𝐑𝐄𝐖𝐑𝐈𝐓𝐄 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐒 [a rini au]

fifty-seven

right on schedule, ricky pulled into nina's driveway just as he did a week ago. once he parked the car, he left it running, sitting back in his seat comfortably with a hand still on the gearshift. glancing over at nina, he saw the girl with her fingers intertwined, posture deflated. ricky was well aware of her feelings; he was experiencing the same ones himself. yet, it somehow hurt more to see them plague her.

nina knew that if she looked at her chauffeur, she would tear up on the spot. this past week was easily the greatest seven days of her life, and she knew the longer he was gone, the more the happiness would trickle away. no one had ever made her feel this. why should she be so willing to let him go?

unsure of how to say goodbye, ricky chose to shut the music off. that got nina's attention, her head slowly raising to catch his hand on the stereo. "why'd you turn it off?" she whispered with a voice crack, still refusing to meet his eyes.

ricky sighed, resting his forearm on the console. "nini, you're making me sadder than i already am," he admitted.

nina squirmed in her seat. "i'm a naturally sad person. i can't help it."

they were both silent yet again for a second, until nina worked up the courage to face him. "when will i see you again?"

as much as the boy wanted to give her what she wanted to hear, he couldn't. using this week to host her in his hometown threw a huge wedge in his career path, he knew that. ricky expected that an endless amount of work awaited him back in los angeles, and he truly couldn't pinpoint a future time when he could drop everything again and cater to her. he was apparently silent for too long, because nina was crossing her arms with discomfort.

"i knew it," she murmured, cursing herself for being so naive. "i probably won't."

"that's not true, nini," ricky shook his head. "i just have a lot coming up, you know that."

nina was beginning to question if this were worth it – holding onto these romantic feelings for ricky. "yeah, same," she opted for a lie.

ricky placed a hand on nini's shoulder, her tensing under his touch. "but that doesn't mean i'm just going to forget about you. about....last night." nina's face was defeated as he continued. "you mean a lot to me, and i don't think i can make that any clearer. you can always reach me no matter what. i'm not going to just abandon you."

it was an emotionally intelligent rationale on ricky's behalf, and as hard as it was for nina to simply accept it, she had put a lot of trust in him. until he gave her a reason to not trust him, she would take his word. the girl smiled softly, leaning over the console to envelop him in a hug. "please drive safe. if you need rest, get a hotel or something and sleep."

ricky nodded into the crevice of her neck, ensuring that he'd take care of himself. as they pulled away, they paused briefly, centimeters away from one another. they were both clearly unsure if it was right to close this out with a kiss, but to play things safe, ricky resorted to a planting a peck on nina's forehead, her practically melting internally.

just as she did in the east high parking lot with him weeks ago, nina reluctantly pried open the passengers side door, grabbing her bags from the backseat. she walked around to the front of the car, stopping briefly to look back at him through the front window. ricky had both hands on the wheel, face full of uncertainty and longing. he mouthed a small "bye," turning his focus towards backing up.

as he reversed out of the driveway, nina gave him the tiniest wave. he was too distracted with his rearview mirror to reciprocate it, but she didn't mind. he said he wouldn't forget about her, about all of this chaos.

that was enough for her.