When Oliver got to the bomb shelter the next day of school, he was confused to see everyone standing outside the door, and he noticed that EJ and Nini were standing a few feet from them, and it looked like they were fighting. He overheard apart of their conversation and it sounded like they were breaking up.

"Uh..." Oliver moves to stand beside Big Red, raising his eyebrows at the couple fighting. "Do I dare ask what's the problem?"

"Not for sure what's going on with them." Big Red replies, shrugging his shoulders. "But Natalie lost her emotional support hamster and Carlos is in there with here trying to help her find it."

"I need a moment." Natalie spoke, walking out of the bomb shelter while holding onto a closed shoe box.

"Is he dead?" Ashlyn asked Carlos who stood beside her. 

"No. Now she thinks he's in her gym locker."

"Why the screaming?" Ashlyn questioned Carlos, referring to when they heard someone scream. 

"That was me." Carlos replies. "She stepped on my toe." He turns to everyone with a sigh. "We're ready to begin, people."

Oliver was confused at not seeing Ricky there yet and since he wasn't there yet, EJ has to fill in for him. Watching Nini and EJ trying to act together after they just broke up was hard to watch. After they got everything situated, EJ moved to stand by the piano that Seb is sitting at and is now singing 'What I've Been Looking For'. When Nini moved over to stand on the other side of the piano and sang along, Oliver thought this whole thing was awkward. Even though they were singing a love song, it didn't look like or sound like they were singing a love song.

At the end of the song, Nini sang louder than EJ did and looked more angry at him. Confused murmurs fill the room when the song is done and Miss Jenn speaks up. "Okay, freeze. Nini, sweetie," She stands up while looking at Nini. "This reprise comes at a deceive moment in the story once your hearts have joined. It's a love song."

Nini furrows her eyebrows. "Were you not getting that?"

"I'd like you to get to his heart without cracking his rib cage." Miss Jenn answered.

Ricky then rushes into the room. "Sorry, I'm late. My mom, she caught an earlier flight." He drops his backpack off by the door. "Where are we?" Since he had been leaning back against the chair, Oliver sat up straighter as he looked at Ricky, frowning when he realized it looked like his best friend had been crying.

"Scene seven." Carlos responded.

"Right." Ricky nods and cringes when he realized he doesn't have his script. "I don't have it. Could I borrow-"

"You need your script, Ricky." Miss Jenn interrupts him. "And a pencil. It's a blocking rehearsal."

"You can share mine." Ashlyn offered.

"No," Miss Jenn shakes her head. "Actually, he can't." She turns to face everyone, looking slightly annoyed."When you come to rehearsal, people, you come prepared."

Natalie then walks into the room with teary eyes. "Was he in your gym locker?" Ashlyn inquired, looking at her with concern.

"No," Natalie shakes her head. She frowns. "Just my cherry lip balm. But it had Elliot's teeth marks in it."

"Oh, I'm sure it won't hurt him." Ashlyn reassured her.

Natalie furrows her eyebrows. "It's sparkly."

"Then it'll be easier to find him." Seb speaks up while he stands. He nervously smiles, shrugging his shoulders when everyone looks at him. "If he smiles."

"Natalie," Miss Jenn looks at the brunette-haired girl. "We feel your pain, but I was just explaining what a constructive rehearsal requires. Focus. And honestly, another day like this and I am showing up with my emotional support coyote."

"Miss Jenn." Ricky speaks up. "I know the scene."

Miss Jenn points at him. "Would you wait for me in my office, please? Thank you."

Ricky gets his backpack and heads to her office. "Wait, does that mean rehearsals are done for today?" Oliver questioned, looking at Miss Jenn with confusion.

"Yes." Miss Jenn nods, picking up her binder as she turns to face everyone. "Take a note. This is what a frustrated drama teacher looks like. Go. Scoot. Come back when you're ready to be punctual, park your distractions at the door, and take the work in here seriously."

****

Later that night Oliver was surprised to find Ricky at his door and what made him sad was the fact that it looked like he had been crying. "Ricky...What's wrong?" Oliver asked, looking at one of his best friends with concern.

Ricky takes a shaky breath. "I just couldn't stay home tonight. I tried staying over at Big Red's, but it didn't work out." He looks at Oliver with a hopeful glint in his eyes. "Do you think I could stay over tonight?"

"Yeah," Oliver smiles slightly, stepping to the side to let him in. "Sure. Come on in." 

"I thought I heard someone was at the door." Harley, Oliver's mom, said as she walks around the corner. A look of concern forms on her face at seeing a sad looking Ricky. "Is everything alright?"

"He just needs some place to stay tonight." Oliver replies, noticing Ricky's quiet demeaner while he closes the door. "Is it alright if he stayed the night?"

"Of course." Harley nods, looking at Ricky with a small smile. "I'll go get the guest room ready. Ricky, you should know you're always welcomed here."

Ricky smiles a bit. "Thanks, Mrs. Dalwood."

After the guest room was set up for Ricky, Ricky and Oliver were in Oliver's bedroom, watching a movie. "So," Oliver breaks the silence between the two, looking at the curly-haired boy sitting on the bean bag chair beside the one he's sitting on. "Wanna tell me what happened?"

"My parents are splitting up." Ricky admitted.

A frown tugs on Oliver's lips. He knew things were kind of rough with his parents, but he never thought they would get a divorce. "Ricky, I'm so sorry." He shakes his head, frowning at Ricky. "You shouldn't have to go through that. No one should."

"Yeah, well, it's happening and I can't do anything about it." Ricky sighed heaviky, staring at the tv that's on the wall with teary eyes.

"Ricky," Oliver sighs, hating that he was upset. He leans over to hit Ricky's knee to get his attention and the curly-haired boy looks at him. "I'm always here for you." Tilting his head to the side, Oliver looks at him with furrowed eyebrows. "You know that, right?"

Ricky stays silent but he nods in response. "Okay, good." Oliver nodded and smiled. He then formed his hand into a fist, putting it in front of Ricky so they can do the handshake they made up when they were little kids. Ricky smiled slightly and does the handshake with him.

(this is what their handshake looks like)



A/N sorry for this chapter being short, but there was a cute best friend moment with oliver & ricky :) also yes i am making their friendship be similar to miles & jax from the show backstage!