A light || Ricky and Nini

Chapter 24

Nini POV

The next day was Valentine's Day. I just knew Ricky had something planned for us, though he wouldn't tell me what. Apparently he had gotten permission from my moms to take me out for the entire afternoon through the evening, and even they wouldn't hint to what he had planned. The school day stretched long, but at the end of it, I reached Ricky's car first and waited impatiently for the curly haired boy to arrive. Just as I'm about to take out my phone and text him, I feel two soft hands cover my eyes, and someone leaning into me. "Hey" Ricky said into my ear. Immediately, I backed up into him and he let me relax against him for a second before pulling something out of his pocket. I feel a cool piece of fabric against my face, darkening my vision, and Ricky once again leaning into my hair. "I've got a surprise for you" he told me softly. "But I want it to remain a surprise." I giggle and I feel his fingers behind my head, tying on a blind fold. I then feel his hands on my waist, helping me into my seat. He leans over me, and I smell his cologne a bit more so I can tell he's putting my seat belt on. His fingers graze my lap a little dramatically and I swat at his arm. When he gets in the car and we start driving, I begin to get annoyed at the blindfold. "Rickyyy" I whine. "It's almost dark why do I need this?" It's true, we had stayed at school later for a drama club meeting so the sun was already going down. But I knew that I'd know my surroundings if I took it off and that's exactly what Ricky was avoiding. "Chill out babe we're here" he says with his soft voice. I feel the car being parked and he exists the car. My door is opened and he leans over me again to take off my seat belt. I shiver involuntarily and he leans down and presses a long kiss to my temple, where I can feel a faint smile that plays on his lips. He pulls me out of the car, and I feel him pull my hair to the left side of my shoulder. "You ready?" He says. I nod and laugh, but it gets cut short when I feel his nose brush up against my cheek, and him beginning to kiss the spot directly under my ear. "Happy Valentine's Day babe" he says, and he pulls the blindfold off slowly, his fingertips running through the back of my hair as my eyes adjust to the light again. And oh my god.

We're on our hill. The hill in the park where we've spent most of our days growing up together. Our first kiss, our first date, even our play dates where we played with dolls or coloring books. The usual twinkle lights are strung up around the trees, but this time, a blanket lays in the middle of it all with a guitar, chocolate cupcakes and roses. The sunset over the hill makes it even more magical and I'm at a loss for words. Ricky's looking at me, waiting for me to say something. All I can do though, is jump in his arms. I wrap him in the biggest hug I could give and I whisper that I love him. "I love you too Nins." He tells me. He leads me over to the blanket and he sits down, pulling me so that I sit in between his legs. For the next hour we laugh and kiss and watch the sun go down. At this point, I'm straddling him and I'm looking into his eyes. They reflect the twinkle lights from the trees and I can't stop staring at how beautiful he is. "I've got something for you" he says, his voice slightly raspy. He clears his throat right away, almost embarrassed. "Sorry you're just beautiful" he says while resting his cheek on my chest. I take the opportunity to run my fingers through his hair. I keep repeating the movements, his soft curls moving through my fingers and visibly relaxing him. He pulls back a second later though  and reaches behind him. He hands me a box. A large box. "This is so unnecessary" I say waving the box in the air. He laughs and says "believe me, it's necessary." I peck his lips and I open the box. I start laughing, doubling  over laughing, and Ricky joins in. "IT'S THE BARBIE!" I say through fits of laughter. Ricky got me the Barbie that he microwaved in first grade. The exact same Barbie. His laughter dies down a bit as he says "I figured, I was such a stupid kid. But I was always stupid with you? Ya know? And I figured that's something I want for the rest of my life. To be stupid with you." Suddenly, I'm not laughing anymore. He shifts me slightly to pull something from his pocket. He holds up a sparkling amethyst ring on a necklace chain. "Because you're my life. When I lose you, I lose sight of everything. So with this, I'm gonna promise not to fuck up big time, or melt anymore Barbies." He laughs nervously and I'm at a loss of words. "And I'm gonna promise to marry your ass someday. Because I love you. Every single part of you makes me a better person." His voice gets quieter. "And I promise, more than anything, that I will keep you safe from whatever you need protection from, and to be the one that is always there for you." I didn't realize that I was crying, until Ricky reaches up and wipes away some of the tears that have soaked my cheeks. I press my forehead against his, and I connect our mouths. "I love you so much Ricky Bowen" I say into his mouth. My tears are flowing freely and his palms rest on my cheeks. "I'm never letting you go" I say to him. He smiles gently and I close my eyes to get my emotions under control. He kisses my eyelids and all over my cheeks, wiping the moisture with his thumbs. He picks up the necklace with the promise ring on it, and he looks into my watering eyes as he clasps the necklace around my neck. "You're still crying" he says to me. I laugh through my tears and lean into Ricky. "You're messing with my emotions Bowen" I say. "Hmm well I can't promise to stop that." He says into my lips as he pulls me into another kiss. My arms move to grip his back and his wrap around me, as we press our chests together. We pull apart and look down at the ring around my neck. It sparkles amidst all the twinkle lights and I look back at Ricky, my best friend, my lifelong partner, someone I've loved all my life, and somehow I fall more in love. I move myself off his lap, laying down on the blanket and placing my head on his lap instead. He leans forward and looks at me from above, one of his curls flops forward on his head and I reach my arm up and brush it away. "I was going to play you a song" he tells me. "But someone's occupying my lap at the moment" he says. I giggle and wrap my hand around one of his arms. "Guess this'll have to do" he says as he runs his hands through my hair over and over again.