The Know-It-All

Ch. 13

Light.

That's all she saw.

Nini emerged from sleep groggily and there was a dull thump at the back of her head. It wasn't too bad, at least, so she could manage.

She looked around and tried to familiarize herself with the room she was in.

Nini groaned as a sense of déjà vu washed over her. She grabbed the sheets and tried hauling them over her head. They obliged to her request, although her arms were a little sore and tired.

The sheets left her feet exposed.

Immediately after she was engulfed in the warmth of the covers she realized something was wrong.

Alarming, even.

She didn't want to move. She felt fine as she was. She could have stayed there and fallen back asleep but something inside of her was yelling so loudly her ears were ringing.

But, dammit. The bed was so soft and she felt so good and warm and tingly.

Nini gave herself two minutes to relax and thankfully it did the trick. Her mind wandered off to the point where she almost fell back asleep.

She didn't open her eyes, instead taking a deep breath. Comfort and alarm washed over her and she immediately threw the covers off of her body. The light streaming through the windows forced her to open her eyes.

She was not in her room.

Nini blinked the morning daze out of her eyes and scanned the room for an explanation. There was a pair of sneakers on the floor next to ripped jeans. In another pile to the left of that was a light blue collared shirt with a wrinkled tie placed strategically on top.

The smell of the covers only reassured her what she didn't want to believe even more.

But Nini couldn't not breathe, so she let go of the breath she was holding and took in another whiff of faint musk and sunshine.

The brunette groaned feeling sore all over and sat up in Ricky's bed. It's just how she remembered it; messy yet clean, comforting yet alarming, tranquil yet loud.

There was even a pack of maple flavored gum on the ground.

Nini didn't want to think of how she got in that position. She yawned and actually felt a warmth spread inside her chest. Ricky must have let her sleep in his bed.

She wonders where he slept.

She couldn't recall what happened the moment she passed out. All she remembered was being too tired to hold herself up. She did, however, remember seeing the seething look on Ricky's face, full of anger and concern at the same time the moment she passed.

Ricky was nowhere in sight.

Nini wasn't sure if she were disappointed or relieved. On one hand, she wanted to talk to him. On the other, she felt extremely vulnerable.

Ricky was right. Elliot was no good. And he let her down big time.

She let her mind wander for a bit as she laid her head down on the pillow and pulled the sheet up and over her head.

She only recently discovered she found Ricky Bowen's scent comforting.

She felt giddy and a little happy but at the same time on edge and a little afraid. However, the giddiness overpowered mostly everything else. It was alright.

For the first time in a while, Nini found happiness.

It made her want to shove her face into the pillow and smile and let out a scream. At the same time, she felt tired and drained. However, happy was the key factor.