Lean on Me Forever || rini au

12. alone and trapped

tw: abuse

nini came out of her last class of the day, letting out a breath as she felt her heart sink lower into her chest.

it was hard.

it was too hard to be away from the others, from ricky. she missed him already and it's only been a day.

all she could do was keep telling herself that it was for their own good. that they would all be safe.

as nini made her way out of the school entrance, she heard footsteps behind her and turned around to see ricky rushing towards her, nini closing her eyes as she turned back.

"hey neens-"

"what?" she asks shortly, keeping her focus in front of her

ricky knitted his eyebrows together, taken aback by her tone before shaking it off

"uh-i was just-"

"yes?" she presses, stopping and turning to face him.

her eyes shifted to a figure behind him and she saw noah with his eyes on the two, nini's insides turning. this conversation needed to end now.

"i just-wanted to know if you were okay? you seemed off the entire day plus you came in with this guy..." ricky says quietly, his eyes searching her face. she seemed tired.

nini felt herself soften at the sound of his words, but she couldn't let him in anymore. it would only end with him getting hurt.

she clenched her jaw "i'm fine. i don't need you to babysit me." she muttered, turning around to leave as quick as possible

ricky rushed after her "i'm not babysitting you-"

"then why are you questioning me?" she asks him, turning back to face the boy

ricky sees her with no emotion and scoffs "i'm just trying to be a good boyfriend and make sure you're okay-"

"yeah, well thanks i'm good." she snapped, her heart sinking at how she was sounding as she turned around and continued walking away, leaving a dumbfounded ricky behind her.

nini arrived home after about 15 minutes, her heart racing as she entered the house and noticed that aria and jacob weren't here; realizing how they both had their extra-curricular activities: meaning she was home alone.

she made her way up the stairs and into her bedroom, dropping her bag on the floor before jumping when she saw noah sitting at her window.

nini felt herself freeze as he knocked on it and she slowly and fearfully made her way towards the window, opening it to let him in.

"why are you at my window?" she asks

"home alone are we?" he smirks, glancing out the window

nini swallowed "i-"

"what was our deal again?" he asks, faking a questioning look before gasping "oh yeah, the little 'no boyfriend' one. so why were you talking to him?"

he started walking towards her, making her back away as she felt herself become smaller and smaller.

she opened her mouth to speak, but she was frozen. he always had this effect on her; making her feel like she couldn't breathe or speak her mind. and she hated it.

"i-i tried to-"

but that's when she felt a burning pain on her cheek, causing for her to wince as she stumbled back.

she brought her hand up to the side of her face where his hand was, her eyes meeting his as she saw how dark and empty they were.

this was the side of him she'd been all-too familiar with.

he had no emotions and she knew this wasn't going to end quickly.

"n-noah-"

she gets cut off by another burning pain flooding through her face as she felt his hand on her cheek once again, this time her falling to the ground in agony as she landed on her knees, her body trembling with fear.

he kicked her side, causing for her hands to give out and her upper-body to collide with the floor beneath her, nini yelling in pain as she felt the wooden floor hit her.

her eyes were stinging but she forced her tears back, knowing that they wouldn't help or stop anything. they would just make it worse.

"rules should be followed nini," he says with a small sigh as he bends down to her level, grabbing her hair and hastily pulling her up for her eyes to meet him.

"i-i l-left as soon as i-could-" she whimpered

noah faked a pout and let out a bitter chuckle "which is why i already told you that you get rid of him, or i do." he hissed before forcefully shoving her back down to the floor and making his way to the window

he stopped in his tracks as he opened the window and turned back to face her

"oh and the next time i see you with him, i won't be so...nice." he smirked before disappearing out of the room.

it was when she heard the window slide shut that nini let out a breath as she felt her tears fall down her face, weakly crawling to the corner of her room to lean against the wall for support as she brought her knees up to her chest and winced and whimpered at the stinging pain that rushed through her veins.

she was back to being alone and trapped. once again.