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One.
Maddox Park has loved Nini just about as long as she can remember. But the first time she could ever remember truly thinking about it, even for a moment. It was always looming, this feeling that at the time she could only describe as warm and fuzzy. At the time, she had just gotten back in her bunk after another year of the worlds Scariest Story ™ about Susan Fine, who she was sure was going to give her that same annual nightmare where she would be chased down in the woods at night and killed brutally with nothing more than Twizzlers. Now that she’s thirteen (an official teenager- and she won’t let anyone forget it) it was way too childish of her to still be afraid, while adults she would tell this to called it “cute”. As if .
That’s why she was currently pacing outside, in the dead of night, in the woods. And okay, maybe this wasn’t the smartest plan considering she’s wandering the very thing she’s scared of. And just maybe, she heard some scary noises coming from the other side of camp that sounded vaguely like a woman whistling. And maybe, she’s wandered so far she isn’t exactly sure where she is.
Okay so forget the maybes: she was completely lost and desperately wishing that she had never wandered away from the other campers during Newbie Initiation Night.
She’s been in the same block of woods, with no end in sight. She’s sure she’s either been:
- Going In Circles
- Is lost and will die of either thirst, some random bear, or Susan Fine via twizzlers as the murder weapon
- Or maybe the worst possibility, no one notices she’s gone till it’s too late and she walks all the way home
So it’s safe to say, that at this exact point at thirteen, that she is scared, a little cold, and completely distraught. Her salty tears graced her face silently as she slumped to the floor in defeat. Maddie tried stopping the tears but for some reason it made it worse and she began blubbering. She scrunched herself into a little ball on the forest floor and sobbed uncontrollably into her knees. Everything felt hopeless and well past repair.
In a flair of dramatics she begins saying her goodbyes to the world, completely sure that if she didn’t find her way back after an hour and no one found her, that she was a goner. So she drafted up a list of things she has always wanted to do, that she never got the chance to yet at this point in her short life.
She’s always had this absolutely silly dream that she could be more than just a behind the scenes person. Maddies always wanted to host the world's most elaborate prank with Jet, and maybe travel the world with him. She’s always found herself a little overprotective over him but she’s sure that one day it’ll happen. She lists the things she wants to do with each and every person and saves the one that will hurt the worst to think of for last.
After about thirty minutes she finally reaches what she’d wanted to do with Nini, her bestest friend in the whole wide world. Without so much as thinking she comes up with a few solid options. She would want to go skydiving with her but quickly rules it out because of Nini’s fear of heights (which makes no sense because she sleeps on the top bunk) Maddox also thinks about going to Paris with her, maybe even backpack across Europe. But it doesn’t feel right for the thing she’d want to do most with her. She racks her brain for possibilities when her mind pops out the craziest thought, that she wants to marry her.
It wasn’t insane when she first looked at it, plausible even. Maddie recently had a crush on an older girl at camp named Val, so objectively she could like Nini like that. And she is really pretty. Plus her hands are really soft. But then she hears herself, she can’t like -like Nini like that, right? Even in this fictional universe where she lives beyond this point in the woods.
But Nini doesn’t like her like that , right?
They were perfectly platonic friends. Besides, all Nini has ever talked about was which boy she liked. Nini couldn’t like her. But for some reason that thought only makes Maddie sob even more. The mere thought that Nini doesn’t like her twists and pokes and prods at every feeling she has stored up, and she’s sure she looks absolutely insane. That whoever finds her dead body in these cold woods in ten years will see her tear-stained and miserable.
She hates that she mourns the fuzzy feeling in her chest as it’s replaced by the queasiest stomach known to man. But the horrible feeling is quickly replaced by fear again as she hears leaves crunching in the distance and a faint humming sound. Her sobbing stops in a halt and she wipes the snot from running down her face. Maddie grabs a stick from nearby and slowly stands up, wielding it like a sword.
That’s when the vague shadowy figure gets closer and closer and the words become a little clearer. She decipher it as not a hum, but saying a name, her name. Maddox’s name. It gets a little louder and the figure comes out of the depths of the shadows, but turns around.
