underneath the lights || hsmtmts

beyond butterflies | ricky x gina

being in her first relationship had brought about a lot of new things for gina. some of which she had anticipated, and of course some that she most definitely hadn't even thought about.

the way butterflies in her stomach when he says her name turn into a whole different level of flustered when his hand grazes her lower back... that was definitely a new thing, and she didn't quite know whether these new feelings were going to fade away with time or just keep happening over and over again.

ricky and gina were at rehearsal with the others, but neither had to be on stage for a while so he'd sort of pulled her aside. "do you want to maybe... go someplace quiet?" he'd whispered in her ear, causing gina's cheeks to flush.

"yeah, yeah sure." she replies, keeping her voice down as well.

he takes her by the hand back into the green room, and while the stage door is roped open, the noise is minimal, as are people's sightlines from either the stage door or the hallway down towards makeup and costumes. anyone could tell you that as long as rehearsal was actively going on, it was a very good place to be alone with someone. or just alone, but the rumors of people making out on the tacky old couches over the years weren't likely to just be old wives tales.

she wonders if that's what he wants, but she also wonders if that's what she wants. she's not entirely sure on either account. sure everyone was busy on stage, but someone could come in and see them at any moment. even so, gina is more than happy to let him pull her down gently onto the couch, settling back against him eagerly and making herself comfortable. but that earlier knot in her stomach only grows as she feels the way his hand is resting on her thigh, his fingers at the hem of her skirt almost absentmindedly play with the blue fabric.

"you're cute ricky..." she hums, running a hand through his hair.

"thanks... you too." he replies, unsure where the random statement was coming from.

"thank you but um i was more talking about you bringing me back here, acting all coy... but then not doing anything."

"oh? you think i'm playing coy huh?" he asks, wiggling his eyebrows at her jokingly. "did you want me to do something?" that second question is clearly much more serious.

"maybe i did, want you to do something i mean." she confesses, and she watches as he adjusts their position so he can look her in the eyes, but his one hand almost immediately returns to its spot on her thigh and this leads to a quick little exhale from her lips.

she watches ricky grin, probably his reaction to the smell noise she'd just made, before leaning in to kiss her. his lips tasted of that ginger candy miss jenn and carlos brought in for people who were able to get off book for the rehearsal, and while she's not sure what that would turn into when mixed with vanilla lipgloss, she knows he doesn't care. or if he does care at least he wouldn't say anything.

gina sighs gently as she runs her fingers through his hair, sitting on his lap she's glad their height is equalized by the position. while sure it was fun to be dating someone tall, having to pull him down to her level to kiss him was annoying. this though, this was anything but.

one of his hands cradles her neck as he presses soft kisses to her lips, and he's distracting her from the fact they could so easily be caught, but what she definitely does notices is the way he's slipping that other hand up under her skirt. the kissing grows needier as gina presses up closer to him, sucking his lower lip between hers.

she wasn't planning on this when she came to rehearsal, and there was certainly risk involved, but his hot breath against her lips was more than convincing enough to keep her going. her skirt rides up a bit as they pull away from the kiss just long enough for the pair to resituate themselves, him laying back against one of the arms of the couch and her laying over him.

gina caresses his jaw, leaving light kisses across the skin as he gathers his breath, his strong hands gripping her hips now as she starts to move them. she craves more proximity, more friction, and he, getting a bit impatient, pulls her mouth back up to his own. the girl finds an unwilling gasp passing her lips as he nips at her lower lip, but if this was a strategic choice his tactic works, and he deepens the kiss, tongue dipping into her mouth eagerly.

she reciprocates gladly as they continue kissing, though now as his hips buck to meet hers, she's more than a little pleased with herself. her hand glides up and down his muscular torso and he's clearly enjoying the touch underneath the fabric of his shirt. she almost goes to remove it, but he stops her.

"not right now..."

she didn't think he'd be insecure, but he clarifies.

"we should probably keep our clothes on if we're doing this here." ricky explains. "lot easier to make it look like nothing happened that way."

"and the sparkles on your face would be from what exactly?"she asks breathily, giggling at his words.

"oh whatever..." he chuckles, but then it's not long before the opportunity to catch their breath is closed. she's now the one laying on her back, and ricky hovering over her is definitely a sight, his hair all disheveled... her assessment of his appearance is quickly cut off though by ricky's lips at her throat. gina throws her head back now, letting him have full access to the area.

"no hickies bowen or i swear..."

"i know, i know." he laughs. "besides, you're too pretty to bruise."

his words are sweet, but she's had enough of the flattery making her heart flutter. "you're sweet, but can you please go back to kissing me now?" she's not whining, but she might have been should he have protested instead of complying so quickly.

the feeling of his teeth scraping lightly against the delicate skin of her neck was heavenly and the kisses, gentle but impassioned, had her feeling some type of way she didn't quite want to think about too much right now. but she's not allowed to get too comfortable as ricky goes to kiss her on the lips once again, and she's happy to comply, giving him back that same warm passion as he'd been giving her.

this all goes on for a while longer, but as they have to pull away again for breath, gina looks up at the clock.

"uh ricky?"

"yeah?"

"we should probably uh... get ourselves together. it's almost 5..."

"shit. yeah. i'm actually kinda shocked no one's come looking for us yet." he admits with a laugh, getting up and offering her a hand as well.

"or come to grab their script or something..."

"we're supposed to be off book gina." he replies, doing a rather sub-par impression of miss jenn, but he laughs at his own joke, so she laughs along with him.

"you're ridiculous." she giggles, leaning over to give him one more peck on the lips.

"but you love it."

"i do- i definitely do." she nods, laughing a bit as she goes to get a comb for her hair from her bag. looking in the hallway mirror by the makeup room, she adjusts her clothes and her hair. perfectly polished gina was back in place. and ricky, ricky had fixed himself up too, but she'd hardly call his typical appearance polished.

"let's go." he grins over at the girl, taking her hand in his as they walk back into the main part of the auditorium, sitting down on the floor backstage with some of the others.

"where were you?" ashlyn whispers in her ear.

"green room. i'll tell you when we get home." she tells the other girl, smiling widely.

ashlyn grins, unsure what exactly had gone down, but excited to hear all about it.

gina just sits back to watch the end of the rehearsal, and with ricky beside her, she notices that she's got more than butterflies in her stomach, but also that a new calm has settled over her now.

{author's note: someone requested this on ao3... i don't know if this is like- any good? but i tried. writing this stuff is almost decidedly not my strong suit lol}