I'm really sorry for the whole year delay. School's been getting in the way and well, I really have not much time to catch up with my internet life. But here you go, hope you guys like it. :) And I just realized that I was nominated and won in the Victorious Awards. Awww, thanks guys. I'm speechless and guilty that I haven't updated this for a long time and... aww. But I promise to finish this for all of you. Thanks for the support! :)

Velvet Dreams

"What do you think about the bench, Robbie?" She asked as she scratched her chin absently, then looking over her shoulder to see Robbie staring blankly into space. "Should it be green…or brown?"

"Hmm… I say the blue one," he said absently as he dipped his brush into the wrong can…again. Cat shook her head in disbelief.

"I didn't say anything about blue. Is your brain in a fuzz today? Do you have a problem, Robbie?"

You, he thought. You've been plaguing my mind all day!

Ever since the day he treated her-rather forcefully-a milkshake, everything spiraled into an alternate universe where they were the best of chums. He was actually surprised by the fact that he almost spent his lunch sitting beside her, getting to the next class walking beside her, detention with her, everything. It was like his hip was attached to hers, like Jade mentioned yesterday.

Take Monday for example. He was unusually slow in fixing his things in his locker, and the next thing he knew, he was walking side by side with a jolly Cat towards Improv class. After Improv class, he actually waited for her to gather her things before they head to History. The cycle goes on and on, and he didn't even have a stinkin' clue about his sudden change in behavior and his sudden fondness with the redhead.

Also, since then, he rarely takes Rex to school and the daily 'Hit on Tori' routine is more and more ignored. He even dreamed of bouncing red velvet cupcakes last night. Like, what the hell was that supposed to mean?

Could it be? God, this is so not happening. It was either he was brainwashed or attracted to Cat.

He slapped himself. No, you're not attracted to her! It would just get you in trouble. Big chiz. Would you like to be disowned? Besides, Cat would never ever take a second look at him. Right? Most girls don't anyway, except for Brenda. He learned that the hard way with Trina and some girls…

So he decided to convince himself that it was all a pathetic brainwash and she was just a friend. A nice and beautiful but weird friend.

"You're so cute when you space out." Her voice reverberated in his ears, making him feel all jumpy like Caffeine. "I mean, it's like you're watching an invisible movie."

"Sorry, I'm just upset with—" and he bit his tongue before he could blurt out her name. His ears were turning scarlet. She looked at him, both curious and confused.

"Huh?" she asked, stepping a little closer.

"Nothing," he squeaked,"Just really nervous about the play, I guess."

"Don't worry, you'll be fine. We'll win this thing," she said reassuringly, flashing him a smile that he knew he couldn't resist. He smiled at her and went back to his paint brush. They needed to finish the backdrop before the next class starts.

"Hey Robbie, why aren't you with your girlfriend?" Jade asked as she ripped open a little pack of sugar and poured it into her coffee. He suddenly choked in his burrito. It still surprises him even though it was almost asked every single day.

"She's not my girlfriend," he said crossly. "And she's in the library."

"Still in the Nile River, then?"

"Shut up!"

"Touché," Jade said happily before she became engrossed with her coffee bun. She liked all things coffee. Robbie scowled and slapped his forehead. Why wouldn't anyone cut him some slack about her? Especially Jade, who most of the time didn't care about his entirety.

"What's up?" Tori had just popped in the scene along with Andre. They were holding piles of young adult books and a bag of potato chips. They just came from the library researching about some influences for their upcoming play.

"Hi Tori. Nice hair," he said almost too quickly. Of course, this would distract everyone from their sordid penchant for rooting him with Cat. But before he shut his mouth, "Why is Cat not with you?"

"Oh, she decided to stay there. She's having 'advanced reading' in Calc and Physics," Andre said, rolling his eyes as he sat beside him. Robbie crinkled his nose in confusion.

"Advanced reading? If it's for the finals in two months then she must be crazy," Jade said wearily.. "Well, she's already one, so I'm not really surprised."

"You're so rude to her," Tori whimpered while opening the big bag of potato chips for everyone to eat, "Would someone get her and Beck? We need to discuss the final script so that we could assign everything tomorrow."

"I'll get Beck," Jade said.

"I'll get Cat," Robbie said before he could stop himself. Andre gave him a knowing look before he stood up. "What?"

"Nothing," he replied with a grin, "The chips are nice."

"uhhh… okay," Robbie said as he followed Jade awkwardly out of the Asphalt Café.

The journey through the old, dusty library was quite silent. Robbie was whistling some familiar tune until he saw a head full of red velvet locks at the farthest corner of the library. His heart suddenly raced as he tiptoed towards her. Cat was, undoubtedly, reading a thick book which he suspected as something from the Mathematics section of the room.

"What are you doing, reading those?" He asked, gaining his composure back when he noticed that she was too busy to look at him. Those eyes…

"Nothing. Just leisure reading," she said absently as she turned from page to page.

"Leisure-you don't read Calculus just for fun!" He can't even wrap his brain around it. Cat, whose attention span is shorter than his well-maintained fingernails, was reading Calculus for leisure. Something fishy was really going on. "You're not going to take a test outside school, are you?"

"Of course not!" She gasped, closing the book tightly. "How could you say that?"

"I…uh… nothing. Just me being paranoid," he said defensively, his ears turning scarlet. "But don't ever do that, okay? I mean, you know, go to a different school or something."

"Why?" There was a sort of sparkle in her eyes as she waited for an answer. She looked a little excited and confused, he didn't know. Everything seemed like a blur for him these past few days, as if she seemed to have changed. Or better yet, he was learning more about Cat Valentine.

"Because" maybe I'll miss you. Maybe I want to get to know you more.

But that didn't roll off his tongue. Never. Not yet.

"Because we have a play to win," he said, finally. He let out a sigh of relief as he saw Cat nodding intently, and smiling as if like nothing was wrong or weird about him. "And I think we really need to go back to the café right now. We need to work on the script stat."

"Nice! Okay," she said and let out a giggle as she stood up and reached for his hand.

Running along the corridor holding hands was never the best the idea when you're trying to tell everyone that you're just friends. It was Cat's fault; he kept on saying to Jade as they made their way towards their next class. Of course, Jade didn't buy it.

"Oh come on, curly fries, of course you like it," she said smirking as she pulled Sinjin out of her 'chair'.

"I did not," he said, rolling his eyes. His ears were slowly turning beet red of embarrassment. "And don't you call me curly fries ever again!"

"Since when did you become denial king, Robbie? And where the hell is your doll anyway?"

"Rex is not-he's at home, okay?" he said, looking resigned. He suddenly realized that he already left Rex at home for almost a week, and he didn't even missed him at all. "I just don't feel like bringing him to school."

"Like I really care why."