free time

diecisiete

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+

nini grabbed her bag and jacket as soon as she heard the sound of a car on her driveway. as she was coming down the stairs she heard her phone buzz, which was just ricky letting her know he was outside. she was very nervous, more than nervous because last time she saw him, well we all know what happened then.
ricky on the other hand, he was just anxious. his thoughts were going over what could go wrong for the billionth time when he heard the front door closing, guess there's no going back now huh, he thought to himself. it was only a couple of seconds before nini opened his car door and took a seat besides him "hey" she said, almost in a whisper. "hey" ricky answered before taking a look at the girl.
she was looking down at her hands, fiddling with her bracelet, the bracelet he got her for her 16th birthday, and she looked beautiful. her hair was a bit longer, which made sense since it had been almost six months since he had last seen her. but everything else about her was as beautiful as ever. "uh, can we go?" he asked, earning a nod as a response. so he just drove off in silence and nini kept her head down the whole way there.

+

"is your order still the same?" he asked her when they entered the coffee shop, a place they used to call theirs. "uh yes! the same" she answered nervously, "okay, then go get us a table, i'll be there with the drinks soon" and again nini just nodded, heading to find them a table. this was a weird dinamic for both of them, normally nini was the bossy one. she would always argue with ricky about what to do and what not, but now she just nodded.
ricky was pulled away from his thoughts by someone calling his name, so he took their orders and headed for the table. he placed a drink in front of the girl he used to be so in love with and she looked up from her phone "thanks" she said while setting the device on the table.
the two sat in an awkward silence for a long time, just sipping their drinks before nini decided to speak up. "i'm sorry ricky" she said making the boy look straight at her "i'm sorry about how i let things go down between us. i should've forgiven you that day because i know you and i know you would never say anything like that to anyone and mean it" she took a deep breath in, tears starting to form in her eyes, "truth is, it wasn't about you. it was about me. if i had forgiven you i don't think i would've left, and even though it wasn't exactly what i wanted, it was still an important experience".
she waited a while, expecting some reaction from the boy, but nothing came, so she completed "i was selfish and i'm sorry. i know i put you through a lot so i understand if you don't want to forgive me". ricky was still absorbing everything else. he never expected her to apologize because he had always thought what happened was his fault, but it wasn't. at least not all of it.
"i would never ask you to stay" he said quietly. she knew that, everyone knew that, it's the same thing gina told her that day "i know you wouldn't, but you wouldn't have to. truth is..." nini hesitated "i love you ricky. not in a friend way" she said and that confession made ricky very confused. "what?" he said in a harsh tone. she couldn't do that. she couldn't leave him, get a whole new life, a boyfriend and then come back here and tell him that she loves him. "didn't you have a boyfriend until like, last week?" and when she heard that question nini gulped down her tears "yeah" she whispered.
"look nini, i'm really sorry about what i said to you that day. i truly didn't mean any of it, but this is not fair. you don't get to leave, get a whole new life, come back here and claim that you love me. no! that's not how it works" he said in a sad tone. "i-i have to go" he said, standing up and grabbing his things.
nini watched him leave for a minute until she decided to go after him. "RICKY" she yelled when she got outside. it was raining so it was kind of hard to see, but after a couple of seconds looking around she spotted him standing by his car. she ran over to him "ricky! i'm sorry!" she yelled making the boy look at her. she noticed his eyes were glossy, which made her want to cry even more "you're right, i don't get to do that. but we've been best friends since we were five, i've known i had a crush on you since ninth grade but i think i've always loved you". both of them were soaking wet right now, but nini started telling what she kept hidden for so long, she wasn't about to stop now.
"and i know i left and i got a boyfriend, but that just proved to me one thing. it's you ricky. there's no one else for me. the whole time i was there all i could think about was how i should've forgiven you, or how i should have told you before i left. and i'm sorry that i hurt you so much and that i put up this whole image, like i was happy, because i wasn't. i just-i just thought that if it looked like it, maybe it would feel like it you know".
nini stayed quiet for a while, regrouping her thoughts. when she calmed down a bit she continued, "i understand if you don't feel the same way, i just thought you should know. and i also understand if you don't want to be friends right away or even ever again, i just- i had to say i'm sorry" she finally finished talking. she had said everything she had to say. that was it, "uh you can go if you wanna, i can call someone to get me, it's okay".
that comment earned a laugh from ricky, which made nini look up, very confused on why he was laughing. "you're clueless aren't you?" he asked her "what?" "i loved you too. i love you too actually, but when you left it didn't even seem to affect you at all. do you know how much that hurt?" nini, who was actually crying now, was about to answer when ricky said "no, let me talk now. i love you nini. i do, but that doesn't mean i can just forget everything" he said in a calm tone "i'm sorry". now he was the one looking down, he couldn't believe that here he was refusing nini after she did something he'd always wanted her to do.
after a while, he felt her small hand reaching out for his and the other settle on his chin, so he would look at her. "you don't have to. i would never ask you to" she said in a comforting tone. "i'll be here when you're ready. i'm not going to pressure you into anything. if you don't want to be friends now. fine. but i'll wait for you, okay?" she said while rubbing circles on his hand "neens..." "no, bubs. i told you, there is no one else for me. i'll wait". the sound of that nickname coming out of her mouth again made ricky shiver. only her could make him feel like that. "okay" he said letting go of her hand "friends for now?" he asked, his voice very hopeful, "of course" she answered, smiling a bit.
"now let's get you home" he said before opening the door and letting a very wet nini into his car.

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hello!!! sorry for not updating sooner i didn't have any inspiration for this written chapter but like i love how this came out
did you guys like it? more coming soon, love❤️