𝙜𝙡𝙞𝙢𝙥𝙨𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪 [𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙞 𝙖𝙪]

26

a/n: hii sorry i haven't been updating frequently, i've been distracted A LOT and i started new classes about a month ago and i'm having midterms next week so this is a short chapter lol

a short summary of what happened last couple parts:
- nina met w the cruz's, had dinner, she loved them and vice versa.
- they go to a meeting and luke (ricky's manager) suggests they should write a song together for publicity, they eventually give in.
- nina shows up at rickys how's to work on the song but they end up talking about her past life, their story, rickys all smiley, she softens up.
- she says she'll only forgive him if he helps her find out why she got amnesia, he agrees.

-

"los said you should buy it," seb laughed as he faced his phone towards kourtney, showing carlos's response to his snap.

"tell him i'll buy it as a birthday gift to him," kourtney replied, taking a bite of her food that was sitting in front of her.

"ricky, are you going to eat something?" gina asked the boy who was sitting at the end of the table, not saying a word.

"yea, i'm just debating on what i should get," he answered, looking at the different fast food choices scattered around the food court.

"wanna split something?" ellie asked the man.

"sure," he responded, still looking at the choices. "what do you want?"

"hm, i don't know. let's go look," she stood up and grabbed his hand, forcing him to get up and walk with her to circle around the food court.

"you down for a bento box?" ricky asked her as they stopped in front of a small sushi place.

"sure! can you order, i just have to go to the bathroom," he nodded as she walked away.

ricky stood in line, looking up at the menu, deciding on what to get when he heard the sound of familiar laughter coming closer to him. he looked in the direction and saw the glow of the woman as she smiled so wide that her eyes were squinted.

a smile rose to his face; her laugh always made his day better. he noticed the woman beside her who was also laughing. her sister.

they continued to walk past when she glanced over at the man. he gave a small smile to which she returned before looking down at the ground, feeling her cheeks heat up.

"ricky!" the other woman exclaimed excitedly. "long time, huh?" she chuckled as she walked up to him.

"yea," he awkwardly said, looking at the brunette beside her, who was still looking towards the ground. "how you been?"

"great, great. i get to hang out with nina again! did she tell you we had dinner with our parents a couple days ago? it was just like before," serena smiled.

"that's good," he nodded. "guess you guys are going to start having dinner more often together huh?" he stuck his hands in his pockets and rolled to the balls of his feet.

"hopefully," serena replied. "you should come over some time too! i know my mom and dad have been missing you a ton."

"really?" he asked with a tone of shock to his face and his eyebrows raised. "they aren't mad at what happened?"

"they were in the beginning, how could they not be? they had just gotten their daughter back. but after a couple months their anger just turned into worrisome cause we haven't heard from her in a while. and cause she was back in la and... you know."

"know what?" ninas head shot up.

"just about-"

serena could see ricky shaking his head, signalling for her to not tell nina the history they have with her moms- or at least not to get too in depth.

"nothing," ricky finished for her as he smiled faintly at the girl.

"okay?" she chuckled nervously. "hey, are you busy right now? serena and i were-"

"ricky! i just passed that burrito place we used to go to all the time! we should- oh hey nina!" ellie exclaimed.

"hi," she softly replied, suddenly feeling small.

"oh ellie, this is serena," he introduced and the two nodded at each other. "what burrito place?"

"danny's wraps!"

"no way, i thought they went of business! let's get that instead," he grinned. after a second, he looked towards the two women. serena, who stood awkwardly, but still with a smile on her face to be friendly. and nina, who had her eyes locked on the man as she felt her stomach turning at the sound of their content blended together.

"there's a pretty long line," ellie pointed out. "we should probably go line up."

"okay," he replied. "i'll see you guys later," he told the women, "call or text me anytime for dinner, i would love to see julie and charles again. bye!"

a soft "bye" escaped nina's lips as he walked away, talking giddily with the woman beside him. she didn't know why but it was as if her hearing had cut out and she was left in the silence with her wandering thoughts.

"nina?" serena called for her. "you ready to go?"

she looked at her sister and did a double take in ricky's direction. he walked the never ending path.

"yea," she nodded and pierced her lips together. "let's go."