"The beauty of love is that, you can fall into it
with the most unexpected person
at the most unexpected time"
- Ritu Ghatourey
***
"Thanks for helping Carol"
The curly brown haired guy thanked as he finished taking the last suitcase inside the house, all the way from the car.
He looked around, contemplating his neighbours' house, also known as the house he'd be staying in for two whole weeks. Two weeks. Two weeks with people that, despite not being strangers, are nothing to him. Nothing in terms of blood - they're not his family, and nor does he feel as comfortable around them as he would feel around a relative or a close friend.
A close friend like Big Red, for example. Ricky had begged his parents to stay at his, yet they insisted that the best option was for him to stay at Carol and Dana's while they sorted everything out...
Both of Ricky's parents were going through a divorce. Everything at home was chaotic at that point, so chaotic that he had to move out during the whole process. Every fight, every reminder of how his parents didn't love each other anymore left him devastated. So hurt, almost heartbroken even. He was tired of it, and if he was being completely honest, any place is better than home. And that was the main reason why he didn't insist when his parents said no to when he wanted to live with his best friend.
Strangers or not, family or not, he was glad he was at his neighbours'. Their house gave him peaceful vibes, vibes he had never felt at his own house. He felt love, safety and happiness. It was a nice feeling.
"Of course sweetie, both Dana and I are extremely glad to help you... We know it's been a tough time, but everything is going to be alright, hmm?" The woman soothed, her hand placed on his shoulder, and a comforting smile on her face. Her smile almost made him believe everything truly was going to be fine.
Ricky just smiled back. He didn't really have the energies to much more, a smile should be thanking enough.
"Oh Ricky!!" A voice is heard from the kitchen. It was Dana, with an apron wrapped around her body, revealing she had been cooking "You're here, hello sweetheart" Dana greeted after walking closer to them, followed by two cheek kisses.
"Hey, thanks for having me here, both my parents and I are extremely grateful"
"It's nothing, dear, we're glad we can help. I know everything is going to be solved out, you just need to stay hopeful and strong.."
Hopeful and strong? How can someone stay hopeful and strong when they feel defeated? Exhausted? Devastated? Hurt? You have nothing left than your own disgrace.
"But anyways, let's not talk about that, we're here to have fun and cheer you up! Carol will show you the house, while I finish dinner. Oh and, don't mind our daughter Nini not coming to greet you, she just has gone through a major breakup recently and barely ever comes out of her bedroom... It's nothing personal, she just feels heartbroken.. But let's go it's getting late and you must be both hungry and exhausted"
Well at least she got something right - he indeed was exhausted.. and hungry.
"Yes! Let me show you your bedroom" Carol offered.
The two of them walked towards the stairs, which lead them to a big hall. Carol turned the lights on, and only then Ricky saw how pretty the walls and the whole decoration looked. It screamed comfort to him.
They walked to their left, and stopped in front of the third door, which was immediately opened.
The bedroom was quite simple - it had a double sized white and grey bed, and the room itself didn't have much decoration - only the necessary furniture.
"This used to be a dressing room, but we decided to turn it into a guest bedroom just recently. I hope it's okay for your needs." She explained.
"No, yes it's perfect, thank you."
Carol looked at the skate he was holding under his arm "You can place your skate in the garage if you'd like"
"I'd rather keep it here. Hopefully that's alright..?"
"No, no it's fine, I was just asking. Anyways, let's go I want to show you the rest of the house" Carol suggests, getting ready to walk away. However, before she could do anything, Ricky stopped her.
"Actually...I feel extremely exhausted, would it be okay if you did that tomorrow? I'd prefer to stay here, organise my stuff and all that before dinner.." He tried not to sound rude.
"Oh" She mumbled out "Well I understand, pretend you're at home. Make yourself comfortable." She flashed a gentle smile, walking out the door and closing it to give him some privacy.
'I'd rather not pretend I'm home' He thought. Home was cold, sad and lonely. He didn't want to feel like so anymore, therefore not being at home was the perfect chance for that.
Ricky undressed his jacket, and fell onto the big, comfortable bed, letting out a hopeless sigh. Finally some time alone. It had been a.. complicated day. Way too of a long day. He couldn't wait to go to sleep, and for a good amount of hours forget about all of his problems, all of the pain he was feeling.
A few minutes later, he started unpacking, and placing his clothes on the closet. The guitar he had been carrying was placed under the bed, and so was the skate.
Music and skating. His passions. Whenever he did any of those, nothing else mattered. They really kept him happy and full filled, which didn't happen often, specially considering the situation he was facing at the moment.
Ricky decided to place his hygiene needs (for example his shampoo, toothbrush and among many important others) in the bathroom.
The hall looked so big, where could the bathroom be? That second, he immediately regretted rejecting Carol's offer, because he would have to wander around the house looking for a bathroom. And he didn't feel comfortable enough to do that, just yet.
He took two steps away from the bedroom, not knowing what to do.
Suddenly, before he could even think of what he could do, he heard the sound of a piano, and a beautiful voice. The most beautiful voice he had ever heard in his entire life. A voice that gave him hope, like a light in the middle of the cold, harsh darkness. A voice that carried so much emotion, he almost could feel what the person was feeling. A voice that sounded magical, that made him believe. Believe in everything, in love, in better upcoming days, in his dreams.
