in your reflection || rini au

41. enough of it for you

ricky took a deep breath as he took out the usb key from his laptop, taking the envelope on his desk to put it in along with a letter before he rushed to get up from his desk and run down the stairs.

"where are you off to?" lynne asked with an amused smile. she hasn't stopped noticing how happy her son has been these past few days and it didn't fail to make her and her husband's hearts happier for him.

"i'll be back in a sec!" ricky replied quickly, opening the door before widening his eyes and hiding the envelope behind his back at the sight of nini.

"neens!" he exclaimed nervously with a chuckle "uh...sup?"

"hey." she smiled, arriving towards him "i was thinking since you don't have dance till later, we could hang out."

"um...sure." ricky nodded "i just-have to take out the trash."

nini furrowed her brows and looked at him "you're not holding any trash bags?"

ricky opened his mouth "right!" he laughed again "pshh, yeah, right-i-forgot it inside. i'll go get it..."

"wait, what's that?" nini asked him, noticing that he'd been holding what seemed to be a piece of paper

"nothing!" he replied shortly, stuffing the envelope into his back pocket

nini gave him a look "nothing?"

"yup! just a piece of nothing."

"do you mind if i see what the piece of nothing is?"

"yes."

"why?"

"because it's nothing."

"but if it's nothing, then why don't you want me to see it?"

ricky sighed heavily "why are you so stubborn?"

"because i'm dating you." nini smirked wittily, keeping hold of her crutches

the boy gave her a glare "ha ha."

nini chuckled before shaking her head "but really...what is it?"

ricky bit the inside of his cheek before taking a deep breath "okay...but you have to promise me you won't get mad?"

"...okay." nini said wearily, slightly nervous for what he was going to show her

but when he took out the envelope from his back pocket and opened it up to show her a usb key, her confusion just increased.

"why would i be mad at you using a usb key?" nini asked puzzled

"because...it sort of has all of your performances in it?" he said sheepishly, avoiding her gaze "i...i was going to um, send it to julliard."

nini jaw dropped as she stared back at him blankly, her mind clearing of speech to say.

"nini?" he called with a raised eyebrow "you there?"

he waved his hand in front of her face before she swallowed and shook her head back to reality, suddenly doing it firmly "n-no! no, ricky, i already told you-"

"what??" ricky questioned "you're just going to be done with dance? just like that?"

"i can't dance anymore!"

"you will though!" he exclaimed with a disbelieved laugh "you will dance again! and that means you still have to focus on your dream and that's julliard. that school is all you've been talking about since you could talk! so why won't you take the risk and apply for the class in the year after?"

"because we've already established how i'm not like you!" she said solemnly "i'm not a bold person i'm not someone who just takes the leap in things like this. it's less scary to shut this down myself than to get my hopes up and then have to read the letter with the words 'we regret to inform you...' on it."

ricky took a deep breath and walked towards her, cupping her face in his hands to get her to look at him "i know you're scared. but that's why i'm here remember?"

nini nodded slowly "i just don't know...i don't have the confidence in this anymore...i don't have the hope."

"i do." he whispered, softly kissing her lips shortly "i have enough of the confidence and hope for you."