can't shake the feeling that he's about to break things off between us. I can barely hear a thing over the pounding of my heart as tension wracks my body. Seconds hang in the air and just when I'm not sure I can take any more, Robbie closes the distance between us and presses his lips to mind. Startled at first I grin against his lips and enjoy the feeling of his body pressed against mine until he pulls away from me.
"Mr. Shapiro…" I begin, raising an eyebrow and awaiting his response. I never thought I'd be the one melting into Robbie's embrace and begging for him to kiss me again.
"Yes Ms. Vega?" He grins, obviously enjoying the feeling of holding some kind of power over me. His fingers send shivers up my spine as they brush over my bare skin.
"You. Are. Evil" I grumble, punctuating each word with a kiss.
"What's you point?" He says, whirling out of my grip and trading my waist for my hand. He's still smiling broadly and all of the tension that had plagued his movements is a distant memory.
"Let's go back inside." He state, pulling me back towards the entrance with a renewed spring in his step.
"Sure, but you know they're going to keep bugging us. We're going to have to tell them sooner or later, because I'm not sure how many more times I can drag you back out here in order to get a kiss." I state, tugging his arm and twirling him around so that we're face to face. His chocolate eyes mirror mine, and I can sense the apprehension swirling within them.
"I know, and that's what I'm dreading." The words creak forth from his lips, but as quickly as the melancholy had settled over him, it disappears in the wake of one final kiss. My lips are still tingling as he opens the door, and I'm already wishing that I could drag him into another embrace.
My heart's flying around within my ribcage and rattling my bones with increasing velocity as we draw ever closer to our friends. By the time we're sitting in our original places, I can barely hear the sound of clattering dishes and thick chatter within the air.
"Have fun?" Jade smirks, pouring more and more into her voice with every passing word.
"Why would they have fun? They were looking for Tori's phone." Cat asks, confusion flooding her voice. In spite of the line of question directed at us, I find a smile cracking my lips as I watch Cat cocking her head to one side.
"They weren't looking for her phone, Cat." Jade clarifies, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively. Her emerald eyes grow darker, as does the fear within my chest. Jade knows exactly what we were doing.
"Then what were they doing? Someone tell me!" Cat pleads, grabbing the edges of her seat and almost bouncing into the air, as her movements grow more and more frantic. Jade's eyes fly toward the rattling redhead and she draws her lips into a hard thin line.
"They're sneaking around. Vega is in love with Shapiro and he's infatuated with her, and yet they're unwilling to share that information with us." Jade exclaims, her emotions roaring to life as he leaps from her seat and slams her hands on the table. Glasses and dishes vibrate in the wake of her wrath, as I sink into my seat. I don't see what business this is of Jade's, Robbie and I are entitled to our privacy.
"No." I lie smoothly, my hand snaking away from my side and landing on Robbie's knee beneath the table. I don't know why, but the smallest sensation of contact with him seems to calm the anger that's beginning to fester within me.
"Jade, just sit down. Come on! Can we have one nice dinner?" Beck demands, grabbing Jade's hips and pulling her back into her chair.
"Tori, don't." Robbie pleads, pulling my gaze towards him. I guess I'm not doing that good of a job with concealing my anger, it's probably reflected in my eyes.
"Don't what?" Andre asks, subtlety and body language was never his strong point.
"Oh no, is everything not tipidy top perfect in Tori Vega's whirlwind Romance?" Jade taunts tossing herself into the conversation once again and injecting her tone with a southern twang to mock my voice. I clench my jaw angrily, as something like lightning rushes through my veins.
"I don't talk like that!" I hiss, gnarling my hands into fists and leaning forward. Jade's smirk only deepens, and I swallow the lump in my throat as I feel the air grow thick around us.
"Oh, oh no! Did I offend lil' old you?" Jade's lips curl upwards with malice. I'm about to leap forward when Robbie catches me by the shoulders and pulls me back. I hear him heave a sigh, as he realizes that there's no sense in hiding this. Flicking my gaze to him, I'm about to speak again when I notice his lips part.
"Tori and I are together, or I mean we are if she wants to be." He says casting a glance in my direction. I look at him and smile. Our shared moment is interrupted by the sound of Jade's groan ripping through the air.
