Ramy

"We all have the opportunity every day to believe in someone, to learn from someone, to love someone. Amy Juergens has taught me what I just couldn't grasp for so many years and never got from any book or in any classroom and that's this; I am capable of loving someone, and I am capable of being loved. And now tonight, for the first time maybe, I don't feel isolated from the rest of you, or from the rest of the world, I feel part of you"

- Ricky during his graduation speech before proposing to Amy

11Ramy is the het ship between Ricky Underwood and Amy Juergens from The Secret Life of the American Teenager fandom.

Canon
S1 =

That One Night at Band Camp
During the summer of 2008, the summer before Amy's freshman year, Amy Juergens and Ricky Underwood shared a night at the 'Best of the Best' band camp that they would never forget for the rest of their lives, a night which turned the lives of these teenagers upside down.

One day at band camp, Amy is playing her French horn in the marching band while Ricky is hanging out with a couple of guys watching on from the bleachers when the two teenagers catch sight of each other. As Ricky waves to her, a flustered Amy gets momentarily distracted which throws her off and breaks the formation, which leaves the rest of the marching band in disarray causing a massive pile up, something that gets a little chuckle out of Ricky.

Later, while Amy is sitting alone in the lunchroom, Ricky introduces himself to her and mentions that someone told him that she was due to go to his school (Grant High) in the fall, meaning they would also be in the same band together. As Ricky sits down opposite her, he asks her if she has a boyfriend to which Amy responds by saying that she's not interested in guys, which leads to Ricky to mistakenly assume that she swings the other way but she amusingly clarifies to him that it wasn't the case. Ricky calls Amy pretty which makes Amy rather nervous as she starts to think that this mysterious boy likes her. Ricky asks her if she wants to do anything that night, but after finding out that she is due to play the freshman solo, he guarantees Amy that he will be there to cheer her on. When Ricky leaves, a girl approaches Amy and reveals that Ricky is the most popular boy at camp and that all the girls want to go out with him, making Amy feel a little embarrassed. The girl goes on to warn Amy, however, advising her to be careful. Later, Ricky walks in on Amy practising for the big solo and volunteers to help her practice. Ricky suggests that she try to visualise the audience naked, but that only succeeds in making her more nervous, so in order to try and combat her nerves, she tries telling herself that he is 'just a guy'. As Amy starts to play in front of him, Ricky leans in for a light kiss, making Amy all flustered as she begins to falls for him. Ricky confesses that he isn't looking for a friend, rather a girlfriend and the two walk over to Amy's cabin arm in arm.

After her big performance, Amy asks Ricky out for coffee so the two sneak into the cafeteria at night and in spite of Amy's initial hesitation, they decide to stay a while and hang out. As they are talking over some hamburgers, they move over to the more comfortable couch and after some sweet-talk from Ricky, they start to make out which quickly leads to unprotected sex, causing Amy to get pregnant and thus her life would never be the same again.

Amy's Pregnancy
After arriving home from band camp, Amy takes a pregnancy test and the test comes back positive and all her worst fears are realised- she was pregnant, and it was Ricky's baby.When Amy starts high school at Grant High, she was initially intrigued when she saw Ricky with another girl (Adrian Lee) but also felt extremely embarrassed about the events that unfolded in the summer, hiding from her friends that it was with Ricky and instead telling them that it was with some guy from a different school. Despite this, she did seem somewhat interested in Ricky and as she tried to walk past without being noticed, he stops her and reminds her of their night together and strokes her hair.

However, Amy soon falls in love with Ben Boykewich, the kind and caring son of the Sausage King. This annoys Ricky as he feels that Ben is just trying to be like him in order to win over Amy which in turn is causing her to lose interest in him and so warns Amy that Ben is not her type. In spite of Ricky’s attempts to get Amy to remember what happened that summer, she repeatedly shuts him down, reiterating that she has a boyfriend, not wanting to have anything to do with him. Adrian questions why Ricky's so interested in Amy, who she sees as just some innocent 'child'. Ricky responds by pointing out that Amy is more discrete and respectful about her sex life than someone like Adrian which leads Adrian to enquire if Amy is not the innocent, little band geek everyone thinks she is but Ricky just laughs it off. Adrian tries to find out more about Amy and so approaches her after band practice but Amy reassures her that she shouldn't feel threatened by her at all as she really is not interested in Ricky.

When Ben asks her if anything happened between her and Ricky, an incensed Amy completely denies the rumours and then rushes to confront Ricky about whether or not he was telling people that something happened between them but Ricky points out that it could have been her friends that blabbed.

Soon, Ricky moves on from his pursuit of Amy and switches to trying to capture the affections of the virginal Grace Bowman while simultaneously having a physical FWB relationship with Adrian Lee behind the former's back.

One night, Grace is attacked by two guys and after fending them off with a cracked beer bottle when Ricky arrives on the scene, fresh from his exploits with Adrian, shirtless. The event gathers the attention of the local news and upon showing Amy the story on the TV, Amy's dad George asks if she knows who 'the shirtless guy' is as he vaguely recognises his face so Amy, still in denial about her pregnancy, nervously mentions that she's seen him in the band. George notices her unusual behaviour and then jokingly asks if she was with him in the sketchy part of town that night which Amy uncomfortably denies. Ricky's foster mother enquires about his whereabouts that night and why he didn't have a shirt on, to which Ricky explains he was at home and just left in a rush but Margaret suspects that he was at his girlfriend's house. Ricky claims that he doesn't have one so Margaret name-drops Amy Juergens but Ricky exaggerates that she is about 12 and then admits that he's never been out with her apart from the time they just hung out at band camp.

At school, Ben notices that Amy is weirdly agitated and uninterested in the story so he questions if she still has feelings for Ricky which might have been set off after seeing him in the news without his shirt on. A cross Amy shoots down his queries by saying that she has never liked Ricky. Against Amy’s wishes rumours started to circulate around school that Amy actually is pregnant with Ricky's child, leaving him shocked, regretful and distraught. The following morning, Amy stays home from school as her parents try to figure out what to do with her pregnancy but Ricky is eager to talk to her and so tries to find out from her friends where she is. Amy manages to sneak out of the house in order to go to an abortion clinic with the help of Adrian, who tries pushing Amy into having the abortion as it would complicate things with Ricky. She reminds her that even though it is Ricky's baby, he would never marry her which Amy knows full well. Ricky also turns up at the clinic and in an attempt to gain Grace's affections, he pretends to care about Amy getting an abortion even though he wouldn't mind if Amy did go through with it. Ricky tries to get Adrian back on his side by bad-mouthing Amy and insisting that she's doing it on purpose just to spite him but Adrian sticks up for Amy despite still wanting her to not have the baby, however Ricky remains apathetic.
 * Ricky: This girl that I don't even know and care nothing about is gonna ruin my life.
 * Adrian: Your life? What about her life?
 * Ricky: Her life is her business, and if she wanted to ruin her life she should have chosen someone else to do it with.
 * Adrian: You think Amy wanted this to happen?
 * Ricky: Adrian, of course she wanted it to happen. She wants out of her life and she doesn't care how she gets out of her life as long as she gets out.
 * Ricky: She's... unloved, and she wants to be loved by me, by the baby, that stupid Ben guy. Anyone. Everyone.
 * Ricky: She's got problems. I just got caught in her problems, like I don't have enough problems of my own.

Feeling sorry for herself, Amy tells George that it wasn't all Ricky's fault that she ended up getting pregnant and that she just let it happen but George is adamant that the blame is on Ricky. Amy informs her dad that she hasn't spoken to him yet and that she's not planning to anytime soon as she doesn't want anything to do with him. Similarly, Ricky doesn't want anything to do with her but his foster parents instruct him to talk to her as soon as he gets to school. Ricky explains that Amy doesn't want to talk to him either, otherwise she would have said something at band practice. Ricky reveals that he doesn't want Amy to be at school while she's pregnant and then notifies his foster parents that he's not planning on taking responsibility for the baby as neither Amy nor him are exactly spokespeople for responsibility.

Regardless of Ricky's promises to George to leave Amy and the baby alone, Ricky has a change of heart and turns up at Amy's house to declare that he does wish to be involved with the baby as he attempts to become more responsible. Upon hearing this, Amy is truly surprised but is still reluctant to let him off the hook. Ricky comes back once Anne gets home and the two soon-to-be teen parents sit down and talk. Ricky reveals that he isn't against adoption but would like to be made aware of who the couple will be and if he would be able to see his child. Ricky requests Amy exchange phone numbers with him so she can let him know what she is planning to do but still feeling quite resentful, Amy dismisses Ricky's pleas and forces him to go home as she continues to not want to have anything to do with him as she would rather be with Ben instead.

After choosing to become involved with the baby, Ricky starts to read into baby stuff but Adrian points out that he may just be acting interested in Amy and the baby because he feels like he should be, or rather, Grace feels like he should be. Ricky tries to get in contact with Amy in order to find out if she has made it to her grandmother's yet but since Amy refused to give him her number, he tries to convince Madison and Lauren to give it to him by flirting with them. When Madison explains to Amy about how she and Lauren spent the whole day fighting for Ricky's affections even though they knew all about his devious nature, Amy is surprised but completely understanding as she herself was in that situation of falling for the bad boy.

Amy lets Ricky know that she is due to transfer to a new school for teen mothers. Adrian is annoyed that he and Amy are talking to each other but Ricky doesn't think it is that big of a deal as she is having his baby after all. Ricky also tells her that he would be willing to go to birthing classes with Amy should she want him to. When Ricky gets to school, he is surprised to see Amy back at school and so he goes over to her at lunch to find out why. Amy reveals she doesn't want to be at school either and then sarcastically suggests to Ricky that he should be the one to go to 'slut school' as that he would like the fact that it is full of young, naïve girls that he could take advantage of. Ricky tries being nice to Amy as he tries to persuade her to leave the school but Amy is still angry at him and tries to push him away. Amy overhears Ricky complain to Grace about her being back at school so Amy walks up to them and lets them know that she won't be coming back. The next day, Ricky watches on in disbelief as the whole school welcomes Amy back after she decides to stay.
 * Ricky: I'm sorry, I didn't mean for this to happen.
 * Amy: Yeah I believe you, I believe that you didn't mean for this to happen, I believe that this is the last thing in the world you wanted to happen.
 * Amy: So why don't you just pretend like it never happened?
 * Ricky: I can't. I wish I could but I can't.
 * Ricky: It's just not who I am anymore. I'm a different person to the Ricky that got you pregnant.

Ricky and Amy run into each other in the hallway at school which gives Amy the opportunity to ask about Adrian's disappearance and how the missing guidance counsellor may have something to do with it. Ricky suggests Amy not to believe everything that Madison and Lauren say as all they do is spread gossip like about what happened between them at band camp but Amy reminds him that him getting her pregnant is true and not just some rumour. Ricky insists that it was not entirely his fault and that Amy was also responsible for what happened and then mentions that Lauren also agrees with him. Realising that Amy does not know what happened between him and Lauren, he tells her quite bluntly that he doesn't 'kiss-and-tell' and then walks off.

Amy confronts her friends about talking to Ricky, who in the heat of the argument, blurt out that Ricky is in therapy which concerns Amy and thus gives her more reason to restrict Ricky's involvement with the baby. Lauren then mentions to Amy that Ricky was abused, so Amy does some research on abused kids which helps her to understand why he is how he is. Amy wonders if Ricky will ever get over what happened to him as a child but reassures Ben that the shocking revelation of Ricky's past may garner some sympathy from her but will not change the fact that she does not have any feelings for him.

Ricky finds out about Amy and Ben’s illegal wedding and insists that because he's the father of the baby, he has to attend. After their parents shut the whole wedding down and make them realise that getting married is not going to solve anything, Amy asks her mother if they could do anything to stop Ricky from getting involved which shows that she tried to get married in the hope that it would keep Ricky from being involved with the baby.

After realising how tough juggling school, work and taking care of the baby would be, Amy asks Ben if it would okay if she called Ricky to ask him to get a job so he could support the baby as the baby is his responsibility too. However, at that point Ricky's biological father shows up unexpectedly at their house and tries to gain George's trust by bad-mouthing Ricky but Amy sees right through him and defends Ricky, explaining that Bob is lying because she knows that Bob abused Ricky as a child. George and Ben suggest that maybe Ricky is the one that is lying about his past as he is not exactly known for his honesty but Amy's gut feeling is that she trusts Ricky is actually telling the truth.

Amy goes to see Ricky to see if they could talk about considering adoption but first Ricky apologises for his dad just showing up at her house at scaring her. Ricky strongly opposes the idea of putting their child up for adoption and insists that he's nothing like his father. Amy explains that having a stable and loving family is what is best for the baby and because they are both just teenagers without jobs, they don't the sufficient means to provide for the baby. Ricky disagrees, preferring that they raise the baby themselves which to him is perfectly possible.
 * Amy: It's about the baby, what's best for the baby.
 * Ricky: Yeah, well what if I think what's best for the baby is to know his or her birth parents?
 * Ricky: Maybe what's best for the baby is to grow up in your home with me coming to see him or her.
 * Amy: But my parents aren't just gonna raise the baby for me.
 * Ricky: Yeah, why should they? Why can't you and me do it?
 * Amy: How are you and me gonna raise a child? How are we gonna do it?
 * Amy: I just wanna have a normal life.
 * Ricky: Guess what Amy? You're not gonna have a normal life.
 * Ricky: I don't. I don't have a normal life, lots of people don't have normal lives. So what?

