Work Text:
“I’ve hit sort of a snag.” Ricky blurts out in replacement of a greeting as he enters his best friend’s apartment.
Nini was leaned over the kitchen table that was scattered with a bunch of different files and papers, completely focused on scribbling on her legal pad. The petite brunette is the primary social worker at their local hospital, and there was a big case that she needed to work through before the holidays. It was always disheartening for the young woman that the holidays didn’t even stop to give people a break.
“Hm, really?” Nini hums not really paying attention to what the boy had just uttered. Her pen scratched into the page as her hand flew across the paper.
“Nini?” Ricky calls as he presses a kiss to the top of her head in greeting. He tries again to gain her attention, finding his best friend in another loop.
Lifting her head to look up at the boy that was stripping his winter coat off his frame, and tossing it over the chair across from her. Her hand comes up to pull her hair tie out of her hair, letting her long dark locks fall over her shoulder. She worked her fingers into her scalp, the ponytail was a little too tight that it was beginning to give her a headache.
Pressing her lips together, she takes note of concern that was written all over Ricky’s face. Unable to help herself, she chuckles dryly as she waves her hand absentmindedly in his direction reassuring him that she was perfectly fine.
“Sorry, big case.” She grabs the teal mug that was now half full and as cold as ice, her apartment a little on the colder side since December hit. “What’s up?” She quirks an eyebrow up as she lifts her mug to her lips, gulping down her cold coffee.
Ricky pauses analyzing her face before taking a seat right across from her. Her eyeliner was nearly gone, only bits of the wings still remained, and her lipstick was completely wiped away. It was evident that she hadn’t been getting a good night’s rest in the last week or so by the darkness of her under eyes. Already decked out in her pajamas, a pair of red and black plaid pants with a tight black cropped tank top and an old cardigan was draped over her shoulders.
Letting out a deep sigh, “Hard case?” He asks, his voice taking on a softer tone.
Her shoulders lift in a casual shrug, “Nothing I can’t handle. What snag were you talking about?”
“Oh, uh,” Ricky brings his hand to come up behind his neck, rubbing it in embarrassment, “So, remember when you came by the office?”
“You’ll have to be more specific, Ricky.” She giggles, taking a sip from her drink as she pulls one of her legs up on her chair hugging it tightly.
It wasn’t strange whenever Nini stopped by Ricky’s office. They worked close enough that they could grab lunch together a few times a week if they weren’t too busy. Ricky worked at a sleep clinic a couple of blocks over that worked closely with the hospital. Usually, he did the day shifts, going over the charts and talking to patients about the results. Not exactly the biggest fan of waiting the 10 hours out while their patients were sleeping overnight.
It was usually Nini coming to Ricky’s office seeing as it was a lot quieter and calmer than the hustle and bustle that came with the hospital. Sometimes they’d pack their lunch and other times they would meet up somewhere and grab some food before heading back to Ricky’s office to eat if they didn’t feel like staying out. They would chat mindlessly, constantly avoiding the topic of work unless there was something that was really bugging them.
Mostly Ricky would be the one to bring up work. Since his place of employment was significantly smaller than Nini’s he heard his fair share of office gossip. There were one or two coworkers that constantly irritated him that he just couldn’t hold back with ranting about it during their lunch hour.
“Okay, remember when we were having lunch and Alyson kinda just walked in?” Ricky grits his teeth after saying the name of the short girl.
“Yeah.” Nini nods slowly, vaguely remembering the girl’s features. “She looked surprised to see me and not in the good way.”
Ricky lets out a sarcastic laugh, “Oh, she definitely was.” He leans back into his seat, pressing his lips together before continuing, “Since she started up in August, she’s been like kinda flirting with me and you know what I think about dating at work.”
Drawing her lip in between her teeth, “Yeah, especially after-”
“Don’t!” Ricky lifts his hand and points his finger at her, “That was just, no, bad. Never to be spoken of again.”
Nini giggles, loving to tease her best friend. “I’m kidding!” She exclaims, swirling her mug that was in her hand, “Anyways, so she’s been flirting with you, did you tell her to stop?” She questions, knowing that would’ve been the easy way out of things.
The boy hums his features contorting, immediately giving Nini her answer. “I know, I know,” Ricky lets out, cutting off whatever she was about to say, “I just, I get so uncomfortable and I feel bad!”
“But she’s making you uncomfortable.” Nini shoots back.
“Yeah, I know.” He nods, “But see, I found a solution where I didn’t have to make things uncomfortable.”
