𝐆𝐎𝐎𝐃 𝟒 𝐔 | 𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐢 𝐚𝐮

ELEVEN

the rest of the pair's outing at the local diner was filled with laughs, really making nini's day a bit more better. richard bowen was becoming a good friend of nini's, although she would never admit to the fact that they were good friends, more like acquaintances, she would say. nini had now thanked ricky, multiple times for how grateful she was for him listening in to her complaining about everything and anything in her life. ricky was just glad that he could be a trusted person for her, considering only a week ago they had about 7 arguments a day. 

it was now dark outside, nini speaking up saying that they should probably leave, not that she had anyone to be at home with, but ricky did. she was being considerate. for once. a comfortable silence filled ricky's car as the boy drove her back to her own home. it was pitch black outside, yet a yellow haze filled the car from the street lights. 

nini took this time to think. about her moms, her school work, her friends and ricky. ricky was rather a popular topic in her mind at the moment. she now realised how mean she actually was to him. and yes he was mean back to her, but he had now explained to her that he was only ever mean to her because it was a coping mechanism for him. she basically bullied him and he always thought that if he didn't fight back everyone would think of him as a weak school boy who couldn't handle the cheerleader. she was extremely guilty once he told her this. 

nini's street was coming up, ricky flicking his indicator on, turning on to her street. her white house on the left hand side of the road was approaching, but what caught nini's eye the most was her mom's black audi in the driveway. "oh no." her stomach dropped. "please, no, no, no." her head fell into her hands. ricky was most definitely worried, pulling the car over immediately.

"nini? what's going on?" he had now pulled over, a few houses down from her own. he put the car in park, before placing his hand on her shoulder. she didn't speak, her head just stayed in between her knees that were pulled close to her chest. "nini, you can talk to me." his voice was delicate. 

"my moms," she slowly lifted her head, looking straight out the windscreen. she felt ricky's gaze on her, staring at the side of her head. "their car is in the drive way. they are home." she mumbled, now her head was resting on the head rest, but looking at ricky. "i was having such a good day, ricky." 

"nini, you don't have to go-"

"ricky, you don't understand." she cut him off. her voice was shaking as a single tear slid down her cheek. "i can't not go home. the cops would be out looking for me in the next hour if i didn't show up." she explained. ricky studied her face, concern was written all over his. this was the first time ricky had seen the girl cry. the night she showed up at his house, she had been crying, but she told herself that she wouldn't cry in front of him. yet, here we are. 

"i can come in with you?" his voice was careful, not wanting to shatter the fragile girl anymore. to his surprised, she scoffed at his offer.

"ricky," she shifted her gaze to look at her knees. "i promise you, you do not want to get involved in this." she played with the fabric of her matching sweatsuit that gathered around her knees, picking at a loose thread. 

"what if i pretended to be your boyfriend?" her eyes almost popped out of her head as her head shot back up to look at the curly-haired boy. oh, he  is serious. she thought. her mouth gaped open. "just a random thought, it doesn't matte-."

"that could work." 

never in a million years did nina salazar-roberts thought she would be agreeing to fake date richard bowen. on the other hand, richard bowen never thought that he would ever be having a civilised conversation with nina salazar-roberts, yet here he was offering to fake date the girl. 

he was shocked at her acceptance to the offer for two reasons. one being that she had just previously said that he would never want to be involved in her family situation, yet here she was literally saying yes to getting himself involved. although, he was the one who made the offer to. idiot. second reason being that she was going to introduce a boy, who is her boyfriend to her mothers after they have strictly said no to having a boyfriend while in school. 

"are you sure, nini? your parents don't even let you hang out with boys, let alone have a boyfriend."

"are you sure, richard? i don't really want you getting involved if you don't have too." she was being protective. she didn't like people even knowing about her situation at home, let alone getting someone involved. 

"i want to protect you." ricky simply said. " hopefully help put a stop to this strict lifestyle that your mom's have you under." a sad looking smile rose onto nini's face as she blushed slightly at his comment. it took ricky a while to realise that his words sounded rather boyfriend-like, his eyes widening at his own statement that was said too long ago for him to back track.

"so, you want to be my fake boyfriend to protect me from my moms?" the girl who was now sunk into his passenger seat asked. ricky slowly nodded his head up and down, looking everywhere but the brunette girl who sat in front of him. 

"seeing how much pain they put you through makes me want to help, nini. now that i am your friend, i think, i want to be a good friend, at least." the boy was almost begging to help the poor girl with her family situation. ricky really just wanted to redeem himself, he didn't want things to go back to how they were.

"are we fake dating just in front of my moms or everyone?" nini anxiously bit the inside of her cheek after asking this question.

"we could have a bit of fun with it," ricky paused, causing nini's eyes to flick up to his own. "why don't we do it in front of everyone?"