LIFE GOES ON - rob rausch

punisher

VICTORIA SAT NEXT TO ROB, HUMMING CONTENTLY. The girl had her legs lazily draped over Rob's, and he was tracing circles absentmindedly on her leg, the sensation making a small smile tug at the girl's lips. 

Things had been a bit awkward between the two in the beginning, but both were slowly settling back into a new routine as more time passed. Victoria tried her best to ignore the nagging feeling in the back of her mind, reminding her of what Rob had done before this, but she knew it wouldn't be fair to hold it over his head especially since the two had already talked it out. Instead, she tried to focus on small moments like now, and the warmth that would bloom throughout her chest during them. 

However, while Victoria may have been over it, a certain blonde was not. 

Liv had made it clear that although she wasn't upset with Victoria, there was definitely a hostility towards Rob. The dark haired girl had heard murmurs of the fight between Rob and Liv, but figured prodding Rob would only make things worse and instead opted for waiting for him to come to her. However, the angry glances that Liv was sending their way were getting harder to ignore and Rob showed no signs of speaking up; something that was making Victoria anxious. A part of her knew it was irrational to feel that way, but another part of Victoria couldn't help but wonder if the argument had made Rob pick her and that she was only second best. 

"Geez you'd think I killed a guy or something," Rob finally said with a hard exhale through his nose, seemingly fed up. 

Victoria smiled tightly, her eyes wandering to where Liv was frowning deeply at the couple, or more precisely, Rob.  

"We can't be too mad, Rob, her feelings are just hurt, I imagine" Victoria said, trying to placate the man. 

"Hurt over what?"

This made Victoria frown. What exactly was Liv upset about? That was something that only Rob would know the answer to but for whatever reason he kept beating around the bush whenever the topic came up.  

"I imagine you'd know," Victoria said after a beat of silence, before biting down on her tongue regretfully. She had been trying to avoid this topic in the hopes that things would just die down, but that obviously wasn't the case and the tension had been building up uncontrollably and was gnawing away at the girl. 

Rob raised a brow. "Why do you say that?"

"No getting out of this now," Victoria thought. 

"Well... it's just I kinda heard something...happened between you two," Victoria said, trailing off and becoming less confident in her words the more she spoke. She hated when she got like this, she had never been someone unconfident in who she was or her words, but something about Rob's piercing gaze made her waver; and whether that was something good or bad, she wasn't sure of just yet. 

Rob frowned. "What did you hear?"

"I don't know, something about an argument."

Rob nodded his head, a pained grimace on his face. "Oh yeah, that." 

Victoria gazed at him pointedly, waiting for him to continue. 

"She was upset about how I acted when we were coupled up together, and rightfully so, but she, well she-" he began, stumbling over his words and looking away - a slight twinge of pink dusting his cheeks. 

Victoria raised a brow, unsure why Rob suddenly seemed so embarrassed. "She what?"

"She was upset because she said it was obvious I still wanted you," he said, his eyes meeting Victoria's once again. 

His words caught the girl off guard, and now her cheeks were bright red as well. Whatever Victoria had been expecting him to say definitely wasn't that, and now the girl was the one left silent. 

"She what?"

"She said...it was obvious I still wanted you," Rob repeated, poking Victoria gently and smiling. 

"Why would she say that?" Victoria was looking at Rob, their faces close together. 

She could feel his breath against her skin, and that made it burn even brighter. Something had shifted in the air, and the knot of worry in Victoria's chest had slowly begun to unwind. While she did feel bad for Liv, the worry of what she and Rob had argued about and how that would impact Victoria and Rob's relationship was slowly beginning to disappear with Rob's confession. 

"Because I did," he admitted sheepishly. "Every day I was with her, I couldn't help but think of you and how I had fucked up. It wasn't right how I treated Liv, but you just wouldn't leave my mind no matter what I did." 

Victoria twirled a lock of her hair and bit down on her lip, unsure of how to respond.

"Hey now," Rob said, placing a hand on Victoria's gently, detecting her hesitation. "Don't get all nervous on me now. What happened to all that confidence from when we first met?" he said with a teasing smile, tilting his head to look at the girl.

"I'm just...not sure what to say," Victoria mumbled honestly. "I've never felt this way before. It's easy to be confident when you know what you're walking into, but everything I've experienced with you has been so new and I don't know what to do."

Rob placed a gentle kiss on Victoria's lips. "Me either, but we can figure it out together, alright? Don't worry about what anyone else thinks, and I know it's scary but it's fucking scary for me too, but I'll be alright if we do it together. Deal?"

Victoria looked at Rob, that warm feeling blooming through her chest even more. "Deal. But can we agree to be more honest with each other about things from now on? I don't wanna rely on what other people say about certain things anymore." 

Rob nodded his head, taking in what the girl said. "Deal." 

Victoria smiled contently, before moving in closer to Rob, taking in his presence. Things had been rocky, but this conversation had been eye opening for Victoria. All she could do now was hope that things would be better, and that the worries in her mind would stay at bay so she could continue to enjoy things with Rob, and their new normal. 

[ a/n ]: sorry for the long ass lag in updates... being an academic weapon, working, and going to the gym is not easy!! college exams are killing me too but i appreciate all of you and all the support 🥲 thanks for 21k!! also sorry that this update sucks dont kill me pls i just hate writing out the challenges LOL