i think you will like this chapter😌

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to say that ricky is nervous would be an understatement. the last time he met garrett and alexis, they literally told him to go away and now they wanted to see him, probably. there are two possibilities, either they approve his relationship with their daughter or they don't. the worst thing that could happen is he must really fade away from her life and that definitely is not what he's waiting for.

gina told ricky to wait at the cafeteria so that gina and sarah can look after nini while he, garrett, and alexis have a talk. he is currently sitting on a four people table in the corner of a cafeteria with a glass of water while impatiently waits for garrett and alexis to come as he fidgets on his seat.

fight for her, fight for you and her, you can do this.

a pair of husband and wife walk inside the cafeteria approaching ricky and his heartbeat has never grow faster. he lets out a huge sigh as he gives out the warmest smile he has.

"hi," ricky greets them and the two of them lets out a small smile as they take a seat across him

at least they're smiling

"how's nini?" ricky asks

"she's still unstable, but the doctor predicts her condition will be normal in about two or three days." garrett answers

"alright," alexis sighs, "i don't wanna waste my time. you know why we wanna meet you, right?"

"i know, but i don't know if my guess is right." ricky says nervously

"and that is...?"

"you give me the answer whether you approve nini and i's relationship or not?" ricky guesses as he chuckles nervously

alexis chuckles, "correct. but we don't want to give you any answer if we haven't hear from your point of view."

ricky raises his eyebrows in confusion, "what do you mean?"

"tell us how did you two ended up dating? and why did you keep it a secret." garrett requests

"oh..." ricky trails off, "i'd tell you but it might take a long time. i told sarah last friday and it took me two hours."

garrett and alexis' facial expression turn into a surprised one, "how long have you two been dating?"

"two years." he answers flatly

garrett and alexis look at each other, still with a surprised expression, "just tell us everything."

"alright, i'll try." he sighs, "it all started freshmen year. if you don't know, at that time my parents used to fight all the time, which is why i used to cry by myself and nini found me crying two times. we hated each other back then because, you know..."

garrett nods, "proceed."

"and then those two times that nini caught me i yelled at her and told her to stay away because it was none of her business, and it was true because the problem was between my mom and dad. and so few weeks later nini found me crying the third time. this time the fight was so bad, i didn't even hesitate to yell at her. you two do know how pure her heart is. she wouldn't leave me until i told her what happened. she told me that she understood we hated each other, but she knew me well, because we were so attached to each other's hip since we were kids. she knew me so well that she can know i had a bad day. so i confessed what happened. and i didn't know why, but talking to her made me feel better. then i realized that all i wanted was just to have her by my side every single time i have a breakdown. so we made an agreement to secretly hangout and then we did that everytime we need each other."

"i didn't know how the hell it happened but my feelings started to grow towards her. she understands me well, she knows when i'm happy, sad, angry, lie, anxious, worried, and basically tons of my feelings. i am so comfortable when she's around, it's like i can be myself when i'm around her. so which is why sophomore year i confessed my feelings and turned out she felt the same way, but we knew that we couldn't make our relationship public because we were known for hating each other, and with our families' rivalry thing, we decided to keep it private."

"we would sneak out every weekend to meetup at wilson park and we would go to our spot where no one could find us, which is in park city. we would spend our time together there just to hangout, study, talk, rambled on what bothers us the most, and some other stuffs. the more i hangout with her, the more i realize all i wanted to do is just to protect her. she's been going through a lot in her life and i feel like i should be protecting her. she's my person. and since then i realized that i love her and she loves me too. and ever since we said we love each other, we promised to each other to never let each other go and make sure our relationship stays like that."

"we even had this crazy plan where both of us will go to columbia and we will live in the same apartment in new york, and we will comeback to salt lake to surprise everyone with a ring on nini's finger. i know, it's crazy. but i love her so much, i even promise to myself and to her that i will marry her. i know this is shocking for you, but i love her so much. she makes me the happiest man on earth. she makes me feel like i deserve to live, despite all of my problems in my life. she makes me feel like i'm worth it. and since i realize that, all i want to do is to do the same thing. make her happy, make sure she's happy with me because she deserves the whole world."

"and then the whole set up thing happened. i don't know if you've known this but she sneakout to see me when she told you she was at kourtney's. she cried the whole time and she was afraid that if i would be mad. i'd honestly admit that was probably the most heartbreaking thing i've ever seen. she was terrified if our relationship will be at the end of a line, but i know you expect nini to say yes, so i convince her to do it because she's seen me with many girls when i'm with her and i think it's time for me to try to be on nini's shoes. and ever since nini started "dating" ethan, our relationship becomes kind of messy. and we tried to sort things out and it did, but then just as everything gets better, next thing ethan leak all of our sneakouts and dates. that's where you two and my parents came in and yell at us. you know the rest..."

ricky ends the story with a huge sigh as he closes his eyes. when he told the story, he didn't bother to glance at them because he was scared to see their reaction. so he pulls out all of his bravery and open his eyes. he is shocked to see garrett and alexis' reaction

they're crying

"i-uh, that's it for now. i don't know why you're crying. but i do know you are disappointed in me and nini. but i swear, i love her. she makes me happy and i make her happy. i know that."

alexis sniffles as she wipes her tears, "you really love her?"

he gives her the warmest smile, "i do. i'd do anything for her."

garrett sighs, "you've told us your side, now it's time for you to hear what we have to say."

ricky nods, "of course."

