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Ricky tosses and turns in the bed, trying his best to finally go to sleep for the night. He swore he was tired when he entered the bed, but now he suddenly is a wide awake. Bodies are so weird sometimes.
When he realized he wasn't going to be lulling off anytime soon, he rolled over on his right arm, letting out a frustrated groan.
"Can't sleep?"
He opened his eyes and saw his beautiful partner laying on her side, already facing him. She looked as if she had just woken up from a goodnight rest despite that being far from the truth. Nini had horrible insomnia, so he wasn't too shocked to see she was also awake.
Ricky sighed in defeat. "No."
"Same here."
"I figured." He scooted closer to her until their noses were practically touching. "Your horrible sleeping habits have finally wore off on me."
"Good, because I was tired of being the only one up at 2 a.m. It gets lonely without having someone to talk to."
"Well lucky for you, I'm all yours tonight."
"I thought you already were all mine for the rest of our life."
He rolled his eyes. "You know what I meant. Plus, I'm pretty sure that engagement ring is more than enough reassurance that I'm all yours forever."
She gazed down to her left hand at the mention of the rock and grazed her thumb over it. She loved marveling at the gorgeous diamond that she knew he worked hard for. It always made her heart warm up and made her lips turn into a smile when she thinks about being his wife in a few months.
"Yep," She twists the ring around her finger. "In exactly 5 months, it'll be on paper that I'm 100% yours. Not like we needed a legal document to tell us that, but it's still nice."
"Damn straight." He pecks her nose, causing her to faintly blush.
They sat there in comfortable silence for a little while, enjoying the other's company. Ricky noticed that she had been looking at him with wondering eyes, which he knew meant something was on her mind.
“You’re making the face.”
She lifts a brow. “What face?”
“You know, the face you make where you get all googly-eyed and doze off. That face.”
“Oh, am I?”
“Yep, what are you thinking about that’s making you smile like that?”
She feels her cheeks heat up. “Well, to be completely honest, I was thinking about how much I wanna roam my hands through your hair right now.”
He didn’t expect that answer, but he did find it really adorable. “What’s stopping you?”
She smiles and places her hands in his curly locks. He closes his eyes in bliss as her small fingers twirl around his curls.
“Hey Ricky?”
“Yeah?”
“What do you love about me?”
He opens his eyes. “What’s not to love about you?”
She playfully rolls her eyes. “I mean, what exactly attracted you to me? Was it something I did or said? Was it physical at first?”
“It was kind of a mixture of all of those.”
“Can you be more specific?”
He sees her eyes shy away from his face, indicating she was about to say something that might embarrass herself.
“What’s up with these questions, babe?”
“Don’t laugh, but I just really wanna know why the hell you’re into someone like me. What about me is appealing? Because I don’t see it.”
His smile falters. “Neens, you’re kidding right?”
When she doesn’t reply, he knows she wasn’t joking.
“Well, one of the first things that drew me to you was that alluring smile of yours. You felt really approachable and kind when I first met you, and thankfully I was right.”
She cracks a grin. “You think so?”
“Anyone with eyes would agree.” He traced his thumb over her lips.
“Wanna know one of my favorite parts about you?”
“Sure.”
“I know it’s odd, but I really love that cute little birthmark you have on your forearm.”
He chuckles and points at the mark. “This?”
She traced the mark. “Yeah, I always loved that it was shaped like a heart. I find myself touching it a lot.”
“I don’t know how I didn’t notice you do that, but it’s really cute that you do.” He scoots closer until his face is buried into her neck. “Another thing I love about you is the freckles all over your body. Sometimes after we make love or when we hug, I like to connect the dots.”
She giggles. “Oh my god, is that what you’re doing when you roam your index all over my back? I thought you were just tryna feel me up.”
“In a way, I was, just not in the context you were thinking.”
“I guess so.” She plants a light kiss on his shoulder. “I love the little bruise you’ve had since the third grade. You know, the one on your knee.”