“Maddie! Maddie? Where are you?” It’s a higher pitched voice.
Comforting. It could be Susan Fine luring her into a false sense of security, of course. But it’s smaller than she would expect. Maddie backs up a little bit but holds her stick out a little farther, not once taking her eyes off of it. “Who are you?”
The shadowy figure quickly turns around, and suddenly the moon illuminates the girl.
“It’s Nini,” She replies instantly until she recognizes Maddie, “Oh my god! There you are. I was so worried about you. I mean, we all were.” She runs over to Maddie, dropping all belongings on the floor and rushing over to her to wrap her in a hug.
“Really?” Maddie asks while on her tip-toes while smashed into Nini’s shoulder.
“Really,” Nini replies almost like a promise. She breaks away from the hug a little bit while still holding onto Maddie and examines her face with a furrow of her brow, “Are you okay? You look like you've been crying Mads.”
In that moment Nini wipes off the tears that are still fresh on her face and it makes her heart flutter a little bit. “I’m fine. I just couldn’t find my way back. That’s all.”
Nini squints her eyes at her before nodding, “If you say so. Besides, I figured that’s what happened and I came prepared.” She rushes over to the little bag she has packed that she dropped on the ground, “I brought a flashlight, some granola bars, water, and oh! I made you a necklace earlier that I forgot to give you.”
Nini’s long hair bounces off her as she skips over to behind Maddie and brings up her hair to clip it together behind her neck. It’s as if time stands still as she messes with the clasp, because she feels her soft breath and the faint touching sends shivers down her spine that she tries to hide. Just as fast as it started, it ended and Nini went in front of the girl awaiting her reaction.
Upon looking down, she finds soft colored white, blue and pink colored beads made of gemstone.
“Nini this is…” Unable to come up with any words to describe her love for the object she wraps her ina big bear hug, “You’re everything and more. Thanks Neens.”
“No problem Mads.” She breathlessly laughs as she squeezes Maddie back a little tighter, while subtly playing with her hair, “I was really worried about you.”
“I’m sorry. If it helps any, I was really worried too.”
They break apart from their hug and sit on the floor passing along the granola bars, with their knees touching as they sit across from one another. “Why did you go? We were supposed to be in our tents an hour ago. I even had this thing planned… It was dumb, but still. Why?”
“I’ll tell you why I did it, but you have to promise not to laugh.”
“Okay, I promise.”
“Every year, I may or may not have a horrible dream about the Scariest Story ™ specifically about Susan Fine . It really scares me and I don’t know… I thought maybe if I wandered the woods it’d make me less scared?”
“It’s okay. It kind of scares me too. But do you want to know what I do that helps?” Maddie quickly nods in response, “I put on a show until Dewey budges and lets me go to sleep in the Honeycomb all night. If you had told me sooner, I would’ve just asked you to come with me. It’s much better in a room that locks, trust me.”
Maddie’s face goes blank, “Seriously? That’s where you are, while I’m having nightmares in the middle of the woods, you’re in an actual bed! Neens, come on.”
“What? I’m just surprised you didn’t think of this. You love being mischievous.”
Maddie nods knowingly, “Duh! But I should be let in on these wonderful plans every once in a while, I mean come on. I would do the same for you.” Nini lifts her hands, as if to showcase how they got here. Maddie continues, “That’s unfair.”
“Nope it isn’t. Because you unknowingly did the exact same thing. So, we’re even.”
“Whatever, let’s head back to camp.”
Nini rolls her eyes and gathers her stuff up quickly into her backpack. “Fine, but only because I love you. Not because you’re being impossible right now.”
Maddie's heart nearly stops for a second before quickly restarting a million times faster than before. She knows how Nini means it but it doesn’t make the words any less weird and warm to her. Maddox wants to say something similar but instead she just replies, “You do know the way back to camp, right?”
“Of course I do, Maddie!” She huffs from in front of her.
