nina and ashlyn made their way to school together. the car ride was taken over by a comfortable silence, neither of them wanting to talk because it would lead to them talking about nina's moms.

once they got to the school, they made their way to each of their lockers and as nina made her way to hers, she saw ricky standing in front of it, on his phone.

a sad smile grew on her face as she walked up to the boy and when he saw her he put his phone in his pocket and gave her a smile back.

she went in for a hug and she stayed there to let him comfort her for a couple minutes.

"good morning," he said.

"morning," she replied, still in his embrace.

"you okay? seb told me everything that happened."

"yea," she pulled away from their hug, "i'm sorry i didn't tell you, i was kinda busy ignoring everyone."

"it's okay, i know it's a lot."

"is it a bad time to tell you my moms wanna meet you?"

his eyes widened as nerves washed through his body, "they wanna meet me?"

"yea, they wanna meet everyone but i didn't want to put the others through hell so i kinda just tried to compromise and now they just wanna meet you."

"uh..."

"please," she pouted.

"i mean, where-"

"at your house? maybe for dinner tonight?" nina suggested, "would lynne and mike mind? i don't want them to hate me."

"nothing you do will make them hate you."

nina smiled, grateful that there was the bowen family she could rely on.

"um, sure?" ricky hesitated, "they've been wanting to meet your moms."

"oh no, their expectations are gonna be high, aren't they?"

"i'll tell them to tone it down," ricky chuckled.

"okay," she smiled.

the bell rang making them end their exchange to head to class. they walked into their chemistry class and again, they sat next to each other in the back of the classroom while red and kourtney sat in the front.

+

nina directed her moms to ricky's house, but she saw carol's face judge as they pulled into the parking lot of the townhouse complex.

"this is their house?" she asked, almost in a disgusted tone.

"um, yea," nina nervously replied as she played with her fingers.

"oh. it's small."

"carol," dana scolded.

"just an observation," she replied.

nina let out a breath before she walked up to the front door and knocked.

here goes nothing.

on the other side of the door, ricky's nerves were through the roof. he's heard all about her moms but he never knew it was as bad as what had happened a couple nights prior.

he heard the knock on the door that sent a chill down his spine. he got up and let out a breath as he set his sweaty hand on the door knob and turned it.

he gave them a smile as he opened the door. automatically, he could tell which was dana and which was carol by the facial expressions they were giving.

dana had a warm smile, to which he returned, and carol kept a blank face as she looked him up and down.

"hi," nina spoke, giving him a hug, "you're doing good, don't stress," she whispered in the hug.

she let go and stood next to him with his hand holding her back.

"mamas, this is ricky. ricky these are my moms, carol and dana," nina introduced.

"nice to meet you ricky," dana said as she shook his hand.

"you too."

carol gave him a glare, letting him know she did not want to have a handshake, so instead he just led them to the kitchen where his parents were.

"nini!" lynne exclaimed at the sight of the girl.

she ran up to them to give them a warm greeting hug before they could possibly go through the absolute worst case scenario.

"hi," she smiled.

"how's everything with the cruz's?" mike asked as she gave him a hug.

"uh," she backed away from the hug and turned around to see her two moms watching.

"oh, sorry, didn't mean to be rude," mike chuckled. "i'm mike bowen and this is my wife lynne."

nina walked over to ricky and she gave him a confused look as to why mike was acting so neutral.

"they don't know about what happened that night," ricky whispered in her ear.

"hi mike, it's nice to meet you. i'm dana and this is my wife carol."

"what were you saying about the cruz's?" carol asked.

"oh, i was just wondering if everything was okay with them. we know nini was very excited to meet with them," mike smiled.

nina scrunched her face. she didn't want them to talk about the cruz's anymore, it only leads to more conflict with her mom.

"right, well, she is no longer in contact with them," carol stated. "and her name is nina, not nini. i don't know where that ridiculous name came from," she scoffed.

nina looked over to dana who was facing the ground, ashamed at what carol had said. she looked towards the bowen parents and gave them an apologetic look.

"well, are we going to have dinner or just stand here in silence?" carol bitched.

"oh right, sorry. why don't you all sit down, dinner is almost ready," lynne smiled.

the dinner was mostly quiet as the tension was still building up in the air. dana made an effort to compliment the food that was sitting in front of her and to spike up a conversation with everyone.

ricky often glanced at nina who mostly played with the food on her plate and would sometimes look over to carol who remained quiet.

after dinner, carol made it clear that she was ready to leave. nina and dana picked up on it and so they quickly said their goodbyes and thanked them for having them over.

once they got outside, carol turned to nina, giving her a negative look. nerves built up in nina's body, this was the first time they met one of her friends- other than ashlyn.

they knew that she had those feelings towards ricky and ricky felt a certain way about nina. it was obvious by the way he comforted her the whole dinner when she wouldn't eat, or the tension built up more. but they still didn't know they were dating.

