Ricky & Nini : After All

Chapter 7 : The Concert

Nini's POV:

I take a deep breath. Chill out, Nini. I tell myself. It'll be fine. Just have fun with Carter. 

Ricky runs on stage. His face hasn't changed at all. Only aged the slightest bit. His eyes, his smile, his curly hair. All the same as when he was mine. I catch myself staring a little too intensely, so I find something else to look at for a moment. This is one nice venue. The place was packed, I wouldn't be surprised if this was a sold out show.

He starts singing an upbeat song to get the concert started. I tried to learn some of the songs beforehand, but it was kinda hard to hear the voice that used to sing to me, sing about other girls. Like Gina. 

But that aside, his voice has only gotten better since high school. He deserves everything that's coming. I look over at Carter. He seems to be enjoying himself.

A few songs in, he grabs his guitar and someone brings out a stool. The crowd starts cheering. "I was hoping y'all wouldn't mind if I slowed things down. Is that cool?" He asks. The crowd cheers in response. He smiles. 

I can't help but smile as well.

He starts strumming his guitar strings. I immediately recognize the chords. No. This can't be happening. 

"I fell in love with the only girl who knows what I'm about..." He sings. My heart melts. I suddenly remember so clearly when he sang this song just for me. Not for a bunch of fan girls. Not for Gina.

"After all is said and done, I can't just pretend I'm moving on..." He sings. The crowd is singing along. And not a single one of them know that he wrote this song for me. 

I mouth some of the words out of habit. Carter knew the lyrics and was singing along. My heart was beating out of my chest, because he was just looking around the audience as he was singing. 

I was just praying that he wouldn't see me. At least not during this song.

"Maybe" He sings. I'm looking down at nails. "You heart still stops when.." He pauses. I look up, confused. He's not supposed to pause there. Our eyes connect. It feels like forever and just a millisecond at the same time. His jaw drops just the slightest bit. As much as I wanted to, I couldn't look away. 

"You see me." He continues. His eyes are still locked on mine, then they glance at Carter. Then back to me. I can still read his eyes like I used to. He's confused.  "Maybe it's worth another try. Better place. Better ti-i-ime." He looks away, flustered. I cannot believe that just happened. Carter bumps me with his elbow. "He must've recognized us!" He says. "I guess so." I reply.

Gina's POV:

I was just hyping Ricky up and jamming out from my place close to the stage. He suddenly pauses in a song. I follow his eyes and see someone I never thought I'd see again in person. What the hell is Nini doing here? 

Nini's POV:

I realize that I'm feeling a little lightheaded. I tell Carter I'm going to slip out to use the bathroom. He nods. I make my way through the row and out into the hallway. I don't actually have to use the bathroom, but I needed to get out of there for a second. I find a water fountain by the girls bathroom and get a drink. I go into the bathroom and get a paper towel wet. I dab my forehead with it, careful not to mess up the make up I kind of put effort into. I stared at myself in the mirror for a second and took a deep breath. It meant nothing. It's okay. I tell myself. Once I feel a little more calm, I go to push open the bathroom door.

As soon as I step out of the bathroom, someone rams into me. I meet her eyes. Gina. I can immediately feel the tension in the air. 

"Why are you here, Nini? Ricky's mine. You need to back off." She says. I'm taken aback, so it takes me a minute to respond. "Hi, Gina. It's nice to see you too." I reply, trying to get around her. She stops me. "You didn't answer my question." She says. 

At that exact moment, Carter comes into the hallway. Thank God. I think. He walks up to us. "Hey, Nini. I just wanted to make sure you're alright." "Thank you, I'm good." I reply. A genius idea pops into my head. One that will surely get Gina off my back. I grab Carter's hand and say to Gina, "My boyfriend's mom surprised us with tickets. No need to get petty." Carter looks slightly confused, but he doesn't let go of my hand. Gina's face was priceless. 

We walk, still holding hands, back to our seats. Once we're there, I mouth, "Thank you. I'll explain later." He nods and says, "Anytime." 

The rest of the concert was a whole lot less eventful, fortunately for me. 

Ricky's songs and voice blew me away. Minus the whole ex-boyfriend thing and the Gina drama,  I wouldn't hesitate to say that this was one of the best concerts I've been to. Purely based on his amazing vocals. 

Carter and I left the venue in the crowd of people and walked out to his car. I was not looking forward to explaining everything that went down. I mean, where do I even start? The beginning, I guess.