𝙗𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙛𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙨 (𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙤𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙞𝙙𝙚) || hsmtmts au

36. luvie

a/n - cw for descriptions of eating disorders, also this is the angstiest mf thing so get ur tissues ready <3

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N I N I 'S P O V

FLASHBACK - valentine's day, second grade

"whit're you miking?" ricky asks me with a toothy smile from his seat next to me, trying to figure out what i was making for my special valentine during arts and crafts time.

"you'll see!" i smile back, turning away from him so he couldn't see the absolute masterpiece i was decorating. i reach over to ricky and i's shared crayon box, grabbing the red and pink. i try my hardest to keep my hand steady as i carefully draw the different hearts and letters onto the pink cardstock. ricky taps my shoulder when he's done with his, holding it up for me with a proud smile on his face.

"lovie you?" i read, confused.

"what?" he turns it back around to face him; only just now noticing how he accidentally put an i in the word love. i instantly feel terrible just looking at the way his cheeks heat with embarrassment. without even thinking about it i grab a crayon and purposely add a u and an i to the front of my card to the words i had made sure i had spelled right earlier. i tap ricky's shoulder, holding mine out for him. his face lights up when he looks at the front of the card, the words on the front now spelling "to; luvie". his smile makes butterflies erupt in my stomach, happy that i was able to make him feel better.

"thank you, luvie," ricky grins, exchanging our cards. i give him a quick little kiss on the cheek, which leaves his face rosy.

PRESENT

i feel ricky's arms immediately shoot out and catch me from behind in the doorway to the green room, ricky's presence (and the fact that i just almost fainted) shocking both gina and e.j.

gina's eyes widen, "eavesdrop much, asshole?!"

"not the time!" he says, letting me lean all my weight on him as e.j quickly runs and drags a chair over for me to sit in.

"mm, sorry.." i say, rubbing at my eyes and trying to stay present (which is hard when there's three people trying to get all close and see if you're okay). gina tries to tuck the hair out of my face at the same time as e.j, causing them to exchange glances.

"i got it, dickface." she glares at him.

"no, i've got it, va-gina. i brought the chair over here too, so.."

she scoffs, "ok, so?! it's a fucking chair, you didn't lend her a kidney-"

"guys, stop," ricky says softly, rubbing at my shoulders.

gina rolls her eyes, "oh, please. don't act like you're not a part of this, too."

wait, what does that mean?

later

e.j ended up going to see if the nurse was still on campus while gina went to go tell the rest of the cast that i wouldn't be attending the after party, leaving ricky and i to go get to my moms. they all immediately help me into the back seat of momma c's car, not giving me a chance to say anything to gina or e.j (thankfully, because i don't have the energy to form a response to either of them).