The Dawn Of A New Day (Cricky)

Chapter 5: Getting closer

[Chris]

As always, Ryan and I are the first arriving at the garage for our band practice. "So how is mission 'making Ricky your boyfriend' going?", Ryan asks while trying to hold back his laughter. "Oh shut up!", I glare at him. "We are playing some video games today after practice", I shrug. Ryan looks at me and facepalms, "Dude, I told you to ASK HIM OUT, and not to chill with him like two bros would". "I know, I know", I say while putting my hands up and running my right hand through my hair, "I just don't want to ruin things, you know. He is so happy to have some friends here, and I think he only sees me as a friend...", I trail off. Just as Ryan wants to answer Justin arrives, so we change the topic. Soon after, Vinny and Ricky enter the garage talking about some new video game. "Yeah man, let's play it sometime, it's so awesome!", Vinny says, while gesturing like a mad man. "Yeah dude, sounds cool", Ricky smiles at him, before looking at me and giving me a small wave. My heart starts beating faster and I grin. I don't even have to turn my head to see the way Ryan is looking at me.

Band practice runs smoothly, and we even started recording a new song. After we ordered some food and talked about random stuff, Ricky and I are on our way to my apartment.

"Ready to get your ass kicked?", he asks while turning on my Xbox. I just smile at him and nod. I just love how he can be so cocky while at the same time being so shy. Unfortunately, he really kicked my ass. Who would have thought that he is that fucking good at playing those stupid video games? We play for a few hours before he goes back to his apartment. I really had a great time, but it's probably better if we just stay friends, I think before going to bed.

[Ricky]

Chris is just the sweetest guy ever, I'm pretty sure he lost purposely. No one can be that bad at playing video games. I really like him but I'm not sure if I'm ready for a relationship. Jake really destroyed me, and I don't even know if I will ever be able to love again. Well, I don't even know how a normal relationship looks like. For Jake, I was just there to please him and do as he told me. I know Chris would never do this, but he definitely deserves someone better, someone that is not as broken as me.

Time skip

[Ricky]

The last few weeks were awesome, I really like my new life here in Scranton. The days at work with Josh are always hilarious and sometimes he hangs out with me and the band. Then, they tell me all the fun stories from their childhood and try to embarrass Chris as much as possible. 

I also got closer to Vinny, we spend a lot of time together playing video games. Vinny is just the funniest person ever. No matter what happened and how bad your mood is, he is always able to make you laugh. Everyone needs a friend like him in their lives. I also learned that Chris is just awful at video games, and he didn't lose on purpose. Vinny, on the other hand, is a fucking master at all kinds of video games. I think he spends all his time gaming or sleeping. Or playing drums of course. I also spend a lot of time with Chris. I already know a lot about him and his past, but I rarely talk about my past. It's not that I don't trust him, I do. But I don't want him to see me in a different way. 

So all in all, my life is really good right now, well if you ignore my nightmares. They are getting worse lately, it's always about Jake who somehow finds me. This night it was extremely awful. I woke up shaking and crying and I still haven't fully calmed down. I pick up my phone and see it's just shortly after midnight. Maybe Chris is still awake, I think. I really need someone to distract me.

Ricky: you awake?

Chris: yeah, what's up?

Ricky: can I call you?

Chris reads the message immediately. Instead of answering, he calls me. I pick up and he asks what happened with a worried tone. I sigh, "Nothing, I just can't sleep", I decide it's probably best to be honest with him, "I had a pretty bad nightmare and now I can't fall asleep". "Shit, I'm sorry, do you want to talk about – ". "NO!", I interrupt him before he can even finish asking, "I'm sorry", I add, but the last thing I want is to think about Jake and my nightmares right now. "No, it's fine. What can I do to help, do you want me to come over?". Fuck, he is so sweet. "No", I repeat in a softer voice, "can you maybe just talk to me, I don't know, maybe tell me a story?", I ask shyly. "Sure", he says in a soft tone and begins telling me random stories. His voice is just so soothing, that my eyes are getting heavier, and I slowly drift back to sleep.

[Chris]

I talk about the most random stuff, hoping that this will help Ricky. Soon I hear that his breathing is calm again and I realize he fell asleep. "I wish you would tell me what happened", I whisper before hanging up. Fuck, I just want to help him. We know each other quite a time now and I would say we are pretty close friends and that we can trust each other, but Ricky still refuses to open up. He is trying to fight all his demons be himself and I'm worried that this will break him eventually.

Over the next few days nothing changes, we go to band practice, hang out and every few nights he calls me, so I talk to him until he falls back asleep. I really have to figure out how I can help him.