if i can't have you || rini au

20. thoughtfully asked

"i had the greatest most absolute greatest idea!" nini squealed loudly as she ran down the steps and towards the counter where ricky was working

"and that is?" he urged with a raised eyebrow, wiping down the table as she sat at the stool

"well, i was thinking that maybe we could go hiking!" she beamed happily

"hiking?" he asked "like-in the woods?"

nini looked at him "no, down the sidewalk." she replied sarcastically before laughing "of course, the woods! seb and big red told me the sighting is really beautiful this time of year."

"did they now?"

the girl sighed with a frown "do you not want to go?"

ricky shook his head "it's not that-"

"...is something the matter back home?" she asked concerned

he stopped and looked at her, shrugging his shoulder "nothing different than the usual."

nini's frown deepened before taking a deep breath as she tried to smile for him "maybe this is what you need? a group outing. a fun day? get your mind off of it and some fresh air."

ricky returned her gaze, thinking over what she said as he managed to put on a small smile, nodding slowly "i'll...i'll think about it."

nini nodded happily as she looked back down at her book before the entrance door of the café opened, the rest of their group of friends walking in and arriving towards the apart

"what's up my favorite people?" ej grinned, sitting at the counter next to nini

"you're not getting free cake." ricky deadpanned

ej groaned "i hate you."

the others laughed before ashlyn spoke up

"so, what'd we miss?" she asked

"i was just suggesting to ricky about going for a hike this weekend." nini said shyly

"that's such a good idea!" seb exclaimed "i'm loving this nature girl." she grinned, making nini giggle softly

"yeah, because some people don't do the outdoors as they say." big red added, looking directly at kourtney, carlos and ej.

"i'm sorry, but the mountain air isn't great for my hair!" kourtney exclaimed in defense

"and i've not had the lung capacity to go so high up." ej said

"you okay water polo." ashlyn said in confusion, causing for the boy to go quiet

"yeah and i'm...just-not a fan of sports." carlos grinned

"hiking isn't just a sport los," gina said simply

"exactly! it's an adventure." nini nodded with a huge smile on her face, ricky shaking his head with a light chuckle at her composure before erica walked out of the kitchen

"why is my café infested with teens?" she asked with a raised eyebrow

"we're studying." carlos said with a smile

"right. with no books." erica pointed out, gesturing to the counter that held no school textbooks or notebooks whatsoever, only nini's reading book.

"you didn't let him finish, see," nini smirked "we're studying mentally with the mind and interacting on how we could better our afternoons such as which activities to take part in."

erica sighed "right, i'm going to stop pretending to care too much." she said "just- don't be too loud and scare the customers away." she warned them firmly "and you better get off of work at six and no later."

ricky nodded with a sigh "got it."

"alright," erica confirmed as she walked towards the spiral staircase and out of sight

"right, well, we're kind of starving so we're going to sit at the usual booth." gina said sweetly, gesturing to the back of the café to which ricky nodded at as they all made their way towards it

nini got up from her seat, with the book in her hands before she gasped, making ricky jump

"okay-" he breathed "nini, you've got to stop making these noises out of nowhere-"

"stop being a baby," she chuckled "i just had a thought-"

"and that is?"

"erica told me about this restaurant to try out and i'm a little scared to go alone. plus it's too far and i don't know how to drive, neither do i know where the bus and-"

"and you want me to go with you?" he finished with a smirk

nini glared at him as she folded her arms "...yes. you are my best friend here-"

"awww, nini," he said with a fake blush, causing for her to roll her eyes playfully and laugh

"in all seriousness though, will you go?" she asked hopeful

ricky nodded "sure. why not?"

nini jumped happily "yay! we can go once you finished working, of course i'll need time to get ready too."

"yeah, yeah." he nodded "but is it good food-"

"yes, it'll meet your chef-like standards." she grinned before walking off to join the rest of the group.

ricky shook his head with a smile as he continued wiping down the counter before he suddenly froze at the loud and confused thought that popped into his head.

did nini just ask him out on a date?