wave after wave 🌊 [rini au]

spring ; 07

Ricky and Nini continued to grow their something special, spending as much time as they could; mostly on Facetime because her homework was starting to catch up to her. He would come over for dinner some days and played songs on the guitar as he watched her study. Other days, he'd be too exhausted from spending the entire day in the sun, or be hanging at Red's playing video games. Nini would go to Poipu on the weekends he was on duty to sneak him a coffee, through Red or EJ, knowing that he'd need the caffeine perk but also not wanting to distract him during his job. Ricky was growing in certainty that he was falling for this beautiful girl, with her perfections and imperfections.

In the recent weeks, Nate and Emma had been talking non-stop about their wedding that was planned to happen in April. As the first Roberts child to get married, the pressure was on to throw a huge wedding and invite the whole town for the celebration. With barely a month left, they were busy tying up loose ends and working on programme flow of the actual day; they had asked Nini to sing the song for the march-in and first dance. And, suddenly the stress of the upcoming wedding fell on Nini's shoulders as she realised she was going to have to sing in front of the whole town, twice.

They had requested Bless the Broken Road for the march-in but left it to Nini to choose the song for the first dance. Thankfully, the song selection didn't take too much out of her, Nini knew that Emma loved Shania Twain and chanced upon an arrangement that she really liked. The only problem was the medley arrangement was a duet. She tried it on her own and it felt rather empty, and lonely. She would've asked Nic to sing with her but he couldn't sing to save his life.

"Nina, you're stressing out," She was staring blankly at the black and white keys of the piano when she felt hands massaging into her shoulders and a figure pressed into her back. Recognising that it was Ricky, she leaned into him, and let out a sigh. He pressed a kiss to her head as she asked him, "Since when did you get here?"

"I just did," She turned around and looked at him like she didn't believe him, "Okay fine, I was downstairs talking to Nate and Nic about the venue decor, they were worried when you stopped playing, so I came up to check on you. What have you been up to, Nina?" Nina let out another sigh, as Ricky slid in next to her, sharing the piano bench, "I really like this medley arrangement but it sounds terrible when I sing it on my own. I mean it was arranged to be a duet, I don't know why I thought it'd sound good-"

"Let's try it,"

"Wait, what?"

"Give me a sec," He ran over to Nini's room to retrieve her guitar, sat back down and started strumming. She gave him a look before following his lead, her fingers running across the keys with ease. Emptiness she'd previously felt was filled by the harmonies between them and the acoustic guitar added another layer of emotion to the song. It was perfect for the first dance.

The time for the wedding rolled around, they were getting married at the town's plantation cottages, keeping it close to home and simple. The venue was well decorated with white and light blue, Nate and Emma's favourite colours. While the rest of the Roberts family were running around greeting guests, making sure that things were going smoothly, Nini was by the altar setting up her keyboard. As soon as she was done, Nic had dragged her over to keep Sarah company, as it was her first Roberts family event. She was telling an embarrassing story of Nic when a pair of arms wrapped around her waist, pulling her into a hug.

"Hey Sarah, hey Nina." Ricky greeted them both, "Looking really good today." Good was the biggest understatement of the day. Nini was dressed in an ivory dress with a tiny flower crown around her head, just like the rest of the bridal party. She had eyeshadow and lipstick on, and was even wearing heels. Nini was always beautiful to Ricky but right there and then, she was exceptionally beautiful; her eyes looked even browner under the sunlight, her hair blowing gently in the wind. He kissed her cheek and whispered in her ear, "You look so beautiful today." He just had to tell her.

"Thank you, and you look handsome too," Ricky was decked in an ivory shirt and grey pants, a look completely different from his usually bright yellow uniform. His sleeves were rolled up, some wax in his hair to keep it styled. The three of them fell into easy conversation, joking about how Nate was freaking out like a teenage girl but Emma was as calm as ever.

Nini fist bumped Nate, who was standing in front of the altar, as she made her way to her keyboard. Her hands were shaking slightly as they rested on the keys, ready to take cue from the officiator. Her eyes scanned the audience quickly and met Ricky's gaze. He smiled at her in encouragement, mouthing a "you can do it". Nini played the introduction of the song as they announced the entry of the bride. Ricky thought Nini was most attractive when she was singing. She always poured her heart into each song, including random songs in karaoke, and the way she looked at the people around her as she sang to them made his heart melt (or mostly the way she looked at him as she sang to him). He could never understand how she could look into his eyes the entire song, even as her fingers danced over the keys.

As they sang the first dance song medley together, Ricky could help but look at Nini as she sang to the wedded couple, who were locked in an embrace. He saw tears welling up in her eyes, when she looked at him as they sang the bridge in perfect harmony.

You're still the one

You're still the one I run to

The one that I belong to

You're still the one I want for life

You're still the one

You're still the one that I love

The only one I dream of

You're still the one I kiss good night

Nate and Emma shared a kiss as they whispered the last line of the song, Nini leaned into Ricky's side as happy tears rolled down her cheeks. He kissed her forehead affectionately, slinging an arm around her shoulder.

"Nini, that was a beautiful song, I want you to sing at my wedding too." Nic ruffled her hair and earned a smack on the head from Nini for messing up her hair, and a slap on the chest from Sarah. Nini didn't have any time to retaliate because her dad pulled her away to dance with him, and Nic with their mom. She was even offered dances by some of her uncles and family friends, all which she said yes to with a gracious smile. They talked about college applications and plans after graduation; they asked if she was seeing Ricky, and offered their opinions about their "relationship", even though it was uncalled for. They dug for information about Nic's surfing and Nate's new business and some asked about how her parents were doing. Nini hated every second of it, the life of Nini Roberts. She occasionally glanced over to look at Ricky, who was sitting with Sarah peacefully, grateful that they didn't get caught up in the whirlwind of crazy that was her family.

The reception was excruciating, albeit still a joyous occasion; they had dinner, cut the cake, took photos and danced. When the guests finally left, Nini was relieved that she finally didn't need to remind others that she was already 18 and graduating from high school next month or explain that Ricky wasn't her boyfriend. Speaking of Ricky, he was nowhere to be found — until Sarah had passed her a napkin with a message on it. See you on the docks, Nina.