A Little Time to Get to You

act two

Red directs me down the halls, pointing to a closed classroom door, seemingly the room that we used for makeup and costumes before the show started.

"Nini you have twenty minutes, twenty-five minutes if I can stall, until the curtain goes up again." Red reminds me and I nod quickly, biting my lip. "He'll be ready." I mumble before giving Red a wave and opening the door to the room slowly.

***

My heart breaks a little when I notice my boyfriend hunched in a chair, his elbows resting on the tabletop that connected to the wall. He was sniffling and when I looked close enough, I could see him trembling in the reflection of the mirror on the wall.

Red's warning sounds in my mind but I ignore it as I walk slowly towards Ricky, dropping down on my knees next to his chair. Bringing one hand up, I rest it on his thigh and I trail my nails over his bare skin, the basketball shorts he was wearing exposing his leg to my wandering hand. Ricky sucks in a breath and lets out a shuddering one so I bring my other hand up to rest on his arm.

"Hey you" I whisper, rubbing my thumb against his bicep. I kneel up on my knees, leaning my nose against his cheek while I continued to trace soothing circles into his skin. "What's going on?" I whisper out just as quietly.

Ricky shakes his head and I laugh softly, pressing my lips against his jaw. "You can't convince me that nothing is wrong, unless you're already really upset that the musical is ending." I say and my heart soars when I hear Ricky laugh quietly. He turns his head so that our eyes can meet and I pull away, both of my hands resting on his thigh.

I stay silent for a second, searching his eyes to see if he wants to speak first, but when he doesn't, I give him a small smile and begin to talk.

"You know with like twenty minutes until we have to be in our places for act two, you're really risking it all for the two of us. Which by the way, isn't the best choice since Miss Jen thinks we're professionals for being able to look at each other like we're in love. Don't believe me? Ask the USC admissions faculty member in the audience." I say to him, my smile widening when I notice his lips turn up and his eyes light up. "Are you serious?" He asks, his voice raspy from what I'm sure was all of the emotion he was feeling from whatever was bothering him.

I nod slowly and Ricky fully laughs, shaking his head. "God damn. How are you? I'm sure you found that out and had a breakdown." Ricky jokes and my eyes soften, my hand reaching forward to cup his cheek. "My selfless boy" I mumble to myself as I run my thumb over his chin and Ricky's eyes soften as well. He hums quietly and I lean forward slowly, pressing my lips tentatively against his.

When I pull away I squeeze his leg. Ricky takes a deep breath and ducks his head down, like he's ashamed of something. He knows I'm waiting for him to speak, he knows I don't want to push him. I'm grateful when he begins to talk.

"My mom brought her new boyfriend to the show. They're out in the audience right now. Like they're right next to my dad and everything. I swear I saw dad move his chair away from them." Ricky's finally able to choke out.

My eyes widen and I swallow hard, reaching forward to tip his chin up so that he could look me in the eyes. Ricky stares at me and I stare back.

"Tell me how you're feeling." I say softly and Ricky squeezes his eyes closed, shaking his head. "Betrayed, stupid, hurt, sad... this is just... you know I can't go out there again Nins." Ricky concludes, reeling himself in with a conclusion after the tears started to well up in his eyes.

I knew I was down to the minutes before Ricky and I had to be back in place for the second act, so I rubbed my thumb over his leg and thought as quickly as I could.