Lean on Me, Until the End || rini au

running

"i still don't get it." carlos says

nini rolls her eyes. again.

her friends kept wondering how her and ricky were friends again, and she explained to them over and over again how it was just easier this way. plus, she did enjoy his company, she wasn't going to lie.

"you guys keep saying that and i've explained everything seven times. once everyday." nini groans

everyone continues to eat and nini checks the time, realizing that it's the hour that she goes to her space

"see you guys later." she mumbles as she takes her bag and walks away.

***

"can't you guys just please be civil with her friends?" ricky groans

"i don't know-"

the boy stops gina from continuing and sees nini walk off.

he stands up and takes his bag

"i'll see you guys later." he says

big red and gina nod with a confused facial expression and see ricky walk away into the hall

he arrives at the backstage and sees nini sitting at the piano.

"i know you're there ricky." she smirks as she turns to face him.

ricky laughs and walks towards her

"why did you follow me?" she asks

"i can't come here?" he questions

nini shakes her head "not without a reason."

ricky smiles softly as he places a hand on the piano.

"we should work on that song."

the girl looks away from him and nods "yeah."

he stands up and takes an old guitar in the corner and starts to play.

they both smile as nini opens the notebook to sing out the lyrics that they wrote down this past week

i fell in love
with the only girl who knows what i'm about

ricky wrote this down and he instantly knew it was true. when they were together last year, ricky was himself around her. he wasn't the ricky bowen, or the popular bad boy, he was just ricky.

i fell in love
with a boy and i can't tell if i fell out

nini wrote this when he came back. she felt confused seeing him again. everything overwhelmed her like a wave of feelings and she didn't know what to do with it, other than writing it down.

after all is said and done
i can't just pretend i'm moving on

when he came back, she didn't know if she had moved on. when she's with james, she knows that ricky is still hidden in the back of her mind.

is it just the parts we're playing
cause it don't feel like we're faking

they both take deep breaths as they sing the part that they are currently working on

when you look me in the eyes
my heart's no longer broken

for a moment
just for a moment

when we're singing side by side
there's so much left unspoken

for a moment
just for a moment

a moment in love

he continues to strum as nini hops her head and writes down different chord progressions.

ricky stops playing and puts the guitar down.

they both sit there in a comfortable silence as nini keeps her eyes focused on the papers before her.

he watches her write down and bite the inside of her mouth in concentration.

"what?" nini asks as she looks at him

"what?" he shakes his head confused

"why are you staring at me?" she asks with a laugh

"oh! i wasn't- i mean i-"

she laughs "chill bowen, don't get your curls tied up."

he laughs with her, though he does it nervously and they hear the bell ring

"i guess i'll see you after school?" he asks

the girl nods "yeah."

~~~

nini was walks home, since aria had coding club and jacob had a boxing match,

she's not meeting with ricky until later, so she decides to call james

she hears the phone dial until a voice comes through

"hello?"

nini's eyebrows scrunch in confusion. who was this girl?

"uh-" nini pulls back her phone and sees that it's james' number "sorry, i was calling james-"

"he's in the shower right now, could i take a message?"

right then, nini instantly feels her heart dropping down to her stomach. she starts breathing quickly and her voice comes out shaky

"w-who is this?"

"katie."

nini drops her phone to the ground and feels her view getting blurry.

she grabs her notebook and runs out of the house.

***
~~~

ricky was heading to the café to meet with nini when he hears people calling him

he turns around to see aria and jacob

"what's wrong?" the boy asks when he sees the urgency in their faces

"have you seen nini?!" aria asks

"i was supposed to meet up with her to work on our project now. what happened?" he questions worried

"she's not at home. my mom told me that it's been three hours without her saying anything! she left her phone there and we have no idea where she could be." jacob explains

"did you ask your friends?"

aria rolls her eyes "of course we did! they're all looking for her."

"okay, uh-" ricky rubs his hands over his face, trying to think of where she could be.

'think ricky. think.'

suddenly it hit him.

he knew where she was.

"i think i know where to find her. you guys keep looking and i'll text you guys if i find her!" he yells back as he runs to his car.

the boy drives off gripping the wheel tightly as he speeds through the roads

"where are you nini?"