Will this count as an apology? (Estelle)

[Zachary LaRousse]

Zac doesn’t do apologies. He’s been trying to get that into people’s heads for the past few weeks or so, but for some reason, they just don’t get it. They don’t get that he doesn’t regret what he did, doesn’t feel a shred of remorse or guilt over the embarrassment he has caused. In fact, he’s rather proud of it.

He’d willingly do it again if he could.

But him going up to Estelle’s room to ask for Robbie’s forgiveness is a different thing, he argues. Robbie was working under his direction, he says, so if Estelle will be mad at someone, it should be at him. ‘Shooting the messenger’ and all that. He doesn’t feel guilt, he says, but he feels responsible. And besides, he doesn’t think he can take one more day of Robbie being a whole lot more brooding and irritable than JD ever was.

He made sure that Estelle was, indeed, in her room before knocking. (Her roommates don’t really sit well with Zac anyway. All weirdoes, he says). “Hey,” he waved coolly as the door opened, flashing (what he believes as) his trademark grin and wink, “Err, maintenance?”

[Estelle Flores]

It was depressing how the bulk of Estelle's friends were either college students, graduated, or generally not available. Equally depressing was how much time Estelle now had on her own. She wanted, really, genuinely wanted, to call Henry and talk to him. But she didn't want to unload on Henry. That wouldn't be fair to him; he was always so uncomfortable about this stuff. She really would rather he be happy to spend time with her, not uncomfortable. Nevertheless, this meant that Estelle now had a lot of time to herself that she fortunately didn't spend crying. She'd gotten all her tears out of the way that evening, and now she was just worn down.

So, when a knock came at her door, Estelle was perched on her bed watching old episodes of Star Trek (the original series, of course) on her laptop-- her traditional way of feeling better. Sighing slightly, she paused the show and rolled out of bed, slouching over to pull open the door, revealing--

...Zac LaRousse?

Estelle blinked, utterly surprised that Zac even knew where her room was. Recovering from her surprise, she narrowed her eyes. She crossed her arms and leaned against the doorframe, preventing him from just barging in. "Hilarious. Can I help you with something." Estelle was by no means intimidating when she was angry, but she hoped she had just enough gravitas to pull off being stern.

Probably not.

[Zachary LaRousse]

Indeed, Estelle gave off no air of intimidation whatsoever. She was stern, yes, but she had no aura that could’ve made Zac fold even in his most dreadful day. Sad to an extent, but in the pompous teen’s case, it was a good thing. “Why thank you. It’s been a while since anyone’s found me particularly hilarious,” he chuckled, winking as he craned in closer. She doesn’t seem like she’ll let him in anytime soon, and considering the rather uncharacteristic nature of his visit, well, he’d much rather be doing it in closed doors where no one will hear than in such an open place. “Well, you can start the whole helping thing by letting me in. I’ve been walking the whole day and my legs are killing me. I could totally use a soft couch. One with an equally soft footrest at that, but I remembered that not everyone has the same furniture in their rooms.”

While Estelle’s no way imposing, she does seem rather firm on her stance. Not good. So instead of just standing around idly waiting for her to break (which doesn’t seem likely), he took another step forward, casually invading the Latina’s personal space. “Don’t worry. I’ll make sure to explain to Robbie that despite me and you being the only two people in your room, nothing happened. At all,” he grinned, pinching her cheeks.

And yes, if you haven’t noticed it, he’s stalling as much as he can. He’s still having doubts himself if this is the best course of action, so he figures that the more time he has convincing himself, the better his ‘apology’ would be.

ooc:
EEEP. Crappy alert. SORREH. <3
- Jam

[Estelle Flores]

Estelle understood she wasn’t very intimidating, but Zac was starting to frustrate her with his pompous attitude and complete disregard of her clear “leave me alone” signs. She raised an eyebrow, “Anything you have to say to me, you can say out here, because I don’t want you in my space. I don’t care about your legs.”

When Zac reached over to pinch her cheek, a flash of anger flashed through her and she slapped his hand away sharply. She could have put him in an armlock easily. She also could have just broken his finger. But she didn’t like hurting other people, and she certainly wasn’t going to put herself through that again on behalf of Zac LaRousse. Estelle didn’t think it would be effective anyways.

“I don’t care what you tell Robbie,” She glared, her tone sharp, “What. Do. You. Want?”

[Zachary LaRousse]

Zac’s eyes brightened when Estelle finally snapped at him. Not because of the emotional rise he had managed to get from her (ok, so maybe it was part of it), but more because she said something about Robbie. Which confirmed his suspicions. “‘I don’t care what you tell Robbie’ or is that,” he mouthed off slowly, his tongue carefully rolling in his mouth as a smirk sneakily crept on his face, “‘I don’t care about Robbie?”

Yes. He thinks that getting Estelle all angry with him will make her forgive Robbie. Isn’t his plan great? [/sarcasm].

