Information

[InsaneBlueberry]

This is the topic where the user, je crois en l'amour, will post their Four-in-Five Drabble Challenge entries. Their character/pairing is Robbie/Tori.

[je crois en l'amour]

Theme One
Four-in-Five Drabbles

---

Title: “That He’s Mine”
Rating: FR7
Genre: some Angst, Romance
Pairing(s): Robbie/Tori
Summary: Theme One, Four-In-Five Drabbles: Performance. As Tori sings the last song for her final play at Hollywood Arts High, she thinks of the boy that had always tried to make her life seem like Eden.
Notes: “The Apple Tree” and the song “What Makes Me Love Him?” are properties of their rightful owners. Anything that’s publicly recognizable is not mine.

---

Tori dutifully recited her monologue to the audience, letting the boundary between fiction and reality melt momentarily upon the order of the script. The floral house dress that she wore cling to her skin closely as she continued, not allowing even the warm Californian wind to give relief to her body. However, she decided that her attention should be spent towards her last performance as a lead in Hollywood Arts’ spring play.

As soon as she finished, Robbie, who sported a worn out paint shirt, began speaking his lines. She listened how he--the character he played, rather--admitted that he could not bear her silence.

Absentmindedly, she smiled. Who would have thought that in their senior showcase before graduation, she would be Eve and he would be her Adam? Above all people.

She began again when he finished, looking at the sky pensively as if her lines were written on the stars. “There’s too much stillness in this house,” she finished her monologue. She noticed Robbie move towards the makeshift garden behind her, so she took her cue to follow him. “Adam,” she called to him. “I’ve been thinking...”

“Ugh,” Robbie groaned, handing her a pot of sunflowers.

“I thought that when we die, we die together,” she said, taking the vessel.

“That is a subject I’d rather not dis…”

“Wait. I’m just saying that I hope if one of us goes first, my prayer is that I will go.”

“I told you that I don’t want to have this conversation,” Robbie reiterated.

“You’re strong, and I’m weak,” she reasoned. Her heart skipped a beat when it recognized her next statement. “You’re much more necessary to me that I am to you.”

“That is not true.”

“Yes, it’s true. It’s always been true.”

“No, listen,” Robbie--Adam, actually--changed the subject, evident by the emersion of a goofy grin on his lips. “I got a good one. Why do I always wear brown suspenders?”

She laughed, like how she had done countless of times before whenever Robbie, sans role attached, tells her a joke that wasn’t funny. “That one’s my favorite,” she said.

He scratched his head, grinning timidly. “I forgot,” he said. The audience laughed. Then, for a few seconds, his eyes were on hers, as if they were the only two people in the world. Contrary to what she hoped for, he left so suddenly, ending briefly a what-could-have-been.

“Life without him would not be life at all,” she said, meaning it. Her mouth and her throat worked together to deliver another slew of words, but her mind was somewhere else.

Ironic. Everything was. She and the character she played asked the same question. Why does she love him? For the most part, they spent their high school years together resolving misunderstandings that they have. Like when she told him four months ago that no matter how many bad relationships he saved her from, she was never going to like him.

What a big bowl of stupid she was for saying that.

The senior orchestra began to play the music, but she was still thinking of how much she regretted breaking his heart.

What makes me love him? It’s not his singing. At first, she thought that she began seeing him in a different light because guilt was eating her from inside out. After all, he had learned to appropriately distance himself from her. But so much was her yearning to gain back his company for it to be a result of remorse.

What makes me love him? It’s not his learning. She was happy for him when he told her that he was accepted to Julliard. But, a part of her died after knowing that he’d be thousands of miles away from her. Soon, he would meet other people, another girl, while tugging behind him his guitar, his suitcase, Rex, and his broken memory of her.

No one occasion he’s used me ill. She may have scolded him hundreds of times for being excessively fond of her, but she failed to understand how he did those things out of innocent mistake, or of his concern for her. She shouldn’t have pushed him away.

She finished the song with finesse and remembered every lyric of it, especially when Robbie walked past her.

What did make me like him? she asked herself. She smiled, the edges of her mouth nursing disappointment. He was mine, she concluded. Had always been.

[je crois en l'amour]

Title: "It's Yours Now"
Rating: FR7/K+
Genre: Friendship, Fluff, Romance
Pairing(s): Robbie/Tori
Summary: Theme One, Four-In-Five Drabbles: Flirting. If anything, she doesn’t deserve a broken heart. Rori. Episode tag to iParty with Victorious.
Notes: I wish I had a better title for this. But, anyways, it’s not really outright flirting, but wikipedia said that any act that one person shows to the other that indicates their interest is counted as one. So blame Wiki if I did this wrong.
Enjoy, anyways!

