I Understand Now (Ricky Dillon Fanfiction)

Chapter 18

"Hello?" Never have I been more grateful and anxious at the same time to hear his voice.

"Hey Ricky, it's me," I say. "I need to tell you something."

"Ok, what is it?" Ricky asks. My heart crumbles at how innocent he sounds.

"Um, ok," I begin. "So...I was just talking to Mum, and, um....she doesn't want us to be together."

There is silence on the other end of the line for a moment. "What?" Ricky eventually asks. "Why is that?"

"Ugh, I don't know, I just....I don't know why she's acting like this," I manage. "Why'd she have to go and ruin the day?"

"Don't worry about it," Ricky assures me. "What did she say? Was it something to do with me?"

"Yeah. She said you looked like the kind of guy that was just looking for fun, and that you'd break my heart. She's never been so quick to judge. I don't understand." The tears from before are now streaming down my face. Ricky sighs.

"I don't understand either," he admits. "She seemed so nice to me before."

"She's good at that," I explain. "She can put on a persona for a while, before she tells someone how she really feels. I've known that since I was little. I accidentally broke one of her favourite vases, and she just smiled and told me it was all okay. But later on, I overheard her talking to Dad and calling me all sorts of names I didn't understand back then."

"Wow." Ricky is silent for a moment. Then he speaks again. "Surely we can find a way to make her realise that it isn't like that. If we're going to try and do that, it isn't going to be easy. Some people take a lot of convincing."

"Yeah," I agree, the tears on my face finally drying. "I'm just a little overwhelmed with everything happening so quickly. I knew relationships took commitment, but I guess I never really realised just what that meant. Maybe my fears were more logical than I realised."

"I don't want you to feel that way," Ricky says. "I want to help you through this. There are gonna be some difficult choices to make, but that's all part of it. I think before we start getting serious about this, you should let go of hiding away from the world about us. I think it'll be good for you to show everyone that you're not the girl you used to be, even if that has to happen gradually, over time. If you keep on trying to hide behind everything and keep it all a secret, you'll end up just getting frustrated."

I think about what he just said for a moment. Then I reply, "You're right. It seems like too much to do all at once. I think I'm ready to let everyone know how I feel about you. If they give me crap about not deserving you or something, then I shouldn't worry about them. I'm not gonna let other people rule my life anymore."

"Exactly," Ricky points out, and I can picture his adorable smile as he says that. Just thinking about all the little things about him takes away my fear and apprehension, and I am suddenly aware of how grateful I am to have him in my life. Now that I'm with him, something gives me the feeling that I will be able to overcome my fear, and understand what love is.

"We can do this," I declare confidently.

"We can do this," Ricky repeats. "I love you, Ellie."

Having seen many romantic movies and TV shows in my lifetime, my first instincts are to just reply with 'I love you too'. But I have learnt over the years to think before you speak, and to look before you dive. You might think it's pathetic that I'm over-analysing this when all I have to do is say four simple words. But I don't want to say something I don't mean and regret it later. I don't want to dive head first into something, and realise it's the shallow end.

I take a deep breath (which I hope isn't too audible), and say, "I love you too, Ricky."

I quickly hang up the phone before I embarrass myself any further, or before Ricky can say anything else. That was the moment. That was the one moment in my life that I'd been fearing ever since I was young. The moment where I'd have to say those three words to someone. I'd hoped-and pretty much thought-this moment would never come. But it just did, and I'm left here hoping I didn't blow it.

My phone vibrates only moments after I put it on my bed in front of me. When I glance at the screen, I notice it's a text from Ricky. I swipe my thumb over the notification and type in my passcode. The text says:

Thanks for what you just said. It really means a lot. :)

I smile to myself. I guess I didn't blow it.

...

Sometime later, I'm sitting at the dinner table with my parents eating dinner. I'm an only child, which is awesome most of the time, but can get a little lonely. Sort of. I guess.

"You seem awfully quiet tonight, Ellie," my dad comments. "Is there something wrong?" I look up at him.

"No, I'm fine," I reply with a smile. He returns it and goes back to eating his dinner.

"Was it something I said?" Mum asks. "I'm sorry if I upset you. I just had to tell you how I felt, because I'm your mother and I deserve a say in this."

"Yeah, I know," I assure her. "It's ok."

"What are you two talking about?" Dad asks.

Before I can say that it's nothing, Mum pipes up, "Ellie has a boyfriend."

"A boyfriend?" I'm almost insulted by how surprised Dad looks. He looks at me. "Is that true, Ellie?"

No point holding back now. I sigh and answer, "Yes, it's true. Surprising, I know. Even I still can't believe it."

"That's fantastic," Dad chuckles. "I'm proud of you, honey. What's his name?"

"Ricky," I reply. "He's new to the school. He came here all the way from America." My eyes widen at the last sentence to emphasise how awesome that is.

"Wow, he's a long way from home," Dad remarks.

"I'll say," I agree.

"Anyway, I don't think they should be together," Mum scoffs, and I roll my eyes. She just had to ruin the moment, didn't she?

"Why not?" Dad asks, always standing up for me. "This is one of the most important moments in our daughter's life. Is there something that this Ricky guy did?"

"No," I interrupt as Mum opens her mouth to answer Dad. "He didn't do anything at all. Mum just says he 'looks' like he wouldn't be good for me."

"Nonsense," Dad says, waving his hand in front of his face. "I'd like to meet this boyfriend of yours."

"Sure," I say with a smile. That'll prove to Mum that Ricky isn't the player she for some reason thinks he is.

{I'M NEARLY AT 800 READS GUYS WOW
Apologies if my chapters are kinda short. I always try to make them sort of long but it doesn't always work. (Which is ironic if you've read Annoying Wattpad Moments 😂) but anyways, I'm gonna try to make them longer from now on. Bai xx}