what is love | rini au (completed)

three

"mom i'm home" nini called out as she entered the house, dropping her bag onto the floor as she roamed through the house

"i'm in here!" lia called out from her bedroom. nini followed the sound of her voice, eventually entering the room and climbing into the bed and snuggling into her mom.

"did you have fun with ej?" lisa asked softly stroking her daughters hair "you're home a little early" she looked at the clock. she told nini to be home by 10 and it was barely approaching 7.

"yeah, i'm just kinda tired" nini told her

she looked at her daughter and smiled, knowing that there was no greater love that anyone could ever have than the love that she had for nini.

a few scratches and bruises wouldn't be worth losing her family in her eyes. though she was never strong enough to leave him.

"mommy?" nini called, turning to face towards her mom.

her heart twisted seeing the bruises that coated her mom's face which she tried to cover up with makeup, but it didn't work very well.

she wondered if there were signs of this abuse before she physically saw him hit her, she just didn't catch on.

nini's mother was the most beautiful woman nini had ever seen. she was the definition of beauty and everything nini wanted to be. that is until the hitting continued to go on, and more frequently.

now her face was pale with the exception of the bruises that she had, her smile never seemed genuine, and she missed the glow that she used to have.

nini wished in everything in her that there was something she could do. something she could do to bring the light back into her moms life. something she could do to help both of them get out of the toxic situation that they were currently in.

but there was nothing she could do. her hands were completely tied.

"can i sleep in here with you? at least until dad gets home?" nini asked. Noah spent long nights at the office and usually came in causing a ruckus when he came into the house.

nini thought that if he never hit her, than maybe her sleeping in there would prevent him from hitting her mother.

and it did. nini stayed up all night, watching her mother sleep peacefully making sure he was safe until her father came in, and he fell asleep.

•••

nini yawned as she entered the gym, having lost many hours of sleep enduring that her mother got all of hers peacefully.

"nini you look exhausted. maybe its in your best interest that you skip this game. ej won't mind" gina tried her best to convince the girl, genuinely worried about her well being

nini shook her head "ej's always stressed the importance of me being at all of his games to support him. i'd never hear the end of it if i left"

"but he can't even put in the effort to give you a homecoming proposal without you having to beg for it? nini that's not fair"

"i'll be fine gi—" nini started, but was interrupted by another yawn coming from her mouth "i'll get some sleep soon, but for now i've gotta be a supportive girlfriend. it's the least i can do" she replied, hoping that the noise from the game would wake her up enough to truly focus on the basketball game.

after the game started, it helped nini somewhat to stay awake, but her eyes were still heavy and ready to close at any second

"let's go ej!" she yelled as loud as she could, wishing she would've taken gina's advice and just went home.

if only it didn't matter that she was there more than anything

•••

after the game, ricky found his family standing outside the gym with smiles on their faces. it didn't take a genius to tell that they were proud of him.

his dad stood there with his arm around his wife, Sydney, and his mom stood there with her husbands, Gary, arm around her.

ricky's lips curved upwards as he approached both his parents and they took him into a hug congratulating him on a great game.

East high won the game ending with a score of 78 to 56, ricky warning 25 out of the 78 points for them. The game had started out very rough, but the team had an epic comeback after halftime. ricky playing a huge part in it.

"we're so proud of you ricky" his mom pulled him into a tight hug

"we all are" his dad co-signed, pulling him into a hug after his ex wife let go of their son

"aww thanks guys" ricky told them genuinely.

After he hugged his parents, Sydney and
Gary were next. Both of them loving ricky just as much as if he were their actual son.

"you hungry?"mike asked

"starving" ricky replied, rubbing his stomach in hunger

"dinners on me tonight. everyone good with burgers?" mike asked and everyone else nodded in agreement "alright, let's all meet at syd's diner"

authors note

hi loves!! i really hope you're all enjoying this book so far! i promise it's gonna start picking up soon and you'll have rini content!

how are y'all honestly feeling about it so far? lmk

tysm for reading and i appreciate every last one of y'all immensely!