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Ricky Bowen stopped believing in love when he was eight years old. He remembers the day it happened, his parents set him down at the kitchen table and told him they were getting divorced. Ricky knew it was coming, he noticed the day they had gone from kissing each other in the morning before going to work, to having arguments about the smallest of things to full blown fights, as each week passed they got more intense and aggressive and loud. Those nights were the hardest for Ricky, trying to block out the noise with loud music or video games, sometimes staying over at Nini’s. His dad ended up getting custody, and his mom, well, she moved to the other side of the country.
When the papers were being settled, and his mom started packing her things up, Ricky tended to stay over at Nini’s house after school a little longer, at times well into the night, falling asleep on the couch. Her moms not questioning why, understanding that his home life wasn’t ideal at the time. They welcomed him into their family with open arms, letting him know, that no matter what happens, that he has a family with them.
Ricky had the slightest glimmer of hope for love, for this family. But he couldn’t find it in himself to believe that love was true, because then why would his parents want a divorce? He shut the idea of love out of his mind, by the time high school rolled around, Ricky hadn’t believed in love for a long time, and he was okay with that.
“Ricky,” he hears a timid voice call out, glancing over his shoulder to see his best friend approaching him.
“Nins, what’s up?” he asks, shoving the books he needs for the weekend into his bag, not detecting her quiet demeanor. Nini didn’t respond, instead he felt a pair of arms wrap around his middle tightly. She was pressing her face into the space between his shoulder blades.
“He broke up with me,” she whispers into his shirt.
Nini had been dating EJ for the last couple months, kindling a romance, or showmance as Nini called it, at the theater camp she went to that summer. Ricky couldn’t fathom why he would break up with her, they seemed so happy. But, so did his parents, and then suddenly they weren’t, so Ricky can understand that it can happen.
Ricky pries her hands apart from where they rested in a death grip around his chest, turning around and pulling her into a tight hug, cradling the back of her head and rubbing a hand up and down her back as she silently cried. “I’m so sorry, duck,” using the nickname that he came up with when they were younger, that they save for certain occasions – ones like these.
Luckily, there were only a few students littering the halls, the last bell ringing for the weekend a while ago. “How about this,” he starts, “we go to Target, I’ll buy all the junk food you want. We order pizza, and watch all the movies you like, until you’re ready to talk.” He offers.
All Nini could muster was a small nod, pulling away from her friend, wiping her tears. Ricky quickly grabs his bag, closing his locker, putting an arm around Nini, knowing she needs all the comfort right now. Nini reciprocates, wrapping her arms around his middle as they head out to his car.
-
They were well into Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Nini’s favourite from the franchise, when she says, “He told me he loves me.”
The statement causing Ricky’s head to snap in her direction, the pair had only been dating for a few months and Ricky knows even though Nini believes in love, she wasn’t quite there in the relationship yet. Nini likes to really, truly get to know someone before she makes any kind of bold statements. Ricky remains silent, knowing that Nini will continue when she’s ready.
Nini’s eyes were still fixed on the screen, watching Hermoine punch Draco causing her to dryly chuckle, “I couldn’t tell him I loved him. Because I don’t or at least I’m not there yet. And he j-just got so mad, and said t-that it’s stupid that I don’t love him and I-I just, it’s not my fault! He can’t make me love him, he can’t make me feel things that I don’t.” Tears slipping out from her eyes, not even moving to wipe them away, not afraid to cry in front of her best friend.
Ricky takes Nini’s hand, not being able to stand that some stupid boy made his best friend cry, especially because he made it seem like it’s all her fault. From what Ricky knew about love, people say it takes time, and clearly from what EJ was insinuating, he didn’t want to wait for Nini to love him back, deeming it easier to just lose the girl. He was starting to get along with EJ, maybe even call him a friend, then he suddenly pulls this shit. He pulls on her hand, bringing Nini closer to him, he cradles her in his lap as she cries.
“Duck, he’s not worth it.” he tells her, “it’s okay that you don’t love him.”
Nini didn’t respond, she just tightens her grip on the boy, her breathing getting shallower, before Ricky knew it, she had cried herself to sleep. He grabs his phone that was sitting on the night stand, quickly sending a text to his dad that he’s going to spend the night at Nini’s.
This is just another prime example that loving someone, will always result in a broken heart. Nini has been his best friend since kindergarten, and he understood why Nini was so in love with the idea of love. She loves everything about it, she loves watching romantic comedies, the sappy, crappy, teen TV shows, listening to love songs. She loves the idea of being in a relationship, having a love that’s all consuming. Falling in love with the person you’re meant to live the rest of your life with, finding your soulmate. But at the end of the day, someone’s heart gets broken, and this time it’s Nini’s. And it wasn’t even her who had fallen in love, it was EJ.
Ricky knew better than to message him, but he couldn’t help himself. He hurt his best friend, if the circumstances were any different, if he broke up with her because she simply didn’t love him, he’d get it. But he belittled her because she didn’t reciprocate his feelings, and something just didn’t sit right in Ricky’s mind with that.
Ricky: That wasn’t cool, you broke her.
EJ: What was I supposed to do? Wait until she loved me back? I’m not here to compete.
Ricky: Compete?
EJ: You’ll figure it out.
The text exchange confused Ricky, not quite sure what EJ meant by that. He quickly texted Big Red that he wasn’t going to be able to meet up tomorrow, because Nini really needs him, promising they can hang out next weekend. He sets his phone down, his eyes linger back to the TV that was playing in the background, not realizing that the movie was still going. He quickly shuts it off, petting the girl’s hair, it hurt him when she was hurt.
Don’t believe in love, you’ll just end up broken. And with that last thought, he lulls himself to sleep.
--
As promised, Ricky was on his way to meet up with Big Red the following Saturday. By then, Nini had shared the news with their friends sending a mass text to the group Sunday night, the chat filling with apologies and sympathies. They’ve been treating her with kid gloves all week. She opted out on sharing the details, still sensitive and emotional about the whole ordeal. Ricky knew Nini was slowly starting to heal, he keeps reminding her that it’s okay to feel that way, and that it just takes some time.
His mind still on the girl, as he sees his friend’s house come into view, he hops off his skateboard, quickly running up the steps and heads on in to find Big Red in his room sitting in front of the TV. He nods at his friend, taking a seat next to him, grabbing the controller that was set out for him.
“How’s Nini?” Big Red asks, concerned for their friend.