---

Many guys had broken her heart before. When guys leave, cheat on, or tell her they love someone else, the dent on her soul would continue to widen, and like other girls she would ask herself what she did wrong. Yet, with the way her eyes lighten up, her well-sculptured cheeks mimic the hue of young roses, and her lips yield to that tantalizing smile, everyone thought that she didn’t mind the pain at all. Sometimes, she would think the same way.

But not him. He knew her better.

It wasn’t that he assumed this; he just saw it through the little things she did after a boy left her. For instance, she tended to get uncomfortable whenever she was at those places at school where she first met the person. She would always pretend to do something, and everyone would just leave her be. But to him it was evident that she was distracted by how she’d briefly stare into space.

Not only that, she would also change the color of her lipstick whenever a relationship concluded. Rex had told him that it was creepy how he noticed those things but in his mind, those made him better suited guy for her.

But no one believe that, not even Rex. Sometimes, neither did he. Yet, every time she was hurt, he’d always feel the urge to come to her aid and make her feel better.

Like a few weeks ago, when she discovered that Steven was cheating on her. The following Monday, Mr. Yates, the new choir teacher, had to step in front of her to get her attention during class because her eyes were so affixed on the floor. Plus, instead of wearing the dessert rose-colored lipstick (he knew this time because he happened to read the label as he was giving it back to her, after she dropped it at Sikowitz’ class), she had on a coral shade. She hadn’t been wearing much bracelets lately, either.

Since she mostly talked about how great it was to meet iCarly’s terrific three, everyone assumed again that she was fine with the breakup. André was a little persistent in asking how she fared this time, though, but after she waved the matter away several times, he let her be.

But he, being that he’s he, refused to let it go. So, when he saw her at her locker before sixth period, he took his chance, mustering up the courage to talk to her. After stuffing Rex inside his own locker--much to the guy’s disappointment--he came to her side, slightly apprehensive.

At first, she didn’t notice him, but soon he caught her attention. “Hey,” she said, smiling at him.

“He really shouldn’t have done that to you,” he muttered.

Her eyebrows wrinkled, though he could see that she was not completely oblivious to what he meant. “What are you talking about?” she asked.

“You know exactly who I’m talking about,” he said quietly.

A shadow of defeat passed by her eyes. Her smile weakened. She closed her locker. “I’ve forgotten about it. It’s, really…It’s nothing,” she said passively.

“It’s not nothing,” he responded. “You don’t deserve a broken heart.”

She smiled appreciatively yet averting his eyes.

He dug into his pocket for the heart-shaped sticker that Rex discarded from the cereal box that morning. “Here,” he said, peeling it from the white glossy paper. He gently pressed it on her shirt, linear to her heart.

“What’s this?”

“My heart,” he said pragmatically. “It’s yours now.”

She sighed. “Robbie…”

“No,” he shook his head. “It’s not a sappy offer. I just want you to keep it until yours is fixed again--when you’re feeling much better.”

She gazed at it for a while, perhaps pondering about his motive for doing so. Then, she smiled a genuine smile, and then she looked him in the eyes. “You don’t mind if I keep it for a while?” she asked.

“Keep it as long as you need to,” he said. “Just don’t return it damaged.”

She chuckled. After a split moment, she tiptoed up to him then kissed him on the cheeks. “I won’t,” she said. They shared smiles once again before she left for her next class, wearing the heart he gave her.

He smiled. A few girls had broken his heart before, after he gave it to them perfect and whole. But not the one he gave to Tori, because up until now she had kept it close and safe with her.

[je crois en l'amour]

Title: "What's The Best Thing In the World?"
Rating: FR7/K+
Genre: Friendship
Pairing(s): Robbie/Tori frienship only ;)
Summary: Theme One, Four-In-Five Drabbles: Classes. To be honest, she doesn’t feel like being in class right now, much more so listen to Ms. Keating’s lecture about Elizabeth Barrett Browning and the romantic poems she wrote. Rori friendship.
Notes: “The Best Thing In the World” belongs to E.B Browning, and the “F.U.N Song” to its creators. None of those are mine. Neither does Victorious belong to me. Enjoy.

---

What’s the best thing in the world?
June rose, by May-dew impearled;
Sweet south-wind that means no rain;

To be honest, she doesn’t feel like being in class right now, much more so listen to Ms. Keating’s lecture about Elizabeth Barrett Browning and the romantic poems she wrote. She’d rather be in bed, sleeping, or doing something else to keep her mind off the crappy day she’s been having.

