i believed in you || rini au

46. pulling me deeper

nini tried her best to ignore all the missed calls and messages from her friends and the notifications from the media that came through her phone.

but it wasn't as hard seeing as her mind was occupied with finding ricky.

she drove her way through the sunset roads, hoping that she would find him and be able to clear everything up - at least between them two...

by the time she'd arrived up onto the deserted hilltop park, the sun was down and the lights of the buildings of los angeles illuminated around her.

when nini saw ricky's car parked right in front of hers, she sighed in relief and quickly jumped out of the vehicle, the white headlights turning off as she shut the door and slowly walked towards the old park bench that was placed under a large tree

she saw ricky's back facing her as he sat on the park bench, her heart rate speeding up as she swallowed nervously

ricky didn't bother to turn around. he knew it was nini the second he heard the sound of a car arriving. he knew she was going to come find him when he posted the picture.

"ricky," nini breathed slowly, sitting down on the bench next to him

the curly-haired boy let out a small breath as he fiddled with the phone in his hands, looking out at the city lights that were lighting up the landscape in front of them

he looked over at the girl, seeing her eyes on him as he opened his mouth to say something but he didn't know what to say...

"why did you post that?" she asked quietly

ricky shrugged his shoulders as he looked in front of them "to show you i didn't need any processing."

nini sighed "ricky, just because i said that doesn't mean-"

"okay, i don't get what you want from me anymore," ricky sighed in frustration, standing up

nini opened her mouth as she looked at him "i'm sorry?"

"i don't know what's going on with you." he told her "frankly, it's kind of freaking me out! because, first, you get mad at me for having a fake girlfriend even though you told me to do it-"

"and then you didn't stop it from happening until three months later!" nini finished angrily, standing up in annoyance

"yeah and then you break up with me and write songs about us to release into the world-"

"i was feeling a lot of things at once ricky!" she exclaimed, running her hands over her face "you can't get mad at me for expressing myself!"

"right, but when i express the truth and how i'm in love with you and what i'm feeling, you get mad about it?!" he questioned in confusion and defense

"because we didn't even get to talk about our own relationship problems before you went and threw them out to the public!" nini yelled

"i was trying to do the right thing!" he shot back

"so was i!"

the two both stood there, deep breaths leaving them as a gush of august air blew past them, a heavy silence and tension that had repelled the wind clouding around them.

nini looked back at him as she shuddered a breath and swallowed "i was looking for my best friend to talk to. let me know when i find him."

ricky watched as she turned away to leave but he shook his head "you've got to stop doing that."

she froze in her tracks and turned around "stop doing what?"

"leaving the situation and letting go."

nini folded her arms "i don't let go-"

"yes you do." ricky replied "you don't-you don't try to fix our fights. you just walk away in the midst of them-"

"maybe because i'm not in the mood to fight with you!" she exclaimed "i don't want to argue with you! i don't want to yell at you!"

"okay, don't fight with me, fight for us!" he replied desperately "i fought. i posted the truth. it's done. it's out there for everyone to read over and over again and to give their opinions on it, but i don't care! i care about you and me."

"i do too, but i wanted to talk to you first!" she breathed "lily-"

"now we're bringing lily into this?!"

"don't even start with that, because she's one of the causes of this!" nini groaned in frustration

ricky shook his head as he looked away before nini exhaled deeply to try and calm herself

"l-lily was at the party and she talked to me, and she told me about how you're in love with me and that you missed me-"

"because i do." he told her

"and that i should talk to you." nini added "why did-did you have to jump to blurting out the truth so quickly? there was time to-"

"what? time to lose you?" he asked quietly, tears shining in his eyes

nini blinked a few times, her mouth parting slightly as she looked back at the boy "lose me?"

he sighed as he looked down at his hands "you were scared of losing me." he reminded her "but-i kept thinking i lost you. or-i kept losing you. over and over again."

nini felt her eyes sting as she shook her head "you didn't-you're not-"

"i listened to your songs. every day." he continued, sniffling as he rubbed his hands over his face "and-it killed me that i hurt you like i did. i kicked myself everyday because of it. and-i knew that-you'd-you'd want to forget me? or-try to. and you'd end up with not wanting me...anymore."

a tear fell down nini's cheek and she shook her head quickly "that-none of that's true." she said, walking towards him "a piece of me was breaking every day i wasn't-with you. and...i hated that you were so close to me yet so far away. i couldn't even go to the one person i wanted to talk about this to, because you're my person. the one that i go to for everything. and-i hated seeing the guy i love slipping away."

ricky's eyes lifted from the ground at the sound of her last sentence, his heart stopping as he saw her close to him

"i hated not being able to be close to you." she continued "and-not being able to talk to you. because i love you and it hurt too much to think that maybe you didn't want me as much as i-"

nini didn't even get to finish her sentence at the sudden feeling of ricky smashing his lips onto hers, the girl widening her eyes in surprise for a split second before she instantly kissed back as they both felt their breaths get taken away.

he held her by the waist and brought her close to him as she rested her hands on the sides of his neck while their lips moved in perfect sync with each other's

the kiss was long, deep and desperate. they hadn't been like this in a long time; too long. they'd missed each other and didn't want to have to let go of something that was still there in front of them.

ricky was the first to pull away slowly for air, exhaling deeply as their noses were still in contact and nini's eyes slowly fluttered open to see the deep brown ones in front of her

she let out a breath as ricky smiled slightly, still holding her in his arms as he closed his eyes for a split second

"still think i don't want you?" he asks in a low whisper, making her heart skip as she sighed

"i think...maybe you should...refresh my memory." she grinned, making him let out a breathy chuckle before he felt her pull him to reconnect their lips once again as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

and they were not going to let go again.