3 Years

15 - Paralyzed

Welcome to the chapter you couldn't wait for!!
I was glad to see everyone so excited in the description chapter🤣

A heads up for later: I was too lazy to find pictures for the kids' group chat😅

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"I'm sorry for barging in like this. I'll leave if you want me to, right after I get a word in."

Shock is still flowing through everyone. They're convinced this is some fever dream.

There he stood in a white T-shirt with a camouflage jacket and pants. The jacket was open, and what was clearly visible were two dog tags. One was his name and identification number. The other: the tag from junior year of high school; the one Nini gave him when they got back together.

"Ricky?" Nini squeaks out again.

He nods. "In the flesh. Trust me, I'm just as shocked as you guys."

"I find that hard to believe," Seb says, jaw still dropped.

"You've got a lot of explaining to do, Bowen," Kourtney says, taking a step forward.

"I never thought I'd miss Hurricane Kourtney coming for me," Ricky chuckles.

Big Red's the first one to approach him. "I don't understand."

"I don't either," Ricky said. They hug each other, and EJ's the next one to step forward.

"Dude, you're here." His voice cracks, but that's not what's important right now.

"Ah, if it isn't the egocentric jac- jerk," he responds, noticing there are children in the room.

"I'll let it slide just this once."

"I'm with Kourtney; you have a lot to fill us in on," Ashlyn says.

"I know I do. And I will. If you'll let me."

"Yeah, that 110% needs to happen," Seb says.

"Ok, either you're genuinely standing in front of us, or we're all having the same hallucination," Carlos says, rubbing his eyes.

"No, this is really happening. I'm here."

"How? Just... just how?" Gina adds.

Ricky's attention turns towards Nini, who hasn't said much. "Hey, Nini," he says delicately. He hasn't said that name in so long; he's surprised when he didn't choke on his words.

He walks towards her, and she can't figure out how to move her legs. "Hi," she gulps.

"This is high school all over again," Big Red whispers.

"I think they need a little help," Carlos says, bringing his fingers close together and walking towards them.

"Carlos, what are you about to do?" Ashlyn asks worriedly.

"Ricky, Nini," he gestures with his hands as if they were meeting for the first time. "Nini, Ricky. Now hug like normal human beings!" He puts his hands on their backs and forces them together.

"I see you haven't changed," Ricky says over his shoulder.

"Nope," Seb confirms.

They both had tears in their eyes and had pulled each other as close as possible without realizing it. This hug was big deja vu to when Ricky came over to her house after hearing about his parents' divorce for the first time. Crazy to get deja vu about something that happened about twenty years ago.