Ricky shrugs, “you know, heartbroken, but she’s getting better I think. The girls are with her now, doing their nails or something, I don’t know.”
Big Red hums in acknowledgment not pressing any further wanting to respect her privacy. He moves slightly closer to the TV, nearly getting a kill, but not succeeding. He slumps back in his seat, signing Ricky in so they can play multiplayer, “What’s new with you? Feel like we haven’t talked in a while.” He asks, snatching up a handful of pretzels from the bag in front of them.
“Eh, you know, mostly been with Nini all week. Making sure she’s okay.” He informs his friend, wondering if he should mention the conversation he had with EJ last week.
“Well, we’re all glad she has you watching out for her.”
The pair, both bringing their attention back to the screen, the game beginning to start up, “I texted EJ.”
The comment causing Big Red’s head to snap in his direction, “What?”
Ricky pauses the game knowing this isn’t something he can exactly talk about over a game, he sets the controller down, wiping a hand across his mouth, knowing that it was stupid of him to do. He sighs, “I texted him the day it happened, she had already fallen asleep. I was just so mad at him, and he broke my best friend’s heart, I-I couldn’t help myself.”
Big Red eyes his friend, trying to comprehend what his friend was looking to accomplish, he motions for Ricky to continue, leaning forward on his knees. Ricky slouches back in his seat, not really sure what EJ even meant, and if Big Red would even understand. Ricky pulls his phone out of his pocket unlocking it and pulling up the messages from EJ, handing it to his friend to read.
He watches as his friend’s eyes flit across the screen, reading the four short messages, “Huh,” is all Big Red says, sounding like he had some sort of epiphany.
Ricky looks at him skeptically, “What?”
“Nothing,” Big Red says rather quickly, handing the phone back, “What do you think he meant?”
He shrugs, that’s what he’s been trying to figure out all week, while he was also helping Nini through her rough patch. “I don’t know, just don’t mention it to her, she doesn’t know.” Ricky informs his friend.
Big Red nods his head, “I know you’re just looking out for her Ricky. Just do it the way Nini would want you to, she wouldn’t approve of this and you know it,” patting his friend on the knee, assuring him he meant what he said.
Ricky deeply sighs, scrubbing a hand down his face, “Red you weren’t there, she was so heartbroken, and fuck, it hurt me seeing her like that.”
“I know Ricky, she’s your best friend. You never want to see your best friend hurting, but you need to deal with it the right way, and that’s by being there for her.” Turning his attention back to the TV, unpausing the forgotten game.
“Yeah, you’re right,” he agrees, focusing back in on the game, trying to get his mind off of his heartbroken friend.
-
Ricky had gone over to Nini’s after spending most of the day at Big Red’s. Using the key under the doormat, unlocking the front door, he slips the key back under the mat, welcoming himself in.
Stashing his skateboard and helmet into the closet, where Carol and Dana reminded him repeatedly to do when he was younger until it was finally engrained in his mind. He heads straight to the kitchen grabbing a glass of water, then heading up to her room, knowing that’s probably where they set up for the afternoon.
When he walked in, he was greeted with an unsettling sight. A movie was playing on the TV that’s installed on her wall, a rom-com, Ricky instantly notes. Kourtney, Ashlyn and Gina was circled around the tiny sobbing brunette, she heard the door creak open to see her best friend standing there.
Ricky reaches for the remote, turning the TV off, setting it back down on the night stand, along with his water. He walks closer to the bed where the girls were gathered, Nini crawls out of her friends embrace over to the boy, hurdling into his arms, wrapping her legs around his waist and putting her face in the crook of his neck. He feels her body trembling, tears falling onto his neck, not minding it at all, knowing it’s what she needed. He’ll always give her what she needs.
He takes a seat on the bed, Ashlyn scooting over, giving him room to sit. His fingers threading through her hair, his thumb rubbing soothing circles into her scalp, his other hand wrapped around her waist. “Shh, baby, it’s going to be okay.” Pressing a hard kiss to the side of her head, rubbing her back in an attempt to relax her.
He wonders what could have happened that brought her to tears, probably the movie. Rom-coms are never a good mix when your hearts been broken. He starts humming into the crying girl’s ear, eventually lulling her to sleep. He slowly untangles their bodies, trying his best not to wake her, wiping away her tears as he tucks her into bed. He motions for the girls to follow him downstairs.
“What happened?” he asks them, taking a seat on the arm chair in the living room, leaning forward, elbows resting on his knees.
Gina shrugs, “We were watching a movie, and she started opening up about it.” She informs him, taking a seat on the couch, next to the other two girls. He looks at his friend slightly shocked, from what Nini had told him, she didn’t want to talk about it with anyone yet, that it was too difficult.
“Ricky,” Kourtney starts, “She was crying for almost an hour, we couldn’t find a way to calm her down.” He looks at them questioningly, not really sure where she was going with her train of thought, more focused on the thought that she was crying for so long.
“Ricky, you got her to stop in 15 minutes, maybe even less, you even got her to fall asleep.” Kourtney continued, realizing Ricky wasn’t catching up with what she was trying to hint towards. He nods his head, “Okay, and?” he asks, still confused why she brought up that tidbit, when they had more important things to discuss.
“She needs you Ricky, now more than ever. And I think you’re the only one that might be able to mend her.” Ashlyn tells the boy.
Ricky not quite understanding what they were trying to tell him, misinterpreting them, “You don’t think I’m trying? I know she needs me, I’m there, every day, even when I can’t be. I’d do anything to see her smile again.”
“I know you don’t believe in the concept of love,” causing Ricky to roll his eyes leaning back into his seat, “but Ricky, love can heal us from the heartache that it once brought us.” Ashlyn says sounding awfully philosophical, “Look, I want you to really think about what I said, and what it means.”
The three girls stand, “We really should get going,” Gina states. Ricky standing to show them out, bidding them goodbye as they head towards Ashlyn’s car.
Before following the two other girls out, Kourtney turns around, “She really needs you right now. We weren’t accusing you of not being there for her, god, you’re the only person she wants to talk to. But I think you need to be there for her in more ways than one.” She tells her friend, giving him a quick hug running out to catch up with the others.
As Ricky closes the door, taking a seat back on the armchair thinking about what the girls had said. He couldn’t possibly understand how love can heal, all love has ever brought him was pain. He’s seen it so many times, no matter how many times he watches a couple in a movie fall in love, he knows eventually someone’s going to fuck up and someone will always end up hurt.