“See, Browning was, along with her husband, a great contributor to English poetry around the nineteenth century,” their English teacher says.

She runs her fingers through her hair impatiently. Only fifteen more minutes in English class, and then she can go home. She can change out of her favorite shirt which, thanks to Trina, is now deeply stained with coffee; find a new backpack to replace the one that Sinjin accidentally--or so he claims--destroyed during lunch; and ask her mom if the sterling silver necklace that broke after Jade tugged on it is still fixable.

Her eyes slightly water. Her grandfather gave that necklace to her before he and her grandmother moved to London.

Before she can lament more about it, she feels a tap on her arms. She turns around and sees a note being passed to her. She frowns as she discreetly receives it, and the expression only intensifies as she finds her name scribbled on the front fold. She checks if Ms. Keating is close by before opening the paper cautiously.

What’s wrong? it reads. She lifts her eyes up then searches the room for the sender. She finds it immediately in the person of one grinning Robbie sitting at the other side of the class.

Nothing, she writes, and then passes it back.

Look at me, the note comes back to her. She does so and found Robbie arching his eyebrows at her.

Her features scrunch up as she writes back. Crappy day, Robbie. Leave me alone, she jots down then passes it back. She’s easily becoming annoyed with his nosiness. It’s the last thing she needed.

The boy behind her irritably transfers the paper to the others on the back, all of whom look unhappy about the continuous exchange, too.

Truth, not cruel to a friend;
Pleasure, not in haste to end;
Beauty, not self-decked and curled
Till its pride is over-plain;


She does not receive any reply for a while, and she begins to worry that she has become overly harsh with him. She swivels around to try to call his attention, only to be blocked by a return sheet being shoved up on her face. She plucks it out of the boy’s hand, displeased with his rudeness.

“I’m not a freaking UPS guy,” he hisses close to her ears. “So stop with the notes already!”

“Gosh, Kevin,” she responds irritably. “Chill.” After leaning back, she unravels the message.

You should have F.U.N instead, Robbie says.

She looks back to him again, narrowing her eyes as if to ask what he meant. Robbie let Ms. Keating pass by him first, and then he gestures for her to turn the paper around. She stifles a chuckle when she recognizes her favorite Spongebob song that he wrote down.

F is for friends that do stuff together, U is for u and me, it reads. N is for N-E where and N-E time at all--here in the deep blue sea.

Love, when, so, you’re loved again.
What’s the best thing in the world?


Her lips curl into a smile. Suddenly, she doesn’t feel as bad as she did earlier.

The bell rings before Ms. Keating can go into deep analysis of Browning’s “How Do I Love Thee?”. Besides her and a few students, everyone is relieved. “Don’t forget to read this tonight, everyone,” she tells them instead as they walk out of the door.

“Are you feeling better now?” she hears him ask behind her soon after.

She scoops up her books from her desk, and then looks up at him. She shrugs her shoulder and nods.

He grins contentedly, happy that he was able to help.

--Something out of it, I think.

[je crois en l'amour]

Title: "Elle Est Parfait"
Rating: FR7/K+
Genre: Fluff, some one-sided Romance (is that even possible? )
Pairing(s): Robbie/Tori
Summary: Theme One, Four-In-Five Challenges: Test. After all, she had the right to know that he thought that she was perfect. One-sided Rori.
Notes: My French is kinda rusty, so I ask you guys to please forgive the flaws that, I know, are present. Enjoy.

---

Dans un paragraph, decrivez un de ton amis.

Robbie stared at the instruction. Responding to that last part of the test would grant him ten easy points, given that he would answer it right. Well, actually, he didn’t find that part hard at all. Actually, it was quite the opposite. The problem was that he couldn’t think of anyone to describe.

He had used Cat, André, Beck, and Jade as templates for responses to questions such as that before, and it was about time that he looked at someone new.

Someone new. He smirked. Of course. His pen began moving before he could even think of what he should jot down.

Je l’ai rencontrée dans le deuxieme jour d’école. Not exactly, he thought. He met her the night before, during the annual showcase when she had to fill in for her sister, Trina. He continued. Je l’ai trouvé trés belle, sa sourir surtout. Elle a chanté le mieux cette nuit, j’ai pensé. He smiled as he remembered how pretty she was the first time he saw her. Everything about her, though he didn’t know her yet, lingered even in his sleep.

