the sound of birds chirping woke ricky up as he opens his eyes slowly while taking a huge sigh. he looks at the sky in awe, seeing how beautiful it is. his eyes then wander around until he looks at the view beside him, which is even more beautiful. he sees his girlfriend peacefully sleeping on the crook of his neck with some of her hair covering her face. he takes out his hand to remove the hair from her face and sees the how beautiful she is despite the new eyebags from last night. nini let out soft snores and ricky chuckles lightly, adoring how cute it is. then he strokes her cheek softly to wake her up, just what she likes.

it takes him a few minutes for nini to finally wake up. firstly she scrunches up her nose as she shifts closer to him. secondly she hums softly while tightening her grip around his torso. ricky finds it really cute to see how comfortable she is on his arms.

ricky then checks the time to see it was about 8am and he remembers to drive nini to kourtney's, so he finally press a kiss on her forehead to wake her up. she realizes it, knowing her lips curl up into a small smile, but her eyes are still closed. then ricky press a kiss on her eyelids and she responds it with a soft giggle which makes ricky's heart's flutters.

"princess, wake up." he says softly

she shakes her head while smiling and then she shifts her head more to his neck. ricky laughs lightly as he kept trying to wake her up.

he decides to kiss her lips to wake her up. he was surprised when nini kisses him back so he pulls away quickly.

"come on!" he whines

nini finally gave in as she opens her eyes and sees the frown on his face. she laughs while pinching his cheeks.

"why won't u let me sleep?" she pouts

"it's 8am and i have to drive you to kourt's, right?"

nini finally remembers that, "shit."

"yup."

"give me another 5 minutes, please?" she pleads while giving him the puppy eyes which he always cannot resist

"you're lucky i love you." he mutters

she squeals and kisses his neck softly, "you're the best. i promise, just five minutes."

he chuckles, "okay, princess."

"rub my back?" she requests and he gladly accepts it

nini buries her face on his neck while he wraps his arm around her and place his hand on her back as he rubs it softly. she usually asks him to do that to calm herself down. now what's left on his mind was if she's feeling any better, so that's what he'll ask when she wakes up in five minutes.

as promised, nini finally wakes up five minutes later. she let go of herself from his arms as she lay down on her pillow while facing him.

"how are you?" she asks while playing with his hair

"i should be the one to ask that." he points out

nini laughs lightly, "i'm doing better, don't worry!"

"good then!" he exclaims

they stare at each other for few minutes, admiring each other while looking at each and every single spot on their face with a huge smile on their face. with ricky's arms around her and nini's hand on his hair, they feel the comfort and safety around each other.

"we'll be okay, right?" she asks, referring to last night's conversation

he gives her a small nod, "we'll be okay." he leans in to connect their lips for a few seconds.

nini pulls back and remembered her plan to kourtney's again, "okay, we should go now."

they both got up from the blankets and tidy them up all. when it's clear, they put it on ricky's trunk and finally they go inside the car.

as ricky drives the car, nini decides to turn on her phone and sees the messages from her friends while ignoring her parents' messages

ignore the date!

soon enough they arrive at kourtney's neighborhood. nini told him to stop few houses before kourtney so that she won't see ricky's car. ricky then stops the car in about three houses away from kourts.

"alright, we're here." he says as he glances at her

nini yawns lightly as she rubs her eyes, which ricky finds it adorable, "okay, i should go now."

nini gives him a tight hug while burying her face on the crook of his neck, "thank you, baby."

ricky smiles as his hand rubs her soft hair, "of course, princess. you'll be okay, right?"

she nods on his neck, "i'll try to be home before dinner and ask gina for a ride."

ricky pulls away as his hands move to cup her cheeks, "we'll be okay."

she gives him a small nod, "we will be."

she leans in to connect their lips together for a short kiss. they feel the kiss as if it might be the last time they kiss each other, but they are sure enough it's not.

nini pulls away from him while sending him a warm smile, "i love you."

he leans in to press a long kiss on her forehead while nini's lips was still smiling warmly.

