I lightly hit my hand against my head. He's back. Of course, when I say that, it's my voice, but his ideas.
I might be crazy, but that puppet seemed to take a life of his own at times. I gave him up so I could pursue Cat and live my life in piece. Our life. The life I'm trying to build brick by brick with Cat.
"You ok Robbie? You seem a bit out of it." Tori said, looking worried. Cat snuggled herself into my side, clearly trying to ease whatever was bugging me.
"I'm ok, just feeling kind of weird." I replied, causing Cat to purr slightly into my ribs. I looked down to her looking miserable.
I grabbed my phone. "You ok?"
I hate seeing you when something is wrong. Can I do ANYTHING? :(-Cat
"No sunshine, my stomach is upset. I wish there was something you could do though."
She glanced at her phone and rushed off.
"Where's she going?" Carly asked after Cat sprinted past her.
She's running from you.
Screw off Rex.
"No idea." I replied.
Just as soon as she had left, she was back with a stomach relaxant, water and Tylenol.
"Awe." Jade and Tori cooed at the same time.
"Thanks Cat." Her face lit up for a moment before she settled back into my side. I took the medicine before redoubling my efforts to block out Rex.
"So are we done brainstorming with a few extra brains?" Freddie smiled at Jade, who seemed to be making an extra effort to be very nice to him.
"Yeah. I need ham." Sam replied, dashing off for my fridge.
"Second shelf!" I called out to her.
"She won't need any help." Carly said confidently.
"So what now? What do you guys do for fun?" Cat asked her and Freddie.
"Uhh…" Freddie stumbled out.
"Well, we usually either mess with Spencer or go to the Groovy Smoothie." Carly said, sounding kind of saddened.
"That's not fun." Cat stated. Both Freddie and Carls went red.
"Well, since the two of us are in honors and Sam doesn't usually help out much, we are always busy." Freddie said, looking down.
"Well I want to have fun." Cat stated again. The others were silent.
"I'm having fun." Sam said, mouth full of ham, walking in the room.
"Back in the kitchen or outside. No food in the living room." I said firmly.
"Says who?" She bluntly said. Carly started to stand before Freddie grabbed her wrist.
"Says him! It's his house, why don't you listen?" Cat quickly said, glaring at her.
"He's a nub."
Suddenly a streak of red flew across the room and Cat and Sam were GONE.
"Don't you DARE call MY ROBBIE a NUB! Get back here!" Cat shrieked, chasing after Sam.
"Wow, I've never seen anyone make Sam run like that." Freddie commented.
"She's smart." Jade said darkly. Carly looked surprised.
"Hey, the girl can inflict pain." Beck said, raising his arm to reveal a tiny scar of what looked like teeth marks.
"When did that happen?" Tori asked.
"Before you came to Hollywood Arts. I took her elephant away. She bit me amazingly hard and refused to let go until I gave it back. Eventually I bled so much she gagged and let go, but the damage was done.
CRASH!
Everyone jumped at the loud noise. "Everything ok?" Jade called out.
"Yeah!" Cat called back as Sam made some primal noise.
Suddenly Cat chased Sam back into the living room, where everyone was sitting calmly.
"You might want to apologize." Carly said, then sipping her water.
"Why? It's—" She stopped speaking as Cat had her by the leg, but she managed to get away while Cat fell down.
"Aren't you going to stop her?" Tori asked me.
"Why? Maybe Sam needs to be taught a lesson Carly and Freddie won't." They both looked at me, not happy. "Hey, you both care about her. It's not like I don't but still. Plus, she's defending me, so why stop her from doing that? If I stop her, I'll be the one running."
Jade and Beck shrugged, while Freddie and Carly let it go. The chase between the girls had left the room.
"Hey, I heard you are a good DJ." Carly asked Andre, who was looking at his laptop.
"Yeah, I've been told I'm pretty good." Andre said, typically understating himself. That always annoys Tori to the point that they're gotten into screaming matches about it.
Tori breathed heavily through her nose, but Carly didn't catch onto it. Beck did, and scooted a little closer under Jade's watchful eye.
"Can you show me something? Like a beat?" Carly asked innocently.
Andre pressed a few keys and a fast synthetic, but very catchy beat started up. I found myself subconsciously bobbing my head along with everyone else.
"Very nice." Freddie complimented.
"Thanks man, AJ really liked that, even asked for a copy."
"Who's AJ?" Tori asked.
"Angelina Jolie." (A/N: I heard some of her close friends call her AJ, so I am running with it.)
"You met Angelina Jolie?" Jade asked voice rising one octave as Carly's eyes bulged. Beck looked impressed.
Dude's just making connections'…he's gonna hit it big FOR SURE.
"Yeah, she's really nice. Brad too. The kids I saw when I gave her the CD were adorable."
"So she liked you?"