"Come On! Vega you would have to be braindead to say yes. Shapiro likes you and all, but it's not worth it. Just say no. Only a fool would say yes." The passion Jade speaks with imprints the words on my mind. Jade speaks as though she knows everything about Robbie. Shaking her words loose, I realize that she doesn't know a thing.
Dragging a deep breath, I look into the chocolate orbs of the boy sitting next to me and whisper one word that changes everything.
"Yes. Yes I want to be with you, Robbie." I beam, grasping his hand under the table and pulling it above the table to display our connection in a literal sense so that there's no doubt in anybody's mind. Not even Cat can be confused about where Robbie and I stand now.
"Barf." Jade chokes out, crossing her arms over her chest and slumping into her seat. My eyes drift to the boy beside me, his jaw is clenched and I realise what's coming maybe even before he does.
"That's it Jade. Time out!" Beck states, an icy calm to his words as he stands up.
"W-what?" She splutters, eyes blowing open as Beck's words sink in.
"My car. Ten Minutes." He states in a low voice, pointing in the direction of the door.
"Fine." She growls, reluctantly consenting to his demand. The sound of her chair scraping against the ground reverberates through the room as Jade pushes away from the table and stands up.
"I'll text you in ten minutes." Beck calls after the retreating figure of Jade.
"Sorry guys. She's been a downer lately, her mom moved out and left Jade with her dad and little brother" He says sheepishly, lifting his water glass to his lips. My eyebrows upturn and I feel terrible for Beck, he looks for tired. Somewhere behind the anger that still lingers within me, I feel bad for Jade too. Sometimes it's easy to forget how rough things are for her.
"So you two are together now?" Beck adds after a moment, raising an eyebrow at me and Robbie as though it's a foreign concept.
"Yeah, we sure are." I say, choosing my words carefully and then retreat back into my shell to keep from getting hurt or hearing something hurtful. I'm certain Robbie's doing the same, I just hope his shell is as hard as mine.
"I like it, I always knew you two would end up together." Andre pipes up offhandedly. Peering in his direction, I'm greeted by one of his blinding grins, and the heaviness in my heart seems to weigh just a little less.
"What do you mean? I never told anyone I felt this way about Robbie…" I question, looking at Andre. He's wearing a look that suggests this was a foregone conclusion, rather than something that flew in from the left field. I don't know how he could have known, I didn't even know myself.
"Come on! When you would sit down at lunch you could practically touch the bubble of sexual tension between you two." Beck pushes the words out through laughter as he shakes his head. My eyebrows slam together as I wonder how this was so obvious to everybody but me.
"Robbie has a girlfriend!" Cat's lilting voice joins the conversation as she smiles brightly. Inwardly I breathe a sigh of relief, if anybody was going to freak out over this; I thought it would have been her. Yet here she is, grinning widely and a small giraffe that I can only guess was concealed within her purse before now.
"Yeah, I do don't I?" Robbie says, almost more to himself than anybody else. He's smiling a real full smile for once and I feel my heart swell within my chest, some kind of warmth rising alongside it.
"It's Mr. Longneck!" Cat giggles, thrusting a giraffe towards the unsuspecting waiter that has arrived with our orders. He's unfazed, simply glancing at her and then directing a raised eyebrow at the rest of us.
Once we've finished eating, Beck reaches into his pocket and produces a small wrapped package. He gingerly hands it to Cat, apparently afraid that she's going to drop it.
"Happy Birthday." He says, grinning when she takes hold of it without issue.
"It's from me and Jade, and it's for you and Mr. Longneck." He says chuckling lightly before his features darken and he returns to typing on his phone. Beck's been trying to get Jade to return since our food was delivered, but she's refusing to come back for some reason.
Meanwhile, Cat frantically tears off the wrapping paper and opens the small velvet box.
"What is it Little Red?" Andre asks, rising slightly from his chair peeking over at her gift.
"It's a Giraffe necklace!" Cat squeals, pulling a small silver chain adorned with the yellow animal from the box and holding it up so we can all see it. I've got to admit that Jade's taste is excellent. I'm fairly sure she demanded Beck buy it.
"Here's our present." I say, handing Cat a bag.
"It's from me and Tori." Robbie says, something like excitement creeping into his voice. Cat unties the ribbon holding the handles of the bag together, and pulls out a giraffe with a bow around the neck and a clear case.
