𝚒𝚝 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚊 𝚠𝚑𝚒𝚜𝚙𝚎𝚛
𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚒 𝚔𝚒𝚜𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚎𝚛
𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚊𝚍𝚎 𝚖𝚢 𝚕𝚒𝚙𝚜 𝚑𝚞𝚛𝚝
== n i n i 's p o v ==
the next morning
i wake up to bright sunlight shining through the window, rolling over and reaching my arm out. i pat the bed, but there's no ricky next to me. it's weird, because usually i'm up before ricky. i look over to the kitchen to see him making breakfast, and can't help but smile. after a few minutes, he looks back at me with the dumbest grin on his face, putting whatever he made for breakfast on a plate.
"i didn't realize you were awake, nins," he says while coming over to the bed with a plate and setting it on the nightstand table next to me.
"is that for me?" i say with a surprised smile, sitting up to grab my breakfast.
"who else would it be for? oh, i made iced coffee too," ricky quickly goes back over to the kitchen, grabbing the beige drink in a mason jar cup and bringing it back over to me. this is a lot.
"wow, you even got cherries too," i laugh, setting the plate of avocado toast, raspberries, and cherries on my lap in bed.
"be careful, they have pits, they aren't those-"
"gross maraschinos," the two of us say at the same time, which makes us both smile. i don't know why, but i guess ricky's been kind of great lately? i don't know. what am i saying? he just made me breakfast. probably just because he feels bad about what happened with my dad. yeah. that makes more sense.
== r i c k y 's p o v ==
after eating breakfast, nini joins me in the bathroom to brush her teeth. i've already changed into my uniform, but she's still in her big white shirt and baby blue sweatpants that she slept in. she reaches over the counter for her pink toothbrush, running it under the water after i do the same. pop music from the radio can be heard playing in the main room, and i see nini smile at me in the mirror as i hum along while we brush our teeth. the old nini would be full on dancing around to the music, but here new nini stands, giggling at me for doing it. i know she's still somewhere in there.
i just have to break her shell to get through to her.
nini and i make direct eye contact as i lean down and spit out my toothpaste into the sink, her slowly doing the same after me. she rolls her eyes and smiles after i grab her hand and twirl her around, which is my attempt to get her to dance with me.
"no way," nini giggles, setting her toothbrush back in the holder on the counter.
"why not?"
"i just don't dance," she tells me, heading back into the main room.
the royal castle in paris, france
"hey, dude," red greets me as i enter the library, fixing my tie.
"you look happier than usual," i joke, picking up a duster.
"tell him!" seb excitedly yips, nudging red's shoulder.
"tell me what?"
"okay, so, i may or may not have taken your advice. about telling people how you feel when you feel it."
"and..?"
"ashlyn and i are official! we're going out to maria's this weekend!" he tells me.
"oh, shit, good for you guys! what's maria's?" i say, which makes seb's face light up.
"it's this romantic restaurant downtown, with the most fantastic-"
"boys, we're paying you to dust the books, not make small talk. chop-chop!" carlos says, coming around the corner of the bookshelf.
== n i n i 's p o v ==
meanwhile
"good morning," i say with a sigh as i enter the maid's quarters. as always, there's upbeat music playing over the sound of ashlyn's sewing machine.
"hey girlie," gina greets me, grabbing my hands after i set my bag down and dancing around with me. we laugh around for a bit, until i remember my interaction with the prince yesterday.
"okay, what if we did this, but at the masquerade ball?" i propose as gina twirls us around. ashlyn looks back from her work, the two of them giving me confused looks.
"what do you mean, jaz?" gina asks me.
"i kind of scored us private invites? the prince said-"
"hold on, you talked to the prince?!" ashlyn says, standing up from her seat.
"um, yes?"
"jaz!" gina says as she excitedly pulls me into a tight hug.
"oh mon dieu, what am i even gonna wear?!" ashlyn yips, looking through her array of supplies.
"i was kind of hoping you'd make us dresses?"
"say no more, i'm on it!"
nini and ricky's temporary living space outside paris, france
"hey, you," i say, setting my bag down by the door and walking into the kitchen for a drink.
"hey, are you still going back on the night shift later?" ricky asks me as he stands up from the bed and comes into the kitchen.
"yeah, why?"
"i got the memo from corporate today, we should probably start working on that dance soon. before you have to go," he says with a smile.
"okay," i say, taking a drink of water from my bottle and leaning against the counter. ricky reaches over and turns on the radio, grabbing my hand and prying me away from the kitchen.
"oh, you meant like, right now," i laugh as he pulls me into the open space by the bed.
"i memorized to first few steps, we just have to.." ricky grabs my right hand with his and interlocks our fingers, placing his other hand on my waist. i bring my hand up, resting it on top of his arm.
"okay, follow my lead. it goes like one, two, three, four," he counts, stepping back and to the side on the counts.
"so..one, two..three..four."
"i thought you said you didn't dance," ricky smiles before he unexpectedly leans us down and dips me, which invokes a smile on both of our faces. our foreheads are pressed together, and i see his eyes flicker down to my mouth as he leans in to try and kiss me. i pull away at the last second, leaning up from our dip position and gently pushing him off of me.
"i know what you're doing. i shouldn't- we shouldn't really do this."
"do what?"
"i've been down this path before. with you. i know this feeling. like..like i need you. and i don't. not right now, 'kay?" i tell him in the nicest way possible.
"you can't just stand there and pretend like there's nothing between us-"
"i'm not. i just.."
"come on, nins. take a chance on me, please."
"i just..need a second to think everything over. don't take it personal, ricky."
"i mean, i'm taking it a little personal."
"whatever, i'm just..i should go. night shift," i grab my bag from the floor, making my way towards the door.
"nini-"
"it's jasmine," i say, shutting the door behind me.
YOU ARE READING
𝐔𝐍𝐃𝐄𝐑𝐂𝐎𝐕𝐄𝐑 || rini au
Romance✦ IN WHICH ✦ eight years in the future. ricky and nini, like their parents, have trained for and entered an elite rebel undercover program. the pair haven't talked since their messy breakup in high school, but what happens when the system partners...
