𝐘𝐎𝐔

paper hearts

ricky's heart as always been like paper.

fragile, weak. drawn over, folded over to be stronger. that was before he started dating ej caswell, the ladies' man. he couldn't express his feelings in words. he couldn't express his feelings in actions either. the only he could express his feeling was in paper hearts.

he would slip cute paper notes into ej's locker. it was hard for the sophomore having a crush on the junior. because he didn't understand why he couldn't just tell him. that was the hardest part.

when he kissed, hugged, cuddled with ej. he felt complete. it was like stars and hearts running through his mind rent free. there was no other guy in the world ricky would ever want to be with. but that was until he caught ej cheating on him.

that explained why ricky would never express his feelings. he was afraid of getting torn apart. he was afraid of being heartbroken, afraid of getting cheated on, afraid of a lot of things that he, himself couldn't explain.

he cried for days. he even cried to his friends.

"he's just a dick." jet assured his friend. feeling bad for ricky. jet knew how it felt to be heartbroken, it took him a long time to get over it. but he eventually did.

"i know. i hate that i love him.." ricky sobbed into his friend's arms.

"hey, it's okay to love someone. just don't bash yourself about it, he doesn't know that he lost a great guy. and maybe god did this for a reason, to show you how he really is." jet rubbed his back.

"but i don't know, jet. what if he's doing this because he actually does love me?"

"don't stress yourself. if he does love you, he'll come around again, trust me. it works in a cycle."

this somewhat didn't surprise ricky at all. he should've have known this was going to happen. ej was a ladies' man. so if he wanted to cheat, he could do that.

but he told ricky he was going to change.

A WEEK AGO.

"i'm going to change for you, ricky. everyone thinks i'm this guy that break hearts, but i wanna prove them wrong.."

ricky believed him. his words seemed so sincere. and he fell for them. he fell for ej's words. ej was that kind of guy. he made people fall for him, not only for his looks but for his words.

"ej, i don't want to be broken again, i don't want to go back to that dark place in my life again.." ricky admitted to the taller. by now, they were looking into each other's eyes.

"i love you, ricky." ej finally said. those 3 words made ricky feel like he was the only one in the world that ej loved.

"i-i love you too, ej." the younger admitted. stuttering in the sentence, this was risk taking. the power that these 3 words held were so important in a relationship.

they kissed each other.

NOW.

ricky shivers at the flashback. "i'm so stupid."

"you're not stupid, rick. you just need time to yourself to take your mind off things and make things better for YOU!"

ricky really appreciated jet. he was his only real guy friend, he made during summer camp, now that jet and maddox moved to salt lake to go to school with the friend group. it was a big help, because ricky needed his friend.

"thank you jet." ricky hugged his friend. feeling a bit better, he knew he'd eventually get over this. but he knew it'll damn sure take time.

"no problem, ricky. anytime. you're my friend and i'm here for you. forget about him, there's plenty more fish in the sea, man."

"this time, don't catch the fish, let them come to you." jet added.

ricky giggled at the somewhat corny joke. "i'll try."

they both laughed.