i believed in you || rini au

03. how it has to be

nini laid in ricky's arms as they watched the movie playing on the tv, his hand moving up and down her back as she rested her head on his chest.

"i thought benjamin didn't want you to come see me today," she said softly, lifting her head up to rest her chin on his chest

ricky looked down at her and shrugged his shoulders "he didn't. not like i listened."

nini gave him a look "ricky-"

"i haven't seen you in two months nini," he reminded her "i'm not going to waste the time to see you when i know i can and when i know that you're literally fifteen minutes away from me."

nini cracked a small smile as she nodded "i know you wouldn't. but you have to be careful okay? remember benjamin and jenn's rules-"

"i don't care about their rules. it's all so stupid." he sighs, sitting up and leaning back against the headboard as she sits in front of him "'only meet up when it's dark, never let anyone see you, if you do leave in daylight or even in dark, where a disguise, no texting or facetiming in public, calls are allowed but not in public either,' why do they have to control our relationship?"

nini frowned as she took his hand in hers "because your dream career is important for you to have to. you're secure in one of the biggest shows in the world baby," she whispers "and benjamin keeps telling us the fanbase don't love people from the music industry all that much, especially me because of my fans and you have to keep that 'single ricky bowen' image."

ricky looks at her and takes a deep breath, nodding "i know. it just sucks that we've had to keep this a secret since-"

"we were seventeen years old." she finishes with a nod

ricky cracked a small smile "four years of it."

"you bored of me yet?" she asks with a smirk

he chuckled as he brought her into his arms and kissed the top of her head "never in a million years."

nini smiled to herself before looking up at him and giving him a light peck on the lips before she gasped

"oh! i almost forgot!" she breathed as she scrambled off of the bed

"and you almost gave me a heart attack," he sighed, putting his heart on his chest

nini shook her head with a giggle as she opened up one of her suitcases and took the box, rushing back over to him and jumping on the bed

"what's this?" he asks her, taking the box

"open it." she beamed giddily, crossing her legs as ricky slowly unwrapped the gift.

he took of the lid of the box and smiled as he took out the wooden guitar pick and dog tag. the guitar pick had an engraved heart with their initials and the dog tag had the words 'whatever it takes' engraved in it.

"it's sort of cheesy but-"

"nope." he says, shaking his head as he put the necklace on and placed the guitar pick safely in the box and on the nightstand before turning to face her and holding her hands in his "i love it."

"yeah?" she asks hopeful

ricky nods "i'm never taking this off."

"except when you film-"

"okay, you know what i mean," he grins, nini laughing softly before he leaned in to kiss her "i love you."

they both pulled away and she smiled "i love you too." she tells him before taking a deep breath "so, what's this i hear about you being a mayla?"

ricky rolled his eyes playfully "what? you love them too."

nini nodded "i think it's also because of the fact that it's ej and dani playing the characters," he hummed in agreement before nini took the remote

"speaking of untamed, i should watch the new season!"

"with me?" he asks

"yes with you, who else?" she asks evidently, putting her netflix on

"but i already know what happens," he reminds her

nini looks up at him "which is why you can't give any spoilers."

ricky took a deep breath "fine,"

she smiled satisfied as she picked the series, leaning back against ricky while he put his arm around her