ricky and nini's realizations

chapter 60

ricky's pov

i wake up as soon as i hear my alarm running on my excitement for the day. otherwise, i couldn't of gotten out of bed so easily. i get into the shower first thing to freshen up and go straight to the process of brushing my teeth, making sure i don't have bad breath, putting on cologne, and then finishing up with putting on my better pair of jeans out of the many that are typically torn up from skating and a nice but simple shirt. i complete everything with a heavy jacket. i get to take nini out today before the dance tonight. and this time, i get to go with her by my side and only mine. i don't have to share with the the group or have to worry about catching her noticing me staring at her. playing the game of sneaking glances before her eyes could meet mine. it's times like these that i would kill to be able to drive. i wanna be able to show up at nini's house with my own car, be able to drive her somewhere, and just be able to not leave her feeling like she has to do so much for me in situations that require transportation. i feel like a burden sometimes despite her selfless and helpful ways. i shove my phone and wallet in my pocket and bounce down my stairs in the best mood i've been in for a while. i meet my dad's eyes halfway down the stairs where he can see from the couch, "i'm going to nini's. i'll be back this afternoon before the dance." "have fun!" he shouts back once i'm already to the door. i begin my walk to nini's house arriving in just a few minutes. i knock on the door anxiously waiting to see her smiley face open up the door. luckily, i don't have to wait long. "hi," she says in an excited voice as soon as she's got the door open enough for her body to step into the doorway where she reaches her arms around my neck planting a quick kiss onto my lips, "hi," i say while laughing with my hands pressed against her back holding her. her weight is on me as her toes are just barely grazing the ground beneath us from her cute ambush on me. "ready to go?" i ask still holding her but she's now back on the ground. "yep, lemme grab my coat," then she swiftly kisses my cheek and bounces inside for her coat. she still leaves me blushing, so i try to suppress the hot redness of my cheeks before she comes back outside which only takes seconds for her to. once in her car, we begin our drive to the outdoor ice skating rink in the city. as we drive i feel a tingly feeling in my fingers that are held around her upper thigh as i watch the road in front of us. she has her christmas playlist on a decent volume mostly getting ariana grande holiday songs. we had our first snow a couple nights ago, so the entire winter season feeling is very present from the clouded white sky, cold temperatures, nini's music, and what we'll be doing on our date today. i partially zone out looking out the window at the other cars driving along side us and glancing around at the many buildings. although my eyes are focused on the scenery outside of the car, i can't help but only think about my hand on her leg. each time she switches from the break to the gas pedal i grip her leg a bit tighter. not enough that i think she can tell, but enough for me to. physical touch, her physical touch is something i can't go without anymore.

