Work Text:
And when we go crashing down,
we come back every time
'Cause we never go out of style
We never go out of style
“And why aren’t you talking to Ricky again?” Ashlyn asked, resting her head on her chin from where she laid on the empty bed.
The red head watched as Gina hung up a few of her sweaters in the closet across the room.
The Caswells had picked up Gina from the airport the day before and she was currently unpacking her suitcase in her new room. It was the spare room across from Ashlyn’s that the family usually used as a guest room. After Gina had talked to her mom and decided to stay in Utah, Ashlyn had immediately gone to work on making the room as welcoming as possible. It could not be easy living with people she barely knew and away from her mom and the last thing Ashlyn wanted was for Gina to regret her decision of staying with her. She had gone out with Ej and had bought a desk, lamp, full length mirror, cute little succulent, and other homey items. They had even printed out the cast picture from opening night and framed it for Gina so that she could put it on her desk, just as a little reminder of the people who cared about her and wanted her here.
“Who says I’m not talking to Ricky?” Gina responded, avoided the other girl’s gaze as she picked up another sweater from her suitcase.
“You could literally cut the tension between you two with a knife at your welcome home party,” Carlos quipped from his spot on the beanbag chair (it was his gift for her and it wasn’t just because he knew he would be using it every time he came over).
“And you guys talked for all of thirty seconds. You literally avoided him like the plague,” Ashlyn added.
Gina rolled her eyes as she headed back to the closet, “There was no tension and I wasn’t avoiding him. There was just a lot going on at the party.”
The two gave her a look and she sighed, plopping down on her chair at the desk.
“I guess things have been a little awkward.”
“A little?” Carlos raised a brow.
“Yes, a little,” she countered, spinning in her chair. “We haven’t really talked since opening night. But what is there to really talk about? I came back, the play was a success, I’m staying in Utah-”
“Him and Nini got back together…”
Ashlyn threw a pillow at Carlos, causing him to yell in fake pain.
Gina halted the chair from spinning at those words, looking down.
“Yeah, that too. I mean, that’s nothing to really talk about. It was inevitable. Everyone knew they were going to get back together.”
“I didn’t,” Ashyln said as she sat up.
“Me neither, I thought that he was over his whole ‘getting Nini back’ thing that he was doing.”
“Why would he be? She’s literally the reason he joined the show.”
“And last I heard, you were the reason why he stayed,” a new voice chimed in.
The three sophomores looked towards the doorway to find EJ standing there with a tray of coffee. He walked around the room, passing everyone their drinks before taking a seat next to Ashlyn on the bed.
“And where did you hear that?” Carlos straightened up, suddenly intrigued in the new piece of gossip.
“Do you guys forget that we’re a part of the drama club? Ricky told Red one day during a break at rehearsal. Claire overheard and told Janet, who told Reggie, who told Laura, who told Natalie Bagely, which I overheard at my locker. Supposedly, he also said he feels like he can open up to Gina more than to other people. But,” EJ raised his hands up, “I’m not one to gossip.”
“Sure sounds like you are,” his cousin laughed, nudging his side. “I mean I believe it. Red told me that Ricky was always talking about how much he and Gina get each other and how upset he was when she left.”
“Oh my gosh! That is so cute,” Carlos said, falling back into his beanbag chair.
“You guys do know that I’m right here, right?” Gina finally spoke, getting up to continue putting away the last of her things.
“Oh yeah, we can get more details right from you,” Carlos realized. “Spill. We need to know everything about what is going on between you two.”
“There is nothing to tell. Nothing ever happened between us. I feel like you guys are forgetting that Ricky has a girlfriend. Our beloved friend Nini.”
“Which I still do not get, but we’ll get back to that,” Ashlyn started. “You’re telling me you guys weren’t together? Ever?”
“Nope.”
“Could’ve fooled me,” EJ quipped.
“And the rest of the drama department…” Ashlyn added.
“Not even a kiss?” Carlos asked in disbelief.
