Two Reasons

Worst Day Ever

Please Note: This chapter is completely canon to the scene at Nini's house where Ricky plans to stay the night - the AU part starts in Chapter 2.

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After what seemed like the worst possible day, the last thing Nini wanted to do was interact with anyone. She had already turned off her phone and locked herself in her room. The only thing that could provide her solace at this point was her keyboard. She was feeling oddly inspired – but you know what they say, pain draws the most inspiration (or something of that sort.)

She took a deep breath, and started playing therapeutic chords on her piano.

"I found a guy, told me I was a star
He held the door, held my hand in the dark
And he's perfect on paper, but he's lying to my face
Does he think that I'm the kinda girl who needs to be saved?"

Nini continued with her chords, lost in a trance until she heard a familiar voice yell "Thanks Carol!" and shut the bathroom door. She lifted her hands off the keyboard, trying to process what she just heard, before cautiously leaving her room. Walking through the hallway past the bathroom, she observed the bathroom door was still shut, pausing for a moment in front of the door. With a suspicious expression, she continued to make her way down the stairs and noticed her Mom was placing blankets and a pillow on the living room couch.

"Uh, hey Mom."

"Hey there," Her Mom responded in an unnatural tone, her eyes glancing towards the floor in front of her, almost in a guilty way.

Nini was about to take a step closer before she followed her Mother's gaze and noticed a pair of bright blue sneakers sitting in the doorway.

"Whose are those?" Nini prodded, and her mother responded hesitantly. "Ricky's..."

Starting to feel a stitch of annoyance at the conversation, Nini continued to prod before moving closer towards her Mom. "Why are they here?"

Her Mom's eyes did not meet Nini's as she responded, finally giving the forward answer Nini was looking for. "Because the rest of him is in the bathroom changing into pyjamas...or whatever else I gave him to wear."

Nini's mouth dropped slightly as she softly pled, "Mom-" before her Mother interrupted her, hands raising slightly as if to say "listen".

"There's something going on at home... his Mom is back, but... I don't think she is going to stay very long." Nini sighed, listening to her Mom continue to explain. "And I talked to his Dad, and he said he's fine with him spending the night-"

"Spending the night?!" Nini repeated in disbelief. Had her own mother not been paying attention to her daughter's life these days? Hearing a door shut from upstairs, her mother flinched as Nini continued to plead, "Mom, no... I can't deal with any more drama today, please... I have had the worst day ever."

Her Mom sympathetically nodded, softening her tone. "Sweetie... I'm guessing not as bad as his."

Nini suddenly felt a pang of guilt, nodding slowly and dropping her gaze to the floor before hearing footsteps down the stairs and turning around to see Ricky, in an oversized SLC Pride t-shirt with sweatpants that were clearly not his style.

"Hey," Ricky broke the silence hesitantly, holding onto the door frame.

"Well, I gotta say... that looks better on you than it does on me." Carol complimented, with a pleasant smile as Ricky blushed, chuckling as he looked down at the shirt.

"Uh, It's kinda comfy," He retorted brightly, in which Carol responded, "So are my birkenstocks, but let's draw the line there."

Ricky nodded curtly at the joke and Nini smiled at her Mom, who never missed an opportunity to make a "Mom joke". Carol's glance met Nini's before she realized it was best to let her daughter and him have a moment. "Well then... sleep tight." She smiled again at Ricky sympathetically, patting him on the shoulder as he earnestly thanked her for everything.