She scurries after her, holding a flashlight in her hand, thinking that maybe someday it could happen. Maybe if she’s really lucky, she could be the girl that sweeps Nini Angelica Salazar-Roberts off her feet.
Two.
Maddie was sitting in some class she could barely remember the name of as the professor rambled on about some assignment she could care less about. She rubs her temple as her phone buzzes for just about the hundredth time in the last ten minutes.
If there’s one thing Maddox could say for certain it was that she loved Ashlyn with her whole heart but… sometimes it didn’t feel like that has ever been enough for her. Ashlyn always wanted more of her, more time, more space, more date nights, more energy and she was spread too thin.
That’s the only reason she isn’t even bothering to look until class is over. She’s sure it’s dumb or trivial or some text asking for something she can’t possibly do as a broke college student. She breaks from writing notes to look at the influx of notifications. And just like she expected, Ashlyn was going off in her texts about Nini and how she doesn’t like them hanging out. How it’s unfair of them to act like an old married couple when she’s asked for them to stop being friends.
Don’t tell anyone this, but secretly, a little part of her soul swelled at the thought. Her and Nini acting that way. It would be perfect. Like a sunny day with a nice breeze. Too good to be true, right? Because they could never happen. And of course, she didn’t think that though in case anyone ever EVER asked. She never even thought about it, for Ashlyn related purposes of course.
But even with that reminded she doesn’t even find the energy to respond to Ash and clicks off to find a text from Nini.
It read, “can you come over after your class?”
Immediately Maddie replies back, “of course. your dorm?”
Maddie looks up from the professor and back down to her phone till she gets the response, “yep, thanks mads. you’re the best.” Her heart thumps out of her chest and it feels like something is trapped in her heart and is attempting to get out.
She endures the next ten minutes of class, tapping her pencil against the desk while silently waiting out the clock to go see her best friend. Finally, she rushes to her dorm at full speed on her skateboard that she has learned to love even more as a college student with no money for gas during freshman year. She gets there in no more than another ten minutes. She knocks on her door, a little sweaty and worried for the girl on the other side.
Maddie doesn’t hear a response, so she knocks again.
“Neens? Open the door, I’m outside!”
After a moment the door finally jiggles open and she finds a less than happy Nini in an oversized sweater, baggy shorts and mascara stained under her eye. Maddies eyes immediately take in the sight before hugging the other girl, “Are you okay?”
She hears a raggedy breath from above her, “Not really, no.”
Maddie staggers them inwards, closing the door behind them. “What happened?”
She holds onto Nini’s hand and drags her to her bed which isn’t even fully raised up enough for optimal space and they sit back on the headboard side by side. They sit in silence for a moment as Nini plays with Maddie's hand, “Just a bad day. I just feel like…” She starts gently folding her hand back into Maddies and looks up to hold back more tears from falling, “I feel like everything is falling apart, and there’s nothing I can do about it.”
“Why would you say that?”
“Maddie, I’m failing out of like half my classes. I don’t even know what my major should be, let alone the kind of things I want to surround myself with here. And…”
Maddie finally catches Nini’s gaze, “And what?”
“I think I like girls.” She says almost in a wince.
She braces for impact, closing her eyes a little bit, while Maddie just smiles. “Nina, look at me,” She squeezes her hand as she watches Nini intently. Her eyes are full of clouds and as she opens her eyes they’re still welled with tears. “I am so proud of you. Thanks for telling me, it was an honor to have been your honorary lesbian friend, but welcome to the LGBTQ+ club! This is amazing.”
Nini breathes out a shaky breath, “For some reason, I was just so scared to tell you. But it’s done.” She ends it with a laugh and takes her other hand to wipe off her tears. “God. I’ve been crying for hours because of this. I feel so stupid.”
“It’s okay, Neens. It’s always a little scary to learn that you're this cool.”
Nini laughs at the comment, “I’ve gotta ask Mads, I know our situations are totally different… but were you this scared to come out to people you knew would accept you?”
“I definitely was. Like I’m always a little scared of someone harboring some secret grudge against me for it, but it gets easier.”
