for the holidays | rini au

twenty six

nini's been sitting on her couch, going over the day's events in her head since she got home from ricky's apartment. her conversation with gina had pushed her to go through with the decision to write a letter, however she had no idea where to start.

she had been staring at a blank piece of paper on her coffee table, trying to find a starting point, for fifteen minutes by now.

she decided to follow gina's advice and start with a simple apology.

i'm sorry. i know those words probably hold no meaning right now, but i am.

the rest of the words came naturally, memories of her and ricky flashing through her mind as she attempted to put her thoughts onto the page.

after what felt like hours, she looks at what she wrote and figures it should suffice. it was mostly her rambling, trying to write everything she was thinking, causing it to be more raw and heartfelt.

she gets up to find an envelope, checking the clock and seeing it was getting late. she quickly folds the letter and seals the envelope, throwing it back onto her coffee table and walking into her room.

the next morning she makes the decision to drop the letter off after her coffee run. she wasn't expecting a response from him, only wanting to make it clear that she valued their friendship, or whatever it was they had.

she walked into the coffee shop and stepped into line, scanning over the menu to see what she wanted. grabbing her order when it was placed in front of her, she turned around only to be stopped when she heard someone calling her name.

"nini?"

she looks over her shoulder to see who was calling her, seeing someone who she recognized to be in her music composition class.

"ryan?" she questions, unsure if that was actually his name.

"yeah! we're in the same comp class! i'm honestly surprised you recognize me," he replies, rubbing the back of his neck and trying his best not to make eye contact.

they stand in awkward silence for a few moments before nini figures it wouldn't hurt to spend time with someone new. she's always open to making new people, and considering the fact she doesn't have many friends in the city it might be nice to get to know him.

"do you wanna..," she trails off as she motions to the door, asking if he wants to leave with her.

he nods his head and leads the way to the door, holding it open for her.

"i have to drop something off at my friends apartment," she says, voice faltering on the word friend. can she even call him that? ryan nods his head, allowing her to lead the way. once they arrive at his apartment, she walks inside and tries to give the letter to the front desk so they could pass it on to ricky, however they were giving her a difficult time.

ready to give up, nini turns away from the desk and sighs, when she sees big red, who she knew to be ricky's roommate from one of his instagram posts she found during a brief stalking session a few years ago. he was walking through the door and into the lobby, so she immediately rushes over to him and practically shoves the envelope into his arms.

"can you please give this to ricky for me?" she says as soon as he takes the letter from her. he has a confused expression on his face, causing nini to step back a little in fear that she crossed a boundary.

"yeah, of course i can," he replies. nini smiles in gratitude, sighing with relief.

"thank you so much. sorry for practically jumping you, desperate times call for desperate measures, you know... i'm sure he's told you what happened i-"

"nini," he interrupts her rambling, "it's ok, and it's none of my business. i'll give it to him, really it's no big deal."

nini gives him one last smile before leaving the complex and making her way back to ryan.

she pulled him into a random drug store, unsure where else to go. they had about two hours left before it would begin to get dark, so she began making efforts to get to know him.

they had decided to pick up snacks and drinks from the store, finding a spot in the park to sit down and talk. what started as small talk turned into a deep conversation about disney movies and where they see themselves in the future.

time was slipping away quickly, and soon enough it was dark. nini stood up and swiped the dirt and grass off of the back of her thighs. ryan follows suit and stands up, gathering the trash which was left behind.

they say their goodbyes, quickly exchanging numbers in case they wanted to keep it touch. nini half expects him to offer to walk her home. when he doesn't, nini turns around and makes her way back to her apartment alone.

when she arrives home she throws her keys and purse onto the counter, walking to her room to plug in her phone. as she makes her way back to her pantry to grab her favorite granola, she hears her phone ding from her room.

she moves over to where it was placed on her bed to see who it was, freezing when she saw the notification.