melancholy bliss || rini au

35. you can try

"heeeey maya!" big red drawls on, laughing nervously as he rubbed the back of his neck, glancing back at the living room to where the others were.

maya knitted her eyebrows together before she took a deep breath "uh-can i-come in?"

kourtney and ej exchange looks before nodding and standing up

"hey-uh-we need to go we have-other things-to do," kourtney says

ej nods "yeah-los let's go,"

carlos shrugs his shoulders and leans back in his seat "oh no, i'm actually okay here."

ej rolls his eyes and grabs him from the arm with kourtney, the both of them pulling him up from his seat as he groans

"okay! okay!" he exclaims, shaking their arms off

the three made their way to the door, big red following them out

"tell us everything!" carlos mouths to ricky before ej closes the door behind him, leaving maya and ricky alone in the apartment

maya felt nervous slightly and didn't know why ricky wasn't answering her message. he'd been acting distant and off these past few days and she knew that there was something bothering him.

"hey," she says after a few seconds of silence

ricky cleared his throat uncomfortably and took a deep breath "uh-hey,"

maya looked around her before deciding to sit down in front of where he was seated, putting her coat on her lap as she looked at him

"so," she begins "what's wrong? why have you been acting weird?"

ricky shrugged his shoulders and she sighs

"ricky, what happened between you and nini? she took me and you off her rant-"

"why are you questioning me?" he asks her

"because i'm worried about you. both of you." she replies "you're best friends. and she's also my best friend. i don't know what i did wrong!"

ricky took a deep breath "it's not you. it's me."

"what are you talking about?" maya asks, looking at him.

he looked away from her and she felt her heartbeat starting to pick up its pace.

"i have to tell you something..." he says quietly

"okay..." she nods, her worry rising

"i-that night at the party." he begins "i was drunk and-"

maya knew where he was going with this and she felt her eyes sting as she shook her head "no."

"nini was drunk too." he continues, his eyes finally meeting hers and she felt her breath getting caught in her throat

"no..." she said again, a tear falling from her cheek as she wiped it away and shuddered a breath

"and-we kissed." he finished "but-em i promise we pulled away as fast as we realized what was happening-"

"stop." she says, standing up

ricky stood up "maya-"

"did you want to kiss her?" she questions

he got taken aback in surprise by her question. he didn't know what to answer.

"i-i don't know-"

she scoffs and rubs her hands over her face in frustration "what-were you just never going to tell me if i hadn't come? was nini never going to say anything? were you both just going to keep me in the dark?"

"i don't know..." he says quietly

maya felt more tears fall down her face she she shuddered a breath

"she likes you." she manages to say - as quiet as a whisper.

he looked at her and nodded "i know."

"do you like her?"

ricky swallowed and looked away from her, "i-i don't know-"

"no," she interrupts, shaking her head "don't give me that. look at me and tell me you don't like her. look at me in the eyes right now and tell me that you don't like her and you like me."

ricky felt his eyes sting and he looks at her, maya already knowing the answer and she shook her head as more tears fell down her face

"i'm so stupid." she chokes out, wiping her face "you always tried to make sure she's okay, and you're always wondering if she takes care of herself, you always make sure to make her happy-"

"maya-"

"no!" she exclaims, turning to face him "why did you make me believe you liked me?"

"i did like you maya," he says, walking towards her as she shakes her head "you're one of my best friends. you're an amazing person."

"but?" she adds, waiting for him to finish

ricky sat down and she did too, wiping away her tears again as he took a shaky breath

"when-lucas moved here," he begins "i-i had feelings for nini."

maya nodded silently, looking down at her lap as she felt a bit of pain when hearing that.

"and i sort of was planning on doing something about it em, because it wasn't fair to you or me or anyone." he continues "but-then she told me she liked lucas, and i wanted her to-"

"be happy." she finishes for him "yeah, you always do."

"i really thought it was you maya." he says in a small voice "i convinced myself of it."

maya nodded again and shuddered a breath as she wiped her tears that were staining her cheeks. it was silent for a few seconds between them before she managed to find the courage to speak again.

"what happened with you and nini?" she asks

ricky shook his head and leans back "we got into a fight. and i said things i didn't mean."

maya sighs, her tears drying up. even though she likes ricky, and even though she's hurt by everything that happened between her, ricky and nini and what they did. they're both still her best friends. and she doesn't want either of them to be miserable. maya hates seeing people she cared about hurt or sad.

she knew that nini liked ricky. for a few days now she's been noticing little things in the way she looks at him and the way ricky looks at nini. and she knew that they would make each other happy. happier than what she could do for ricky. and that was okay. she could deal with it.

"and you're still here because-?" she asks,

ricky looked at her in confusion at her sudden change in attitude

"em it's not that simple. nini doesn't easily forget things. i hurt her when i'm the one who shouldn't." he tells her

maya takes a deep breath and walks over to him, sitting down next to ricky

"if you're friendship was important, you would still try and make things right." she explains "she's obviously hurt. but you can still try."

ricky looked at her and nodded "i'm really sorry em,"

maya shrugged her shoulders "what can you do?"

she forces herself to put on a small smile and he pulled her in for a hug, maya hugging him back before they both pulled away and she took a deep breath

"i should go," she sighs, standing up and taking her stuff before making her way to the door, stopping to turn and look back at him "remember what i said,"

ricky nodded as he saw her leave the apartment, letting out a breath and turning back, his thoughts overwhelming him once again.