In order to try to do the right thing for their son, Ricky and Amy decide to work things out between them, meeting with each other in private to talk about 'baby stuff', much to the annoyance of their respective partners and to the intrigue of their friends. Before Ricky arrives, Ashley finds Amy looking for something comfortable to wear and sarcastically asks her if she's 'dressing up for Ricky' and advises her not to make the same mistake twice. This angers Amy because, in spite what Ashley and Ben seem to think, she claims that she is not interested in Ricky and that she is only talking to him because she needs his permission to put the baby up for adoption.

When they get round to talking, Ricky is persists with saying no to putting the baby up for adoption yet he does not want to raise the baby himself when Amy suggests he take care of the baby as an alternative, but believes that Amy could do it with the help of Ben and her family. Ricky then urges Ben not to commit to being with Amy for the rest of his life because she might end up leaving him for Ricky or for another guy and then points out that Amy arranged the meeting with Ricky without telling him and that it was Amy who wanted him to be involved in the decision making process and that it was her that asked him out for coffee at band camp. This prompts Ben into realising that he should give Ricky and Amy some space because he cannot change the fact that Amy and Ricky will always be bound together by the baby which might lead to Amy and Ricky wanting to be together at some point, something which would be out of Ben's control, leaving Amy shocked and upset.

Adamant that she doesn't want to be with Ricky, Amy tries to win Ben back by pushing Ricky away which involves calling Ricky and telling him that raising the baby together wouldn't work out for the baby and if he truly loved his son and wasn't just doing it to impress Grace or Adrian, he would go along with whatever Amy thought was best for the kid and let her make all the decisions. She and also accepts full responsibility for letting things go too far at band camp. Reluctantly, Ricky gives in and agrees to put his child up for adoption which suggests that he feels sorry for putting Amy through such an ordeal, so much so that he is prepared to ditch his belief of what would be best for his son if it means so much to Amy that the baby be adopted.
 * Ricky:  Is everything okay?
 * Amy:  Everything will be okay, everything will be fine once you decide that the decision to have the baby adopted or not adopted is my decision.
 * Amy: Look, in my desperation to figure this whole thing out, I asked you to come over, just to see if there's any possibility of the two of us raising this baby together, helping each other out, just for the sake of the baby.
 * Amy: I realise that there are a lot of different types of families and we didn't have to be married to be a family for this child - we could just be friends, do this together as friends.
 * Amy:  But, uh... We're not friends and it's just not what's best for him, you and me, and you know that.
 * Amy:  So please, just go along with me. Please?
 * Ricky:  Okay, whatever you want.

Amy feels guilty for Ben's decision to back out because she doesn't want to be tied to Ricky so she goes along with the idea of her dad's co-worker Donovan and his partner Leon being possible candidates for being the adopted parents. Ricky goes up to Amy and apologises for accidently breaking her and Ben up, however Amy is in denial, saying that Ben is just taking his time to think about things. Ricky points out that she and Ben were never going to work out as Ben is not her type and reminds her that at the end of the day, she is having Ricky's baby and not Ben's. Ricky tells Amy that he has reversed his decision to go along with the adoption and confesses to Amy he doesn't feel like he could bring himself to hold their child for the first time and then just watch as some random couple just takes him away. This overwhelms Amy so Ricky embraces her in an affectionate hug, as Ben, Adrian and Grace watch on. When Grace's ex-boyfriend Jack drops by Ricky's place while he's busy studying up on babies, Ricky reveals that he's only interested in being with Amy, before he individually informs Adrian and Grace quite bluntly that he and them are done for good.

Ricky also proclaims his interest in Amy to his shrink Dr Fields, but he also informs him of his plan to go along with whatever Amy wants until it looks like the baby is set for adoption, which is when he'll try to get his mother on his side in a custody battle. Ricky explains if he and Amy spend some time together and she gets to know him better, hopefully she will come around and decide against the adoption. Despite Amy's insistence, Ben is still trying to stay out of everything which includes not talking to her which makes Amy think that she is probably better off being with Ricky considering that they are having a child together as she suspects that maybe Ricky fancies her. Adrian tries to find out why Ricky is suddenly not interested in being with her but Ricky puts it down to the fact that he is having a baby with Amy and he wants to focus on them.


 * Dr Fields: Who are you in love with?
 * Ricky: Amy.
 * Dr Fields: Now it's Amy?
 * Ricky: I'm not a careless guy, I've never been a careless guy, but with Amy... I dunno, maybe I wanted her to get pregnant?
 * Dr Fields: Because you love her?
 * Ricky: Yeah.
 * Ricky: Maybe Amy and I would be good parents
 * Ricky: I have my heart set on Amy and our baby.

Amy starts to have a few doubts about putting her baby up for adoption, repeating Ricky's own argument to her dad that she doesn't know if she could ultimately bring herself, when push comes to shove, to just give her son away. With his plan in motion, Ricky agrees to meet Donovan and Leon with Amy to talk about the adoption of their baby but tells her that he's a little nervous about the adoption potentially going wrong, explaining to Amy that he wants the adoption to perfect because he doesn't want to hurt her more than he has already, but Amy reassures him that the couple are really nice and urges him just to be himself.


 * George: You don't like Ricky do you? I mean, as a boyfriend?
 * Amy: No, but...
 * George: But what?
 * Amy: I think Ricky likes me and when someone likes you, you can't help but like them back.
 * Amy: Maybe fate just intervened.
 * George: Oh no, I know what you're thinking - you're thinking maybe you'll marry Ricky cos he's the guy you had sex with.
 * George: You had sex with the wrong guy and you can't fix this by marrying the wrong guy.
 * Amy: Maybe even though I love Ben, I was meant to be with Ricky.

Ben and Amy reconcile, however, as Ricky reveals his plan of having Amy and the baby all to himself but after Ben informs Ricky about the cost of having to provide for both Amy and his kid for the next 18 years of the their lives, Ricky decides to concede as he feels like he wouldn't make the best father to his son or the best husband to Amy thanks to his lack of wealth. Ricky also suggests that maybe Amy made up with Ben because she wanted security and a comfortable future for their son, which Ricky couldn't offer. When Ricky is offered a job working at the Boykewich family butcher shop alongside Ben, he rushes to break the good news to Amy and tells her that he can still contribute to raising their baby, regardless if the baby does get adopted or not, which she ultimately decides against thanks to the help from all of their family and friends.

After Ricky gives up his pursuit of Amy and the baby, he sets his sights back to Grace and in particular Adrian as after all, getting a job in order to provide for the baby is enough work as it is, right?

The Birth of Their Son
While Ricky is busy baby-proofing his room, he gets a call from Amy. Hearing that she is at the hospital causes Ricky to become considerably concerned and alarmed as he asks her if everything is okay. Amy then reveals that the baby is on the way and insists that he should be there for the birth of his son. When he gets to the hospital, Amy is getting some much-needed rest so he offers to get a Dairy Shack burger for her. As Ricky waits outside, guilt consumes him as he starts to feel sorry for Amy and extremely culpable for having a baby he doesn't deserve with a nice girl like her. Despite this, he promises Ashley that he's gonna be there for his son no matter what. While going through labour, Amy looks back on her encounters with Ricky at band camp and how his bad boy charm made her feel inside during their various interactions.

When the baby, named John Juergens by Ashley, is finally born, a nervous Ricky is the first to go inside and see him and as he enters, he is overwhelmed by the whole ordeal at first, but after he seeing his kid held in his mother's arms, Amy smiles at him, relieved that the dreaded pregnancy was over. Initially, he is rather apprehensive about holding John when Amy offers to pass him over, but once he cradles the little guy in his arms, he realises that he might actually enjoy fatherhood. The season ends with Ricky over at Amy's house, looking after his son, cradling him in his arms as Amy sleeps away.


 * -|S2 =

Butting Heads as Teen Parents
After John's birth, Ricky is very hands-on with his involvement, visiting practically everyday and helping out, which Amy is grateful for but also relatively annoyed about due to the fact that he is considerably better with John than her. Ricky tries to lighten the burden on Amy by bringing food from the butcher shop and offering to stay over and look after him through the night while Amy gets some rest.

When Ben wants to babysit John while Amy visits a mournful Grace, Amy declines his offer, with her preferring that Ricky be the one to stay with John instead, suggesting that she is starting to trust Ricky a bit more.

Ricky notices how hard being a teenager mother is for Amy so volunteers to help out with John more often but Amy refuses. After acknowledging and thanking Ricky for all his help so far, Amy claims that she can handle motherhood on her own. When Amy is dead set on going with Ben to Bologna and taking John with her, Ricky is infuriated as he doesn't want her to just take off for Europe with 'our son', telling Adrian that she makes him go crazy. In spite of this, he manages to convince Amy to let Ben go by himself by reminding her of their duties as parents. Thinking out loud, Amy asks how they even got into this mess so Ricky wittily comments that it was sex. Ricky also assures Adrian that, with Ben gone, he wouldn't even consider trying to have sex with Amy because of his friendship with Ben.

Ricky decides to move out of his foster parents' house and eventually gets his own place above the butcher shop which would give him the ability to have some alone time with Amy and John.

At school, as Amy starts ranting about how her life really sucks, Ricky helps to calm her down by putting things into perspective and advising her to have a more positive outlook on things instead. He even jokes about the school yearbook, which contains a photo of a very pregnant Amy, encouraging her to lighten up. When Ricky finishes from work, he pops by Amy's house so he can take John to his new apartment so he can spend his first night with his son, but finds John already asleep with Amy watching over him. The two parents talk about life and how no matter how bad life can get, they should be grateful for at least having their son in their lives. This cheers Amy up as she and Ricky smile contentedly at one another, which Amy quickly finds a bit awkward.

Not wanting to wake him up, Ricky decides to wait until another time to have John over at his apartment but since he was already there, he offers to wait for John to wake up in the nursery, while Amy gets some sleep. Amy accepts his offer as Ricky ends up staying the night watching over John.

Over the summer, Ricky frequently visits John at Amy’s house and even stays the night on numerous occasions. In spite of Ben's annoyance, Amy doesn't see anything wrong with Ricky being over, implying that she enjoys Ricky's company and that she likes that he is being a responsible father to John.

When Amy persistently interrogates Ricky about whether or not Ben had sex on his trip to Italy, Ricky defends him in order to save Ben and Amy‘s relationship after he finds out that Ben is leaning towards needlessly breaking up with Amy. Ricky knows that Amy is happy being with Ben and if the latter did anything to compromise the relationship, Amy would be devastated, so Ricky maturely tries to make Ben see sense and not break Amy's heart.

With Adrian seemingly close to moving in next door to Amy, Ricky initially tries to get them to put their differences aside as their hatred of each other could be to the detriment of his privilege of being able to see his son but the two girls can't seem to see eye-to-eye on anything. When Adrian pushes Amy over the edge, the latter calls Ricky to inform him that she doesn’t want Adrian anywhere near their son. This pushes Ricky to find out what Amy’s really angry about, asking her if she could see them being together if Adrian and Ben weren’t in the picture. Amy responds by pointing out Ricky’s inability to be in a committed relationship which stems from a lack of interest in being monogamous. Amy goes on to say that they aren’t the right people for each other, which Ricky accepts, putting to bed any chance of the two getting together anytime soon.

After volunteering to help out Ashley get some furniture for her new room, Ricky is greeted with harsh words from both George and Amy, despite Ricky insisting that he was just being nice and that he wouldn’t be so stupid as to try to do anything with her. This causes a heated discussion between Amy and Ricky about what they did at band camp and how it escalated so quickly, making Amy open up about how she’s angry with everyone because she blames herself for what happened. Ricky tells her that no matter what, they should never take it out on John and goes on to praise Amy’s efforts as a teen mother. In an effort to try and get Amy to shift more of the workload onto him, he insists that he should be able see John with whoever he wants, whether that be with Adrian or his family, which angers Amy.

At this point in time, Ricky and Amy’s relationship is hanging by a thread, at an all time low which has led to a standstill. The two seem to at war with each other by fighting over John and so long as they stay stubborn, things could turn ugly which would only be disastrous for their son.

Amy buys Ricky a new phone so he can receive emails even while he's out, meaning she can reach him a lot easier and a lot quicker, initially using it to send Ricky a shopping list.

While Ricky is helping Adrian move in next door to Amy, he and Amy look through the window at each other from the two houses, with John smiling and waving at his daddy next door. Later in the day, Ricky finds George in the back garden and goes over to get some relationship advice, with the conversation topic quickly switching to whether Ricky sees himself having any sort of future with either Adrian or Amy. Ricky compliments Amy, calling her 'really attractive' and saying that he might even love her, but admits that a relationship between the two would not work because of a lack of 'heat' between them, but George isn't the least bit convinced. Ricky decides to stick it out with Adrian, however, with the hope of being ready to be in a real commitment a bit further down the line.

At couples counselling, Adrian asks Ricky what he would do if Amy and John moved away with Amy's mother to Palm Springs. Expecting him to try to seek legal custody of his son should it happen, Ricky says that he would just have to follow them and not go through the hassle of the courts since he sees that being able to see John everyday is a privilege that could be taken away just as easily as it was given.

