Memories of You {Ender Inciarte}

Chapter One

I'm so excited to finally publish this story! I've been working on it for a bit now and I'm finally at a point where I feel it is ready to be posted! I also feel that Ender Inciarte is severely underappreciated. He is such a fun character to write so overall, this is a win-win! Hope you enjoy!

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Aspen Maynard crawled onto the couch of her small suburban Atlanta apartment and sighed. The hot water from her shower had done wonders for her aching body, but she still felt completely worn out. Working as an trauma nurse left her drained, physically, but mostly mentally. Some days, she and her coworkers were lucky and weren't faced with life-or-death emergencies, but today had not been one of those fortunate days.

An elderly man had come in complaining of chest pains and had collapsed in the waiting area while filling out paperwork. Aspen had taken the lead in this particular situation, beginning to perform CPR. At one point, the man's heart had stopped beating, but they had been able to revive him with the defibrillator. They were able to get the man's condition stable and he was in the hospital recovering, but Aspen was somewhat shaken up.

Aspen knew she was supposed to be unemotional in her career. Being scared in the moment could cloud her judgement and lead to mistakes, but she was in her element under the pressure. She loved the intensity of her job, it wasn't until after she got home when Aspen realized that she had had someone's life in her hands, and that brought her tremendous fear.

Temples aching, Aspen laid back on the couch and let her eyes slip closed. She was dozing off when a loud knock on the door startled her.

Glancing at the clock and seeing it was almost ten o'clock at night, Aspen quietly crept over to the door and looked through the peephole. She sighed in relief at the sight of her best friend, Briella.

She unlocked the door and glared at Briella, "What are you doing showing up so late and not even sending me a text to let me know? You scared me half to death!" Aspen scolded Briella and made her way back to the couch.

Briella entered into the apartment and shut the door behind her, "I'm really sorry, Aspen. I just...I have something I wanted to tell you in person and I just couldn't wait till tomorrow." She sheepishly smiled.

"Mmhmm?" Aspen murmured, her eyes shut again as she laid.

The couch moved a bit as Briella sat on the end opposite of Aspen, "Would you mind sitting up? This is really important."

Aspen sighed, "Bri, I had a stressful day at work and-"

"Dansby proposed." Briella cut her off mid-sentence, blurting out the words she had been trying to say.

Aspen sat up, her mind was completely cleared of any of the stress she had previously been feeling, "Oh my gosh, for real?"

The diamond ring placed on Briella's left ring finger answered her question and erased any doubt from Aspen's mind. The ring was simple, but beautiful and perfect in every way, just like Briella. Aspen smiled at how perfectly fitting the ring was.

The smile lingered on her face when she realized that this meant Briella and Dansby would be getting married. Dansby was a baseball player for the local team, the Atlanta Braves, and he and Briella had met when they had attended Vanderbilt University together. They had been together since their sophomore year of college. It was hard on Briella and their relationship when Dansby was floating around the Arizona minors, but by some twist of fate, he had gotten traded back to their hometown team and their relationship was stronger than ever.

"Bri..." Aspen whispered softly, "I'm so happy for you."

Briella's smile lit up her whole face and Aspen could tell she was in complete bliss. "I mean, I knew from the moment I first saw him that we would end up married some day, but the feeling is so much different than I ever imagined it would be." Briella sighed.

The pair talked for hours, reminiscing over the past and discussing the future, mostly Briella's future now that she was the soon-to-be Mrs. Dansby Swanson.

"Aspen," Briella began, "We've been best friends since middle school. You know me better than anyone else I know, even myself. I couldn't imagine anyone else by my side throughout this whole process, and my wedding day. Will you be my maid of honor?"

Aspen smiled. She had known Briella would ask her, after all, they had pinkie sworn as 13-year-olds that they would be each other's maids of honor. "Of course, Bri! Nothing would make me happier!"

They talked a while longer, before they both started to feel sleepiness sinking in. They said their goodbye's and Briella headed home.

After Briella left, Aspen saw the time was past one o'clock in the morning and the exhaustion of the day hit her like a ton of bricks. She shut off all the lights and climbed into her bed, snuggling under the covers.

As she did every night, her mind went over a highlight reel of the day, but mostly, she couldn't stop thinking about Briella.

Of course, she was overjoyed for her best friend. They had known each other since middle school and Aspen knew no one deserved this happiness more than Briella, who had always given of herself to be there for everyone else. However, Aspen couldn't help but feel a pang of envy, followed by guilt once she realized what she was thinking.

Aspen craved Briella's innocence. While she would never wish it upon anyone, Briella hadn't been hurt in the same way that Aspen had. Briella was able to love and trust people, without fear of them stabbing her in the back.

Aspen scolded herself. She was not going to think of herself during her best friend's engagement and wedding. Dansby and Briella were perfect for each other and Aspen was so excited for the future that the two of them would have together. Whether she would have her own chance at happiness like theirs was a different story.

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