Chapter Text
Fidgeting seemed to be the only thing Ricky could do to unburden himself from the bout of nerves that had come upon him. It was a stupid idea. A really stupid idea. Yet, here he was, about to do it anyway.
He really didn’t see any other way around it, and he didn’t know who else he could ask at this point. Everyone else he either wasn’t close enough with, or he knew they simply wouldn’t understand.
Gina was the only one who ever really understood.
Yet he was still nervous. They hadn’t spoken for weeks. Last he knew she was getting closer with EJ – a thought that made his stomach lurch in a way that he didn’t want to read too much into – and so she would probably reject him anyway. But it was worth a shot.
After all, he truly didn’t know what else he could do at this stage. Lily was getting too familiar with him for comfort – showing up at random places he hadn’t even told anyone he was going to be in, somehow getting his number, seemingly convinced that they could be some it couple. It was pretty terrifying if he was being honest, enough for him to be scared that she would never back off if he didn’t give her reason to.
Hence his idea; he needed someone to pretend to be his girlfriend, just for long enough to convince Lily that they would never be together, and maybe a little bit after that to make the sentiment stick. And it was such a ridiculous plan that he was sure it would work because Lily was the most ridiculous person he had ever met in his life.
He needed someone who he could trust, who wouldn’t laugh at him for fearing some girl, and who he could be comfortable enough around to act that way with. And all he could think was Gina.
Sure, things were weird between them at that moment, and he had trouble truly processing why, because everything about his friendship with Gina just confused him. But one thing had always stuck with him. When he told Gina missing her mom was something he got, she had said I knew you would. She was so sure he would understand. And he was realizing that understanding Gina was easy. He knew it would be easy for her to understand his situation too.
But that didn’t make it easy for him to ask. She was sitting in a corner booth at Slices, where they were celebrating the success of their Beauty and the Beast opening night. Lily had just been in with Antoine, and even though everyone else had stopped their conversation to eavesdrop, Gina had been completely distracted, looking out the window, seemingly dejected.
He didn’t know what was up, but her demeanor and the absolute absurdity of his request made him hesitate. Maybe he should wait to ask. Maybe he shouldn’t ask at all. Maybe –
And then Gina looked up from her spot in the corner, Nini having left the seat beside her to grab another slice of pizza, and her head turned over to where Ricky was standing near the doorway. Their eyes locked, and he knew if he didn’t ask her now he wouldn’t ever ask her.
Resolving himself as best he could, Ricky marched over to her booth. Gina watched him as he did, as if not sure whether he was coming up to her or if it just appeared that way, and then suddenly he was right in front of her. Her neck arched back to look up at him from her seat.
“Gina,” Ricky breathed, nerves well and truly pouring out of him, “Hey.”
“Hi, Ricky,” Gina responded, somewhat tentatively, in that awkward way all their conversations seemed to be going lately. He hated the distance between them. He cleared his throat. She raised an eyebrow, “Did you need something?”
“You,” he responded, as if that was a clear answer that he didn’t need to elaborate on. His brain was a barely functioning mess.
“What?” Gina’s eyebrows shot to her hairline, a blush shooting up her neck to her cheeks, and Ricky saw her look across the room to EJ before her eyes locked on his again.
“I mean,” Ricky shook his head, cursing his mouth for not waiting for his brain to catch up, “I mean, I need to speak with you. To ask you something. Can we talk outside?”
“Oh,” Gina shifted in her seat, tugging the sleeves of her pink jacket down, “I guess.”
As she got up to follow him, she barely looked at him, and Ricky felt a pang that was almost unbearable. What had happened between them that caused this tenseness? Falling into a comfortable friendship with Gina been so easy – why wasn’t it now?
As he led them to the exit, he saw Gina glance EJ’s way again, who to his surprise was looking at the two of them with a frown on his face. Ricky still wasn’t entirely sure what was going on between him and Gina, but whatever it was clearly wasn’t going smoothly, if the shooting glare Ricky was on the receiving end of meant anything. He reminded himself that because of EJ, Gina would probably not even agree to his plan, but he was going to pitch it anyway.