“No,” Gina asserted before pausing. “Unless a kiss on the cheek counts as a kiss.”
“Woah woah woah!”
“Wait hold on now.”
“A cheek kiss?”
“When did it happen?”
“Who kissed who?”
“We need context, girl!”
“Relax! It was the night of the homecoming dance. He had given me a ride home, we talked a bit, and I gave him a kiss on the cheek as like a goodnight type of thing. Nothing major.”
Ashlyn leaned forward with interest, “And how did he react?”
Gina pondered the question, thinking back to that night.
“He looked a little shocked. He didn’t say anything really. Just had that cute little wide eyed look on his face that he gets when he’s caught off guard,” she said in a daze, a small smile making its way onto her lips. “Before I walked into my house, I turned back to look at him one last time and he was already looking back at me.”
She was quickly taken out of said daze by the sounds of Ashlyn and Carlos squealing. She rolled her eyes and zipped up her now empty suitcase.
“Wait. So you’re telling me while I was soaked in fruit punch, driving back home from homecoming, you were kissing Bowen? I always wondered what happened that night that caused your little change of mind,” EJ commented.
“It wasn’t like that. Just a friendly kiss on the cheek.”
“That sounded like a scene straight out of a rom-com and you’re really trying to sit here and convince us that nothing romantic was going on?” Carlos gushed while scooting closer to her, chair in tow.
“I-”
“No!” Ashlyn interjected, joining Carlos and Gina on the floor. “You need to stop denying it. There was something there. You can’t keep pushing your feelings away, it won’t resolve anything.”
“She’s right, Gina,” EJ made his way over as well. “I know you haven’t had the luxury of making good friends in the past, but now you have us. You can talk to us about anything and we’ll listen.”
And Gina didn’t know if it was just hitting her that her mom was miles away, that she was finally able to complete a school year at one place, or the fact that she was now able to say that she has friends just like she’d always wanted, but she started to cry.
Without hesitation, her friends quickly wrapped her in hugs. They sat like that for a while; Gina’s sniffles being the only noises that could be heard. When she felt like she could speak, she untangled herself from their embrace and grabbed a tissue at her desk.
“I’m sorry,” she started, ready to finally let it all out. “I guess everything just hit me at once. This is all so new to me, in more ways than one. I’ve never been separated from my mom for more than a day, so I’m still learning to adjust to that. I also haven’t been in a place for a long enough time to call it home. And knowing that with one call from my mom’s job, we would have to pack up and start fresh all over again, I was too scared to open up to people and make friends. Just knowing that I have you guys, that I now have real friends that I can talk to whenever about whatever, means so much to me.”
Her friends smiled warmly at her, happy to hear her be vulnerable with them.
Ashlyn stood up and gave Gina another hug, “We can talk about whatever you want. Right here, right now. I can’t imagine all the things you’ve probably wanted to vent about but just couldn’t because you didn’t have anyone to listen.”
“We are all ears,” EJ agreed, grabbing a spare pillow and getting comfortable.
“And we can buy all your favorite snacks and sit here all day and just talk and listen,” Carlos pitched. “It would honestly be therapeutic.”
Gina laid her head on Ashyln’s shoulder and smiled, “Yeah, I’d like that.”
~*~
“I honestly have never had a crush before. Like a real, genuine crush,” Gina said as she grabbed a handful of chips from the bowl before passing it to Ashlyn.
The four of them were sprawled on the floor of Gina’s room in a circle, passing around the various snacks that they had bought on their Target run. It had been a couple of hours since Carlos suggested the idea and Gina was loving it. They had talked about how she was coping with the new environment so far and her feelings about staying at East High and with the Caswells. The conversation had now shifted to the more fun and lighter side of things: romance, gossip, and classic high school drama. It started with EJ talking about his short lived relationship with Nini (with an exclusive performance of his hit “A Billion Sorrys” that left all of them crying from laughter) and a storytime about how he got cancelled on the internet. Carlos followed and told the group about Ms. Jenn’s supposed love triangle with Mr. Mazarra and Mr. Bowen (which left everyone slightly distubed, but very intrigued) and his misadventures with Seb at the Smith Family Farm. Ashlyn then spilled all of the details regarding her new relationship with Red (whom she referred to as “Biggie” one too many times, causing the others to gag) and all of the drama that she’d heard about through her participation in various school clubs.
