June 15th, 1990 — Cape Canaveral, FL
5:39 PM, EST

"So, space, huh?" Robbo asked as he and Shelby sat on her couch, watching some old movie both had seen multiple times.

In honor of Robbo's last few days in the Cape, Shelby had decided to host a little get together and had invited all of her local friends. That list was rather small, however, as it consisted of Maggie, her roommate, and Adam, her co-worker-slash-ex-fling.

"Space, yep." The redhead replied.

"Well, hey, that's exciting." He replied. "When are you going up? A year or two?"

"The launch is set tentatively for February of 1992." Shelby stated. It seemed like so far away, but with all the preparations that had to be completed, she knew the time would go by extremely quickly.

"And your studies with the old alma mater? Are those going well?" Rob asked.

Shelby nodded. "I mean, as good as they can be going. It's a lot of work, balancing the correspondence courses with my research project and my work at NASA, but ..." The redhead shrugged. "It will be worth it."

Robbo nodded. "I was thinking about maybe going back for more schooling." He stated quietly, which caught Shelby by surprise.

"You're telling me that you, Robert Everett, want to go back for additional education?" She questioned with a slight tease in her voice.

"Well, yeah, Shelby. I mean, look around me. If want to go anywhere with Boeing, they're going to want me to have a little more fluff behind my name." Rob said with a frown. "Do you know who I report to back in Seattle? Each and every one of them is 'Doctor' something. If I want to be in their shoes some day, I'm going to have to put in the work."

"Sorry, Rob, I didn't mean to give you a hard time. Would you go back to Boston?" She asked.

"No, probably not." He replied. "There's some good universities out west. That way, I'd be able to still work for Boeing, if they'd let me."

Shelby beamed at him, glad to see that the boy she once knew had grown into a man that seemingly cared about his future. "Well, whatever you do, Rob, know I'll be proud of you."

His face flushed, something Shelby rarely had seen happen. "Thanks, Shelbs." He said with a smile. "You're the best."

As Shelby stared into his brown eyes, she was suddenly transported to a different time and place. She was back in Boston, looking into the eyes of a charming boy who had somehow swept the redhead off her feet.

She leaned in as Robbo did the same, but before their lips could meet, the door to the apartment burst open and Maggie walked in, followed by Adam, who carried a large pile of pizza boxes.

"Who's hungry?" Maggie announced loudly.

Shelby's face turned red and she moved away from Rob, quickly running a hand through her hair. "Me, I am." She said, standing up quickly. "I'm starving."

10:49 PM, EST

"Hey, Robbo, about what happened before, we almost ... I don't know, whatever almost happened, it shouldn't have, and ... I'm sorry." Shelby sheepishly said as she looked across the hallway at her old fling.

"It's fine, Shelby." Rob chuckled. "We've never really been the best at planning out our moments, have we?"

The redhead shook her head with a sad smile. "No, I guess not."

"You know," Robbo began, a soft smile on his face. "He likes you, that Adam. A lot."

"Robbo," Shelby groaned. "There's nothing there, I know it."

"Maybe there is." He replied. "I mean, who would have thought there'd be anything between a screwup like me, and a genius like you? We made it work, for some time there." He stated with a smirk.

"You're not a screwup, Robbo, trust me. Besides, we had ... you know," Shelby rolled her eyes as a smile came over her face. "Some pretty good chemistry."

"Yeah, it was alright." Rob joked with a wink. "But anyways, just consider it again. I mean, you definitely had the hots for him a few months ago."

"Yes, and I used to have the hots for you, Robbo." Shelby teased. "Key words, 'used to'. I think I'll stick to not taking dating advice from my ex-boyfriend."

Robbo gave her a look. "Do you really use that to describe me, Shelby? Ouch. I thought we were friends!"

Shelby could see that whatever serious moment the two had just had was quickly over, and the old Robbo that she knew and loved (as a friend, of course, and nothing more) was back.

"You're one of my best friends, Robbo, and you know that." She teased.

"Anyways," Rob said with a sigh, "Consider Adam again, would you? I can see clear as day that he has an interest in you, because he has the same look on his face that I used to get around you. And despite what you say about a 'lack of chemistry', there's clearly something there. Maybe not nuclear chemistry, or even biochem, but organic at least."

Shelby rolled her eyes. "You're such a nerd, Robert Everett."

Rob scoffed and smirked. "You're the bigger nerd, Shelby Colewell."

She laughed and pulled him in for a hug, squeezing him tight. She didn't know when she'd see him again. "Have a safe trip back, Rob. I'm gonna miss you."

He hugged her back and pressed a kiss to her forehead. "I'm gonna miss you too. I'll call you when I get back to Seattle."

"Okay." She said with a smile. "See you soon, Robs."

He flashed her his signature grin as he slipped his hands into his pocket. "You'll come to me next time, Colewell."

"Sounds like a deal." She called down the hallway as he turned around. She gave him one last wave before retreating back into the apartment, a sad lump in the back of her throat.

"Hey, is everything okay?" Maggie asked as Shelby re-entered the kitchen.

"It's just hard saying goodbye, you know?" She said quietly. "Especially when you don't know when you'll see them again."

Maggie nodded and pulled the girl into a hug. "I know."

Maggie then grabbed something off of the mail pile that she had brought in and handed it to Shelby. "Hey, this came for you today. I didn't want to show you while Rob and Adam were here, but ..." She trailed off and handed Shelby the envelope. "Here."

Shelby's eyes instantly caught the words that were stamped on it, indicating the city the mail had been post-marked in.

Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

Maggie knew all about Shelby's grandmother, but Shelby still felt weird opening the envelope in front of her.

Gran hadn't sent her one piece of mail or called at all since Shelby had moved to Florida. She'd had no communication with the woman since she'd surprised Shelby at her MIT graduation.

"Um, excuse me, Mags." Shelby said before quickly retreating into her bedroom.

Dear Shelby,

I hope all is well in Florida. I saw on the news that you were going to space. How exciting.

I'm writing this letter to you with solemn news, I'm afraid. I've had a visit to my doctor, and it seems as if I have contracted the Alzheimer's Disease. It runs in my family, as both my mother and my grandfather passed from the disease.

I was hoping to make amends with you, now that my time is, indeed, limited on this earth.

I would like to invite you to stay with me for a week or so, provided you have the time to escape your busy life with NASA.

Feel free to call me with your travel plans, if you would like. I can pick you up from the train station or the airport in Concord, if needed.

I hope to see you soon.

Love, Gran

Shelby's eyes welled with tears and she sat down on her bed, clutching the letter in her hand. Her relationship with her grandmother had been rocky, to say the least, over the past few years, but it seemed that the older woman was finally looking to make amends. Under duress, of course, as she was sick. Her grandmother had always been a very practical woman, and Shelby knew that Alzheimer's would cause her much stress, given that the disease came after the mind. That, and the fact that an Alzheimer's diagnosis was more or less a death sentence, as there was no cure.

Shelby would come stay with her, of course. She had to go and visit. Who knew how long the woman had to live, and Shelby needed to go and visit. After all, Shelby's mother had been her gran's only child, and Shelby was an only child.

She had to go.

Shelby stood and walked to the kitchen, where she sat herself in front of the phone and carefully punched in her grandmother's number.

"Hello?" The older woman's voice filled her ears after a few short rings.

"Hey Gran, it's Shelby. I got your letter."