They eventually stood face to face outside Slices, and Ricky could still feel EJ’s withering glare from the other side of the shop window. The night air was chilly enough to raise goosebumps – though that could also be the result of him being almost nauseous with fear. Here goes nothing.
“So, I’m going to ask you something,” Ricky spluttered out, wanting to get it over and done with, “And I totally understand if you don’t want to do it. Because it’s crazy, honestly. But I didn’t know who else to ask.”
“Okay?” Gina responded, her arms crossed in front of her, the most insecure he had ever seen her. “What is it?”
“You know Lily?”
“I think we all know Lily,” Gina replied, clearly still confused with where the conversation was headed, “I don’t know what she’s more obsessed with – ruining East’s production or you.”
“Well, that’s the problem,” Ricky kicked out his foot in front of him, an uncomfortable chuckle escaping his lips, “She kind of won’t leave me alone. I think she’s been stalking me; she always just shows up to places where I am and tries to get me to do things with her and stuff. Taking photos of me without my permission. It’s kind of weird.”
“Wait, what?” Gina’s arms dropped to her sides, a concerned look replacing her initial closed off expression. She took a step closer, “Ricky, that’s not okay.”
“I know,” Ricky nodded, lapping up the full attention he was finally getting from her, her concern for him a shower of relief, a summer rain after a drought. He stepped closer to her too. “I’ve tried to tell her to leave me alone, but she won’t get the hint. So, I wanted to ask if you – if you would be my girlfriend. Fake girlfriend.”
Gina’s eyes widened in alarm, “Your…fake girlfriend? What would that accomplish?”
“I don’t know, I was thinking that if she saw me too occupied with someone else, she might eventually leave me alone.”
“Do you actually think that would work?”
Ricky shrugged, “I don’t know. Nothing else has. Look, I know this is weird. We’ve barely spoken this semester, and I know you kind of have a thing going on with EJ or something, but I just thought if anyone would help me with this stupid plan, it would be you.”
Gina paused at that, and honestly Ricky was surprised she was even considering it at all. She looked over at the shop window, her fist clenching and unclenching by her side. Ricky ached to take one step closer again, closer like they used to be, but instead he waited for her response.
“EJ he – he doesn’t see me like that. Romantically. I thought he did, but I was wrong,” Gina eventually said, her gaze shifting back to meet his, something like an idea lit up her eyes, “You’re right, only I would entertain a stupid idea like this.”
“Wait…does that mean…?” Shock flashed through Ricky, because he couldn’t believe she might be agreeing to this.
“The only reason I’m even doing this is because I want to make EJ jealous,” Gina put a hand up, clarifying her stance.
There was that same familiar drop to his stomach he always seemed to get at the acknowledgement of Gina and EJ’s relationship, and he tried hard to ignore it. “Of course. Thank you so much, Gi.”
Gina’s eyes blinked two or three times at the nickname, something he hadn’t used in a while, and Ricky desperately wanted to know what she was thinking behind her perfectly trained expression. A beat passed, then, “Also, you don’t deserve what you’re going through. So, I want to help you. We’re…friends.”
“Yeah. Yes. We’re friends,” Ricky nodded furiously, determined to mend whatever was broken between them. If this crazy plan was what it was going to take for things to get back to normal, then he’d take it.
“Okay,” Gina nodded back, shifting from one foot to the other, “We should meet up and talk about what we’re actually going to do.”
“Yeah, totally. You could come to mine tomorrow?”
“Sure,” Gina scratched at her palm, “Same place?”
“Yeah. With less boxes now. But still only fresh nothing to offer.”
Gina let out a soft laugh, barely there and full of breath, but it made Ricky’s heart thrill anyway. He had missed her laugh.
He had missed her.
“I’ll be there.”
