nina waited patiently as she called her moms cell and the ringing went for what felt like forever.

she had to tell them everything. how she talked to serena, heard her side of the story, met up with her biological family, felt... at home. more at home than she's felt in the past 16 years while she lived in la.

she had to explain that it felt so right being in that moment, how the last time she felt that free was when they would go to vacation and she would sneak out at night to go and catch fireflies.

the fireflies.

her one constant thing in life, the only things that have never let her down.

and now, the key component to her and ricky's relationship. from the project and having that first night they had alone in the field, to seeing one after their first kiss, and another when they made things official.

she was taken out of her thoughts from a loud, "hello?" coming from the other end of the line. "nina? can you hear us?"

"oh shit, sorry mama d," the brunette quickly said.

"nina, your language."

"sorry mama c."

"what was it that you wanted to talk about, honey?" dana asked.

"right," she chuckled nervously, "well, it's kind of a lot."

"you said that the last time you needed to talk to us about something," carol pointed out, "is it related to that?"

"uh, yea."

"i thought this was over," carol said.

"i thought so too! but then i went to the karaoke place and saw the girl again-"

"wait, what girl?" dana asked.

"serena cruz. she was at a karaoke bar and she sang a song. this beautiful song, and it just felt so familiar? so i went back to talk to her," she started to explain.

"okay..."

"she said it was an original! her mom wrote it for her and her sister but her and her family got separated 16 years ago, so then i went to talk to her and got her side of the story and everything fit like a perfect puzzle piece!"

"nina-"

"wait, listen! so basically, they got in the car crash, right? and i guess the doctors thought the parents died or something but they went into surgery and they survived! and then when they went to get her sister again after cps picked her up, i was gone."

"you were gone?" carol asked.

"i mean- i- olivia-"

"nina?" dana softly said.

the brunette let out a breath, "mamas, i'm the sister."

"what are you talking about?" carol questioned.

"nina, how are you sure?" dana asked.

"i maybe, might have met up with them. and talked to them. and had dinner with them."

"nina-"

"mama c i'm the person they've spent 16 years looking for! we spoke and it was so perfect. they're the thing missing thing i've always longed for in life.

"honey that's amazing. i'm sorry i gave you the wrong information, i honestly thought they were gone. they must've gave me the wrong information when i signed the papers," dana apologized.

"it's okay mama d," nina chuckled, "i'm just happy i found them. i was given another chance."

"i'd love to meet them. they seem lovely."

"they really are. it just felt so nostalgic and-"

"no nina," carol scolded.

"what?"

"no. i refuse to believe this."

"i- what do you mean?"

"nina, they're gone. these people are fooling you. they aren't your family. we are. maybe we aren't blood, but we were the people who were there for you your whole life. us and the caswells.

nina was taken aback, not knowing what to say next.

"i don't trust these people nina, please don't talk to them again."

"but mama-"

"we're very busy here, we'll talk to you tomorrow. goodbye nina."

she heard the call disconnect and she dropped her arms and sat down on her bed. she buried her face into her pillows as she let light tears fall out of her eyes.

ej answered the facetime call and saw his puffy eyed, tear stained best friend on the other line. he let his shoulders drop as he saw her continue to sniffle and wipe her eyes.

"neens, what happened?" he asked sympathetically.

"ej- mama- c- my- family- she's- mad-" she couldn't form a proper sentence as she inhaled after every word she spoke.

"slowly nina."

"i cant be happy," she whispered, "mama c-" she started sobbing again, preventing her from talking.

"hey, it's okay, just lay down and i'll play some music okay?" ej suggested, "get some rest."

she nodded her head as she slowly shifted her position to lay down on her bed.

"the story?" he asked, earning another light head nod.

conan gray's song played through her phone, filling the empty, quiet sounds in her room as she closed her eyes, still sniffling and wiping her eyes from her heavy cries.

soon enough, ej looked up to see her fast asleep, lightly snoring as the song still played in the background.

he picked up his phone with the intention he had to hopefully make this situation better for her.

ricky rushed over to nina's house and repeatedly knocked on the door until ashlyn answered with an angered look in her eyes.

"dude, what the fuck? why are you knocking so loud," ashlyn said, annoyed.

"is nini okay?" he asked, concerned.

"i don't know, she's been trapped in her room all day. i've been hearing 'the story' play on repeat for the past hour."

"ej texted me."

"oh shit, what?"

"can i just-" he stopped as he pointed to the stairs with a plateauing look.

the red head nodded as she moved out of the way to let him walk past.

he lightly knocked on her bedroom door but remembered that she was asleep, so he slowly let himself in.

he looked on her bed and saw her sleeping, curled up as she held on to another pillow.

he slowly sat on her bed as he moved her hair out of her face, revealing her red, warm cheeks.

"ricky," he heard coming from her phone.

"oh hey, um, nice to meet you?"

"yea, you too," ej replied.

"how long has she been like this?"

"about an hour, but she called me crying, so i don't know if she's been like that for longer."

he shifted so he was now fully on her bed, sitting upright as he moved her head so it would rest on his lap. he frowned as he saw her in that state.

"hey, i'm gonna go, okay? please, take care of her."

"always," he replied before ej ended the call.

he started drawing circles on his girlfriends back with his finger as she slept soundly, but slowly woke up.

"hey," ricky softly said.

"what are you doing here?" she asked, her morning voice deeper than usual.

"ej texted me," he smiled, "why didn't you call me neens?"

her eyes started to tear up as she remembered what her mom had said, "i didn't want you to know how messed up my life is."

"nini, you can trust me with anything, okay?"

"my mom said she doesn't want me to see them anymore. i don't know what to do," she said, as she snuggled up closer to ricky.

"be happy," he said, remembering what ej told him to say, "forget about your moms while you're here. if they find out then... i don't know, blame me."

she let out a light chuckle, "i can't throw you under the bus."

"i would let you do anything to me if it would make you happy."

she looked up to her boyfriend who was playing with her hair, she smiled a little as she lifted her head to kiss him.

"i knew there was a reason why i liked you," she laughed.

"very funny neens, now remind me why i like you?"

her breath hitched as she took offence to what he said, still smiling, knowing he was joking. she hit him playfully as he continued to laugh.

they stayed in that position as ricky told nina a story to distract her from the thought of her moms and what she said. he went on for about half an hour and looked down as he came to a finish to see her eyes closed, already asleep.

he kissed her forehead as he started to get up slowly to leave. she kept her weight on him and pulled him closer as she felt him move.

"stay," she whispered, her eyes still closed as she was still half asleep.

he looked at her as she kept her arms around him.

"okay," he said, laying down next to her so he could sleep more comfortably, "anything for you."