Work Text:
Bear sat in his car, still parked outside Nikki’s house. He thought about their phone call earlier that day, how sad he felt at the prospect that his routine life of getting up, working with his best friends. Filled with trivia nights where they never won, but kept going back week after week, thinking maybe this would be the time they finally won.
Bear scrambled through his back, pulling out the One Wish Willow. He planned to give it to Nikki, but a selfish itch formed low in his chest. A wish flew into his head–one purely selfish and brought up from anger at his own anxiety of not being able to answer a simple question. He shook his head, sending this wish into the land of bad ideas. And this time, maybe he wouldn’t succumb to it. He thought back to Nikki’s laugh and the way she teased him at the bar. One day, he’d make her watch Girl Drink Drunk. Bear let out a short breathy laugh and rubbed his fingers along the willow. He closed his eyes and thought about his wish.
The trill song of the willow tried to push his wish into the selfish area he abandoned. He grimaced. His mouth opened, almost letting the willow guide him to follow his gut, the first wish that popped into his head, no matter how dangerous. Bear thought about Nikki’s writing, poignant and pointed, saying exactly what she wanted. His friend, his Nikki , would never let anyone turn her love story book into a romance. And he knew he couldn’t rob her of her autonomy, even if it was a stupid wish that he knew wouldn’t work.
The song ended and Bear felt its power slowly fading away. He broke the stick in half and sighed, preparing himself to make a wish that could change everything.
Bear spoke his wish into the darkness, still parked outside of Nikki’s house. She was safe inside, probably under the covers with her notes app open, fighting sleep to write all the lines she doesn’t want to forget in the morning.
Bear ran his fingers through his hair and almost throws the broken willow piece on the floor of his car, but he finally finds the words. His mind flits back to the conversation that afternoon, his profound sadness at the idea Nikki was quitting and he wouldn’t see her face every day at work. But he knows he can’t wish for her to stay. He knows that’s not what she wants. Bear finally knows what he can wish for.
“I wish Nikki didn’t have to move. I wish she found a writing job here that gives her time to work on her book, so she could stay here without having to put her dreams on hold by working at Cassel’s.”
Bear sighed and threw the broken wood into the chasm of his backpack where he can never find anything once he throws it in. He puts his hand back on the steering wheel, grips hard, trying to find the courage to drive away to his empty house–the memory of his grandma and Sandy lingering in every molecule.
Bear is about to push the gas, but he hears something. A scream. He sits up, as alert as he can be when it’s this close to midnight. He looks up and sees Nikki standing on her porch, arms raised in the air, before she runs to his car and opens the passenger door.
Nikki had a wide, bright smile on her face. A far cry to the tears that had started to form on Bear’s face as he thought about his future–his friend group breaking apart and him stuck in the middle, being the one with no ambition past a day job he doesn’t completely hate. The one with no dreams he can chase.
Nikki threw her phone up, so Bear could see the screen. He assumed she finally found the perfect line for the scene in her book she was struggling with, but Bear’s brow furrowed when he didn’t see the familiar notes app. But only for a second. He took a closer look. It was an email. A job offer.
“Wow, Nikki. Isn’t this the magazine you applied to a few weeks ago? The one with an office a town over.”
Nikki nodded, excitedly. “Yes! I got the job, teddy bear!” She reached over and hugged her best friend. “I never expected this. It’s like a dream come true.”
Bear sheepishly looked down, trying not to blush, “Does that mean you don’t have to move anymore? That we can still hang out?”
Nikki smiled, her eyes turned up to look into Bear’s. The distant moonlight shining and hitting her pupils. She reached over and wrapped Bear in a big hug, “Yeah. I mean I might move a little closer to the job, but I’ll still be here for weekly trivia time with my friends.”
Bear looked down into the contents of his backpack, wondering if maybe his wish came true. He shook his head, he knew Nikki deserved the job. She would have gotten it anyway.
Bear felt relief, even if the night didn’t go how he planned, but in that moment, he understood how precious friendships are and he couldn’t wait to go back to the store and get Nikki a replacement necklace. Not as a romantic gesture, but as one of a best friend wanting to give his best friend sunshine in a rock even if she thought it was cheesy.
Nikki got out and went into her home after sharing the news with Bear. Bear sat in his car, fingers clutching the material of his sweater. He still felt stagnant, like his friends would all find their calling and he would stay working a job that barely pays his rent and groceries, with no desire for more. But at least now, he didn’t feel he was pulling his friends down with him.
***
The next trivia night came and Ian was pumped up. He had been studying by putting Special:Random at the end of the url and reading and clicking whichever related link caught his interest.
By a stroke of luck, or Bear wondered as he looked at Bear and Nikki cheering as Sarah rolled her eyes and sketched on her napkin, maybe his friends made their own wishes.
After they didn’t win, but Ian got a question right about one of his Wikipedia articles (Ian had downed his beer and screamed "Fuck yeah! Hays Code wikipedia entry. You didn't fail me!"), Nikki stood up in front of her best friends. “I have an announcement. I actually wrote something I’m proud of for my book and my bosses actually encouraged me writing at work after I finished my assigned articles.”
Sarah smiled, even though she was arguing with Nikki last week, she was happy Nikki had found somewhere she could get her work done and also work on her novel. Bear smiled and Nikki looked over and locked eyes with him. She cleared her throat and read the first paragraph of her new book for all of her friends to hear.
The drinks were disappearing and Nikki stood up to go to the bar. Bear got up and went with her. She ordered shots and he ordered a strawberry daiquiri, some part of him wanting her to tease him. And she did, but she also snuck a sip. “That’s actually really good. Maybe you can pick a juice for me next time.” Bear had trouble speaking, his cheeks growing redder as he rummaged through his pockets looking for the necklace.
He pulled it out and handed it to Nikki, “Last week, you said your crystal necklace fell down the drain. I don’t think it’s the same, but the lady at the shop called it sunshine in a rock.”
Nikki laughed, “Oh god, I never would call it that. But actually, this is the exact type of crystal I had.” Nikki put the necklace on and put her hand on her friend’s arm. “It’s perfect, Bear. Thank you.”