Ricky smiled at her, and he was sure it was goofy as hell, but he really was just so happy they were talking again, no matter how awkward it had been. He went to go back inside but was stopped by Gina pinching his sleeve.
“Wait,” she said, and she took the final step Ricky had wanted to and wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him into a hug, her chin resting on his shoulder.
Ricky felt every nerve in his body tingle, because when was the last time he had hugged Gina? Had she always felt this soft and warm? His voice cracked as he said, “What are you doing?”
Even in his hesitation, his arms automatically came up around her like they were programmed to hold her, pulling her closer to him. He tried to subtly breath in her scent. He didn’t realize he had it memorized until he was smelling it again – something musky and floral, mild but distinct, which he thought suited her.
His heart started to beat harder in his chest as she turned her head to the side, her nose bumping into his cheek and breath tingling in his ear as she whispered, “EJ is watching us. I’m planting the seeds.”
“Smart,” Ricky squeaked out, the thought of her lips lingering near his ear sending him into overdrive.
He mentally scrubbed his mind, not sure why the thought of that would even affect him so much. They were friends after all.
Eventually she pulled back, but not before sending him a sweet smile, almost comically large to be seen from far away, but Ricky didn’t care if it was for show – he was just so relieved that they were talking, that she was smiling at him.
“Let’s get back in there.”
Ricky could only jerk his head in a quick nod.
*
“The house looks bigger,” Gina commented as she stepped through his front door.
Ricky couldn’t help but be reminded about the last time she had been to his place – when she told him about her mom’s tradition on Valentine’s Day. When she told him her mom had forgotten it. When she’d told him every girl likes a sweet gesture, and Ricky had the insane idea to do that for her.
He still didn’t know what he was thinking at the time – he had spent his last bit of change on the fanciest box of chocolates he could find (heart shaped at that), and then lied to Nini about not being able to afford a present for her.
He was unsure what possessed him to do it. All he knew was that it sucked wishing your mom was involved in your life, only for them to continue to be absent.
Maybe that’s where it had all started to fall apart between him and Gina, that miscommunication. Maybe he should’ve just said they were from him.
But deep down, he knew he did the right thing. Gina’s relationship with her mom was more important than her relationship with him. He just wished he didn’t have to lie about it.
“Anyone home?” Gina waved a hand in front of Ricky’s eyes, a small smile on her lips. He snapped out of his thoughts.
“Yeah, yeah, sorry,” Ricky swatted her hand away good naturedly, “Just traumatized from how long it took to unpack all those boxes. It was rude of you not to offer to help when you were here.”
It was the wrong thing to say, and he immediately knew it when her shoulders went rigid. “Well, I didn’t want to keep you. You were busy with Nini.”
“No, I know,” Ricky shook his head, feeling stupid for bringing it up, “I’m sorry.”
He could kick himself for inviting the tension back in between them. He cleared his throat and gestured to the couch, “Uh, take a seat. I’ll get us some water.”
He took the opportunity to take a few deep breaths of air, the same sense of nervousness whenever the two of them skirted around the topic of the last semester settling uncomfortably in his gut. He would not be the one to make this weird.
Having a fake girlfriend wasn’t weird, right?
Placing two glasses of water on the coffee table, he sat beside Gina on the couch, shifting so his knees were almost brushing against hers, but not quite. “So, what do we need to talk about?”
“I’m thinking we should set some boundaries,” Gina replied, hugging a cushion to her chest, her fingers gripping into the fabric.
“Yeah, for sure. I don’t want either of us to be uncomfortable.”
Gina smiled, and her tenseness seemed to lessen a bit, “Me neither. So, first, do we tell anyone?”
“Big Red already knows,” Ricky replied, “I ran the idea past him first. He told me it was, and I quote, ‘the type of Ricky idiocy he expected from me’ but let me do it anyway.”
“Okay,” Gina chuckled, “Maybe let’s keep it at him. I think it’ll be more convincing to Lily and EJ if the others are organic with their interactions with us. As a couple.”
