hctedmusicals - Tumblr blog

[hctedmusicals]

ej caswell is a lot more forward than ricky bowen

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“you’re lovely. if you could see what we see. you’d know you’re like a movie. the ones that make believe.”

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theninisalazarroberts‌:

The seconds between ringing the doorbell and Ricky answering seemed to drag on forever. Nini hadn’t been this nervous since she auditioned for Gabriella. Nini was glad that she had been available to talk as soon as Ricky had texted her because leaving “can we talk” hanging would suck for everyone. She had a feeling she knew what this was and, never one to handle conflict well, she’s wanting to get it over with. 

Ricky opened the door, looking like she felt and invited her in. She walked into the house she’d spent thousands of hours in, feeling out of place in it for the first time. Absently, she started picking at her nail polish as she turned to face Ricky.  

“…You..uh… you wanted to talk?” She offered.

“Uh...yeah.” Ricky had no idea how to start this whole conversation, even though he had been trying to go over it in his head for about a million times before asking Nini to come over. He could feel his stomach twisting into knots at the thought of losing her again, but he also knew it wasn’t fair to string her along.

Holding back a sigh, he nodded towards the couch for her to settle down. “Do you...uh...want something to drink?” He hated that things had gotten awkward already, to Ricky forced himself to take a deep breath, before he wandered off into the kitchen, and then returned with some lemonade for the two of them. “So...yeah...I wanted to. I don’t...” He sighed, running a hand through his hair.

“I don’t know how to say it.”

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theninisalazarroberts‌:

Nini was nervous and didn’t entirely know why. She stood in front of Ricky’s house, and took a deep breath. He’d asked her to come over to talk. Generally “can we talk” isn’t a phrase you want to hear from the person you’re dating but… they were fine right? Sure, things weren’t fireworks and it certainly wasn’t how it used to be but… it was fine and that was okay, right? They were best friends again and that meant more to Nini than she could possibly say but she couldn’t shake the feeling that walking through the door of the Bowen house would change it all. 

Again. 

But Nini did her best to shake the feeling, taking a deep breath as she rang the doorbell.

The problem with all of this was not only that it terrified Ricky again, but that he had known something was off for a while now. He had hoped and waited, wanting the strange feeling to go away, but it hadn’t. He briefly wondered if his Dad had felt the same way when his Mom and him had started having problems. He had decided that yeah, that had probably been the case, and not talking about it had made it even worse.

When the doorbell rang, Ricky felt a knot in his stomach and he managed to take a deep breath, before opening. “Hey,” He managed, resisting the urge to run a hand through his hair as he stepped aside.

“Uh...come in,”

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caswcll‌:

romantic? ej couldn’t remember the last time— oh wait… nini. how the tables have turned. how his emotions were so fickle, just a couple of months ago he was professing his love for nini before their musical audition and now he was making out with her ex-boyfriend. 

“is it working?” ej smirked, gripping ricky’s waist tighter as he leaned in for another kiss. when he was denied, a raspy whine softly escaping his lips as ricky’s weight left him. he wasn’t really satisfied with the other’s answers, and though he would much rather kiss than talk, he secretly wanted some assurance that they would still be something when the boys woke up. but all he could do was comply, and ej began smirking again, amused at the thought of ricky leading him through his own house. 

as ricky pulled him along the corridor, he couldn’t help but shiver at the warmth the younger boy’s hand gave him. ej wanted to hold it forever. when they passed his room door, he softly pulled ricky into him, his dominant hand retaking the lead, while his free hand opened the door to his room. “it’s here.” ej mumbled, turning on a lamp before, leading ricky to his bed before releasing his hand. “i can sleep on the floor.” ej plopped onto the bed, laying down before yawning. “y’know.. just in case, ash wakes up before us. — or, i could like the door and we could share? up to you.” he mused, while reaching his hand for ricky’s own.

Part of Ricky registered, that he had left his wet clothes in the bathroom, and should have maybe taken them along, but then again there was nothing suspicious about that, right? They could have just fallen into the pool, they were pretty tipsy anyways. And besides: Chances that anyone would be awake early tomorrow were pretty low. 

When they were finally in EJ’s room, Ricky somehow felt himself blushing again. He had definitely been in here before, but under different circumstances. He needed a moment to register the other boy’s words, before frowning slightly. “Floor? No...” He mumbled, Was EJ under the impression that Ricky wanted to stop kissing him? 

