melancholy bliss || rini au

34. she was never second best

ricky sat on his couch, staring off at the tv screen, his eyes blood-shot red and his phone filled with text messages and missed calls.

he felt overwhelmed and guilty by everything that had happened between him and nini. he didn't mean anything he said, but his confusion and frustration got the best of him. his heart kept dropping every time he thought back to the sight of her face; how heartbroken she looked.

a knock was heard at his door and he sighed, not wanting to move from where he was before hearing the knocking again.

taking a deep breath, he slowly got up from the couch and made his way towards the door, opening it to see ej, kourtney, carlos and big red standing there

"what?" he mumbles

"that's no way to greet your best friends-"

carlos gets cut off by kourtney whacking his arm as they looked back at the boy

"can we come in?" ej asks him

ricky shrugs his shoulders and turns around, walking back into the living room with his friends following him; all of them exchanging looks of confusion. and worry

"what happened?" big red asks

"yeah, you look like crap." carlos says bluntly

"los!" ej groans

"i'm sorry! I'm very straightforward when it comes to emotion!" carlos defends, making everyone sigh

ricky kept a blank stare on his face and kourtney sits next to him

"ricky, what happened?" she asks

"did you guys know that nini likes me? since middle school?" he asks them all, everyone apart from ej widening their eyes

"wait what?!" carlos exclaims in confusion

"i never knew that," big red thinks

"me neither," kourtney adds

they all glance at ej, who was seated next the arm chair in an uncomfortable silence, looking around the room and letting out a casual breath

"ej," kourtney calls

he looked at them and opened his mouth "yeah?"

"you knew?" carlos questions

"i-well-i know a lot of things..."

"ej!" big red exclaims

the boy sighs and nods "fine! yes-i-i knew..."

"since when?" ricky asks him

"uh-well-why get caught up in time?" he chuckles nervously

he sees everyone looking at him seriously and his smile and laugh fades as he glances down

"since middle school..." ej mutters, everyone's jaw dropping to the ground in shock

"middle school?!" everyone exclaims

"you just kept that from me this whole time?!" ricky asks him, standing up

"it wasn't my place ricky!" ej defends as he stands up too "besides you liked maya all that time and she always felt like she was second best, i couldn't spill her secret like that!

"but she was never second best!" ricky blurts out, everyone widening their eyes "i'm sick of everyone assuming and seeing her side of things! does anyone care to ask what i was feeling all those years?! no! she wasn't second best! she-"

ricky drops onto the couch again and buried his face in his hands as he shook his head, kourtney frowning as she rubbed her hand over his back in comfort and carlos going next to him and placing a hand on his shoulder while big red and ej looked at him in surprise and sadness

he shudders a breath and looks up "i can't handle this right now,"

"we're here for you," kourtney assured him

ricky shakes his head "i-nini hates me. maya-she's going to hate me."

they all give him questioning looks before a knock is heard at his door and big red nods, gesturing that he was going to get it and when he opens the door, he widens his eyes slightly when seeing the worried blonde-haired girl standing in the hallway.