Glad You Could Make It - Ricky and Nini Oneshots

Same Boat

Same Boat 

AN: Unless explicitly stated, this story takes place in the month of March. Also, if any of y'all fact check my math, I will cry. It literally took me so long to try and get it right.

Nini Salazar-Roberts used to have a bucket list.

She started it in the 3rd grade, it was written on her mom's light blue stationary she stole from her desk drawer, but she hasn't touched it since she got here.

It had random things like "try boba tea" and "run a 5k" along with more ambitious goals such as "see the northern lights" and "experience snowfall at midnight."

Some she'd been able to accomplish like going skinny dipping and pulling an all-nighter, but she'd now buried her list deep into the depths of her desk drawer.

All the things she'd been able to check off, she'd done with him. He'd given her the idea to make the list, he was the one who encouraged her to go for her dreams, he gave her the courage to do all that she'd done on the list. He used to be right there by her side for everything, but now she was on her own.

She tried to convince herself that it wasn't her fault. They went separate ways. They decided it was for the best. He told her that it was okay.

She still thought of him every day since she'd left him. He had stayed, and she'd left. Nini always questioned what would've happened if she'd stayed with him, but he told her that she needed to go. He told her to go for her dreams.

Nini Salazar-Roberts used to have a bucket list.

The last time she looked at it, all she could think of was the boy she'd left behind in Salt Lake City when she moved to California. So she shoved it into her desk drawer, covering it with notes and books, praying that the light blue wouldn't shine through.

There was still so much she'd yet to do, but she couldn't bring herself to continue on her quest. She wished she could keep checking things off her list, but it felt unfair to do without him.

Nini told herself that she didn't want to go see the northern lights because she'd have to book the next flight and buy a jacket. It was too expensive, she told herself. She didn't have time to leave her life in California for a silly trip to Iceland, or Greenland, or even Alaska. She knew the real reason was because he wasn't here with her.

Nini Salazar-Roberts used to have a bucket list.

The last thing she'd checked off was 8 months before she left. Before she even knew she was leaving. Before she left him standing in the cold outside her childhood home. She remembered the way the snowflakes had fallen slowly, landing softly in his hair as she felt her tears turn to ice when she let him go.

Nini wasn't sure how long she could tell herself that it was for the better. The truth was that she missed him. She wanted to reach out to him. She wanted to return to him and re-find the magic. Maybe they could work it out. Maybe if she'd stayed, things would be different. He'd told her it was okay that she was leaving. She pretended like she couldn't see the pain in his eyes as she said goodbye.

She wondered if he felt the same. If he missed her as much as she missed him. If she was on his mind as much as he was on hers. She wasn't sure if she'd ever have a chance to tell him that she thinks about him every single day.

Nini Salazar-Roberts used to have a bucket list.

The list was long with random goals that Nini wanted to accomplish. The last thing she checked off the list was 8 months before she left.

Tell Ricky Bowen that you love him

*****

10 years ago...