*spoilers in description! please read the first two books before reading this one!!!*
"𝙩𝙖𝙡𝙠 𝙩𝙤 𝙢𝙚."
"𝙞 𝙘𝙖𝙣'𝙩!"
ricky and nini have had their ups and downs this past year and a half, but as they finally think they have their happy endin...
nini sat on the chair with a cushion in her arms as she shrugged her shoulders "i'm coping..."
the therapist looks at her with a warm smile "you know this is a safe place for you to talk to me,"
nini nodded "yeah."
it had been five days since ricky and the others found out about nini being abused and threatened by noah. he left salt lake city to god knows where, running from being caught. he bluffed about nini's dad being out of jail, and when nini's moms found out what had been happening, the called the police and made the decision to put nini in therapy to talk about her life and everything she's had to deal with.
"the nightmares," the woman begins "are they still happening?"
nini shakes her head "not really... they-started before-he came...so, now that he's gone...they're gone too."
the therapist nodded "alright. so then, tell me about what you did with your friends yesterday?" she asks
nini took a deep breath "uh-well, i watched a movie with ari and jacob..."
"what movie did you watch?"
"a spider-man movie," nini answered with a shrug
"what do you think that means? that you wanted to watch spider-man?"
nini knits her eyebrows together "i like marvel movies?"
the therapist chuckled as she shook her head "try to think of what that could mean for the next session okay?"
nini nodded hesitantly as the woman wrote in her notebook before looking back at the girl
"now, what about ricky? how's everything with him?"
nini smiled slightly "he never leaves my side, yesterday he face-timed me and stayed on the phone all night with me until i fell asleep and-"
she stopped when she saw the woman smiling warmly at her.
"what?" nini asks confused
"you seem happy with him," she said
nini blushed slightly and looked down embarrassed, making the therapist chuckle
"you don't have to be embarrassed nini," she assured her "you're supposed to be like this, a normal teenage girl with a high school life. these are normal things to be happy for. you're no different than the rest of the people in your school."
nini looked up and nodded slowly as she took in the woman's words before the timer for the end of the session went off.
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nini came out of the building, holding her jacket close to her before she saw ricky's car parked on the side of the road
she knitted her eyebrows in confusion as she made her way towards it, knocking on the window
the boy lifted his head from the phone, a smile spraying across his face when he saw her as he unlocked the doors for her to open it and get in.
"i thought my moms were picking me up and dropping me at the park." she said
ricky faked a pout "are you not happy to see me?"
she shook her head with a small smile before taking a deep breath and putting her seatbelt on, ricky pulling out of the parking space as he held her hand while the other controlled the steering wheel.
"so, how was the session today?" he asks
nini shrugged her shoulders "it was okay, she told me about how i'm supposed to have things like this, friends and a boyfriend and stuff..."
ricky nodded as he took a turn and they both arrived at the park where they were supposed to meet up with the others.
"she also said this weird thing about how me watching a spider-man movie might signify something." she said in confusion
ricky shrugged his shoulders "maybe its like a disguise thing, right? so, like, you don't have to hide yourself anymore or something."
nini looked at him with a small smile "since when did you get so smart?"
he winked with a light smirk, making the girl chuckle as he turned the engine off, nini glancing at the park.
she was a little nervous. she hasn't really spoken to any of her friends apart from her siblings and ricky. she didn't go to school for the past few days so that she could get checked up on and take some time with her moms taking care of her.
noticing her tense position, ricky turned in his seat to fully face her and kept his eyes on her.
"hey," he begins, nini looking back at him "it's going to be okay."
she nodded and swallowed nervously "i-what-what if they-ask questions or-if they don't like me anymore-"
ricky shook his head "they love you and won't ask questions. they're all here for you neens. we're all here for you. okay?"
nini looked at him in the eyes and nodded slowly as ricky smiled at her before they both got out of the car, nini holding her jacket close to her as ricky made his way to her side, putting his arm around her.
they made their way towards the group who were all sitting on the picnic blanket with the food, laughing and talking about things before maya looked up to see nini and ricky arriving.
"guys," she says, nodding towards the couple
the group all turn around and smile brightly at the girl
"nini!" kourtney beams as her and seb get up and rush towards her, bringing her into a hug.
nini flinched slightly but quickly hugged them back as she chuckled lightly before everyone got up and hugged her.
"how are you?" gina asks "really?"
nini nods "i'm getting better..."
"that's great." seb beams
"nice to see you neens," ej smiles, the girl nodding as she returned the gesture
she glanced up at ricky who gave her an 'i told you so' look as he kissed her temple, everyone smirking
"i'm starving." aria sighs
"me too," elena says with a chuckle, aria blushing slightly
"okay, well carlos and red brought all sorts of snacks and foods from his parents' pizza shop," ashlyn beams
"you have a pizza shop?" nini asks confused
big red nods, taking out boxes of food "it's a sort of family business that's been passed down."
nini sat down next to ricky as he kept his arm around her and made a plate of food for her, nini eating little by little as she listened to her friends talk amongst themselves, nini feeling nothing but relief and happiness. she finally had a group of people who loved her for her.
