𝒉𝒊𝒅𝒅𝒆𝒏 𝒂𝒇𝒇𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔 ,, ricky bowen

scene one !

OPAL showed up at his front door holding a huge tub of cookies and cream ice cream exactly three minutes and twenty-nine seconds after he called her and had a mental breakdown. His sobs had filled her ears, clouding her mind, stabbing her like a knife piercing half-melted butter. She hated hearing it. Hearing his sadness. It broke her, cracked her core, and scattered it into a billion pieces. And so, that was why she stood in front of his house at three AM.

"Ricky?" she unlocked the door with her own key that she'd been given at the same time Ricky had been given his. The creaks coming from the staircase indicated that someone was coming down, and as Opal saw her best friend's converse step on the floor, she worried he was going to do something reckless.

When she saw his face, bloodshot eyes, puffy cheeks, tears running down his face, she ran towards him, hugging him tightly. His tears soaked her shirt, but she didn't care, all she cared about was making sure he was alright.

"I was such a coward, Bubbles. I didn't say anything back. I told her I needed a break. I was such a goddamn coward!" his knees buckled, bodyweight falling on the petite girl. She kneeled on the ground, letting him place his head on her lap as he curled up.

"You weren't a coward, Ricky. Trust me. You were scared and acted at the moment, and that can happen to anyone." Opal tried to soothe her best friend, rubbing comforting circles on his back and trying not to sob herself.