It was now Gina’s turn (the most anticipated event from what she was told). She had always wanted to gush about all of the moments she had shared with Ricky and how he made her feel, like every other teenage girl when they like a boy, but never had anyone to talk to. She definitely wasn’t going to talk to Ricky about it and he was the closest thing to a best friend for her at the time. Being able to do it now and talk about everything out loud felt like a weight was being lifted off of her shoulders.
“So honestly, with everything with Ricky, I wasn’t sure what it was. I just knew that I wanted to be around him or talk to him any chance I got. He just understood me in a way that no one else ever has and we really do get each other, as corny and dumb as it sounds,” she looked down into her lap. “I didn’t really accept my feelings for him until I was in New York. Not being able to see him everyday gave me time to think and made me realize that I like him and have for a while now.”
She looked up to see her friends’ faces. Carlos and Ashlyn were trying to contain their excitement, while EJ nodded knowingly. She took their silence as a sign to continue going.
“And I mean, looking back it makes sense. I don’t understand how I didn’t realize until now. The cheek kiss was for sure some kind of subconscious sign from me. Agreeing with all of his ideas during rehearsals. How easily he made me laugh. I literally used to get those cliche warm, fuzzy feelings whenever we touched, like even the slightest hand graze and I would be thinking about it for hours. I even went on Youtube and learned how to knit and made him a hat-”
“A hat?” EJ interrupted, laughing.
“Yeah,” she grinned, recalling the moment she gave it to him. “It was way too big for his head, but he didn’t seem to care.”
“Aw, our poor Gina has it bad,” Carlos said with a pout.
Gina quickly snapped back into reality. “Exactly, it is bad! This whole situation is bad!”
The other three glanced at each other, Ashlyn deciding to be the one to ask.
“What’s the problem?”
“The problem is that Ricky doesn’t feel the same way and probably never did if that love confession is any indication.”
Carlos gasped, “Don’t tell me you-”
“Yup. I saw the whole thing,” Gina admitted. “It’s funny because I was looking for him to tell him about how good he did in the play. I mean, I already knew I didn’t stand a chance after the Breaking Free performance, but little old delusional me still had hope. So, I went looking for him just for everything that I thought to be true to be confirmed. To be honest, it was the reality check that I needed.”
“Gina...”
“I need to get over him,” she insisted. “He’s with Nini now and I would be a bad friend for continuing to like him.”
“But you can’t control how you feel and it’s okay. It doesn’t make you a bad person,” Ashlyn reasoned. “I also really don’t believe that he never liked you. Not everything is black and white, especially with feelings.”
Gina continued, ignoring the other girl's words (even if a little part of her was saying she was right), “I’m going to have to continue distancing myself from him until I eventually don’t like him anymore. At the end of the day, the only thing that matters to me is that he’s happy. So, I just have to step back and watch.”
Ricky’s words from opening night had been echoing in her mind since he’d first said them. They couldn’t be more true for the situation that she was currently in.
EJ shook his head disapprovingly. The younger girl seemed to have her mind already made up, but was sacrificing too much for his liking. He knew where she was coming from, but felt like her approach wasn’t going to solve anything.
“But what about your happiness?”
Gina groaned, “What do you guys want me to do? Go up to Ricky and confess my feelings to him? Ask him to break up with Nini and be with me instead? I’m sorry, but I can’t do that. I can’t sabotage people’s relationships for my own selfish reasons.”
Not anymore.
