Baby Love ── RICKY BOWEN¹

twenty-three. save the show

.·゜゜·　　·゜゜·．

As instructed by EJ, I find Ricky in the hallway, now vacant of my dad, leaving just the two of us.

"Hi," I greet as I step towards him. Much to my disappointment, he isn't anywhere near the double doors of the gymnasium, ready to snatch his role back from EJ Caswell's claws. In fact, he doesn't look anywhere near okay with that. He looks upset. "What's wrong?"

Ricky chuckles sarcastically. "You can tell?"

I frown. "Of course I can, Ricky. I know you as well as you know me."

The smallest smile tugs at his lips, but it doesn't stay for long as whatever weighs on Ricky's mind persists. He steps back until he can lean against a table. "My mom came with her boyfriend," he explains. "And...I hate it."

Wordlessly, I take the three steps until I'm in front of Ricky. He gazes at me expectantly, seemingly waiting for me to bestow some sort of wisdom on him. I can't promise this is gonna work, but I'm gonna try it anyway.

Slowly, I lift up my hand until it's in his eye line, lowering all of my fingers until only my pinky stands. "A boy I know once pinky promised me that he wouldn't give up," I say softly, and instantly Ricky sighs. "And this boy made me promise that as long as I don't settle for less than I deserve, he won't quit."

"Mars..."

"Ricky, what your mom did is messed up, but you can't let that ruin something you love." Ricky breaks eye contact with me. Instantly, I'm dropping my pinky and instead use my hands to cup his cheeks, forcing him to meet my eyes again. "Look me in the eye and tell me you don't love being part of this show."

"I..." The words die on his tongue as he's unable to speak the lie. "I can't."

"Then why give up on it?"

"It's not just my mom...It's Nini." My heart drops, of course, it has to do with her. "There's an important person in the audience from this performing arts school she likes and I can't be the one to mess up her chances of getting into her dream school. I can't do that to her, not as a friend."

I frown. "Ricky, you aren't messing anything up." He scoffs in disbelief. "Okay, you know what, I'm breaking our promise too then." I drop the hands that cup his cheeks as I step away. Ricky's eyes widen as I continue to walk backward. "I'm going to go tell my mom that I was wrong and she was right. I'm gonna tell Mr.Mazzarra my original grade was what I deserved to get. I'm gonna–"

"Mars, stop." Ricky cut me off, pushing himself off the table to stand straight. "Mars, what—"

"Ricky, I mean this in the least cheesy way possible, but we've become a team." His features soften. "You go down, I'm going down with you. So you know what, if you want to tear yourself down, I will too. It's only fair."

Ricky stares at me for a moment, eyes darting between mine. I cross my arms over my chest at that moment, hoping that I radiate seriousness because god, do I need it. Then Ricky's lips quirk up into the smallest smile.