“Good.”
At that moment, from across the bed, Maddie’s phone beeps and buzzers until she finally gets up to grab it. Her eyebrows furrow while reading the message and instead of responding she just tosses it back onto the bed. “Who was that?”
“Don’t even worry about it. I’m just happy to be here with you.”
Nini returns an easy smile, “Thanks for staying with me.”
“Always, Neens. Always.”
Her mind goes back to that thought from earlier, marriage, as another text rolls in from Ash. She shoots off some text about being with Nini, before thinking about it. Her and Nini? Could never in a million years be a thing, even knowing this about Nini, it still felt oh so platonic.
But that’s how it had to be for right now. She has Ashlyn, the most perfect person for her, and that’s all she needs. Right?
Three.
So maybe that was a lie. No. It was more of a half truth, she decides.
At the time she and Ashlyn were doing fine, that was the truth! She did think she and Nini could never and would never get together. But if Maddox were to tell the whole truth, and she promised she would, she supposes she’d start with the fact that perhaps she had been harboring a secret small crush towards the girl for years.
And if she were to unveil every feeling she’s ever had, perhaps it was more than a small crush.
Okay! So what? She lied again!
She’s in love with Nina Angelica Salazar-Roberts.
It’s a hard pill to swallow when that same girl she’s in love with sits across from her in a cheesy smile that’s not directed at her but the girl sitting beside her, Lily. For all Maddox knows they’ve been playing footsie for an hour and are absolutely silent. She hasn’t exactly been paying attention to every single detail the two had been doing all night.
It was a little hard to focus on words when all the blonde was capable of was sending daggers her way, and Nini shooting ‘please be nice’ looks at her at the same time. It was frankly impossible. Especially when in most cases she would have already left at this point but since the girl she loved sat three feet away with puppy dog eyes, she stayed silent with a forced smile, clenching a root beer (per Nini’s request to get one) and thoroughly attempting to ‘play nice’
Maddox has tried to focus on things like the objectively pretty waiter serving them, the nice ambiance of the restaurant, or even the football game on the TV. However, nothing has worked.
“So, Maddox. What about you?”
Maddie jolts back into her body from her dissociative state she was just in, “What about me?”
Lily looks back between Nini and her before continuing without breaking her cold smile, “Celebrity crush. Nini said her’s was…” She trails off trying to remember.
“Oh, Megan Fox! I remember from when we were kids, she was weirdly obsessed. It was cute.” Maddie responds sweetly while taking another sip to sooth the tension making a cut at her throat, “But mine was Kiera Knightley. Specifically in Pirates of the Caribbean.”
“I can’t believe you remember that kind of stuff still.” Lily says with ease.
Nini folds her hand into Lily’s a little tighter, playing with a ring on the other girl's finger. Lily nudges a little closer into her as they stare at Maddie intently. “Of course I remember. Besides, if I didn’t remember that, how would I ever come up with stories to tell while I do press?” She states playfully.
The blonde clears her throat to speak but Nini interjects, “How is that going by the way, Mads?”
“Weird. A little nice to talk about things I love like my music or an upcoming album. But Lily! I saw some photos you took of Nini with that white sort of dress. I loved them.”
Lily gushes, “I just wanted to see her in a white dress. Maybe I’ll get to see one on our big day in the not-too-far future. She is everything to me and more.”
Maddie sits there kind of shocked and desperately attempts to conceal it. Her stomach is gutted at the mere thought of them getting married. Married! She casually- and effortlessly- mentioned a life changing moment. And thinks nothing of it. Maddie steals a glance at Nini and she seems otherwise unaffected by that statement.
She can’t tell if that’s good or not because maybe if you’re head of heels in love and you know that person is in love with you, it would send your heart into a ball of flutters. But Nini just sits there smiling patiently and checking to see if the waiter is coming by to give them their dessert they ordered. Maddie stares at Nini, and Lily and her hand intertwined with agony. She wished that was her. She wished she didn’t fuck it all up a year ago.
