common sense • rini/jolivia one shots

the perfect gift

Ricky watched as his breath floated in front of him as they stood in the tree lot. his hands were freezing, one shoved in his coat pocket, the other interlocked in Nini's gloved hand.

"baby i told you to wear your gloves." she says for the tenth time as they stand in the middle of an isle of trees.

he groans, "i know, i'm sorry. i got too excited and rushed out of the house without them."

Nini giggles and leans in a little bit, "i'd kiss you for being so cute but i'm worried we might freeze together."

before he could respond, a voice shouts from down the isle, "hey kids! i think i found it!"

they walk carefully through the snow as they head towards Mike who's standing at a tree. Ricky glances at it and smiles a little before looking at his girlfriend for approval. they nod and smile as Mike flags down a worker to grab the tree and put it on top of his car.

Ricky and Nini walk slowly back to the car, discussing their plans for the afternoon, which consisted of decorating the Bowen household while Mike went to work.

it had only been about a week and a half since their performance of High School Musical and the subsequent rekindling of their relationship. while it was difficult, they haven't actually told anybody besides their parents that they're back together. they spent their first night back together at Ashlyn's after party, sharing glances across the room and secretly wishing they could be alone together. they left the party separately but met up at her house to talk over everything. she told him about the YAC right away and about the fact that she was going to turn them down. he disagreed but she had talked it over with her moms and they just couldn't afford to send her to Denver, at least not right now. but, luckily Nini was content with staying right where she was.

the drive back to the Bowen household is filled with laughter and Christmas music. Ricky and Nini hold hands in the backseat as they sing along to the radio together. once they're back, Mike helps Ricky bring the tree in before heading off for his afternoon shift at his contracting firm.

Nini pulls off her scarf and coat, slipping her boots off as she heads to the storage closet just off the kitchen, knowing that the Bowen's have always stored their Christmas decorations in there. one by one, she drags out the boxes as Ricky makes sure the tree looks good.

she pulls out a string of lights and begins to hand them to her boyfriend, "help me put these on the tree?"

he nods and presses a quick kiss to her cheek before helping her string the lights together onto the tree. they stand back and make sure they look good before starting to pull out the ornaments.

they stepped back again once they put all the ornaments on and looked at the tree, Ricky's arms wrapping around her, "wanna put the star on top?" he whispered.

she looked up at him slightly before nodding a little, Ricky moving to pick up the silver sparkly star from the box. he handed it over to Nini before he lifted her into his arms, making sure she was tall enough to put the star on top.

he set her down and she wrapped her arms around his torso, burying her face into his hoodie, "merry Christmas baby."

Ricky smiled and dropped a kiss to her hair, "merry Christmas darling."

they stood in the glow of the fireplace for a few minutes, cuddled in each other's arms before Ricky pulls back just slightly, "hey, i know that Christmas isn't for a few more days but, can i show you something? it's part of your gift but i can't wait any longer."

Nini bites her lip and smiles, nodding her head as he detaches from her. she takes a seat on the carpet in front of the fireplace while Ricky heads off somewhere, coming back a minute later with his guitar. she smiles as he sits across from her on the floor.