𝟐% 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭 [𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐢 𝐚𝐮]

𝚜𝚌𝟹𝟻: 𝚌𝚒𝚟𝚒𝚕... 𝚏𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚕𝚢 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗

      𝑵𝑰𝑵𝑰'𝑺 𝑯𝑨𝑵𝑫𝑺 𝑺𝑯𝑶𝑶𝑲 𝑨𝑺 𝑺𝑯𝑬 𝑺𝑨𝑻 𝑵𝑬𝑿𝑻 𝑻𝑶 𝑹𝑰𝑪𝑲𝒀 𝑶𝑵 𝑻𝑯𝑬 𝑷𝑳𝑨𝑵𝑬. She almost thought he wasn't coming anymore from how long he took to make it, but right before the doors closed he showed up, putting his carry on up and taking his seat next to her in the first class part of the plane.

"Hi..." Nini shakily said after a couple minutes of awkward silence between the two— his face was full of uneasiness, and she was sure it had everything to do with the fact that he was currently sitting next to her. She hated that she made him feel that way... She wished... She could take it all back.

"Hey Nina." He firmly said with a sigh, never even looking towards her to meet her eyes. She wished she could know what he was thinking— how he was feeling. It was not like he'd tell her the truth.

Or maybe he'd be far too truthful; she wasn't sure she could handle that at all. She'd rather him just lie. Maybe that was the real difference between them.

"How are you?... After everything?" She regretted the sentence as soon as it left her lips— but what else could she say? Surely they were way past small talk. Even that felt forced and strenuous. God, she was mentally bracing for impact.

He finally looked at her, but the love that was once a bright warm flame in his eyes was... gone. His eyes were now a muddy brown. She was starting to think she had imagined their warm fiery glow, but she very well knew why the looked so lost. "I've been better, but I'll get through it. I always do." He shrugged, looking away from her and seemingly unbothered but Nini knew better— no one would be over the news they got yesterday that fast. She knew he his walls were probably higher than ever now, and it was all because she lied.

She nodded. "I uh... I hope you have a good time visiting your dad, by the way." She genuinely felt that way— after everything he told her as Lily she know how much his dad meant to him, even if he didn't talk to him as much as he should.

"I hope the same for you with your mother. I hope we both find... whatever it is we're going to Salt Lake looking for." What was she looking for? After her confession her mind had been so scrambled, her perception so warped. All she knew was that she wanted to see Carol. Hopefully she'd know exactly what to say; she usually did.

"Right..." She smiled lightly. "Thank you."

"Mhm." He mumbled, fidgeting a little, and finding himself trying to look any where else but her. He didn't sleep even a wink last night— he almost didn't make it for their flight today, but now he was starting to think that would've been better than having to sit with Nini.

"Just go on the flight, put in your headphones, and block her out. I promise it won't be as bad as you think." Gina assured him on the ride over to the airport.

He sighed. "You really think?"

"Mhm." She answered. "She knows what she did was wrong. Or else she wouldn't have hid it. She's not going to pressure you to talk. She'd be crazy to pressure you to talk. She'll try for sure but I doubt it's gonna be anything monumental... Just focus on visiting Dad, okay?"