the flaw in being perfect - rini au

thirty five

"I respect that people can all have their individual styles, but that is just not cute." Kourtney points at one of the outfits on the show they're watching.

Nini laughs. "She doesn't get to choose her own wardrobe, Kourt."

"If I were her, I would not allow a camera anywhere near me," Kourt sasses.

"You would if you got paid for it," Nini reminds her.

"Her paycheck better be real good if she has to see screenshots of herself in that on social media."

Nini laughs once more. It's after school on Tuesday and they're hanging out at Kourtney's house. Nini loves the hustle and bustle at the Greene household. Her house is eerily quiet, like everyone is trying really hard to respect each others' personal space. Even Lia, her six year old foster sister that she shares a room with, is pretty quiet.

"You still haven't told me about your date," Nini reminds her, changing the subject.

Kourtney's mood drops visibly.

Nini immediately becomes concerned, pausing the show. "What? What's wrong? Do I need to beat someone up?"

"No! No. Sorry, no." Kourtney composes herself. "It went really well."

Nini furrows her eyebrows. "What's with the mood change, then?"

"Well, it was amazing. She and I connected in a way that I've never experienced before. I'd love to see her again, but..." Kourtney trails off.

"But..." Nini prompts, confused.

"It's about who it is. I don't think you're going to like it."

Nini laughs nervously. "Now I'm a little worried. Who wouldn't I approve of?"

Kourtney fidgets.

"It's okay, Kourt, just tell me," Nini encourages. "If you really like her, I'll support you. I'm on team Kourtney."

"It's Ashlyn." Kourtney blurts.

Nini takes a second to think about this. That was not the name she expected to hear.

"I'm sorry, I just didn't know how to tell you. I don't want to keep seeing her if it's too much for you. I don't want to be the reason you re—" Kourtney stops herself.

"The reason I relapse?" Nini asks.

"I didn't mean to say that," Kourtney tries to explain.

"No, really, Kourt, it's okay. I just wish you wouldn't have to be scared to date someone because of me," Nini tells her, feeling a little uncomfortable.

Does Kourtney really think Nini is so fragile that she can't even know someone associated with Ashlyn? Sure, it's hard to hear, but did she really have to be scared to tell Nini?

Kourtney doesn't know what to say.

"It's getting kind of late," Nini starts, chewing the inside of her cheek.

"Nini, it's only six," Kourtney reasons.

"I think I should get going. I'll see you at school tomorrow." Nini starts to pack up her things.

"Nini—"

"I want you to see how things go with Ashlyn. Let me know how she's doing after you hang out with her next."

With that, Nini walks out of Kourtney's house and to her car.

She takes out her phone and texts Ricky.

could you please meet me at the park? graffiti spot asap

After sending it, she starts the drive to the park.

When she gets to the park, she checks her phone again.

Ricky
on my way

Nini lets out a big breath, getting out of her car and walking to the spot.

Nini tries to control her breathing as she waits for him, but it's getting harder and harder not to cry by the second.

When she sees Ricky approaching her, she can't help it. The tears start to flow and she feels her body shake as she sobs.

Ricky wasn't sure why Nini had needed him at the park so quickly, but he wasn't one to question it. When he saw her crying? He started to sprint towards her.

Ricky pulls her into a hug. "Hey, hey, hey, what's up?"

Nini doesn't say anything, just accepting his embrace and soft words.

"Shhhhh." He rubs her back comfortingly.

"I'm sorry," Nini finally says once she's composed enough to speak.

"Neens, it's okay. Don't apologize. Do you want to talk about it?"

Nini sighs, pulling away from the hug and wiping the tears from under her eyes. "It's stupid. I'm sure I'm making a bigger deal out of it than it is."

"If it's making you feel like this, it's a big deal."

Nini chews on the inside of her cheek. "It's sort of a long story."

"I have time," Ricky tells her.

Nini takes a seat against the wall. Ricky follows suit.

"There are only two people at our school that know the real reason I went away for a while last year."

Ricky stays quiet, knowing he's getting a story.

"One of them is my best friend, Kourtney, and the other is my ex best friend, Ashlyn. Ashlyn and I haven't talked since I went away. I think what happened is the reason we're not friends anymore. She thinks I'm broken.... Kourtney stayed friends with me, so I thought it was different, but I'm starting to think she sees me as broken, too.

"She's tiptoed around me and treated me like I was fragile since it happened, but today she was scared to tell me something because she thought I'd..." Nini pauses, realizing she can't use the word 'relapse' with him. He doesn't know. "She thought I'd go down a bad path again.

"It wasn't even worth her being so worked up over. She just wanted to tell me about her blind date, but she didn't know how to tell me who it was. I guess it makes sense, because I'm not friends with Ashlyn anymore, but she could have told me she likes her. How many times has she refrained from telling me something just because she's afraid of how I'll react?"

Ricky listens quietly. He's just happy she's willing to open up to him like this.

After a minute of silence, he speaks as well. "My dad had to leave my mom. That's why I moved here."

Nini just looks over to him, expecting him to continue.

"I don't really like being home. Every minute my dad isn't working, he's drinking and crying. It gets overwhelming sometimes."

Nini doesn't say anything, instead reaching a hand out to him, looking ahead once again.

Ricky takes her hand and they sit there in complete silence.

Neither of them spilled as much as they could have, but they feel relieved to know that someone is there and listening. They hear each other.

No matter what's happening in the real world, they will always have this moment.

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okay, how are we feeling?

that was a lot of info unpacked right there....

-jenna