The worst part of it all?
Even in the ball of nerves, and questions, and for some reason anger, she also just wants Nini to be happy. So that’s the only reason she holds back her tears and every possible looming sentí on to squeeze out the tiniest, “Aw, that’s so sweet. You two are so good for each other, it makes me a little sick.”
Okay, that was a lie.
But then she corrects herself, not a lie, a half truth. She swallows down on some spit and holds herself a little tighter, hoping and praying that whatever god hates her, she swears she will make it up to them because this is hell on earth.
Four.
It’s been the best twenty four hours of her life. Maddie was currently sitting on the couch doom scrolling while watching people make TikToks to her songs off her last album, while Nini sings along to a song while cooking in the kitchen.
Cooking may be a strong word considering whatevers being cooked will likely turn out burnt, but Maddie indulged just this once since now they are officially girlfriends. Her heart swells with pride knowing she gets to call the girl she loves most in the world, her girlfriend.
They’ve been basking in that sort of pure wonderstruck sort of love and awe for the last day. And she can count on her hand the amount of things they’ve done besides being hopelessly in love with each other, here is the list:
- Tell their friends that they were officially dating
- Fight with their friends that it was a big deal, because even through the pining they have never ever once dated
- Finally sat down and listened to the album that’s about her love for Nina, together.
- And last but not least, take the world's longest nap cuddled up next to one another on the couch
It was beginning to feel like all the pieces that were missing in Maddox’s life piled on slowly and perfectly. Everything felt new and soft, and a little scary. But it also felt like fireworks every time they kissed (and it happened a lot) and every time they got close it was almost as if those Fireworks at Disneyland after you found out all your dreams came true. So in every way, it has been nothing short of magic.
“Maddie, is this being on fire a good thing?”
Maddie is catapulted out of her thoughts, and immediately springs off the couch. Unsure if it’s a stove fire, or maybe electrical she grabs both a water bottle and a cooking sheet mysteriously placed on the table. But when she enters the kitchen, there is no fire. There’s no smoke.
Instantly her shoulders relax, “You’re a liar.”
“And you have little faith in me. But, it was my way of telling you, to grab the cookie sheet and that I’m done with dinner! Do you mind helping me set the table?” She effortlessly takes the cookie sheet from Maddie's hand to set it into the right cupboard.
Maddox stares in awe as she stares at Nina. She’s wearing an apron the two got in Paris, with little Eiffel Towers all over it. She still has one mit on, and her hair is pinned back in a mess. As Nini turns around, Maddie makes her way over to Nini to plant a kiss on her cheek.
“What was that for?”
Maddie shrugs as she grabs some utensils from the drawer, “Because I wanted to,” She’s about to exit the kitchen before turning around, “And because I love you.”
“I love when you say that.” Nini admits.
“Say what?” Maddie says faux obviously.
“That you love me. It just shocks me that you could love me, half as much as I love you.”
Nina grabs the main dish, and takes off the oven mit to follow Maddox to the table to help her. “It would actually defy the laws of physics if you love me more than I love you. Something about the world being tilted off its axis from hearing the world love so many times. I don’t know.” Maddie rambles on as she finishes off with the utensils and grabs plates from the kitchen. This time it’s Nini who sits there in awe, unable to move or respond or even kiss her on the cheek. She just stares. When Maddie comes back her eyebrows furrow, “You okay, Neens?”
In a jolt of inspiration, Nini finally says it, the one thing that she has wanted to tell her for the last twenty four hours, “I don’t know if you knew this… but I was going to confess last night, before you beat me to it, I guess.”
“There’s no way.”
“Yep. I may have already known about your feelings for me, and decided it was time to come clean. I was going to give you this letter. I just kind of wanted to tell you.”
“What letter?”
“The one I was going to give you before we talked in Salt Lake. I still have it.” Nini walks over to Maddie to take her hands.
“What are the chances I’ll be able to read it?”
“Hmm…” Nini trails off pretending to think but grabs the paper out of her pocket anyways, “It depends on if you want to read it.”