"Yeah! Haven't gotten more than 2 or 3 negative comments in 8 months."
"Overall you mean?" Freddie surmised. Andre nodded.
"DAMN IT!" Sam yelled from what sounded like my parents room.
"Want me to get her?" Carly asked. Jade looked to me for what to do.
"Let them sort it out. If Sam lays a hand on Cat, she'll regret it."
No sooner than I had said that then Cat chased her in here again. Sam had a odd look on her face, and had no sooner come within 5 feet of me with Cat on her heels then she whipped around and slapped Cat with the back of her hand.
The next few moments were a rush. I took one step, grabbed Sam's wrist and pinned her against the wall. Freddie, Tori, Beck and Andre were right next to me. I heard what sounded like Cat cry out, but muffled.
"Hey, she was trying to hurt me, it's not like—"
"Shut it. I don't give a damn. You hit her. You called me a nub. That made her mad. She's my girlfriend."
"So?"
"I promise to care for you, and love you, and always be there for you no matter what, ok sunshine?"
Time to put those words into action.
"You're the problem. I'm not going to just stand by and let you treat Cat like you treat Freddie." I saw Carly blush severely, but I blew it off. "Get out."
"What?" She asked, incredulous.
"Get out of my house! I don't want you here, so you're not going to be here! Take a taxi or something. Just go away."
"You can't make me leave."
"Yes, he can. Now get out!" Jade said firmly, pointing towards my front door.
That's the Jade of old. Always having my back in a tough spot. I made a mental note to thank her privately, but she probably will say it was the right thing to do.
Sam glared at Cat, who I now see is crying into Beck's shoulder.
Relax…that's only because you're taking care of Sam.
"Fine. I'll see you back at the hotel." She muttered, and walked out.
Everyone was quiet for a moment, and then everyone moved quickly. Freddie, along with everyone else from Cali went over to Cat. Carly meanwhile, sprinted to me and started apologizing for Sam profusely so quickly I barely understood her.
After a moment of this I grabbed her hands. "Relax. I'm not mad at you. Or even her. She just needed to leave."
Her jaw dropped. "But she—"
"It's ok. Now she knows not to doubt me. Or Cat."
"Maybe we should go back to the hotel?"
"Up to you, you're welcome to stay for dinner." I smiled warmly.
She looked down shyly. "Thanks for not hating me."
"No prob, just stick up for him more ok?"
A look of fear crossed her face. "What do you mean?"
"You know exactly what I mean."
I turned back to see Tori, followed by the others heading to the door. Jade silently pointed to her phone. I turned to where Cat was, only to see my bedroom door shut.
"Hey, we're gonna head back. See you tomorrow?" Freddie said in an even tone.
"Sure, night man."
Did someone flash a "Let's get the hell out of here right now" sign that I didn't see?
They hate you. Nobody likes you two being happy.
Shut it Rex. I know he's not real, but it makes it easier to ignore him by giving a name to it. Weird I know.
I shut the door to that part of my mind, knowing it's time for me to go into therapist mode, because Cat will surely think she did something wrong. I grab a flexible ice pack and open the door to my room, where Cat is sitting Indian style with her face in a pillow.
I started for her, hoping to sit on the bed before she notices I'm here. However, I forget about the creaky floorboard and the noise causes her to look up.
"Why did she hit me?"
I sat on the edge of the bed and offered her the ice pack. She took it and applied it, shivering when it hit her cheek.
"She underestimated us sweetie. Did she hurt you badly?"
"No…just more shock and anger. I was defending you. I wasn't going to hit her."
"Looking at it from my perspective, it seemed like you were about to."
She looked worried. "Are you mad?"
"No, I appreciate you sticking up for me."
"So you're saying both of us messed up."
"Exactly. Her much more than you."
She sniffled and I hugged her softly. We stayed like that for a moment.
Rex's quiet voice leaked into my head, but I buried my head in her hair and the voice faded out.
"Thank you for staying true to your word."
I knew she would notice.
"Anytime. You know what Cat?" I asked, causing her to look up at me.
I grabbed her right hand and wiggled her ring finger, complete with diamond ring. "I'm going to stay true to these words too."
The smile on her face was indescribable. She looked ready to fly. But then her face fell. "You know why I went to Beck right?"
"Because I was taking care of Sam for you."
"Yeah." She smiled. "You're so smart."
"Thanks."
"I don't say it enough, but I really really love you Robbie."
"You don't have to Cat. I can tell just by your hugs and gestures and…everything. You're love just leaks out. It's contagious. Like your happy personality."
And there's that smile again. I smile at the sight of it and poke her dimple playfully, causing her to giggle.
"Can we just stay here?" She asked, cuddling herself to me. I know she loves just staying here with me over just about anything else. I find it interesting since she hates staying still the rest of the day.
" for you. You know that."