Moving to fumble for the key, Ricky locked the door as EJ was holding on to his hand. He could feel his cheeks burning a little still as he eventually tugged on his hand and pulled him towards the bed, stumbling ever so slightly as he hit the edge of it. Tomorrow would be entirely different, he was aware of that, even in his tipsy state, so he might as well make the most of tonight.

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Texts // Nini&Ricky

Nini: Yeah, sure

Nini: My moms are home so I'll come to you

Nini: Be there in like 10 minutes

Ricky: Good. My Dad is out.

Ricky: So we'll be alone.

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Texts // Nini&Ricky

Ricky: So. Uh.

Ricky: Can we talk?

Ricky: I can come by, or you can come over if you prefer that.

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 Nini&Ricky post second break up

    ↳ “We rewrote the stars, and got our own kind of happy ending.”

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theninisalazarroberts‌:

“I know you can get fake Oscar trophies… I wonder if you can do the same for Tonys? Would that be too much?” Nini asked, starting to look it up on her phone. “And we could do, like, fake speeches.. I know a few of our friends already have their acceptance speeches written.” Nini may or may not be one of those friends, but if they’re doing a musical theater themed party, she’s going all in on it. 

Then Ricky mentioned texting Kourtney, so she switched over to her messaging app. She fired off several texts to her best friend, explaining the idea and what she was looking for. She knew Kourtney was capable of doing the costuming, and would even give it her own flair so Nini was excited to see what her friend had to say.

“I think we should do it, I mean. Go full on, right?” Besides, Ricky could see that NIni was really enjoying this, and he wanted her to be happy. Even if he had to go looking through the whole of the internet to find little fake trophies that looked like those Tony Awards. 

Smiling, Ricky leaned back and watched his girlfriend for a while, just glad that they could hang out again and just...not fight. He didn’t like to fight with anyone, but fighting with NIni in particular, was exhausting. She was the one he always wanted to talk to, someone he went to for advice, and not having her in his life had been awful. “Alright well, what do you want to do with the rest of the evening?”

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theninisalazarroberts‌:

“Oh that’s a great idea!�� Nini said. She watched from Ricky’s side as he texted the group chat. The drama club loved a party so she was sure the idea would go over well, even if it was months away. She was grateful to have Ricky back in her life and even more grateful for the growth they both had during their breakup. Still, there was a little tapping in the back of her mind, a feeling that this wasn’t quite right. Like when you go back to an amusement park you loved as a child or eat something you haven’t had in years and…its not the same. But she pushed that all aside, not ready to think about what it might mean yet.

“Do you think we should get like trophies for the karaoke winners?” Nini asked. She was imagining suddenly the faux awards acceptance speeches that might come out of it, but still that could be fun right? Who doesn’t want an Oscar moment? “Or will the pride of winning be enough of a prize?”

Ricky loved seeing Nini happy, and he himself was happy about the prospect of making plans for the future. That meant they were fine, right? They were making plans to have a couples costume, so he wasn’t going to lose her again. smiling to himself he let the phone rest on the table once he’s done texting, and nodded at her.

“Yeah, people would love that.” EJ in particular, He found himself thinking, not quite sure why that was something that came to his mind, but it was just...there. “We should definitely do it. And you can text Kourtney and see what she needs for the costumes.” Smiling, Ricky turned off the tv, where the movie had long ended, and then returned his attention to NIni. “This is going to be awesome.” 

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caswcll‌:

he ignored ricky’s statement, caught up in his boyish features. ej could stare at him all night long. being forehead to forehead was probably the most intimate thing, and though it did not last very long, ej made a mental note that he would want to do that again.

a low groan escaped ej’s throat, enjoying the contact ricky made with his neck. he had never kissed a boy before, and he never really thought about doing so until he started thinking about the other. kissing ricky made ej realize that he had suppressed his feelings all this time. sure, they had awkward interactions, mainly because ej hated him for a good part of the beginning of the school year, but now he understood. little snippets of the moments when they were together began flashing through his mind, and he couldn’t help but smile, thinking about picking him up at the skate park, the embarrassing drama club assignments and eating ice cream with ricky.

a somber thought entered ej’s mind: would ricky regret this in the morning? he was sure they were both dizzy and drunk at some point, but by now ej’s buzz was wearing off and he still didn’t want to stop.

placing both hands on ricky’s face to gain control, ej kissed him again, pecking him affectionately, a soft grin on his face. “i feel like i’m dreaming.” ej cleared his throat, his arms now wrapping around ricky’s waist. he probably shouldn’t be talking, knowing that he could potentially kill the mood, but he had to say something. he couldn’t let this night end without some confirmation of what ricky was feeling. 

