Alice: New chapter!

Emily: I hope you all like it.

Alice: My goal, as I said before, is to finish this by this Monday, but I really, really doubt I'll be able to do that.

Emily: I'll still try though!

Alice: Anyway, enjoy the chapter!

Chapter 20

Robbie was barely paying attention to the movie on the screen. All of his thoughts were wrapped around the situation with Jade and what he should do about it. Glancing to his shoulder, his eyes softened when he saw Cat's clouded eyes as well. She wasn't paying attention to the movie either. They were at her house, alone, and cuddling on the couch watching a supposedly romantic comedy. Neither of them had laughed since it started, but Robbie could hardly blame the movie.

He sighed and grabbed the remote, pausing the movie. Cat frowned and turned her head so she could see Robbie. "Penny for your thoughts?" Robbie attempted to smile.

She sighed. "I'm just worried about Jade and Beck."

Robbie nodded. He figured she was thinking along the same lines he was. "I don't know what to do," he confessed. "I get that Jade has trust issues and abandonment problems and all… but I thought we got past that, you know? I thought she trusted me. I know I sound like a broken record, but I just can't get over it."

Cat's eyes softened. "I get it," she mumbled. "When I was friends with her, it bothered me that she never trusted me."

"She didn't?"

"Not in the same way she didn't trust you," she clarified. "She'd always be there for me with my problems, you know? Whenever I was upset, she would hold me and comfort me. I'm guessing she's done the same for you?"

Robbie's eyebrows furrowed. "Yeah?"

"I figured." Cat sighed. "You know how she can get a little mom-like with you?"

Robbie had definitely noticed that in the past. "She definitely can."

"She took it to extremes with me. She wouldn't tell me what was bothering her or if she was upset because she didn't want to burden me. We didn't have a friendship where we were equal. We had one where Jade saw me as a priority, and it bothered me. I wanted to be there for her and talk about her problems and comfort her, but she wouldn't let me. When she broke up with Beck, I tried texting her and asking if I should come over, but she kept saying no and that she was fine. She didn't want me to see her upset." Cat explained, a distant look in her eyes.

"Did you ever tell her that?" Robbie asked. "That you wanted to be there for her and all?"

"I didn't really know how to say it," she shrugged. "I was building up to it though, but then all this happened…"

"I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault," she replied. She paused for a moment and blurted out, "Can I tell you something I've never told anyone before?"

Robbie blinked. "Um… sure?"

"When Beck and Jade were dating, Jade did the same thing to him. She didn't tell him what was bothering her. Not because she thought she'd burden him, like she did with me. I think she didn't want him to think less of her or something. I'm not sure, but she wasn't as open with him as most girlfriends are, and it really frustrated him."

Yeah, Robbie could imagine.

"So Beck and I used to meet up in secret and talk about her," Cat continued. "Not bad things, but things we thought were bothering her like her dad. We talked about how we could handle it and worked together to distract her from all the bad stuff without ever bringing it up. She doesn't like it when we bring up stuff like that. After the breakup, Beck was heartbroken. I didn't understand why until you explained it to me. Anyway, I was upset because I thought you and Jade were together, so I eventually went to Beck for comfort."

Robbie's lips parted in surprise. Beck and Cat were close? Since when? He tried to remember all the times he saw them actually talking and comforting each other, but he couldn't recall any particular moments. Sure, they talked about goofy, on the surface things, but Cat was implying their conversations became much deeper than that. Maybe he was so focused on Jade he didn't notice… no, he would have noticed if Cat was becoming close to another guy. They must have met up in secret instead of being outright friends like Jade and Robbie were. "What happened after that?"

"I started dating you," she shrugged, "and Beck just stopped talking to me. I think it was on the same day. I'm not sure why. He stopped talking to Andre too."

Robbie sighed. "Maybe it's because he expected to get back together with Jade but after they talked they realized they couldn't?"

Cat frowned. "Is that what you think happened?"

"I don't know. I'm making an educated guess. What do you think happened?"

"I don't know," she admitted, "but I think it's more complicated than that."

Robbie nodded, searching her expression. "You think I should talk to Jade."

"I think you should." Cat confirmed. "I should too."

"I don't know if I can," he ran his hand through his curly hair. "I'm still really angry at her."

"Maybe talking to her will help that? You can yell at her and get it all out instead of keeping it inside." She grasped his hand, playing with his fingers. She looked up at him with so much hope that Robbie didn't know if he could say no to that.

"You are really good at the whole comforting thing," he said instead.

She clearly noticed how he strayed from the main topic and smiled sadly. "Thanks." She let go of his head. "But I think I could use some work on it."

The rest of the night was spent in silence.

For the first time in his life, Robbie skipped an entire class. He could stand going back and seeing Sikowitz so miserable and looking towards him for answers. Due to his absence, he received multiple texts from Cat, Tori, and even Andre asking where he was and if he was okay. He replied to all of them saying he was fine and just needed some time to think. When he finally put his phone in his pocket, he realized he had been walking and texting at the same time, and it lead him to the main hallway. The first thing he noticed was Beck sitting on the ground, absently staring at the ceiling. "Beck?" he accidentally spoke out loud.