An eyebrow shoots up her forehead, “A solution?” She inquires, replaying their conversation back in her head realizing what that very solution was. Picking up her pen she whips it at his chest, “Richard Bowen! You did not fucking tell her we were dating!”
“Augh!” Ricky shouts, grabbing the pen that she had just hit him with, rubbing the spot it had hit him. “She asked! And I wanted her to stop flirting with me!”
“God,” Nini brings her hand up to her forehead, “My best friend’s an idiot.”
“Hmm, you might want to hold onto that thought.” He cringes, tilting his head slightly.
The girl huffs, rolling her eyes as she tips her head back letting the last bits of her drink slide down her throat. Setting the mug back down on the table, she piles up her papers and folders, ordering them accordingly. Shoving them into her work bag, crossing her arms over her chest leaning back into her seat as she eyes the boy in front of her.
“I’m all ears, not like I have much of a choice.” She grumbles the last bit.
“So, Alyson reminded me of the office’s Christmas party this weekend and she was telling me to bring you,” He starts, his leg bouncing nervously, “And I told her you were probably working as like an excuse. And well, Polina and Charlie overheard her and then you know how my work is, people kept talking. By the end of the day, everyone knew about my ‘girlfriend’ and begged me to bring you to the party this weekend.”
Nini licks her lips, both her eyebrows raising as she purses her lips together not quite believing a single word that has fallen from her best friend’s mouth. Sending a harsh glare as she knew what his question was going to be.
“Will you be the bestest best friend in the entire universe and do me this one favour, just for one night, and please pretend to be my girlfriend for this stupid Christmas party?” He clasps his hands together, begging for her answer to be ‘yes’.
Rubbing her hands down her face, “Okay, I know you cracked your head open that one time when you were doing that skating trick, but I didn’t think you could’ve gotten any more stupid!” Nini exclaims.
“Nins, please!”
“Ricky, what are we going to do afterwards, huh?” She gets out of her spot, bringing her mug into the kitchen and setting it down in the sink, “We have lunch together like three times a week, and it’s always at your office. I can’t just show up and be your girlfriend one week, and the next week I’m not.”
“You don’t even talk to them.” Ricky hot on her tail, following her into the kitchen. “It’s just one night, Nins. I promise after Saturday we go back to strictly friends, and it’s like it never happened.”
Leaning against the counter, she crosses her arms over her chest. Her tongue kissing her teeth in annoyance, as she wasn’t left with much room to decline. She hated the fact that she was a complete sucker for her best friend, has been harbouring a secret crush on him since they met back in college.
Despite how badly she wanted to do this for her best friend, she was afraid that if she’d do this, then she’d know what it’s like being his girlfriend. It’d be a dream come true, with the exception that she’d wake up at the end of the night like none of it really matters - because it didn’t. Of course, she knew what it’s like to have her hand in his, or his arm around her shoulder. Even his lips pressing against her cheek or the top of her head, having grown incredibly comfortable together over time.
If she did this, it wouldn’t bode well for her feelings in the long run.
And if she didn’t do this, then he would have to deal with his co-workers pestering him, maybe even Alyson trying to make any advances on him. She knew there was only one answer, and she hated to admit that she didn’t absolutely hate it.
“I’ll do whatever you want.” Ricky promises, “I’ll get down on my knees right now if you want me to.” He bends down in front of her, clasping his hands together begging her to agree.
“Oh my god, Ricky,” Nini grabs his elbow refusing to let him beg in front of her, “Stand up, stop that.”
Once he stood back up to his full height, Nini eyes him carefully. Pressing her lips together in thought, despite already having her answer in her head.
“One night.” She tells him, signalling with her index finger that she truly meant only one night. “And you take me to that musical I’ve been begging to go to.”
“Deal.”
Standing in front of her floor-length mirror, she smooths her hands down the front of her dress getting rid of any wrinkles. It was a deep red dress that hugged her waist nicely and fell loosely down to just above her knees, and some gold detailing at the bottom. She saw it at the mall when she was doing some last minute Christmas shopping, and she thought it was beautiful and simple enough for a work party.
Her hair was curled just the way she liked it, very loose and natural; she thought it accentuated her amber highlights better. Much like her hair, her makeup was on the simpler side very close to her everyday routine, the only bold move she made was running a deep red lipstick over her lips to compliment her outfit.
