the end had me sobbing and im the one writing it. am i just sensitive? yes. but, just thought id warn yall.
now enjoooyyy :)
also this title kinda sucks- i just wanted to include two things that happened in this chapter but anyways yah enjoy nooow
Nina's pov
"Ricky what?! That's a thousand dollars...", I say in disbelief.
He shrugs, "Yeah and? We both know I have the money."
I sigh, "Ricky you really don-"
"No. I'm buying it. Just...send me the place and information.", he says.
I nod, "Thank you...times a million. Maybe I'll give you another free meal?"
He playfully rolls his eyes, "Nah"
"Oookaayyy...I'll get going now. Nini you okay closing?", Makenna says, smirking at me.
I smile and nod, "Mhm! Goodnight, see you tomorrow!"
She waves as she exits the building. I grab a cloth and begin wiping down the counters and Ricky just quietly waits there.
"Y-you can go home if you need", I say.
He shakes his head, "Uh it's okay...do you uh do you want help?"
"If you want...I didn't know Ricky Bowen was one to help a girl clean a little ol diner", I chuckle.
He shrugs, "Eh, I got nothing better to do anyways"
I watch, and smile, as he picks up another cloth and walks from table to table, wiping it down. I guess you could say the hatred might...and I said might...be decreasing just a tad. I mean, how can I hate him after knowing he's buying my father's gravestone- I just...can't.
"And...done", Ricky says.
"You work fast huh?", I say.
He shrugs and sarcastically replies, "It's one of my many talents"
"Oh yeah? And has one of your talents helped you come up with the project due in three days?", I laugh.
He presses his lips together and laughs, "Yeah...not exactly..."
I shrug, "Sometime last-minute ideas are better, you know?"
"Yeah...", he smiles.
"Well, we should probably get outta here...", I sigh.
He nods and the both of us get up, walking out of the door. I lock it behind us as we walk to our cars.
"Uh- thanks for everything Ricky...I really appreciate it.", I smile.
He nods at me, "Anytime. Night Roberts"
I smile, "Night Bowen"
We both get into our cars, and I glance at him once more before pulling out and driving towards my house. I was blasting Taylor Swift the entire ride home, while screaming the lyrics obviously. I felt content right now. Even after all I'm going through right now, I was feeling happy. As I arrive home, I pull into my driveway and shut the engine off. I grab my bags and get out, walking up to my door. I unlock the front door to my house and trip on something when I try to walk inside. I look down and see a box sitting on the doormat. I pick it up and bring it inside, confused.
After I've placed everything down, I stand in my kitchen, with the box on the counter. I open up the box and see a box of chocolates, along with a teddy bear.
"What...", I whisper to myself.
I immediately grab my phone and call Kourtney, Carlos, and Seb. After a few minutes of the phone ringing on, they finally pick up.
"Nina? Why're you calling...it's like...10pm?", Seb asks, rubbing his eyes.
"You guys...something weird is happening.", I say, sitting down at the dining table.
"What's going on?", Kourtney asks me.
"There was a random box with chocolate and a teddy bear inside, sitting on my doorstep.", I explain, "And I got flowers earlier."
They all look at me through the screen with wide eyes and they stay silent. I give them a confused look, waiting for them to speak up.
"Uh- do you guys like...know something I don't or-", I question.
They all shake their heads fast.
"Uh- n-nope! I have no idea where those things are coming from. T-that's really we-weird.", Carlos stutters.
I furrow my brows at them, "Uh...alrighty then...I'll see ya'll tomorrow, Night"
I hang up and stare at the flowers, chocolate, and teddy bear.
"What in the world...", I talk to myself.
+
Ricky's pov
I finish getting ready for school before I head downstairs to see my mom still home.
"Hey, what's going on? Don't you have work?", I ask, opening the fridge.
She smiles at me, "Honey...I have some news you'll wanna hear."
I look at her a little worried, "Uh- okay? What is it?"
"So...your dad's coming home early. Real early. They cut his trip real short so he's flying back in this afternoon.", she explains.
My jaw drops and a big smile emerges from my face. My heart begins racing as I try to comprehend this information.
"O-oh my gosh!", I exclaim, "What time will he be home?"
"He'll definitely be home by the time you're home from school.", she smiles, "Speaking of which, you should get going so you aren't late."
I grin, "Okay! See you later mom! Love you!"
