if i can't have you || rini au

28. just for a moment

"you sure about those mickey ears?"

nini glared at him playfully "yes, thank you very much."

he chuckled softly, looking back at her "so...did erica tell you about the catering gig the café got?"

nini nodded brightly "she doesn't stop talking about it! must be really exciting to be able to share don't with charities. plus it's for a really good cause. i'm proud of her. and you."

ricky whipped his head at her again "me?"

nini nodded "of course...it is your baking too." she said shyly

he kept his gaze of disbelief on her as he stopped walking and she did too, looking at him in confusion

"what is it?" she asked "w-why are you looking at me like that?"

ricky shook his head and swallowed as he looked back down "oh-um...i've just-no one's ever really...said that-to me before..."

nini's expression softened and she reached for his hand, the two of them looking down before back into each other's eyes

"well, you'll hear it a lot from me. so get used to it." she grinned, making him chuckle softly

"thanks, nini..." he whispered

she smiled, her eyes searching his face before she looked up to see how they were walking down the road of the café

"here we are." nini breathed as they arrived at the door to the coffee shop.

ricky nodded "yeah..." he exhaled

they both stood there for a few moments before she looked down at the floor and he took a deep breath.

"i should-go inside. aunt erica must be waiting-"

"right, yeah." ricky nodded as she glanced up at him

nini turned around before stopping and turning back to face him

"ricky...i-i just wanted to thank you..." she said softly "for...everything. for being my friend and-and showing me salt lake and not to mention my partner in crime." she smirked, laughing nervously

ricky let out the same laugh, his eyes looking down "yeah...friends..."

she took a deep breath "i just-i really appreciate it. more than you could know."

he shook his head "i'm glad i got to know you." he confessed "you-you're sort of...um...my favorite person here...even if it's only been a month or so that we've known each other."

nini's heart fluttered as she looked at him "you're my favorite person here too."

the silence of the night overcame them, the two teens standing only a couple centimeters away from each other before his deep breath broke them from their trance

"well...goodnight nini," he said softly as he buried his hands into his jacket pockets and turned around to walk away.

nini watched as the boy walked off into the darkness and felt her heart racing, her mind thinking back to aunt erica's words...

"if you don't take a leap of faith in life, you'll either stay at the same spot or go backwards. it's those moments in life you have to grasp ahold of and make them count."

she swallowed and fiddled with the feather charm on her necklace before opening her mouth "r-ricky?"

the sound was barely audible, much less for ricky to hear - she also knew because he was still walking away despite her call - and that made her close her eyes and slowly start to walk after him

"ricky-ricky!" she exclaimed as she rushed towards him, her heart pounding against her rib cage as she saw him turn around swiftly at the sound of his name "wait...i-i-"

"what's up?" he asked, his expression becoming worried when he noticed how distressed she seemed

nini felt her breathing become shaky as she continued to fiddle with her necklace and avoiding his gaze

"um-i-um-"

ricky raised his eyebrows in interest and concern "you okay?"

she nods slowly and takes another deep breath "i-i think-i just-i forgot something..."

he furrowed his brows together in confusion as he looks down at the girl "what?"

nini finally looked him straight in the eyes and swallowed nervously...it was crazy right? she didn't know how brave she actually was when it came to these sorts of things...but her mind kept making her go one step at a time and her heart wasn't stopping her, so here she was standing in front of ricky.

she took another deep breath and her hand froze at her necklace charm "this."

before another second thought, she reached forward on her tip toes, placing her hands on his cheeks as she brought their lips together

ricky's eyes fluttered closed in surprise yet he didn't hesitate to kiss back, gently placing one hand on the side of her waist while the other cradled her cheek carefully

as far as first kisses went in nini's mind, this was a perfect one. she felt like she had fireworks exploding around her and everything about doing it with ricky seemed even more perfect.

they both felt their hearts explode and nothing mattered in the world; seeing as it felt like it slipped away for only them two to exist.

after what felt like forever, they both slowly pulled away for air, nini feeling the heat rise to her cheeks while ricky looked at her dumbfounded, their eyes never leaving each other's.

she let out a small breath along with a smile as she brought her hands back down to the sides of her body and shyly fixed her mickey mouse ears on her head while ricky blinked a few times to make sure this moment really happened

"goodnight ricky." she whispered softly before leaning up to plant another small kiss on the corner of his lips, giving him one last glance before turning around and making her way back towards the coffee shop, a smile never leaving her face.

what she couldn't see was the boy's smile was just as wide as hers as he let out a breath of disbelief and turned around, making his own way back home.