“Yes, that’s true. You can’t do that,” Ashlyn said. “But you also can’t push him away. Believe it or not Gina, Ricky cares about you a lot. You won’t only be hurting yourself here, you’d be hurting him too.”
“Ricky will be fine. He’ll be too invested in his relationship with Nini to even notice.”
“All I’m going to say is that I think you and Ricky’s story is far from over,” Carlos claimed with a shrug, popping a piece of candy into his mouth. “This is just another obstacle you guys will overcome.”
Gina grabbed some more chips and let out a sigh, “Yeah, we’ll see about that.”
~*~
Ricky was very confused.
He couldn’t understand why Gina’s been avoiding him. It’s not even like a hunch or anything either, she has been actively steering clear of him.
It’s been about two weeks since she’s been back and they haven’t talked once. Gina used to eat with him and Big Red at lunch, and she still did sometimes, but just at the complete opposite end of the table. She kept her conversations directed toward everybody else and would only acknowledge his existence when it came to group discussions. When she wasn’t sitting with them, she would join EJ at the Water Polo team’s table where all of his teammates and their significant others would sit. The implications of Gina sitting there with EJ were very much the latest buzz in the East High gossip mill, but Ricky wasn’t one to believe rumors. The two had become a lot closer than he remembered, but the boy had just chalked it up to them becoming more friendly with her staying with the Caswells. At least, that’s what he hoped. He and EJ were cool and everything, but he still didn’t trust him all that much when it came to dating people he cared about. And Gina was somebody that he cared about a lot, even if it seemed like she wanted nothing to do with him.
It was not only lunch though. When she saw him in the halls, she would divert her eyes and take the longer route to avoid talking to him. If she was having a conversation with Nini or Big Red and he joined, she would suddenly have somewhere she would need to run off to. And although it was incredibly frustrating, he knew she’s not the only one to blame as for why things have been strained between them.
Ricky hadn’t been making that big of an effort either. They hadn’t talked at all during winter break and that was on him. He had just gotten back with Nini and they spent almost every day together during the holidays. He had heard about the possibility of Gina staying through Ashlyn, but couldn’t bring himself to ask her about it. She had left so suddenly and things had changed so quickly in that short period of time, he didn’t really know where they stood. If he was being honest, he didn’t even know where they stood before she left East High. All he knew was that he liked hanging out with her and she made him feel safe and understood, like he could talk to her about anything and she would just get it. But just like everybody else, she left and he had to move forward with his life. So he tried to forget about her and bring his focus back onto Nini and winning her back. Things were finally going as planned and back to normal until Gina came back opening night, dancing her heart out on stage and right back into his life, leaving him a confused mess all over again.
“Ricky?”
“Huh?” He looked at his girlfriend who was opening her locker.
It was the end of the school day and they had plans to go check out a new cafe that had just opened up last weekend.
“Is everything okay?” Nini paused, turning to face him fully.
Ricky nodded his head quickly, “Yeah, everything’s fine.”
“Are you sure? You’ve been so quiet and distant lately.”
He frowned, feeling guilty. He guessed he wasn’t being as subtle as he thought when it came to how much the whole Gina situation was bothering him.
“I’m sorry, I’ve just been a little tired lately,” which wasn’t technically a lie.
He hadn’t been getting much sleep the past couple of days, one reason being the curly-haired dancer. He looked past Nini to see the culprit herself, walking up to her locker which was only a few down from Nini’s. It was bad enough not talking to her. Seeing her everywhere he turned made everything a lot more difficult. She was always right there, but so far out of reach.
Seeing the lost look in his eyes, Nini stepped closer towards him. She wrapped her hands around his waist causing him to divert his attention away from Gina and back onto her.
“Did something happen at home? You know you can talk to me about it, right?”
He put his hands on her face and gave her the best smile he could muster.
“Of course. Don’t worry though, everything’s good,” he said before placing a kiss on her lips.
“Ew, get a room!”
The pair separated, turning to see EJ walk past them with a mocking smile on his face. He leaned against the locker next to Gina’s and turned to face the couple. Gina gave the senior a nod of acknowledgement as she put on her jacket and closed her locker.