He can’t remember the last time he felt love. Sure, his parents tell him they love him, especially his mom every time she calls. But, if they really loved him, why would they bring him all that pain? Nini likes to throw around the word love a lot too, she tells all her friends that she loves them, she’s told him a few times. She understood why he never said it back to her, never pressuring him to say it. Because that’s who she is, an understanding, compassionate person, all she ever wants to do is spread happiness and love.
His thoughts were interrupted by light footsteps coming down the stairs, he looks to over to see Nini clad in one of his hoodies, looking oversized on her tiny frame. She stops at the end of the stairs, staring at him, frowning. He motions for her to come over, climbing into his lap, he hugs her tightly to his chest. Oh, how he wished he could just take all the pain she was feeling.
--
Ricky sees her genuine smile for the first time in two weeks. It was a tough couple of weeks for Nini, not wanting to engage with her friends, kind of just watching and observing from the sidelines, sometimes faking a smile here and there to convince her friends that she was okay. Ricky saw right through it, he swayed Nini to join them for bowling one Friday night.
Ricky never thought the reason Nini would smile again was because he tripped, toppling over a few chairs in the process. He was walking back from nailing another strike, approaching his friend who was sitting at the table, but he hadn’t seen Carlos’s bag lying on the floor, causing Ricky to fly forwards. After the realization of what happened, he looked up to see Nini chuckling and smiling at the boy on the floor, offering her hand to help him up.
Accepting her hand, he eyes her warily, unsure of where her feelings were currently at. She nudges her shoulder into his upper arm, “I’m okay, really, thank you.” She says, smiling up at him, assuring him that she meant what he said.
Returning the smile, “good, because I don’t know how much longer I could take without seeing your pretty smile,” he jokes, tapping the underside of her chin.
Shaking her head, pushing at his shoulder, “Shut up. Now, are you ready to lose?” she asks jokingly heading to the lane to choose her ball.
Ricky feels Kourtney lean against the table next to him, “I know you don’t believe in it, but your love for her brought her back.” He scoffs, that word again, love. That’s exactly what broke the poor girl, how could what made you hurt, heal you? Looking back to Kourtney, “I’ll believe that when pigs fly.”
--
“Ricky,” Nini squeals, running over to their friends who were sitting on a blanket in the middle of the park, before he could turn around, he feels a weight fall on to his back, causing him to lean forward. Nini’s head hanging over his shoulder, “Are you okay, duck?” he asks concernedly, pulling at her hand to sit next to him.
She nods frantically, before Nini could say anything, Seb interrupts the pair, “Duck?” The group decided to go out for a picnic, since it’s the first nice day after their brutal winter. And Nini was running late, which was very unlike her preferring to be punctual, causing Ricky to worry slightly.
Nini shoots him a deadly look, realizing that he had used their special nickname around other people. He looks sheepishly at her, pulling her body towards him, pushing his head into her hair, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean too.” Assuming his hug would count as an apology.
She shoves at him, causing him to let go, “There was no reason for it, I’m perfectly fine!” She exclaims, with a bite in her tone.
Big Red clears his throat before Ricky could counter her argument, they look over to see all their friends looking at them expectantly. Ricky looks at her questioningly, he’ll only tell them if she’s okay with it. She nods reluctantly, hiding her face in his lap and pushing into his stomach, one of his hands landing in her hair, scratching at her scalp.
“It’s a funny story actually,” he starts.
“No, it’s not!” Nini mumbles against his stomach.
“Of course it’s not,” he repeats winking at the group, causing them to stifle their laughter, trying not to embarrass the girl any further.
“It was way back when my parents first started fighting, I was at Nini’s basically crying telling her what’s happening at home. And you know, at seven, you don’t really know how to comfort people. Nini not being able to think of anything, she wanted to make me laugh so she started quacking,” hearing the girl groan into his stomach of embarrassment wrapping her arms around his body.
“And, I kid you not, it was the funniest fucking thing ever. Ever since then, she’s been my little duck,” he smiles down at the girl, seeing her peek up at him, knowing she secretly likes the nickname.
When he looks back to the group, he sees them all smiling at the pair. Ashlyn is the first to speak up, “Nini, that’s so cute!”
The comment causing Nini to sit up, “it really isn’t, it’s so embarrassing,” she cringes, not sure how she feels now that other people know. Ricky puts his arm around her, “it is cute duck,” he says, she shoves at his shoulder once more, causing Ricky’s arm to fall back to his side.
“You know why we use duck, don’t start with me,” she threatens, pointing a finger at him.
Bringing their friends to more confusion, “what do you mean?” Carlos pipes up, speaking on behalf of the group.
Nini smirks, Ricky realizing what she was about to share, “we only say duck when we’re concerned and worried about the other. Duck, you just like to be more worried than me,” she sticks her tongue out at him teasingly, using the nickname against him, causing his face to redden.
“You call each other duck? That’s even cuter!” Ashlyn gushes, bringing Ricky’s face to deepen in colour, moving to hide his face in Nini’s shoulder, but before he could she stands to move away, walking to the other end of the blanket. He looks up at the girl confused, she’s shaking her head, “Duck, you started it,” using the nickname as a reminder and for emphasis that he brought this upon himself.
He groans, pretending to admit defeat, before she realizes what he’s doing, he’s chasing after her lifting her over his shoulders, refusing to put her down. “Okay, okay, okay, truce!” she yells out. Their friends erupting in laughter at their silly antics.
“You guys are ridiculous,” Gina comments, laughing at the pair.
--
Ricky was hanging in Big Red’s basement, along with Carlos and Seb. Ricky was sitting in his favourite chair, staring up at the ceiling, focused on the beams going across the room, his mind wandering. Ricky suddenly feels a foam ball hit his shoulder, causing him to glare at his friends from across the room, “Okay, who threw the ball?” he asks.
Seb raises his hand sheepishly, “We wanted your attention and you weren’t answering.” He accuses.
Ricky sits up, “Oh, what is it?”
The three boys looking at each other, before bringing their attention back to their curly hair friend, “Okay, dude, just hear us out,” Big Red speaks up, causing Ricky to worry wondering what they could possibly want to talk about that they think he would shut them out.
“We think you love her,” Carlos starts, carefully watching as Ricky’s face contorts from worried to stunned. Ricky scoffs, realizing what they were trying to get at, even though they had only said her, he knew instantly they were referring to his best friend. Their friends were never shy in admitting that they thought Ricky and Nini would be great together. He leans back into his seat, fixing on a spot on the floor, “and yeah, yeah, we know you don’t believe in love, but I just want to ask, why is she important to you?” he asks.