“is it bad that i don’t want to wake up?”

The sound that Ej makes sends a straight shiver down Ricky’s spine and he can feel his heart beating hard against his ribcage. Part of him does feel like he’s dreaming. He had thought about kissing EJ before, and maybe he had dreamed about it, too, but none of those dreams had ever felt as real as this.

They both still smell like the swimming pool they had fallen into, and Ricky is wearing EJ’s clothes. And he’s making him groan. Pulling back ever so slightly, his lips pink from kissing, he glanced at EJ, still smiling.

“Are you being romantic?” Ricky couldn’t help but ask, while a slight giggle made its way up his throat. He hadn’t taken EJ to be a romantic person, but here they were, and his words were making the butterflies in Ricky’s stomach dance even more than they already were. “You’re not dreaming though...” he then whispered with another smile, moving to climb from the other’s lap, taking EJ’s hand. “Come on,” Whatever it was they were going to do, Ricky assumed they were going to fall asleep eventually, and even though he wasn’t regretting any of this, he was pretty sure that hungover, confused Ricky didn’t want to explain to Big Red why he was cuddling EJ.

“This house has too many rooms...” He mumbled, pulling EJ along, hands tightly locked. “Where’s your room?”

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theninisalazarroberts‌:

“Yeah!” Nini nodded. “And he’ll probably know if Ashlyn has one too.” Nini knew it would be just as easy to text EJ herself but things had been weird between them since the break up and had somehow gotten weirder with EJ stepping in for Ricky for a few scenes of the show. She knew she didn’t handle it well. She wasn’t supposed to let anything faze her on stage but Chad becoming Troy had really thrown her off. But anyway, she was glad Ricky seemed to be on good enough terms with EJ to text him so she didn’t have to. 

“And I’ll need to tell everyone about the party soon so they can start picking songs.” Nini knew their friend group was going to need a lot of prep time to pick songs. The idea for her party had existed for all of five minutes and Nini was already overwhelmed with choices. Did she want to do a solo? A duet? Both? Something classic? Or more modern? She had so many options. “OH! And we can do like a group song as like a warmup or something! Like we can all sing Seasons of Love or We’re All In This Together, for old time’s sake.”

Whatever it was that was going on between all of them, Ricky wasn’t about to let it ruin the friendship they had all formed. He liked all of them, even EJ for some reason, and now that he had gotten his little group of friends back, with some additions, he was hellbent on not letting them go. So he pulled out his phone to text EJ for a moment, before focusing his attention back on Nini.

He loved it whenever she got so enthusiastic about something, and he knew that she was already planning what songs they were going to sing. “We have a group chat still, so we can just put it in there?” Technically Miss Jenn was in there, too, but if anyone knew how to do a Broadway party, Ricky assumed it was her, and strangely enough he wouldn’t mind having her there. 

Smiling, he wrapped an arm around Nini, pulling her close, before opening the group chat and typing something into it about the party.

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caswcll‌:

“what?” 

ej muttered against the other’s lips as the ricky giggled, feeling uncertainty all of a sudden. it was as if a scarlet shade was now a permanent fixture on his face, deepening every time they touched. a soft, raspy whine could be heard from the taller boy, a pout forming on his face as they broke their kiss. he didn’t want his longing to be too evident, but it seemed that every ‘normal’ behavior and inhibition that ej was used to equipping had been silenced by the alcohol. or maybe it wasn’t the alcohol at all?

whatever it was, one thing was for sure – ej did not want this moment to end. with ocean hues locked on the chocolate eyes opposite him, every feeling of insecurity instantly melted away, as they were now closer than ever. adapting to his every movement, ej’s own arms rested atop ricky’s thighs and strong hands gripped his waist securely.

“hi.” ej swallowed, his own face feeling like it was stinging, lips sensitive and almost raw now from the contact. he licked his lips quickly before they kissed again, ej planting soft, calculated kisses against the ricky’s lips fondly, communicating more control and intention. 

He could do this forever, Ricky noticed. He could sit here, in EJ’s clothes, and kiss him. His brain faintly registered that this was a problem, but maybe it was the alcohol, or the way EJ’s kisses made him dizzy, that made him decide that they could deal with tomorrow. Mainly because kissing EJ was really nice, and the way his hands rested on Ricky’s hips made him blush.