"i don't like him for you nina," carol said.

"what?"

"he's poor, what does he have to offer?"

nina was taken aback by the forward message, "well at least his family was there for him."

"what are you talking about?" carol asked, annoyed.

"why would you even come here? was it just to criticize everything i've done? to tell every singly person i've talked to that they're using me? that because i'm some rich person from la, they're all trying to trick me and draw me into their scheme?"

"we came because we're worried."

"worried about what? that i found a better life in the couple months i've been here than my 16 years in la?"

"nina-"

"no, let me speak," nina demanded. "mama c, all my life i've been trying to be the perfect daughter. just for you. i tried making you happy, i studied hard, i stopped talking to my childhood friends, and it still wasn't enough for you. i stopped making music so i could help you with other people's dreams of becoming musicians," her voice cracked and her eyes started getting glossy.

no turning back now.

"what about my dreams mama c? i don't want to marry ej, i don't want to go back to la just so i could work, i don't want to spend my whole life under your microscope. i'm tired of trying. i just want to relax. for once."

"nina. you agreed."

"no," she shook her head, "i didn't. you did. you told me this was going to be my life without letting me have a say. why is it so hard for you to realize that this is MY life," her voice cracked again, "why cant you understand my needs like mama d? she's been there for me my whole life. she was the one who comforted me when you got mad. she was the one who told me it was okay to be sad, happy, she was the one who encouraged me to keep writing music. but i didn't, and i still wasn't all those things cause i wanted you to accept me."

"i'm not mama d, nina," carol said, earning a scoff from nina. "well, now i know where i stand, and i'll get out of your way so you can live your life with these people."

"wait what-"

"i'm sorry you've lived your life thinking and feeling all those things towards me. you won't have to worry about that anymore," carol calmly said. "goodbye nina."

nina watched as she turned around and started walking away. she couldn't help but let the tears fall out of her eyes as she stared in shock at the woman who turned into a silhouette in the dark night.

she turned towards dana with her teary eyes and opened mouth, "mama d-"

"shh," dana wrapped her arms around her as the brunette let out loud sobs, "it's okay."

"i didn't mean for that to happen. i just wanted her to understand," she sniffled.

"it's okay," dana replied, stroking her hand on the brunettes hair, still in the embrace, "she needed a wake up call."

nina pulled away from the hug and wiped her eyes, "are you guys-"

"we have a flight tomorrow morning."

nina looked at the ground, "she's never gonna talk to me again, is she?"

dana stayed quiet for a couple seconds, letting nina know her answer. she quietly sobbed more, letting all the feelings out.

"she's- never-" she managed to get out between sobs.

"i'll talk to her okay? i promise everything is going to be fine."

nina stayed quiet, still staring at the ground. "i'm sorry," she whispered.

"don't be. you've kept this up for far too long. i should be sorry that i didn't make more of an effort to talk to her."

she lifted her head and dana saw her red eyes through the thick watery layer.

"maybe i should just go back with you. it will make her happy, it will-"

"nina, stay here. mama c just needs a breather," dana replied. "stay with ricky. stay with serena."

nina nodded slowly as she looked back down to the ground.

"don't think of us while you're here. you're coming home in a couple months anyway so just enjoy the rest of your time."

"i'm sorry," she whispered again.

"stop apologizing! you have nothing to be sorry for."

nina scoffed, "i'm a disgrace to the family."

"honey, no you're not," dana stated, putting her hands on nina's shoulders, making nina lift her head. "you are nina salazar-roberts. independent, smart, caring, respectful, she just failed to see all your strengths."

the brunette nodded slightly as she dropped her head again.

"hey, look at me," dana said, lifting nina's head. "don't let her words get to you, she's just mad. she loves you, okay?"

"okay."

"i better go, she doesn't know the city, she might get lost," dana chuckled, earning a small smile from her daughter. "i love you nina, take care of yourself and never stop texting me. i want to know what happens between you and ricky," she winked.

nina and dana hugged each other before dana walked away at a faster pace to try and catch up to her wife, leaving nina alone and crying in front of the bowen house.

she watched them walk away but turned around when she heard the door open.

"you need a place to spend the night?" ricky asked warmly.

nina continued to let the tears fall, faster and more aggressively as she walked up to him to give him a tight hug. she sobbed loudly into ricky's chest as he rubbed her back and whispered soft sayings.

ricky led nina to his room when he felt her shiver from the cold wind coming from the open door. they laid in his bed as he kept his arms wrapped around her and she continued to cry.

he said everything he thought he could to make her feel better. to comfort her. he talked to her until she fell asleep in his arms about how much he cared for her, how much he never wanted to let her go.

he said everything that was on his mind. all but one.

i love you.