melancholy bliss || rini au

03. always here for you

ricky arrived at the café along with big red and carlos, sitting down at their usual spot as they all waited for the rest of the group

"i'm in desperate need of coffee right now," carlos sighs, taking the menu and looking through for something different

"didn't notice how you sped through the roads all the way here," big red says sarcastically

ricky laughs lightly at carlos' glare before seeing ashlyn, seb, maya and kourtney all stroll in through the entrance and head towards them

maya jumps on the beanbag chair and ashlyn sits down next to big red, seb sitting with carlos and kourtney next to ricky

"where are the others?" big red asks

"after a bit of scheming on gina's part and my brain, we got her to give ej and lucas a ride along with neens," maya smirks

ricky snorts a laugh, already picturing nini nervously sitting in the car trying hard not to talk in her little british accent that she's always had as a nervous habit as well as fiddling with her fingers.

everyone grins before seeing ej and gina walk in hand in hand with lucas and nini following in behind

"speak of the devils," ashlyn sings

ej sat down on the sofa-arm chair with gina sitting on his lap normally, nini noticing ricky and kourtney to scoot over for her to sit with lucas

she glares at her friends discreetly, who all just simply returned innocent smiles as they take their seats

"okay, so let's get down to business for the best day of the year this weekend!" maya exclaims excitedly

"gee i wonder what could be happening," gina says sarcastically

"ha ha funny. it's my twenty-third birthday guys. it needs to be big. do you all know what we need to do for it to be big?" she questions

"no, but i'm assuming you're going to tell us," lucas says

maya nods "right you are." she beams "we need to all go out. together."

"we go out all the time," ej reminds her

maya sighs "elton john-"

gina suppresses a smile while ej groans "that's not my name-"

"going to a coffee shop after work, when we're all tired, is not the definition of going out."

"that's literally the definition because we're going out of our houses," ricky laughs

nini shakes her head with a smile before feeling lucas put his arm on the back of the sofa and she opens her mouth

"i-i'm going to go see what-food they have on display-" she mutters nervously, trying to hide her british accent as she stands up and starts making her way to the counter

"oh! i'll come! i hear they have this new sort of chocolate cake with a mocha-chocolate buttercream," she beams, standing up, everyone nodding knowingly at maya's usual enthusiasm for food.

nini arrived at the counter and leaned her elbow on it, placing her forehead in the palm of her hand as maya ordered her piece of cake

"uh-oh," maya says once the waiter walked off "i know that look."

nini sighs "em, why am i so awkward?"

maya opens her mouth "well-you're not-awkward per se-"

nini lets out a fake cry and buried her face in her hands, making maya laugh softly, moving her hands