HSMTMTS one shots {Rina, Madlyn, Seblos}

Scared (Rina)

I like this one.

3rd person
Gina was scared. She was scared of guys. All guys. Her male teachers, male adults, male teens, shorter than her, taller than her. All of them.

Well except for one.

Except for her best friend, Ricky Bowen.

No one really knew this except for Ricky, her sister Ashlyn, and Ash's cousin EJ. No one would understand anyway. No one cared to.

Gina had her reasons to be scared. She had a brother and a dad, who let's just say didn't treat her right. Gina's biological mom, Terri, still visits occasionally, but now she lives with an adoptive family in Salt Lake City, Utah. The Caswell family.

So now Gina's walking to lunch, breathing only slightly heavily, compared to usual.

"Hey." She felt three taps on her shoulder, which was how she and Ricky had decided he would always get her attention rather than having her get scared and send her into a panic attack.

She recognized a deeper voice, which usually would scare her. But not his.

"Hi."

Some would ask "are you okay", but not Ricky. He knew she wasn't okay, so he wasn't going to ask. That's why he was better than the others.

"Let's get you to lunch." He loosely wrapped his arm around her shoulders, knowing with him she wanted physical affection.

"Okay."

•••

At lunch, Ricky sat in one spot beside her, Ashlyn on the other. Gina was not as uncomfortable with EJ as she was with other guys, but she still always would be a tad bit tense. Like she could hang out with him one on one, but she couldn't touch or hug him.

That was different with Ricky. She would hug him all day if he let her.

"Hey, this seat free?" A boy they'd never met asked once all their friends had arrived. One seat remained empty.

"Yeah, it is." Nini said from the other side of Ricky.

Ricky looked at Gina with a concerned expression. She was fiddling with her fingers and wrists, when he grabbed her hands to calm her down.

He frowned seeing the red marks on her wrists. She scratched at them so much. It was even a habit while she slept, especially during nightmares.

"I'm Christopher, or Chris." The guy said, reaching to shake a few hands. When he reached for Gina's she flinched back, heart falling off her chair.

"Nice to meet you." She mumbled, looking down, and subconsciously reaching to scratch her wrists again.

"No," Ricky whispered, the others now in conversation.

"Why do you care?" She mumbles.

"Because I love you." He said.

That wasn't the first time he'd said that. It was kind of their thing. He'd said it after knowing her a month. She never would've been brave enough to say that first.

"I love you too."

"Don't scratch." He told her, pulling her closer to him.

"Are you two dating or something?" Chris asked rather loudly, causing Gina to flinch.

"No, we're just good friends." He said calmly. Ricky kissed the side of her head, knowing she was so comfortable with him, that she was fine with nearly any physical interaction.

•••

"Gina, we can get him out of our table group if you want. He made you super uncomfortable, I could tell."

Ricky was knelt on the bathroom tile at his house while Gina sat on the toilet seat. He was rubbing an ointment on her wrists,  something they often found themselves in the process of due to her scratching and occasional turn to hurting herself.

"It's not a big deal, I've got you." She said.

Ricky picked her up, carrying her to his bed, and then plopping her down.

"Is there anything I can do to help you?"

"You might not be able to tell, but I can. And Bowen, you've helped me improve tremendously."

Ricky didn't make a move; he allowed Gina to do whatever she wanted to him. So she leaned in, and he nodded.

And for the first time...

They kissed.