“There are a lot of things I want Estelle, so you may have to be specific,” he chuckled, leaning on the wall just beside the agitated girl, casually tucking a stray hair behind her ear, “But if you should know, on top of all those is I want Robbie to smile again. I don’t like him moping all day, being more brooding than JD even. I want my old Robbie back.”

Though his tone was a little more cocky and arrogant than needed, one could not deny the urgency in his voice. The sincerity in his request. The longing for that bubbly blonde that usually makes his and JD’s bickering look stupid and inane through his own adorable stupidity.

“Forgive him. Please,” he added, his tone shifting quickly from taunting to a more solemn one. “He didn’t know what he was doing. I never forced him, but he never really says no to my schemes.” JD’s the voice of reason in their little troupe after all. “Blame me, not him.”

Rather uncharacteristic of Zac really. But then again, Robbie’s one of the handful of people Zac truly cares about. The blonde’s tolerated him so much after all; it’s the least he can do.

[Estelle Flores]

Estelle looked up at him sharply. “I will always care about Robbie,” She didn’t care how Zac chose to take that, because he should know, “But I really don’t care what insane thing you tell Robbie.” She crossed her arms, suddenly and profoundly tired, “Also, keep your hands to yourself.”

Estelle’s stern expression wavered as Zac expressed his desire to see Robbie smile again. Because she wanted her old Robbie back too. She just wanted Robbie back, period. But there were some things she didn’t know if she could let go. However, the idea that Robbie was miserable because of her hurt just as bad. She sighed, “Shut up, come in, sit down.” She turned and opened the door, gesturing towards a chair.

She sat down across from him and stared at her knees. “I know this was probably your idea,” She said finally, “That’s not…really the issue anymore. Here’s the issue. If…you guys had pictures of, say, me,” Which would be ludicrous since Estelle didn’t even have a boyfriend, and definitely wasn’t sexually active, “I’m pretty sure I would have been up there. There’s an issue of trust here. I can’t trust Robbie anymore, so that’s why I can’t be friends with him right now.”

Estelle swallowed hard, feeling guilty and ill, “I’m sad to hear he’s so upset. But he’s not sorry, so I can’t be.”

[Zachary LaRousse]

Well at least the whole sad act worked. (Yes, Zac insists it’s just an act and not real sadness in him. Argues he’s such a great actor that he could manipulate Estelle like that. Because apparently softy feelings like that are something a Zachary LaRousse can’t express from the heart, or at least he claims).

He silently followed Estelle inside, silently flopping onto one of the couches and sitting with his legs crossed. For the first few moments, he sat there, looking at Estelle straight in the eye as she explained her side of the story. Which, in Zac’s opinion, is nothing but bullcrap. “Hold up. So you’re saying you think – no, you know – Robbie had a part in the whole picture selection process?” He didn’t mean to sound accusing, but really, that’s all he’s heard lately. Nobody bothered to listen to their side of the story. They all just assumed at everyone had knowledge of what was done and bam, judgment.

“Look here Estelle. Robbie did not know what was going to be shown. None of us did.” His gaze was firm and unwavering, never once breaking away from Estelle’s. Hopefully this, plus the fact that he’s not doing unnecessary hand movements or that he’s speaking with such certainty, will help convince her of Robbie’s innocence. “I only asked Mia for a distraction. She was the one who decided about it all. Robbie knew nothing.”

But he’s not angry with Mia. He’s the mastermind and he’s taking full responsibility for it. Robbie isn’t the one who plotted everything though.

“Robbie did nothing. He barely got to do his part, which is to put a recording of internet moans in the sound system. I really feel bad that he got caught in all these really, since he didn’t do anything.”

Zac stood up, thinking that, well, it’s a hopeless case. Estelle’s far too stubborn for her to be convinced. He walked over the door, opened it and said, “There is an issue of trust here. But I don’t think Robbie’s at fault.”

[Estelle Flores]

Estelle's shoulders hunched over at Zac's barrage of information hit her. She didn't know how to articulate that it didn't matter that Robbie didn't choose the pictures, or that he didn't know what was going to happen before it did. What mattered was that if Estelle had been in that little show, Robbie wouldn't have regretted it. He probably would have regretted that Estelle was in the show, but he wouldn't have regretted the show itself. She couldn't trust him, and she couldn't be friends with someone who didn't care how much he hurt other people.

But then. Robbie was miserable. And Robbie was miserable because of her. She wasn't used to having such emotional power over another person, and she didn't like it. She just wanted everything to go back to normal, but she knew that wouldn't be the right thing to do either. She was torn between the responsibility of being a friend to the responsibility of doing what was right.

Estelle sniffled, "C-can you just go away, Zac? Just leave me alone." she waited until the boy was gone before retreating back to her bed and opening up her laptop once more, staring blankly at the screen.

[ooc: done! </3 thanks Jam!]