She said the last few words quickly, as if she didn’t know how to process them, and Ricky thought he saw a blush creep past her collar. “Sounds good to me. What’s our backstory?”
“We should keep it close enough to the truth as possible. It’s easier to lie that way.”
“Okay,” Ricky swallowed, and he shifted his gaze to Gina’s hands clutching at the pillow, feeling embarrassed and skittish for reasons he couldn’t name. “We got close to dating during High School Musical, but nothing happened because you moved away. After I broke up with Nini, I couldn’t stop thinking about you, and so I asked you out.”
There was a pause.
“That’s good,” Gina breathed shakily, and Ricky’s gaze shot up only to catch hers slipping down to the ground, “You asked me out yesterday at Slices. It made me realize I never got over you too. Now we’re boyfriend and girlfriend.”
“Sounds plausible enough to me,” Ricky whispered, and Gina finally raised her eyes to meet his. They stared at each other for a moment, a thickness in the air that was itching at Ricky’s skin, until he couldn’t take it anymore and continued, “What about couple things? Dates? Lock screens?”
Ricky noticed Gina clutch the pillow even harder, and she swallowed before answering, “We can change our lock screens today. I might put your name in my Instagram bio too, you should do the same. And we can hang out after school and on weekends to take pictures.”
Ricky nodded. All of that seemed simple enough – provided they weren’t so awkward they could barely hang out with each other. He hesitated before saying the next part, the part he’d been most worried about, “…What about PDA?”
Gina squeaked, “Um… well I’ve never dated anyone before. So, I don’t think it’d be that unbelievable if we kept it lowkey.”
“You’ve never dated anyone?” Ricky repeated, shocked by the news, because Gina was so amazing and talented and funny (and gorgeous, his mind whispered, but Ricky didn’t let it linger there) that he thought people would be lining up for her.
“No,” Gina replied, a defensive tone creeping into her voice, “I barely had enough time to make friends at my old schools.”
“Right,” Ricky nodded, suddenly feeling like an idiot, “Of course. That makes sense.”
“So… I guess we can hold hands and stuff. Maybe we can hug each other when we first see each other at school. What do you think?”
“Yeah, sounds good. I can walk you to class and stuff too. Make sure I look at you when all the romantic lines are being sung during the shows,” Ricky grinned at that one, nudging his knee into hers to lighten the mood.
It earned him a smile of her own, and an amused shake of her head.
Then, “What happens if we’re still doing this when summer rolls around?”
Her voice had fallen soft, unsure and small in a way that Ricky thought didn’t suit Gina. He nudged her knee with his again, this time more gently, and smiled at her, hoping his eyes conveyed genuineness when he said, “Whatever you want. Seriously. If you ever want to stop, just tell me, and we will.”
She let out a shaky sigh, her smile returning as she nodded. “Okay. Let’s take some pictures for our lock screens.”
She shifted into his space, her elbow jamming into his stomach as she reached over him and shoved her phone in front of their faces. Ricky’s heart started pounding again when she pressed her cheek up against his own, smiling widely at the camera. Since when did his heart start misbehaving this way around her?
He swallowed the feeling down and pulled his own cheesy grin as Gina snapped away, occasionally tilting her head in a slightly different angle.
Eventually Gina pulled away, swiping through the pictures and tutting to herself. After some time had passed, she shook her head and pouted slightly at her phone. It was adorable.
She spoke, “These might be good for Instagram sometime, but I don’t think they’re couple-y enough for lock screens.”
An idea came to him, and like most ideas he had, it was extremely stupid. But he suggested it anyway.
“I could kiss your cheek?”
Gina paused, the thumb swiping on her phone stilling. Then, with what sounded like practiced nonchalance – or maybe that was just Ricky’s hearing – she said, “Sure, that sounds better.”
She leaned back into his space, slightly in front of him now, her shoulder blade pressing back into his chest. His heart leapt out as if it could reach her if it jumped hard enough, and he truly didn’t know why he was acting this way today.
