i believed in you || rini au

10. whatever it takes

"it's unacceptable!"

"i know."

"what were you thinking?"

"the fans are going full investigational crazy mode as well as the press. you know that don't you?!"

ricky clenched his jaw together as he looked down at his lap.

he was currently in a meeting room with jenn and benjamin, listening to them bicker with each other and tell him off for being, well, stupid.

"they already started questioning nini when she went back home this afternoon: 'are you dating ricky bowen', 'what do you have to say about ricky bowen's tweet?', 'has this been happening for a while?'"

"would that be the worst thing in the world?!" ricky exclaims finally, the annoyance and adrenaline rushing through him as he stands up

"ricky, watch your tone," benjamin warns

"no! i'm sick of this! i love nini and she loves me. what would be the worst thing that could happen if we show that we're together?!" he questions

"maybe the fact that it will ruin her music career." jenn answers "we've already been through a boy war-drama with ej and dani two years ago. gina got dragged into it since she was their co-stars and nini's best friend. do you really think that this will help her case?! she'll only be labeled as the girl who likes the gossip and drama!"

"but that wasn't how-"

"it was. yes. she was with you, and only friends with ej as well as the fact that dani was being a jealous upcoming star. but it all pinned towards nini and she had nothing to help her case. do you really want to add to that now?" jenn asks sharply

ricky clenched his jaw and fists, looking away in defeat.

he didn't want to ruin nini's career. she loved music and acting. and she wanted to keep making it. he knew that.

he sighed heavily and cleared his throat, rubbing his hands over his face "how do we fix it?"

benjamin took a deep breath "well, the good news is that we have a meeting with the musician we wanted to couple you up with for the public tomorrow. i'll have to make sure we are able to post something or try and get the deal done sooner so that this can be covered up."

ricky bit his tongue, stopping himself from arguing or getting mad again because he knew that there was no other way for him to get what he really wanted or thought of.

when the meeting was over, ricky made his way towards the place he knew nini was waiting for him, driving down the long roads of los angeles before arriving at the deserted hilltop where he saw nini's own car parked

nini sat on a large old park bench swing, turning around when hearing the sound of an engine and seeing ricky's car headlights.

she quickly stood up as ricky got out of the now-parked vehicle, making his way towards her as she quickly wrapped her arms around his neck.

she was extremely worried. he didn't answer any messages or calls from her for hours since what happened and she thought they wouldn't get to have contact for a while so she came here hoping he would've come to. and he did.

he sighed as he hugged her back, relaxing in her arms before they both pulled away and she slapped his chest

"ow!"

"what the hell is wrong with you?!" she exclaimed with a sigh

"i'm sorry about the tweet neens, i promise it was a mistake-"

"i don't care about the tweet, what i care about is that i called and messaged you a million times and you didn't reply or give any warning about what happened for the next few hours." nini told him with worried eyes

ricky sighed, shaking his head "i'm sorry."

nini took a deep breath "it's okay. what happened?"

he swallowed "well, after an hour or two of jenn screaming at me and hearing benjamin and her argue about how stupid yet 'not in the right space of mind' i was," he began "they told me about a way to fix this without me ruining your career and your life-"

"ricky, don't say that-"

"it's true neens." he told her "i'd ruin your reputation. i'm supposed to be the player right? you'd get blamed for being back in boy drama and with the 'wrong guy'-"

"you're not the wrong guy though ricky." she told him, bringing her hands to his face "i love you and you love me. we're not wrong for each other. and you could never ruin my life. if anything you make it better."

ricky felt a small smile on his face as he looked at her and nodded slowly "i love you."

she smiled back softly at him "i love you too."

he cupped her face and kissed her forehead, making her flutter her eyes closed before they both pulled apart and she took ahold of his hand, making their way towards the bench swing

"okay, so what's the way to fix it? what are they going to do?" she asked "interviews? more press?"

he shook his head and sighed "nini...i'm going to a meeting with the girl they-want me to be with publicly...and they want it to be sooner."

nini looked at him as her face fell slightly and she swallowed "how sooner?"

ricky looked down "if the meeting goes...well, and her manager agrees with benjamin and jenn, then-"

"it's going to happen straight away." she said

ricky nodded slowly and she sighed, running her hand through her hair "okay. okay-i'm-it's okay-"

"no it's not. this whole thing sucks nini." he told her matter of factly "i don't want to-"

"you have to." she said in a weak voice "what-you really think i'm going to let you ruin your career?" she asked with a light laugh, nudging him playfully

ricky cracked a weak smile and he looked down "but-then that means-"

"that we can't properly have contact or anything for the entire time you're with her." she finished knowingly

he frowned "i hate that."

nini smiled sadly "me too." she looked down at his hand and took it in hers "but, we've been through this before. and it's always only lasted a few days or weeks. this is going to be just like that. and we'll get through it. whatever it takes to keep us together right?"

ricky nodded "whatever it takes."

nini leaned her head on his shoulder as he wrapped his arm around her, the both of them leaning back as they looked out at the city lights together. hoping it would work out another time again.