𝐃𝐞𝐚𝐫, 𝐂𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐢 - 𝐚 𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐢 𝐚𝐮

𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞 𝐪𝐮𝐚𝐭𝐫𝐞

RICKY'S POV

"how much longer are you here for?" 

i looked up from my laptop to ej who was sitting on island counter, chugging a cup of orange juice. "not long enough." i muttered with a sigh. "just five more days."  

five more days.

five more mornings of waking up to nini jumping on my bed, making us coffee and giving me kiss on the cheek before the cafe opens. five more afternoon kisses when her break starts, giggling as we chase each other through the apartment, throwing pillows at one another. five more nights of us cuddled up on the couch, watching twilight for her sake, not mine, before i carry her to her room because she fell asleep before the movie was over. 

i wasn't ready for it to be done. 

"geez, that's not a lot of time." ej whistled lowly, pouring himself another glass. "what's going to happen between the two of you?" 

running my hand over my face, i tried to finally answer the nagging question, but came up empty handed. "i have no idea, ej." 

after hanging out with ej last night, watching rugby and having deep conversations, the two of us became bros overnight. he's just such an easy dude to vibe with and an overall nice guy. he's super chill, and gina and nini are best friends, so while the two of them were in the cafe this morning, ej and i hung out in the apartment. 

"i wanna make a gift for her, i know that much." i spoke up firmly. "something that she couldn't find anywhere else, something that is uniquely ours so she can remember us by it, no matter where we are in the world." 

ej raised an amused eyebrow. "something more than the tattoo on her wrist, an entire article about her under your name, and the dog that's literally sleeping beside you?" 

sadie popped up, excitedly, as if she understood every word we just said, making me laugh lightly as i patted her tiny head. 

"yes, more than all of those things." i replied, before quickly adding in disclaimer (and a baby voice). "not that you aren't enough sadie babie. you are perfect just the way you are." 

don't come at me for being soft. you'd do the exact same thing if you had this flawless little ball of fur as your pet. 

"well, think about it this way." ej offered, putting down the cup of juice he had just finished. "what has been the best gift you've ever received, and who gave it to you?" 

i didn't even think for a second before i answered. "the world gave me nini." 

love sucks. i just want to point that out again, please and thank you. 

ej let out a snort, rolling his eyes lightly at the comment. "come on man, i'm engaged and i thought that was cheesy." he pointed out, making the two of us laugh. "seriously though. like, what, gift gift has someone gave to you that meant the most to you?" 

that was a hard question to answer. i never asked for gifts when i was a kid; only dog food so i could donate it to the local animal shelter. my mom never really gave me gifts, claiming that she didn't know 'what to give a boy that's something he'd appreciate', which was just a lame excuse for not caring. 

my dad, on the other hand, gave me my first skateboard for my seventh birthday, and that definitely meant a lot to me and still does to this day, but i already bought nini a board and taught her to ride it so there isn't much else i can do in that area of expertise. 

but there was one other thing that stood out a lot. 

"um, someone i was really close with once made me a photo album." i muttered, my finger going to toy with my wedding ring. i'm thankful ej hadn't noticed it yet, but even if he did, he didn't say. "it was full of key memories for the two of us. everything basically that made up our rela- um, our friendship and i cried looking at thing for a while. that was really meaningful."