Candy Hearts | Ricky Bowen
ricky bowen/fem!reader oneshot
fluff :)
summary: attending camp shallow lake wasn’t your ideal summer plan. however getting to spend a few weeks of summer alone with your boyfriend Ricky seemed to make all your nerves and anxiety ridden thoughts disappear.
warnings: anxiety/anxious reader, sad reader, shy reader, ricky bowen has adhd
word count: 3076
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Attending camp shallow lake wasn’t exactly how you wanted to be spending your summer, but here you are packing all your essentials. It wasn’t that you didn’t want to be spending a few weeks of summer vacation with your best friends and almost too caring boyfriend, it’s just that your anxiety usually got the best of you. As you’re trying your best to fit everything into a small duffle bag that Ricky had let you borrow, your mother gently leaned against the frame of your bedroom door.
“Don’t forget your eyeglass cleaner, I know it bothers you even if it’s just a small smudge.” Your mother laughed while walking forward handing you the eyeglass cleaner and a small cloth.
“Thanks mom.” You said while trying to force a smile onto your face.
“What’s wrong Y/n? I can tell when you’re upset so don’t try to hide it.” Your mother stated as she sat down on your bed and grabbed the teddy bear that always sat on your pillow.
“Just nervous. I don't understand why you’re making me go.” Trying your best to not let the tears that filled your eyes spill down your face.
“Because this will be a good experience for you. Your friends will be by your side the entire time, you know Kourtney will be there for you. She understands how you feel so don’t worry she will take care of you. Besides, isn't Ricky also going to be there?” She was right, you knew that Kourt will always and forever be there for you, that's just the kind of person she is. As you looked back up at your mom she had a smirk on her face as she tightly held the teddy bear Ricky had gotten you a while back. You took the teddy bear from her arms and threw it on the pile of clothes you started folding so you could pack them into the duffle bag.
“No mother would ever be this happy that their daughter is spending a few weeks of summer vacation alone with her boyfriend, not to mention camp is also a few hours away from home.” As you stood up grabbing some more clothes to fold your mother also stood up and pulled you into a hug.
“That’s because I’m not like a regular mom, I’m a cool mom.” She said trying her best to keep a straight face.
“Okay enough with the mean girls quotes, but sure you're the coolest mom in the world.” You said hugging her back trying your best not to be so anxious about going off to camp.
Finishing up packing wasn’t the easiest trying to fit everything you were taking into that small duffle bag was a challenge however you did succeed without breaking the zipper. You were going to carpool with Kourtney, EJ, Ashlyn, and Carlos since Ricky was helping Big Red at the pizza place and was going to drive Big Red’s car to camp later on tonight. As you waited for EJ’s car to arrive you said your goodbyes to your mother and tried your best to look excited even though deep down you were a nervous wreck. EJ’s car finally pulled into your driveway making your heart skip a beat knowing there's no turning back now, you have no other choice than to attend camp. While throwing your bag in the trunk you hear Gina fighting over who gets to control the music.
“Wait so how are we all supposed to fit?” You laughed while Gina pulled you onto her lap and pushed your glasses up for you.
“Well hello to you too Y/n.” Gina laughed while trying to act as if she was hurt over you not expecting her to be in the car. Of course she wasn’t actually hurt. Gina had become the one friend who gave you the confidence you so desperately needed and the two of you grew closer since you knew she’d never judge you for being yourself. As everyone got settled into the car Gina turned the music back on and ‘Hopelessly Devoted’ from the movie Grease started playing through the loudspeakers and everyone sang along. Gina grabbed your cheeks as you scrunched up your nose as she sang the lyrics ‘But now there’s nowhere to hide’ then Carlos dramatically laid his arm on his forehead and leaned back into you and Gina as he sang the ‘Since you pushed my love aside’ lyric. The whole car ride was full of laughter and singing which made you think maybe camp would be fun. As you guys arrived at camp a girl named Maddox held out a bucket labeled ‘cell phones’ everyone placed their phones into the bucket while talking amongst themselves while you tightly held onto your phone and asked if this was a mandatory type of thing unfortunately it was and everyone had to give up all electronics.
“Camp Shallow Lake has a no electronics allowed policy in place so all campers can enjoy our activities and enjoy the outdoors, it’s only for a couple of weeks you’ll be fine.” Maddox spoke quietly to you as if she noticed how nervous you were. You gently placed your phone into the bucket taking one last look at your lock screen which was just a picture of Ricky holding the teddy bear he gifted you.
Walking towards the girls cabin Kourtney tried her best to make small talk with you as the rest of the girls walked in front of you guys.
“Please at least try to have a little bit of fun, I promise I’m not going anywhere I’ll be by your side the entire time.” She gave you a lighthearted smile and gave you a side hug as you both walked to the door of the cabin.
“Well this is certainly a choice” Kourtney laughed while pointing out every small detail she hated about the cabin.
