Returning Fame || rini au

02

nini beams at her phone and she turns it off before taking her bag and keys, heading out of her apartment and rushing down the stairs and out of the building to see ricky's black car parked in front of her

she smiles and runs to the door, opening it and he sighs

"finally!" he exclaims as he turns to face her

she laughs and leans in to give him a quick kiss hello before putting her seatbelt on and he starts driving, her hand in his

"now, let's put on a new hit single, 'right' by nini salazar-roberts!"

the girl grimaces and ricky chuckles as he turns the volume up for them to sing along to it

the melody of a guitar starts playing and nini looks out of the window as she smiles softly to herself at the sound of the words she sings starting

never had to think
never had to think
twice

feelings so deep
running like a river
when you look into my
eyes

worlds melting away when i'm with you
never had anything feel this right
all my problems slip away when i see you
just one little moment and i know that it's right

i have you, never want to lose you
always just the two of us
here in this moment forevermore
cause right now
right now, it just feels right.

the guitar melody continues playing and ricky hums along the next few lyrics, making nini giggle

"what?" he asks confused as he glances at her

"you already memorized it?" she asks him with a smirk

ricky nods "of course i did."

she smiles softly at him as they both return to continue the ride in a comfortable silence

the two of them arrived at the port of los angeles and got out, interlocking their hands together as they made their way down the buzzing crowd

summer was almost arriving, meaning that this was the time that different people were enjoying the california sun and beaches.

ricky and nini made their way through the people, taking a few photos and writing a couple autographs from time to time as they walked hand in hand together

they both stopped multiple times to take pictures together and look around a few stores before becoming hungry and heading over to a resturaunt to eat

"i'm in the mood for a pizza." ricky sighs as he slumps down on a chair

nini giggles as she sits in front of him "well, i'm going to take what i always do here-"

"avocado and chicken toast." ricky finishes

the girl looks at him in surprise and he smirks

"it's not the first time i've eaten with you." he reminds her

she nods in realization as they both look over the menus

"are you sure you don't want pasta?" he asks playfully

nini shakes her head with a smile "hey! i was nervous okay? i hadn't seen you for a long time."

ricky nods in agreement and laughs "okay, i'll give you that."

"you weren't too glad to see me either, if i recall." she points out

he chuckles "i was shocked and angry- and confused. way too many emotions."

she smiles at him and he takes her hand

"but now, i'm happy you came back." he tells her

"me too."

the two of them start ordering and wait for their food, talking about ricky's new tv show he's going to be starting on soon. well, more like ricky overthinking it while nini trying to hold her laugh as she calms him down

"-what if i mess up?!" he asks nervously

nini sighs "that's when they yell cut and you do another take!"

he groans "but what if-"

"ricky!" she exclaims with a laugh "you're going to be amazing. i know it."

he lets out a breath and fiddles with his fingers "it's just that-" he stops and sighs "never mind it's stupid."

nini knits her eyebrows together and looks at him "what's up?" she asks as she takes his hands

his eyes meet hers and he takes a deep breath "i just-well-i have a co-star, quinn faye,"

nini widens her eyes and raises her eyebrows "wow!"

quinn faye was one of the most famous people in their industry. she became an overnight sensation due to her youtube channel being discovered and all of a sudden, she went from being a small-town girl to becoming a teenage american pop star with now over ten million fans, and growing

"yeah," he nods "so-i'm scared i'm not qualified and her character is mine's- love interest." he mumbles the last part

nini feels her smile falter and she clears her throat as she shifts in her seat slightly, her fingers suddenly springing to her charm bracelet to fiddle with. a nervous habit she's had ever since ricky got it for her when she turned eleven. a reflex when she does fiddle with her bracelet, is that her fingers automatically go to the little skateboard charm that ricky had first gotten for her. it was her favorite one.

the reason she was nervous, wasn't because she didn't trust ricky. she trusted him more than anyone. what made her nervous, was that her last experience with her boyfriend having a love-interest as a character with a co-star, didn't really go well. it made her question her worth to other people. but, really, she was afraid a part of ricky would forget her. or all of him would.

nini tries to put a smile on and act like she was perfectly fine, "that-that's-interesting ricky. you're first tv-show and-"

ricky sighs, already knowing that she was putting up a front when really, her worries and insecurities were rising. it was one of the perks of knowing nini since he was five; he could read her like a book.

he quickly takes her hands, feeling her fingers on his left one fiddling around, trying to fight its way back to her bracelet

"neens, don't be like that-"

"like what?" she asks in her british accent

he raises an eyebrow and gives her a knowing look, nini sighing in defeat

"you know i'm nothing like ej." he assures her "i love you and only you. no one is going to take that away from me or you."

"b-but she's so perfect and-"

"no one is perfect in my eyes and for me like you are." he finishes

nini gives him a weak smile and nods, taking a deep breath "okay."

he looks at her and smiles "i promise that it'll be okay,"

"really?" she asks hopeful

he takes his hand out of hers, holding his pinky out, making nini smile softly before interlocking hers with his