Obsessive, Compulsive.

TWENTY FOUR.

*Bella's POV*

Robbie came bounding up the stairs, clearly intent on seeking me out.

I stood my ground.

He approached, going against his trademark nervousness and taking deep breaths to retain what little confidence he had. His face was slightly flushed as he opened his mouth to speak. "Hello."

"Hi." I raised an eyebrow.

"Are you alright?" He asked.

"Fine." I nodded.

Robbie coughed and looked at his shoes. "I see that you have blue hair now."

"Yes." We stood silently for a few moments. I couldn't help but smile, slightly amused. "Hey. I'm up here."

He looked up quickly, his eyes fixed at my smile. After a pause he chuckled and ran his hand through his hair. "Oh, yeah."

"Do you like it? My hair, I mean..." I thought I'd give him some help in saying what he wanted to say but I didn't really know what to say either.

"Yes! Umm..." Robbie checked behind himself, looking at the stairs. He took a deep breath before speaking again. "It looks like the sky at night."

"It's blue, not black." I teased him.

"Yeah, but... You know. When it's in between evening and night and it's very nearly night so the sky is just navy blue. That colour." He said, trying as hard as he could to get his words out.

"Is there a compliment in there somewhere?" I asked.

"Yes." He nodded. "I think you look nice."

"Thank you." I grinned.

"I need to ask you something." Robbie said quietly, becoming more serious. "Do you hate me?"

I stopped smiling. "Of course not! What made you think that?"

"Well... You get annoyed whenever people speak about me and you call me an idiot and you don't seem like you like me." His eyes looked like those of a cute little puppy that trotted around your feet despite you scolding it.

It melted the cold inside my anxious, meticulous soul.

That's when I changed.

Something weird came over me. I liked control, always had done, but with Robbie I didn't want control any more. It was okay to feel things. I let my brain off of its leash and let it free.

I'd had enough of either only feeling anxious or neutral. I was denying myself any other emotion. It was there, somewhere under all of the crappy exterior I had. It was scratching and scraping at my insides to get out.

Now it was time to let it out.

I reached out and collapsed into Robbie's arms, hugging him the tightest I had ever hugged anyone in my life. His arms pulled me in even closer, reciprocating the desperation that I had to give up everything I had been doing.

"I don't hate you." I said, muffled by his shoulder.

"I don't hate you either." He replied.

I pulled back and looked at him. "I'm sorry that I kissed Jay. I think I was just trying desperately to believe that I didn't want to like you, but I did. I like you now, still. A lot. And I've decided that I don't have any patience for pretending anymore."

"I've never been angry with you for kissing Jay. I was more sort of angry with him because he was my friend and he knew I liked you. I took it out on you a bit because I was frustrated." He assured me. "But I like you."

"I like you too." I told him. "I think you're my best friend."

"Oh." He frowned.

"What?" I asked.

"No... You're my best friend too. I just..." He stammered.

My mouth changed into a huge grin and I smiled at him. "I'm just kidding. I like you in the same way as you like me."

"Friends?" He was confused.

"No." I got slightly frustrated. "As in... Like. I'm not saying it, Robbie!"

"You've got a crush on me?" He smirked, his face lighting up.

"Shut up." I blushed.

He thought for a moment. "But relationships are strictly forbidden here. It's against the rules."

"But we don't have to be boyfriend and girlfriend to mutually acknowledge that we like each other. Do we?" I held his hands.

He blushed. "I suppose not."

"We just need to work on both getting out of here so that we can be properly together. Yeah?" I encouraged.

"Yeah." He twinkled his eyes. "I'm really really going to try and get better as soon as I can."

"Me too." I meant it. I had meant every word that I said.