what is love | rini au (completed)

ten

TW! this chapter is pretty heavy and may be triggering to some people

the music at the east high homecoming was blaring so loud that it could be heard in the parking lot.

students filled the decorated gym, dancing to the beat of the music

nini and ej walked in hand in hand behind jeremy and gina.

nini looked around the gym, taking the scene in and pinpointing everything that was different than when she'd see it on a normal school day.

"you look so beautiful tonight" ej whispered in the girl's ear before placing a kiss on her cheek.

nini giggled lightly "thank you" she told him before giving him a soft kiss on the lips

the two walked further into the gym, finding an almost empty table. there were only about two seats that were taken there so it was enough seats for all four of them to sit together.

"you want something to drink?" ej asked.

nini was still feeling guilty about the granola bar she had earlier and the last thing she wanted was to pile the calories of that fruit punch on top of that

"water, if they have it" she responded and ej nodded, heading to the drink table.

while ej was gone, a boy approached the table, sitting right next to nini. he must be one of the people who had already claimed the table before they got there.

"hey nini, i've actually been meaning to talk to you" the boy said

"me?"

"your name is nini isn't it?" he said jokingly before he chuckled and nini did too

"well you got me there" she said with a smile "it's just, we don't exactly talk much so i'm intrigued as to what exactly you had to talk to me about"

"i know we haven't talked since that day at the ice cream parlor, but i've noticed the way that you carry yourself is different than what i've seen before. i just wanted to make sure you're okay. honestly" ricky told her, fighting the urge to set his hand on top of hers as a gesture of comfort.

"so what i'm hearing is, you've been stalking me" nini raised her eyebrow

"no! it's not that it's just um— i promise im not stalking you it's just that you're popular and" ricky's heart rate began to pickup and he started talking fast as he usually did when he got nervous

"relax ricky" nini giggled "i was kidding. i know you aren't stalking me. but to answer your question, i'm managing. i know i haven't looked the best lately, ej already told me that—"

"im not talking about your physical appearance nini—well i am but you were kind of pale a few days ago when i saw you so i just wanted to make sure you're okay—like mentally and emotionally"

"that's sweet of you" nini told him honestly. she wasn't used to this from anyone except from gina. ej used to regularly check up on her when they first started dating but now she doesn't even expect it. "i'm okay though ricky. i promise"

ej finally returned with the drinks, handing the girl a bottle of water and he took a sip of the punch he had in his hand.

"do you wanna go dance babe?" he asked nini

"maybe later. you go have fun though"

"are you sure?" he asked her and she nodded "have enough for the both of us"

"so, how is it working at the ice cream parlor?" she asked ricky, trying to make some sort of conversation

"surprisingly therapeutic" he laughed "i mean, half the time the ice cream is too hard to scoop so it helps to get your anger out, putting all your frustrations into scooping the ice cream. besides it helps tone up my arms"

"sounds like you were meant to be an ice cream parlor employee" nini said and the two of them laughed.

their conversation continued to go on, both of them finding different topics to talk about, simply getting to know each other.

they had friendly banter here and there which made the conversation more fun and caused nini to laugh more than she had in a while

laughs that she truly needed.

they could've talked for hours if ej didn't interrupt their conversation.

"let's sneak out of here for a minute" the boy whispered into her ear

she really wanted to stay there and continue her conversation with ricky but she took his hand and followed him out of the gym, promising the boy she'd return.

the two of them settled into ej's car and he wasted no time smashing his lips into hers.

nini was completely caught off guard, but kissed him back. the way that he kissed her was so rushed, aggressive, and sloppy.

there was no love or passion whatsoever and nini felt herself getting overwhelmed, but the last time she stopped him things didn't exactly end well, so she just took it.

she allowed him to kiss her lips, down her neck, her collarbone and didn't even make a move to stop him.

she didn't want to ruin homecoming.

a tear slipped from her eye, wanting nothing more than to be out of that car.

not long after, ej reached his hands under her shirt, sliding it up.

nini grabbed his hand, removing it from her shirt, but ej just put it back a few minutes later.

"ej" she squirmed uncomfortably, but he ignored her continuing to kiss her as his hand slid further and further up her top

"ej i don't want to" she repeated

"come on nini" he kissed her neck, his hands snaking around to her bra "have a little fun"

"i said i don't want to ej" she raised her voice, removing his hands from her

ej scoffed " i thought you said you loved me"

"and if you loved me you would've listen the first time" she said before reaching for the car door handle

before she could open the door, he grabbed her arm tightly. she winced at the contact  "you're gonna regret this" he said before roughly throwing her arm towards her.

as soon as nini exited the car, she frantically went into the gym looking for gina and begging for her to take her home.

she hated ruining her night like that but she couldn't stay there for another minute.

nini didn't say a word on the way home

+

authors note

omg this chapter was so heavy and hard to write. like my heart literally goes out to anyone who has been in the position that nini was in. please reach out to someone for help!

how are y'all doing? i try to check in after all the heavy chapters so are we okay???

i genuinely hope she leaves ej after this because he's terrible and she deserves sm better.

also rini interaction! they're so cute already!

neways tysm for reading! i hope y'all enjoyed and i appreciate each and every one of you!

MWAH!