Like a puppy dog, who’s very excited, she steals the paper out of Nini’s hand and quickly reads over it. Savoring every word. She can’t believe her luck.
Happy-Hometown-Show Maddie! I know you probably didn’t expect to see me tonight but I told Ricky not to tell you, so I hope it’s okay that I’m here. But you killed it, just like I knew you would. I hope it’s also okay that I brought Lily. We’re not serious or anything, mainly because she knows about you and I.
I’ve been thinking about the whole you-and-me thing a lot lately. And I really miss you. I hope you miss me too. Even if you don’t miss me in the same “i’ll love you forever” sort of bullshit, it’s okay. I’ll still love you. Sometimes I don’t know if I’ll ever stop.
But besides that, I’m writing this in my car while you’re finishing your concert. You are a star, seriously. Sorry I couldn’t stay any longer. But I just had to go. Hoping this gets passed along to you by some pure miracle I fight past the anger and embarrassment for you to receive this.
Yours always, Nini.
“Nini, this is so sweet…” Maddie pulls Nini in for a kiss, soft and wonderstruck with the feeling of fireworks all around them lighting their world. They pull apart and sit there for a second, sitting in the sweet glow of love.
“I had two versions of this letter. One where I totally told you that I love you, obviously. And another one where I might have chewed you out. But I threw the other one away a while ago but knew I should hold onto this one. I don’t know why, but I really wanted you to read that. You know start off this relationship with everything out there…”
“Oh well… Thank you. I feel honored to know you, Neens. I wanna know you forever.”
Nini rolls her eyes a little, “No way. I want to know you forever.”
“That’s impossible. Because there’s this girl I know who once told me I was her day one, and I said she was my forever. Not the other way around.”
“Well, I had to let that happen. Relationships are all about compromise. I wanted to show you that though I am ridiculously obsessed with winning, I am equally, if not more, obsessed with you. It balances out.” Nini says while playing with taking Maddie's hands into hers.
It all hits her in that one moment: the closeness between her and Nini, wrinkles gracing the other girl's eyes, and she just knows she’s smiling like a dork right now. And she could not be more happy about it. Looking back, she knows if she could’ve she would have married her right in that moment. In the back of her mind, she’s always sort of wondered, but somehow in that moment it all clicked while staring at her.
All she can do in response is smile a little brighter and ask, “Well, what do you think? Should we begin our first-official-date-to-begin-the-rest-of-our-lives?”
“I would be honored, Maddox.”
They sit down beside each other, immediately breaking into earth shatteringly cute chatter. And everything is a flurry of butterflies and love.
At that thought, Maddie smiles, just so happy to be able to love her so openly and freely.
Five.
Happily Ever After wasn’t so much a thought Maddox ever thought she could achieve, and she debated if it was even real. Starting from before she was even born, with her fathers infidelity, and her family having to overcome it to become the blended family she has now since stopped talking to. All the way until just a few years ago in the heat of college finals, consistently in a fight with her girlfriend she never thought it could happen.
Nini, on the other hand, was determined to find ‘the one’ almost as if it was her one true destiny. She later confided in Maddox that she was sure it was because of a lot of things, but mainly the pressures of society and what she was ‘supposed to do’. But a lot of time has passed since she was that young naive little girl who thought she needed saving. She’s found new passions, a career in the theater industry, and somehow finally the girl she has loved from the start: Maddox.
Maddox’s heart soared at the thought of it. It could never grow tired of being called hers, even as the years have passed on. And, sure, they’ve had their share of fights but through it all they knew they still had each other.
So one day, it was perfectly natural to start talking about their future. Did Maddie find it all a little daunting? Yes. Yes it is. But did she also find the whole thing perfectly exhilarating? Also yes.
They had come to the agreement that no matter who proposes first the other will just have to let it happen to them as they are both inherently stubborn people. They’ve also discussed rings, both wanting simple rings but of different styles, various ways they’d love to get proposed to with. Along with a few ways they did not want to get proposed with (Flash mobs. No rings in food. And definitely not both of those combined.) It was safe to say they were both perfectly prepared and sure that it would come when they knew it was the right time, and sometime after they officially moved in with one another, despite being roommates of sorts.