Pressing her lips together as she stared at herself in the mirror, she sighs thinking about her outfit. She couldn’t stop wondering if it was too much or if it wasn’t enough. Nini tended to second guess herself, especially since she was going to be surrounded by people she didn’t even know. Although she was posing as Ricky’s fake girlfriend, she still wanted to make a good impression. She didn’t want to be judged if she wasn’t enough or too much for the boy.
“You look beautiful.” A voice interrupts her thoughts.
Nini whips her head around to see her best friend leaning against her door frame, his hands tucked into his dress pants. Sending him a shy smile before turning back around to look at herself in the mirror once more. Her hand makes its way to her stomach, as she runs her delicate fingers over the seam.
“You sure? If it’s too much I can find something else to wear.” She tells him hurriedly.
“No.” Ricky walks further into the room, “Stop overthinking it. I think you look absolutely beautiful.”
“Okay.” Nini nods, trusting his words. “I’m ready then.”
Ricky smiles at the brunette through the mirror, one of his hands lifting to pull on one of her curls. “Perfect.” He mutters.
And Nini couldn’t quite tell what he was talking about, but she liked to imagine that he was talking about her. And not the fact that they were just about ready to head on over to a party.
To say Ricky’s co-workers were friendly would be an understatement. They were so incredibly friendly that Nini wasn’t exactly sure if they were overplaying it to try and get more information out of her or if they were just that welcoming.
The party was at some party room that they had rented in a random apartment building. It was a lot bigger than Nini would have expected considering it was at an apartment complex. It was quite spacious, fitting at least 100 people, and there was a ton of food scattered on tables and Christmas decorations sprinkled across the room.
Tons of people were mingling and talking excitedly about anything and everything. Nini was currently nursing a glass of wine as Ricky’s hand was placed strategically on her hip, as he was speaking to his best work friend, EJ. Nini just nodded along to whatever they were talking about, leaning further into Ricky’s side, mostly for show and a little bit to comfort herself.
“So, Nini,” EJ calls, his cup gripped in his hand casually, “How did you and Ricky meet?”
A few of Ricky’s co-workers also intrigued with the story bring their attention to the girl in Ricky’s arms who hasn’t really spoken in the last half hour. She feels Ricky’s grip on her hip tightening, rubbing his thumb along the fabric silently telling her that everything’s fine.
Nini giggles, knocking her head into Ricky’s shoulder recalling the memory, “It’s a really funny story actually.” She starts.
“Oh god, babe please don’t.” Nini was still not used to the nickname that had been slipping past his lips all evening, she felt her heartbeat quicken before turning back to answer EJ’s question.
“Hush, it’s funny!” She defends, beaming up at the boy. “Okay, so we met during our sophomore year in college and Ricky was leading this physical group activity or something in the quad. And, uh, I was walking by and I was curious. It was a little strange to see a bunch of people following an exercise routine or whatever, so I was watching as they followed Ricky’s lead. And then, in the middle of the exercise, he tripped and fell.” She lets out a wholehearted laugh.
Ricky moves to stand behind her, arms circling her waist as he buries his face in the crook of her neck. “I hate you.” He mutters quietly against her skin, causing goosebumps to rise.
“Oh my god,” EJ laughs along with the group that surrounds them, his laugh the most prominent out of the group. “That’s fucking everything. Why did you fall?” He asks amid his laughter.
Lifting his head from where it was placed in her neck, a small grin on his face, “Actually, it was because I saw Nini. She wasn’t looking at me or anything, but she’s the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen and I lost my footing the second I laid eyes on her.” He chuckles, leaning in to press a kiss to her cheek. “My baby is so beautiful. How could I not literally fall for her?”
A blush rose to Nini’s cheeks; she never knew why Ricky had fallen that day. Whether he was completely making up that excuse for the crowd or if it was true, she couldn’t help but be completely flattered by her friend.
“Shut up.” She smacks his hands that were clasped around her. “No, you didn’t!”
“It’s true!” He chuckles, looking down at the girl in his arms. Immediately his features soften, giving the girl a serious look that he knew she would understand. “It is true, Nini.”
Both of their cheeks began to redden in colour, nearly forgetting about the group that was around them, watching their small interaction. Nini draws her lip in between her teeth as she looks up at Ricky, moving her hand to lay on top of his. Before either of them could say anything else, a voice broke through their small bubble.
“I can’t believe this entire time she was coming to the office we didn’t know you were having lunch with your girlfriend.” Gina chimes in, another one of Ricky’s co-workers.