Ricky finds out that Ben is planning to break up with Amy for a girl from Italy and begs him not to go through with it, for fear of Amy choosing to stay with her mother and her new partner in Palm Springs permanently. Despite both Adrian and Ruben pushing him to file for his rights as John's father, Ricky is reluctant to do so, for fear of sending the wrong message to Amy and upsetting her. After consulting George, Ricky finally manages to get hold of Amy and pleads with her to come home but Amy plainly informs him that she'll be back whenever she's ready, which is not what Ricky wanted to hear at all.

Ricky goes over to Adrian's new house and just hangs out with her, even though he is fully aware that they wouldn't be getting up to anything, just in the hope that Amy finally comes home with John but unfortunately for him, they don't. After finding out that Amy is finally back from Palm Springs, the relieved father leaves work and rushes over to see his son and to notify Amy that he will be pursuing some kind of legal agreement which prohibits Amy from just taking off with John ever again, much to Amy's surprise. When Amy and Ben finally break up, Ricky advises Ben that there is no point him worrying about it because the two had already moved on to other people at that point and so it was definitely going to happen sooner or later. That night, after Ricky had put John to bed, Ricky tries to help Amy clean up in the kitchen, which leads to the two teens talking about a potential agreement and also their futures. Ricky apologises for threatening to pursue legal action the other day but Amy understands why he was scared of not being able to see John, confessing that she gets scared of Ricky one day taking off and not wanting to see John but Ricky reassures her that he wouldn’t ever just leave John. As Amy goes to tuck her hair to one side, she realises she has soap on her hands, which prompts Ricky to brush her hair away from Amy’s face for her, leading an intimate moment as the two look deeply into each other’s eyes.

During Amy's date with Jimmy, as it is the first time he has had his son stay over at his apartment, Amy frequently calls Ricky to check on John so Jimmy asks if she still has feelings for him. Amy denies it vehemently, going on to say that she never really had any in the first place and that she’s only calling to make sure John is alright. Ricky quickly gets annoyed by Amy’s frequent checks and advises her to just enjoy her night and stop calling, for Jimmy's sake. The following morning, Ricky comes by to drop John off back at Amy's and affirms her with some valuable advice and support about not getting caught up in other peoples' lives and about enjoying her own, which Amy is fully appreciative of.


 * Ricky: I know you're going through the most difficult challenges in life right now, but it seemed to me that you just got over the hurdle and started enjoying yourself.
 * Ricky: You were moving in the right direction, keep moving.
 * Amy: Thanks.
 * Ricky: You're welcome.
 * Amy: I really needed to hear that, I really needed to hear that I'm doing something right for once.

Kissing Practice
When Jimmy doesn't call Amy back after an entertaining first date, Amy is crushed and confused. Madison tries to cheer her up but, rather bluntly, ends up suggesting that Jimmy didn't call because she was a bad kisser, which disheartens Amy. While she is alone in the band practice room collecting her thoughts, Ricky walks in and upon seeing her all upset, asks her what's wrong but Amy is too embarrassed to open up. With tears in her eyes, she asks him if he thinks that she's a good kisser and even though she doesn't believe so, Ricky reassures her that she is. In order to try and cheer her up, Ricky volunteers to help Amy practice as a 'friend', but Amy on the other hand, is understandably apprehensive.


 * Ricky: Of course anyone could become a better kisser with practice.
 * Amy: Is that true?
 * Ricky: Doesn't everything get better with practice?
 * Amy: I don't know.
 * Ricky: You wanna practice?
 * Ricky: Really? After all we've been through together, we can't kiss each other just so you can get some practice?
 * Ricky: And no-one has to know.

As Ricky leaves Adrian to go to his appointment with Amy next door, Adrian questions his intentions considering that John would be sound asleep already added to the fact that Amy hadn't gotten a call from Jimmy yet. Ricky remarks that what happened with Jimmy will probably be a common reoccurrence for Amy for quite sometime as after all, who would want to be with someone who had a baby at 15 and is raising it with the father. Desperate for him not to do anything that could seriously harm their relationship, Adrian instructs Ricky not to feel sorry for the mother of his child but Ricky assures her that nothing will go down yet still hurries next door anyhow. When they finally get round to practicing, Amy finds it ever so awkward initially and starts to doubt if making out will actually work. In an attempt to calm her nerves, Ricky explains that she is just nervous and should close her eyes. However just as they are about to start, he sees Ashley watching them but when she leaves in disbelief, Ricky goes for it anyway.


 * Amy: I can't. I can't kiss you.
 * Ricky: You kissed me before we had a baby, I think you can kiss me again.
 * Ricky: Believe me it's nothing to either of us - we're just friends.
 * Amy: Yeah, friends with a baby.

Even though the rumours of Amy being a bad kisser are still going round, Amy does not seem to care, firmly believing that it is not true after her little practice session with Ricky gave her all the confidence she needed. At this point, everyone starts to speculate whether or not there is something going on between Amy and Ricky 'besides just sharing the joy of parenthood', with Adrian and Ashley both coming to the false conclusion that the two were having sex. When George confronts Ricky about kissing Amy, Ricky explains that it was nothing more than a favour - she wanted to kiss him for practice and he only went through with it because he didn't want to hurt her feelings and also because it would give her more confidence, but George still doesn't feel so sure about it as it seems to him that Ricky was just taking advantage of her, like he did at band camp. Ricky doesn't understand why George was making such a fuss about it considering there were no feelings involved, likening it to kissing his sister.When George asks Amy for her side of the story, Amy surprisingly reveals that she kissed her baby daddy so she could test the waters and not because she has feelings for him or because she was feeling sorry for herself. She also goes on to praise Adrian for being a good friend to her even after all they've been through, revealing to her dad that she honestly believes that Adrian is the one for Ricky.


 * Amy: If I wanted to, I could have the guy in school that every girl wants.
 * George: And that would be Ricky?
 * Amy: Come on dad, he wanted to kiss me and I wanted to kiss him.
 * Amy: It wasn't quite as wonderful as I thought it might be. I was afraid that one kiss and I'd crumble, and then what? He would marry me? He's not the marrying kind.
 * Amy: I think he'll always be a good dad to John, but he's not ready to be a good husband. He's not even ready to be a good boyfriend.
 * Amy: Even though he kissed me, I do think Ricky loves Adrian.

Amy also lets Madison and Lauren in on her and Ricky's kissing adventures and how it set her free from the prospect of being with Ricky, claiming that she didn't feel anything, but even her two best friends doubt that. Even Anne is not totally convinced that Amy doesn't have any feelings for Ricky but she does accept that Amy is probably just figuring out her feelings for him. Before Ricky gets a chance to inform Adrian about what went down, she accuses him of having sex with Amy so he reveals to her that he only kissed her and he only did that because she asked him to. Satisfied by the fact that the idea of being with Ricky would not work out, Amy drives all the way to Jimmy's house and even though they make up, they ultimately stick to just being friends.


 * Madison: You didn't feel anything?
 * Amy: No I didn't, which I was very happy about - it was very freeing.
 * Madison: Maybe you are a bad kisser.
 * Amy: He doesn't think there's anything wrong with the way I kiss.
 * Amy: I don't have feelings for Ricky. Maybe I did, maybe I liked him at band camp, but I don't love him.
 * Amy: And if I ever did feel anything for Ricky, I'm over him.

When Ricky unexpectedly disappears, he is so full of anger and regret that he wishes that he had never met Amy and did what they did, more than anything else in his life. He also tells Leo that there is no point him returning because Amy and John would be a lot better off without him. Despite what everyone thinks, Amy isn't too bothered, saying that she wouldn't mind not sharing John and being a single parent and even though she knows how good a father Ricky has been, she hopes to be with someone she actually wants to be with, rather than someone that she has to be with, i.e. the father of her son. Although Ashley doesn’t believe that Amy isn’t worried about Ricky, she does accept that Amy could be angry at him though, telling George that all Amy ever wanted was Ricky to rescue her ever since she got pregnant and had John, but because he chose to be with Adrian instead, Amy still feels quite bitter.

Custody Battle
After some much needed soul-searching, Ricky finally returns home and though Amy says that she is happy to see him back, deep down she cannot stand the idea of him being angry at her as she feels like she has done nothing to make him angry. Ricky then breaks up with Adrian, for good this time, explaining to her that he wants to be a good husband and a good father someday and he couldn’t be that for someone who he doesn't trust and who doesn’t trust him, which leads Adrian to suspect that this is because of Amy. Ricky also apologises to Ben for kissing Amy after admitting that it wasn't just a kiss, but when Ben asks him to promise that he won't try to have sex with Amy, Ricky asserts that whoever he is with is none of Ben's business, especially now that Ben and Amy are over, implying that he thinks that something will happen between him and Amy sometime in the future.

Later that night, Ricky drops by Amy's house and after they've put their son to bed, he is insistent on setting things straight with her but despite enjoying his company, Amy is still quite reluctant to hear what he has to say, anticipating a rant. However, once Ricky starts to speak his mind, it becomes apparent to Amy that it would go somewhere she would never have expected. Firstly, Ricky lets Amy know how thankful he is for having John in his life and apologises for leaving so unexpectedly and not letting Amy know beforehand. He goes on to apologise for tricking her into kissing him but admits from his point of view, it seemed like she wanted to kiss him just as much, causing Amy to blush. Ricky then tells Amy that they've been acting like kids, when they should've been acting like adults and thus should be more responsible and independent.

Ricky then reveals that he would like to have regular time with John all by himself and for John to be a greater part of his life as well as his side of the family's life because he is tired of always having to go through Amy's hectic family just to be with his son, insisting that it's no good for John either. Amy asks if he is suggesting that the solution would be if she, or perhaps they, get their own place but warns him that she would never just live with him. Ricky instead proposes that he take John every weekend, which would give Amy some time off, but she outright refuses. Adamant that she does not want to share John anymore than she currently is, she continues to stand her ground when Ricky tries to compromise by having John on weekdays. The thought of Ricky taking away her son, soon becomes too much for Amy as she starts to tear up. Upon seeing her reaction, Ricky backs down as he doesn't want to hurt her, bids her good night and then leaves. When Ricky pushes Amy to allow him to have John on weekends, everyone except Amy thinks it’s a good idea for John to have regular time with his father, however an unwavering Amy will not concede, citing that just because she ‘stupidly had sex with that idiot [Ricky]’, it doesn’t mean that he can’t just take his son after all she has done for John. Her anger towards the father of her child turns out to be shared mutually by Adrian, who is still angry about Ricky breaking things off with her, which brings the two neighbours closer than ever as they rally their friends in preparation for a battle against a common enemy. In the other corner, Ricky too is reluctant to back down, bringing in Adrian’s cop father in order to make things official but when Ruben warns him that the ordeal could potentially ruin his relationship with Amy, Ricky lets him know that he doesn’t care about what Amy thinks of him anymore but under Ruben's advice, he agrees to talking to Amy one final time before they proceed with the mediation.

When the two teenagers meet up in the park, Ricky starts by complementing Amy for being a good mother and for making good decisions for John all along but Amy cynically passes this off as a fake compliment. Amy then proceeds to reveal testimonies from all their friends backing her up to Ricky’s displeasure. Amy then begs Ricky to drop the whole thing and to just let things continue as they are but Ricky doesn’t want everything to be dictated by Amy’s whims leading Ricky to enquire why she is so desperately against sharing the responsibility with him. Amy replies by reminding Ricky of her love for John leading her to reveal that she doesn’t want John to love Ricky. Satisfied with finally learning the truth, Ricky plainly tells Amy that he’ll see her in court later, leaving her angry and upset.

During the mediation, Amy finally swallows her pride and concedes, finally accepting that she was wrong to try to stop Ricky from trying to be a good father and that it is important for John to be around his dad. Thankfully for both her and Ricky, the mediator rules in Ricky's favour, thus establishing an agreement consisting of Ricky picking up John from Amy's house before bedtime on Friday and then Amy picking him up from Ricky's apartment before bedtime on Sunday. After remembering that John's first birthday is coming up on the weekend, Ricky offers an olive branch to Amy by suggesting that they organise the party together, insisting that they are in this together.

Finally Working Together
Desperate to make everything work, Ricky calls Amy to get her opinion on what things he should bring to the birthday party, but Amy assures him that the party is not that big a deal, easing the pressure off Ricky. Ricky is surprised at Amy's laidback attitude to their son's party, considering Amy's normally uptight and over-protective nature, but thanks her anyway, admitting that he's glad that he called. After they bid each other goodnight and end the call, Amy secretly holds her own pre-party in her room with just her and John. However, Ricky is less than pleased when he finds out that Amy went behind his back after he tried so hard to include her in his birthday plans, confessing to Ben that she makes him 'so crazy'.

While at Amy's house, Ricky vents his frustration towards Amy and Ashley, telling them that he tried his best to make Amy feel included in order to avoid the sort of drama they've been subjected to as teen parents. Amy seems to have little remorse for her actions, suggesting that Ricky just go have his own party without her. When Amy re-enters the room, Ricky pleads to Amy's good nature in order to try to get her to come to Ricky's apartment for the party, for John's sake. Amy sees sense and apologises to Ricky for not being able to control herself sometimes. Thankful that he finally has Amy on board, Ricky offers to tell his parents to back out due to Amy's parents being unable to attend, leaving John to just themselves. Amy decides to go along with the idea of having a small, quiet party and agrees to spend the night over at Ricky's place. When they get to the butcher shop, they bump into Ben, who upon seeing them, presumes that Amy is staying over because she and Ricky are sleeping together.

