Author's Note: Buenos Dias, muchachos! Can you believe the end of 2021 is almost upon us?

Thank God.

Still, it hasn't been bad enough to stop me from spreading a little Christmas cheer. I decided to re-purpose one of my old Christmas fics on a different site and turn it into a fluffy and silly Cat and Robbie romance :-D

Fair warning: Cat is not really in character for this story since I first wrote the female lead with a different lady in mind. Still, I hope you'll enjoy hijinx :-P

Disclaimer: Sadly, I do not own Victorious or the zany characters and plot lines. I don't even own the concept of a romantic Christmas. The latter bums me out more.

#1 – Kiss an arch-enemy under mistletoe

#2 – Give Christmas candy to young cancer patients

#3 – Paint the letter 'F' on Ms. Twill's garage

#4 – Go down the tallest hill in town riding a piece of cardboard

#5 – Steal Mr. Ferguson's Christmas Decorations for Dad

#6 – Bake the biggest Gingerbread Man for Santa Claus

#7 – Drink a butt load of egg nog on a dare

#8 – Sing Christmas carols to the elderly at a retirement village

#9 – Give away all your old Christmas toys to an orphanage

#10 – Volunteer at a homeless shelter

#11 – Make the smallest snowman in the neighbourhood

#12 – Get someone who hates you to forgive you

Robbie Shapiro studied the list which had been slipped into his mailbox earlier that morning with a speculative frown.

He'd recognized the purple, girlish scrawl instantly, but was still perplexed about why this person had bothered to get in touch with him after all these weeks.

He put the note carefully onto the kitchen counter island and sat on a barstool with his head in his hands.

Robbie had a lot of misgivings about spending Christmas in LA this year. His original plan was to spend Christmas with his girlfriend Gabriella and her parents at their vacation home in Palm Springs, but they broke up last week.

Now he had to face the one person he dreaded seeing the most.

A polite knock resounded on the front door in close proximity. Robbie wiped imaginary dust off of his sweatpants and strolled barefoot over the soft woollen carpet his mother had installed in the hallway. He opened the door without checking the peephole first and stopped short.

A young woman roughly his age stood awkwardly in front of him. She had long, red-velvet hair which fell beyond her shoulders and big brown eyes you could get lost in for days. And when that familiar grin curled on her full lips accompanied by the cutest dimples ever, Robbie knew he was done for.

"Cat Valentine."

She smiled widely despite the curt greeting and before Robbie could stop her, she wrapped her arms around him, hugging him tightly. It reminded Robbie all too well of days gone by when she waited outside his door every morning and they'd pedal to school together on his environment-friendly bicycle.

The hug ended rapidly and Cat was back to regarding Robbie with an almost predatory smile.

"Robbie Shapiro," she began, coyness enveloping her entire aura as she spoke. "You look like you should be doing commercials for 21 For Now."

She was of course referring to the fact that Robbie's bad acne of late had finally cleared up. Robbie was still giving Rex the silent treatment after the puppet tricked him into using a faux guacamole face mask, which was actually made from onion dip, green food colouring and poison ivy extracts.

To Cat's surprise, Robbie's skin was as pale as ever, but almost flawless now, like that of a model.

In her eyes, Robbie had never looked better.

Robbie aside the compliment aside. "It's no big deal. I just finally stopped washing my face with shaving cream."

Cat shook her head and laughed. "I still don't know why you did that in the first place."

"My grandma said the strong soap would stop the itching!"

"Wow, you really believe everything people tell you, Robbie-"

"Cat," Robbie cut in firmly. "Why are you here? And why did you send me this?"

Cat's smile vanished when Robbie reached for her Christmas list resting on the kitchen counter.

She'd stayed up for hours the night before trying to perfect it and even got up extra early to slip it into the Shapiro's mailbox before Robbie woke up.

It was the moment of truth.

"Do you remember that pact we made two years ago?"

"You mean the one where you swore you'd get revenge on Tara Ganz for painting brown stains on the butts of all your shorts?"

Cat blushed crimson at this. "Not that pact, Robbie! Although that ganky bush pea deserves to kiss a live grenade-"

"Getting off-topic just like always."

Cat grinned sheepishly and cleared her throat. "My bad. You're the one person who's seen every side of my personality, even the wazzy parts. This Christmas is my chance to right the wrongs of the past and make amends the best way I know how to – with my best friend beside me."

"What about Tug?"

Cat's smile wavered slightly before she answered. "Don't worry about Tug."

Robbie wanted to change the subject more than he wanted to know why Cat wasn't hanging out with her boyfriend.

"What about Rex?"

"Turns out Rex made his own plans. He's spending Christmas in Tijuana."

"Rex went somewhere without you?"

"It's cool, he goes lots of places without me."

"But how?" Cat blushed when Robbie quirked an eyebrow at her question. "Never mind."

Robbie turned his attention back to Cat's Christmas list. "So doing good things somehow includes… stealing Mr. Ferguson's expensive Christmas decorations?"

"I'm stealing them for someone I love." Cat replied matter-of-factly. "So whaddya say, Robbie? Wanna make my Christmas wishes come true?"

When Cat smiled at him, it always meant trouble.

And yet, it was a smile which promised crazy adventures and exciting memories they'd be regaling years from now. It's what made high school an incredible experience.

Robbie shook his head and chuckled mirthlessly.

"Eh, chizz it. I'm in…"

Author's Note: In the grand tradition of 'Snapplelinz Fics', the first chapter is always the shortest ;-)

'21 For Now' is a parody of 'Forever 21' that I first created for my Victorious fic 'If It's Good Enough For Harley'.

I'll put up chapters every few days up till Christmas Day and beyond. Each new chapter will focus on one of Cat's Christmas wishes or multiple wishes in the same chapter. As for Victorious canon, I've tweaked some of the events surrounding what transpired after the Cow Wow in season 3 (or season 4 - the episode list is confusing).

I'd better get to bed now, it's been a busier than expected day. Please leave me reviews - I need to know if my Christmas writing mojo returned at all this year :-S Pip pip cheerio!