Nini recognized the tall woman, having smiled shyly at her a couple of times on her way to Ricky’s office. She knew that Gina and EJ were the two that he was closest with at the office, and if anyone was going to know that they were dating it would’ve been them.
“I wasn’t his girlfriend the entire time.” She reassures, feeling Ricky’s index finger tap her stomach a few times, warning the girl in his arms to be careful with her next words.
Someone off to the side clears their throat, Nini turning to see the very reason they were pretending to be dating. The short girl eyes them carefully, “What do you mean?” She asks.
“Oh, uh,” Nini’s voice falters, not quite sure what to say.
“It’s because we didn’t really put a title on it for a while,” Ricky answered, Nini silently thanking him as she squeezes his hand. “We were practically dating but without any labels or anything.”
Drawing her lip in between her teeth at what had Ricky said. She quietly wonders if what he was saying was true. They did spend so much time together, at lunch after work and on weekends. They would go out to dinner together on Fridays, and usually afterwards, they would spend the rest of their night watching a movie cuddled up on one of their couches until one of them fell asleep.
Whenever Ricky would see her, he usually greeted her with a hug or a kiss to her temple. He would compliment her whenever she was extra dressed up, supporting her in every way that he could and he was always there for her when she’s having a bad day. Never needing her to say it out loud, he could just tell by her demeanour and the sound of her voice.
But that was all in her head, she knew that much. They were just friends, nothing more, nothing less.
“Why’s that?” Alyson asks, breaking Nini out of her thoughts.
“It’s my fault.” Nini smiles shyly, “Wanted to keep it between us for a while, and putting a label on it just makes things so official. I didn’t want our friends and family to know in the event that it didn’t quite work out.”
The arms around her squeeze lightly, “It’s a good thing that it did.” He grins, pressing a kiss to her hair. “I couldn’t imagine being with anyone else.”
Nini’s heart swells at his words, looking up at the boy feeling incredibly touched by what he had said. Then realization had kicked in as their eyes met, this was her best friend. And he’s only saying it because this is all a ruse and the words he was saying about her tonight are all fake.
For the rest of the night, she could hear her heart crack a little more as another lie would fall from his lips.
“That went well.” Ricky blurts out as they settle down in his car.
Nini hums staring out the window as Ricky pulls out of his parking spot. Her thoughts had been running wild ever since that conversation with Alyson. To all his co-workers it was clear that they were in a stable and happy relationship, and she saw in Alyson’s eyes that she should stop flirting with her co-worker.
“Hey,” Ricky places a hand on top of hers that was resting in her lap, “Are you okay?” He asks, concern written all over his face.
“Yeah,” Nini nods, glancing down at their hands before looking back out the window, “Talking to everyone kind of drained me. I just want to go home.”
“Did someone say something?” He asks, rubbing his thumb over her smooth hands.
Nini shakes her head, “No. Just tired. Don’t worry about me.” She musters up a smile, reassuring the boy that she was perfectly fine, even though she was far from it.
“I always worry about you, Ni.” Ricky says, “Just don’t fall asleep on me yet. I have something for you when we get back to your place.”
She squints at his words, finally looking over at her best friend that was in the driver’s seat. His hand gripped tightly on the steering wheel, as he nibbles on his bottom lip. It was a clear indicator that he was getting nervous, and Nini couldn’t exactly tell why he was suddenly acting nervous.
“What is it?” She questions.
“You’ll see.”
Letting out a deep sigh, she drops her coat down on her couch as she pries her heels off her feet. Taking a seat on the armrest of the blue couch, she brings a foot up to rest atop her knee, rubbing soothing circles into her sole.
“God.” She groans, thankful to have those deathtraps off her feet.
“You didn’t have to wear heels, you know?” Ricky chuckles, setting his own jacket down on the dining table.
Nini shoots him a glare, “It completes the outfit, Ricky.” She deadpans. Her comment caused him to raise his hands in surrender.
As she rubbed circles into her feet, she noticed Ricky pressing his lips and rubbing his fingers together anxiously. He wasn’t quite staring at her, rather just around her. She started to feel uncomfortable under his gaze, the boy not having said a word in a while.
Despite wanting him to go home right after, needing some space from the boy after the incredibly affectionate night they had, he insisted that he wanted to give her whatever it was tonight. She wonders why it couldn’t wait until tomorrow, and now all he is doing is standing in the middle of her living room not saying anything.
Gulping down a lump in her throat, “You said you wanted to give me something.” Nini finally breaks the silence around them.