"i love you too." he beams, "walk safe!"

nini laughs lightly, "i will!"

ricky watches nini deeply as she walked through the houses until she stops at kourtney's house. he waits until finally someone opens the door. when he sees nini's inside, he drives his car again back to his house to try sleeping again. it's sunday anyway, who cares if you sleep all day?

kourtney's housemaid, amy, opens the door for her and she gives her a warm smile, "hi miss nina. miss kourtney's in her room."

"alright, thank you amy."

"have you eaten anything yet?" amy asks and nini shakes her head

"okay, why don't you go to miss kourtney's room. i'll make you your favorite pancakes." amy suggests

"that would be great, amy. thank you."

amy gives her a smile before returning to the kitchen. aside from gina's house, kourtney's is like a home for her, which is why amy knows best about nini's favorite meal.

nini then walk upstairs and stops at kourtney's bedroom door. she knocks it softly and she hears kourtney yells "hold up!" then the door finally opens and nini is greeted with a hug by kourtney. nini instantly hugs her back as she let out a small smile.

"you better tell me everything!" kourtney says as she lets nini walk inside her bedroom

"let's wait for the others, i don't want to repeat the story." nini says as she sits on kourtney's bed

"alright, but are you okay now? where the hell did u sleep? and how did you get here?" kourtney asks a lot of questions which makes nini laughs lightly

"slow down, there." nini laughs, "i'm okay, i slept at the park near the mall, i went here with a taxi." nini says, completely lying

"that's... a lot..." kourtney trails off, "have you eat breakfast yet?"

"amy offered me pancakes and she'll bring it here later."

"okay, good." then there was a bit of silence until kourtney speaks up again, "you can sleep, you know. you left your pajamas on my closet anyway."

nini looks at her outfit which she hasn't change since dinner, "maybe i can change."

"and shower!" kourtney exclaims, "there's a new toothbrush and the towel is on the cabinet, you can take it."

"alright, thanks kourt. i'm sorry to bother you on a sunday morning." she chuckles

kourtney groans, "should i give you another speech of how you never bother me when it comes to you having troubles or problems?"

nini bursts out into a fit laughter, "i know, but still-"

"this is why i hate you for being too nice." kourtney mutters while nini laughs lightly

nini takes about fifteen minutes to wash herself until she feels clean enough. when she walks out of the bathroom she was greeted with the smell of her favorite amy's pancakes. kourtney then taps on the other side of the bed for nini to sit. then she gladly sits on it and start eating the pancake. kourtney knows nini won't tell her yet what happened so she made up another topic and give her some jokes to lightens up her mood.

as promised, nini and kourtney's friends show up at kourtney's at about 10am with yawns and sleepy face. they are now spread around kourtney's floor, bed, and carpet.

"how are you feeling, neens?" seb asks

"i'm better after amy's pancakes." nini jokes

"bless amy and her pancakes." carlos says and they all laugh

"okay, are you ready to tell us now?" kourtney asks

nini nods as she lets out a huge sigh, "this is going to be a lot to take in, so let me just tell you everything then you can comment."

everyone nods in agreement and nini finally told them everything that happened at dinner, without leaving any details. when she's done, she examines her friends' faces one by one and see the confusion on their faces.

"okay, who wants to speak first?" nini asks

carlos raises his hands and nini lets him speak, "is ethan cute?"

"carlos!" everyone yell at him

"geez sorry!" he defends himself, "i want to say that your parents are cruel enough to let you in to their business!"

"thank you!" nini exclaims, "i know, but last night i've been thinking that if this is what it takes to make my parents give more attention to me then why the hell not? it's not like i'll like him anyway."

gina raises her eyebrows, "how are you so sure?"

nini tries to find another lie, "i just know it."

"i'm going to be off topic for a second but how were and are you feeling, neens? after knowing your parents' intention of coming home?" ashlyn asks worriedly

"i was a mess but i managed that already."