“Grow up EJ,” Nini joked, wrapping her arm around Ricky’s back.
The skater glanced at Gina who was adjusting her backpack strap.
“Yeah, yeah,” EJ brushed it off, nudging the girl next to him. “Are you ready?”
“Yeah,” Gina said, giving Nini a small wave.
Nini waved back, snuggling more into Ricky’s side. “Where are you two going?”
“We were thinking of grabbing some food, maybe catch the new Pixar film if we can get tickets. Gina’s a sucker for those movies,” EJ replied.
Ricky knew that. Him and Gina used to watch them every Friday after school at his house. It bugged him that it seemed like EJ was continuing their tradition in his place.
Gina looked up at the older boy, “Probably won’t be able to watch it today though. I checked last period and the tickets were sold out.”
“Damn, already? I guess we’ll go tomorrow. We can just get food then.”
“Actually,” Nini spoke up. “Ricky and I were going to check out this new cafe that just opened up downtown. Do you guys want to join us? It’s been so long since we’ve all hung out together.”
Ricky froze and looked at Gina, who gave EJ a look that insinuated that she didn’t want to come.
He cleared his throat, looking down at his girlfriend, “Nini, they must be busy. Today might not be the best da-“
“No, we’re not at all,” EJ interjected, wrapping an arm around Gina’s shoulder and giving her a tight squeeze. “It would be fun. Let’s go, I’ll drive.”
Gina gave the boy a subtle glare as he gave her an innocent look before they turned around and started to walk towards the school exit.
“Great!” Nini said with a bright smile, grabbing Ricky’s hand and leading him to walk behind the pair.
~*~
The ride to the cafe was awkward to say the least.
EJ and Nini had a little small talk while the other two remained silent, adding little comments here and there when they were addressed.
Gina was trying her hardest not to blow up on EJ for getting her stuck in this predicament. The last thing she needed was to be stuck on a practical double date with Ricky and Nini. She had been doing a good enough job at distancing herself from him and this was throwing a wrench into her whole plan. Granted her plan didn’t seem to be working. She still liked Ricky as much as she did before, maybe even more now. The less she talked to him, the more she missed him. And the more she missed him, the more she thought about him. EJ kept trying to convince her to cave in and just go back to the way things were, but Gina didn’t think she could do that without causing more complications for herself and East High’s infamous couple.
When they got to the cafe, the two pairs sat across from one another at a booth near the windows. Nini excused herself to go to the bathroom, leaving the other three to sit among themselves.
“I’m going to order for us, Gi. Just a hot chocolate right?” EJ said as he got out of his seat.
Gina knew that he was trying to leave the two of them alone, but also knew that he was too stubborn to not go through with his little plan. So, she nodded quietly and watched as the boy walked towards the counter to talk to the barista, giving her a thumbs up as a sign of encouragement.
When she turned back around, she was met with Ricky’s brown eyes. Realizing that he had been caught staring, he quickly casted his eyes toward the window. They sat like that for a second, silent, and Gina thought that that was how they would remain and was perfectly content with that.
Unfortunately, RIcky had other thoughts.
“So,” he said, his eyes still focused on the glass. “You and EJ, huh?”
She licked her lips, glancing up at him.
This was the first time they were talking in a while and Gina didn’t know what to say. Talking to him was foreign now.
“I mean, I’m not judging or anything. I just,” Ricky turned to her now, eyes a little cold. “thought you didn’t do dates.”
Gina couldn’t help the dry laugh that escaped her lips, “I don’t.”
“Could’ve fooled me,” Ricky said with a shug.
“Is there a problem?”
“I don’t know, is there?”
They stared at each other for a bit, before Ricky began again, “Because it seems like there is. You’ve been avoiding me for weeks.”
“I haven’t been avoiding you, Ricky,” Gina replied, but even she knew she didn’t sound convincing.