That stirred Beck. The once handsome boy glanced at him with eyes void of emotion. "Robbie." He stated.

He looked terrible.

Robbie gulped and found his legs moving on their own accord. He ended up sitting next to Beck and openly staring at him. "Are you okay?" A stupid question. He clearly wasn't okay.

Beck snorted. "Just fine."

Robbie nodded, not believing him in the slightest. The two boys sat in silence, both pondering over a very similar matter. Robbie glanced at Beck from the corner of his eye, wondering what happened to make Beck this miserable. The breakup didn't even leave him this vulnerable. It left him angry, sure, but not depressed.

"I'm sorry I was cruel to you," Beck blurted out, interrupting his thoughts.

Robbie jumped a bit in surprise. "It's fine?"

"No it's not," he sighed, leaning his head back against the lockers. "I always knew I had an anger issue, but I always thought it was fine, you know? It just meant that if I got into arguments, I'd get a little more frustrated than people normally would. I never thought it meant I was a bully. I never wanted to be that person."

"I understand," Robbie actually didn't understand, but he wasn't angry at Beck. He was used to bullying at this point, and he was grateful for the apology. None of his previous bullies ever had the guts to actually admit what they did was wrong and say they were sorry for it. "I forgive you."

"You shouldn't. I was terrible." Beck sighed. "I was just jealous that you were so close to her, you know? It looked like she trusted you more than she ever trusted me, and I just didn't get it. After all the hard work I put in, after all the things we've been through, she ended up trusting someone she'd only been friends with for two weeks more than someone she'd been dating for over two years. It's really frustrating."

Robbie snorted. "She didn't trust me."

Beck gave him a skeptical look. "Did she tell you about her dad?"

"Yes…?" Robbie frowned.

"Never talked to me about him. Did she tell you about any of her insecurities?"

"Yes."

"Never said anything about those to me. Did she talk to you about our breakup?"

Robbie flinched. "She did."

"Cat didn't even get the details on that." Beck ironically smiled. "How'd you do it?"

"I don't know," Robbie shrugged. "I think it's because I never asked her to tell me."

Beck frowned. "I don't get it."

"Whenever she was upset, I didn't ask her to tell me why. I was just there for her. After a while, she just started telling me things. She told me she appreciated that I didn't ask questions. She likes to push people away, so if you start pushing, even a little, she'll shove you right back." Robbie explained, thinking over their previous friendship and the amount of times she thanked him for not asking questions. It was a strange concept to build trust off of, but he understood in a way.

"That's a good point," he smiled although there was no happiness behind it. "I'm not like that. I need to know because if I know then I can help her."

Robbie stared at him for a moment. "Can I ask you something personal?"

"Go ahead." Beck answered.

"What happened between you and Jade? I thought you two were going to get back together but then you just… didn't." Robbie asked, watching Beck for any reaction.

Beck cringed and abruptly looked away from Robbie and to his feet. He sighed, his hands shaking. "I don't know. Andre randomly ran to me and started telling me about how Jade never wanted to breakup and that she would be willing to talk to me about fixing our relationship. He told me she still loved me. I remember it was the happiest I had been in a while, so I literally ran to her. When I found her, we were already alone, and I told her I loved her. I said I'd be willing to fix things and be in a relationship again.

"But she just looked at me and said she didn't love me. She said she didn't want to get back together and that I heard wrong. I remember staring at her like an idiot, and she just walked out of the room again. I broke down, I think, I'm not sure. It was like every ounce of hope I had for our relationship maybe working out disappeared. I couldn't handle it anymore, and I just stopped." Tears came to Beck's eyes. "I just don't get it. Andre seemed so sure that she… I don't know."

But I do know, Robbie thought to himself. Instead of saying anything, he just wrapped an arm around Beck's shoulders and let him cry it out. Jade rejected Beck. It all made sense now. Instead of getting back together with Beck and allowing herself happiness, Jade chose loneliness. Still, it seemed off. This wasn't Jade pushing people away. This was Jade thinking she didn't deserve happiness. It was a startling difference, and it made Robbie's chest hurt.

It was in that moment he realized he still cared deeply about Jade. While he always knew that, his anger shielded himself from consciously thinking about it. Jade was hurting just as much as he was, and he was being stubborn by refusing to talk to her about it. If they sat down and had a conversation, they could at least understand why the other did what they did. Maybe they would end up being friends again, maybe they wouldn't. Either way, they'd have closure. Robbie made up his mind in that moment.

He was going to talk to Jade.

Alice: I lied when I said before there would only be two chapters left.

Emily: This will be the third-to-last chapter.

Alice: There will be one more chapter (chapter 21) and an epilogue.

Emily: I originally wasn't going to have the epilogue, but I figured it'd be a nice way to end the story.

Alice: Like I said, my goal is to finish it by Monday, but I'm not sure if I'll be able to.

Emily: I'll definitely finish it before next week though.

Alice: Thanks for reading!