After putting on a successful birthday party for John, Amy and Ricky attend Leo and Betty's wedding together and it seems that they are finally seeing eye to eye and getting on well. Amy thanks Ricky for organising the party, to which Ricky responds by thanking Amy for the last year. While they are hanging out and talking, Amy spots Ben from a distance and goes over to speak to him but at the same time, Adrian approaches Ben and after a quick conversation, they make their way inside, leaving Amy confused and upset. Ricky watches all of this unfold and upon seeing Amy's reaction, he clearly feels sorry for her.


 * -|S3 =

Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder
Despite wanting to get back together with Ben, Amy maintains a good relationship with Ricky, managing to uphold their agreement friendly and civil. The two seem to have become pretty close thanks to their arrangement, an example of this being how appreciative they are of each other, learning to stick together and have each other's backs like adults with young children should. Things are working out so well for him that Ricky decides to do both Ben and Amy a favour by bringing him over to Amy's house in the evening so they can talk about mending their relationship, after all, they did not get a chance to do so at the wedding. Ben and Amy do reconcile and Amy is so happy about getting back together with her ex, that she wholeheartedly thanks Ricky for all his help in making it happen as the two raise a smile.

At school, Ricky tells Amy that he pushed Ben to go back with Amy because he was hesitating, unbeknownst to her but not Ricky, that it was because Ben had managed to get Adrian pregnant, and so lets Amy know that if it doesn't work out, she can just blame him instead. Nonetheless, Amy is still confident that she and Ben will make it work the second time around. Ricky admits that he too hopes that it will work out, for Amy's sake, but deep down knows that it will break Amy's heart when she does eventually find out the massive secret.

Amy gets accepted into a prestigious summer music program in New York but the moment is bittersweet for Amy since she feels that she can't accept because of her job and responsibility of care for John. When she gives Ricky the news at school, Ricky is genuinely pleased for her, offering his congratulations for the offer, as well as his condolences for not being able to take it, although he does mention that he would be fine taking care of John by himself if she did choose to go.

When push comes to shove and Amy has to make a definitive decision, Ricky's the first person she turns to and as a fellow musician, urges her to go, knowing that it is an amazing opportunity that she couldn't possibly turn down. He even goes as far as to offer to stay at Amy's house while she's gone so that John is kept on the same schedule and in a familiar environment.

When Ricky drops by later, Amy wants to make sure that Ricky knows where everything is in the house for when he stays over, but Ricky reminds her that he comes round almost every day. Amy is extremely appreciative of Ricky offering to stay with her 'crazy family' for a whole month, saying that it was really nice of him. Ricky recommends that they continue to stick to their agreement of him taking John to his apartment for the weekend, but after noticing that Amy isn't too keen on the idea, Ricky gives in and agrees to stay at her house throughout her absence. Amy, excited to go on a life-changing programme in New York, is so overjoyed that something good is finally happening to her - don't tell John! - that she blurts out an awkward confession of love to Ricky who is left staggered, staring back at the mother of his child open-mouthed. Amy, on the other hand, is rather unfazed by her choice of words, explaining that she views him as a friend/brother who she has had sex and then a baby with but doesn't want to be in a relationship with- whatever that's called, leaving Ricky painfully embarrassed by the whole conversation since all he was trying to do was be nice to Amy and cheer her up.


 * Ricky: I'll think about it, we'll see how it goes.
 * Amy: Please?
 * Ricky: Okay Amy. If it means that much to you, I'll try.
 * Amy: Thank you, thank you, thank you!
 * Amy: I love you.
 * Ricky: You what?
 * Amy: Like a brother. You're like the father of my baby that I don't want to be with.
 * Ricky: Gee, thanks.
 * Amy: You know what I mean, and I love that you know that, I do.

This demonstrates how close Amy and Ricky have gotten ever since they decided to act like adults and work together, Ricky especially considering that it wasn't that long ago when he didn't care what Amy thought of him and was quite happy knowing that he wasn't in her good books. Fast-forward to now and Ricky, who is genuinely happy for Amy, is actively going out of his way to see Amy happy, enjoying life and doing her own thing because he knows that once Ben eventually lets out his big secret to her, it will crush her and so he feels a lot of sympathy for her. This may also mean that when Amy finds out and then dumps Ben, Ricky will be her shoulder to cry on, thus potentially leaving an opening for Ricky to take this further with Amy. Furthermore, it seems that Amy's feelings for Ricky have inadvertently developed as she has grown closer to him, a far cry from the time she thoroughly denied them existing. This exclamation of endearment may be a sign that should things with Ben not work out, which she as of yet does not know that they definitely won't, she potentially wouldn't mind or at least won't be uncomfortable with entertaining the idea of starting a relationship with Ricky. As they grow closer than ever, could a potential relationship be on the cards? With Amy enjoying herself on the other side of the country, her sudden departure in the middle of the school year causes rumours to spread round school that Amy has gotten pregnant again. Upon hearing the false gossip, Ricky is especially furious and firmly denies that Amy is having another child, neither with him nor with anyone else. Ricky agrees with Grace that Amy getting pregnant again would be a bad situation to be in, implying that not only that he doesn't want Amy to go through the whole process again and potentially ruin her life, but also that he doesn't want Amy to have children with anyone else, for a while at least. Even with Ashley and Ricky growing closer during Amy's absence, Ricky defends Amy from Ashley's blunt criticism, ordering her to stop laying into her because Amy truly is a good mother and has done a lot for John. After dinner, Ricky offers to help Anne with the dishes and soon the conversation turns to Amy. Ricky says he doesn't mind staying with Amy's family during her absence as whatever Amy wants him to do during her absence, he is more than happy to do. He also confesses that he's worried for her especially because he hadn't heard from her since she left. When Anne questions why she picked to play the French horn in the first place, Ricky unexpectedly revealsthat Amy told him the heart-warming story at band camp and it turns out that it was a very personal choice motivated by her love for her mother.

When Ben consults Ricky about what to do with Amy and Adrian, Ricky gives him some harsh truths as well as some valuable advice all while looking out for Amy and the impact Ben's actions will have on her as he knows more than anyone else how much she has been through, making it imperative for Ben to be fair to Amy whatever his decision. This displays Ricky as becoming more mature and considerate towards Amy, signifying the positive impact Amy has had on Ricky's growth as a person, which is something no-one else can claim to that extent.

As everyone is avoiding having to break the news to Amy, she feels quite ignored and mystified and in an attempt to find answers, she repeatedly calls Ricky, indicating that he is someone she trusts quite dearly. Ricky, however, can't bare to answer any tough questions from her and so chooses to ignore her persistent calls. At his parent's house, Ricky gets defensive and angry when his mother asks him about Adrian and her situation, definitively letting her know that no matter what happens to Adrian and Ben, he is not going to marry Amy just because they have a child together.


 * Ricky: I'm not gonna marry Amy, you got that?! I'm not going to marry Amy.
 * Ricky: Just because I did have a baby, doesn't mean that I'm going to be stuck with anyone - not even Amy, for the rest of my life.

Ricky storms off to go have 'meaningless and indiscriminate sex' as he calls it and when the girl he's with asks if he is gonna inform Amy about the situation concerning Adrian, he says that it isn't his responsibility to tell her. He also shows that he is still annoyed about that the rumours of Amy being pregnant again are still flying around, hinting that he does still care about Amy but would rather not be in a relationship with her, or indeed with anyone else for that matter.

Ricky immediately realises that kissing Ashley was a mistake, acknowledging that it would be wrong for them to ever be together, especially because it would hurt Amy and could potentially hinder his relationship with Amy from growing further as it could lead to a breakdown in trust between them which could ultimately harm his relationship with his son, as well as break Amy's family apart. Ashley confronts Ricky and insists that they have real feelings for each other and that nobody would care if they were together but Ricky disagrees, reminding her that she is practically his sister-in-law and that Amy would mind a lot if anything like that happened, which angers Ashley as she begins to suspect that he has chosen Amy over her. She then accuses him of not feeling ashamed for tricking Amy into having sex with him at band camp but again, Ricky protests his innocence, saying that he never tricked her into doing anything and that it was just that they didn't know what they were getting into at the time, implying that he truly does care about Amy and that he feels that Amy did like him at some stage.

Once Amy finds out about the secret everyone was hiding from her, she is understandably furious and dejected, choosing to ignore everyone trying to reach to her, including Ricky. Ashley tries to make Ricky feel better about it as she predicts that Amy will eventually get over it but Ricky knows too well that Amy will be hurt for a long time. Ashley questions why he cares so much if Amy is alright but Ricky firmly defends Amy, admitting that John is the only one he cares about more.

This surprises Ashley greatly so Ricky tries to explain that he cares about Amy in a very different way to anyone else. Blinded by jealousy, Ashley tries to rile Amy up by letting her know that she kissed Ricky. This infuriates Amy because she trusted him to take care of John during her absence and did not envisage him trying to seduce Ashley. Ricky, however, does not get any time to explain and so is very annoyed at Ashley for trying to stitch him up. This also demonstrates how embarrassed he was about the incident and implies that he wanted to own up to it himself, perhaps in an attempt to stay in Amy's good books.

Amy presumes that he was the one that initiated it and so interrogates him about it, wanting to know all the details. She later calls Ashley to find out her side of the story and then goes on to admit that she always thought that something would happen between Ricky and Ashley but figured that it would transpired after she herself was happy with someone else and so would not care as much. Amy's reaction prompts Ashley to enquire as to whether or not she cares about Ricky being with all these other girls to which Amy responds by revealing her uncertainty about her feelings toward the father of her child.


 * Amy: I pressured him into giving the details, I wanted to know.
 * Ashley: Why?
 * Amy: I don't know.
 * Amy:: I just thought that it would happen after I'd found someone, after I fell in love, after I wouldn't care.
 * Ashley: So you care?
 * Amy: I don't know. I don't know if I care.
 * Amy: Maybe I care a little bit. I don't want my little sister stealing the guy I had a baby with, even though I was only with him that one time - it makes me feel like a loser.

Ashley then abruptly asks her sister if she wants to be with Ricky, but sensing that something like that could affect her relationship with Ashley, Amy suggests that they both should just give up the improbable idea of being with Ricky. When Amy finds out about Ricky being over at Adrian's, Amy is surprised and somewhat conflicted, replying with an unconvincing 'Oh well, that's okay I guess'.

While next door, Ricky and Adrian kiss but both instantly realise that the 'heat' between the two has fizzled out, confirming Ricky's own belief that he and Adrian could never get back together as they both have moved on. Could this be down to his feelings for Amy growing so much that it has usurped his feelings for the only girl he has ever contemplated marrying one day, so much so that he can no longer entertain the possibility of him getting back with his ex?

Ricky gets fed up of Ben being so hung up on trying to call Amy because Ricky wants him to respect Amy's wishes of not wanting to speak to anyone who knew about Adrian being pregnant.

Ricky asks Amy if she is giving up the French horn to which Amy reveals that she still wants to play it on the side for enjoyment albeit not for a career. Amy follows this up by noticing that Ricky sounds a bit snotty which Ricky puts down to being a little tired, a feeling that Ricky acknowledges that Amy knows all too well. Ricky wants to know how longer Amy is away for, which leads Amy to reveal that she is planning to stay a little bit longer than expected which annoys Ricky as after all, the agreed upon time frame was 4 weeks. Amy reluctantly reveals that all the other teen mothers in the programs are having their partners and boyfriends fly over at the end of the program and she feels that it would be a bit awkward for both of them if she was to suggest that Ricky came over since they've never been in a relationship.

After Amy complains about Ben's persistence, Ricky insists she just put everything to bed by telling him that her and Ben are finished but Amy reminds him that it is none of her business. Ricky explains that because Ben is having a baby with Adrian, he shouldn't even be thinking about getting back together with Amy, implying that Ricky wants a clean shot at Amy. He also suggests that if it weren't for Ben's constant interference in his and Amy's attempt at trying to have a baby in high school, there would've been a good chance that Amy and Ricky would have gotten together. Ricky's indignation indicates that he has grown tired of the fact that Ben ruined his chances with both Amy and Adrian and so would not want him anywhere near being in the picture should he choose to purse Amy. It also proves how Ricky did indeed want to be with the mother of his child but the existence of Ben hindered his chances, maybe because he felt that it made Amy feel a lot of anger towards him and that he thought that Amy would've been better off with Ben.


 * Ricky: Maybe if Ben hadn't been trying to get together with you when we were having a baby things might have gone differently and maybe I would be flying in at the end of that program to be with you in New York.
 * Amy: Differently how?
 * Ricky: I don't know. What chance did we ever have at a relationship when he was willing to step in and come to the rescue?

Amy remarks how riled up Ricky has gotten as the two start to argue about his duties as John's dad during her absence, resulting in Ricky angrily hanging up on her. Annoyed at Amy for wanting to stay in New York a bit longer, he rings Amy again in order to propose the idea of him flying over at the end of the program. However, Amy is quite sceptical because unlike the other guys that will be flying over, he is not even in a relationship with the mother of his child, let alone cohabitating or God-forbid married. This causes Ricky to question what the nature of his and Amy's relationship even is, something Amy is not too sure about either.


 * Ricky: Well, if we're not in a relationship, what are we?
 * Amy: I don't know. I think we'll be different things to each other at different times.
 * Amy: I don't think we really know what we are right now other than John's parents.

