Tori arrived in front of Robbie's house exactly at 7 PM. Robbie was already standing in front of his house. Tori was surprised at his appearance. The casual shirt and jeans were replaced by a white black shirt and a suit. Rex again was nowhere to be found, which only made Tori feel relieved as that damn puppet couldn't get in the way. She watched Robbie walk to her car before he opened the passenger door.
"Hey there." He said as he entered the car.
"Hi." Tori said, giving him a warm smile. "I didn't know we had to dress up. You look sharp." Tori said. Robbie looked at her confused before he looked down at his clothes. He let out a small chuckle, as if he was annoyed with himself.
"I'm sorry. I overdid it. Give me a minute, I'll go change." Robbie said as he went for the door handle, but Tori stopped him by grabbing his hand.
"Why would you do that? You look great. That style suits you well. No pun intended." Tori said as he leaned back in his seat and let out a sigh.
"You're not making fun of me now?" Robbie asked.
"No, I'm not. Now I feel bad for not wearing something better." Tori said as she looked at her attire. She wore her brown leather jacket, a blue long sleeved shirt and her favorite pair of jeans.
"You look great as always, don't worry." Robbie said, seeming to finally relax a bit.
"Thank you. Now, where are you taking me out?" Tori asked as she stepped on the gas pedal and drove off.
"I'll tell you where to go." Robbie said.
After half an hour of driving through LA, they arrived in front of the restaurant. Tori parked her car in the half empty parking lot and they both got out of the car.
"I've never been here." Tori said as she looked at the restaurant. Robbie walked up next to her and looked at the place.
"I've used to come here often with my parents when I was a kid. They would call up their friends and sometimes there would be like four families at one table. It was always great." Robbie said as he and Tori walked towards the restaurant.
"Your parents stopped going here or?" Tori asked as they entered the restaurant.
"No, they do come here. I just stopped coming here." Robbie said. He walked up to the doorman who smiled up when he saw him. They shook hands and after a minute of talking Tori saw Robbie point towards her. The doorman nodded and pointed Robbie towards a table. She heard Robbie thank him before he walked back towards her.
"Our table is ready. It's right there." Robbie said as he pointed towards one of the tables next to the windows. Tori nodded and they walked towards the table. They sat down and the waitress brought them the menus. Both ordered what they wanted and handed the menus back to the waitress.
"This place is great." Tori said as she looked around. Almost all tables were taken and the music was a mix between R'n B and blues songs that created a relaxed atmosphere.
"I'm glad you like it." Robbie said.
"Well, now that you and I finally have a real opportunity to hang out again, only the two of us, I want you to tell me something." Tori said.
"What is it?"
"In the last few weeks I found out that you can cook, that you write, I already know that you play guitar, and then I find out that you actually make your own animations. Is there anything else you kept a secret from the world?" Tori asked.
"Well, I never kept it a secret. It's just that no one ever asked me." Robbie said with a small smirk.
"Oh come on. How should anyone know if you never even tried to show it?"
"Alright, I know what you want me to say. But… I just never saw it as anything special. There are people out there way better than me at it anyway." Robbie said.
"How did you even get that idea? Animating. It's so much more work than writing for example." Tori asked.
"I tried writing and I saw the limits of it. I watched so many movies and found the limits and restrictions in them. I just found something in between with no single restriction." Robbie said.
"Okay, I understand the limits with movies. Length and content, effects, all that. I get it. But which restrictions does writing have? You can do what you want and length isn't even an issue with books." Tori said. She saw Robbie smile a bit. She only imagined how much he must have wanted to talk about those things and yet never felt like he could with anyone.
"You're right. You can write about anything and make it as long as you want. But still, there are things words can never portray as well as a picture could. You can write as much about someone's emotions as you want, and yet it won't be as effective as a single genuine facial expression caused by it. No words in all languages combined on paper, no matter the length or number or paragraphs, can describe the beauty of a sunset as a picture of it can." Robbie explained.
"Wow. I never thought of it that way." Tori admitted.
"When you isolate yourself like I do, you do spend a lot of time inside your own head, just thinking about anything. I realized all that one day and decided to give it a try. After four years, I still don't feel like stopping." Robbie said.
"But why would you isolate yourself? Why when you got so much to offer. Instead you… act all weird, almost as if you don't want anyone to ever find out about all those awesome things you do." Tori asked the question that was long overdue. She had wondered for a long time why Robbie was pretty much self sabotaging himself as often as he could, be it through his own behavior, actions or through Rex, a puppet he gave his voice to.
Robbie took a deep breath as the waitress brought them their food.
"Thank you." Robbie said to her with a small smile before he looked back at Tori. "It's something I… tried to avoid thinking about for a very long time." Robbie said.
Tori swore she could see the conflict going on in his mind. She understood that it's hard to talk about something buried deep in someone's mind, especially if it has been there for a long time. With Robbie, it must have been over a decade.
"Robbie, you don't need to tell me if you don't want to. But share it with someone. You are not doing anyone a favor by locking painful emotions away, especially not yourself. Believe me, I know." Tori said.
