The following week, Ricardo is all over Florida with different indy events and training opportunities, desperate to keep his mind off of things. He's sure Paige and Alberto are doing all sorts of things he'd rather not imagine back at the house, and he can only guess how Sofia is handling all of this, but he doesn't have the strength or energy to call in and check.
So after all of it's over, he finds himself back at Alicia's apartment, laying on the couch and staring up at the ceiling. He's still there, mulling over everything when she returns from her WWE obligations, settling at his feet. He stares at her for a moment before turning his gaze back up to the ceiling. A few minutes pass before she slaps him on the leg. "Alright, enough of this. Get up, come with me, we're going somewhere."
"What? Ow! Where?" he demands, sitting up and watching as she scrambles away and tosses her bag into her room, fingerbrushing her hair and grabbing a few other things.
"You'll find out," Alicia tells him with a sweet smile, moving into the kitchen. "I'd suggest you get dressed though."
He looks down at his favorite, stained shirt and ratty old sweatpants, frowning. "Oh..." He quickly gets up and races into the bedroom, not sure what Alicia has planned but not wanting to get trapped looking like a complete bum.
After a good hour of driving, he decides at least the trip was nice, her company calm and relaxing, the view of the ocean amazing, even if he's not sure what Alicia has up her sleeve. He knows it doesn't have to do with Alex, because both of them had agreed not to mention him during this situation, so it's not that much of a surprise when they pull up in front of a house and Alicia peeks over at him. "Are you ready?"
He shrugs. "Sure." As she gets out, he follows and looks around the house, impressed by the look of it. It's simple and pretty, and he wonders who's inside... until Alicia knocks and is almost immediately nearly knocked over when her sister pulls the door open and tackle-hugs her, the two of them squealing and laughing like they hadn't seen each other in years. He smiles at Christina before entering the house at Alicia's ushering, approaching the living room and turning to properly greet the woman. "Nice to see you again."
"It's good to see you too, Ricardo," she greets him with a soft smile, stroking Alicia's arm. "So I'm in the middle of making supper, if you want to help out... or just sit and relax, either's up to you."
Ricardo feels strangely emotional at this, missing Sofia and spending time with her in the kitchen, so he begs off, sitting down on the couch and listening to them chatter and giggle as they clank dishes around and prepare whatever it is they're making. He's still sitting there with his face in his hands when Alicia returns, rubbing slow circles along his back. "Supper's ready," she says softly.
"Ok," he answers quietly, following her down the hall and into the kitchen, Alicia and Christina working together to set the table. He offers to help but they refuse, all of them settling in with large bowls of spaghetti and meatballs in front of them a few minutes later, a platter of garlic bread waiting to be divvied out. Alicia and Christina spend most of the meal dominating the conversation, laughing and giggling over odd, humorous family stories and Ricardo eats and listens and enjoys every minute of it, feeling some of the tension and stress leave him.
Afterwards, the three of them return to the living room to relax and talk some more, Alicia's hand curling around Ricardo's arm. "You've been pretty quiet," she says. "You doing alright?"
"Yeah, I'm fine," he sighs. "Just listening." He rests the side of his face on top of her head for a moment before pulling away and sitting down. "Thanks for all of this. I've really needed it."
"We're not done," Christina says happily. "We have homemade apple pie, so feel free to sit and make yourself comfortable."
"Oh boy," he says softly. "I haven't ate this much since..." He hesitates, looking away. He's not surprised when the sisters exchange a worried glance, sitting down on either side of him and trying once more to soften the mood with silly childhood stories and eventually Christina pulls out a photo album to show Ricardo various pictures of Alicia that leaves her an embarrassed puddle and makes her sister giggle.
He's not sure when exactly he falls asleep, but the next morning, he wakes up on Christina's couch and finds a blanket sprawled out over his waist, yawning. The night itself had been fun, with the food and the conversation, that he'd actually slept ok for the first time since learning of Paige and Alberto. He smiles wistfully and closes his eyes, relieved that he has so many friends to support him through whatever may come of this.
