3 TOWNS, 4 HEARTBEATS [RINI AU]

nine

The moments after Nina hung up the phone felt like a panic for Ricky. He couldn't go out on one of the busiest nights in the city without a disguise, and currently he was tearing apart his house looking for his baseball cap.

"Fuck!" He exclaimed, still having no luck and also at the fact that he was stupid enough to only own one baseball cap even though he relied on it as his main disguise.

He checked his phone, and already ten minutes had passed by. Ricky decided to give up on the disguise, and just head to where Nina was.

He slipped on his converse and out the door, almost forgetting to lock his apartment.

For the first time since Ricky's rise to fame, he decided to ride the subway.

Usually, his team would advise against doing something like this, but all the taxis and Ubers in the city were filled with drunk partiers, and walking wasn't an option, not when he was on a time crunch.

So the subway it was.

The ride on the subway was uneventful, mostly just full of people dressed in the most elaborate of costumes. When Ricky got off, he pushed through people walking too slow on the sidewalks, fearing that if he took to long to reach Nina she would be gone to her next party by the time he arrived at the location.

Exiting the building Rocky had just entered was a group of girls snickering at him for not wearing a creative costume, or any costume for that matter. All of them failing to recognize who they were whispering about. Ricky didn't stop to acknowledge them, he hadn't even heard them. He was so focused on finding the stairwell that all else faded away.

He sprinted up the stairs, Nina saying that she was partying on the tenth floor. Ten floors were daunting to anyone, but not to Ricky who was on a mission.

If Ricky wasn't already been out of breath when he reached the top of the stairs, he was after spotting Nina.

He couldn't even comprehend how incredibly sexy she looked. She was leaning against a wall that she wished would absorb her, her black angel wings pressing against her back. Her eyes were closed, dark shadow dusting them with a pristine line of eyeliner. But the thing the caught Ricky's attention was the short skirt Nina was wearing. Certainly one too short to take home to mother in, but in all honestly, that's what he liked about it. He took a breath in, trying to catch it before he approached her. As he walked towards her, one lingering thought remained.

She's an angel, literally the only angel.

Or, at least to him she was.

"Nina." He said breathlessly as he reached her.

Her doe ones connected with his. "I didn't think you'd actually come."

Ricky shook his head, "Of course I came. Like I said, you call me whenever and I'm there." Ricky reminded her, and Nina nodded sheepishly, looking at her feet. "Are you okay?" Ricky asked skeptically, wanting some insight on why she chose to call him and not just retreat to her friends.

Nina shrugged, "I don't know I guess I just... I didn't wanna be alone." She bit onto her bottom lip.

"Aren't you here with your friends and..." Ricky hesitated, "Your boyfriend?"

Nina sunk down the wall, Ricky following suit. "Yeah, sure. But they don't know what I'm going through."

"And I do?"

"Better than them." Nina replied, finally daring to look at Ricky. "You really didn't have to do this."

The bass of the music thumped against their backs, which were pressed up to the wall. "It's really no problem Nina. You look great by the way."