Ricky insists that because he has some time off work, he could just come and visit for the weekend, explaining that it would be a good time for them to talk things out. He also adds that he hates talking to her over the phone and even offers to bring John along with him. Amy objects to him bringing John along for just the weekend as Ricky notices that she didn't oppose to the idea of him coming over. Ricky comments that it is probably time that they finally laid things out and just talked and even though Amy prefers they do it when she gets back, she reluctantly agrees to the idea which Ricky is totally satisfied with.

Ricky's sudden persistence in talking to Amy face-to-face may be down to the fact that ever since Amy has been away, he has come to the realisation that Amy is a huge part of his life and without her, life isn't the same. After practically living her life for the past couple weeks, Ricky has understood more about Amy and what she has gone through as a teen mother, which has made him more sympathetic towards her as we see him look out for her while she's away, being the only one to do so to the extent he went to. The need for the two of them to talk and assess their own relationship suggests that he certainly would like to know if Amy does indeed feel the same way. Even though Amy is reluctant to have Ricky come over for the weekend, this may just be down to her shy and reticent nature, implying that her feelings for Ricky are somewhat muddled and that she is unsure about developing them further.

Ricky pleads with Anne and George to look after John while he's away, outlining the need for him and Amy to talk, which he believes would be great not only for him and Amy but also for John. George suspects that Ricky is intending to have sex with Amy, but Ricky wholeheartedly promises that it was never on the table. This reinforces the idea that his feelings for Amy are extremely deeply-rooted as he is undoubtedly and undeniably focused on talking things out with Amy.

Exploring Their Feelings For Each Other
A short plane ride later, Ricky arrives in New York and makes his way to Amy's apartment. While sprucing the place up for Ricky's immanent arrival she seems particularly nervous, but when he finally arrives she is extremely happy to see him after being away for so long. When Amy attempts to get Ricky to experience New York, Ricky admits that he only came all this way just so he could see her. This surprises Amy and makes her blush, causing her to quickly change the subject. Ricky though is just overjoyed and relieved that he is talking to her face-to-face after so long apart. As she is about to tell Ricky that she has missed him, Amy stops her self midsentence and adds John's name instead. Ricky, not being able to contain his excitement, tells her that it's good to see her and gives her a warm hug, which Amy reciprocates with a beaming smile.


 * Ricky: It's really good to see you Amy.
 * Amy: You too Ricky, you too.

Amy offers her apartment to Ricky so he clean up before they go out and grab a bit of breakfast but after some light flirting, the two teens lock lips passionately. As they are chilling out on the couch getting to know each other better, they soon realise how much they have in common and how well they get on with each other. While munching down some Chinese, Ricky jokes about his abusive father. The fact that he was so comfortable talking to Amy about a subject so traumatic demonstrates how open he is with her and how close they've gotten, after all, he has never liked to divulge into his past with anyone except Dr Fields. When Ricky reminds Amy about her crazy family, she apologises for pushing Ricky into staying with them during her absence, which they both find hilarious. Amy enquires about Ricky's fling with her sister, concerningly asking if he felt anything when he kissed her. Ricky tries to wind Amy up by admitting to feeling something, much to Amy's displeasure, and goes on to further tease Amy by saying that he would only sleep with Ashley if Amy was dead. Amazed by Ricky's tongue-in-cheek humour, Amy jokingly denies ever thinking that her life would be better if he wasn't around. As it is getting late, Ricky gets up to leave, explaining how he promised both Anne and George that they wouldn't 'do anything'. Amy, wanting him to stay a bit longer, insists that they weren't doing 'anything'. Ricky responds by raising the question of could something like that ever happening between them again which catches Amy off guard. Upon seeing Amy's reaction, Ricky feels a little embarrassed but Amy chooses to acknowledge his query and answers with uncertainty.


 * Ricky: I promised your parents we wouldn't do anything.
 * Amy: We're not doing anything.
 * Ricky: Well, when could we do something? Could we ever do something? Could we ever have sex again?
 * Amy: Whoa, whoa! The conversation took a turn here.
 * Amy: I don't know. I don't know if we could ever have sex again.

Amy stresses to Ricky the importance of the commitment in a relationship, declaring that should he want to pursue any sort of relationship with her, he would have to stop sleeping around. Despite Ricky insisting that he is working very hard to fix the error of his ways, Amy isn't so sure that Ricky would just give it all up for her just like that. Ricky's willingness to change his whole life around and be a better person just because Amy would like him to proves how much she means to him and how eager he is to take things further with her.

Amy then reveals that as a precautionary measure she is on the pill, not wanting anything like what happened at band camp to transpire again. Feeling a bit culpable, Ricky changes the subject and asks if she is planning to, or at least wishes to, have anymore kids in the future, but she is unsure. This leads them to reflect on their own child and how much he has already grown. Amy comments on John's abundant cuteness, to which Ricky jokingly points out that John obviously got his looks from his dad on account of the fact that he too is cute. Amy responds to this by declaring them a cute family, which brings a cheerful smile out of Ricky.


 * Ricky: What do you want us to be?
 * Amy: I don't know, I really don't.
 * Amy: I think it's too soon to decide.
 * Ricky: John's over a year old now, maybe we should decide.

The fact that Ricky is so keen for Amy to define their relationship just goes to show how much he wants to set things straight with her in order to see if she feels the same way. Amy's reticence is likely to be as a result of her and Ricky's only other previous intimate encounter, after all, it could feel to her as if she was giving in to Ricky's charms in spite of all the physical and emotional ramifications caused by their one night stand. Unlike on that night however, Ricky seems a lot more considerate of Amy and what she feels and does not manipulate nor steer her in any direction, demonstrating how he much he respects Amy and how serious and significant his feelings for her are. Throughout his stay, Ricky stayed at Amy's apartment which is ironic considering that she was totally against the idea of living with Ricky not that long ago, further signifying how far they've come together.

After Adrian finds out about Ricky going over to New York, she tries to coax Amy into going back with Ben but Amy chooses to dismiss Adrian's tricks, an indication that she has moved on from her old flame, possibly thanks to the realisation that she wants to be with Ricky instead. Amy then follows this up by saying that babies have the power to change relationships, 'whether you like it or not'. This subtle hint implies that after not wanting anything to do with Ricky during her pregnancy, Amy can realistically see her and Ricky growing even closer. When Adrian tries to push Amy into revealing what she and Ricky did in New York, Amy firmly insists that what happened between them will be kept between just her and Ricky.Ben too tries probing Ricky for answers but the latter stands his ground, reemphasising that it's none of his business. After Ricky's boss Bunny breaks up a fight between the two boys, she asks if he and Amy were indeed planning to get back together to which Ricky replies with a maybe, on the basis that he stops sleeping around that is. When Ricky comes home, Ashley confronts him about Amy, in the hope of making him realise that he wouldn't be able to be in a serious relationship with Amy. Ricky responds by letting her know that he plans to go to his therapist Dr Fields in order to see if he genuinely should follow through with the idea of getting together with Amy.


 * Ashley: Do you really think that you're in love with Amy?
 * Ricky: I don't know.
 * Ricky: All I know is that I might want to find that out, before she's in love with someone else or I fall in love with someone else, because your sister and I had a baby together.
 * Ashley: And do you really think that you're ready for a relationship? A monogamous relationship?
 * Ricky: I might be. I could be.
 * Ashley: That would mean that you'd have to commit to being with Amy, and only Amy, for the rest of your life.
 * Ricky: So?

As Ricky is leaving however, he overhears George as he's on the phone to Amy and learns that she is at a club, unbeknownst to everyone that she's out celebrating her birthday. Ricky is visibly concerned and enquires more about this club but thanks to the blaring music in the background, George struggles to make out anything that she's saying, prompting Ricky to leave for his appointment. Adrian catches him while he's moving John's booster seat into the boost and mentions her chat with Amy. Ricky is certain that Amy kept her promise and didn't tell her anything, showing how much they have begun to trust each other, but Adrian is convinced that she can read between the lines and insinuates that the program in New York has confused Amy. She suggests that being with other teen moms has caused Amy to believe that she should be with the father of her baby which Adrian is totally against, preferring Amy to be with Ben and not Ricky, who she is still pining for herself. She then notices Ricky's behaviour and accuses him of being on his way to another opportunity for meaningless sex, but Ricky is tired of her mind games and walks away.


 * Adrian: Ricky, I know you and I accept who you are, unlike Amy.
 * Adrian: She is never gonna understand you the way I understand you.
 * Ricky: Good! I'm glad alright.
 * Ricky: I don't want her to accept me or understand me, I want her to change me.

Adrian tries to reason with Ricky. saying that she understands that is who he is while Amy does not, but Ricky admits that he doesn't want to be that kind of guy for her and instead wants her to help him become a better man. As it turns out, Adrian was right to be suspicious as Ricky skipped his appointment in order to have sex with a girl called Karlee. After they have a good time, Karlee brings up Ricky's promise to stop sleeping around but his excuse in response to it is that he and Amy never really agreed anything and that they just said that they'll think about it. Karlee queries about Amy's recent whereabouts, which insinuates that Ricky used the fact that Amy was at a club as an excuse to hook up with someone. Once Karlee leaves, Ricky checks his phone, awaiting a text from Amy but there is none. As he lets out a sigh, could he be giving up hope of a future between him and Amy?

Almost 3,000 miles away, Amy too is checking her phone, looking for any birthday messages from anyone back home, but she's out of luck. Bored out of their minds, Amy and her friends leave the pyjama party and head back to their apartments. Just before they leave, one of Amy's friends takes a picture of Amy as a memento and sends it to Ricky but by that point, Amy has given up hope of anyone caring. As it turns out, Ricky is just arriving back home from his hook up and sends a picture of John fast asleep back, much to Amy's surprise. Her friends guess that because he thinks Amy's been having a good time at a club, he himself has been out enjoying himself. Amy then sends him a picture of herself donning a Statue of Liberty headpiece, holding up a birthday cake with the caption 'Happy Birthday to Me'. After putting two and two together, Ricky is overcome with guilt and regret.

The following morning, Amy tries to get hold of Ricky so she can apologise for guilt-tripping him but as her calls keep going straight to voicemail, she decides to leave a message saying that she really wants to speak to him because giving their relationship to have a chance is important to her. Amy also claims that she doesn't care what Ricky did that day, not that she was insinuating that she thought that he had done something, which shows how big this relationship is for her. She then quickly says hi to John and signs off with a 'love you', but quickly adds that it was intended for John.

Ricky finally consults Dr Fields to see if he is ready for a serious relationship, who tells him that he might not be completely ready but he is definitely on his way. Ricky is not so sure that he will be able to go without sex but his therapist suggests that he needs love and not sex in his life. The fact that Ricky is desperately searching for the answers to his questions demonstrates how much he wants him and Amy to have a fulfilling relationship. At work, Ricky is closing up when a girl named Haylie wanders in. After recognising who he is, she asks if he wants to 'have a little fun' but Ricky, saying that he isn't that guy anymore, dismisses her suggestion. Despite this, Haylie manages to persuade him by offering him the opportunity for one final hook up before Amy gets back from New York, allowing him to, quite literally, go out with a bang. That night, as Ricky is on his way to putting John to bed, Amy arrives from the airport and is overjoyed to see her family again. Ricky, on the other hand, is rather surprised and all together uncomfortable.


 * Ricky: What happened? What are you doing here?
 * Amy: It's just a few more days.
 * Amy: I thought it was more important to see you before anything happens that could keep us apart.

Ricky enquires as to why she was back a week early, which Amy puts down to the fact that she really wanted to see him before something jeopardises their relationship. Her reasoning behind her early return implies that Amy was so worried that Ricky was avoiding her calls because he was out with other girls that she rushed back home to be with him. This causes Ricky to look away sheepishly, which all but confirms Amy's initial thoughts. After the initial excitement of finally being back home and being with her family after such a long time on the programme, Amy is full of despair and worry for what lies in store for her and Ricky's potential relationship together. After Amy gets herself cleaned up and John has been put to bed, Amy finds Ricky in the kitchen making a sandwich for her after her long flight, after all, airline food is by no means a culinary masterpiece. A thankful yet confused Amy accepts the sandwich and then enquires about why Ricky was out all day. In response to her question, he claims that he was back at his apartment, tidying things up but sensing that things do not add up, Amy is full of scepticism. Ricky tells her to just come out with what she's really thinking, so she suggests that maybe he was out hooking up with other girls because he knew that Amy was gonna be back soon. Ricky reminds Amy that he only agreed not to sleep with any other girls if he wanted to sleep with her, which is something that he says he might not be interested in. Amy mentions that she wants Ricky to be her boyfriend but Ricky isn't so sure that he's ready for a serious relationship, so Amy suggests that they could date.
 * Amy: I was listening to all the other teen mothers and how their boyfriends reacted once they decided that they wanted a commitment and not just a promise to help out -
 * Ricky: Look, I'm not their boyfriends.
 * Amy: You're not even my boyfriend - I want you to be my boyfriend, but you know that.

