𝐡𝐢𝐝𝐝𝐞𝐧 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬. [ 𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐢 𝐚𝐮 ]

two am .16

"soo.."ricky started to say as he nervously tapped his finger on the coffee mug, "we don't have to do this actually-"

"ricky," nini said in a stern voice as she eyes him. the boy let out a sigh and nodded his head. "you can talk to me really.. i'm worried about you."

"i know," ricky said and looks up at nini with his glossy eyes," i just... i don't know. i have a hard time getting close to people because of my parents."

"what happened with your parents... if you don't mind me asking," nini said as she forces an awkward smile at the boy.

"uhhh...nothing really terrible," ricky tells nini as he contemplates telling her about his mom's death. although he decides against it and decides to lie, "my parents just went through a pretty rough divorce and i got stuck living with my dad."

"well... what happened?"

"uh... i found out my dad was cheating on my mom and told her," ricky quickly said. nini eye's widened and she quickly grabbed ricky's hand on the table. the boy held in his breath at the feeling of nini's touch, but quickly shook it off.

"so how'd you get stuck with your dad?" nini asks with a curious look on her face, "like why didn't you go with your mom?"

"uh... i didn't know she was leaving. i just came home one day and found out she was living in chicago," ricky lied. nin's face fell into a frown and she looked at ricky with pity.

"i'm so sorry... i never knew that ricky," nini softly said as she rubbed her thumb over ricky's hand, "is that why your dad...yanno?"

"yeah.. he uh blames me for her being gone," ricky said, realizing he wasn't really lying anymore. he glanced down at their intertwined hands on the table as he spoke. "he blames me for a lot of things."

"i'm sorry about that," nini told ricky. the girl glanced down at their hands and awkwardly pulled away. she let out a nervous chuckle and hugged her mug with her hands, "uhm.. sorry."

"it's okay," ricky told nini with a small smile, "i actually didn't mind..."

nini's face starts to turn into a grin and she quickly tries to hide her blush, "uhm... and i totally get it. sometimes parents like to think they're right all the time or that they have all this authority on us when its quite the opposite sometimes, you know?"

"yes! exactly!" ricky exclaimed as nini took the words out of his mouth, "like my dad doesn't do anything, right? i clean after his mess, buy us dinner, buy our groceries, manage all of our bills, homework, go to school, and basketball practice. he doesn't do anything and the one time i do something wrong...well you know. look at my face."

nini let out a sigh as she felt bad for ricky. the girl glanced at rickys cut and bruised up face, wishing she could take his pain away, "that's terrible. no kid should ever have to be the one looking after their parent."

"it just sucks because i have to be the responsible one all the time and i have to be perfect to please him," ricky softly said as he looked down at the table, "like why i can't be enough to make my dad happy? like...was my mom the only thing that would've made him happy with having me? it makes me feel like he didn't want a child in the first place - she did. and now that she's out of the picture, he's stuck with this child he didn't want."

nini looked ricky up and down before scooting her chair closer to his, "let me tell you something... you don't have to be perfect to be enough for others, especially your parents."

ricky's head quickly shot a nini's as he heard what the girl said, "wait.. what'd you say?"

"you don't have to be perfect to be enough for others."

"where'd you.. hear that from?"

"i didn't hear it from anywhere," nini simply said as she gave ricky a weird look, "i just always tell myself that when i'm overthinking or putting myself down. why?"

"nothing it's just..." ricky tries to think of where he's heard or read that exact sentence from, but couldn't remember. "i don't know.. it just sounds really familiar."

"maybe you read something similar somewhere. i don't know," nini simply said as she shrugged her shoulders. ricky just nods his head and tries to forget about it. the girl checks her phone and sees how late it is.

"geez.. it's already two in the morning?" nini exclaims as a small yawn escapes from her mouth. ricky follows her with a yawn and the two of them burst out into small laughs.

"i should get going then," ricky simply says and stands up form his chair.

"ricky, it's really late," nini tells him as she grabs his arm to pull him back, "you can uh.. sleep here."

"in the bakery?" ricky asks with a confused look on his face, "it's kinda creepy.. besides i don't want random people to see me sleeping once the sun is up."

"uh.. you can sleep with me? in my room?"

"uh.. nini-"

"obviously on the floor, you idiot," nini jokingly says, earning a laugh from ricky. the boy looks back at the exit and back at nini with a smile.

"sure... if you're absolutely okay with it," ricky told nini, "i don't want you to feel obligated to do this because my life is depressing or something."

"i don't, i promise," nini reassured ricky before she gave him a smile and grabbed his hand. "come on, we got school later."

+

"so is this fine?" nini asks ricky as she glances at the couch that she covered with pillows and blankets.

"i can't believe you have a couch in your room," ricky told nini as the girl rolled her eyes.

"yeah well when gina and frankie are constantly sleeping here, its kinda a necessity," nini told ricky with a small laugh.

"and it's perfect, neens. thank you," ricky told nini as she shot her a smile, "it actually looks comfier than my bed at home."

"it was an expensive couch so i'm kinda hoping it was," nini said with a small chuckle. the girl started walking over to her bed, until ricky softly grabbed her hand.

"uh.. nini?"

"yeah...?" nini asks as she turns around to face ricky. ricky froze a bit before he quickly pulled nini into a hug. the girl was shocked for a second, but quickly wrapped her arms around ricky. it was if their body melted into each other's arms and they both just stood there for a moment, holding each other.

ricky finally let go and let out an awkward chuckle, "sorry.. i just.. thank you for everything. i really appreciate it."

"no problem, ricky," nini told him as her cheeks started to flush with redness, "and your welcome to talk to me anytime or if you need a place to stay, okay?"

"okay," ricky answered and gave nini a grin.

"alright.. goodnight ricky," nini told him as she looked up a him with a smile. ricky slowly leaned in and planed a sweet kiss on nini's cheek.

"goodnight nini.." the boy told her as he looked at her with awe. nini's lips turned into a smile as her cheeks started to blush. the two gave one last look at each other before making their way into their separate beds.

"sleep well, ricky.."

"sleep well, nini."