"first of all, we're truly sorry." garrett starts, "we're sorry for telling you to go when you're actually the one who's been with nini the whole time."

ricky chuckles, "it's okay, i mean i understand where you to were coming from. i mean, i dated your daughter where she's supposed to be dating your investor's son."

"you have a point there," garrett chuckles, "what we're trying to say is that what gina, sarah, and ej told us last night kept haunting us in our sleep last night, then we consider asking you in person. we saw the glimpse in your eyes when you talk about you and nini and we know instantly that you really mean it when you told us you love her."

alexis nods in agreement, "and we remembered that night where we told nini about the set up and how she told us she didn't want her love life to be a set up, last night we realized how awful we were. i mean, garrett and i dated since high school and we never broke up, only small to big fights but we always find our way back to each other. and that night we were so selfish we didn't think of her feelings."

"it's okay. i mean, getting an investor is such a huge deal and i understand where you were coming from." ricky says

"we're truly sorry, ricky. if the rival between your parents and us didn't happen, maybe things will never end up like this."

"it's okay, everything happens for a reason. i mean, i don't know, i feel like the set up between nini and ethan just makes my relationship with nini become stronger and stronger. we would always tell each other how much we love each other and we mean it, we try to understand being in each other's shoes, and our communication gets better than ever."

alexis gives him a smile, "you're a good guy, ricky."

"thank you." he gives them a smile

ricky starts to think about the rivalry, "would it be rude if i ask you about the rivalry?"

garrett chuckles, "i knew he'd ask us this."

ricky lets out a light laugh, "i mean, you gave us an irrational reason since fourth grade."

alexis laughs, "you're right." she turns to garrett, "is this the right time?"

garrett shrugs, "i don't know, but he's 18 now and like teenagers nowadays says, fuck it."

ricky and alexis bursts out into a fit laughter, "nice one, mr. roberts."

"garrett." he corrects him with a smirk

ricky widens his eyes, "w-what?"

"well, yeah. if you still want to be with our daughter then you should be comfortable with calling us by our first names." alexis says, smirking

ricky cannot believe what just happened

"d-does this mean y-you approve me and nini?"

garrett and alexis nod in agreement, "we don't know about your parents, though."

"i can handle that later," he waves off, "can i like, hug you two? i'm sorry if that's weird."

garrett quickly stands up from his seat, "come here, kid."

he embraces ricky to his arms as ricky can't help but to cry on his shoulders. he is thankful that garrett and alexis can see his love for nini and he is thankful they approve the relationship.

"we've always known you're a good person, ricky." alexis tells him, "thank you for always taking care of her."

"of course."

after hugging garrett and alexis, they all go back to their own seat with a huge relief on their hearts.

"so, ready to hear the story?" alexis asks

"i'm nervous, to be honest. i mean, i remembered how you guys and my parents were so attached to each other's hips and one day you were all like demons who fight with each other."

garrett laughs, "you're right, ricky."

alexis turns to garrett and he gives her a nod, signaling she should tell the story.

"it all happened when you and nini were in third grade. your dad was going to build another business but he had no clue, he had too many things to do on his mind, and so was your mom. so garrett offered to help. so, basically garrett had the whole idea and then your parents really thanked garrett for it. garrett's contribution was pretty huge. he planned the whole thing, but then when the business was released, your parents claimed that the idea came from your parents and no one helped them."

ricky widens his eyes, "wait, what?"

garrett nods, "i was okay at first, but then my braincells kept telling me that it wasn't okay. the business became really successful and i got no credit at all. since then our relationship with them became a bit bitter, but the four of us still hide it from everyone, including ej and gina's parents. ever since that moment, everything became a competition to us. investors, new land, new business, shares, basically everything became a competition on who's the better business people."

"the climax was when you and nini were in fourth grade. garrett and i had planned a new business that we decided to run together because you know garrett's business is mining while mine is fashion, and we thought what if we did the same business area? so we did it. few days before the release, your parents had a sudden conference where they release another business. turns out they've been hiring a private investigator to pretend to be our employee, and they stole our idea."

ricky chokes on his water, "what the hell?"

garrett nods, "which is why at the same day, your parents told you to stay away from nini and so did us told nini to stay away from you."

"oh my god," he breathes out, "so this is basically my parents' fault."

alexis gives him a weak smile, "we understand that they're your parents and it's okay if you don't want to believe us. but you can ask sarah later on. she'd say the same thing."

"i-i'm so sorry." he says with embarrassment

"hey, don't be, kid. it was your parents, not you." garrett says with a smile

"but still, they're my parents. i can't believe this. i know how cruel they are but i didn't expect them to be this cruel." ricky says with tears on his eyes

alexis sighs as she stands up and moves to sit beside ricky, "to be completely honest with you, garrett and i have already forgotten about the rival because we thought it was in the past and we thought it's time to forgive them. we've tried contacting them these past few months, but you know how stubborn your parents are, especially your mom."

ricky cannot believe what he just heard. his parents are the ones to blame but garrett and alexis are the adult ones here, forgiving and forgetting.