“Oh, uh, yeah.” He nods, walking back over to his jacket rifling through the pockets.
“Look, can it wait?” Nini stands up, getting ready to walk him out the door instead. “I’m really tired.”
Ricky shakes his head defiantly, “Nins, it’ll only take a minute.” He tells her, turning around to finally face her a white envelope in his hands. “And if I don’t do this now, I’m going to lose my nerve.”
“What does that mean?” She asks, confused.
“Our deal, Nins.” He tells her, not quite answering her question, “Our deal was that you be my fake date tonight and in return I take you to that musical, right?”
Nini raises an eyebrow in question, both of them knowing the answer. “Yeah, I’m the one that said it.” She shrugs nonchalantly, “What about it?” She takes a step towards the boy.
Ricky walks the rest of the way over to her, hitting the white envelope against the palm of his hand. A small smile begins to slip onto his face, as he looks down at the pretty brunette in front of him.
“Well, you kind of ruined my Christmas present.” He says.
Taken aback by what he said, “Huh?” She mutters, looking up into his hazel eyes.
Silently he hands her the white envelope, Nini taking it into her hands carefully starting to feel a little nervous even though he basically told her what was in the envelope. He encourages her to open it with a small nod of his head. Her nimble fingers work their way through the seal.
Pulling out the two tickets, she reads them carefully. Lifting her head up to connect eyes with him once more, a small smile slipping onto her face.
“Ricky.” She breathes out, her eyes softening as he looks down at her with the same expression on his face.
“You’ve been not so subtly dropping hints about it for weeks.” The pair chuckle, ducking their heads lightly before bringing them back up to look at each other. “I thought we could make a day of it.”
“You could get dressed up all fancy and pretty, like you are tonight,” His mouth sliding into a shy smile, looking her up and down causing the brunette to blush. “We go out for dinner, probably at Lavender’s because it’s our favourite. We would go to the musical and afterwards, we’d sing the words loudly in the car because I know how much you love to do that. And when I drop you home, instead of kissing you on the cheek good night, I could maybe kiss you where I’ve been wanting to for years.” He finishes, neither quite realizing how close they got in the midst of his spiel.
His hands moved to rest on her waist, drawing his lip in between his teeth nervously. Nini was now standing incredibly close, her feet in between his as she looked up at him with the softest expression he’s ever seen on her.
“Really?” She whispers, her eyes full of hope.
“I really like you.” Ricky confesses, “I have ever since I saw you that day I fell. I literally fell for you, Nini.”
Dropping her head to his chest, she lets out a laugh before tilting her head back up to look at him once more. “Why do you think I stopped to watch?” She giggles, “I thought you were really cute, especially when you fell.”
The pair erupt into a fit of laughter as they recall the first day they had met, and clearly the first day they had fallen for each other. After a few moments, their laughter fades out as silence wraps around them once more. Both smiling stupidly at each other as they feel their relationship begins to take the next step.
Nini lets out a breath, scrunching her nose as she recalls the events of the event. “To be completely honest,” She starts, wrapping her arms around his neck casually, “I was trying to push you out the door the second we got here.”
“I could tell.” Ricky chuckles, “Why?”
“Well,” Nini’s eyes widened slightly as her mouth twitched to the side in thought, “I didn’t know how I was going to go back to being just friends with you. After being your fake girlfriend tonight, knowing what it was like to be your girlfriend, I didn’t really want it to stop.”
The boy’s eyes soften as his grip around her waist tightens, “I don’t want to stop either.” Ricky murmurs between them, dropping his forehead to rest against hers as he looks into the dark brown orbs he’s come to love.
“Can I kiss you?” He whispers.
Nini nods, moving her hands around his neck tighten as she pulls him down to her height. Leaning up on her toes, and smiling brightly just before their lips collided.
Immediately, they melted into the kiss. Their embrace tightening around each other, as they took in the moment. Ricky’s hands spanning over her waist, as he leaned further down into her. Pulling her hips to collide with his, as one of Nini’s hands thread through his unruly hair.
It felt like minutes when in reality it was only just a few seconds. Slightly pulling away, their foreheads remained connected, as they slowly opened their eyes to look at the other. Their breaths fanning over each other’s faces as they try to regain the composure they once had.
“Maybe,” Nini lets out, a little breathless, “Instead of calling it a Christmas present, we can call it a date.”
“A date it is then.” He smiles, leaning in pressing another kiss to her lips.