A light || Ricky and Nini

Chapter 86

Nini POV

I can almost feel the tension radiating off of Ricky's body as we reach the church. All I can think about is getting Ricky through the wedding and through the reception in one piece. When we walk into the church Ricky pulls my hand and leads me to the last bench in the row. He squeezes close to me and he looks down at the ground. My mind is shooting through possibilities of topics to talk about but I just say the first thing that's on my mind. "I kinda wish the reception could be held at our hotel, just so we can go right up to sleep." I admit with a little laugh and Ricky looks up, granting me a grateful smile. "We'd get around much faster if you had let me bring my skateboard." He says with a light chuckle. "I'm actually surprised you didn't pack another one after I took it out of your bag." I say giggling and he leans into me, bringing his hand to my thigh. Before he can respond though, we're interrupted by Jason, leaning over the back of one of the benches to talk to us. "Why are you guys sitting so far back? Close family sits in the front." He says very matter-of-factly. Ricky tenses and I bring my hand to his leg. "We're good back here, Jason. Thanks." I say and I turn to Ricky, showing Jason that I intend to end the conversation there. "You guys look really nice." Jason says and I fight the urge to roll my eyes. "It's all him." I say, pressing my nose against Ricky's cheek happily. Ricky turns to me with a smile and presses his lips against my hand. "All you baby" he whispers and I blush. Jason turns away, clearly annoyed, but turns back as if he second guesses himself. "By the way. Mom needs to see you." He says and Ricky's grip tightens on my leg. "Mom?" he asks. "Oh, yeah she wanted me to call her that. But she needs to see you in the little preparation area behind the church." He clarifies before nodding at me and walking away. "Ricky?" I ask, noticing he's fallen silent. He shakes his head and I bring my hand to his cheek. "What's no baby?" I ask and he reaches for my hand. "No I don't want to talk to her. It's going to end up being a disaster." He says frantically and I bring my hand to his shoulder. "Okay, you don't have to Ricky. You don't have to." I repeat and he nods, his entire body scooting even closer to mine. "I just don't... I just" I nod and I rub his arm gently. I can hear the emotion in his voice. "I'll talk to her after. With you." He says and I nod, bringing my hand to rub his back. "Jason can tell her babe." I say before making eye contact with the boy and beckoning him over. "He's not talking to her before the wedding. You can tell her that." I tell Jason and he looks between us, interested. "May I have a reason?" he asks and I glare. "No." I say and he rolls his eyes, turning away to leave the church and talk to Lynne.

For the next 30 minutes I keep Ricky calm by rubbing his back. His nose is against my cheek and I know his eyes are shut as the church begins to fill. When the string quartet begins to play I hear Ricky take in a deep breath. "You've got this." I whisper into his ear as extra encouragement. He nods and sits up, but I bring my fingertips to the base of his neck and run my fingers through his hair to make sure that he remains calm. When Todd walks in, I see Ricky sit up straighter but when we all rise for Lynne, his body slumps in a defeated way. Walking through the church doors, it's almost like Lynne senses that we're in the back and her eyes meet Ricky's right away as she begins her walk down the aisle. The unspoken emotion between the two almost breaks my heart and I feel Ricky tremble next to me. His hand finds mine and he squeezes as Lynne smiles in a sad way. When she continues her walk down the aisle, Ricky turns away and I see tears slip down his face. I rest my forehead against his shoulder as tears of my own start to well up in my eyes and when I feel his shaky hand on the small of my back, I let them start to slip. When we all sit, I meet Ricky's eyes and the silent tears running down his face break my heart just a little bit. I lean forward and kiss his cheek tenderly and he brings my body closer to his as we watch Lynne and Todd exchange vows. During the ceremony I feel Ricky's fingertips drawing on my leg, and I look to see him extremely focused. As minutes begin to pass I realize that he's writing my name over and over again to distract himself and all I want to do is to get him out of here. The ceremony finally begins to end and when Lynne and Todd kiss, Ricky turns away and closes his eyes. The cheers and the applause ring out and I feel Ricky's face get close to mine, his breath of relief and his kiss to my ear. "We did it" he says and I smile, pulling him into a side hug. "You're incredible" I whisper as guests start to filter out of the church. He pulls me into a big hug and I laugh. "Can we just go home? I did the wedding." He whines like a child in my ear and I laugh kissing his jaw. "If you want-" I begin to say but he shakes his head and pulls back smiling. "Just a couple more grueling hours." He tells me. "You're so strong." I mumble against his mouth and his lips meet mine again. "You'd think this was your wedding." We hear and we pull back. I turn and glare at the boy who just won't leave us alone. "Jason, for the love of god, don't you have anything better to do? Your dad just got married." I say. He shrugs and turns to Ricky. "I don't know, do you have anything better to do? Your mom just got married." He says to Ricky and Ricky's hands tighten on my waist. "Yeah, kiss my incredibly hot girlfriend." He says and even before I can blush, Ricky connects our mouths passionately and we hear Jason huff, leaving us alone. This was going to be a long reception, I could already tell.