𝐆𝐎𝐎𝐃 𝟒 𝐔 | 𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐢 𝐚𝐮

TWELVE

"okay, we have to set some boundaries, bowen." the two were still sitting in ricky's car. the both of them had now turned around in their seats so they can face each other more comfortably. his eyebrows furrowed. 

"what kind of boundaries, nina?" he genuinely asked this, it just happen to come out sarcastically. the girl look at him like he was dumb. he patiently waited for a response, scratching the side of his neck.

"well i'm not just going to kiss you when nobody is around, am i?" nini said, rather aggressively. ricky had now caught on to what she was addressing. "okay, so that is one boundary, we are fake dating for a reason, only to show off to our family and friends." before he could speak up, the bossy girl spoke once again. "why are we doing it in front of our friends?"

"i don't know," ricky shrugged. "just to get the point across that we can finally be civil." 

"haven't we already got that point across..." the girl was rather confused. "are you trying to get in my pants, bowen?" she crossed her arms, narrowing her gaze on the boy in front of her. ricky started vigorously  shaking his head, denying her speculation.

"no, gosh no, nini," his common sense was quick at this one. he made it this far to become civil with her, he did not want to ruin it with that. "i don't know, i just thought it would be fun, you didn't have to agree to it." nini squinted her eyes at him one last time before listing off more rules.

"no feelings attached," she bluntly said. "i've read my fair share of books about people fake dating and they end up falling in love. that is not happening." her comment was very certain, making ricky rather intimidated by the girl. she was crying one minute ago and now she is bossing me around. why are girls like this, is all he was thinking about. "richard!"

"yes, got it, no feelings." ricky agreed once more, scared that if he ever disagree that she might bite her hand off. "i do have one question though." the girl raised one of her eyebrows, looking at him curiously. "like am i allowed to kiss you or.... just strictly hugging and maybe a kiss on the cheek or..." to say he was awkward was an understatement.

"you are so trying to get into my pants." nini laughed. she knew that getting with her wasn't his intention, she just like taking the mickey out of him.

"roberts, i am 'not trying to get into your pants' okay." he used his fingers to represent quotation marks as he repeated her own words. "i am just making sure everything is clear so i don't do anything dumb and you yell at me." 

"ricky, i am not going to yell at you if you do something wrong." she announced, fiddling with the hair tie that was around her wrist.

"it hasn't stopped you before." he mumbled, just loud enough for the girl to hear. he avoided her gaze, meanwhile nini was trying to get him to look at her. she sighed. what a way to guilt trap me. 

"ricky, i thought we had moved passed this," she started. "i'm not going to yell at you again." she pursed her lips, ricky was still avoiding eye contact. "you know that right?" nini softly whispered. clearly her words in their past really hurt the boy. "i told you that i'm sorr-"

"i know, nini," he spoke up. "i'm over it." a playful grin spread across his face as he now looked at the girl. she slapped his chest as she rolled her eyes. "so, girlfriend-"

she cut him off. "uh, you haven't asked me to be your girlfriend yet." nini teased. she clearly loved annoying this boy. it was her new favourite thing to be exact. ricky chuckled, shaking his head slightly side to side.

"roberts," she hummed as she was grinning at the boy that sat in front of her. "would you like to be my fake girlfriend?" ricky emphasising the word 'fake'. the two of them staring at each other, both smiling stupidly.

"how romantic of you, bowen," she giggled. "of course i would love to be your fake girlfriend." ricky put his hand up for a high five, earning a rather aggressive one from the brunette. "time to meet the parents!" she exclaimed, sitting back into the car seat normally. ricky kept his gaze on the girl for a little while longer, reading her facial expressions. she was nervous and had every right to be.

"are you sure about this?" she nodded as soon as the words left his mouth.

"hurry up, bowen." she said sternly. "don't make me regret my decision." ricky gave her a slow nod, before turning the car back on, only driving  about 50 metres to her house. he turned the car off once again, focusing on the girl who sat in his passenger seat, who was focused on the house off to her left. she turned her head so she was now looking at ricky. "let's go then." she breathed, before slipping out of the car.

ricky meet her around the side of her car. they stood side by side, looking at the house. "can you hold my hand?" she mumbled, not daring to look at the boy. he didn't say anything. hesitantly he inter winded his hand with hers. she was cold. the pair of them started to slowly walk up to the house. before they could even get to the door, it swung open revealing one of her moms.

a gasp slipped from her mouth, ricky squeezed her hand for reassurance. "hi, momma d." was all she had to say. ricky kept quiet, standing awkwardly beside her. 

"and who is this?" momma d said rather sternly. nini looked up at ricky, who was giving a small smile to her mom.

"this is ricky," she started, scared to say the rest of her sentence. "he is my boyfriend." momma d's mouth gaped open, her eyes widening. "and before you say anything, i just want to say, uh... that he makes me really happy." ricky's eyes were now nearly falling out of his head. he looked down at the girl, a closed-lipped smile spread across his face. she looked up at him, a breathe escaping her mouth. momma d looked between the two, in shock that she would ever bring home a boy, after she had told her that she couldn't.

"come in, it's getting cold." momma d hesitantly said as she stood off to the side, opening the door wider to let the pair in. ricky squeezed her hand one more time before letting go. but what took him by surprise was the fact that she immediately grabbed it again.