A Billion Stars

Chapter 11

"Okay you've given me nothing to work with on this one. What are your fears? What keeps you up at night?" Ricky asks me with a laugh as we cross the street towards our apartment building. "You want the juicy stuff?" I ask Ricky and he nods eagerly. "Fine, small spaces, heights, spiders and EJ?" Ricky looks at me funny. "Who's EJ?" He asks me, focusing on my face, but all I'm focusing on is my ex boyfriend standing in the lot outside of the apartment building. Ricky follows my gaze, and I hear him take a deep breath before turning to me. "Who is that...?" I nod curtly and Ricky moves closer to me. "Are you okay?" I shake my head and as I do so, I begin to notice the fact that my body was starting to shake and my breathing was getting shallow. "Why is he here?" I ask and it comes out as a whine, but Ricky doesn't have time to answer before EJ walks up to up to us. His face is stern and his muscles are flexed in a way that shows his anger, something that I know too well and something that I was always fearful of. "Nini it's been two months, let's just go the fuck home already. You're being ridiculous." My jaw drops, then closes and then drops again. I walked away from EJ two months prior, not doing so much as giving him a goodbye. Our final fight led me to block his number and run the hell away from his toxic ass. I didn't know that he knew I officially moved to LA, and how he got my apartment building was beyond me but I felt myself become weak the more he stared at me. The two months I spent strengthening myself disappeared as his hard look allowed that feeling invade my body again. That fear of disobeying. Another part of me was appalled that he could talk to me like we had just spoken yesterday and as I stood on the sidewalk from the guy I though I had escaped, I feel the tears begin to pool. I also feel a hand press on the small of my back, it makes me jump but it's stabilizing when I feel the warmth and gentleness that only belongs to Ricky. "She's not leaving with you dude, so back the fuck off." Ricky speaks up and EJ's death glare hones in on him. "Who's this, babe? Looks like you've been with someone while we've been apart? God knows I have too, but you know you're not allowed-" Ricky takes a step forward, one hand still on me. "I said, back the fuck off." He says in a low tone and EJ squares his shoulders. "She's mine, and she can speak for herself." EJ points at Ricky and Ricky moves back to me, his hand squeezing my waist lightly. "She's not anyone's and you've beaten her self esteem down so much that she's scared of speaking for herself." He defends me and EJ snorts. "Yeah okay and my dad invented microwave popcorn. Likely story. She's coming home with me so you could just save yourself some trouble and move-" I gasp as Ricky pushes EJ, so much so that the force even shocks EJ himself. "I happen to know the harassment laws of Los Angeles, along with a few stories of abuse that your ex girlfriend has shared with me. And I'm not afraid to get into it with the law. So I'm giving you one last warning to BACK THE FUCK OFF." He says and EJ throws a scary glare in my direction before pushing past Ricky. "Whatever. The girl's about as gorgeous as a pile of trash, she's horrible in bed and she's too fucking annoying. I think I dodged a damn bullet. Good luck finding someone to love your broken ass Nina. Because the truth is, I never did." EJ says, walking away, and flipping us off. As I watch him go, I feel the hot tears streaming down my face and the aching of my chest as his words register in my brain. I'm silent, I can't put together sentences and I'm humiliated as Ricky stands in front of me, watching me carefully. A sob escapes and I bend over, leaning on my knees for support until I feel two warm arms envelope me. One of his hands rubs my back gently, and he just lets me be for a few moments. "I'm not going anywhere until you agree to go inside with me." I laugh through my hysterical tears and I stand up straight, looking into his eyes. His fingertips come up to my face, wiping my tears gently, the gesture still making my body tingle despite the pain. "Time for some damage control Nins." He tells me softly and I nod, my tears still coming as he firmly takes my hand and leads me into the apartment building.