sun without rain - rini

pain you cannot see.

"so, um this is my old house" ricky says. they stand outside the house. it's small, with and overgrown tree and large bushes. nini remembers. there was a period of time in 6th grade when ricky moved. his father had a job offer a few hours out of salt lake. the worst 8 months of her life. she takes his hand as tears stream down his face. "we can go ricky, you shouldn't have to experience thi-" "it's fine, one last hurrah you know?" he squeezes nini's hand as he starts to walk up to the front steps. "ricky what are you doing?" nini says, obviously concerned. "no one has lived here since we left. our stuff is still in there" he takes a rusty key out of his pocket and opens the front door. graffiti, broken chairs. smashed windows. nini has no words. "was it like this when you lived here?" she says, wiping tears from his eyes. "no.. not this bad at least". nini observes the rooms. broken walls, dirt and dust covering anything that it could. "i thought your dad got a job?" "no, they wanted to get me away from.. you". tears form in the small girls and eyes. "my parents were addicts, when i was really little. they got sober but they still didn't ever want me around you. around your moms, actually... until i just started leaving." nini takes the boy in her arms, her arms around his neck. she cups his face in her hands. "i will never, ever leave you again ricky". she kisses him.

ricky takes her hand again and leads her through to room, near the back of the house. inside is a mattress, a night light and some clothes hanging up in the closet. the walls are covered in posters of football teams and skaters. rickys bedroom. "so, my room". nini's eyes fill with tears, and for the first time, she breaks down. ricky takes her in his embrace, running his hands through her hair, as his eyes also fill with tears. "this is fucked up, ricky... this is everything?" "yeah.. i had some stuffed animals too but my mom threw them out. said i was too old for them". ricky walks over to the small closet and pulls out a box hidden behind some shoes. he opens it to find a small blanket and an envelope. no breaks down again. it's the blanket nini's mom made for them when they were little, nini had the same one, and the letter nini wrote ricky when he moved. "you kept it" "yeah, it was all i had left of you". he puts the lid back on before heading out of the room, nearing the front door. nini stays inside his bedroom. "cmon nini, this is what i wanted to get". he sits in the car, waiting for nini. "what do want to do with this?" she says, holding up the key. "just put it under the door. i might call up and sell the house, maybe get some money for college at least" she nods, puts the key under the door and gets in the car.

when they arrive home, the sun has set. "i need clothes, i'll go home and ge-" "no fucking way you are going home. let's go to the mall, i'll get you some" "nini, i can't let yo-" "no arguing bowen, cmon" she grabs his hand and they drive off, once again".

when they get home, they find an unfamiliar car parked outside, in nini's usual spot. nini and ricky go inside the house, and a few minutes later, the doorbell rings. "are you richard bowen?" the lady asks. "uh yeah, come in" "hi, i'm kathy, with CPS, we're just here to ask some questions. are your carers home?" "uh no, they had to travel out of town today, but i've got nini" he says, pointing to her. "okay, these might get personal, but it's okay if you don't want to answer, we just want to help you find a safe home, okay?" "yeah.. that's fine". they sit at the table, kathy asking pretty ordinary questions, like his early life and his parents drinking patterns. "so, we are going to look for any extended family, and you will most likely go there-" "i don't want to, i want to stay here" "okay, we can figure something out, i'll just need to know the relationship status between you and the members of the salazar-roberts family" "okay, well nini is my best friend, she has been since kindergarten and carol and dana, well they've kind of become like my moms. i've come here almost every weekend of my life" "okay, thanks ricky. we're going to do everything we can to make sure you can stay here, you just have to be patient."

kathy drives off, leaving nini and ricky alone yet again. "best friend, huh" nini laughs. "well their not going let me stay if they find out we're kinda.. ya know" "dating ? you can say it you know" "yeah". nini walls up to her room. "it's late and we have school tomorrow, let's go to bed". ricky follows her. they get into bed, ricky near the door as usual. nini snuggles into him, her head on his chest. "goodnight ricky" "goodnight nini" he kisses her forehead.

slowly, they doze off, ready for another day of the pain you cannot see

**
a speaks !
hey guys, hope you enjoyed this chapter. next chapter, we will see how ricky and nini will handle their secret relationship at school, and why they act the way they do! hope you guys are staying safe! restrictions are slowly easing in australia but still, stay safe and social distance !
love you all !