angels like you (rini au)

F I V E

~chapter five~
cw: mentions of anxiety and child neglect

Ricky pulled into the driveway of his best friend's house, anticipating to be met with Jane. He had been stuck at basketball practice for an extra hour and a half, which he had completely forgotten to mention to his sister. He just hoped his friend's mom wouldn't be too upset at the last minute request. She was understanding, but Ricky never wanted to push her limits. The crazy thing was, it was seemed like Jane had no limits.

He made his way up to the front door of the Caswell's house, ringing the bell for the billionth time in his life. No digit in existence could count the amount of times Ricky had been here. Anna herself was far too familiar with their home.

"Ricky," Jane smiled as she opened the door. "Hey, Mrs Caswell, how are you?" he greeted. "I'm good, just prepping dinner," she responded, opening her arms to him. She was a hugger. Any chance she got, she would wrap people around in her arms. At first Ricky found it weird, not wondering why she felt the need to hug him each time he entered his house and each time he left. But when his mom officially left, he realised just how much he needed to motherly hug.

And Jane Caswell was by far the closest thing Ricky could have to a mom. He didn't stay in touch with his real mom anymore. He didn't care to either. Something about the fact that she brought him and Annabella into this world, and practically left them alone to suffer while she went away to live with her new boyfriend in Chicago was something so hurtful to him. He didn't care to make amends with either of his parents.

Another bad habit of is: he tended to hold grudges against people who did him wrong.

"Thank you so much for watching Annie. Again," he said to her, as he reciprocated the hug. "It's no problem, I've done it enough times now," she joked. "Anna?" Ricky called, as he let go of EJ's mom. "Oh, I should probably let you know, she was complaining about a headache for a little bit, but it seems to have gone away for now," she informed him. "Do you think she has a bug?" he suggested, wondering what exactly was making her this sick. "Maybe. But she could be dehydrated, she lost a lot of liquid from the vomiting," she added.

Ricky nodded, as he waited for Anna to come downstairs. Once she did, she looked physically tired, and he sympathised with her. "Hey Bella," he greeted as she walked over to him with slow and sluggish footsteps. "Do you feel any better?" he asked, as he crouched down till he was at eye level with her. She nodded her head, "I'm hungry now."

He took her hand as he stood up to get ready to leave. "Okay, we'll eat at home," he told her. "Nonsense, there's plenty of food here," Jane interfered. "No, you don't have to do that-"

"That's bull, I already made dinner with both of you in mind," she argued with him. "No, seriously, it's okay, you don't have to," Ricky refused. "Ricky, you're eating, stop arguing with me," she told him sternly and he was forced to comply. "Yes, ma'am. Anna, go sit down," he instructed and she immediately ran to the table. "Good, I'm starving."

Ricky sighed as Jane led him back to the dining area, and noticed the guilty look on his face. "Stop with that face," she reprimanded as he sat down. "What face?" he replied. "The 'guilty feeling bad because other people are doing kind things for you' face," she said. "I just don't want to become too needy, you already watched Anna for me," he confided.

She looked at him with a sympathetic look, because she had heard this rant from him before. And she always gave him the same response. "Ricky, just say the word and I'll be here to help you, you know that, don't you? You're not doing anything wrong by admitting you're not perfectly fine on your own, it's okay if you sometimes need a little bit of help."