𝐋𝐈𝐅𝐄 𝐀𝐅𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐘𝐎𝐔 [a rini au]

- THIRTY!

she hadn't made the drive in so long that the route was almost unfamiliar. there was no traffic luckily, but the journey seemed to drag on. nini knew it was because she was nervous; after all, it had been months since she trekked over here. that emotional distance is what made it so hard, so strange to climb the sandy hills that erected the hollywood sign. a pilling yellow throw blanket suffocated under nini's arm as she ascended the terrain in the dark of the night. her canvas tote back dangled off of her opposite shoulder with every step, shaking the way her breath was as memories whooshed through her mind with each aspect of her surroundings. she was almost at the top, where the refreshing view would bring her back down to earth and erase her uncertainties, but her luck had run out before she could blink.

the girl's feet cemented into the earth once she processed the back of the curly-haired boy sitting on the ledge. he was propped on his elbows, body stretched across that same old blanket nini used to join him on. the irony was too chilling, premeditated by the universe, since it hadn't been that long since the grocery store run-in. fate had a funny way of working.

nini let out a cough, catching the boy's attention. "what are you doing here?" she asked when his darkened nighttime face turned to hers.

ricky's shoulders released tension, him sitting up further with a matter-of-fact shrug. "it's a thursday night," he deadpanned snarkily. "a girl i know used to say those were prime constellation hours."

the brunette's heart pumped, failing to realize the significance of the evening. it wasn't the importance of thursday nights that shocked her, but the fact that ricky was here. had he kept coming here, even after all this time? nini didn't want to know; it would only throw her even more. "that girl must be pretty smart," she resorted to humor to cope. she nodded towards the patch of dry land next to ricky. "mind if i join you?"

ricky gestured welcomingly to the space, nini then stepping cautiously towards the area and lying her own blanket out. she got her stargazing setup coordinated as ricky stared out at the city. once nini plopped down onto the blanket, placing her tote bag in front of her crossed legs, ricky's eyes tip-toed to her. the last thing he expected was to see nini here, and despite being weirdly content that she showed up, he didn't want to explain that every couple of weeks he would still visit their signature spot. he hoped if he diverted the attention to her arrival, she wouldn't ask.

"what brings you here?" ricky asked, moving his hands behind his back.

nini swallowed hard, taking in the city lights so she didn't have to greet her ex's honey-speckled eyes. seeing them in this setting would be too hard to bear. "just needed to get away," she sighed truthfully. she paused before continuing. "i got a call from the police department today. my mom was just formally booked. she'll be locked up for six months."

ricky's gaze dropped to nini's bouncing leg, the habit all too familiar to him. so was the way he used to cure it by resting a hand on her knee cap, which is why his subconscious was so quick to do the same just now. his breath hitched once his hand landed on the girl's skin, and when nini refused to look him in the eyes, he knew she was just trying to keep her composure. still, though, the pulsating stopped, just as it always did. once it did, ricky took his hand back for professionalism...or something.