Plus tard, j’ai appris aussi qu’elle est gentille et intelligente. Elle est un personne interessante. Those were the truth. Above the two, he was drawn the most to her sweet nature. It was refreshing, since most of the girls he had encountered before weren’t as pleasant as she was.

He counted the number of sentences he had so far. Five. He had more than enough. Reading everything again, he was contented with what he had. Though, perhaps, he could add one more description of her, and that would suffice.

Elle est parfait, he finished.

He checked his test for any unanswered questions, and when he found none. He stood up from his chair and handed the paper to Ms. Devraux. Then, he returned to his chair.

Maybe he ought to read that to her someday, when he feels a bit more courageous. Rex had told him before that girls were more likely to respond positively to compliments written and spoken in French. That was why he agreed to take the class again.

Maybe he would. After all, she had the right to know that he thought that she was perfect.

[je crois en l'amour]

Title: "Stay"
Rating: FR13/T
Genre: Angst, Friendship, some Hurt/Comfort
Pairing(s): Robbie/Tori
Summary: Theme One, Four-In-Five Challenges: Friends. Robbie’s leaving California, and Tori wasn’t sure she’d be happy if he goes. Rori friendship.
Notes: A different format for my last entry for this theme. Enjoy!

---

“Do you really have to go?”

“Yeah. My mom’s gotten so busy with work, and she’s worried that I won’t have the attention that she said I need. So I have to go.”

“Oh.”

“Aren’t you happy?”

Frown. “Should I be?”

“I guess. Everyone is, even Cat.”

“That’s because you told her you really wanted to move to Hawaii. And I think she’s just being supportive. I don’t think she’s really happy.”

Nod. “Well, what about you?”

Silence.

“When is your brother-in-law picking you up?”

“Tuesday.”

“So we got three days to stop you?”

Smirk. “I’m not that hard to persuade.”

I’m counting on it. “What about Rex? What does he think about moving?”

Fake smile. “He’s excited. He said he’s looking forward to living close by the beach. He said he needs a tan, so.”

Weak laugh. “Wouldn’t he just melt?”

Grin. “I’m not telling him that.”

“Are you excited?”

“Don’t know yet. My sister said that the kids there are nicer, and she said she’s sure I’ll easily make friends. She even told me that I might not even need to take Rex because there will be a lot of people I could talk to.”

“But we’re nice, too. You can talk to all of us.”

Glance.

“Okay, maybe not all the time. But aren’t we enough?”

“My mom and my sister don’t think so.”

“Oh.”

Another silence.

“Have you said your goodbyes to everyone?”

“Almost. My mom had called Lane and the other teachers about it. Sikowitz seems to be the only one who’s not too happy that I’m leaving. I told the others, too. Jade offered to drive me and Daniel to the airport.” Chuckle. “André told her it wasn’t a funny joke.”

“How come you told me late?”

“I didn’t think you would care.”

“Now, that’s not a funny joke.”

Silence again. Longer this time.

“You never told me if you were happy that I was leaving.”

“What kind of a question is that?”

“You’ve been avoiding it.”

“Of course I have! Because I don’t want you to go.”

“You…don’t want me to go.”

“No.”

“Okay. You might need to explain that to me, because I really thought that you’d be glad to know that I’ll be out of your way.”

“Out of my way?”

“Yes! Out of your way. You know. No more crushing or watching you from your bush or saying things that embarrass you or making you mad…”

“Is that why you’re leaving?”

“I told you why.”

“No. You’re just using that as a cover. You’re leaving because your feelings are hurt.”

“My sister and nephews need me more than you guys do. That’s why I’m going away.”

“But…” Nothing.

“Forget about it. And I’m sorry that I got a little rough.” Fake laugh. “That’s not really a good way to say goodbye.” Hug. “Rex said that he’ll get you a coconut bra and grass skirt when we get there. I, on the other hand, will send you a pretty necklace and postcards.” Kiss her forehead. “Goodbye.” Turn around. Walk away.

“Wait!” Run after him. “Don’t go.”

“Tori, I--”

“Stay with me, Robbie.”

Pause. “I told you, I can’t--”

“You have to.” Let go. “We want you here. I need you here.”

Smile.

“You’re one of the closest friends I have, and it’s just not going to be the same without you.”

Smile fades away, becomes fake. “You mean that?”

“Yes. Yes, I do.”

Nod. Hide hurt. “I told you I’m not hard to persuade.”

“So…you’re not leaving anymore?”

Lie. “I’ll try to talk to my mom.”

Hug. “That’s awesome. I hope she says yes.”

“Me, too.” Hold her tight. “I’ll try to stay.” …just for a little while.