"I know, Tori. I know. It's just hard to talk about it." Robbie said.
Tori sighed and closed her eyes. She hoped that she could avoid doing this, but now, it not only seems like a necessity, but almost like a favor to Robbie.
"Put your hand closer to mine." Tori said. Robbie looked at her, a confused expression appearing on his face. "Trust me." Tori said. Robbie nodded and placed his hand on the table. Tori put her hand on his. She felt the vision coming, and didn't resist as the bright light appeared in front of her eyes.
A young Robbie was sitting in his room reading some of his comic books and imitating the actions of the heroes in them.
"Robbie!" He heard someone yell from downstairs.
"Yes?" He yelled back, not taking his eyes off of the comic.
"The phone. It's for you." His mother yelled as Robbie jumped up and headed downstairs.
He took the phone out of her hand and pressed it against his ear.
"Mhm. Mhm. Mkay, I'll be outside in half an hour." Robbie said as he put the phone back. He ran into the kitchen to tell his mother about his plans and to grab something to eat. Suddenly, the vision jumped for a short time, as Robbie had different clothes on and was heading outside. He opened the door before the bright sunlight blinded him for the moment.
He ran towards a small park where another young boy was already playing on the small, wooden fort.
"Beat you again, Rob. Now you have to try and retake this fort from me!" The young buy yelled as he paced around the small bridge connecting the two covered wooden platforms.
"You won the race this time, Rex, but you won't keep that fort!" Robbie called. They kept playing in that park for a long time, with Robbie trying to climb up the rope ladders while Rex taunted him as he tried to stop him, before they decided to go home.
"I'll see you tomorrow. Same time again?" Rex asked.
"Sure. Next time I'll win." Robbie said.
Then he was walking out of the shower. As he wrapped the towel around his body, his mother ran into the bathroom, phone still in hand while and tears running down her face.
"Mommy, what is it?" Robbie asked as he walked towards her.
"R-R-Reginald is in the hospital sweetie." Miss Shapiro said.
"W-What?" Robbie barely uttered in disbelief. "W-We need to go to the hospital!" He said.
The vision then snapped to Robbie and his parents walking out of the elevator. Robbie ran ahead of them towards the room the nurse had told them Reginald was in. Just as he reached the door, he saw the doctors pull a white sheet over his best friend's head, who didn't move at all in his hospital bed. Robbie let out a loud scream before his parents pulled him away.
The vision ended and Tori immediately felt tears form on the edge of her eyes. She bit both of her lips before she looked back at Robbie, who still looked at her confused.
"Oh Robbie." Tori said as she shook her head. It all made sense to her now, especially the puppet Robbie had been carrying with himself for years now.
"What?" Robbie asked.
"Now I know why Rex means so much to you. Good god." Tori said. She saw Robbie's eyes widen at her words.
"W-What are you talking about?" Robbie stuttered, not believing his own ears right now.
"Robbie, there is something I have to tell you, too. Please, let me explain." Tori asked. She told him about the visions she could see and since when she could do that. She explained how she already saw Andre's and Beck's memories and everything else that happened. Robbie listened carefully; his confused expression was replaced with an understanding one, as if everything made sense to him now.
"And now I saw your memory; the last day you saw Reginald at that park and the two of you played together. I saw how you rushed to the hospital and saw the doctors pull the sheets over his head. I saw all that." Tori finished, hoping that Robbie wouldn't react in any way like Beck did.
"It makes sense now." Robbie said as he looked at her again. "I believe you. I mean… you just told me something not many people know with details nobody but me knows." Robbie said as he sighed. "He had an aneurysm when he got home. His parents brought him to the hospital immediately, but it was too late. There was nothing they could do for him." Robbie explained.
"But how, he was so young." Tori said in disbelief.
"It was something common in his family. He also had some issues with his heart, so it wasn't that impossible."
"I'm so sorry." Tori said.
"It's been twelve years and the memories still hurt. I was a wreck after his death. I didn't eat, I didn't sleep, I only cried in my room. I kept yelling at people that he was not dead. I was in denial. My grandfather used to make dolls. He always made them for my mother and aunts, so he made one for me. He brought it to me one day, and it looked exactly at him. He told me that Rex would always be with me, and that he could even talk if I really wanted it to talk. Ventriloquism was something that came with that. After a few months, Rex could talk while my lips were closed. The rest you know." Robbie finished.
Tori couldn't believe what she just heard. She had no idea that Robbie had lost someone so important.
"I had surprised all that, because it hurt too much to think about it. But a few years ago, during rehearsal when Rex got sucked into that machine, it all came back. It was as if I had to relieve it again. But you didn't let him die. You gave that bad memory an alternative with a happy ending. I got some closure from that, so I… used Rex less and less. Right now, I barely carry him around. After I heard what had happened to you, while I was drawing that animation I had made for you, I realized that I had to face my own demons too, no matter how painful they were. I wanted to tell you everything tonight anyway, because I trust you the most. But you took a great deal of pain away from it. Thank you, Tori." Robbie said.
