A/N: Thanks for reading/reviewing. I see them and I'm not ignoring, I'm just really busy. This weekend I'll try to respond to everyone.
After workshops from the day were over, the staff decided to have a bonfire for the students. Many of them gathered around the pit, others had supervised boat rides to see the stars, and others ate at the benches outside of the main hall because Festus was kind enough to whip up some snacks for the gathering.
Andre and Tori were doing the typical campfire thing and singing songs with Andre's guitar with some of the freshmen. She was genuinely having a good time with Andre, not thinking about much, and enjoying the evening. For once, Kojak was not around since most of the older staff members called it a night. Under the starry night, she belted out familiar tunes, originals and traditional campfire songs with her best friend and the freshmen.
As for Beck and Jade, they decided to take a boat ride as well. Not having to be supervised since they were staff, the boat they had was just for the two of them.
"So today was fun, huh?"
"You only think it was fun because we played with props for Sikowitz's drive-by exercises."
"And that's not fun to you?" she asked her boyfriend.
"Of course it's fun. But you nearly poked someone's eye out with a sword."
"Well, she was in my way," Jade simply defended.
"You were across the room with Cat and she was on my side, like three feet away."
"She was in my line of sight. And she was ugly," Jade stated.
"Sure," Beck smirked. "Is someone getting jealous?"
"Me? Jealous? Of her? Of a freshman? Psh, don't flatter yourself," Jade scoffed.
He took his girlfriend in his arms as they sat in the boat staring at the stars
"Exactly. She's nobody you should be worrying about. Nobody matters to me except you," he whispered in her ear.
"Thanks," she gave him a soft peck on the lips.
After a moment, Beck spoke up.
"So earlier today, Robbie was talking about Prome. I think he was trying to hint to Cat that he wanted to ask her or something. It was cute. She started blushing like crazy."
"God, Shapiro needs to just man up and ask Cat out. She likes him too. What's there to lose?"
"I don't know, I think one time I heard him say that they didn't want to ruin their friendship or something."
"Ruin what? They're both freaks. They're perfect for each other."
"Yeah, but what if they're scared of the future, you know? One little thing might mess them up and their entire friendship broken. I can understand their hesitation."
"Hesitation?" Jade sat up more properly and turned to face her boyfriend. "What are you talking about?"
"I'm just saying," he combed a hand through his hair, "the future isn't guaranteed."
"And that's stopping them?" Jade asked Beck, though she had a hint they weren't talking about Cat and Robbie anymore.
"I guess," was all he said.
"Of course the future isn't guaranteed, but that's the future. Why deprive yourself of happiness in the present?"
"That's a really good point, Jade," Beck stated.
"But then again, if you know in your heart that it will work out, then it will work out. Don't fear about the future. Right?" she asked her boyfriend. They were both certain that the conversation had transferred over to their own relationship.
"Right," he half-heartedly agreed.
"Are you ok?" Jade asked him.
"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm just tired," he covered up.
Jade sensed some underlying meaning, but decided against pushing it out of him… for now.
"Oh, well, let's just go back and call it a night then…"
Robbie and Cat had been sitting on the logs that separated the sandy/rocky area from the trail of the campground, staring out in the lake and the stars over head.
"Oooh Robbie the moon is full tonight!"
"Yuperdoo, it is!"
"Hehe look," she handed him a marshmallow. She motioned for him to copy her as she held the marshmallow at arm's length in front of her and slightly above eye level, covering the moon with her treat.
"It's a marshmallow moon!" she exclaimed with joy, like she discovered America or something.
"It is, huh? It sure is," Robbie grinned at his friend's revelation.
"I'm so creative," she gloated to herself. This made Robbie chuckle.
"So did you have fun today with Beck and Jade?"
"Mmm, yeah, until Jade almost attacked a girl."
"Was she standing near Beck?"
"Yeah."
"Thought so," they both laughed. "Jade is lucky to have Beck the third time around. Hasn't she learned already that he won't cheat?"
"Mmm, it's a girl thing Robbie. I'm not saying every girl get's jealous. But it's like a guy thing too to be overprotective, right?"
"Right." Robbie loved Cat's intellectual side. She rarely showed it, seeing as she didn't need to prove to anyone that she was smart as well as creative. That's why he never questions her as much as their friends do.
"Well, sometimes a girl needs to be reminded that she's special. And that her boyfriend wants to show her off to the world that she's taken, as well as he. Silly, I know. But we're girls. We're sensitive."
Robbie thought for a moment. Those were all some pretty good points.
"I guess," he replied. "You're so awesome, Cat. Such a good friend to Jade."
"Thanks," she smiled.
"No seriously. Jade's hard to deal with, and we tend to give up because we're scared of her; but you, you never give up on her. That's really something."
"Robbie," Cat blushed. "You're too sweet."
"Well, a girl deserves every compliment she gets," he winked.
These were the times when Cat didn't know if they were being friendly or romantic. And the feeling she had in her stomach was certainly not something she wanted to feel. For a second, however, she could have sworn she saw a twinkle in his eyes, that maybe he was feeling the same thing. But Cat knew they had to stop whatever these 'emotions' they were feeling at the moment. It would ruin their 'just friends' status.
Cat turned back to her bag of marshmallows and started nibbling on some, not daring to meet Robbie's eyes for a while. She could sense that he was still staring, but eventually he turned to face the stars again.
"It's so beautiful tonight," Robbie said after a few minutes.
This startled Cat, since it was silent between them, the sound of the campfire merely white noise.
"What?" she hesitated.
"The sky. I said it's beautiful," Robbie clarified. "Uh, Cat, are you ok?"