Ricky taken aback by the question, not really sure where they were going with this, tossing the ball that was thrown at him earlier between his hands, “Because she’s my best friend.” He answers simply.
The boys watching him carefully, waiting for him to continue, when he didn’t Seb pipes up, “you didn’t answer the question, tell us why she’s important to you, there must be something.”
Ricky squeezes his eyes tightly, thinking that this conversation is ridiculous, he can’t love her, he realizes they’re waiting for his response, “Uhh, I guess,” he starts, thinking, but as if something flicked on in his head, he knew exactly how to answer, “because she’s always been there. She’s in every single one of my memories, from my parents fighting, to my skate competitions and her musicals. She makes me laugh, even when I’m sad. She’s always been a part of my story,” he admits, smiling tightly at his friends not making eye contact with any of them, a little embarrassed of what he had just divulged.
“Ricky,” Seb says scooting closer to the edge of his seat, “I don’t think she’s just a part of your story, I think together you are the story.” Continuing with the analogy Ricky had used.
Ricky nods, “I guess you’re right,” he says thinking about what his friend had said, realizing that it’s exactly true. Having been best friends with Nini since kindergarten, even coining each other’s nicknames, growing up they were attached at the hip. They’ve been through so much together, that he just couldn’t imagine life without her.
“Do you know what love feels like?” Big Red suddenly asks suddenly, bringing Ricky out of his train of thought. Everyone looking to the red head, shocked at the question he had just posed.
He shakes his head, “I haven’t felt love in a long time Red.”
“Then how do you know you don’t love her?” his friend counters.
The question surprising everyone in the room, the deep thinker – Big Red, who would’ve thought. Ricky scrubs a hand down his face, “I just don’t, love isn’t easy, it’s complicated, and the longer I stay away from it, the longer I stay away from getting hurt.”
“Honey, no one said love was easy, it’s not supposed to be. Far be it from being perfect, but at the end of the day, it’s worth it.” Carlos declares.
Causing Ricky to roll his eyes for what feels like the umpteenth time, Big Red noting his friends action, “Ricky, remember when we hung out after her break up?”
He musters a nod, of course he remembered, curious to see where his friend was going with this, “You told me, seeing her hurt and heartbroken, hurts you. So, tell me, are you sure you don’t love her?”
Ricky pauses, the memory of a weekend full of his best friend sobbing, and him cradling her to his chest, trying to pick up the pieces EJ left in his wake. He remembers how badly he wanted to punch EJ for bringing all that pain to her, he couldn’t stand seeing Nini like that, his heart tightening in his chest each time she let out a sob. “I-I don’t,” he hesitates, but manages to stick true to what he’s embedded so deeply in his mind, he couldn’t love her, love doesn’t exist.
The three boys noting that it took Ricky longer to respond than when Big Red had first posed the question, wondering what was going through their friend’s mind when they had asked.
“You’re not incapable of loving her, or anyone for that matter, being afraid of it might just bring you more pain then you let on,” Seb states. Ricky going silent, staring at the ball in his hand, he pitches it on to Big Red’s bed a little rougher than he intended, making his way out the door, needing time to think to himself.
--
Ricky was talking to Carter, one of his buddies from the skate park, they were starting to get ready for their skate competition. Big Red was never one to compete, but always supported him at these competitions. He knew all his friends were going to be out there today, bringing some unwanted nerves.
Carter was a year older than him, he was talking about some of the colleges he’s been looking at, and what he’s thinking of going into, when he sees Nini approaching them. She was dressed in Ricky’s skate sweater with his last name stitched on the back, easily recognizable, it’s what she wore to all his competitions. She paired it with her favourite ripped jeans and black vans. Ricky couldn’t help but admire the girl, he always knew she was pretty, but Ricky felt some sort of shift, she’s beautiful he admits. Suddenly shaking himself out of his train of thought, shoving the idea to the back of his head, he looks down at his best friend, who’s smiling brightly at him. She settles into Ricky’s side, as he brings his arm to wrap around her shoulder.
“Hey Carter, you ready?” she asks politely.
He nods, “Yeah, but Ricky’s probably going to beat me out of first place again,” he jokes, causing them to laugh, Ricky shying away from the comment.
Nini’s phone starts going off, taking it out of her pocket, her eyes scanning the screen a number of incoming texts from their friends, letting her know that they just arrived. She pats Ricky’s hip, with the arm wrapped around him, “I should go find them.” She tells him.
Looking up at the boy, “Please, please, please be careful duck.” She tells him, she always got concerned during his skate competitions, scared he might fall and break something, not caring that she called him that in front of Carter.
He kisses her forehead, “I’ll be fine duck, plus if anything does happen, I know you’ll be there even before if happens.” He jokes, bringing a smile to the girl’s face.
“I’ll have 911 ready, just in case,” she forces a laugh, he can tell, “good luck,” she wishes him, leaning up to kiss his cheek.
“Good luck Carter,” she says before heading out to find their friends.
“So, when did you guys start dating?” Carter asked, taking Ricky’s attention away from the retreating girl.
Ricky looks at his friend, “What? We’re not.”
Carter hums skeptically, nudging his friend in the shoulder, “didn’t seem like it.”
“Whatever dude, we should get going.”
Ricky heard his name being announced through the stadium’s sound system, he geared up a little nervous, trying his best to shake it out of his mind. He takes off down the halfpipe, it was going great, until Ricky decided to try out this new flip he knew he shouldn’t, having not practiced the move enough but he figured it’s worth a shot just to get those extra points. He doesn’t know how it happened, but when he jumped he lost sight of his board, and before he knew it, he was sliding down the halfpipe, a sharp pain shooting through his shoulder.
He groans, turning over cradling the shoulder, he saw some of the crowd had jumped out of their seats. One of the on-site medical professionals running over to him with a first aid kit. Suddenly, he hears Nini’s voice, “Ricky!” yelling out into the stadium, repeating his name a few times. He could hear the concern and fear laced in her wavering voice, knowing her eyes were starting to water, without even needing to see her.
He saw someone trying to hold her back, one of the officials at the competition. He looks to Ricky for permission, and all he could do was muster a small nod. He sees him move to the side to let the girl run to his side, she carefully takes a hold of his hand, bringing it to her face, kissing it. He sees tears in her eyes, finally letting some slip out. He caresses her face, wiping away the tears, “I’m okay duck, just a little hurt.” He tells her, as the paramedics move him onto the gurney.