Ricky enquires about what she meant by dating, something that is pretty alien to him. Amy explains that it would involve one of them asking the other one out to different activities like going to dinner, or to the movies or even to the circus, but stresses that it doesn't matter what they do, as long as they're together. Ricky claims that dating is just a slow way of securing the possibility of having sex with someone, something that he doesn't need to do. Amy wraps her arms around Ricky, pulling him in closer. As she asks him whether he would consider dating her if it meant that they would eventually have sex, he brushes a stray hair on Amy's chin aside. Amy thanks him to which Ricky says no problem as the two look meaningfully into each other's eyes. They then kiss and after momentarily pulling away, Amy urges Ricky to stay up with her and not go home just yet.
 * Amy: I knew that weekend in New York was too good to be true.
 * Amy: I knew you'd run from me the second either one of us showed any real feelings towards the other one.
 * Ricky: I'm right here. I'm not running.AmyandRicky.jpg

Ricky and Amy spend the rest of the night in her bed trying to get to sleep but what's keeping Amy up is the thought of Ricky being with other girls while she was away. However, when Amy tries to probing Ricky for some information on any of his recent encounters, he gets very defensive, reminding her that its not her business but Amy's persistence eventually pays off as Ricky finally caves as he decides to let her know about his run in with Haylie after all, he would've told her sooner or later. However, before he tells her, he makes Amy promise not to get upset to which she agrees as long as he tells the truth. Ricky then admits that he had the chance to get with another girl but then untruthfully adds that he ultimately turned down the sex. Amy is pleasantly surprised after hearing that he hadn't had sex with anyone since their weekend together in New York and so thanks him for what she believes to be the truth. Not satisfied with not knowing who Ricky almost hooked up with leads Amy to try and probe further but Ricky stands his ground and pleads with her to just go to sleep so annoyed Amy bids him goodnight. However at that moment, John wakes up and starts crying over the baby monitor which irritates Ricky as he would have to be the one to get up and check on him, to which Amy reminds him that she's been getting John for the past year. Amy requests that Ricky bring John into her room so that they could all be together but Ricky refuses on the basis that John is not used to sleeping with the two of them, causing Amy to mutter sarcastically under her breath that Ricky knows best.

Anne realises that Amy's back and so pops into her room to see her and ask why she's back so early to which Amy mumbles that she came back to see Ricky, even though as Anne correctly points out, she just saw him. Seeing how exhausted Amy is, Anne leaves to give her a chance to rest up and while on her way back to her room, she bumps into Ricky. Ricky asks if he could sleep on the couch which would be much more comfortable and quieter than sleeping in Amy's bed. Anne figures out that Amy came back early in an attempt to stop Ricky hooking up with any other girls and so warns them that he and Amy aren't going to work out because in spite of having John together, Amy won't be able to stop Ricky from his womanising ways and even though that he knows that Anne's not wrong, it gets under his skin.

The fact that Amy is so desperate to know all about Ricky's encounters proves how concerned she is about her and Ricky's relationship's chances of success. Although the chances of Ricky not having had sex with anyone since he got back from New York are extremely thin, Amy still wholeheartedly believes him proving how much faith she has in him. Moreover, the reason why Ricky may not have owned up being with at least 1 girl since he returned may be down to not wanting to see Amy get upset and how embarrassed and ashamed he is of his actions by letting her down.

Realising that Ricky hasn't returned to her room after having checked on John, Amy gets out of bed to go look for him and finds him sleeping on the couch and so sits down next to him and asks why he didn't come back to which Ricky explains that he didn't want to get on her parents bad side just before her left by staying in her room. Amy then, quite bluntly, demands to know who he almost had sex with so Ricky reassures her that it was someone that she doesn't know, however Amy is not quite convinced that Ricky is telling her the gospel truth resulting in her asking if that person was Adrian which finally pushes Ricky over the edge. Ricky, perhaps trying to steer the conversation away from his mistakes, accuses Amy of looking down on Adrian and questions Amy's devotion instead by suggesting that Amy is just going along with the relationship just to keep herself occupied until Ben and Adrian's relationship falls apart, something that she feels is inevitable, which is when she can choose between Ricky and Ben. Amy immediately refutes this and outlines her plans for the summer and beyond which consist of her and Ricky getting to know each other even better in order to see if they could actually be a couple, one that could eventually get married in the distant future. Ricky is still unsure as to whether or not going on dates would help them figure out what their feelings are for each other however, but Amy reiterates the fact that it's how normal couples end up in successful relationships. Amy reveals her ambition to be a teacher in the future, one that inspires girls to believe in themselves, like she now believes in herself, which further shows how close the two are and how much Amy trusts him.
 * Amy I want this summer to be our time to get to know each other and to see if there's any chance we can actually be a couple and actually get married in the distant future and be a family, the three of us.
 * Ricky: I have a difficult time believing that going to the movies, going to dinner and taking John to the circus would help us decide what our feelings are for each other and whether or not we want to be together the rest of our lives.
 * Amy: That's what people do!
 * Amy: They talk, they get to know each other, they fall in love, then they get married - I want that.
 * Amy: I believe I can be a good teacher, a good mother, and a good wife to you someday.

The following morning, Ricky takes John with him up to Amy's room and upon seeing them, a cheerful Amy wishes them both a good morning. Ricky responds by letting her know that she put him through Hell last night causing a cautious Amy to jokingly remind him to watch his language in front of his son. Ricky informs her that he's got to go back home now, despite Amy wishing he'd stay for breakfast. Amy wholeheartedly thanks Ricky for letting her go to New York and staying at her house during her absence. Ricky adds that he'll call her later to which Amy says that she's looking forward to hearing from him. Ricky comments on the unusual formality of her reply but Amy just laughs it off by saying that she wanted to sound polite. Amy queries if there's anything else he wanted to ask her before he leaves, thereupon Ricky asks her and John out on a date with him that night and of course Amy happily accepts. The two then kiss fondly and after pulling away, Amy blissfully smiles back at her romantic companion. Thus, the two teenagers start dating.
 * Amy: Is there something else you wanted? Something you wanted to ask me?
 * Ricky: Would you and John like to go out on a date with me tonight?
 * Amy: We would love to!


 * -|S3 Cont. =

Dating
When Ricky gets back to his apartment after talking to Amy, he finds Ashley there waiting for him, trying to entice him into having sex with her. Ricky desperately urges her to let the whole thing go as no matter hard she tries, nothing will happen between them, mainly because he truly wants his and Amy's relationship to work out so that they could be a real family.
 * Ricky: Your sister and I have a son together and I want to see if we can become a family
 * Ashley: And give every girl hope that if she gets pregnant, the guy will marry her?
 * Ricky: This is not about every girl or every woman or whatever, this is just about Amy and me and John.
 * Ricky: I know most of the time an unplanned pregnancy does not result in one big happy family, but couldn't it?
 * Ricky: Maybe I should just try getting to know the mother of my son, don't you think?

Back at Amy's house, Madison and Lauren try to find more about what's going on between her and Ricky, to which Amy admits she's not quite sure what's going to happen but does confirm that they will try to get to know each other even better. Despite her friends scepticism regarding her and Ricky dating, Amy is confident that it will work nonetheless.

When Amy finds out what Ashley is up to, she is visibly angry and annoyed and so marches down there herself to stop her sister from potentially ruining her and Ricky's relationship. On the way there, she bumps into Ben and after agreeing on a time to sit down and talk, he mentions that Ricky already left and is probably at Adrian's house but Amy reveals that she's fully aware of where Ricky is because he texted her which signifies how open and honest Ricky and Amy are with each other. When she confronts Ashley, Ashley confesses that she thinks that Ricky wouldn't have been as interested in being with Amy if he hadn't gotten her pregnant at band camp. Surprisingly, Amy reveals that she used to tell herself that over and over which could have been a key factor in why she didn't want to be with Ricky during her pregnancy and then during the first year of their son's life as it would not have been a healthy and sustainable relationship. This is why she is pushing for her and Ricky to date so that they can genuinely find out if they do care about each other, John or not.

Later that evening, Amy and John arrive at Ricky's apartment for their much-anticipated date and upon seeing her all dressed up, a pretty dapper Ricky is immediately mesmerised by Amy's radiant beauty. This is shown by the fact that a normally confident Ricky is stumbling over his words and repeating himself as he's talking to his girlfriend.
 * Ricky: You gonna go around looking like that all the time?
 * Amy: I don't know. I learned a few things from New York.
 * Amy: It's our first date, kind of - I wanted to look special.
 * Ricky: You are special Amy.
 * Ricky: And... and you don't wanna have another kid do you? Because I don't know if I can stay away from you if you're gonna look like that.
 * Amy: Maybe in a few months, you won't have to stay away from me.

Ricky invites her over to the dinner table and you can tell that he's really pulling out all the stops as he pulls the chair out for Amy before she takes a seat. After sitting down in his chair, he and Amy hold hands as they commence their dinner and with that their relationship.
 * Ricky: I'm happy to have you home.
 * Amy: I'm happy to be home.

Amy and Ricky spend the rest of the summer going on dates which actually turns out to be quite successful especially due to the fact that Ricky was very faithful to Amy and did not do anything that would jeopardize their relationship. On the first day back at school, Amy finds out that the previous year's guidance counsellor has since left and so requests that the new counsellor pass on a gift that Amy bought her as a thank you for getting her into the New York music program that changed her life in that it helped her realise how much she wanted to be with Ricky and helped her achieve it.

After seeing how well things have gone between them since they started dating, Amy finally agrees to have sex with Ricky, providing he get tested for anything beforehand. A frustrated Ricky desperately consults previous flings in order to find out if could be a possibility that he does have something but Amy is adamant that he get properly tested at a clinic. Considering how much of a hassle it would be, Ricky suggests that they should just forget about it and go back to the way things were but Amy insists that now would be the perfect time to take that next step in their relationship. Seeing how disconcerted the whole situation is making him, Amy reassures him that he shouldn't feel obliged to do it if he doesn't feel ready to. She also adds that it wouldn't be possible for them to go back to being friends which indicates how much she wants to be with him and admits that she foresees something better for them is possible. Amy then shoots off home, allowing Ashley the chance to clarify to Ricky that Amy was hinting at marriage which stuns an unassuming Ricky.

Accepting that it is a necessary requirement for going a step further with Amy, Ricky goes by himself to get tested. After getting back, he calls Amy and while she's relatively peeved that Ricky didn't let her go with him, she's delighted that he did that for her even though he really wasn't looking forward to it. The next morning, Amy tries to surprise Ricky by showing up to his apartment in the morning so she can be with him when he gets the test result back but as Ricky had already left, she runs into Ricky's birthmother Nora. When Amy, finally gets to school, Ricky warns her about his mother because he says that he's trying to protect her. Amy thanks him for his concern but reminds him that she can protect herself so Ricky encourages her to spend time with his adoptive mother instead. When he gets the results back, he calls Amy over and thankfully for both of them, Ricky is in the clear.

George tries to dissuade Amy from having sex with Ricky but Amy explains that they are both emotionally and physically ready and points out that Ricky has done everything that she asked him to do. George enquires if they are planning to do it that night, Amy guesses that they probably won't because they will be over at Ricky's parents house but also reminds him that it will happen sooner or later. However, in a bid to get out of seeing his mother, Ricky calls Amy, pretending to have the flu. Suspicious of his actions, Amy goes over to Ricky's apartment and demands he drop the act and come with her to his mother's place but Ricky continues with the facade and insists Amy prove otherwise. In order to catch Ricky out, Amy calls his bluff by kissing Ricky and then asking him if he wanted to do it. An unassuming Ricky accedes at which point Amy reveals that she was just saying that to prove that there's nothing wrong with him. Ricky stands his ground and urges Amy to go by herself but Amy tells him that she wants them to do it together. Eventually Ricky agrees to go and the two of them take John to meet Nora for the first time.

When Amy finds out about Ben and Adrian's engagement, she is immensely irritated and somewhat jealous, pointing out they wouldn't have gotten together in the first place if it weren't for her and Ricky. She also claims that she and Ricky should be the couple that get engaged and not them because in her opinion, she and Ricky are meant to be together unlike Ben and Adrian. After finding out about Adrian wanting Amy to be a bridesmaid and John to be a ring bearer, Ricky tries to talk some sense into Ben because it has made Amy stir-crazy about marriage while he is especially reluctant to get married at such a young age. Ben suggests Ricky just accept the fact that he has committed to being with Amy and so should just bite the bullet and get married to her now but Ricky insists that they're all too young to be getting married.

While Amy is visiting her mother in Palm Springs with Ashley and John, she instructs both Nora and George to keep Ricky company leading their parents to believe that Amy does not fully trust Ricky yet even though ever since they started dating, Ricky has been completely honest and faithful. Desperate to get back to her boyfriend, Amy tries to leave early from her mother's apartment but is forbidden from doing so as Anne guesses that she's just trying to get home quickly so she can try to convince Ricky to marry her as soon as possible. Amy calls Ricky in a bid to get him onside, but annoyed by the whole situation, Ricky tells her just to calm down.

After sticking it out in Palm Springs for the night, Amy apologises for her attitude, explaining that she doesn't like being away from Ricky on the weekends. She then asks her mother if she's doing the right thing by making Ricky wait until they have sex as she wonders if by expecting him to loyal to her, it could put unnecessary pressure on Ricky which could be avoided if they did go all the way but Anne suspects that she is just using that as an excuse to marry him. Anne points out that even Ricky could still cheat on her even if they did sleep together, however, Amy is not worried about the possibility of that happening as she is still holding out hope that Ricky will agree to getting married.