“Save yourself the time and don’t even step one foot in the bathroom if you think the main room is horrid.” Gina chimed in with a disgusted look on her face while Kourtney covered her mouth with her hand and pretended to gag.
While the girls chatted among themselves you started fixing one of the bottom bunks claiming it as your own. While trying to unpack all the thoughts of having to stay here for a couple of weeks instead of peacefully sleeping in the comfort of your own home filled your brain. Trying to hide your discomfort you told the girls you were going to go for a walk and would be back later on.
“You guys think she’ll be alright and eventually get used to it?” Ashlyn asked worriedly, she had always looked out for you even if you two weren’t the closest of friends.
“I doubt it Y/n has never liked being away from home. It took her months to be able to sleep the entire night at my house when we were younger. She won’t even sleepover at Ricky’s even though Mr. Bowen doesn’t care.” Kourtney explained to the girls while Carlos quietly entered the cabin and joined in on the conversation.
“Y/n doesn’t look like she’s having any fun. I just passed her on the way here and she didn’t even look at me when I asked where she was going.” Carlos told the girls while giving them a sad expression.
“Wait, she really won’t sleep over at Ricky’s house?” Gina asked shockingly.
“Big Red may or may not have told me that Ricky thinks his ADHD and outgoing personality is too much for Y/n to handle.” Ashlyn chimed back into the conversation.
“Are Y/n and Ricky really having problems?” Carlos questioned Kourtney hoping she would spill every single drop of tea.
“Y/n just struggles with really bad anxiety and this is probably the last place she wants to be right now. They aren’t having problems but it just takes Y/n a while to become fully comfortable. Also Ricky has no room to talk because he is constantly getting Y/n in trouble at school for the stupid things he does like skateboarding down the dead silent hallways with Y/n trailing behind him dragging his backpack on the floor trying to get him to stop. Ricky doesn’t exactly help Y/n when it comes to her anxiety, he just makes it worse.” Kourtney says with a straight face.
“So you’re confirming that what Ricky told Big Red is correct?” Ashlyn asked Kourtney with a confused look.
“Ricky just needs to realize that Y/n struggles with being in unfamiliar places and becoming close with people. She trusts Ricky, she just needs more time to get comfortable.” Kourtney explained.
Everyone decided to stop questioning Kourtney because she seemed to be done with the conversation and decided to finish unpacking and talk about the activities happening tonight.
“Hey Y/n I’m sorry but you can’t be over here we have to start setting up for the campfire.” EJ stated while giving Y/n a small smile.
“Sorry rocketman.” EJ glared at you.
“Please don’t call me that absolutely nobody knows my camp nickname yet I’m not ready to be made fun of the entire trip.” EJ laughed. “The girls have been looking for you, you should head back and get ready for the campfire.”
“Sorry if I worried anyone, I was just trying to clear my head.” You explained and gave EJ a wave goodbye while you walked back in the direction of the girls cabin.
When you got back to the cabin none of the girls were there so you took the time to try your best to relax and find an outfit to wear to the campfire since it was going to get cold tonight. Time passed and eventually all the girls came back to the cabin with blankets to stay warm next to the campfire. Gina handed you a fluffy light blue blanket and asked if everyone was ready to start heading out. While the girls headed to the campfire Ricky finally arrived and decided to head to the boys cabin to unpack. While Ricky was unpacking in the boys cabin he quickly made friends with a kid named Jet who finally agreed to come to the campfire with Ricky after some convincing. Before heading out Ricky grabbed the candy hearts he bought earlier and quickly made his way to the campfire with Jet.
“Am I late!” Ricky yelled over EJ’s horrible singing.
“You always know how to make an appearance, Bowen.” Carlos shook his head laughing while getting up from his spot next to Y/n so Ricky could take a seat next to you. EJ continued to sing while everyone watched him and made weird faces.
“Hey love” Ricky quietly greeted you while you let him take half of the blanket. You gave him a soft smile not wanting to interrupt EJ again.
You and the girls have been sharing a bag of twizzlers when out of the blue Ricky reaches and grabs one.
“Absolutely not Bowen go get your own.” Kourtney snaps at him. She had never really been fond of Ricky but tolerates him because you love him for some reason. You looked over at Kourtney while taking the twizzler from Ricky and placing it back in the bowl. Carlos seemed to be the only one to notice your obvious discomfort and sadness that Kourt snapped at Ricky for no reason. Instead of fighting with her Ricky shrugged his shoulders and decided it wasn’t worth it to start an argument, he knew Y/n wouldn’t like that.