It took a little bit of convincing to let her ride in the ambulance with them because she wasn’t family, but apparently Nini can be very convincing when she wants to. She didn’t let go of his hand the entire ride, she remained silent, Ricky can see her thoughts racing across her mind by just looking at her. She didn’t say a word until the doctors had informed them that he’ll be fine, and had just dislocated his shoulder. After setting it back in place, the doctor told him he should be able to go home in a few minutes, and to ice his injured shoulder for a few hours.
“Nins?” he eyes her, having not said a word since she they were at the stadium, she was standing next to the bed he was lying in, only a curtain dividing him from other patients in the emergency room.
“Nini.” He calls again, her eyes were trained on the end of the bed, glaring at it like it was the bed’s fault any of this happened. He moves to grab her hand, she flinches back feeling his hand graze hers, not letting him touch her, she moves to the foot of the bed.
“No, you don’t get to do that. You fucking scared me Ricky. I’ve seen you fall before, but that, that was different.” She vaguely points behind her. Ricky was taken aback at what she had said, Nini never swears, so hearing her drop the F bomb, he knows how seriously scared she was. He watches as one of her hands rests on her shoulder, hugging herself.
“You’re fucking lucky you only got out with just a dislocated shoulder.” She says, shaking her head from her spot, avoiding eye contact with him.
“Nini, come here,” he waves her over with his uninjured arm, she shakes her head, refusing to go near him, “Nini,” he says repeats. When she didn’t move, he watches her stare blankly at the floor, “Nina,” he says, using her real name, causing her to snap her head in his direction. He gives her a knowing look, she huffs out a breath, she walks over to him reluctantly. He raises his arm, gesturing for her to come closer so he can hug her. She complies, her chin resting on his shoulder and forehead pressing against the side of his head, wrapping her arms around his middle gently.
“My heart stopped when I saw you fall,” she admits with a shaky voice into his ear, he squeezes her shoulder in comfort, kissing her head, “I got so fucking scared because y-you didn’t get up and-and-” she tries to explain, letting a sob out, tears fall on to his neck. Ricky just shushes the girl, reminding her that he’s here, and he’s okay, that’s all that matters.
Ricky was slowly starting to see what everyone else did. But he pushed it to the back of his mind, it’s not important right now, what’s important is that she knows that no matter what happens, he’ll always be there.
--
“Mom!” Ricky yells, seeing his mom exit from her gate.
“Ricky, baby. I missed you,” she wraps her arm around him, her suitcase rolling behind her.
“Hi Mike,” she smiles at her ex-husband who was behind Ricky, going to hug the man. He reciprocates, “It’s good to see you Lynne.”
His mom was visiting for a few days, not having seen them since Christmas. Despite how Mike and Lynne’s relationship ended, they managed to reconcile and are on much more civil terms, being what they once used to be – friends.
They decided on staying in for dinner that night, ordering Chinese takeout, “So, Ricky,” his mom starts, putting her fork down on the table, “How’ve you been? School’s ending soon, any plans for your senior year?” she asks curiously, wanting to keep updated in her son’s life.
He shrugs, “I don’t know, Nini’s been trying to get me to try out for the school musical the last three years, and I don’t think she’s going to let me go our last year and not do it,” Causing both of his parents to laugh, knowing how persistent Nini can be, especially with the boy sitting in front of them.
“How’s Nini? You should invite her to come with us tomorrow,” she encourages, not having seen her son’s best friend in a while. Even if Lynne lived in Chicago, she was still present in her son’s life, keeping up with his friends. And when she still lived in Salt Lake, she had treated Nini as her own, always wanting to have a daughter.
Ricky nods, “Yeah, I’ll call her later, I don’t see why she’d say no,” he smiles, he knew Nini was also excited to see Lynne again. But Nini wanted to respect their family time, and only show her face during the last leg of her visit, she expressed deeply that she didn’t want to intrude, despite the amount of times that he told her she’s a part of his family just as much as he’s a part of hers.
“Good, now, any girls on your mind?” Lynne presses, smiling cheekily at her son. The comment causing Mike to erupt in laughter, needing to set down his fork leaning back in his chair pressing the space between his eyebrows, trying to calm himself down.
They watch as Ricky’s face starts to redden as bright as a tomato, he frantically shakes his head. His mind wandering to the conversation he had with his friends in Big Red’s basement a little while ago, “The only girl in my life is Nini, I think that’s all I need right now,” he laughs, trying to shove the pressing thoughts about loving Nini out of his mind.
Mike hums, noting what his son had said, “I figured, I always thought Nini would be the one for you,” he comments, picking his fork back up stabbing at a piece of meat off his plate. Lynne was hiding a chuckle behind her hand, his parents loving how his face seems to grow even redder.
Ricky points vaguely in the direction of his dad, “Hey, hold up, wait,” he says trying to gather his thoughts together, and trying to respond at the same time, “t-that’s not what I meant, I-uh, she’s my- ”
“Best friend, we know” his parents say in unison, laughing together, loving to tease their son, it’s their duty as parents.
The rest of dinner went smoothly, them talking about Ricky’s school, and Lynne’s job interview in Arizona that was approaching quickly. Ricky hopes she gets the job, having her live closer would be great, not seeing her only a few times a year.
Ricky pulls himself up on to the counter, he watches his parents move in sync with each other, his dad loading up the dishwasher as his mom clears the table, putting the remaining food in the fridge for the next day. He admires that despite everything they had gone through, they can still be friends and work well together. Ricky’s been wanting to ask his parents something that he hasn’t found the courage to ask them before. “Can I ask you guys something?” he asks suddenly, surprising both his parents and himself.
Mike looks over to Lynne concerned who was standing at the open fridge, “Of course buddy, you can ask us anything.” He assures his son, turning the water running through the tap off. Ricky clears his throat, his eyes focused on the ring on his hand turning it around, “You guys got divorced because you didn’t love each other anymore. How did you just forgive one another?”
Lynne and Mike both look at each other, then to their son who was perched on the counter, “Ricky, we didn’t get divorced because we stopped loving each other,” Mike starts, grabbing a dish towel drying off his hands, “we’ll always have a place for each other in our hearts. We realized we were holding each other back, and when it comes to love, you can’t be selfish.”
