melancholy bliss || rini au

08. a date?

nini arrived at the café with ej this time, the both of them walking in to see all of their friends seated in their usual spot

"hey guys," nini smiles, sitting on the couch next to ricky

"what's up neens?" seb asks happily, ej awkwardly sitting next to gina

"i-i'm going to go get some water, maya, neens, ash, seb-could you guys uh-help me?" gina mutters, standing up

the four all exchange confused looks and maya frowns

"but i'm eating my cake-"

maya gets cut off by gina pulling her up off the bean bag by the arm and seb, nini and ashlyn all rush after them towards the counter

"what's going on?" ashlyn asks

"yeah, seriously you had to draw me away from my food? i was looking forward-oh my god butter cookie samples!" maya squeals as she takes a handful from the bowl, turning around to see her friends all looking at her firmly "uh-what's up gi?"

gina sighs as she glances at ej who was talking to the others

"when we-were at dinner, we were on the way back to his apartment-"

seb shudders "okay, if this conversation is going where i think it's going-"

"he asked me to move in with him." gina blurts out

ashlyn, nini, maya and seb gasp happily and look at her

"that's amazing!" ashlyn exclaims

gina glares at her friends and maya opens her mouth

"uh-we mean-ugh, how dare he want to take this next step in your relationship...?" maya says in a hesitant voice, making the nini, ashlyn and seb shake their heads with smiles

"what's wrong gi?" nini asks

gina sighs and leans against the counter "i just-i don't know if i'm ready yet. everything is moving so fast and-"

"oh no, trust me, you guys are moving agonizingly slow. it's been 'does he like me or not' since the seventh grade up until senior year, then there was the 'i love you or not' situation all through college and now-"

maya stops talking when she sees gina giving her a warning glare before maya laughs nervously and takes another sample of the butter cookies

"i'm just-gonna go-somewhere else," she mutters

seb, nini and ashlyn chuckle as maya scurries away and turn back to the distressed gina

"look gi, you just need to talk to him," seb says

"yeah, i'm sure he'll understand," ashlyn reassured him "he's been head over heels for you since you moved to salt lake,"

"just talk about it with him," nini smiles

gina nods "okay, but first i'm going to sit down and drink my coffee,"

they all laugh as nini watches her friends head back to the seats and she turns back to order her coffee

"hey,"

nini turns around to see lucas standing there and she smiles

"oh-hey!" she exclaims, laughing nervously as she turns around

"hey," he laughs "i was hoping to talk to you,"

nini raises her eyebrows "really?"

he nods with a smile and she turns back around properly to face him

"o-okay," she says

"you don't have a ride when we all leave right?" lucas asks

nini widens her eyes and shakes her head "no. nope. no one."

"great! then-uh-would you want to-hang out tonight?"

nini nods "sure. yeah, i'd like that."

they both stay there for a few seconds and she turns around to see her coffee ready, taking it and smiling at him

"i'll-see you there," she says, walking past him and back to the couches

"i smell something," ricky whispers as she sits down next to him

"okay, i think he might have asked me out-"

everyone erupts in excited whispers and nini shakes her head with a laugh

"but i'm not exactly sure!" she exclaims quietly

"you're so pessimistic. that's my thing." carlos smirks

"now it's your turn," nini tells ricky quietly as everyone returns to their conversations

he just shrugs his shoulders "i'll think about it,"

"a deal is a deal," she whispers

"what are you two whispering about?" gina asks, everyone turning to ricky and nini

"nothing." the two say in unison as lucas comes back with a sandwich, sitting down on the couch opposite to where ricky and nini were sitting