My One & Only

Ch 9: Significant Others

There are Better Nate Than Ever spoilers in the bottom notes, so beware if you haven't seen it and plan to! It's in the same style as my rants under my one shots during HSMTMTS S2. Alright, enjoy the chapter!

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A few days ago, EJ asked Nini to sit at his table for the first time since they started publicly dating. After a heated fight between the couple after he had the audacity to post their picture online, he convinced her that informing her friends about their relationship was bound to happen. She calmed down after a bit and forgave him since she knew he was right, but it still didn't sit right with her that he just straight up didn't listen to her about posting.

As expected, her friends reacted poorly to the news of her dating and spammed her phone with texts and missed calls the day they found out. Most of it was just questions on why she didn't tell them and how'd they get together, and some consisted of concerned texts explaining that she should wait a little longer until she dates again. She never responded to any of them since she was overwhelmed.

She did notice that she didn't receive any notifications from the one person she expected to have the biggest reaction, Ricky. She tried not to think about why he'd stay silent since he for sure knew by now, but she was too scared to approach him since she feels like he's disappointed in her. During those few days before EJ requested she sit with him, Nini sat in the library to avoid his disapproving look.

She decided to let it go since she's definitely been in worse fights with Jay and should be thankful that at least this boyfriend was willing to apologize and compromise. As the couple sat with EJ's friends, Nini kept glancing over at her old table longingly. She missed them, but she wanted to sit next to him.

"What's wrong, bae?"

Nini looked up at her boyfriend. "Oh, sorry. Nothing's wrong."

"You're clearly staring at your friends."

She gives him a worried look. "Does that bother you?"

He chuckled. "Of course not. Why would you think it'd bother me?"

She shrugs and blushes from embarrassment. "I don't know." She lies.

"Babe, if you wanna sit with your friends, you can. I'm not gonna stop you."

"Wait, really?"

"Of course. I'm not your parent. Do as you please."

She beams. "Well, since we're talking about my friends, I've been wanting you to meet them. They've been very curious about you. Since it's quite a handful of them, I figured I'd only invite two of them over for now and introduce the rest later to avoid overwhelming you. How does that sound to you?"

"I'd love to. You can bring two of them over now if you'd like."

Nini was thrilled that he was willing to meet them without a fight. It was super refreshing.

"Great! I'll text my two longest term friends to come over here first. I think you'd like them."

"And I'm sure I'll like them."

Nini quickly texted Kourtney and Ricky separately, causing them to look in her direction with confused faces. Nini mouthed "come here" to the both of them, which made them get up and head her way. Kourtney and Ricky walked side by side with cynical faces as they scanned EJ. Kourtney and Ricky took a seat in front of the pair, glancing between the couple.

Nini smiles brightly. "EJ, these are my two closest and longest friends, Kourtney and Ricky."

EJ smiled as he reached out his hand to Kourtney. "It's very nice to finally meet you, Kourtney. I've heard quite a bit about you, and you sound pretty amazing."