Lynne nods at Mike’s explanation, “No matter what happens, you want the best for the person you love, you want them to be happy, even if that means having to let each other go.” She tells her son, closing the fridge walking over to him.
Ricky was shocked to say the least. Ever since his parents started fighting, he always assumed it’s because they stopped loving each other, bringing each other and him pain. He stopped believing in love because he thought that’s all it brought – heartache.
His parents both approached him, each laying a hand on him, they pulled him into a hug. “I’m so sorry, if you thought that we didn’t love each other. We do, Rick, but we couldn’t stay in a relationship that didn’t make both of us happy.” His dad assures him.
His mom nods along, “Ricky, we love you so much, don’t feel like love isn’t worth it because ours didn’t last.” She whispers into his hair, kissing the side of his head.
All Ricky could do was nod, really thinking about and reevaluating what love truly means to him. He should never had shut the idea out of his mind, it wasn’t the right thing to do, he knows that. He shut out any feelings that could possibly resemble love growing up, because he didn’t want to end up like his parents.
--
Ricky and Nini were studying together in her room one sunny afternoon, finals just around the corner, summer vacation nearly in view. Ricky was having a hard time focusing for the last half hour, deeming chemistry to be incredibly boring. He tosses his calculator on top of his textbook, supposing he could go for a break.
His eyes travelling around the room, as they rest on the girl sitting up against her headboard, across from him. She had her glasses on, she only ever wears them when they’re home, preferring to wear contacts, he’s not even sure if anyone knows she’s as blind as a bat. Her hair was slightly curly half of it pulled back, her curls fighting to go back to its natural state, having curled it when they went out the night before. And despite it being blazing hot outside, she was wearing her favourite hoodie of his, and pair of jean shorts complaining that the air conditioning in her house makes it feel like an icebox. She was balancing her notebook on her knee, as he watched her hand race across the page, jotting down notes for her history exam, mumbling the words back to herself. He sees her scrunch her nose slightly, an indicator that she didn’t understand what she had just read. As she pushes her glasses up her nose, Ricky couldn’t help but smile at his best friend.
And in that moment, Ricky finally understood what love meant to him. It was the girl sitting in front of him, she embodied what love is. He made her happy, and he only ever wants to see her happy, even at the expense of his own. Like his parents had told him that night, he wants what’s best for her, even if that means he’s not by her side. He would do anything for her. She’s been there since the beginning, she welcomed him into her family when he felt abandoned by his.
Ricky realizing that he’s always been in love with her, he just never wanted to admit that love exists. He thinks he’s loved her since they met that day in kindergarten, or maybe it was the time she was running around in her princess costume on Halloween and he realized how pretty she looked. Maybe it was the first time she kissed him on the cheek after he gave her flowers for her piano recital. He’s loved her through all of those times, and countless more, he just never admitted to himself that’s what love feels like, loving her felt like coming home.
Ricky was brought out of his reverie by a pen being thrown at him. He picks it up, looking to the girl in front of him questioningly, “What was that for?”
“You were staring,” she jokes, pulling her hair tie out of her small ponytail, he watches as her curls cascade down her shoulders, framing her face. He moves so he’s sitting against her headboard, next to her, “Nini,” he says, wanting her attention.
She hums in response, not looking up from her notebook, highlighting something important. He watches her re-cap the marker, setting it down, “I talked to my parents,” he pauses, “about the divorce.”
The comment bringing Nini out of her studying mode, focusing all her attention on the boy sitting next to her. She closes her textbook, setting it aside, she turns her body to face his, taking a hold of his hand, waiting for him to continue, letting him take his time.
“I was wrong. They didn’t separate because they didn’t love each other,” his hand gripping her fingers a little tighter, “they said they were holding each other back, and because they loved each other, they let each other go.”
“Ricky.” Nini says comfortingly, raising her hand, Ricky’s arm following suite not letting her go, she rolls under his arm resting her head on his shoulder so their heads are levelled, his arm wrapping around her body instinctively.
“I think I’m ready to love again Nini,” he admits shyly, it might not be the whole truth, but it was a start. He still needed time to come to terms with his realization, and what love means to him. How he can live a life full of love, just like the girl that was nestled in his arms.
“And I’ll be right here Ricky, if you need me,” she reminds him, hugging her friend closer to her body.
“I’ll always need you,” he chuckles, as she hits his chest nonthreateningly.
--
Gina and Nini were giddily skipping towards a random booth, one where you throw a ball and try to hit all the bottles down. He was chuckling at their antics, as they were singing along to some song he’s pretty sure played on the car ride over.
To kick off summer vacation, the whole gang decided to spend the day at the carnival that the city holds every summer. They broke off into smaller groups, the boys and Ashlyn wanting to check something out, he wasn’t quite sure, not really paying attention. Ricky decided to stay with the other three girls, well, more like Nini dragged him along.
“You know,” he hears from Kourtney who was walking next to him, “you seem different,”
He looks at her confused, chuckling to himself, “what?”
Kourtney shrugs, “I don’t know, something about the way you look at her,” she says, gesturing to the skipping pair, “it’s just different.”
Ricky laughs brushing the girl’s comment off, “Okay, yeah, sure,” looking back to the pair, Gina handing the guy at the booth a few dollars, looking just about their age, if not a year or two older. As Gina throws the first ball, he notices the guy chatting with Nini, saying something to cause his friend to erupt in laughter.
A flash of jealousy shot through Ricky, his jaw tightening slightly, as he watched them from afar. He feels a harsh jab in his side, his eyes diverting, glaring down at his friend, “Ow, Kourt, what was that for?” She raises her brows at him, “I saw that,” she smirks, heading over to their friends as Gina’s throwing her last ball, having only two bottles left to knock over.
He walks up behind Nini, placing a hand on the small of her back as the guy at the booth was retelling some story Ricky couldn’t care much for. Noticing the feeling on her back she smiles up at him, wrapping an arm around his waist instinctively.
The guy, Jake – Ricky reads off his name tag, observed them carefully, noting the comfortability of the action, Ricky assumes. They get distracted as they hear a clatter from behind the booth, Gina knocking down the last two bottles. She jumps and cheers loudly, pulling Kourtney into a hug. Jake hands Gina a stuffed dog, for knocking down every bottle, smiling at the girl.
“Thank you!” Gina exclaims, “Nini, do you want to have a go?” she asks, looking at her friend who was wrapped around Ricky.
Nini shakes her head, “No, it’s okay,” she looks at Ricky beaming up at him, “Can we go get a lemonade?”
