Second Chances (Ricky + Nini)

chapter 14 - cocomparison is killing me slowly

[a/n: here's to Rini working out their problems with communication.]

Ricky and Nini really did make the most of their time together. On Tuesday, they'd had both lunch and dinner together, then spent the night binge watching a new series on Disney+. On Wednesday, Nini decided to take the day off so she could surprise him with a day out it New York City. She'd shown up at his place in the morning, with Bob in tow, and they'd taken a walk together at Gramercy Park and had breakfast together. Afterwards they had breakfast at NIni's and dropped off the puppy. Nini took Ricky to the Guggenheim and the MET, and they basically spent the day being art nerds. Then, they went to Times Square's M&M world, because Ricky was such a sweet tooth, before catching a musical on broadway.

It was currently Thursday, and Ricky had a job. It was an elopement photoshoot, and the couple had requested to be photographed during nighttime where the city lights would be their backdrop. Ricky loved the idea and immediately accepted the job, but it meant that he wouldn't get to see Nini for dinner. So, Nini insisted that he come to lunch with her co-workers. Ricky was hesitant at first, because he didn't want it to be awkward, especially because this EJ guy was going to be there, but when Nini looked at him with those doe eyes he couldn't say no.

He entered the diner and immediately scanned the room in search of Nini. He spotted her along with Kourney, EJ and another girl. He wasn't sure why Nini was sitting beside EJ, but he let it slide, choosing to believe Nini when she said that she wasn't seeing anyone. She waved her hand and he walked confidently towards her, giving her a hug and a peck on the cheek.

"Guys, this is Ricky, Ricky this is Gina and EJ, and Kourtney but you already know her." Nini chirped cheerily.

"Hi. Nice to meet you guys." Ricky said. He ended up having to sit beside EJ, because Nini thought that the three of them wouldn't fit, so she moved to sit with the girls.

Conversation at the table wasn't necessarily awkward, Nini's friend group was actually kind of awesome, all around great, solid people. Ricky had to admit that even EJ genuinely seemed like a good guy, he just needed to get past his jealousy. EJ was clearly into Gina, they'd been making eyes at each other throughout lunch. But Ricky had always been insecure of any guy who was close to Nini. It's silly, because he knew Nini would never betray him in any way, but it still bothered him sometimes. It's not her he doesn't trust, it's the guy. Even with Big Red, earlier on he often got jealous when they would spend time together without him, and the only reason he got used to it was because Red was basically his brother.

"G, can you scoot over, I've gotta go to the bathroom." Kourtney said, which meant that Gina and Nini had to get up as well since Kourtney was inside the booth.

"Well now that I'm up, I'm gonna go to the bathroom too. You comin' Neeners?" Gina said.

"Why not?" Nini said, sending Ricky a look to make sure that he would be okay, and also that he would behave.

Once the girls left there was a brief moment of awkward silence, before EJ spoke.

"What is it with girls and going to the bathroom together?" EJ asked.

"I don't know man." Ricky said, "Nini does it all the time."

"So you and Nini have been together for a while huh?"

Ricky tensed up. EJ was just talking normally but he felt annoyed by the question.

"Yup. 8 years"

"You're very popular around here, you know." EJ said, "She talks about you all the time."

"Really?" Ricky said surprised.

"Yeah. She even talked about you on our first date." EJ said making air quotes around the word date, but Ricky was starting to feel his belly burning. "She basically friend zoned me, and then got me another date the week after."

Ricky was fuming, and EJ could sense the tension in the air. "How long did you guys date?"

"What? We never dated. That was the first and only date." EJ chuckled, "Like I said, she friend-zoned me. Said she'd just gotten out of a long term relationship, with you I assume, and she wasn't looking for a new one. She said you were special."

Ricky relaxed his shoulders a little, but It wasn't comforting to know that this hunk of a man was ever interested in Nini at all. It also bothered him that she didn't tell him.

EJ noticed Ricky drifting away in thought.

"You don't think that I'm into her do you? 'cause that would make things awkward." EJ said. "I swear we only had like half a date, and that was only because Kourtney asked us both to come on her own date."

"You sure?" Ricky asked.

"Sure that I'm not into her? Yeah, she's like my little sister by now, dude. She literally said she wasn't looking for a new relationship, at all. Plus, I'm really happy with the person I'm seeing right now."

Ricky sighed in relief. He was trying to wok on his temper, and he wanted to believe EJ, because if Nini didn't tell him it was probably because it wasn't important to her, right?

For the rest of lunch, Ricky avoided eye contact with a certain brunette, still trying to process the information, but he could feel her eyes on him.

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Ricky was brooding and deep in thought. Nini could tell by the way he was avoiding looking at her, and the fact that he'd been playing with his food for the past 15 minutes. Did something happen while they went to the bathroom? Did EJ say something? She needed to know. So when the gang went back to the office, she told them she'd catch up with them, so that she could talk to the curly haired brunet.

"What is it, Richard?" She used the nickname because she knew it would catch his attention.

"Nothing." Ricky said. Then he countered that statement almost immediately, "Sorry. It's not nothing. I wanna be honest with you and talk about this. I'm trying to work on communicating better."

Nini smiled, noticing that he was trying his best, and took his hand in hers, giving it a squeeze.

"You can tell me."

"I was talking to EJ earlier." Ricky said sighing. "He said that you guys went on a date."

"Ricky-"

"I know that there's nothing going on with him. I trust you. It's just ..."

Nini squeezed his hand encouragingly.

"Why didn't you tell me before?" Ricky asked. Nini knew that Ricky had always been insecure when it came to her. He always felt like other guys were better than him. She wished he could see himself through her eyes.

"Honestly?" Nini asked, "Because it wasn't important. It wasn't even a date, Ricky. Not to me at least. I was doing a favor for Kourt, and we both agreed that we would be better as friends. Like I said, I haven't thought about being with anyone else but you in the past 8 years. Also, the date was such a fail and EJ is like my brother now, that I kind of forgot that's how we met."

"Okay." Ricky said, his expression visibly softening. "Thank you for telling me. I'm sorry, I just sometimes feel like you deserve so much more than me."

"Don't be sorry. Your feelings are valid too you know." Nini said running a hand through his curls. "Look. I choose you Ricky. It doesn't matter what I deserve or what you deserve. What matters is we chose each other, right? I made that choice 8 years ago and I have zero regrets."

Ricky's eyes lit up and he finally cracked a smile. She would do anything to keep that smile on his face. Seeing Ricky smile and knowing she was the cause of it was the best feeling in the world.

"Me too." Ricky said. "Can I ask you one more thing?"

"Of course."

"Can I kiss you?" Ricky asked shyly. They hadn't kissed since that night in his apartment. So far there had been a lot of pecks and kisses on the forehead or cheeks, but they were both too nervous without all the adrenaline and emotions.

"Yes." Nini smiled widely and leaned in. Ricky leaned in too and their lips met in a searing kiss.
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