Tori bit both of her lips as before she covered her mouth with her hand. She looked away, trying to stop herself from crying. She could feel nothing but admiration for Robbie right now. After everything he had been through, he never used it as an excuse. He never did anything stupid or harmful to anyone. Whenever Rex was insulting someone, it wasn't Robbie. He just said what he believed Rex would have, and most of those were directed at himself anyway.
"Don't cry, I've done that enough myself." Robbie said as he put his hand over Tori's on the table. "I've isolated myself for so long because I didn't want to let anyone get this close to me. I didn't want to grow attached to anyone and then lose them again. I was sure that I wouldn't be able to handle it. But now… now I want to start over. Stop pushing away people and let them into my life. And thanks to you, I believe I made that first step tonight. So, again, thank you." Robbie said.
"You don't need to thank me." Tori said as she wiped her tears away with her sleeve. "You are an amazing person Robbie, and I'm really glad that I got to get to know the real you now." Tori said.
"Thanks. It means a lot. Well, the food is cold now, and I've lost my appetite. How about we go for a walk?" Robbie suggested.
"Sure. I'm not hungry anymore either." Tori said. Robbie left the money on the table and both walked out of the restaurant. They walked for a few minutes before Robbie suddenly stopped.
"Here it is." Robbie said. Tori stopped in looked in the same direction. The place looked familiar, and then she remembered, she had seen it in his vision. It was the park.
"The fort." Tori said.
"Mhm. I haven't been here in years either. It still looks good." Robbie said. Tori hugged his arm and leaned her head on his shoulder, hoping to comfort him as much as possible.
"You know that he wouldn't want you to mourn over him forever." Tori said.
"Do I know? He would have kicked my ass for even crying once." Robbie said before he took in a deep breath. "I just have to let it go." Robbie said. Tori hugged his arm tighter, since there was nothing she could say.
"Tori! Robbie!" Both heard a familiar voice yell. They turned around and saw something dark red run towards them before Tori found herself embraced in a warm hug.
"Hey Cat." Tori said as she hugged her back. She hadn't seen her in a few days, as somehow they didn't have the same classes and Cat had other obligations during lunch.
"I've missed you so much." Cat said as she pulled away before she looked at Robbie. Tori saw Cat's expression change after she looked at him. "Robbie, what's wrong?" She asked as she stepped in front of him.
"Nothing. Everything is fine now." Robbie said as he hugged her tightly. Tori smiled when she saw them hug, since she knew how much they both meant to each other.
"Vega." She heard someone say from behind her. Tori turned around and saw Jade standing there.
"Hey Jade." Tori said as she looked at the girl who she hadn't spoken with since this morning. Jade was standing in front of her, her arms crossed over her chest and looking down at her feet instead of Tori.
"You and Robbie are hanging out together?" Jade asked.
"Yeah. We went out for dinner together." Tori said. She saw Jade tense up at that.
"Like… a date?" Jade asked, the second part coming out after some hesitation.
"No. Not a date. He got an A+ for one of his projects I helped him with, so he took me out to dinner." Tori explained. She turned around and saw Robbie telling Cat something while the redhead listened carefully.
"Oh. So it was not a date." Jade said, as if she was confirming it to herself.
"Would it be a problem if it was?" Tori asked, intrigued with how Jade would react.
"No. I mean, why would I care? I…" Jade stuttered, still not looking at Tori.
"Are you jealous?" Tori asked, a small smile appearing on the edge of her lips.
"What? No! No… I… after I didn't see you at school anymore I was worried that… you were mad at me for what I did. Tori, I didn't mean to hurt you with that. I already told you, I…" Jade began, but before she could say anything more, Tori stepped forward and hugged Jade around the waist and around the back of her neck.
"I'm not mad at you. How could I be? You know that I care about you, Jade, and nothing that you say or do can change that. Get it through that thick skull of yours." Tori said. She heard Jade let out a small chuckle as she hugged Tori back. Tori felt Jade relax in her embrace, as if a burden had been taken of her shoulders.
"It's good to know that." Jade said.
"I know. Let's hang out tomorrow after school. This time I pick the movie." Tori said. Jade pulled out of the hug and smirked.
"Okay. But it better be something good." Jade said.
"Hey, what about me?" Cat said as she walked towards them and pouted.
"Of course you will hang out with us too." Tori said as she put her arm around Cat's shoulder. Tori smiled when she heard Cat let out a small squeal of joy.
"Guys, it's late. I'm going to drive Robbie home and go lie down." Tori said. "I'll see you two tomorrow."
"It's a deal. Bye." Cat said.
"See you tomorrow." Jade said as she looked at Tori.
Cat and Jade walked away as Tori looked at Robbie. He was looking at them as they were walking away, and his eyes seemed almost dreamy.
"I need a favor." Robbie said.
"Sure. What is it?" Tori asked.
"I need you to help me ask a girl out." Robbie said. Tori looked at him and a wide smile appeared on her face.
"You mean you want to…?"
"Yes. I want to ask Cat out. Can you help me?" Robbie asked.
"Of course. I'll help you out."