nini's pov

we pull into the parking lot of the most popular ice skating rink salt lake city has and i'm actually really happy to be here. it's nice being surrounded by other smiley people who are enjoying the person or people they came here with. we wait in line at the booth for our pass into the rink and to get our skates. it's moving slowly so with my eyes still looking around i scoot into ricky's side for warmth and just because i wanted to. when i'm pressed into his side, he brings his arm up and around me pulling me tighter against him. we do this wordlessly. at first i was just standing against him, but after a few more steps moving closer in the line, i wrap my arms around his torso resting my head against him. my new situated position makes him shift a little too. by this i mean, he moved the hand that was already wrapped around me underneath my coat to rest on my back again in the same spot, but with much less of a barrier. it's almost our turn in line, so i pull myself off of ricky, but his hand stays in place until it's our turn to talk to the guy working the booth. once ricky's paid the man, he asks for our shoe size to hands us our skates. "a ten and a five and a half," ricky answers him without thinking twice. the man taps the counter, "alright, one minute," as he turns to go get the skates. with my arms crossed from the chilly gust of wind, i look up to ricky with a skeptical smile, "how'd you know that?" "know what?" he asks then smiles when he sees me smiling at him. "you knew my shoe size off the top of your head," i say dumbfounded. "i guess i just remember from something else. i don't really know," he laughs at the end while looking up like he's thinking then says, "yeah i have no idea how i know that," causing both of us to laugh. the man comes back with both pairs of skates with a kind look on his face telling us to have fun. i thank him and ricky gives a thankful nod. we both make our way to a nearby bench to begin putting on our skates. i've been ice skating a few times. enough to know how to pretty well at least. which means that i should know how to put ice skates on except the lacing on these ones are unlike anything i've seen before. the only skates ice used are the dainty kind that indoor places usually provide that lace up like converses would, but these are more heavy duty with metal pieces and the lace isn't laced up already. i look over to ricky watching him effortlessly tie his skates still confused as to how i lace them without the shoelaces coming undone again. he's pretty much on the verge of being done putting his skates on and i'm sitting here like an idiot just letting my shoes sit in untied skates. "hey ricky," i wait for him to look at me. "yeah," he answers nonchalantly. "i don't know how to do this," i say feeling dumb. he sits back up from being leaned over his feet to look at me. "gimme your foot," he directs me with a wave of his hand and an unsurprised smile. "what? i've never seen skates like these before," i laugh self consciously trying to back myself up. he scoots back on the bench some more just laughing at me in a mutual way. i swing a leg into his lap carefully and attentive enough to ensure that the blade doesn't hit any part of him. he leans back on the bench to begin lacing it up for me. i lean to my side until my shoulder hits the back of the bench and watch him help with his eyes trained so focused on my foot. "alright give me your other one," he tells me while placing my foot back to the ground. i begin to shift so that my left leg can be given to him even though he's on my right side. it made for a compromising and uncomfortable position, but i wasn't complaining. he noticed me shifting to get my foot to his lap though, and said, "nevermind," while pushing my leg away. he kneels in front of me to take care of my other skate. once he was all done, he places his hands onto my knees still on his knees in front of me. i ignore it for a second taking the chance lean forward to look down at my now perfectly secured feet while telling him thank you. i look back up and we're much closer now from my leaning forward to see my feet. "i think you owe me now," is all he says. i playfully furrow my eyebrows and narrow my eyes just a little, "oh yeah? and how do you expect me to pay you back for that?" he squeezes his hands on my thighs just above my knees and proceeds to pretend to think while looking up. "hmm. i think you owe me a kiss," he states matter of factly. "oh really? what if i don't want to give you that kiss?" i play back. he tilts his head, "that would be very unfortunate for the both of us," he says sneakily. "both of us? don't you mean just you?" i question. "nope not just me. i guess if i don't get a kiss then i'll have to undo all of my hard work," he tells me while starting to pull out my shoelace. "no," i giggle, "you can't do that!" i exclaim. he tugs a bit more making it move further, but it's still tied. "well since i'm clearly not getting that kiss...," he trails off with an eye roll that i see right through as he's trying not to smile. i grab his face pecking his lips super quick. "there. better? now leave my feet alone." "wasn't good enough," he teases with a shrug of his shoulder starting to actually pull the lace loose. "you said kiss. i gave you a kiss bowen," i reach my hand down to push his away from my skate. because of this, the other hand he left resting on my leg was used to ambush me with tickling my side by weaving his hand past the unzipped part of my coat which was too fast for me to notice. "ricky!" i screech from the surprise attack on my midsection that he knows is very very ticklish. i hunch over trying to scrunch my body enough that he can't get to my ticklish spots anymore as i'm doubling over in laughter falling into his chest. "stop stop," i giggle uncontrollably gasping out the words. he pauses his movements speaking with a huge childish smile, "if i do, will you give me that kiss?" he bargains. "i already did," i inform him. he begins tickling me again. i try grabbing his hands to push them away, but it's no use, "okay okay. i will. stop," i give in, even though i'm more than happy to. "i'm waiting," he says with a raise in pitch. i laugh a second then lean into him feeling his hands move from my stomach to rest on my hips. instead of an innocent peck, that he clearly wasn't satisfied with, i interlock our lips into a deep kiss. he pushes his head forward to suck on my lips harder, but i soon pull us apart. "did that one count?" i check with him. "yeah for now," he says smugly while tightening my skate that he was pulling on to ensure it's safe and secure. "gosh bowen," i say while shoving his head making him let out a low laugh. now that we're all good to go, he holds out both of his hands, palms up, which i accept simultaneously pulling both of us up to stand. he pecks my cheek which he has never done before. it's so innocent, but it shows a lot of meaning. at least to me it does. it was almost as if he was trying to end our fiasco with an act of affection or love? i don't know, but it meant something. i start to blush furiously and i there's no controlling it. i slide my hand into his to get him to start walking with me. we begin our short walk to the skating rink itself. i've never been ice skating with ricky, but i do know that he needs a little bit to get going and comfortable on the ice. this information coming from big red of course. i'm excited to spend this fun time with him to just have fun and not think about anything else.