Her way ✧ (Richie White)

7.

It was approaching midnight when I arrived at the condo. "Richie?" I called out as I climbed up the ladder. "Over here," he replied. My eyes widened when I saw the space had been tidied up, candles were strewn about and Richie was sitting on a blanket with a box next to him.

"What's all this?"

"Leftovers from Tip's house. Thought we could share it."

I walked over and sat beside him as he laid out all the food. We tucked into mini cakes and slices of fruit. It wasn't much but it tasted yummy so we didn't mind. "Okay so, why did you invite me here? I doubt it was to eat leftover stolen food," I said in between bites.

"I've got something for you."

"Oh yeah?"

Richie stood up and grabbed an item from the darkness of the corner. In his hands lay my skateboard which he passed to me. My face lit up in delight as I cradled my board in my arms. "You found it! How did you get it back?"

"I broke into the house. Your board was in the basement, buried under their pieces of junk. I almost got busted by the parents but I ran before they could see my face."

Unable to contain myself, I placed the board down and hugged Richie tightly. My head rested on his chest as his arms wrapped around my back and my arms wrapped around his waist. We stayed embraced together for a few minutes. "Thank you, Richie," I muttered against him.

We broke apart to sit down and he said "I know how much it means to you."

I nodded and thought for a moment quietly. "Can I ask you something personal?"

"Shoot."

"Where is your dad?"

Richie stiffened with a frown. I hit a nerve, not intending to disrespectfully. I would understand if Richie didn't want to talk about his dad but he laughed with a scoff. "I haven't seen or heard from that bastard since we moved here."

I watched Richie change position from sitting to laying, resting his head in my lap as he stared up at me. Slowly, I began to play with his hair. "Do you miss him?" I asked. "Nope. He doesn't care about me so I don't care about him," he said firmly.

Ranting about his feelings, I couldn't get a word in. I simply listened. "He gambled all our money away. We lost everything. Mom doesn't forgive him, I think she hates him even more than I do," Richie chuckled "We bond that way. She's great."

Then he stopped talking. I glanced down at him. "Are you okay?" I asked as he sat up. "Yeah yeah, it's just that...Well nobody ever listens to me. Except for Carl, but I mean a girl has never listened to me like that before," he said.

"I like you, so it makes you more bearable," I smiled. Richie laughed but now I was the one who had feelings to get out. As I edged closer to him, the laughter simmered and he looked at me curiously. "Richie, do you ever wonder how people just" I clicked my fingers "Click? Y'know, connect with each other?"

"I guess so. Mom always says it happens when you don't expect it" he replied.

"When I moved to New Granada, I really thought I'd hate it here but then, I met you."

"What are you trying to say, Adrien?"

I took a deep breath. "I like you, Richie. I mean I really like you. It's crazy because we haven't known each other that long technically but I can't stop thinking about you. About the kiss. About how you look out for me and I..."

There was silence because I cut myself off. My face reddened and I avoided eye contact. The movies make it look so easy but truthfully, I was waiting for him to laugh and reject me. Go and tell all his friends that Adrien made a move and got shut down because I wasn't cool enough for him.

Richie didn't say anything and he didn't have to because he kissed me. His hands cupped my face as we kissed deeply, our bodies leaning in much closer. We broke apart momentarily, to catch our breath and smile at each other.

"I've never had a girlfriend before," his lips curled into a grin "First time for everything right?"

"Let me get this straight. You, Richie White, want me, to be your girlfriend?"

"Why not? It could be fun. Nobody would mess with you because nobody messes with me."

I said yes. I was happy, overly excited and curious. Curious to see how much Richie liked me, to see the things he would do for me as his girlfriend. We kissed again, Richie laying me back against the blanket.

His hands slid up under my shirt. "Wait," I was alarmed "We can't, not here. No, somebody might catch us," I worried. "It's night and we're in the fields alone. Don't you want me?" Richie replied. I thought about it. This was a big decision to make, was I ready?

Then I suddenly got defensive. "You're not just using me, are you? What if tomorrow the whole town knows and you decide you don't want to be my boyfriend anymore huh?"

"It's not like that!" Richie insisted "Look I don't wanna argue with you. Do you want me or not?"

"I need to think about this."

Richie sighed, but he wasn't angry. No, it was more of a disappointed sigh. He fumbled in his pocket before drawing out a packaged condom. "Found it in Mom's drawer. She ain't got a boyfriend so I took it" he shrugged.

I remained silent, still deciding, We stared at each other. I liked Richie a lot, and so far he proved to be loyal. I mean, he broke into a house just to get my skateboard back. I never asked him to. He did it because he cared.

"Do you promise that you won't hurt me?"

He nodded. "I promise. I'll be gentle."

I laughed a little. "No, I mean...Do you promise you won't hurt my feelings, that you won't break my heart?"

Richie promised me. I remembered that. We kissed, and he made me feel comfortable. Told me I was the prettiest girl he'd ever laid eyes on and that he didn't want anybody else, only me. I believed him. That was the night Richie and I lost our virginity to each other.