The Remembrance of You *ON HOLD*

Chapter 3

"So what's your story city boy?" I mumble to Ricky as he slides down the side of my bed, making himself comfortable on the floor. He gives me a curious glance and sighs. "I'm not very interesting." I laugh and sit down on the ground next to him, an appropriate amount of room between us. He regards the space between us and smirks a little but doesn't say anything. "I highly doubt that Ricky." I shrug and he laughs a little. "Well Nini, you don't know me." I laugh back, rolling my eyes. "Yeah city boy and I'm trying to change that." He raises his arms and puts his hands behind his head. "Alright fine" he gives in with a smile. "I've lived in a couple cities, I love music and I'm sitting in a dorm room talking to a gorgeous girl." I roll my eyes and sigh. "You just gave me nothing to work with. And you're embarrassing me." I mutter shyly, tucking my hair behind my ears. He smile and raises an eyebrow. "Well that was all true." I tilt my head. "What about your family? And your-" He cuts me off, his gaze becoming hard. "My family's gone. My dad died of an overdose when I was young and my mom and little sister were killed not too long after." My voice gets caught in my throat and my jaw drops. "Oh my god." I whisper and my tone sounds choked. His gaze meets mine and while his eyes are hard with emotion, there's something else that I can't quite decipher in them. "Yeah well, life happens" he shrugs and I find myself scooting closer to him. "But-" he cuts me off and shakes his head. "No Nini I'm all good. I came to terms with the things that happened long ago." I bite my lip, reaching my hand out just a little to touch his hand. He looks down before my hand touches his and I pull away. "Sorry I..." I nervously laugh and he gives me a small smile. "It's okay Nini, but I'd say that you now know a lot about me, and I don't know much about you. So how about you? How about your family?" I lean against my bed and sigh. "Mine's your normal family. It's just me, my mom and my dad. I love them both with everything in me, though they weren't always great when I was growing up. Like I told you before, my dad was in and out when I was a kid so there were a lot of arguments. I obviously didn't have it too bad, but I'll always wish there were things I could've changed... maybe had some control of." Ricky nods and gives me a glance. "Life doesn't let us control things sometimes." I close my eyes and nod. "That's the truth isn't it?" He sighs and gives me a nod back. "But sometimes that's okay in the end. Things always seem to even out and become alright." He tells me and I tilt my head. "I guess that's one way to look at it. Thanks for that positivity." I laugh and he gives me a small smile. "Anytime."

There's a lull in conversation and I turn to Ricky. "You know how you said you love music? I happen to love music too." He gives me a smile and pokes my arm. "I figured. I noticed the three guitars over there... and your music posters and notebooks." I giggle and push my hair back. "Is that why you said you liked music then?" I ask and he winks. "Oh see, you know me more than you want to think." I cover my mouth to hide my smile and he laughs at my reaction. "Why are you studying English, Nini Salazar-Roberts? If you love music this much? This university has a music department you know." His eyes regard my sheet music spread across my desk before they meet my eyes again. I shrug. "It's not a stable career when you live in Boston." I admit and Ricky shrugs back at me. "I've got a feeling you could do whatever you want, wherever you want though." I laugh and shake my head. "You seem to have a lot of faith in me, for having just met me." He lowers his head and tries to search my eyes. "I don't know, it feels like I've known you a long time." I blush and tuck my hair back behind my ears. "I think we have a lot to learn about each other still."