sun without rain - rini

trust me, baby.

as they walked down the hallways, ricky could feel the burning eyes of the entire senior year. nini squeezes his hand for reassurance. "we'll be okay" she say. they stop outside his locker, ricky quickly grabbing his books before walking to nini's. "hey, i have cheer after school, do you want to wait for me?" "yeah, i have some homework anyways". nini kisses him before they head their separate ways to their class.

"nini, i will never understand why you're dating that loser, i mean, he's so lonely and sad and honestly you could do so much better" gina rants. nini keeps her head on her worksheet, trying to block out the comments gina makes. "uh, hello? are you listening? anyway, there's some really cute guys from the college near my house, we should talk to them sometime"

nini continues to (attempt to) ignore gina, but soon, it becomes all too much.

"will you stop already?" nini looks over at gina. "for once in your life stop fucking degrading anyone that isn't in varsity basketball or cheerleading. seriously, you don't even know the half of what he's been through so please, shut the fuck up". nini gathers her books before walking in the direction of the door. she turns around before leaving the room. "next time you say a fucking word about ricky i swear to god. you won't know what's coming". she leaves the classroom, and runs to her special spot behind the bleachers. it's often where she would bring her old boyfriends, but lately, the trees have overgrown, making it a small, secluded spot. perfect for nini.

she sits there for the remainder of lunch. some people pass by, but no one bothers to stop and talk to her. the bell rings, so nini heads in the direction of the science labs. she walks past gina, at her locker with one of the other cheerleaders, zoe. "she's such a slut, dating that fucking loser" gina mutters under her breath as nini passes by. it's enough for nini to break, pushing gina into the locker. tears stream down her face. "shut the fuck up !" she says, pulling gina down to the ground below her. meanwhile, ricky is walking to the cafeteria, when he hears the familiar sound of nini's voice. nini's yelling voice ?

ricky runs into the corridor to find a large crowd gathered around. he pushes through, finding gina and nini, both on the ground "what the fuck are you doing gina!" he yells, pulling nini into his arms. her lips is bleeding along with a spot on her head. she cries into his arms. "just so you know, nini's just using you as a fucking charity case. i would know, so don't think your special, your a big fat shit talking peice of trash. go find your parents in jail." gina shouts, walking off with E.J and some of the other cheerleaders. the crowd soon dispersed, leaving nini and ricky on the ground, rickys arms wrapped around her shoulders.

"i should've been there nini, i'm so sorry", ricky says, tears swelling in his eyes. she holds his hands. ricky stands up, pulling nini up with him, taking her hand. they walk outside, and ricky gets in his car.

"where are we going?" "you'll see, cmon"

they drive up to the mountains behind the city, looking out at the skyline. it's winter, and the city is coated in fresh snow. like a clean coat of white paint. nini and ricky sit there, hands intertwined. in silence, until finally, ricky speaks.

"what happened today nini" "i don't know, something just overtook me and i just lashed out at gina...she said some really shitty things about you. i couldn't stand it anymore". "you don't have to go out of your way to protect me, nini. enjoy high school. you're the head cheerleader, one of the most popular girls in school... wouldn't you want to enjoy it?" "no....i'm done exploring, i know what i want...being a cheerleader was just a way to gain friends, boyfriends even, but none of that matters anymore ricky." she faces him. " i want to be with you, i want to live in a nice house, far far away where no one can hurt you. i want to have kids, who will know every single day how much we love them. i want to grow old"

tears fall from nini's eyes, she feels a hand on her cheek. ricky kisses her, with love and kindness. so she kisses him back.

they sit there, planning their future, until sunset. "we should probably head home now" ricky says, standing up from the bench. nini takes his outstretched hand and they walk back down the hill to the parking lot. it's 7:30 when they get home.

unlike the peacefulness of the cool breeze and soft winter air, the salazar-roberts household is full of chaos and uncertainty