𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐍𝐄𝐖 𝐆𝐈𝐑𝐋 → RICKY BOWEN

seventeen → thanksgiving pt. 2

The car ride back to Reagan's house was silent; both teens with a lot on their minds. 

Ricky couldn't help but think about how upset he was with his Mom for moving on so soon. On top of that, he felt horrible for being the reason Reagan was at that party in the first place. It was supposed to be happy distraction for the two, but ended up forcing them both to focus on their own issues.

Reagan, on the other hand, was snapped back to reality tonight - for two reasons. For starters, watching Nini and Ricky interact the way that they did had proved to her enough that they were meant to be, and Reagan would be a terrible friend to get in the way of that. Second, Gina's phone call from her Mom reminded Reagan of her own, sending her back into a rabbit hole trying to figure out why she had called.

Ricky pulled his car half onto Reagan's driveway, before shutting off the engine. "So tonight..." he began, not knowing what exactly to say.

"I'm sorry-" both teens began apologizing, before being interrupted.

"You're sorry?" Reagan questioned the boy, "What're you sorry for?"

Ricky shrugged, "I'm sorry I kind of ditched you tonight, and I'm sorry I'm the reason we went in the first place..." he spoke, wringing his hands nervously.

Reagan gently placed her hands on his to stop him. "Rick, it's fine. I don't expect you to stick to me like glue wherever we go," she reassured him. "And for the other thing, don't be sorry about that. If anything I'm sorry. I wanted a fun night that would make you forget about your family stuff, but instead it just ended up making it worse," she sighed.

Placing his hand on top of hers, Ricky softly smiled. "Honestly, it's okay. I think I realized I need to just deal with my issues head-on instead of pushing them away."

"You wanna talk about it?"

Ricky unbuckled his seatbelt, turning to face Reagan - who had now done the same. 

"I think knowing she moved on so fast makes me question everything about her relationship with my Dad, and - uh I guess me too," he began, "Like was she seeing Todd when she was in Chicago or did she really just fall out of love with my Dad so long ago, that this is a normal time to move on?" Ricky began running his hands through his hair, frustrated by his thoughts. "A-and then me... did she not think to tell me about him? How long was she planning on waiting if I didn't find out tonight?" His hurt then turned into anger. "And you know what, Todd probably sucks. He sounded like a dweeb," Ricky spat.

"Hey now, don't say that. You don't know what he's like." She reached over to slip her hand in his again. "Listen, when my Dad first told Wes and I about Madeline, I was really confused. All this time, I had this very small part of me that thought my Mom was coming back, and he was waiting for her like I was. And so I told myself I wouldn't let myself get too close to her, just incase." She licked her lips, looking up at Ricky. "And now she's basically the only Mom I've ever known, and I don't think I'd be half the person I am without her."

Ricky softly scoffed, "Yeah but you didn't have a Mom. I'm sure you would've accepted anyone as a replacement."

Reagan raised her eyebrows, slightly stung by Ricky's comment. 

"Fuck, I'm sorry." he mumbled, "I didn't mean it like that."

"It's okay," she shook her head, meaning it. It was obvious that Ricky was really upset over this, so there was no reason to start an argument about something so small. "Listen I know you probably hate Todd, and are really upset with your Mom - but I know one thing Ricky, she'd never do anything to hurt you. You have to imagine how hard it was for her to come to terms with the fact that she was no longer in love with the person she thought she'd be with forever. And how hard it must've been to put herself out there again with Todd. I'm sure she wanted to be absolutely sure before telling you about him."