"you sure you're okay, right? don't hide it from us, nini. we don't know how you feel but we know that it must be so hard for you."

nini touches ashlyn's wrist, "i'm okay, i promise."

thank ricky for making me better, guys

"okay, i trust you." ashlyn gives her a warm smile, "okay, back to the previous topic! what do you mean by you just know it?"

she sighs, "well, i have a feeling ethan is this one rich boy who's pretending to be nice outside but inside he's awful. i just don't get it, if he's rich enough then he can get any girl he wants, right?"

"usually rude rich boys are like that. but we don't know him, neens." kourtney says, "but if you really don't want to fall for him, just fake it. protect your feelings. or try to find another guy for you."

if only they knew

"yeah, i've been thinking about that. i mean, it's not like i will marry him, right?"

everyone but nini glances each other while nini raises her eyebrows, "right?"

"well..." carlos trails off, "if it comes to investments, maybe your parents will ask you to marry him."

"oh god," nini groans as she ran her hands through her hair, "if they really do that, i'm just gonna runaway and change my name. i don't want my love life to be a set up!"

ashlyn rubs her knees softly, "we know, neens. but now, don't try to think of anything far from marrying him, okay? your mind is overwhelmed enough of yesterday, and just rest yourself first. you still have two weeks until you meet him, so try to forget it for awhile. hell, we can distract you every single day."

"shopping!" carlos exclaims

"sleepover!" gina exclaims

"spa!" seb exclaims

"stalk hot guys on tinder!" kourtney exclaims

everyone turns their attention towards kourtney, "really, kourt?"

kourtney raises her hands in defense, "the point is we can clear up our schedules for the next two weeks! excepts when it comes to exams and deadlines, of course."

"guys, don't worry!" nini exclaims quickly, "i promise to call you guys whenever i'm stressed out, then you guys can pick whatever we should do."

"but really, neens. promise us. you usually don't tell us when you're stressed." carlos points out

"i promise!" she smiles as she glances at each and every single one of them, "you guys are the best, you know that, right?"

"group hug!" ashlyn exclaims and soon everyone joins the hug

nini is very glad to have best friends like them who understands her conditions very well and supports her no matter what. she hopes this friendship stays until they all die. she didn't know what to do if she has no friends like them.

"you're the number one priority in our group, okay? we know that you're the one who has the most problems and we never feel bothered if you need our help, okay?"

nini nods as she lets out a few tears

"aw, come on! i don't wanna cry on a sunday morning!" carlos whines while everyone bursts out into a fit laughter

they all spend their sunday at kourtney's doing movie marathons, baking, gossips, facemasks, and deep talks. they never keep anything from each other, except for nini, of course. she hasn't feel comfortable enough to tell her friends because she thinks things might change between her and ricky if their closest friends knows.

as planned, nini drives home with gina to her house, since their houses are across each other. nini knows gina will ask her about her condition so nini being nini, asks gina about her dance progress.

gina stops at nini's house at about 6.30pm. they see that the house is quiet enough and they hoped garrett and alexis aren't home.

"thanks gi, i'll see you tomorrow." nini says as she gets out from the car

"see you, neens! and don't hesitate to knock on my door if you feel uncomfortable!" gina calls out

nini chuckles and gives her a thumbs up. when the car goes to gina's house, nini nervously walk inside her house. as expected, she's greeted by silence and she was grateful for a second, until a voice startled her.

"how nice of you finally coming home." alexis spats as she shows up behind nini

"sorry mom." nini mutters

"because you acted like this, we decided to set you up with ethan, whether you like it or not. no ifs, ands, or buts." garrett sternly says as he shows up behind alexis

"whatever." nini mutters while rolling her eyes, "i'm not in the mood for dinner. i'll skip it." she says as she walks to the stairs

"good, you look fat. you should do another diet. we don't want you to give an ugly physical impression towards ethan." alexis spats

nini's heart breaks. she was furious that she was greeted by nothing but insults from her parents. yes, she's guilty for sneaking out, but she expected for her parents to hug her or make sure she's okay. turns out it's the opposite.

as nini closes her bedroom door, she leans against it while sliding down to the ground and broke down crying. she's disappointed at her parents for treating her like that, it's like they treat her not like their daughter and it hurts her heart.

she decides to contact ricky, but she's not in the mood to call him, so she sent him a text.