𝐋𝐈𝐅𝐄 𝐀𝐅𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐘𝐎𝐔 [a rini au]

- TWENTY-TWO!

nini had been in her bathroom for over an hour, messing with different outfit options and makeup looks until she landed on something she liked. she didn't have extravagant plans for the night, but it was the occasion that encouraged her to get dolled up for the evening. she had just settled on a pair of ripped jeans and a long-sleeved, patterned crop top when the knock she had been anticipating called from her front door.

the girl danced out of the bathroom, sliding to the front door and pulling it open with a grin. her boyfriend stood joyously in the hallway, holding a bouquet of white flowers – the kind he routinely got nini when he bought her flowers. ricky stretched his arms out wide, nini slipping into his body like a matching puzzle piece. "happy one year of loving you," ricky whispered in her ear, tightening his grip on the singer as her hands made their way to the bottom of his curls.

"happy anniversary," nini kissed the side of the boy's face just before they pulled away.

once they did, ricky picked up a large gift bag that had been beside him. he held it up for nini to take. "i've been working on this present for a while, so can you open it before we head out? i can't take the anticipation any longer," he asked hopefully.

nini nodded, waving for ricky to come inside. "of course. just let me grab my gift."

as nini ran upstairs quickly to retrieve her gift for ricky, the curly-haired boy made himself comfortable on her sofa. he stared ahead at the infamous polaroid wall his girlfriend had recently established. peppered across the wall were photos of him and nini as well as their friends. ricky smiled as he remembered nini telling him that she wanted one day for every square inch of that wall to be covered in her favorite memories; he curated his gift for that reason in particular.

nini came skipping down the stairs with something behind her back, and when she sat next to ricky on the couch, she shoved it into the depths of the cushions to preserve the element of surprise. "okay," a smile settled on her face. "i'm ready."

ricky took a deep breath before passing nini his bag. "i hope you like it," he prefaced, nini's face lighting up as she began to tear at the tissue paper.

once the colored paper was discarded onto the floor, the girl's hands landed upon what felt like a picture frame. nini pulled the frame from the bag, shaking it a bit until the bag fell to the ground as well. she settled the frame onto her lap, eyes widening as she processed its contents. inside a sleek black frame was an image of a star alignment. when nini read the caption, she realized the astronomical significance.

"it's the constellation from the first night we went to the hollywood sign," ricky explained, although nini didn't need elaboration.

she looked up at him with glossy eyes. "orion," she named the constellation that she pointed out to him on that night after meeting him for the first time. "of course."

the caption of the photo read the date of that night as well as their full names underneath. finally, in italicized subscript, a lyric from ricky's song "lovely" from self-titled rested:

the stars say she's lovely, her name was destined to be in lights. i will never leave her through the days, through the nights.

"ricky, this is beautiful," nini gushed, taking one of his hands in hers. she pressed a kiss to his palm, placing it on her cheek. "thank you. i love you."

"i love you, too," ricky repeated. "hopefully this can make it to the polaroid wall even though it's not a polaroid."

nini let out a laughing snort. "duh. it'll go front and center," she assured, reaching behind her to grab her gift for the boy. she saved the tiny box from the cushion, handing it over to ricky.