𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗹𝗴𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗰 [𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗶 𝗮𝘂]

blur .32

one month later.

ricky and nini have barely talked to each other. she changed her shifts around so she wouldn't have to work with ricky. nini split herself from everyone, not wanting ricky to be left out or alone. all of their friends were confused on the situation, but nini just told them to take care of ricky. she was fine on her own. they never did make it to prom since ricky was in the hospital when prom happened; it was the day after the lacrosse game. the day after ricky almost died. nini didn't mind though. she rather spend time in the hospital with ricky then be at some high school dance. ricky was planning to recreate their prom as soon as he got better, but they broke up. his parents thought ricky was better off without nini. it was the only way he could stay alive. the girl kept to herself until graduation. that was the only time she ever spoke to ricky again.

+

"hey," nini felt someone tap her shoulder. she turned around to see ricky standing behind her. he had teary eyes and looked at nini with a nervous smile.

"hey," nini breathed out, feeling her eyes swell up.

they finally made it. the two best friends always talked about graduating together but they never thought it'd be like this. ricky and nini stood in their red cap and gowns, looking at each other with proud eyes.

"we did it," ricky finally said, a tear rolling from his eyes. nini didn't even realize she'd been crying until she sniffled. she nodded her head and smiled.

"yeah, we did it," the girl answered. they stared at each other in silence. the laughter and cheers of their classmates echoed through their ears as nini and ricky eyed each other with longing.

"um... i just wanted to say congrats," ricky said, breaking the silence, "i heard you got into uh university of san francisco... that's great! a new city and everything! kourtney's going to FIDM out there so you'll have her!"

nini nodded her head, lightly chuckling. "yeah, it's pretty exciting.. um i heard you got into university of southern california. la should be fun too! you're gonna have a great time there, especially with ej going to UCLA. you guys are gonna be just fine with each other."

ricky looked down and nodded his head, "maybe one day, we could meet halfway in california..."

"yeah," nini softly said, breaking out into a smile, "i'd like that."

the boy let out a sigh of relief and grinned, "...me too..."

the girl quickly wiped her tears and forced a smile at the boy, "anyways um, i'll see you around ricky. congrats again."

ricky's smile faded and he nodded his head, "yeah thanks, see you around, neens."

+

nini sat in her living room alone. her moms were out of town and the girl indulged herself in cookies and hot chocolate as she watched sad movies over and over again. the girl missed ricky but she knew that if she was out of his life, ricky would be safe. that's all that mattered to her. it would take time to be get used to ricky being out of her life. a lot of time.

"ugh, i hate this part," nini muttered to herself as she skipped the sad scenes of hidden words. as she was scrolling through the scenes, she heard her doorbell rung. the girl got startled and stared at her living room door in fear. another doorbell ring echoed through her house and she got up to see ricky standing at the doorway.

"ricky," the girl breathed out as she opened the door. without another word, ricky stepped into her house. he looked terrible again.

the boy's skin was pale, he had dark eye bags, his hair was mess and he looked fragile again. the girl could tell that ricky had been taking people's pain still. he never stopped.

she wrapped her arms around him and brought him to her living room. ricky fell down to the couch, his eyes closing.

"hey! hey! ricky!" the girl quickly shouted, lifting his head up. the boy lazily opened his eyes, "what happened?"

"i should've l-listened to you neens," ricky quietly confessed. nini got taken aback.

the girl watched as ricky dug through his pockets and pulled out a corsage. it was flattened and smushed from being stuffed in his pockets but the girl didn't mind.

ricky gently grabbed nini's hand, putting the corsage on her wrist. nini looked up at ricky with confusion, "i always p-promised to take you to prom. i'm sorry i ruined everything."

nini's heart softened and she looked up at ricky. she held his head in her hands, "you didn't ruin anything, ricky... thank you, it's beautiful."

the boy nodded his head and closed his eyes. tears started to fall from his eyes and nini began to get worried. "bubs... i don't feel good..."

the girl quickly nodded her head and began to pull out her phone. she dialed the ambulance but made sure to keep ricky's eyes open. she ran to the kitchen, running cold water under a towel. she quickly put the cold towel onto ricky's forehead.

"ricky, love, stay with me, okay?" the girl softly said, making sure to keep his head up.

the boy picked up her hand with such delicacy and frowned, "i...i smushed your corsage... i'm sorry."

nini melted into a smile. she ran her fingers through ricky's hair and softly kissed his forehead, "no, no, i love it. it's perfect," nini breathed out. she felt herself begin to cry as she saw how weak ricky was getting.

"nini... i'm sorry for everything..."

"don't be sorry, ricky..."

"can you tell my parents i'm sorry and that i love them," ricky breathed out. his eyes were red and he looked at nini with pain. the girl pressed her lips together and shook her head.

"no, no... you're gonna tell them that, okay?" nini breathed out, trying to control her tears. she grabbed his hand, "you're gonna be okay. the ambulance is coming."

ricky shook his head, "i'm not gonna make it.."

"don't say that.."

"please, just promise me," ricky asked, eyeing nini. the girl nodded her head and began to cry harder. ricky continued, "i-i just came here because i wanted to be with you one last time..."

"ricky, please don't go."

the boy looked down at their hands. he intertwined their fingers, "i love you. thank you for being my analgesic," ricky softly told the girl as he squeezed her hand three times.

nini sucked in a breath, "i love you too... i love you so much," was all the girl could say before ricky started to shut his eyes. nini heard the ambulance pull up outside and the girl quickly got up to open the door.

everything was a blur.

the medics ran in

they checked ricky's pulse.

they put him on a stretcher

they tried to resisucate him.

nini watched as tears fled down her eyes.

she felt helpless.

nini ran inside the ambulance truck with him.

she held onto ricky's hand.

nini squeezed his hand three times over and over again.

she hoped for a response back

but never got one.