bittersweet • rini au

32

hello! 

first and foremost, thank you for all the support in the last month and my little story, i'll be forever grateful for every single one of you. 

second, this will be the last chapter before the epilogue which hopefully will be up soon after this one. 

third, happy holidays! hope you all had a safe and joyful holiday. 

now, back to our story

............ 

nini felt her heart drop. 

everything moved slowly, suddenly everything fit together. so she just stared at him, waving at his dad and friends cheering him, something inside her told her he might've had this information for a little while. 

she slowly watched as he started walking down the stage, forgetting about the muffled sound of the principal announcing the next graduate. 

dumbfounded she let him grab her hand as he finally stood in front of her. 

"i could call you," he said breathlessly, "or, i could just walk over." 

"i love you" she finally said. 

"because i'm going to Yale?" he teased. 

"that helps," she grinned happily and, without hesitation she launched herself at him putting one hand in his hair and holding her high school diploma in the other. 

for a minute, she stopped thinking, about Yale, graduation, her family, her future, and just allowed herself to enjoy this moment. cheers and claps in the background while he held her tight. she could almost say it was perfect, except for the fact her feet hurt after being on her high heels all day. 

as he finally let go he looked at her once again. 

"you really thought you were getting rid of me so easily huh," he laughed putting a hand on her back walking outside for the final pictures. 

"whatever i envisioned graduation would be, believe me, bowen, you getting into Yale is big enough, but you and i going together must be a glitch in the system." she managed to say mocking the situation. 

before going to the madness, he pulled her off to the side and suddenly found herself in room 205. 

"ricky what the hell is going on?" she said almost tripping after being pulled into the room.

she just stood by the entrance watching him look in the professor's desk, before he looked at her, with two things. 

one, a beautiful bouquet of flowers, resting in his hand. 

two, two green cupcakes nicely packed in a plastic container. 

she felt little droplets of water fill her eyes, staring at the beautiful scene in front of her eyes. 

he came forward with the flowers and looked for her hand, guiding her near the desk. 

"before you say anything, or cry for the matter, just sit and for once, let me do the talking,"  she just nodded and sat in one of the corners of the desk putting the bouquet right beside her. 

"not so long ago, a brunette came through that door, rolling her eyes, standing tall, a couple of cupcakes by her side, as i sat there, the third row, feet up on the desk without a care in the world."

he slowly opened the cupcakes. mint, she recognized as she took one from the container. 

she started eating, after all, she barely had time for lunch and the ceremony had been long enough, plus he had, (kindly), told her to shut up. 

"and here we are, me trying to show how much i love you with flowers and homemade cupcakes-" 

"WAIT, BOWEN," she said a little too loud, "YOU MADE THESE!?" conscious of her mouth being half full. 

"can you let me finish?" he frowned, "and yes, gina helped a little but yes," 

he saw how her smile adorned her face, laughing at her devouring the pastry. 

"i guess i just wanted to say that, i love you and, we made it, somehow." he blushed finally ending his improvised speech. 

"i'm gonna cry again bowen," she said finishing the last bit. 

"hey, save the tears for our goodbye party, tonight is all about celebrating, c'mon everyone is waiting, ej can't entrain them for so long." 

she laughed picking up their diplomas, flowers, and cupcakes. 

but before she could get off the desk, he came near her. 

"you can't go with green cream on the lips can you ?" he said wiping some remaining icing off her cheek, leaving a small piece on her lips. 

and so, in the same room their story started, he kissed her, and well, she kissed him back.