I rush out of the house and happily get in my car. I couldn't believe this. How is everything going so...perfectly right now?
I arrive in the East High parking lot and park my car. I grab my backpack and get out of my car, swinging my keys around my finger. As I walk up to the entrance, I notice a certain brunette-haired girl slowly making her way up. I decide to approach her.
"Hey uh- Nina", I greet.
She looks up at me, "Oh hey Ricky"
"So, uh- how's it going?", I ask, walking through the entrance with her.
As we walk through the halls, I see people staring and it's driving me insane. But, I block them out because they don't know about my plan.
"It's going good...you?", she asks me, stopping at her locker.
I nod, "Really good actually"
She turns around and smiles at me, "That's great Ricky. Oh uh also...about my dad's gravestone thing- you really don't have to-"
"Ninaaaaaaa", I say, dragging out her name.
She chuckles a little, "Ricky...if you really want to, you have to actually go to the cemetery...to meet with the people. I found out they don't do big transactions like this online."
I shrug, "Alright, when and where?"
She sighs, "We can just uh- drive together after my work shift if it's easier."
I nod, "Y-yeah sure"
The bell rings and we both make our way to first period. I felt bold again and sat next to her.
Nina's pov
As usual, Mr. Mazzara comes in and tells us to just work on our projects. And as usual, I work on my song while Ricky...occasionally stared at me? He's been acting strange but...super nice? I like that side of him.
As I'm jotting down lyrics, I felt my phone buzz in my jeans pocket. I drop the pencil and take my phone out, checking it. It was a text from Makenna.
"Ugh shoot", I mutter to myself.
"Everything okay?", he asks, looking up at me.
I sigh, "I guess so..."
He furrows his brows, "You're a bad liar, what's wrong?"
I really didn't wanna tell him. But I just felt the urge to. I don't know why all of a sudden, he's so...into me? And I don't know why all of a sudden, I'm so...nice to him? But, I'm rolling with it because I don't have time to worry.
"You know Makenna? My friend from the diner?", I say, Ricky nodding his head.
"She said she's flying out to LA tonight to go look for apartments for when she goes to college there. Which means...I have to run the diner by myself for a few days. There aren't many workers since...it's her families diner, and I guess they just trust me the most?", I explain.
I watch as he nods his head, and I can practically see his wheels turning in his head. I bite my lip anxiously before he smirks at me.
"What's that look?", I ask.
"Um...I might have an idea...", he says.
"I'm scared to ask", I chuckle.
"What if I helped you? Like you know...I worked there too with you?", he suggests.
I nod my head, smiling, "Yeah...that'd be nice. I'll ask and see."
I look back down at my phone and begin typing.
"She said yes!!", I cheer.
"Great!", Ricky smiles.
+
It's finally the end of the day and I'm walking down the halls with Kourtney, Carlos, and Seb.
"Oh, wait ya'll I need to grab something from my locker real quick", I say, stopping.
I enter the code in for my locker and as I open it, I notice something sitting in the back of my locker. I pick it up and stare at the little card.
"Uh- Nina what's...what's that?", Seb asks me.
"It's a gift card to my favorite restaurant?", I reply, confused, "Which one of ya'll gave me this?"
They all shrug and shake their heads. Okay, I'm gonna be honest, they're up to something and I wanna know what it is. Nobody else knows my favorite things besides my own friends. So...it's obviously one of them, right?
I shrug, "Weird. Anyways, I gotta get going and find Ricky"
They all widen their eyes at me before I walk away.
"Did you just say Ricky? Are ya'll like- good now?", Seb asks.
I sigh, "I don't know anymore. He's super nice right now...but I'm scared he'll turn on me again."
After I say that, they all look at each other while I give them a confused look. I clutch the straps on my bag before speaking.
"I'll talk to ya'll later", I chuckle, walking out.
As I'm walking through the parking lot, I'm keeping my eyes peeled for a curly haired boy. I arrive at my car, and to my surprise I see him standing there.
"Uh-", I chuckle, "Hello there, you ready to work?"
He nods, "Yup!"
+
Ricky's pov
We arrive at the diner around 2:30pm and Nina unlocks the door. We both walk in, and she leads me into the back room.
"So, uh...you can set your stuff down here. The chefs will be here in a couple minutes then we'll open.", Nina says.
I nod, "Alright, so...am I like waiting on tables?"
"Yeah...we'll just kinda work together...we won't have like...uh like assigned tables.", she explains.