He nods his head, before heading out Nini calls to Jake, “It was nice meeting you, have a good day,” she grins. Always the friendly, nice and polite girl he met way back in kindergarten.
“Good meeting you too, come again soon!” he waves.
“So,” Ricky starts, throwing an arm over her shoulder, as they go in search for lemonade, Kourtney and Gina staying behind to play some other games, “what were you guys talking about?” he wags his eyebrows at her suggestively.
His comment causing her to scoff, hitting his chest, “why, you jealous?” she teases squeezing his side, hoping to rise a reaction out of the boy.
“As if,” he brushes her off, not looking her in the eye, not wanting to admit that he may have been just a little jealous. As they approach the stand, she leans up kissing his cheek, “It’s okay if you are, I get jealous too.”
He looks at her in shock and surprise, not really sure what to take from what she said, watching her as she orders two drinks for them. Handing the cashier, the money, in exchange for the drinks. She passes one to Ricky, sipping on her own, “Ready to find everyone?” she looks up at him innocently.
After Ricky figured out that he’s in love with the girl standing before him, he’s been finding it harder to keep it from her. He was never good at keeping secrets from Nini, and he knew he’s not doing a good job at keeping this one, especially because it’s the biggest one he’s ever kept. He knew Kourtney was right earlier, not wanting to admit it out loud yet, he looks at Nini differently. He looks at her with love, realizing just how much he loves her. He’s just scared that when he finally decides to tell Nini, she’ll reject him, or even worse, laugh at him, telling him that she could never love him like that.
He sighs, as they silently search for their friends, hoping they show up soon, Ricky wanting a distraction from the girl that keeps flooding his thoughts. Once they find their friends, he tells her he needs to head to the bathroom quickly, and he’ll be back soon.
On his search for a bathroom he bumps into someone, profusely apologizing as the guy turns around, Ricky realizing that it was EJ. Ricky fakes a smile at his best friend’s ex-boyfriend, “Hey, haven’t seen you in a while,” Ricky says.
“Ricky, hey. I’m guessing you’re here with Nini?” he asks, looking around seeing if he can see the small brunette.
He nods, “Yeah, and a bunch of our friends, your cousin too” he says tight lipped, a little uncomfortable, considering the situation. An awkward silence falls around them, they both start to speak simultaneously, Ricky falling quiet, insisting for EJ to go first.
“I figured you should know, I didn’t mean to break her heart all those months ago.” EJ admits.
Ricky looks at him skeptically, unsure whether his statement was true or not, “Then why’d you do it?” he asks, curious to see what the other boy would say.
EJ scratches the back of his neck, clearly uncomfortable by the situation at hand, “I told you the day it happened, I didn’t want to compete.” Ricky nods, waiting for him to continue, EJ sighs, realizing that Ricky probably doesn’t have a clue what he was referring to, “Ricky, I didn’t want to compete for her love.”
Ricky still a little confused, “Compete with who?” he asks curiously, sipping on his forgotten lemonade.
EJ’s eyes widen at the comment, realizing Ricky doesn’t know how to read in between the lines, “Oh my god, are you serious? You! I didn’t want to compete with you.” He confesses.
Ricky’s mouth falling ajar, dumbfounded, “What? Why would you need to compete with me?”
“Holy shit,” EJ chuckles, rubbing a hand down his face, “You really don’t get it, do you? She’s in love with you, anyone with eyes can see that. When we were together it was always Ricky this, Ricky that, and when she didn’t tell me she loved me back, I knew it was because of you. She might not have known, but I sure did.”
Ricky laughs, unsure of what to take of his confession, “You’re ridiculous,” his phone vibrating in his pocket, there was a vast number of texts coming in from Nini, asking where he was. He didn’t realize he was walking around for so long, and talking to EJ that he’s been gone for nearly half an hour. He hadn’t even make it to his original destination yet.
“Look,” he says, shoving his phone back in his pocket, deciding to text Nini after, “I don’t, I-I can’t, I’ve got to get back to her, it was, uh, nice catching up with you, I guess. I’ll see you around.” Stuttering at the first bit of the sentence, having a hard time formulating words, he turns in search for his initial destination.
“Don’t be afraid to love her Ricky.” EJ’s statement causing Ricky to stop in his tracks, hating to admit it, but EJ was right. Even though Ricky has finally found peace in what love is, and what it’s beginning to mean to him, but despite all of that, he was still afraid to love her. He told himself that he was afraid of her rejecting him, but it wasn’t, he didn’t want to admit to himself that he was afraid to let her down, afraid that he’ll break her heart. But what Carlos had said in Big Red’s basement that day was also right, love isn’t easy, but it’s worth it.
He finally finds the group, sneaking up behind Nini wrapping his arms around her waist, kissing the back of her head, mumbling apologies into her hair. Informing her that he bumped into a friend on the way, and was just catching up with them. Not telling Nini that it was actually her ex-boyfriend. She looked at him curiously, but refraining from pressing him any further.
The sun was beginning to set, the sky painted in pinks and purples, the lights at the carnival were starting to light up, making it look livelier. Big Red pipes up, “How about we look for something to eat, and we can try out the Ferris wheel, you can never leave the carnival before riding it,” he offers, joking with the group.
The group nods and agrees in unison, going off into smaller groups, getting food they wanted from different food trucks. He pulls Nini along with him, Big Red and Kourtney. He ended up buying a corn dog for himself, and a box of french fries for Nini.
Nini opens her mouth, indicating that she wanted a bite of the corndog. As he brings it down to her level, she takes a bite, cringes slightly, causing Ricky to laugh, “Every time you try it, and every time you don’t like it, I don’t get why you keep trying it.”
Nini pouts at her friend, “I want to like it, I really do. I like hotdogs, I don’t know why I don’t like corndogs.” She huffs, popping a fry into her mouth.
He hears muffled laughs from behind them, and he sees Kourtney and Big Red hiding their laughter whispering in hushed tones. He eyes his two friends, having an idea about what they were talking about, shaking his head lightly chuckling to himself.
After everyone gets their food, they met back up at a small table not having enough seats for all of them but they found a way to manage. The table was near the stage that a few local bands and musicians were playing. When suddenly one of the band’s started singing a cover of Elvis Presley’s Can’t Help Falling in Love. Nini instantly perking up once the beginning notes reached her ears, she gasped, she looked at Ricky hopefully. Everyone a little confused about their interaction.
