Two Reasons

Fight or Flight

This is my take on what could have happened if Nini found Ricky before he left her house in Episode 1x04.

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Nini's heart and mind were racing as she finally had a moment to breathe upstairs, as she opened the closet door, looking for an additional pillow. She stared blankly at the pillows for a moment, trying to process what had just happened. A moment later, her thoughts were interrupted and she practically jumped out of her skin, as she heard the front door shut noisily.

Her eyes closed as she took a deep breath. Of course. Why would Ricky have any desire to stay now that she made things even more awkward?

A random memory of English class earlier that week crossed her mind. The concept of the Fight or Flight Instinct- Ricky was simply doing what he does best. But the real question was: what did Nini do best? Shut people out. Was that not the same as "flight"? Were her and Ricky more similar than she thought, in a backwards, twisted way?

Suddenly Nini rushed down the stairs, slipping into her Bunny slippers that were left out in the hallway and swung open the front door. Ricky was standing at the bottom of her porch, putting his helmet on, with his skateboard leaning against the stairs.

"Ricky, wait..." Nini blurted out, exasperated.

He turned away, shaking his head as he clipped in his helmet. "I- I can't stay. I messed everything up. Again."

She sighed as she made her way down the stairs to where he was standing. "Please don't go... not like this."

Ricky's tone shifted from shame to frustration. "Why, Nini?" He let out an almost cold laugh. "Don't make this harder than it needs to be, okay?" Ricky's emotions were all out on the table, and if he was feeling vulnerable before - he was feeling about 300 times more vulnerable now.

Nini was at a loss for words, opening her mouth to say something and closing it again. She had never seen Ricky like this and for once, she did not know what to do or say to make him feel better.

"Look," Ricky took a deep breath, his tone more dejected than any other emotion. "I appreciate you and your Mom being there for me, I just... consider this me taking responsibility for messing things up. I don't have a reason to stay." At this point, Ricky was so physically and emotionally tired that he could not even make sense of his own words – they just came out like proverbial word vomit.

Nini chewed the inside of her cheek slightly, wracking her brain for some way to take his mind off of what had happened. "Well, I can think of two reasons to stay."

Ricky's brow furrowed, confused at where Nini was going with her statement as he noticed her tone shifted. "Why...?"

Thinking on her feet, Nini grabbed his skateboard briskly and hugged it close to her. "You have no way to get home now."

Ricky's eyes shifted back and forth slowly, before he let out a chuckle at her efforts to cheer him up. "I still have feet, Nini."

"Yeah... flat feet that hurt after walking for more than fifteen minutes at a time." She joked, gesturing towards the skateboard in her hands. "Isn't that why you got this thing in the first place?"

Ricky's mouth twisted slightly. "You've always had a good memory; I'll give you that." He stepped towards her, reaching for the skateboard. "And I'll take that back now, thank you." As he reached towards her, Nini rotated her torso away from him.

"Sorry – it's mine now." She shrugged her shoulders matter-of-factly.

The tenseness in Ricky's body (and mind) had started to fade as he thought of ways to bounce off her quips - she was always good at those.

"Last time I checked, you said you'd never dream of trading in your scooter for a skateboard." Ricky countered, raising his eyebrows slightly.

She nodded, thinking back to the time she had said that. "Uh, if I recall correctly that was last spring... I'm grown now."

Ricky threw his head back slightly with a laugh at her response. "Says the one wearing the bunny slippers."

Nini gasped dramatically at the mention of her bunny slippers. "Oh you're definitely not getting this back now. Nope. Nope." She hugged the skateboard stiffly and started walking towards the garage, as if she was putting the skateboard away for safekeeping.

"Nice try." Ricky said with a subtle smirk. All of a sudden, Nini started running towards her garage, letting out a maniacal laugh. Ricky called out "Hey!" as he ran after her, only taking about ten seconds to fully catch up. He wrapped his arms around Nini, trying to wrestle the skateboard out of her grip as she held onto it tighter, both of them now laughing at the silliness of the moment.

Their laughter faded as Ricky kept his arms wrapped around her, no longer attempting to get the skateboard out of her hands. Nini did not resist his embrace, her torso started to relax and felt herself melting into his arms. She found her mind trailing back to the concept of fight or flight. She was not going to fight this moment, and she was not going to escape this moment - no matter how confusing the emotions were that went along with it.

Nini was unsure how long she stood still in his embrace before Ricky broke the silence.

"So... what was the second reason?" Ricky paused, before clarifying his question. "For me to stay?"

Nini smiled to herself, before finally turning around to face him. The tension between them ten minutes earlier felt light years away. It was interesting how things could change so quickly; for better, or for worse.

"Chocolate Chip Pancakes. Tomorrow morning. One time and one time only."

Ricky's eyes brightened at the mention of Carol's special pancake recipe. "For real?"

"I can say with certainty that Mom will veer away from her Keto Cookbook this time. And for that, I am thankful." Nini nodded confidently, with a chuckle.

"Well, you know I can't refuse Carol's Chocolate Chip Pancakes." Ricky said matter-of-factly with a shrug of his shoulders.

Nini beamed, before noticing the time on the old clock in the garage. "Let's go back in, it's getting kind of late." She gestured towards the house, and Ricky nodded and followed her inside.

For once this evening, he found himself unable to stop the smile from spreading across his face.

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