"Oh heh, yeah," she faked. "I thought I heard you say something else." Something a friend shouldn't be saying to another friend, she thought. But I wouldn't mind hearing you say I'm beautiful too, Cat wished.
"Yoohoo, Kitty-Cat," Robbie waved a hand in front of her face.
"Huh?" she was puzzled.
"You were like in a gaze for a few seconds," he noted.
"Oh." She didn't even know she was daydreaming.
"Maybe you should lay off on the marshmallows for the rest of the night," he said grabbing the bag from her hands. "You know the effect sugar does to you," he joked.
She chuckled, still trying to process what was going on.
"Hey Robbie, sorry to cut the night short but you're right. I think I ate too much," she held her stomach.
"Oh no, do you have a tummy ache? My doctor gave me a special medicine for that. You want me to get it in my bag?" Typical Robbie. He had a doctor for everything and special medication for everything.
"Oh, it's fine, Robbie. I think I'm just going to sleep this off. It's probably just a sugar rush," Cat made him believe.
"Oh, ok. Do you want me to walk you to your cabin?" he tried offering any kind of assistance.
"Sure," she said as the two got up and started towards her cabin.
They passed by Tori and Andre at the campfire and waved at them. After losing contact from the heat of the fire, Cat's body readjusted to the soft breeze from the night and she instinctively shivered.
"Cat are you cold?" Robbie asked.
"Just a little," she held her elbows.
"Here," he unzipped his hoodie and wrapped it over her shoulders.
"Thanks," she slightly blushed.
The two were about ten feet from her cabin, still walking in silence. Cat didn't want to look at Robbie so instead she turned her head opposite his side and tried sulking her head down. In the process of trying to hide her face, her nose grazed the top part of his hoodie that was draped over her shoulders and she caught a whiff of Robbie's scent. The hoodie smelled of a musky old spice mixed with lavender and a hint of Downey- the wrinkle free formula. The lavender was a kid's shampoo, Aw he still uses kid's shampoo, just like me! She thought. The old spice was of him trying hard to smell like a man. Even Cat knew that. He's so cute for trying. He was certainly a nerd, wanting his clothes nice and crisp. Robbie is such a cute nerd. Combined, his sent shivers down her spine, but not like the kind the wind gave her. This one was better. And that's when she realized she needed to be away from him that night. She was growing dizzy from the internally fighting inside and stopped just a few feet from her steps. She immediately took off his jacket and handed it over to him.
"ThanksforthecompanyRobbie. Goodnight," she said too soon. Practically slurred it.
"Ok, uh, Goodnight, Cat! Sleep well," he said as he watched her scurry inside.
Was it something I said? He wondered. He had been trying to figure out the reasons as to why Cat was acting strange earlier that night. He put his hoodie back on, but before zipping it all the way up, he sniffed a part of his sweater that had a slight smell of Cat. Wow that smells good, he thought to himself. Is that strawberries? Oh no, he realized. That's why she was acting weird. We were acting too close! Stupid, stupid Robbie! You've got to work on this 'just friends' thing a lot harder next time! He mentally scolded himself.
"Hey Tori, can we ask you a question?" one of the campers said.
"Sure kiddo, what's up?"
"You know your two friends, uh… the one with the glasses and the one with the red hair?"
"Yeah?"
"Are they dating like Beck and Jade are?"
Andre and Tori exchanged glances and chuckled.
"No, they're just really good friends," she informed them.
"Yeah best friends, like Tori and me," Andre added.
"Yeah, but do you not see the way Robbie looks at Cat?" one camper pointed out.
"And the way Cat gets even more energetic than usual when he's around?" said another camper.
"Well, they're oddballs, but they're just friends you guys," Tori assured them. Even if Andre and Tori have noticed the same things that the freshmen pointed out, it wasn't their business to share Robbie and Cat's unique friendship with anybody else. Besides, Tori, Andre, Jade and Beck were just as confused about Robbie and Cat's relationship or friendship, or whatever they chose to call it.
"Maybe you guys are just seeing the closeness they have with their bond," Andre tried to reason. "I mean when you have a bond as strong as Cat and Robbie, or one as strong as Beck and Jade or even one as strong as Tori and Me, you'll understand that you'll do anything to make sure that bond doesn't break. The arts world that you guys are getting into, it's a dog eat dog world, so you're lucky to have a support system that won't go behind your back, abandon you, or sell you out. I know Tori will never do anything to me and I'll never do anything to her," he patted his best friend's shoulder. "That goes the same with Cat and Rob."
Tori grew nervous. She felt guilt at the pit of her stomach. How could Andre say all those flattering things about her when he doesn't even know half the story? Tori was drowning in her own shame that she couldn't bear to be around him because of it. Absentmindedly, she got up and started towards her cabin.
"Hey, Tori!" Andre's voice detached her from her thoughts.
She stopped at her tracks to let him catch up to her.
"Hey Andre," she said.
"Are you ok? You just randomly got up and started walking. I mean you did look sick."
"Yeah, I guess I'm not really feeling well. Maybe all the s'mores," she fake chuckled.
"Well you better get some rest then, need all the energy you can get for our rehearsal," he patted her arm.
"Ok. Goodnight Andre," she gave him a hug.
"Goodnight, Tori." He returned the gesture. He started walking back before turning around again and pointing to the sky, motioning for Tori to look up as well. "Deng look at all these bright stars! Just like you, you're a superstar, Tor. You're the best," he added before walking back.
He didn't have to add that comment, she cried inside. But thanks to that remark, Tori felt the most self-reproached she's ever felt.
A/N: Song title - Make It Shine - I was listening to this song when I wrote this chapter so I figured, why not? Besides, it's the show's theme song, and they were all under the stars at the campfire.