Lean on Me Forever || rini au

15. isn't it lovely, all alone?

nini limped down the sidewalk as she sighed, her 'surprise' with noah being the thing she had to deal with now.

she let out a wince as she took a turn and saw her house at the end of the street before hearing her name being called out.

"nini!"

she turned around and swallowed as she saw ricky rushing towards her and quickly turned back around as she forced herself to walk normally and as quickly as she could, clenching her jaw in pain.

"nini-"

"ricky please leave me alone," she says quietly, trying to walk away

"why? what happened? did i do something-"

"i'm fine! just leave me alone." she snaps, feeling her heart sink as she continues to try and avoid him but he follows her

"will you stop being so distant?" he questions, running in front of her

she looked away from him and he took a deep breath, knowing that there was something bothering her.

"what's wrong?" he asks softly, taking a step closer to her

nini felt her heart ache as he held her hand, but then noah's words played in her brain again.

"j-just stop it ricky!" she grits out, pulling her hand back

ricky looked at her with hurt in his eyes and took a step back in confusion

"neens-"

"don't call me that." she tells him, making him scoff

"what is up with you?" he questions "you're pushing everyone away! me, aria, jacob-"

"maybe if you guys weren't so nosy and annoying, then i wouldn't have to!" she shouts

"nini-"

"i told you to leave me be, so how about you do that?" she finishes, pushing past him and rushing down the sidewalk back home.

nini felt her heart racing as she entered the house, breathing heavily and rushing up the stairs and into her bedroom. she was home alone again, and she hoped with every fiber of her being that noah didn't see ricky and her interacting.

she felt her eyes tear up but she forced them back as she took a deep breath, trying to calm herself.

"this is for them. you're doing it for them, they're going to be safe." she whispers to herself, feeling a tear fall down her cheek before she quickly wipes it away.

a knock at her window made her entire body freeze, her fear rising and rushing through her veins as she swallowed and made her way towards it, opening the window

"i-i swear noah-"

but she stops as does her heart when she sees ricky

"who's noah?" he asks suddenly, his face becoming serious rather than worried as he crawls into her room

"n-no one." she says, the nerves hitting her

ricky shakes his head "why were you expecting some guy named noah to come at your window?"

"why are you climbing up my window when i told you to leave me alone?!" she shoots back

"no, don't change the subject nini." ricky says "i came because i'm worried. why were you expecting some guy to be at your window? actually, scratch that, who is that guy you're hanging out with now?!"

"what? i'm not allowed to have guy friends?"

the word felt wrong for nini to say. noah was nowhere near a friend to her.

"you're allowed to have guy friends, but not if they come and meet you at your window at night-"

"stop suffocating me!"  she exclaims

nini wanted so badly for him to just leave. she couldn't let herself go through with this right now. it was too much for her to handle.

nini knew she needed to distance herself from him. noah was capable of a lot of things and she knew that he wasn't lying about jake and danny. she also knew ricky wouldn't let this go, so she needed to let him go.

ricky knitted his eyebrows together and scoffed as he looked at her "suffocating-? since when do i-"

"since always!" she yells "since the very beginning when i arrived here and you begged me to go out with you but wouldn't take no for an answer!" she shouts "you want to know why i said no? because i know that the problem with you is that you're incapable of anything real. and i was right wasn't i?"

ricky felt his heart drop at the sound of her words "you don't-you don't think i love you?"

"you never loved me." she chokes out "i was just a game to you from the beginning remember? or do you need ej to show you the video again?"

ricky looked at nini in disbelief and pain; he thought she'd forgiven him. they were so good these past few months and he thought she saw that he changed for the better and loved her. but that wasn't the case after all.

"neens-"

"i thought i told you to stop calling me that." she says weakly, her eyes filling with tears

ricky kept his eyes on her, seeing the hurt and exhaustion on her face and knowing something was wrong with her. there had to be a reason for her acting like this.

"what's happening?" he asks softly, coming closer to her and cupping her face in his hands "talk to me, please."

she shook her head, tears glazing her eyes as she avoids his gaze before he takes a deep breath

"look at me nini," he says

she shakes her head "no."

"why?" he asks, bringing his hands down to hold hers "why are you pushing me away? i thought we were past this-why-"

"b-because i don't love you anymore!" she yells

nini felt his grip on her hands loosen as he took a step back

"what?"

the word came out as barely a whisper and she felt her heart break slowly, more and more as she saw his face, seeing how hurt he was and all she wanted to do was scream that she didn't mean anything she was saying. but she couldn't.

"i-" she couldn't say those words again, so she says the next two words with all the strength she had left "w-we're over."

ricky felt his eyes sting and his world crumbling down as he stared back at her, not being able to comprehend everything that was happening right now.

he didn't believe it. there was no way he would believe that she didn't feel anything for him anymore.

ricky shook his head with a scoff as he felt his eyes sting "push me away." he begins, walking towards her "push everyone away. but i know you. and i know somethings up. and you can say all of these words to me,"

she shuddered a breath and used all of her power to keep her tears away as she felt ricky put his hands under her chin and lift her head up for their eyes to meet.

"but i'm not going to let this go. i'm going to figure out what's happening, because i refuse to think that you believe this." he says quietly before making his way towards the window and opening it

nini stood in place, watching him disappear into the night before she clutched her chest and felt her sobs overtake her, dropping to the floor and muffling her cries in her arms as she stayed in the corner of her bedroom, never feeling more broken or alone than she did before.