All dressed up, Amy then rushes over to Ricky's apartment and practically throws herself at him and despite Ricky's attempts to stop her, Amy does not take no for an answer as she tries desperately to get Ricky to have sex with her. She tells him that she loves him and because he loves her, she's gonna take him to the bedroom, where she will be wearing some French lingerie she bought in New York, so they can finally do it. However, they are interrupted by George who shoots her a disapproving look and then leaves, appalled by his daughter's exploits. Ricky recommends that they wait a bit longer before doing it which Amy reluctantly accepts but his words don't seem to have changed her mind on the idea of them getting married as she proposes to him right there and then. Ricky, who is taken aback by surprise, responds to Amy's unexpected proposal by telling her that he'll think about it. An optimistic Amy chooses to adopt a glass half-full approach and sees Ricky's indecision as him not exactly rejecting the idea of them getting married and so tries to make Ricky feel fully in control of the decision in the hope that he eventually says yes. However, Ricky is still adamant that making a life-time commitment at such a young age is a bad idea, even though he says he really cares about Amy.

When Amy goes over to Ricky's place to drop John off, she brings him some spaghetti with meat sauce for dinner, his favourite. She then apologises for her actions and formally withdraws her proposal after deciding that she wants to move in with Ricky before getting married which is fortunate as Ricky reveals that he wouldn't mind living with Amy as long as they don't have to get married beforehand.
 * Ricky: Amy, I'd be okay with that- with you and me living together, I'm just not okay with getting married.
 * Amy: I mean, if you don't wanna get married now, you're probably never gonna wanna get married.
 * Amy: I'm fine with that, I just wanna be with you.

In spite of her father's and sister's disapproval, Amy is determined to move in with Ricky as she wants her, John and Ricky to be a family. George points out that Ricky is only doing this because he felt pressured to marry her but Amy insists that Ricky wants her to move in just as much as she does. George also warns her that Ricky will end up breaking her heart by cheating on her but Amy surprises her dad by declaring that she doesn't believe that Ricky will cheat on her because in Amy, Ricky has finally found someone that loves him. Amy also mentions that she has completely gotten over and is almost grateful for what happened at band camp which signifies how far her relationship with Ricky has come over the past two years.
 * George: You're too young to be moving out of the house and you're way, way too young to be moving in with a guy.
 * Amy: It's not just me moving in with a guy, it's my son John and me moving in with his father and my boyfriend.
 * Amy: I love Ricky, I wanna be with him.

As Ricky is talking to Leo about Amy moving in, he admits that he is mainly doing this in order to get out of marrying her. He then clarifies that although he would want to tie the knot with Amy in the future, he is just not ready to take that step with her just now. Even though he may not have overtly expressed his love for her, Amy is still confident that he feels the same way about her that she feels about him which she puts down to the fact that Ricky maybe afraid to get that close to her because she is the first girl he's ever loved and trusted. Amy begins to get cold feet as she wonders if she and Ricky may not be sexually compatible as her only previous experience was pretty terrible and while Ricky has had many more subsequent encounters, she has had none and so she fears that she will be awful at it. This leads to both Ricky and Amy having suspicions that the other would prefer to back out which further adds to their apprehension. Ricky admits to Ben that he has indeed changed his mind about moving in and decides to be honest and tell Amy about his change of heart.
 * Leo: And do you love Amy?
 * Ricky: I... Yeah, I guess I kind of love Amy.
 * Leo: You guess?
 * Ricky: I've never said that to her. I don't wanna say that to her, I don't think I'm ready to say that to her.

Amy overhears Ashley and her friend Griffin talk about Ricky's fling with Haylie last summer which helps her to realise that Ricky wasn't completely honest with her and all but confirms to her that the two aren't quite ready to move in together just yet so she suggests to Ricky that she builds up to moving in with him over time by staying over here and there until they are completely comfortable living with each other. Just before Amy leaves, Ricky tells her that he loves her for the first time and after seeing how sincere he is, a delighted Amy proclaims her love for him back and the two share an affectionate kiss.
 * Ricky: I love you, Amy.
 * Amy: Really?
 * Amy: Or are you just relieved that I change my mind, you're off the hook?
 * Ricky: No, really. I love you.
 * Amy: I love you too, Ricky.

While Amy has her hands full with John at home, Ricky points out that had she moved in the week before, he would have been able to assist with everything but Amy insists that she wasn't up for it then. Ricky tries to push Amy to stay over the coming weekend so Amy suggests that her staying over at his apartment should be more of a spontaneous event and not a planned schedule as it could potentially make her nervous and reluctant to stay over. Amy notifies him that she's home alone with John so Ricky offers to come over to her house instead but Amy doesn't want to take any chances when George and Ashley get back. Ricky switches tactics and uses reverse psychology by warning Amy that something might happen should he not get his way but Amy correctly calls his bluff as she knows that she can count on him to be faithful to her. Ricky insists that because they love each other, they are already ready to go all the way but Amy maintains that she doesn't want just a physical relationship.

An impatient Ricky tries to take his mind off things by going to a golf driving range and hitting some balls and upon finding Jack there, he tries to get some advice on how he can hold out on abstinence until Amy is ready. At school, Ricky tries to give Amy a hand with her things and tells her that he missed her last night and the two start making out in the hallway but Amy doesn't mind as she tells him that likes kissing him a lot. Ricky then sensually whispers in her ear that he wants to sleep with her. He tries persuading her to come over and bring John over so they could be together as a family but Amy sticks to her guns and insists that she would only be comfortable if she has control over when they do want to have sex.

Later that day, a frustrated Ricky gives Amy one last chance to come over but, although Amy appreciates the fact that he really wants to sleep with her, she once again declines it. This leads Ricky to come over to her house as he tries to get Amy to change her mind. Despite the fact they both admit that they want to move in together, Amy still believes that they should be in no rush to take that step in their relationship. Ricky asks her if she plans to be this stubborn about sex when they eventually do move in but Amy explains that she just wants him to respect when she says no as much as when she says yes. Realising that he is back to square one, Ricky storms off but Amy still feels that he should be more considerate. Adrian urges Amy not to make Ricky wait too long otherwise she could lose him but Amy makes her confidence and trust in Ricky known to Adrian and maintains that Ricky can be made to wait a bit longer should she want. While Ricky is sulking in his apartment, Karlee drops by but even though he is still angry at Amy, he ignores Karlee and instead goes out with Amy on a date to the driving range. This shows how far he has come as despite feeling frustrated about his relationship with Amy, he remained unwavering in his commitment to her, something he wouldn't have done for anyone else, demonstrating how much she means to him.

Amy is embarrassed and upset when Adrian rounds up as many girls that slept with Ricky as she could in what she believes is an attempt to disrupt her and Ricky's relationship so she goes to Ricky to complain to him and admits that she's worried that Adrian still wants Ricky but he reassures Amy that he only cares about her. Amy asks if he loves her but he cannot bring himself to say it in public as it is too personal. Despite Amy's pleas, Ricky chooses to stay out of the drama but confronts Ben about Adrian making Amy upset and tells him to tell his fiancé to be a little nicer to Amy. Ben uses Ricky's unwillingness to get involved and take Amy's side as a sign that Ricky is still in love with Adrian but Ricky strongly denies ever having loved his ex. Ben marches over to Amy's house and accuses Ricky of faking his love for her and Amy of only wanting to be with Ricky in order to justify having a kid with him at 15 which upsets Amy even more. While Amy knows that Ricky does indeed love her and has completely moved on from all the other girls, she completely rejects the latter, explaining that she was interested in him the first time they were together and after a period of hating him for what happened, she forgave him and then eventually fell in love with him.
 * Ashley: Are you still feeling badly from seeing all of Ricky's lovers?
 * Amy: Old lovers.
 * Ashley: You hope they're old lovers.
 * Amy: I know they're old lovers and I know they don't mean anything to him.
 * Ashley: Just like Ben doesn't mean anything to you, so why should you care what he said?
 * Amy: He practically accused me of pretending to be in love with Ricky just so I could justify having slept with him in the first place.
 * Ashley: Uh-huh. And?
 * Amy: And that's not true - I was attracted to Ricky at band camp and then I hated Ricky for what happened at band camp and then I fell in love with Ricky.
 * Amy: I love him.

Fed up with everyone for making it such a big deal, Ricky reveals that he is embarrassed that Amy sees all the other girls as competition because he is ashamed that he's hurt those girls. After finding out what Ben said to Amy and how Leo claimed that Amy ruined Ben's life, Ricky he is immediately enraged and rushes down to Leo's head office to confront Mr. Boykewich about his hurtful comments towards 'someone he cares about' but doesn't manage to get a hold of him. When Amy finds out about this, she is amazed and extremely appreciative of Ricky rushing to defend her despite not wanting to get involved and so heads straight to Ricky's apartment to apologise to him face-to-face for being insensitive and inconsiderate and lets him know that if he does want to talk about his troubled childhood at some point, she is there for him but while he is grateful for Amy supporting him, Ricky suggests he talk to his shrink first, for fear of getting their relationship entangled into his personal problems which Amy completely understands. Feeling relieved that it has all been resolved, Amy and Ricky hug each other affectionately and apologise to each other a final time.

Ricky has grown tired of waiting for Amy to decide when she's ready and so urges her to come over the coming weekend but Amy, irritated at Ricky's persistent pressurising, stands her ground and asks him not to twist her arm. Ricky responds by trying to calm her down by kissing her and urges her not to make such a big deal about it. Amy reveals that she feels uneasy about their first time being on the same weekend as Ben and Adrian's wedding so Ricky reminds her that it would be the second time and that they agreed to not pay attention to what Adrian and Ben are doing. When Katelyn advises him to try to be more romantic with Amy, Ricky insists he has already tried that approach by taking her to the golf course and giving her a golf lesson.

Amy is delighted and proud of Ricky after hearing that he was chosen for an interview with a reputable college despite it being quite far away. Amy is so supportive of Ricky's academic aspirations that she tells him that even though she would love for them to live together in his apartment for years to come, she would be totally on board with Ricky living on campus if that decision had to be made. Ricky, on the other hand, is still unsure about whether or not he should or even wants to go to college but assures her that he really wants to see her and John after the interview regardless.

Ricky reveals to Amy that he got a text from Adrian telling him that she was getting cold feet wanted to talk but out of respect for Amy, he ignored it and just to be safe, invited his mother and her girlfriend over so he wouldn't be home alone should Adrian have dropped by. That night, Ricky comes over for a date, bouquet of roses in hand and when Amy greets him at the front door, the two teens kiss each other passionately.

Amy overhears the teachers making remarks about pregnant girls getting married and so reiterates to Katelyn that she didn't really know Ricky when they got pregnant but is choosing to be with him now that he knows him a lot better. She then has a little dig at Ben and Adrian by saying that she didn't want to marry Ricky or for him to be her boyfriend when she was pregnant with John. The fact that she said 'when we got pregnant' as opposed to 'when I got pregnant' signifies how close she is with Ricky and how she feels like they are a team. Katelyn asks if the fact that Ben and Adrian are while she and Ricky aren't is bothering her but Amy points out that Ricky may never want to get married and whether she wants to or not is irrelevant. She also adds that the likelihood of them getting married is probably over thanks to Ricky's college interview going really well.

Lauren suggests Amy and Madison prepare for the worst when they next sleep with their respective partners but Amy insists that she has already prepared for the possibility that it may not go as great as they hoped it would but points out that she, unlike Madison, does not want to break up with Ricky because she loves him. Amy angrily confronts Ricky about lending the apartment to Jack and Madison without notifying her but Ricky says that Jack just asked for some privacy and figured that the loquacious Madison would've let her know. Tired of Ricky's attitude, Amy takes a stand and orders him to replace his bed but Ricky dismisses Amy's ultimatum as ludicrous and sarcastically asks Amy if she wants him to replace the rest of the furniture as well and then storms off.

Ricky complains to Nora about Amy, calling her a big baby for continually complaining and making excuses so Nora suggests that maybe she is fearing down that Ricky's going to be going off to college soon and will leave her and makes him realise that she is feeling quite insecure about where their relationship is going and so urges Ricky to just bite the bullet and comply with what Amy wants, which would show her that he really does care about her and isn't just concerned about having sex with her.
 * Ricky: She's got excuse after excuse after excuse and I'm tired of it.
 * Ricky: I'm tired of her, she's a big baby.
 * Nora: All I know is that girl loves you, she really, really loves you.
 * Nora: Well, maybe she just doesn't want her special night with you to be in that nasty old bed up there.
 * Ricky: You know, I'm practically begging her at this point.
 * Nora: Maybe it was getting into college, maybe that's it, you know?
 * Ricky: I'm not leaving her, I'm not leaving anyone - I'm gonna try to get into some other schools and if I don't, she can come with me.
 * Ricky: I just wanna be with Amy and John.

Ricky heads over to Amy's house to apologise and finds her in her room fresh out the shower, doing her homework. Initially startled by Ricky's sudden appearance, Amy is embarrassed that Ricky has to see her with a facemask on, claiming that she looks ridiculous. While Amy is pleased to see Ricky going off to college, she reveals that she feels like he is pushing to go to colleges far away from her and John because he has grown tired of their relationship but Ricky insists that he is not trying to leave her and would only choose a college that's miles away if she wanted to go with him.