“Really? Why? It’s nothing special, and I always forget I have it.”
“But it is special. You just don’t see why because you’re so selfless. Do you remember the story behind that bruise?”
He tried to recall it but couldn’t. “Nope.”
“It was from the time when you were teaching me how to skateboard for the first and last time. I was eager to try it since you made it look so fun, and I really wanted to share something that made you so happy in common with you. Whenever you let me go down that sidewalk on the board, I fell flat on my face. I ended up scraping my knee really bad, and the scar is still there years later. When you saw how upset I was about the scar, you purposely fell too so that we both had scars. It was a little much, but it was noble.”
He started to remember whenever she spoke of it. He laughs at the idea of him scratching up his leg just to make Nini feel better because he’d totally do that in a heartbeat. He looked down at both of their knees and saw the almost matching scars.
“In a weird way, this could kinda be our symbol of love.”
She smiles. “I like that.”
“I’m surprised it took me til’ 7th grade to realize I loved you when I did such an idiotic thing to make you happy. Like I could’ve easily given you a hug or bought you ice cream, but no I chose to scrape my leg. I swear my 8-year-old brain was deranged.”
“That’s part of the reason I love you so much.”
He began rubbing his hands up and down her back. “I really love how perfectly your body fits in mine. It’s almost like you were always meant to be there.”
“Yeah, I’ve noticed that myself. If anything, it just further proves that you’re quite literally my other half.”
He removed his face from her neck and rested it against her forehead.
“Ricky, have I ever told you how stunning your eyes are? I think it’s probably the most attractive feature you have on your face besides those cute dimples of course.”
“You might’ve told me once before, but I don’t think they’re anything special.”
“How can you not see what I see? I’d kill to have those hazel eyes instead of my boring brown ones. Your eyes are usually a honey color, but sometimes they turn greenish, gray, or dark brown. It’s very entertaining to watch.”
“I didn’t realize my eyes were so captivating.”
“Well they are, and I’m jealous mine aren’t as interesting.”
“Oh hush, your eyes are beautiful, Neens. I want our kids to have those doe eyes too.”
“I want them to have yours! Yours are so much prettier and unique.”
“I can’t believe we’re arguing over what we want our kid’s eyes to look like.”
“I can. We always debate about who’s the prettiest between the two of us, and it results in us giving each other a series of compliments. We never resolve the debate since we usually will just end up kissing.”
“God, we’re so ridiculous.”
“And that’s what makes us work.”
She beams and brings his face down so that she could kiss him. The kiss wasn’t too long, but that didn’t mean the passion wasn’t there.
She detached their lips and began kissing along his neck. “You know another thing I adore about you?” She says in between pecks.
“Mm, what’s that?”
“I love the way you kiss me.”
“How do I kiss you?”
“With so much love. I can feel it every time our lips touch. It makes my heart beat in a very specific way. See?” She places his hand over her heart, and he smiles when he can feel her heartbeat faster.
“Why’re you so precious?”
“Shut up, I’m not.”
“I’m not getting in another debate with you missy. You’re precious, and that’s on that.”
She sighs and rolls them over so that she’s laying her body on top of his. He holds her firmly against his chest and presses sweet kisses on the top of her head. She lets out a yawn.
“Finally tired?”
“I think so.”
“Yeah, I think I am too.”
“Can I get one last kiss?” She puckers her lips for him, and he chuckles under his breath at how cute she is.
“Of course.”
He ducks down and gives her a quick kiss before pulling the covers over their bodies. Nini rested her cheek on his chest as she drew random patterns into his skin.
“Neens.”
“Hm?”
“I have one last thing I wanna say that I love about you.”
“What’s that?”
“I love the way you love me. I’ve never felt so loved in my life. I feel so lucky to be loved by you.”
She feels her heart beat in that same way it always does when he says something thoughtful. “Well you’re in luck because I plan on loving you until the end of time.”
He smiles and holds her tighter. “I’m looking forward to it.”