for the holidays | rini au

twelve

the party had picked up pretty fast, people started arriving at 7 and by 8:30 the salazar-roberts' house was full of their friends and family. nini was making her rounds, dragging ricky along to talk to her moms' friends.

as they were walking around, nini spotted carol. she was on the porch, hanging something from the roof right above the steps.

"mama, what are you doing?" she asks, stepping out onto the porch, leaving ricky inside.

"oh. um just putting up some mistletoe, you know it's a tradition," she replies, refusing to meet nini's eyes.

"what," nini says, although she heard her mom perfectly fine.

"it's no big deal nini, just a plant," she replies.

she rolls her eyes at this, turning around and walking back through the door to find ricky.

with ten minutes left before the countdown, people began to venture outside for the fireworks which would happen after midnight. nini grabbed ricky by the wrist and dragged him onto the porch with two minutes to spare.

dana walks up to them and stands just in front of where they stood, pointing above their heads. they both look up and then back at each other.

ten seconds left.

"you cant ignore the tradition," dana says, once again motioning to the plant above their heads.

nine.

they look at each other, air thick between them.

eight.

ricky glances down at her lips, breathing slow.

seven.

nini switches her gaze from his lips to his eyes.

six.

he steps closer.

five.

she looks up at him.

four.

he brushes a strand of hair away from her face and tucks it behind her ear.

three.

he uses his hand to tip her chin up.

two.

she rests her hand over his hand.

one.

"what the hell," he whispers, putting his hands on the side of her face and pulling her closer. their lips touch and it's as if the world around them stops. it's just them in their own world where nothing else matters. nini feels like she's spinning and her head hurts and her hearts beating so fast she thinks it's going to explode. then it's over.

they pull away, nini's gaze set behind him, scared to meet his eyes.

"fireworks," she whispers, switching her gaze and finally making eye contact.

"what?" he questions.

nini points behind her, gesturing to the fireworks which had started up just behind them. for a second he allowed himself to believe that she was talking about the kiss.

they're stuck in the moment, unable to keep their eyes off of each other. they're abruptly pulled out of it when it's interrupted by the pop of a champagne bottle and dana shoving two glasses into their hands.

they take the glasses and allow dana to fill them up. nini chugs hers rather quickly and walks inside, scared of what had just happened, leaving ricky alone to his thoughts on the porch.