𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙧 𝙖𝙛𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙮𝙤𝙪 . [ 𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐢 𝐚𝐮 ]

heaven .31

"i just wanna thank everyone for taking the time to come to my daughter, nini's, funeral," mr. roberts quietly said in the microphone. as he continued to talk about nini, ricky and gina quietly stared into space as they tried to comprehend everything. gina was quietly crying to herself as she stared her lap. ej was holding her hand and would rub his thumb over her hand from time to time. on the other hand, ricky had had no more tears left to cry. the boy just stared at nini's casket in shock while his mind was flooding with memories of them together.

"we will now be hearing from, ricky bowen, nini's... fiance and best friend," mr. roberts called out. ricky snapped out of his thoughts and his shook his head. he glanced at gina who looked at him with sad eyes. he gave her a reassuring smile before standing up from his seat. ricky's footsteps echoed throughout the chapel as he made his way up the altar.

"hi..my name's ricky," the boy softly spoke into the microphone. he glanced at everyone was there and felt his heart start to beat faster. "i've known nini since we were both in kindergarten, but i didn't get to know her until this year. nini was.. incredible. she was so talented, loving, grateful, beautiful, funny, sweet, and just...an angel. she was always so optimistic and strong - wasn't afraid of anything. she didn't care about what anyone thought of her and she never changed herself to please others. now nini was only eighteen, but she was so intelligent and so ahead of her time. she always knew what to say and always knew what to do. there's no one else like her..she was a one of a kind girl and i was lucky enough to have met her and have her in my life. without nini, i probably wouldn't be graduation high school right now, have the platform that i have, the relationship with my friends, my parents - she's made such an impact on me in a short amount of time."

"i'll never forget our relationship. our late nights at the parks when we would just stare at the stars. when we would be singing or playing around together at the piano. our triple dates with gina, when they would eventually leave me towards the end of the date," ricky softly said with a light chuckle. the whole church let out a light laugh, even gina smiled a little, "going to the library to study together, dancing under the stars, eating avocado toast every single day.... even those nights in the hospital when nini would be asleep for two days straight - i would never leave her side. she meant the world to me...i mean she still does."

ricky flipped his pages and let out a deep breath, "before nini passed, she started to write a song when she found out her treatments stopped working. she couldn't find the heart to finish it before she passed, but was kind enough to give me all her music," ricky explained and looked at the piano that was sitting on the altar, "i uh... decided to finish it for her."

ricky grabbed his sheet music and slowly walked over to the piano. he took a deep breath as he sat down and looked at the piano keys. ricky closed his eyes and started to let his fingers take over.

"well, lately, I've been questioning my faith...just one look at you is all it really takes," ricky sang with his eyes still closed. moments of nini and him flashed through his mind, "oh, i always heard there was a heaven ...i never knew if it was true...but darlin', ever since I met you..."

"i know that heaven is you.. heaven is you ohhh..ohhh," ricky sang as more and more tears fell from his eyes. the more he though about nini, the more intense ricky started to play, " heaven is you, ooh, ooh, ooh..."

once ricky was done playing, he looked up to see everyone with tears in their eyes. the boy looked at them with a soft smile and stared at the signed glass window. he saw as the sun beamed throughout the window, making all the beautiful colors glow the chapel. ricky felt his heart warm up and he took a deep breath.

"hi nini," ricky softly whispered. ricky stood up from the piano and smiled at everyone before he made his way back to his seat. the boy glanced at gina and she gave him a reassuring smile. gina gently grabbed ricky's had and gave it a tight squeeze as she smiled at him.

"that was beautiful," gina whispered to him with tears in her eyes, "nini, would've loved it."

"you think?"

"i know," gina told him. ricky gave gina a side smile and squeezed her hand back before turning his attention back on the funeral service.

+

ricky held the white flowers in his hand with as much as care as he could. the boy grabbed the white grabbed the white ballon in his hand and looked at with a smile. he started to put the white petals into the ballon as tears started started to fill his eyes. gina did the same thing as stood next to ricky. once they were both done with filling the balloon with air, they looked at each other with glossy eyes.

"you ready G?" ricky asked with a soft voice. gina nodded her head as more tears filled her eyes. they grabbed each other's hands and looked at the white balloons that were filled with white flowers.

"love you, neens," gina said in a shaky voice while she stared at the balloon.

"i love you, nini," ricky said as he looked ay his balloon, "thank you for everything you've done for us."

the both of them gave each other one last look before they released their balloons into the air. gina immediately started to sob as she watched the balloon float further and further away. ricky put his arm around his best friend while she cried in his shoulder.

"i'm gonna miss her, ricky."

"she's always with us, G," ricky softly said and smiled at the two balloons in the sky, "just look at the stars."