I nod my head before she throws an apron at me, and I wrap it around my body. Then, we both walk out, and she sets up the registers as I go around and clean the tables.
After about ten minutes, the chefs had arrived, and everything was set up. So, Nina flipped the sign outside and unlocked the door. Not long after we opened, people started arriving. I would seat people, take orders, deliver food. All of the above. Not gonna lie...me and Nina made a good team. We worked super fast.
"Milkshakes going to table 4A", she shouts to me.
"Burgers goin to table 5C", I shout to her as we cross paths to deliver food.
Before we both knew it, it was 6pm. Or in other words, closing time. Nina flipped the sign outside to 'closed' and locked the door so we could clean up. We wipe the tables and help clean up the dishes. After we finished that, we both sat down in a booth with milkshakes of our own.
"Not gonna lie Bowen...you do pretty good at a diner", she chuckles.
I shrug, "I have many talents, don't I?"
She playfully rolls her eyes before we sit in a comfortable silence. We were both kinda just sitting there, sipping on our milkshakes, and staring at each other. I'm going back n forth in my head on whether I wanna bring up...everything.
I let out a breath, "Nina...I- uh...you're probably confused on why I'm all...nice now and I'm sorry...I just-"
She cuts me off, "No...it's uhm, it's okay. I like this side of you Ricky..."
"You do?"
She nods, "Yeah...I mean, I enjoy being around you when you're like this. You're kind and sweet...and not...rude?"
I chuckle a little at her statement.
"Well...you'll be glad to hear that this version of Ricky Bowen is staying. For good...", I inform her.
She raises her eyebrows, "Oh is he now?"
I nod my head, "Oh yeah"
We both share a laugh before finishing our milkshakes and talking amongst ourselves. I think everything's going according to plan?
+
Nina's pov
"And...that's that", I say, clapping my hands together, "We should head to the cemetery to do the transaction now..."
He nods his head, picking up his things, "Sounds good."
We both leave the diner and hop into my car. I drive towards the cemetery, and I can feel Ricky's eyes glancing towards me every now and then. But I didn't feel as uncomfortable as I normally would. I felt...calm? We arrive in front of the cemetery, and I park my car before heading into the main building. We walk in together and see a lady sitting at the desk, typing on a computer.
"Hey there! How can I help you two?", she greets, standing up.
"Um hi...we're here to pay for a gravestone to be placed down for my dad...", I speak, fidgeting with my necklace. This is the first time I'm going to see the spot they put my dad...and I'm feeling anxious.
"Okay...what's the name?", she asks.
"Michael Jeremy Roberts", I reply.
"Alright, I've got it. Um we can do the transaction real quick here then I can show you where your dad's spot is?", she says, "The stone will be up within the next few days."
I nod my head and turn towards Ricky. He takes out his wallet and his card before handing it to the lady so she can run it through the system.
"Okay...and you're all set! Now, what you paid for includes cleaning of the gravestone as well.", the lady smiles.
I nod, "Perfect, thanks."
"Would you like to see now?", she asks me, hesitantly.
I take a deep breath and nod, "Y-yeah..."
Before we walk out, I feel Ricky tug on my wrist. I turn around to meet his gaze.
"Do you want me to wait here or...", he questions.
"You can come...", I breath out.
He nods his head, and we follow the lady outside into the courtyard. We walk on beautiful green grass over to a spot that only has a small card lying over the space.
It read:
Michael Jeremy Roberts
1975-2021
"I'll leave you two here for a minute, just come back through that building when you're leaving.", the lady smiles. I nod at her.
The sun was beginning to set, and I stare down at the spot where my dad is buried. I feel a knot form in my throat and my eyes beginning to get glossy. I crouch down and run my hand over the grassy area, pressing my lips together, trying to prevent the tears from falling.
"H-hi dad...I miss you...a lot. I wish I could've had one last hug with you...", I whisper as I feel tears fall from my eyes.
I silently cry before I feel a gentle hand on my back, and I look to the side to see Ricky crouched down next to me, with a softened look.
"It's okay...he's watching over you right now Nina. And I bet you he's the proudest dad.", he whispers to me, causing for more tears to fall.
We both stand up straight and I feel his two arms wrap around me in a hug. As much as I wasn't sure how I felt towards Ricky...I let him hug me. Because that's all I needed in this moment.
All I needed was for a pair of tight arms to just...hug me.