---

End Theme One.

[je crois en l'amour]

Theme Two
Four-In-Five Drabbles

---

Title: “Oatmeal and Ginger Teas”
Rating: FR7
Genre: Friendship
Pairing(s): Robbie/Tori friendship
Summary: Four-in-Five Drabbles, Theme Two: Cooking. Robbie takes care of Tori when she’s sick at home. Rori friendship.
Notes: Late entry, but I just wanted to make sure that I have something for it. Enjoy!

---

The sweet, warm scent that came from the kitchen downstairs lured Tori to rise from her bed. Though her eyes were closed, she could picture what was being prepared. In anticipation of the meal, her stomach grumbled, causing her to groan weakly.

She sluggishly moved towards the edge of her bed, deciding that she should wait no longer for it. She shut her eyes tightly and stayed still when she felt the room tilt. Stupid cold, she thought bitterly. After a few moments, when she found herself able, she heaved herself up on her feet. However, exhaustion acted as gravity, and soon she was lying on the ground, dizzy and groggy.

There was a soft knock on the door. “Tori?” Robbie’s voice came through the slightly ajar door. “Tori, I’m coming in.” He used the tray that he carried to get it, causing the dinnerware upon it to clink. His determination to get his load straight to Tori’s nightstand quickly vanished when he saw her on the floor. “Shomu shama’im,” he said in surprise, his eyes widened. He shouldered his way inside the room, and then sat the tray down quite unceremoniously. “Tori? Tori, what’s wrong?” He helped her up, shaking her.

Tori groaned again. Her eyebrows furrowed then she opened her eyes. “You’re making me dizzy,” she protested weakly.

Robbie released the breath he was holding. “Oh, I’m sorry,” he said. “I thought something bad happened to you.” Little by little, he aided her to get back up on her feet and to come back to her bed. “Why are you out of bed anyways?”

Tori struggled to sit up. “I was hungry,” she explained, remarkably lethargic and fatigued. “I wanted to get something from downstairs.”

“I told you I was going to come up here after I cooked. You should have waited,” Robbie chastised her a bit.

Tori gave him the best dirty look she could give at the moment. “Yeah, well, having a cold makes minutes seem like hours,” she pointed out. “You have no idea how long I’ve been waiting.” Robbie made no reply. Instead, he retrieved the tray from the ground.

As soon as the aroma of cinnamon wafted through her nose, Tori suddenly gained more energy. She leaned forward the food brought towards her, her mouth watering and her eyes wolfish. “What is that?” she asked.

“Apple cinnamon oatmeal,” Robbie replied. He carefully handed the bowl to Tori after making sure that it wouldn’t scorch her. The sight of her reaching for that and the spoon delighted him. “Mamaw said that it would give you energy so you can feel better.”

Once Tori began eating, her focus was only on the food and its appealing scent and taste. The medley of sweet and salty frolicked on her tongue, making her both hungry and full at the same time. “Dish’yu shay a ba’ wor ‘lier?” she asked, her mouth stuffed with oatmeal.

“What?”

Tori swallowed. “I was asking if you said a bad word earlier,” she repeated.

Robbie frowned pensively. “Oh. That,” he replied later. “No. It’s just one of the expressions I hear from my grandparents.”

Tori nodded.

“You need something to drink?” Robbie asked. He lifted the cup of tea and gave it to her.

“I guess,” Tori muttered as she accepted. Carefully, she sipped some of it. She gagged after tasting then forcefully swallowing it. “What the heck, Robbie? Are you trying to poison me?” she asked irately, shoving the cup to him.

“It’s just ginger tea,” Robbie replied, a bit offended. “It’s good for colds.”

“No, it’s not.”

“Come on. You have to drink this,” Robbie insisted, pushing the cup to her.

“No,” Tori petulantly said, shoving it back.

Some of the tea spilled on Robbie, causing him to get irritated. “Look,” he said sternly. “You insisted that your parents don’t find out you’re sick. If you don’t drink this tea, I will call them and tell them what’s happening. They’ll be forced to come back from their anniversary trip to Aspen, and you’ll feel guilty.”

Tori clenched her jaws after weighing down his threat. “Fine,” she took the cup begrudgingly. “You know, you’re a very mean nurse.”

Robbie watched her drink the tea and continue eating. “That’s only because I want you to get better, mamie’le,” he said, smiling.

---

Few additional notes (Hebrew-English translation):
* “Shomu shama’im!” – “Good heavens!”
* mamie’le – sweetie
If I got anything wrong, blame Wikipedia.