The boy scoffed, folding his arms as he leaned back into his seat, “That’s bull and you know it.”
She wasn’t going to let him make this all about her and what she was doing. He wasn’t as innocent as he was acting to be.
“Well, it’s not like you’ve been going out of your way to talk to me either.”
“You seemed a little busy. I didn’t want to intrude in your new life with your new friends, especially since you’ve made it pretty clear that you don’t want me in it.”
“That is so not fair,” Gina countered. “You haven’t made a single effort to reach out to me ever since you found out I was staying. You’ve been icing me out ever since,” she stopped herself there.
“Ever since what?”
“Forget it.”
“Unlike you, I find that difficult,” he retorted.
“Unlike me?” Gina asked, leaning forward. “If anyone’s forgetting anything, it’s you.”
“What are you talking about?”
But before Ricky could get an answer, Nini had returned back to their table. EJ was behind her, holding two mugs of hot chocolate. Gina grabbed her drink from him and thanked him quietly, shrinking back into her seat.
Ricky got up to order his and Nini’s drinks. He needed to get out of that booth after what had just transpired.
Why was she making it seem like it was all his fault?
He couldn’t get through to her. She was being vague about what was really upsetting her and now he had even more questions than answers. Maybe Gina did want nothing to do with him now and whatever connection he thought they had was gone. With a sigh, he walked up to the counter.
~*~
“Big Red, you should’ve seen her. She couldn’t even look at me,” Ricky told his friend as he paced the floor of his basement.
“I’m sure it wasn’t as bad as you’re making it seem,” Red reasoned with a reassuring smile.
“No, dude, I think she hates me. I don’t even know why. I didn’t do anything.”
“That could be why.”
Ricky stopped pacing.
“What do you mean?”
“You didn’t text her at all during winter break and you didn’t think she would feel some type of way?”
“It’s a two way street, Red. She didn’t text me either.”
Red gave him a look. “You heard she was coming back and didn’t even call her.”
“I went to her welcome home party.”
“Everyone went to her welcome home party. You guys were close and you didn’t make it seem like you cared at all that she was staying,” he countered.
“Well,” Ricky flopped onto the couch, knowing that he didn’t have a reasonable excuse for that one. “It wasn’t like I didn’t care. I just didn’t know what to say. You know it’s hard for me to express my feelings. It took me more than a year to tell Nini I love her.”
Red nodded, acknowledging that that was the truth.
Ricky continued, “When Gina left, it hurt me a lot. She made me feel...I honestly don’t even know. Things were so complicated between us. How am I supposed to talk to her when I don’t even know what’s going on? I just thought we would go back to being friends.”
“But were you guys ever really just friends?”
Ricky remained silent, not knowing how to answer that question because even he didn’t know.
“You can’t just go back to the way things were. You guys have to talk.”
He ran his hand over his face, letting out a huff, “You don’t think I tried?”
“Not hard enough. Asking her about her and EJ one time isn’t the big effort you think it is.”
“Okay but are they a thing? Like are they together?” Ricky flipped onto his stomach to face the redhead. “Gina avoided the question when I asked her. You’re dating Ashlyn, what has she told you?”
“Do you not see the problem here? You guys didn’t speak for weeks and that was the first thing you asked her. Whether or not they’re together shouldn’t bother you and if it does, Gina isn’t the only person you need to talk to,” Red said pointedly before grabbing the remote and turning on the TV in the room.
Ricky hated to admit it, but Red was right. There was definitely more to his situation with Gina than just a friendly fall out. He couldn’t help but feel guilty about the fact that he couldn’t stop thinking about her even though he was now back together with Nini. Nini didn’t deserve that and it was now time for him to be honest with her and himself.
~*~
The talk with Nini ended up way differently than he anticipated.
