𝐑𝐄𝐖𝐑𝐈𝐓𝐄 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐒 [a rini au]

twenty-two

nina didn't know what to expect when ricky informed her that he'd be bringing his friends to the diner to formally meet her. she was on edge the entire shift, even dropping a glass at one point out of pure anxiousness. luckily, when she was wrapping up at around 11:15 pm, the diner was bone dry. she went to the bathroom to freshen up quickly, and by time she returned to the dining area, a group of recognizable teen boys were hovering around the entrance. when ricky caught sight of nina, he stopped talking with a smile. "hey, there she is!"

nina folded her hands, trying not to pick at her hang nails as ricky squeezed past two boys blocking his path to her. when he reached her, ricky rested a hand on the small of her back, lightly pushing her towards his friends. nina's breath hitched, but she attempted to play it off like she wasn't taken aback by ricky's unexpected touch. "guys," ricky began his introduction, the three friends now looking at nina with surprised expressions, "this is nini. nini, this is big red, carlos, and seb."

"nini?" the redhead, who nina assumed was big red, repeated inquisitively. "that's a name?"

nina swallowed an embarrassed lump in her throat. "n-no, not really. my name is nina, but my friends call me nini."

"your friends," the one ricky called carlos responded. "hence why ricky calls you nini. you guys are friends."

"can you all shut up," ricky ordered, his friends laughing while he looked at nina sympathetically. "i'm sorry already."

"no worries," nina pursed her lips, realizing she'd have to analyze every word she says before she says it for the entire evening. she pointed towards the closest booth. "you guys can sit down. i'll grab you some milkshakes."

the blonde, seb, clapped. "finally! ricky has being raving about them."

after whipping up five chocolate milkshakes, nina fearfully joined the four in the booth. she sat next to ricky, and although she literally had him in her car at one point, she couldn't help but feel petrified. it was all hitting her at once – a well-known celebrity was tweeting at her, drawing endless amounts of attention to her. the girl was only ever used to having no one care about her, so this was drastic change in pace.

however, nina was pleasantly surprised by how the night would go about. it took her a little while to open up, but once she did, she let her sarcastic side shine. red really resonated with her humor, carlos admired her confidence to pick on ricky, and seb thought she was simply adorable. eventually, they were all sharing genuine laughs, telling funny stories, and snapping memorable pictures, one of which being the photo nina posted on twitter. she asked the group if she should, considering what happened the last time she associated with ricky online, but they all urged her to show off the candid photo of ricky and red flashing their light up rings.

they had been hanging out for an hour when nina posed the question she had been thinking ever since she dropped ricky off at his hotel room sunday night. "so," she started, getting everyone's attention as she played with her milkshake straw, "how much longer will you all be here for?"

"we leave friday," red answered, wiping his mouth free from whipped cream. "i'm pretty much done with what i came here for."

"and that would be?" nina added curiously, all the boys looking around skeptically to avoid the question. nina scoffed, slamming her hands on the table. "seriously? i become an honorary member of the hollywood gems and you won't even tell me what you're here for. i'm offended, frankly."

none of them would say anything, frustrating nina. she put a hand on ricky's shoulder, shaking it lightly. "c'mon, hollywood," she cooed with a smirk. ricky was trying his best not to give in to her demand, his darting eyes evidence of his reluctance. "you can't reply to my tweets and then leave me out to dry."