And one day when staring at Nini while she was hard at work, fixing a melody for this new project her and a collaborator had been working on, she watched as a little crease had folded over Nina’s mouth. It was the cutest thing she’d ever seen, on top of the fact that she let out a little ‘hmph’, and she couldn’t tell anyone why but in that moment she knew she wanted to marry her. Maddox has thought about it, and had known but suddenly she felt ready for it all. She wanted to be Nina’s fiance, forever and always.
After about two months of obsessive ring shopping with all of her friends and her brother and after asking Nini’s moms for their permission (they said yes!) and five more months of planning the actual proposal it was finally time. They had already pre-scheduled a trip to California
Nini was over the moon to be in her home away from home, and enjoying long days at the beach with her girlfriend. Meanwhile, Maddie had been trying to cover up the nervous wreck she really was on the inside. Nini had begun to suspect something was up when she reached towards Maddies phone to check the time, and Maddox reached for it and threw it under the table. She blamed the mishap on pure reflex. She put on her best smile, and inside the ball of nerves ate at her for the next day in front of them.
It was their big day to visit the old camp. Nina had been bouncing off the walls the day prior, and in the car, till they finally arrived at the camp. The sign was just as old and the words just as blue as it used to be and reading “Camp Shallow Lake” was like coming home.
The girls run into the camp, jittery and excited and nervous all at once. Luckily for them the campers didn’t arrive for a few more days so there weren't really a lot of people there. The playground and benches are moved around a little, and they’ve definitely upgraded it, but it’s all the same.
“You know, it’s actually a little weird to not see campres running around all the time.” Nina says as they make a bee-line for the HoneyComb bunks. Nini insisted that it should be their first stop on their adventures, and Maddie was happy with the decision.
“I know right? But it’s good like this. Just us.”
Nini smiles and squeezes Maddie's hand a little tighter, “Just us. I do like the sound of that.”
When they make it to the bunks, they have to pull up their keys they got from Dewey Wood since it wasn’t technically open yet. Nini jiggles the old door open, and finally steps into the room where so many memories were held. It’s all exactly the same as they last saw it.
“Neens?” Nini herself responds in merely a hum as she goes to look over at their old shared bunk while Maddie stays on the other end of the bunks near the lockers, “Look at the bookshelf. The books are all still there.”
Nini spins around in a hurry over to their bookcase that no one ever used. Because, seriously, who wanted to read during summer break apart from them? “Do you think they all still have our notes we put in there?”
“I mean we wrote them in permanent marker. The chances are definitely high.” She says nonchalantly while pulling out one of their childhood favorites. They look through each one, seeing old random thoughts listed through each page. That’s until Nini reaches for a newer looking book, checking just in case something there, until realizing that it’s the last book they annotated together before they stopped talking all those years ago. One that shouldn’t be in the middle of the woods and instead buried in a moving box somewhere back in NYC. “Mads, what’s this one doing here?”
She looks up at Maddie who has a shy smile written all over her face. “I don’t know.”
Nini opens the book, and sees annotations, and highlighters marking their favorite quotes. Sometimes post-it notes were added if they just had too much to say that didn’t fit in the margins. She flips through briefly until she reaches the middle of the book, where a little square is cut out from the majority of pages holding a ring.
And on top of that in red ink are the fateful words, “Will You Marry Me?”
Nini turns towards Maddox, her eyes already brimming with tears from the overwhelming love pouring through her heart just to find Maddie taking the ring and kneeling down on the floor. “I know we’ve done this whole love confession thing, plenty of times but, I have to do it again. I love you Nina. From the minute I knew you and every moment since. Maybe even forever and always if you’d let me. Nina Angelica Salazar-Roberts will you marry me?”
She felt her heart pulse and shatter and hope in what felt like a million seconds. Her heart dropped in her stomach as she saw Nini cry, and jump when all Nini could do was smile and cry at her in response. “Yes. God I’ve always wanted to say that. Yes! I would love to marry you.”