He had asked to go over to her place, telling her that he wanted to talk. When he arrived at her house, they went up to her room where she also admitted that she needed to tell him something. She had gotten into YAC and had known since opening night, but couldn’t bring herself to tell him. This had opened up an entire Pandora’s box of problems: Nini keeping it a secret from him for nearly a month, her feeling like Ricky was keeping things from her as well, the lack of trust and honesty they had between them, their struggles with communication. So when Ricky revealed that he may or may not have feelings for someone else, Nini didn’t really take it well.
“So not only have you been lying to me when you said everything was fine, you also lied to me when you said you loved me.”
“No, Nini, I didn’t lie about that. I do love you, a lot. I’ve just realized that I’m not in love with you and it wouldn’t be fair for either of us if I didn’t tell you. I am so sorry. I never wanted to hurt you.”
“Well, it’s too late for that now.”
The room grew silent, the two of them avoiding each other’s eyes.
“It’s Gina, isn’t it,” Nini whispered, sitting down on the edge of her bed.
She fiddled with her fingers, trying her best to keep her composure.
Ricky nodded slowly, biting his lip as he looked at her.
The brunette let out a breathy laugh, “Of course it’s her. It’s always been her.”
“Nini..”
“It’s fine. I don’t hate you for liking her,” she reassured. “You can’t control that. It just hurts, you know.”
“I am so sorry,” was all Ricky could manage to say.
“You’ve said that already.”
She tucked her hair behind her ear before getting up and walking towards him.
“I will be okay, Ricky. I promise,” she said, grabbing his hands. “Now, I need you to go and talk to Gina.”
He gave her a confused look.
“You guys have been avoiding the inevitable. Be honest with her, like you just were with me.”
“But-”
“Go! Stop being so scared of love,” she insisted, dragging him towards her door. “Don’t tell me you’re going to wait another year to confess how you feel.”
“Today though?”
“Yes, today. You’ve waited long enough.”
And with that, Nini closed the door in his face.
Now he was at the skatepark, waiting for Gina to arrive.
He had mustered up the courage earlier to text her for the first time in a month. **To Gina: Hey, can we talk? I know you probably don’t want to see me, but I need to see you. I’ll be at the skatepark at 6. Please, meet me there.**
It was a sunday and later at night, so there wouldn’t be anyone there.
She hadn’t responded, but he still came anyway.
He had hope that she would show up.
And sure enough, at 6:05, he saw a head of beautiful curls appear at the other end of the park.
Her cheeks were slightly pink from the cold and she stuck her hands in her pockets, searching around the area before her eyes landed on his. He stood up from where he was sitting on the staircase and began to walk towards her as she did the same. When they finally met in the middle, Gina searched his face, looking for any hint of what he could’ve possibly called her here for.
Taking a deep breath, Ricky began, “Thank you for coming.”
Gina just nodded, snuggling into her jacket.
“You’re probably wondering why I asked you to meet me here at like 6 o’clock on a Sunday night,” he continued.
She nodded yet again.
“Um well, you see. The thing is,” and at this point, Ricky could tell she was getting a little frustrated.
He had to just cut to the chase, “Me and Nini broke up.”
With that, Gina looked taken aback, “Oh, I’m sorry to hear that.”
“Yeah, we realized that we weren’t as right for each other as we thought.”
He stopped speaking then, trying to figure out how to lead into what he wanted to really say.
The girl stared at him, confused, before speaking up again, “I just don’t understand why you called me all the way over here to tell me that. I would’ve probably heard at school tomorrow.”
When he didn’t respond, she shook her head and stepped closer to him.
“Did you want me to comfort you or something? We haven’t talked in like a month. I’m sure Red would be much more helpful in this situation than me.”
Taking another deep breath, Ricky began again, “Do you know why I asked you to meet me here?”
“I feel like we’re going in circles here, Bowen.”
“Here. At the skatepark. Do you know why I asked you to come here?”
Gina shook her head.
He turned around and pointed at the staircase behind him.
“This was the first place we ever talked. You convinced me to stay in the show, said that I had my own style. You helped me believe in myself and my capabilities. From that day forward, I felt like I had someone that I could relate to, that could just understand me. That moment, this place, was a turning point. That’s why I wanted to talk to you here.”