Not seeming to notice Ricky’s internal conflict, Gina lifted her phone up again, waiting for Ricky to make his move. So, he did – he placed both hands on Gina’s shoulders from his position behind her, gently holding her in place as he leaned forward to press his lips to her temple. He waited a couple of seconds for Gina to take the pictures. Then something snapped in his mind; they had to sell it, so sell it he would. He shifted his arms so they were firmly wrapped around her, resting over her clavicles. He dropped his head down to kiss her shoulder as well, not sure what was possessing him, but without hearing any protests from Gina, he decided to do one further couple-y thing he could think of and blew a raspberry onto her shoulder, eliciting a shocked laugh from Gina.
He lifted his head up at that, grinning at her, only able to see one side of her face, her nose scrunched in laughter, the tenseness in her shoulders eased entirely. There was the relaxed Gina he knew.
“How’d the pics turn out?”
“Let’s see,” she clicked out of her camera app to find her gallery, then she paused, “Ricky, you can let go now.”
“Oh, right,” he released her from his hold, an embarrassed chuckle escaping him.
Gina began to scroll through the pictures, and they were much better. The shot of him kissing her temple was cute – it screamed couple, which Ricky supposed is what they were going for. But the next few really shocked him by how natural they looked – Ricky’s head fit perfectly into the crook of Gina’s shoulder where he had kissed her. The last few were even better, it must have been after Ricky had blown the raspberry into her shoulder – his arms still firmly wrapped around her, his chin rested on her shoulder as he looked up at her with a fond looking smile and soft eyes, and Gina had her head tilted toward him like they were tethered, looking adorable while mid-laugh, eyes shut in a carefree way.
Ricky felt something warm bubbling within his stomach, and he stared at the picture for longer than was probably necessary, wondering what about it made him buzz. Eventually, Gina spoke, “I think that’s the one. I’ll set it as my lock screen now and send it to you too.”
She wasn’t making eye contact with him, determinedly invested in clicking away at her phone, but a red tinge seemed to stain her cheeks for the next few minutes. Ricky thought she must easily blush because there was no way he had that impact on her. She wanted EJ after all.
His mood turned sour once again, and he marveled at the rollercoaster of emotions she had caused him to have in one afternoon.
They spent another hour or so more hashing out the details for their plan, before Gina declared Ashlyn was expecting her for a girl’s night, and she rushed out without so much as a goodbye.
Ricky stared at the door for the next few minutes, unsure if he had made the right call choosing Gina for this. Things were so weird between them – maybe it would be better if he left her be.
Then he heard a ping on his phone and saw Gina had tagged him a picture. It was the one where he was kissing her shoulder, and it was captioned: better late than never.
Ricky’s heart thumped as he typed out his response: luckiest man alive. He debated whether to add an emoji, before ultimately deciding on including a heart. Then another. Maybe three. Then he finally hit send, deflating back onto the couch with a groan and an arm over his eyes, tossing his phone away from him.
Why did this feel like torture?
His phone pinged again, and his heart leapt in anxiety, wondering how many people had seen it already despite it only having been a few minutes.
It was a DM from Carlos, which simply read: ???
Ricky was about to leave him on read, when another message came through: Ricky Bowen I need an explanation immediately.
He didn’t know what to even type back when he noticed he got a DM from Lily as well. Growing cold, he clicked onto it to see what she could possibly have to say.
Tell me this isn’t real.
Then, after a few minutes of the typing bubble coming and going, she sent another message.
Her, of all people? Are you serious?
Ricky felt an annoyance boil within himself more than he ever had around Lily. What was her issue?
He didn’t usually respond to any of her messages, but this time he felt a burning urge to. His fingers smashed away at his phone as he typed out: I’m more serious about her than anyone else in my life. Get used to it.
This time he shut down his phone entirely, not sure why he felt like he couldn’t have typed a truer statement.