what more can i say | rini au

23.

as they enter the house, the six friends sort of find themselves greeted immediately by a pretty intense crowd. it wasn't like the space was packed to the brim with people, the guest list always being on the more selective side for these types of parties, but there were quite a few.

there was a mix of people nini definitely recognized from school and then others she definitely didn't. they could be from any number of the caswell cousins' long lists of various extracurricular activities, so it's not a shock to be running across so many strangers.

nini had found herself basically just sitting in ricky's lap on the car ride over, with kourtney telling her that as the smallest she was the best one to do it, what with them splitting five seats in the car with six people.

she's not convinced kourtney hadn't only said that because she wanted to put nini closer to her best friend in hopes of pushing that situation forward, but that aside, she was glad to be able to be on her feet on solid ground now.

the bedazzled old band tee that she has on hadn't done much to shield her from the chill of evening falling what with how short it had been cut, but now inside, she's grateful for the ventilation of sorts, as the crowd creates a substantial amount of heat.

kourtney looks over at nini with curiosity as she watches ricky talk to big red, howie, and aspen.

"you going to try to find gina?" kourtney asks, a bit unsure still on that part of their situation here. her voice is fairly loud as they've gotten closer to the speakers of the dance floor going on nearby.

"i don't know really... should i? to thank her for the invitation?" nini replies, eyebrows knitting together a bit confusedly, but in this case due to content and not inability to hear that could become a problem later. .

"up to you neener. i think you and ricky might be better to get whatever conversation she wants to have over with now instead of waiting all night." kourtney tells her, eyeing ricky now as well as she sees nini's eyes flickering over to their friend once more.

"wait- do you think i have anything to do with what gina wants to talk to him about?"

"nini, i don't know what goes on in gina porter's head. i just think she has something she wants from him, and maybe it's closure, maybe it's not. just- if you talk to her first then you can just focus on having some fun? with or without ricky. he's going to do what he wants, you need to do what you want."

"kourt, i don't even know where she would be in this massive house, so- i think for now i'll just see if i run into her. she probably doesn't expect to talk to me anyway. we were all only invited so he would show up." nini counters, shrugging her shoulders as she meets kourtney's eyes properly again. "and i do plan to have fun tonight, i think we all should. thanks for helping me with the clothes, i think you really hit it out of the park."

"girl it's all about your fabulous self wearing them..." she starts, but then she breaks out into a brighter grin. "but also thank you i do try."

"you're fabulous kourtney greene, don't you ever forget that."

"oh nini, i know. trust me." kourtney laughs, waving her hand with that smile nini can't help but appreciate.

--

they sort of make their way further into the house then, aspen clearly giddy as she and big red head for the kitchen, nini making a mental note to check in on the girl later, but then she's swept into another conversation as ricky comes over.

he wraps his arm around her shoulders unexpectedly and pulling her with him a few feet to where he'd been talking to howie.

"neens, come on, howie and i are going to go down to the basement. apparently there's more people down there. less bass too." he chuckles, lips ghosting over the shell of her ear given the admittedly intense volume of the room.