California Dreamin

18

As soon as she woke up, Nina felt it in her heart that something wasn't right. Her instincts were never wrong.

She turned to the side, expecting to see Richard next to her, probably still sleeping, but she only found an empty spot so she just decided to get up without making any questions to herself.

As she went into the living room, she heard Roberto say something like "honey what's going on?" followed by Ruth sniffling.

Then she saw the girl, crying over the phone.
"Okay... I'll tell her."

While Ruth put down the phone, Richard came out of the kitchen, looking as confused as Roberto and a still asleep Nina.

On the other hand, Ruth looked devastated as she pinched her hand multiple times out of anxiety, still crying. Roberto couldn't have been more worried as his wife just couldn't speak.

"Hey, what happened?" Nina asked, making Ruth sit down and pouring her some water as the two boys gathered around them.

After a while, she finally spoke up.
"It was your mother. Your father got into an accident this morning."

There was no need for her to add any other words to that sentence to make the two men widen their eyes.

"So? Is he at the hospital? Let me go get dressed so that we can-"

"No, Nina..." Roberto interrupted her as Ruth kept crying.

Then it hit her. She suddenly felt her head dizzy and a knot was forming in her stomach.
"It's not funny."

When Richard put a hand on her back, her sight went blurry as her eyes were filling with tears.
That was her last sentence as she stopped talking for days. Even at the funeral, she didn't say a word. Everyone expected her to read the letter she held the entire time but she simply put it inside the coffin that was left opened for the ceremony.

She didn't even speak to her brother who just limited himself by hugging her and not forcing her to talk. She needed her time and he respected that.

"Your father was a great man, the best friend I have ever had." Were Mr. Ramirez's words, pronounced with the strongest of the spanish accents. Nina knew Mr. Ramirez didn't know the english language well and she assumed that he asked Ruth to translate that sentence for him so that he could support her somehow.
That made her smile a little.

Outside the cemetery, she received the hug she waited and wanted the most. Of course it was not Ruben's as he's been the very first person to pull her in his arms. It was Richard's instead, under the jealous and annoyed gaze of Nancy.

She didn't say much to Nina apart from a "I'm sorry for your loss" without a hug or anything. That was the least she could do but she didn't. Over a boy. It seemed so ridiculous to Nina but she was relieved to see that Richard couldn't care less about Nancy's jealousy.

"You'll be okay, I promise, you're one of the strongest women I know." He whispered to her ear before wiping away her tears and leaving a kiss on her forehead.

Later that day, she decided to go back home, as her mother was left alone with herself inside a house full of memories.

"I'm not going to force you to talk but..." Diego started talking. They were laying on Nina's bed and staring at the ceiling.
"...What's going on between you and Richard? When I first left, you wouldn't even look at him."

She sighed. Not the best way to make her talk again.

"And what the fuck is up with Nancy? When you two hugged, she looked like she came out directly from an horror movie?!" He made a face to imitate Nancy like a crazy demon-like creature which made Nina giggle.

"Seriously I can't leave El Paso for a little while... What am I going to find next? I'm now terrified." Nina couldn't help it but laugh at her brother's words.

"Are they a thing or... please tell me they're not." He looked at her with sarcastic concern.

As Nina nodded while still laughing, he started making some whining noises while blabbing something about how they looked terrible together as they were the complete opposite and how he never liked Nancy.

"She acted like a bitch with me recently." She said after a while, causing Diego to look at her with a surprised smile.

"She's jealous of us and she made it pretty clear. It's just that...I'm horrible. Richard and I had a thing two summers ago and then I called it quits but lately...He doesn't look like he's into her that much and something else happened. We like each other. That's what's going on between us and it's just so wrong." She sighed at the end of her explanation, feeling more relieved after talking about it to someone that wasn't her own brain.

"And why is it wrong? 'Cause Nancy likes him? Come on. Don't you think that Richard being with her while having feelings for you is more wrong? You two like each other, Nancy should take a step back and go to hell."
He couldn't hide how he never liked her, he didn't trust her as she looked like some girl who only likes attentions and believes that everything is about her. He rolled his eyes at the thought.

"It's not that easy-"

"It is instead!" He quickly stood up, interrupting her.
"You should go take your man and he should stop acting like a fucking pussy."

She smiled. "Why am I talking about this with you? You're a boy!"

"So what?" He posed like a girl and pretended to check his nails.
"I'm the best."

They bursted out laughing and hugged. Diego was literally everything to her, he always knew what to do and how to make her laugh when she cried. He was her big brother and he really was the best.

//
I'm sorry for the sad chapter but I had to, you'll find out why very soon.
Also, I wanted to thank you for reading and voting my story, it means a lot.
♡