Ricky sighs, standing up from his seat taking Nini’s hand, pulling her away from the table spinning her around, pulling her into his chest swaying to the music. The song was the first song Nini had learned to play on piano, the pair have probably have heard the song a million times over, it was easily Nini’s all-time favourite. They twirled around one another, dancing across the open grass. As the song was coming to a close, she pulls away just to twirl back into his arm as he dips her, supporting her upper body. Helping her stand back up they couldn’t help but smile at each other.
Walking back over to their friends, Ricky taking his seat, Nini taking a seat on one of his knees her legs between his, leaning into him as he wraps his arm around her so she doesn’t fall. She takes a hold of his hand that’s wrapped around her squeezing it in thanks. Their friends watching them work easily with one another, reading each other’s body language, not missing a beat.
“That was cute, the little dance,” Carlos leans a little forward, sitting in front of the pair. The group nodding along in agreement.
The comment causing Nini’s face to turn red, she chuckles, “Thanks, you guys know that’s my favourite song, I can’t help but dance along.” Ricky smiling at the girl in his lap.
The group starting to discuss their summer plans, learning that Gina and Carlos were attending some dance camp together. And Kourtney was heading off for a few weeks, visiting some family up in Canada. As the day slowly faded into night, the group laughing and enjoying their conversations, realizing the time, they decided to head over to the Ferris Wheel before heading on home.
They paired up, since the carts could only hold 2 people per cart. Ricky and Nini ended up getting on last of their friends. As the wheel slowly starts to move upwards, Nini starts to feel the effects of the cooler weather, goosebumps rising on her arm. Ricky noticing her shiver, he puts an arm around her, as she snuggles closer to him, taking a hold of his other hand.
They watch as the world slowly starts to get smaller and smaller. Seeing the festivities going on below them, watching parents running around with their children, friends joking with one another, couples walking together hand in hand. Admiring the bright lights, compared to the darkness of the rest of the city.
“Ricky?” Nini says quietly.
He hums in acknowledgment, “You know, you’re my favourite.” She tells him shyly.
“I know,” he says proudly, causing Nini to scoff, rolling her eyes, hitting his chest with their interlocked hands.
He looks down smiling at her, “You’re my favourite too.”
She looks at him, their eyes locking, the world starting to fade around them. Ricky takes his hand out of hers, tucking a stray hair behind her ear, he doesn’t know who started to lean in first. When suddenly the cart comes to a halt, breaking their eye contact slightly concerned on what was going on. The pair realizing it’s just a part of the ride, where they stop for a duration of time to just admire the view, causing both of them to chuckle lowly together, not forgetting about the shift. Ricky kisses her temple, reassuring her that everything is okay between them. They sat the rest of the ride in silence, just enjoying each other’s company, as the once small world, begins to come back to the normal state.
Ricky hops off the cart first, taking a hold of Nini’s hand helping her out, noticing that she was still a little cold. He slips his sweater off, putting it around her, as she slips her arms through the sleeves, she takes a hold of his hand smiling at him and dragging them towards their friends who were waiting on them.
Their friends noting the pair’s interlocked hands, silently asking them about it. But they don’t pay any mind to them, not really sure themselves where they stood. Not wanting the night to be over just yet, they all decide to grab some ice cream before heading home.
After enjoying some more of the live music, and their ice cream, they pile up into Ricky and Kourtney’s respective cars, having driven over together. With goodbyes to their friends, and promises to hang out soon before everyone goes off for their summer plans. Ricky takes his seat in front of the wheel, Nini next to him in the passenger seat, still clad in his sweater. Big Red, Ashlyn and Gina in the back.
When he pulls onto the main road, he takes a hold of Nini’s hand, not being able to stop himself, he smiles at her gently. Nini returning the smile, telling him to keep his eyes on the road. Their friends in the back couldn’t help but coo and tease the pair, not afraid to embarrass their friends on the interaction.
After Ricky drops everyone off, he pulls up to Nini’s house, throwing the car into park. He walks her to her door, instead of unlocking the door, Nini pulls him onto the swinging bench on her porch, not wanting to end their night just yet. Both of them knowing they need to talk about what happened earlier.
Her hand never leaves his as they take a seat, he contemplates on whether he should tell her. After their little moment on the Ferris Wheel, Ricky’s never been so sure about her feelings towards him. It was just a matter of whether he was ready to open his heart and let her in. Then he recalls what EJ has said to him earlier that day, don’t be afraid to love her.
“Remember the day I told you I was ready to love again?” he asks, staring at the dark house across the street, he doesn’t wait for her response as he continues, “What I didn’t tell you was, that was the day I believed in love again, for the first time in a really long time.”
Finding the courage to look at her, he turns his head, locking eyes with her, “You were wearing one of my sweaters, and your hair was up and you had your glasses on. You were so focused on studying and you just, scrunched your nose and pushed your glasses up. That’s when I knew.”
Nini’s eyes watching him carefully as he was opening up to her, taking in every word he tells her, “I didn’t tell you because I-I was afraid. I was afraid to love you, I didn’t want to be the reason you cried yourself to sleep at night, I didn’t want to be the one that broke your heart. Carlos told me a few months back that, love isn’t easy, but it’s worth it. And Nini, you’re worth the risk.” He tells her, tucking a stray piece of hair behind her ear, as her eyes slowly begin to brim with tears, “Loving you is like walking through your front door, and realizing that you’re home.”
“I’m ready to take a risk,” he pauses, looking straight into her eyes, calculating her every move, his heart racing as he asks, “are you?”
All Nini could muster was a nod, smiling at the boy in front of her, his smile widening as he leans in, venturing closer than he’s ever been before. Using the hand that was resting behind her ear, he moves to tilt her chin up slightly, aligning their lips leaning in further, when their lips meet, it was like they were the only ones in the world. The kiss was sweet and gentle, it was full of love – finally finding one another. He slowly pulls back, opening his eyes, he’s surrounded by her and the love they have for each other. Their foreheads never leaving each other’s, not ready to move away just yet.
“I love you, my little duck.” He whispers to her, smiling at the girl.
Nini smiles brightly at him, “I love you too duck,” she speaks for the first time since they left his car, leaning back in to kiss him, pressing her mouth against his a little harder than before just for emphasis, bringing one of her hands to his hair, playing with the ends. Both pulling away with smiles plastered on their face, wanting to just bask in their moment together.
Nini snuggles into his side, hugging him around his waist tightly, “Welcome home baby, I’ve been waiting for you.”