Maddie smiled, and slid the ring on her finger. She never felt she saw something that looked so right. In that moment Maddie saw about ten million different futures for them in the blink of a second and was so happy the future she gets is marrying Nina. And finally- the two seal it with a kiss.
Plus one...
It was finally happening.
She’s been pinching herself all day. Maddie went on a jog for the first time in forever to clear out her nerves but nothing has quite prepared herself for waiting to see her fiance, and almost wife, walking down the aisle. They had chosen a song they had written together a little after their first year anniversary, titled “Love of My Life”. Nina and her asked Emmy, who agreed almost immediately.
Maddie looks over to both sides before Nini begins walking down. On Nini’s side there was Kourtney her maid of honor, and two friends from college as her bridesmaids. On Maddie's side, she had her brother right beside her as her Best Man of sorts, with Gina beside him and another close friend from her childhood pre-salt lake.
The venue looked stellar at sunset, with the purple and pinks complimenting the greenery surrounding them. When she turned her eyes to the fixed pathway, she finally saw a peak of white in the distance. Finally escorted by both of her moms on her sides, came Nini. She wore a gorgeous long white gown with lace and her hair pinned back. Maddie thought she had never looked more beautiful than she did then. For a moment, she saw their whole future and past enveloped into one second. The closer Nina came, the more she felt as if she would topple over.
Suddenly all Maddox could focus on was Nini’s giant smile and her eyes nearly brimming with tears. She felt like the sun on a warm summer day and so much more than that all at once. She felt so lucky to love her. Her heart raced as Nini stepped up to join her at the altar and Maddie managed to squeeze her hands and simply say, “Hi. You look so beautiful.”
“You do too.”
Nini smiles radiantly, and Maddoe returns it, only now realizing the tears about to escape her so she quickly wipes them off. She can hardly focus through the boring minister's words, eagerly awaiting the infamous “I do” portion of the service.
But instead he says, “Now Nina, I understand that you prepared vows to surprise Maddox with. If you could share them now,” He gestures to Kourtney holding a hand sealed letter, and she takes it.
Maddie looks around her, a little confused, but is met with brimming smiles and nods. So instead she turns back around to Nina and simply asks, “What is this?”
Nini laughs before speaking, “I don’t know if you knew if this but one time, late at night, a month before proposed to me, I began planning our engagement. I was so impatient and for some reason thought I should make the move, since you obviously weren’t going to. I began planning for it, and when we saw my mom on the way to California, I asked for snooping time without you. And I found this.”
She turns to Kourtney and grabs the item to show to Maddox.
In clear view, was a necklace, pink and blue.
“When we were thirteen, I had this plan to tell you I liked you. I chickened out and repressed my feelings for years after that but… I kept this matching necklace like the one I made for you. I love you Maddie. More than I did when we were thirteen, more than yesterday and I hope you’ll let me love you for the rest of our forever.”
Nina places the necklace into Maddie's hands and wipes a tear on Maddie's face she didn’t know was rolling down. She nods to the minister to continue.
“Beautiful. Now, Nina Angelica Salazar- Roberts, do you take Maddox Park to be your lawfully wedded wife, to live together in matrimony, to love her, comfort her, honor and keep her, in sickness and in health, in sorrow and in joy, to have and to hold, from this day forward, as long as you both shall live?”
Nini smiles widely and chokes back a tear, “I do.”
“Maddox Park, do you take Nini Angelica Salazar-Roberts to be your lawfully wedded wife, to live together in matrimony, to love her, comfort her, honor and keep her, in sickness and in health, in sorrow and in joy, to have and to hold, from this day forward, as long as you both shall live?”
Maddie's heart swells, “I do.”
“I now pronounce you legally married partners in heart and mind, in body and soul, in love and in life.” The minister steps back to the side, and Maddie looks to Nini.
Nothings ever felt more right, more perfect and with that thought- Maddie kisses her wife.