He then invites her to go for a drive to the beach the following day, where they could stay at a nice hotel. Ricky proposes that they could just spend the night together so Amy suggests that instead, they finally do what they've wanted to do for the past few months but Ricky first makes it clear that he doesn't want to push her into doing anything if she feels uncomfortable. He adds that it would be great if they could be alone together in some neutral territory where they could just think about themselves in a pressure-free environment. Ricky and Amy then share a passionate kiss and after pulling away, Ricky tells her that he just wants to spend some time alone with her and the two kiss lovingly again. Ricky then announces that he will be granting Amy her request and will indeed getting a new bed for his apartment which Amy is beyond delighted to hear so she strokes his face affectionately. The fact that he gave in and just bought a new bed symbolises how he is letting go of his past flames and choosing to start afresh with Amy.

The next morning, Amy is on cloud nine as she dances away, looking forward to her date with Ricky that night. When she gets to school, Ricky greets her with a 'Hey gorgeous'. Amy admits that she was up all night thinking about what she should wear for their date so Ricky gets her in the mood by telling her that it doesn't matter what she does, or indeed doesn't, war and then leans in for a quick kiss. Amy wraps her arms around Ricky and adoringly tells him that she really likes him, to which Ricky is quick to point out that he thought she loved him, so Amy jokingly mentions his own reluctance to show real affection in public. Ricky and Amy both agree that people get into their personal business way too much as Amy remarks that she prefers when they are alone and detached from everyone else, like when they were together in New York which leads Ricky to confess that he wouldn't mind living together in New York. After laughing about Jack and Madison, Amy asks if it seems like they do belong together. Ricky jocularly protests that its too personal for school so Amy questions if it really was too intimate, before Ricky admits that it wasn't which pleases her greatly.

When a customer mistakes him for Ben, Ricky explains him that he isn't the one that's getting married although he acknowledges that he probably will get married to Amy at some point. The fact that he is slowly warming to the idea of marriage shows how far he's come and how well things are going with Amy. Ricky has been so distracted from work from thinking about their date, Bunny lets him get off early so he can spend more time with Amy, much to Ricky's delight.
 * Bunny: I hope you know what you're doing.
 * Ricky: I don't know what I'm doing.
 * Ricky: I just know that I love that girl.
 * Bunny And she loves you.

Amy is thankful of Nora's showers of compliments and her gratitude towards her for being such a great influence on Ricky. She then mentions how much Amy means to him, so much so that she claims that it would not be any different had they not had John together and even though Amy is not quite sure that would be the case, Nora insists that Amy will come to realise it once John is all grown up.
 * Nora: You're a genius, that's why he loves you.
 * Nora: I mean, you're beautiful, but you're a genius.
 * Amy: And I'm the mother of his son.
 * Nora: He'd love you whether or not John was ever part of the picture.
 * Amy: Yeah, well, that's one thing that I'll never know.
 * Nora: No honey, you'll know.
 * Nora: When John's 18 and out of the house and you and Ricky are planning another one of your romantic road trips, you'll know.
 * Nora: Amy Juergens, you're the best thing that ever happened to him.

A while later, Ricky and Amy still haven't left and are in an intense make-out session. Ricky suggests they leave but Amy is perfectly content making out at Ricky's place and isn't as eager to get on the road. Ricky asks if she's nervous and reiterates that they're not planning and doing anything anyway but Amy tells him that she's excited. Ricky jokes that she doesn't need to be nervous because he's a very safe driver, which gets a chuckle out of Amy. Ricky helps Amy up off the couch as Amy wraps her arms around him as she goes in for another passionate and deep kiss. Midway through their canoodling, they both get a text notifying them that Adrian's having the baby and are both overjoyed by the news.

Ricky and Amy make their way to the hospital holding hands as they reach the ward and after hearing the tragic news of the stillbirth, a distraught Amy folds into Ricky's arms as Ricky holds on to her. Before leaving, Ricky kisses Amy on the cheek and the two warmly embrace each other in tears. After getting home to his apartment, Ricky and Amy head straight for bed. Wanting to be respectful, Ricky hesitates as he's about to take his clothes off and so lies right next to a teary Amy and holds her tightly as she cries. Amy then whispers that she wants him, which initially takes Ricky by surprise but Amy is insistent and goes in to kiss him and they end up having sex for the first time in their relationship.


 * -|S4 =

Moving In
Ricky and Amy's relationship goes from strength to strength in the weeks that follow their romantic encounter. One morning before school, Amy is packing up her things after spending the night over at Ricky's place despite Ricky's desperate attempts to get Amy to continue their love-making. Amy remarks about how much time she has spent over at Ricky's the past couple of months so Ricky explains that its down to the fact that both she and John like sleeping over causing Amy to correct him, saying that she doesn't just like staying over, she loves it. She mentions that it can make mornings a little crazy during the week and Ricky, with a cheeky smile, adds that it makes the nights crazy too.

Ricky suggests that since she practically spends all her time with Ricky, Amy should just move in. Amy admits that the thought of them living together as a family feels quite surreal but is hesitant at first as she feels like it would be insensitive considering Adrian's and Ben's recent trauma but Ricky insists that whatever happens, happens and reiterates how happy he is that things are going great between them. He adds that moving in now instead of just waiting until the summer, feels like the right them for them to do if they want to grow closer as a family. This convinces an exuberant Amy, however she is not sure that her parents would be too fond of the idea of her moving out to go live with her boyfriend but Ricky points out that he's not just Amy's boyfriend which leads Amy to indicate that while Ricky may be a little more than her boyfriend, he is also little less than her husband.
 * Ricky: The three of us, we're a family.
 * Amy: Yeah, we are a family, aren't we?
 * Ricky: Yeah, we are Amy.
 * Ricky: I'm not going to let anyone change that, and I'm not going to do anything that would jeopardize that.

Before Amy leaves, she declares that she will see Ricky later that night and indeed every night as the two teens, now cohabitants, kiss meaningfully.

When Ashley questions why Amy and Ricky have been getting together while Ben and Adrian are in mourning, Amy is extremely adamant that such devastating events have made her realise how much she loves Ricky and maintains that they're together because they love each other and want to be with each other. Amy also insists that she does not need to keep Ricky away from Adrian as she trusts that he would not do anything to compromise their promising relationship.

Later at school, Ricky comes over to Amy in the hallway and the two share a quick kiss. Amy is excited about the move and offers to fix up some dinner which makes Ricky laugh as he tells her to just bring their son home instead. As Amy leaves, she looks back towards Ricky and waves at him as Ricky smiles back. Upon seeing a mournful Ben ahead, a curious Ricky looks over from afar but when Ben and Amy's conversation culminates into a awkward hug, Ricky immediately jumps in and puts his arm around Amy as he tries to get Ben to back off. Amy then leans in towards Ricky to whisper that everyone's looking at them which Ricky has noticed as well. Ricky then kisses Amy quickly on the forehead and tells her that he'll see her at home.

John Juergens Underwood
John Juergens Underwood (born February 6, 2009) is the son of Ricky Underwood and Amy Underwood (née Juergens). He was conceived after a one night stand at band camp in the summer of 2008. After contemplating whether or not to give him up for adoption, Amy ultimately decided to take responsibility as his mother and raise him, with help from Ricky of course. John loves playing with his toys and is also quite shy around other people. In addition to this, he has been learning how to play the drums from his father.

Even though John lived with Amy until he was nearly two years old, Ricky would always visit and spend time with him. As his parents' relationship grew, John, along with his mother, moved into Ricky's apartment above the butcher shop and was immediately given the master bedroom. On weekdays, John attended the church nursery that his mother worked at while his parents were busy juggling school and work. After Amy went to study at Hudson University in New York, Ricky and John moved to Brooklyn Heights in order to keep the family together. John attended the neighbourhood kindergarten and continued at the elementary school there.

Songs

 * Girlfriend | Avril Lavigne
 * Stand By Me | Ben E. King
 * Melt Into You | Sara Haze
 * Just the Way You Are | Bruno Mars
 * Is This Love | Bob Marley and the Wailers
 * 'Til Ya Make It | Jamie Lynn Noon
 * Find a Way | Tyler Blackburn
 * New Day | Kirsten Price
 * Marry You | Bruno Mars
 * Blurry | Puddle of Mudd

Fanon
Ramy is the most popular and most beloved ship in The Secret Life of the American Teenager fandom. The relationship between the two was actually the longest official relationship on the show involving a main character, spanning a mammoth 62 episodes, and was a massive contributor to the show's unprecedented success.

The chemistry between Ricky and Amy is unrivalled, which has lead many to believe that the two character's corresponding actors, Daren Kagasoff and Shailene Woodley, were romantically linked in real life. Even during the early season of the show, their "Will-They-Won’t-They" relationship gained a lot of support from shippers as the little moments between the two teenagers led many to anticipate that Amy and Ricky would eventually get together at some point in the future especially considering how their own respective relationships with other people never seemed to ever work out.

What resonates with a lot of the Ramy fans is the fact that the two were always there for each other and supporting each other through the hardships and challenges they faced as teenage parents. A key example of this is how Amy always believed in Ricky as he strived to be a supportive boyfriend to Amy despite everyone around them putting him down and writing him off. What also strengthened the popularity of this ship was the fact that Ricky's motivation to become a better person and to break free from his dark past was Amy as he changed his whole life around and stayed committed to her which he had not done for anyone else.

During Amy's pregnancy and then through the first years of John's life when they were could never seem to see eye to eye and were at each other's throats a number of times, their mutual love of their son always brought them back to good terms and meant that they could always trust each other which a lot of fans saw as a unique and long lasting bond that would ultimately culminate in the two growing ever so close that they become a couple.

Ramy is rivalled by a number of notable smaller ships such as Bendrian, Bamy and Radrian. However, these particular ships are not as popular as they did not last too long and they were also not as complete and comprehensive as Ricky and Amy’s relationship.

A big reason as to why the final season of the show was received so poorly was the fact that Ricky and Amy were repeatedly and quite needlessly tested just as a cheap way for the writers to create some drama which is why the show's finale has been hugely criticised as the couple end up breaking up, something many fans feared would happen. This highlighted the need for a sixth season for many fans as they wanted to see Ricky and Amy get the ending they deserve. Thankfully, fans received some much needed closure after the series creator Brenda Hampton clarified that Amy and Ricky do get back together after the events of the show, however the consensus among Ramy shippers is that it would have been even more special if there was another season for the fans to witness and celebrate it.

Behind the Scenes
"I think deep down he [Ricky] wants to be with her [Amy] and he wants to try to make this work, but the stage he’s at in his life right now, it’s just not going to happen. And I think his main focus right now is just trying to be the best dad he can to the kid, regardless of if his relationship with Amy works out"

- Daren Kagasoff

"They’re always going to have that secret connection of family. They’re their own family now. Each episode, Ricky I think is the only person Amy can one hundred percent feel like she can tell him anything and know that a rumour won’t get started. She knows her secrets are safe with him and vice versa"

- Shailene Woodley

"In the beginning, when Secret Life first started Ricky was just a high school kid that didn’t really take any responsibility for his actions, and was just was kind of floating through life. And ever since he had John with Amy things changed drastically, and I think he made the most positive decisions in his life to put his son first and his girlfriend first priority. He was a bad boy, he will always have that toughness about him, but he was sensitive guy that always wanted to do the right things and he really was looking out for Amy and her best interests and John’s best interest"

- Daren Kagasoff

"There's a lot of ups and downs and trials and tribulations and I know personally with my character, Amy and Ricky's relationship gets really close and then they'll go over a bump and then they'll have to come closer again"

- Shailene Woodley

"I think everybody wants to see Ricky and Amy together raise John and just be their happy little family, but there are a lot of struggles with Ricky going off to college and Amy still in high school that they need to deal with. Hopefully they get through that and are mature enough to really take that next step of marriage"

- Daren Kagasoff

"Yeah Amy and Ricky, I mean they had a son together three years ago - that's a pretty big deal. Now they're living together and they eloped and I think that's a huge decision for any two individuals to make, let alone two teenagers, so their relationship is going to continue to grow. I think there could be some rockiness in their future just because they are so young and they haven't quite figured themselves out, so I think sometimes they're gonna have a little bit of a competitive relationship, but all in all they're good"

- Shailene Woodley

"I think Amy’s pretty into Ricky. I think Ben might still be into Amy, but I think she’s pretty in love with her little triad of a family"

- Shailene Woodley

"Team Ricky, all the way. I mean, I just feel like he came around. He discovered perhaps that he wasn't the most supportive father in the beginning but recognised his mistakes and I'm all about forgiveness and I'd like to think that if I were in Amy's shoes, I would find forgiveness in order to create a happy little family for my child"

- Shailene Woodley

Fandom
FAN FICTION


 * Ricky and Amy tag on FanFiction
 * Ricky and Amy tag on FanFiction

TUMBLR



Trivia

 * Ricky was Amy's first kiss and the person she lost her virginity to.
 * Ricky used to pop round Amy's house almost everyday for the first year of John's life, even staying the night on multiple occasions.
 * On their first date at band camp, Ricky says 'You're special Amy'. Similarly, two years later, on their first date as a couple, Ricky reiterates this by telling her 'You are special Amy'.
 * The second time Ricky and Amy have sex was more than two and a half years after the first time.
 * Out of the three girls that have been Ricky's girlfriend at one point in time, Amy is the only one that Ricky didn't cheat on.
 * Every Friday night, Amy and Ricky have Ricky's favorite dish which is spaghetti with meat sauce.