The voice seemed to be owned by a girl. A young girl. Was it Carol and Dana's daughter? What was her name? He couldn't remember.
He didn't know. All he knew was that her voice was wonderful, and drew him like a magnet, so naturally.
"All I want is a good guy
Are my expectations far too high?
Try my best but what can I say
All I have is myself at the end of the day.
But shouldn't that be enough for me..?"
The lyrics sounded so meaningful. Maybe she is singing about her breakup? She also sounded pretty hurt and lonely... Well she did have enough reasons to.
Ricky walked closer to where it was coming from. He almost immediately saw a door, that was slightly opened. As he got to that door, her voice surrounded and invaded him more and more, note by note, word by word. Second by second. Seconds that lasted years. As if the whole world had stopped just so she could sing. As if it had stopped just to listen to her, wishing it would never come to an end.
As Ricky silently opened the door, he saw a nicely decorated bedroom. It truly looked pretty and warm. Not literally warm, yet it gave him a huge warmth inside.
Sat in the bed, facing the other side of the room, he saw a girl. She had her wavy brown hair falling down her back, and a piano keyboard placed on her lap, as her fingers played it delicately.
"And I miss the days
When I was young and naive
I thought the perfect guy would come and find me
Now happy ever after it don't come so easily
All I want is love that lasts
Is all I want too much to ask?
Is it something wrong with me, oh"
Her voice sounded hurt. Disappointed. All Ricky wanted was to join her, and share his pain with her too, just so he would have someone who would cry with him, and understand what he was feeling.
"All I want is a good guy
Are my expectations far too high?
Try my best but what can I say?
All I have is myself at the end of the day.
And all I want is for that to be okay.."
The girl ended, making all of the good feelings, all of the hope that surrounded him disappear, leaving him empty and hopeless again.
He couldn't explain why or how, but he felt safe near her. He didn't want to leave.
He wanted to stay.
"That was amazing."
The brown haired girl immediately turned around. Who was that?? And why was he standing there, inside her bedroom without her permission? Had he been listening to her all along?
Ricky finally saw her face. She was so pretty. She truly was. He also saw the tears in her eyes, realising she was or had been crying while singing that song.
"Who are you???" She asked, wiping her tears away, somehow scared and confused. Mostly confused.
"I... I'm sorry for coming into your room so suddenly I didn't mean to, I just, you were singing and I heard you and your voice is so beautiful, you're so talented and sorry I just had to check who it was" He rambled out. He always does that when he's nervous, and man, she did make him feel nervous.
She shook her head slightly, frowning in pure confusion.
"Let me see if I understand.. You heard me sing, so you decided to come to my room to properly listen to me, because you loved my voice?" She proceeded slowly, trying to understand it all herself.
"Yes."
"Oh" Ricky was happy she didn't snap at him... He didn't want her to think he was some kind of creep, and nor did he want her to be angry at him.
"That's sweet" She admitted, standing up, walking towards him.
"Let me guess, you're the skate boy from the other side of the road that came to stay at our house for two weeks?"
"You guessed it right" He giggled. She was very cute.
"And let me guess, you're...Ni...?" He tried remembering her name, knowing he wasn't actually succeeding.
She giggled softly before correcting him "Nini"
"Oh! Nini.. I knew it started with a 'Ni'"
"Well, to be completely honest, Ni is a cute nickname"
"It is" He reached his hand out to her "I'm Ricky. Richard Bowen, but everyone calls me Ricky"
Nini shook his hand "Nice to meet you Ricky" at him.
Ricky was different from every other boy she had met. He was the total opposite of Ej, her ex. He was cute, not only in terms of looks, but also the personality. He seemed to be sweet, and looked adorable when nervous. He also seemed to be a sensitive and emotional person.
His curly hair, and his eyes that stared right into her made her forget about the pain Ej had caused her for a few moments.
"Nice to meet you too Nini" Ricky joked, making the both of them laugh.
Ricky couldn't help but notice how adorable she looked when she laughed. He stared at her. At her face, her hair, her smile, her eyes. How could anyone ever break up with such perfection? How could anyone handle being away from her? She was so special, and Ricky felt such a connection with her, he couldn't help but feel great near her. Nini noticed him staring at her, which made her blush. She stared at him too, though. His hair, his eyes, his face, everything about him made her feel somewhat safe, as if when she was around him, she could no more be a victim of pain.
They were unsure of the time they had been like that, but it was a nice feeling.
"Ricky, Nini, dinner is ready!!" Dana exclaimed as she climbed up the stairs. Seeing Nini's door opened, she went to check how her daughter was.
As she entered the room, she was faced by both Nini and Ricky looking back at her.
"Oh, I see you two know each other already, that's great! Dinner is ready, let's go, I made your favourite Nini!"
They exchanged a look before walking out of the room, together.
They didn't know what happened, and nor did they know why. All they knew is that, for a moment, all of their problems were insignificant once they were close to one another.
———∗♡∗———
2180 words
Author's Note :: there you go, my first rini one shot.. this probably isn't the best compared to other books & one shots in the rini/hsmtmts fandom, buttt i tried my best ig 👉🏼👈🏼 ALSO i know that if ricky & nini had never met, she would still be treated as "nina", but nina is kind of weird because everyone on the show calls her nini? idk it just didn't feel right jsjkjs
(All I Want - Olivia Rodrigo)