Right, he wasn’t wearing any pants. Which probably help with the whole sitting in someone’s lap. He found himself giggling again at the thought of that simple action, because it wasn’t something he thought he’d ever do. “You know,” he chuckled, resting his forehead against EJ’s for a moment. “If Big Red woke up now, he’d probably assume he was dreaming about the two of us, making out,”

He found his hands running through EJ’s hair then, adjusting his position ever so slightly so he could kiss him again, lips catching the side of his mouth and the other boy’s jaw, before going down to his neck. He had no idea if EJ liked that, or if boys did? Ricky knew he himself liked it, so he was going to give it a try.

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caswcll‌:

ej could feel his cheeks beginning to burn up, as he settled into ricky’s side. where they meant to fit the way they did? or was this just a fleeting mistake secondary to some cheap alcohol and altered decision making? either way, ej isn’t really thinking straight, and at this point, he knows he doesn’t want to. he’s enjoying kissing ricky, and being close to him. it was magnetic. 

as the television droned over the sounds of big red’s snores, ej intuitively pulled ricky’s fingers into his own, using his thumb to apply pressure on the other’s index finger. he brought shifted his weight to bring himself closer to the smaller boy, the smell of chlorine wafting from ricky’s hair. was it bad that he didn’t care if the other’s saw them? part of him wanted them to see that ricky was his, even if it was just for a moment.

“y’know.. i don’t think i really want to watch this at all.” he muttered impulsively, releasing the other’s hand as he cupped ricky’s face, his lips meeting the other’s once again. he kissed ricky like it was the last time he would get the chance to, as it may very well would be. it was almost desperate, and though ej would never want to be perceived as needy, his lack of coordination and sloppy technique was definitely saying otherwise.

Maybe it was the alcohol. Or how they had been up for way too long at this point. Or maybe it was the way a simple touch of EJ’s hand made Ricky’s heart beat so fast, that it almost hurt. He hadn’t felt this way in such a long time, and it was throwing him for a bit of a loop. Were they supposed to be doing this? It wasn’t so much the fact that he was kissing a boy, but the fact that he was kissing EJ of all boys, that was new to him.

Ricky had absolutely thought about kissing boys before, but the thing was: This was EJ. His ex girlfriends ex boyfriend, whom he had hated for the better part of a few months. But it was also the guy who made his heart stumble in his chest. “Yeah?” He barely managed, before there was more kissing, and alright. It was a little sloppy, and maybe he was still a little drunk, so Ricky couldn’t help the giggle that escaped his lips.

“Wait,” He muttered, laughing softly as he shifted on the couch, moving from his space so he was in the other’s lap, his back facing the TV now. It wasn’t like anyone was watching anyways. “Hey,” Ricky then added with a grin, before he kissed him again.

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theninisalazarroberts‌:

“This is going to be great!” Nini grabbed Ricky’s hand. “Maybe my best birthday party ever and it’s still two months away!” The credits were rolling on the TV and Nini chuckled at Ricky’s joke about EJ. “He’s probably going to take it very seriously.” Nini agreed. “We’ll need to remind him that it’s all in good fun.” She was glad EJ and Ricky were getting along better nowadays. The animosity between them during rehearsals had been rough but they seemed to have gotten over it. Nini didn’t really know the cause of it, if they’d talked about it or just decided it wasn’t worth it but either way she was glad. She still considered herself to be friends with EJ, despite their history, and knew deep down that Ricky and EJ could probably be good friends if they let themselves. 

“Wait,” Nini sat up and turned to look at Ricky. “Someone in the drama club has to have a karaoke machine. Carlos, Seb, EJ, Ashlyn. Someone has to own one, right?”

Ricky loved just how much NIni was enjoying herself. It was nice to see her happy again, especially after everything they had been through over the last couple of months. And he was also glad that he was, at least partially, the reason for her happiness. The party actually sounded like it was going to be a lot of fun, which all of them could use after the show had closed. 

When she sat up, however, Ricky glanced at her, nodding for a moment. “Yeah. I mean...I’d say Seb and Carlos do more dancing than singing. So maybe Ashlyn or EJ? I can text him if you want, see if he’s got one.” Of course Nini could text him, too, but Ricky wasn’t quite sure to what point they had made up right now, so he wanted to at least offer his help.