𝐋𝐈𝐅𝐄 𝐀𝐅𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐘𝐎𝐔 [a rini au]

- TWENTY-EIGHT!

he hated himself for it. he knew it was wrong, and he knew it was stupid. no one had to tell ricky that overthinking the idea of nini being "obsessed" with him was a bad idea. but, like every addictive vice, he continued to do it.

for the next few days, specifically whenever he would hang out with gina and ej, ricky would wonder what made them say what she did. was he so blinded by love that he couldn't see what was right in front of him? did everyone else see it just as clearly as gina and ej? was nini's behavior questionable? ricky had no answers to any of those questions, and it's not like he could ask the models for clarification. it would be a guilty plea. talking to nini didn't help either, for answering her snapchats and text messages only dug the knife in deeper. most unfortunately, having no clarity made him irritable, and ricky did not like being irritable. especially when it came at the wrong time.

in hopes to get his mind of his mind, ironically, ricky accepted ej's invitation to an eighteen and under club in soho on saturday night. gina, aaliyah, and some of the actress' cast mates would also be tagging along, and ricky hoped the more people he surrounded himself, the less overthinking he could do. there'd be too much to attend to to give his worries any attention. that's what he thought, at least, until his phone buzzed on his apartment's bathroom vanity tile while he was getting ready.

ricky took a deep breath after reading nini's facetime call, greeting the girl with a smile that hopefully didn't tell her he had been questioning something about her that he should be able to value his own opinion on. "hey, love," nini grinned, flopping backwards onto her bed and holding her phone just over her face.

the boy continued to run hair gel through his curls. "hello," he dragged out the last vowel in a singsong tone.

"what are you up to?" nini questioned, brow furrowing. "looks like you're getting ready for something."

why was that the first thing she asked? little obsessive, no? the devil on ricky's shoulder sneered, but ricky shook away the toxic feeling with a breath. "ej invited me and the rest of our friends to this club in soho. i think it'll be fun. i've been working all day, so."