𝙡𝙤𝙣𝙜 𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙮 𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙧𝙩 • 𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘪 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘵𝘴

stay

[ nini gets betrayed by her boyfriend ej caswell and only her best friend ricky can make her feel better ] 

ricky

i can't tell if the goosebumps appearing on my skin right now is because of the cold night breeze or the anxiety i feel right now for nini.

for some reason, she wanted to go into ej's party without me. i have no idea what's going on, and she did tell me to leave but i have a bad feeling about tonight. why else was she so focused on her phone when we drove here?

i tap nervously on the phone in my hand. if i remember correctly, big red told me he was going to be at the party too. he should be in there right now then. maybe i should call him.

i dial his number and look at my surroundings while waiting for him to pick up. after a few long seconds, he does.

"dude, what's going on in there?"

"uh, i don't think...it's..." he trails off in hesitation.

"spit it out already!" i urge him to continue, getting impatient.

"ej...sort of made a big scene...he and gina...well," he tries to explain, sighing heavily. "nini came in on them and—"

the front door bursts open with a running nini coming out of it. she's covering her mouth, holding back a sob. my eyes widen in anger as i process what big red tells me.

"ej cheated on nini. rubbed it in her face too. he's drunk."

before he can continue, i end the call after muttering a quick "gotta go". my heart drops as nini stops in front of me with tears threatening to fall from her face. it looks like she wants to say something, but no words come out of her mouth.

i immediately wrap my arms around her and rub her back soothingly. "you can let it out," i whisper softly in her ear.

she hugs back and bursts out crying.

...

gently holding nini's hand, i quietly open the front door to her house—finding both her moms watching television on the living room couch. they're about to greet us, but they then see nini's condition.

she stopped sobbing for a while now, but she's still sniffling and her eyes are red and tired.

even though i've done this more than a hundred times, i nod to her moms, silently asking for permission to be allowed into her room with her. they nod back, and watch us head up the stairs to nini's room.

as soon as we enter it, nini immediately falls flat onto her bed, screaming into her pillows.

"hey, hey, hey," i say as i sit beside where she is on her bed. i place my hand on her back and begin to massage it softly. "anything i can get for you? strawberry ice cream? your favorite ricky hoodie?"

she slowly turns around, meeting my eyes. "all of the above honestly. but right now, i'd like it if you just stay with me."

my heart warms at her last words and i put on a reassuring smile.

after taking off my shoes (and hers as well), i get into her bed and lean against the headboard. nini immediately cuddles closer to me, putting her head on my shoulder.

a few moments of comfortable silence pass until i look down at her and see that tears are silently falling down her face. she notices me and quickly wipes them off. "i'm sorry. i hate myself."

i'm about to tell her not to apologize but then she continues to speak.

"i'm angry, i'm hurt, but most of all i feel so ashamed? i can't explain it, it's just..." she says. my heart stings at the pain in her voice. "he kissed someone else. in front of everyone. he was drunk, he couldn't even recognize me. we've been together for months now. it was perfect. and he threw it all away so easily. the worst part is? nobody cared. he didn't care."

i rub my hand up and down her arm. "nini, if anyone should feel ashamed. it's him. not you. you did nothing wrong. you need to know that."

i was so tempted to add that i wasn't at all surprised by what he did. after all, he broke up with his last girlfriend immediately after nini confessed to him. i'm not even sure if nini is aware of that.

but i bit back my tongue. she doesn't need to hear any of that right now.

"i do know that!" she exclaims as she sits up to face me. "i just...i thought everything was going well. but if he could forget me immediately just like that, then that means maybe to him, things weren't going well. maybe i really did something wrong, maybe i—"

"nini. listen to me," i interrupt her, noticing that tears were threatening to fall down her face again. i refuse to see her cry because of ej. not again. "you. did. nothing. wrong."

i poke her forehead with every single word. i can tell she's still searching for any doubt in me. but i continue confidently, "i know things are complicated right now. you didn't even get any explanations or answers. not like any of that would have justified what ej did. but still. it happened, and now you're forced to live with it because of an asshole who betrayed you."

she looks down sadly, but i hold onto her hands to get her attention. "but you're not the problem. he is. giving up someone special and completely amazing like you is his loss. not yours. believe me, you're getting the last laugh. didn't you mumble to me earlier that you slapped him?"

"yeah," nini laughs lightly as she wipes her teary eyes. my expression softens knowing that i finally made her smile for the first time after she ran out of that party.

"if i was there, i swear i would have sent him to the hospital tonight," i say teasingly. she takes it as a joke, but i don't know if i'm actually lying. "you deserve everything nini. losing ej...it hurts now but i'm telling you, he'll be the one sorry in the end. i'm sure of it."

i give nini a soft smile and she returns it. just for a moment, we lock eyes—but it's not long until she lets out a sigh of relief. "thank you ricky. really. how do you always know what to say?"

i chuckle lightly. "not always."

i can tell a million thoughts are still running through her head, but i'm glad i made her happier—even if it was just a little bit.

"can you stay the night?" she asks. "i really don't feel like being alone."

i give her a cheeky grin.

"i'll stay forever if you want me to."