Ricky took a step closer to her.
“The second you stepped into my life, it’s changed drastically for the better. The more time we spent together, the more you occupied my mind. For the first time in a long time, I looked forward to waking up everyday. Just to get to talk to you, to see you.”
Gina smiled a little at those words, those stupid warm, fuzzy feelings making their way back into her stomach.
“When you left, I was devastated. Another person I cared about was leaving and there was nothing I could do about it. I tried to move on, but I couldn’t. You’re the one thing that I can’t let go, Gina Porter.”
Her heart skipped at that.
Was he saying what she thought he was saying?
It couldn’t be true, right?
He couldn’t possibly...
“I like you. Like a lot. So much that I can’t contain it any longer. I’m sorry for waiting so long to say it and for not reaching out all this time. I was scared and confused, but not anymore. I like you and only you, Gina. I know that you probably hate me and want nothing to do with me but-”
Before Ricky knew it, Gina had ran up and grabbed Ricky’s face, brushing her lips against his. The kiss was soft and sweet and ended as quickly as it started.
Ricky stood there for a second, mouth agape.
Gina caressed his cheek with her thumb before speaking, “I could never hate you, Ricky. I like you more than you could ever imagine. I wasn’t avoiding you because I didn’t like you, I was avoiding you because I liked you too much.”
He couldn’t believe it.
This whole time he thought she hated him, but in reality, she felt the same way he did.
“Do you know how hard it is to see the person you like with someone else?” she continued.
With those words, Ricky suddenly remembered something.
“But what about you and EJ?”
Gina gave him a questioning look, “What about me and EJ?”
“Aren’t you two…”
Gina just rolled her eyes, pushing his shoulder playfully.
“Bowen, do you think I would kiss you if I was dating him? We are just friends. Always have been and always will be. You are the only guy for me.”
Smiling widely, Ricky wrapped his arms around her waist, spinning her around.
“Gina Porter likes me!”
Gina laughed loudly before standing on one of the skating ramps.
“And Richard Bowen likes me!”
Ricky gasped in fake shock, placing a hand to his chest, “Not my government name!”
“Don’t be so dramatic, Richard,” she mocked.
With that comment Ricky threw her over his shoulder. She laughed, begging him to put her down.
“Not until you apologize, Genevieve.”
“Okay, okay! Fine, I’m sorry!” She said quickly.
He sat her down on the ramp at that, placing his hands on either side of her as he leaned in close.
“I think I owe you a proper kiss,” he whispered before closing the gap between them.
She wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him closer.
This kiss was different from the first. It was filled with longing and passion, and it couldn’t be more perfect. It was all that they were craving for and more.
Pulling apart, Gina rested her forehead on his. Their warm breaths intermingled in the frosty atmosphere.
“This is cute and romantic and all, but it’s freezing. Can we leave?” Gina whispered, booping his nose with her own.
Ricky laughed softly and nodded. He stepped back, holding his hand out to help her off of the ramp.
As they walked up the staircase to the exit, hand and hand, Ricky suddenly stopped. He turned to fully face her.
“What?” Gina asked.
“I almost forgot,” Ricky responded, letting go of her hand to dig into his pocket.
With a grin, he pulled out the hat Gina had given him the night of the Thanksgiving party. He placed it onto his head and pulled it down as far as it could go. He then dug into his other pocket and pulled out another hat. This one, Gina didn’t recognize. It was clearly handmade and horribly knitted.
“I made this for you. It was supposed to be a welcome home gift, but I was too nervous to give it to you at your party. I know it’s ugly, but-”
“Give me that hat,” Gina interjected with a smile, taking it from him and putting it on her head.
Ricky blushed, shaking his head, “That’s too big.”
Wrapping the drawstrings of his hat in her hands, she tugged him closer, placing a peck on his lips.
“I’ll grow into it.”