if i can't have you || rini au

32. i'll be there for you

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nini sat on the couch in the living room, wearing her garfield pajamas with ricky's grey hoodie and watching the first episode of friends on erica's netflix account so she could try and get an idea of what she was getting herself into with ricky, watching the show intently as her aunt walked in

"when you said you were studying, i knew something was up." she grinned, sitting down next to her

nini chuckled "ricky's coming over to watch friends with me. it's part of the list."

"you're following a list?" erica asked in surprise "wow, you must really like him!"

the brunette girl playfully shoved the woman lightly as she laughed before erica stood up

"i'll go get the popcorn ready then. one bowl right?" she smirked

"stop!" nini giggled, burying her face in between her knees in embarrassment as erica laughed again before making her way into the kitchen

the sound of rapid knocking at the door made nini's head shoot up, quickly jumping up from the couch as she let her high messy bun bounce while she skipped towards the door to open it, revealing the curly-haired boy

"hey, you're late! hope you don't mind i started without-"

nini's bright smile faltered when she got a good look at the boy, seeing how he had red eyes and his curly-hair was messed up, but he wore his orange hoodie with jeans

"sorry..." he mumbled, walking in past her as she looked back at him in worry, closing the door

"ricky...?" she called softly

"let's start watching, right?" he said with a forced laugh, making his way to the couch as he sat down while nini stood at the door, her concerned eyes on him

she hesitantly made her way towards him, sitting on the couch next to the boy and bringing her legs up beside her

"are you okay-"

"so you're started," he breathed, taking the remote as he folded his arms and leaned back against the couch

"ricky, look at me, please..." she said quietly

ricky gasped "i know it's cliche but the first episode is one of my favorites-"

"ricky!" she exclaimed with a frown, causing for him to finally meet her gaze and she felt her heart sink

he swallowed hard when seeing the way she looked at him, and honestly he hated having people look at him that way; pity and sadness for him. it's something he didn't need to see...

"alright! popcorn's ready for you and your-ricky!"

the two teens diverted their attention to erica who at the first look, instantly knew what happened with ricky

she kept the smile steady on her face though, knowing how to deal with these situations as she cleared her throat and made her way towards them to set the bowl of popcorn on the table

"i had an idea to set up some ingredients for you both to make some chocolate chip cookies." she said "and ricky, why don't you stay the night? you guys could have a friends marathon."

nini knit her eyebrows in confusion as to why she was being so normal and what was happening, ricky just nodded

"thanks erica..."

"of course," she smiled "hey nini, i forgot which juice you like, and my hands are full for dinner-prep. could you come get it?"

nini nodded hesitantly "...sure?"

she looked back at ricky once more, who had his eyes focused on the tv, before she made her way after erica into the kitchen

"either i've lost the capability to read expressions, or you just completely ignored the fact that ricky is not okay??" nini whispered urgently

"look," erica sighed quickly "he's spent the night here a few times ever since he was fourteen...and usually it's because-"

"-of his parents...?" nini asked with a frown "w-what do i do? does he need to talk?"

"not right away, sometimes he talks or other times it helps when he's just here and has company, and i know you'll know how to help him right?" erica asked

nini nodded "yes! of course."

"okay, good. now i wasn't lying, i forgot what juice you-"

"orange juice all the way!" nini exclaimed happily, opening the fridge and preparing a cup of juice

"ricky likes apple, so get that ready for him please." erica said

nini nodded again as she took a big cup of apple juice to prepare for him before making her way out into the living room again, seeing the boy with a pillow in his arms and his eyes focused on the screen

she swallowed nervously as she set the cups down on the table and sat next to him, looking at him for a few seconds before taking a deep breath

"right so, we need to talk about this you preferring apple juice nonsense." she said out of the blue with a small grin

ricky looked at her and managed a weak smile "it's just better."

"hm, i don't believe that, but alright." she chuckled before looking at the tv "i did some research and you really are a monica."

ricky sighed, the smile still visible to which nini was thankful that she could make it happen "and why do you say that like it's a bad thing?" he asked

nini giggled "it's not, but you know who i think i am?"

"phoebe." he told her

she gasped "how'd you know?"

"you're carefree and a free-spirited." he told her simply

nini smiled at him "is that a good thing?"

he looked at her "well...not when you fall from trees and make me jump 100 feet into water."

"it was not 100 feet!"

"it was still really high..."

she shook her head with a small smile, seeing ricky still hugging the pillow tightly as he fiddled with his fingers before she slowly and hesitantly reached for it, taking the pillow out of his arms and bringing his hand in hers as she put his arm around her and leaned against his chest

ricky looked down at her head that was on his shoulder, his mouth opened slightly before he exhaled deeply and held her, leaning his cheek on the top of her head in comfort while they watched the show together.