" THANK YOU FOR BEING THERE FOR ME. "

yet again, kendall woke with an arm draped over her body. she wasn't sure if he was just a natural cuddler or if he did it on purpose, but the girl didn't mind either way. she shut her eyes and laid there for a little while longer before hearing her phone go off on the nightstand next to her. she reached for her phone, just close enough to grab it, and skimmed through the messages in the groupchat that she had somehow become a part of.

it was with hannah, nini, ej, and kourtney. they were asking what had happened with ricky yesterday and were wondering if he would be attending the play that day or skipping out again.

i'll make sure he's there, kendall responded to the chaos before placing her phone back on the nightstand.

she gently tapped ricky's hand and the boy stirred. "ricky," she whispered. her mom was probably at work already, but she was still nervous that she would come knocking at her door wondering why ricky wasn't in the guest room. "ricky," she repeated, a little louder. she grabbed his hand and pried it off of her before rolling over to face him. he groaned and let a huff leave his lips as she brushed his curls away from his eyes. "you need to get up. you're supposed to be at the school in an hour."

"i'm not going." he mumbled, eyes still closed.

"yes, you are." she protested. "please, ricky, for me?"

"why should i? ej's a better troy anyway."

"there's no way in hell at ej is better than you, ricky." kendall scoffed. "you're so much better and i want you to go. i need you to go." he finally opened his brown eyes and looked at the girl. "i'll be right in the audience watching you."

"you'd go again?" he questioned.

"of course." she smiled. "i'll go every single time if you want me to."

"thanks." a small smile appeared on his face and he sighed. "fine, i'll go, but i want you back stage with me until the show starts."

"deal." she smiled before sitting up. he followed suit and the two started getting ready for the day. kendall gave him a toothbrush to use and he decided he would just take some of the extra clothes from the show to change into afterwards since he'd be doing multiple outfit changes anyway.

by the time they arrived to the school it was nearly showtime. ms. jenn was relieved to see ricky and a wide smile formed on her face. she ushered him to change into his first outfit and the boy removed his shirt from his body, revealing his toned torso to kendall yet again. he replaced it with a new shirt and gave nini a wave as the girl greeted him. "glad to have you back, rick." she had said and it made kendall roll her eyes. the blonde left the room and stood in the hallway, pulling her phone out of her pocket to text her mom and inform her of where she was just incase she left work early and didn't see the girl at home.

"what are you doing?" ricky's voice sounded worried and kendall looked up to see the boy with scared eyes.

"i'm just texting my mom." she pursed her lips. "i'm coming back, rick. you don't have anything to worry about."

"showtime, people!" ms. jenn clapped her hands together and the blonde smiled.

"i'll be in the gym. see you in a few." she pulled him into a hug and he sighed into her hair.

"thank you for being there for me, kendall." he spoke quietly.

"anytime, ricky." the girl chuckled. "i'll see you." she pulled away from the hug and made her way towards the gym. once her ticket was paid for she entered and found a seat near the front where ricky would be able to see her.

he ended up making it through the first half of the musical again and during intermission she found ricky standing in front of her with two cokes and a bag of chips. "how am i doing?" he questioned.

"amazing." she smiled. "are you going to make it through the second act?" she questioned. she was sort of joking, but at the same time was serious because she wasn't sure how the boy was feeling.

"yeah," he nodded. "i'm good because my mom and her stupid boyfriend aren't here." he rolled his eyes.

"i know it's hard." she frowned, patting the spot next to her since the person she was sitting next to got up to use the bathroom or something. he handed her one of the coke's and the chips and she thanked him before continuing. "when my dad first got a girlfriend i was really upset. i thought she was an awful human for stealing my dad away from me and my mom, but she ended up being one of the nicest people i've ever met. it'll just take time, ricky. i know you're upset right now, but everything will be okay."

"i know." he sighed. "i'm just afraid my dad will hate me if i like this new boyfriend of hers."

kendall gave him a small smile. "he will never hate you."

he sighed, "i know." there was a silence between them before he put on a smile. "i should get going. i have to get ready for the second act."

"good luck." she smiled, leaning over to press a kiss to his cheek. she watched as he started to blush and he quickly looked away. he cleared his throat before rising and made his way out of the gym without giving the girl a second glance. maybe she was wrong to kiss his cheek, but she just felt the urge to do it.

she saw nini from backstage glaring at the girl and kendall rolled her eyes before sipping her coke and began munching on her chips that ricky had brought to her, ignoring the girl's death glare. why was she so mad about the two of them being so close? did she still have a crush on ricky? but she was dating ej...

kendall didn't know, but she was sure going to find out.