"now i understand why nini's heart is so pure."

garrett and alexis laugh, "we're not that nice all the time, you know."

ricky joins them to laugh, "i don't mean to be rude, but i know."

garrett and alexis raise their eyebrows in confusion and this is where ricky messes up.

he's one step closer to telling them how nini feels about them but he thinks it's better if they hear it from nini.

"ricky, what is it?" garrett asks

"i uh... nothing. i mean, it's better if nini's the one who tells you." ricky says nervously

"ricky," alexis pleads

"nini's going to be mad at me for this."

"we'll take the blame." garrett says

ricky looks at them with a terrified expression and they look so worried about what he has to say.

"if nini comforts me when i'm having family problems, i also comfort her when she has problems or her panic attack comes to her." he starts, "and uh... all of her problems mostly come from the same cause."

"which is?"

ricky lets out a huge sigh before he says it, "you two."

garrett and alexis widen their eyes, "w-what?"

"ever since the rivalry thing between our families, you give less attention to her, according to her. which is why she became a perfectionist. she did perfectly well at school so that she can impress you two. and she always feel alone when you two are not home. she was so happy everytime you two got home but when all you two talk about is just business, she gets sad. all she wanted was your attention. all she wanted was for you two to ask her how is her life doing, is she okay, how is her friends, does she has a crush on someone, what does she wanna be when she grow up. and then you like to criticize her looks by telling her she looks fat or something like that, and i have to admit i'm so mad because nini is just as beautiful as she is. she became so insecure of herself, which is why she puts herself too hard on being miss perfect."

"when you told her about the set up, she was upset, but the she thought if that will make you give more attention to her, then so be it. that is the real reason why she did the set up with ethan. she never liked him, she despises him. ethan was so cruel to her. but she'd do it if it means that you two can give more attention to her."

"when you found out about nini and i, and nini tried to defend herself by admitting ethan almost raped her and you two deny the accusation, she was so heartbroken. she feels unsafe. i feel so crushed at that time and no offense, i was really mad at you two."

"the point is, she misses the old garrett and alexis. she misses how you two would used to ask how was her day or just the small things like has she eaten anything? does she want to watch a movie with you two? she misses how you two would tell her that you love her every single day. she misses the attention you give her. she misses you. she never admit this because she's scared if you will be mad, which you might be."

ricky doesn't bother to look up to them because he's scared to see how they will react, but when he hears sobs coming from alexis, he quickly looks up. garrett had his arms around alexis as he comforts her, while trying hard not to cry.

"we are such terrible parents." she cries out

"no, no, no!" ricky quickly says, "i think you guys are not terrible. well, i used to think that. but after i heard the reason behind the rivalry, i can understand you guys. i mean, you two have had enough with everything, and now i understand why you guys focus on your business more than nini. i am truly sorry for what happened."

alexis wipes her tears as she pulls away from her husband, "we're too focused on our career, we forgot to think about our daughter."

"a-and the rape accusation was true?" garrett asks

ricky nods, "she has been traumatized ever since that incident."

"i feel stupid believing ethan's charm. turns out he used to be in juvy for his behavior and he used to do drugs in middle school."

ricky widens his eyes, "w-what? drugs?"

"i know, it's a mess." garrett sighs

"this is your chance to make it up to her." ricky gives them a weak smile

"i'm going to cancel all my works outside salt lake until nini moves to new york. columbia hasn't send the letter but i know she will be accepted." garrett quickly says

ricky widens his eyes, "a-are you sure? i mean, that's a long time. we still have summer."

"whatever it takes to fix our mistakes to her." garrett responds with a smile

"me too," alexis says, "we'd do anything, ricky."

"see, told you guys you're not terrible parents!" ricky exclaims

garrett laughs, "we don't know if that's what nini thinks."

"how do you think we should do it?" alexis asks

"i think apologizing would be a good start. i know nini, she's not that cruel not to forgive you. she always tells me to think positively. maybe you guys have a lot going on in your career, which is why you never give attention to her, but she misses it."

"and show her your love to her by more action, less words. i know she will be crushed when she finds out about her legs. let her mind at ease first and then i think you can talk to her."

"you're right," alexis says as she gives him a smile, "thank you for telling this, ricky. we promise if she's mad at you, we'll defend you."

ricky laughs, "no need to defend me. i can handle her myself. i mean, i've known her since we were kids."

"we're sorry that you and nini have to be enemies because of us. and we're sorry during that time if we ever hurt you." garrett responds with a weak smile

"thank you so much. you're forgiven. and i'm sorry for secretly dating your daughter." ricky jokes

alexis laughs, "at least she's happy, right?"

ricky smiles at her, "she always tells me i make her happy, and she makes me happy too."

"can you promise us something?" garrett asks

"anything for nini."

"take care of her, please. make her happy. stay with her. don't let her go. don't break her heart.  we don't know how long will we live, please take care of her. i'd ask you to marry her but i think you two should focus on your education first.