"What's on the CD?" Cat asks cocking her head to one side as curiosity takes hold of her every thought.
"I wrote you a song like I did for Trina, only this time Robbie helped me out with producing it." I say, clenching my bottom lip between my teeth hoping she'll like it. Truthfully it's more Robbie's song than mine. All I did was contribute lyrics and vocals. It felt like he did so much more.
"Ooo! I wanna hear!" Cat squeaks, before flying out of her seat and bouncing over to the DJ. Only a few moments of begging later, and he's putting the silver disc into his player, a look of forced compliance on his face. Suddenly bass is pumping its energy through the air, as the music filters through the speakers and covers the restaurant in a blanket of sound.
Beck's phone begins to vibrate, so he picks up his phone, presses a few keys, and then lefts the phone to his ear.
"You can come back, but only if you promise to accept the fact that Tori and Robbie are together and you can't do anything about it." He says, cupping a hand over one ear to block out any noise that's not Jade's voice.
"Hey guys, I'm going to go. Jade won't come in." Beck says after a few moments of failed negotiations. The stench of defeat hangs around him as he stands up and gently pats Cat on the head. Biting the inside of my cheek, I watch as Beck picks up his jacket and turns to leave.
"Hey, wait!" I call after Beck, suddenly feeling guilty.
"Yeah?" Beck asks, looking back at us curiously.
"I need to apologize to Jade for what happened earlier." I say, standing up from the table.
"Okay?" He slowly, narrows his eyes in confusion. I push myself to my seat and trail behind Beck as jerks his shoulders, further signaling his compliance. He pushes the door open and the night's air bites my exposed skin. We approach the red car apprehensively, as if in fear that Jade will lash out like some kind of wild animal. I reach out one timid hand, and gently tap on the glass of the window. A head of dark hair looks up and piercing emerald eyes bore through my soul.
"What?" She barks, rolling down the window and glaring back at me.
"Look, I'm sorry things got so out of hand earlier, and I just wish you would come back in because it won't be Cat's birthday without everyone there." I say, swallowing my pride and forcing a smile to my lips. Jade's eyes soften. I swear they do. It's almost unperceivable, but I'm sure it happened.
"Fine, I might come in. But only if you and Puppet Boy don't get all cuddly kissy." She states, folding her arms across her slender frame and narrowing her eyes in a way that tells me to do as she says.
"Deal" I say, nodding my head in agreement.
"Let's get this over with then." She sighs, reluctantly gripping the worn door handle and stepping out of Beck's car. I turn around to see Robbie lingering behind us, his hands clasped in front of him. I realize that he'd followed us out of concern about what Jade might do and my heart gives a happy little kick.
I grip Robbie's hand in mine, and head back toward Nozu. The sound of my heels clicking against the hard tar of the parking lot is the only sound that punctures our little bubble of silence. I halt our progress when we reach the lobby, ignoring the crash as Jade slings open the door and stomps past us and into the restaurant.
"You okay?" I ask Robbie, that nervous feeling creeping into my stomach again.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Just…I feel too lucky." He mumbles, biting down on his lip and taking a seat on the edge of a nearby fountain. My mouth hangs open and I'm not sure what to say, I'm not sure how to fix him.
"Kay." I whisper, eventually settling on a word. It tastes bitter though, hollow and unfulfilling. So I lean forward and peck his cheek lightly. Something sparks within Robbie, like my touch is all he needed, and a grin finds its way onto his lips.
"C'mon!" Jade yells, poking her head through the door. Her piercing voice catches us both off guard, and a startled Robbie loses his balance and tumbles headfirst into the spewing fountain. I grip his hand to pull him up, but instead I feel myself tumbling into the body of water alongside him. I'm trying to regain my bearings so I can get up, but Robbie's limbs keep getting tangled with mine. Eventually figuring out which way is up, I turn toward the door and notice Jade standing there with her phone.
The sound of a photo being taken shatters the silence.
"Crud." Hear from beside me. It stops my train of thought in its tracks, and smiling slyly I lean over and pull Robbie into a searing kiss. Startled at first, he slowly melts into my embrace and grips my waist tightly. The sound of another photo being taken flickers in the background, but I'm not worried. If anything Jade's doing me a favour my photographing this, it's something I never want to forget.
The perfect ending to an imperfect night.
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