“Here” Ricky said while handing you a candy heart that had ‘I <3 you’ written on it. You looked up at him and gave him another smile when he started leaning in you turned to lay your head on his shoulder. The rest of the campfire was filled with laughter and happy memories being made. Although you didn’t talk to Kourtney the rest of the time you still enjoyed your time with your other friends. Eventually the campfire ended and since it was getting late everyone decided it was time to head back to the cabins and get ready for bed. Everyone said their goodbyes. You gave Ricky a hug and said goodnight to him and walked back to the girls cabin with Ashlyn while EJ and the rest of the camp directors stayed behind to clean up.
“Are you okay Y/n? Kourt shouldn't have snapped like that.” Ashlyn asked before entering the cabin.
“Yeah I’m alright I know she doesn’t like him it’s okay.” You said back shrugging your shoulders. Ashlyn just nodded and gave you a tight hug before the both of you headed inside the cabin. It was getting late and everyone was tired so you rushed getting ready for bed so the girls could shut the lights and go to sleep. Some time had passed and everyone had already fallen asleep no matter what you could not fall asleep it felt as if your breathing was getting heavier with every passing minute and no matter what you could not get comfortable instead you were tossing and turning every second. Realizing you weren’t going to get any sleep you grabbed one of your hoodies and made your way over towards the boys cabin. You don’t know where the courage came from. Maybe it was because you were tired or because Kourtney made you mad but you twisted the doorknob to the boys cabin and walked in like you owned the place. Of course the boys were still awake. It was only Ricky, Carlos and Jet since EJ was still cleaning up the campground. Ricky quickly jumped from his top bunk and pulled you into a tight hug.
“Hey Y/n are you okay what happened?” Ricky asked, letting go and looking at you.
“I just couldn’t sleep and Kourt isn’t really being the nicest person right now.” You admitted fidgeting with your hands and placing them in the pocket of your hoodie.
“You can stay here, come on take your shoes off.” Ricky said while taking one of the million pillows Carlos brought along with him.
“My pillows are the most comfortable they are made of-” Carlos was quickly cut off by you telling him thank you and Ricky turning the lights off as soon as he knew you made it safely onto the top bunk. Ricky quickly climbed back into bed and gently pulled you closer to him and wrapped his arms around you. Although this was new for you guys to be sleeping in the same bed you felt comfortable and played with the end of his t-shirt while you slowly drifted off to sleep. Unfortunately that didn’t last long because no more than an hour later the lights were being turned on by a very already pissed off EJ.
“Carlos candles are not allowed in the cabins!” He quickly ran over to the candle and blew it out. EJ was taking his new camp job very seriously which everyone found hilarious.
“We were trying to sleep, shut the lights back off it’s late” Ricky said sitting up to face EJ.
“You guys were not sleeping Jet is playing that stupid video game and Carlos has his face misting thing on.” Carlos just rolled his eyes and continued to ignore EJ. As soon as Ricky sat up EJ saw you laying there next to him.
“Y/n get up you’re not allowed to sleep in here.” EJ said with an annoyed look on his face.
“Just go to sleep EJ nobody else cares, it’s not like we are going to do anything.” Ricky replied back.
“No Ricky it doesn’t matter I’m not getting in trouble for letting Y/n sleep in your bed. Come on Y/n get up I’ll walk you back to the girls cabin.” EJ was serious this time and wasn’t in the mood to joke around or let anything slide. Ricky was starting to get angry but before he could start a fight with EJ you started to quietly explain what was going on to EJ. It was hard for you to talk about your struggles with anxiety and explained that earlier in the day when you had talked to EJ because you were sitting where the campfire was being set up you told him it was because you were trying to clear your head and calm yourself down. After some more talking EJ finally agreed to let you stay and apologized for being an asshole. You accepted his apology, you knew he didn’t hate you and that he was just tired and wanted to go to sleep after a long day. Eventually morning came and the bright sun came shining through the windows. EJ was already up and gone getting the day started with the campers while Carlos was just heading out the door to go get some breakfast.
“Good Morning love” Ricky said while pulling you closer to him. He always called you some sort of name but love was always your favorite. You gave him a quick kiss and hugged him tight while he pulled the blanket up further so you were comfortable. However your sweet but short lived moment was only to be interrupted by the one and only Dewey Wood.
“I see not one but two violations in front of me.” Dewey stated while Jet quickly hid his gaming system under his blanket. Following his actions Ricky jokingly covered you with the blanket.
“Jet, why don’t you get up and go get some breakfast.” Dewey recommended and Jet followed his instructions not wanting to get his games taken away.
“Now that it’s just us, let's have a very nice detailed conversation about why this isn’t allowed.” Dewey said while gesturing his hands towards the two of you.
You may have not had the best first night at camp and while yes having ‘the talk’ with none other than Dewey Wood was intriguing yet embarrassing you had one of the best morning’s ever getting to spend time with Ricky brushing your teeth together while dancing to music on EJ’s record player and then getting to eat breakfast together pretending it was like a mini date. Ricky may be a lot to handle sometimes but he truly does take all your worries away and you couldn’t ask for a better boyfriend than Ricky Bowen.
