Started my daily ficlets to make the hiatus pass, then decided to keep going with a 2nd cycle, and then a 3rd, 4th, etc through 60th cycle. Now cycle 61!

This is a shift day. There are two updates today.

"Stepping It Up"
(Beiste &) Ewan, Mike, Puck
Beiste & Ewan series
(all series now listed under the communities tab in my profile)

No matter how much he counted it, the concern continued to plague him that he just wouldn't have enough money by the time summer rolled around, and his trip back to Ireland, the way he saw it in his mind, only got further out of his reach. He wasn't going to ask for a hand out, no matter how many of them offered, he was going to pay for his own way. But as it was now, it didn't seem realistic to think that he might have saved up enough by the time he would need it. So he had to find a way to deal with that.

He had his drawings, and he thought about trying to sell them, or offer his services as an artist, for a commission, or even to do portraits on the spot, but as lucrative ideas went, it wasn't very strong. So then if he was going to earn his way, then his solution would be just that, to earn it. He had to get a second job.

He knew what his aunt would say, what all the others would say, that keeping two jobs and doing well in school at the same time just didn't seem possible. He would then tell them he was doing it for his parents. They would say they understood, and then the other word would come out: 'but.' 'But you'll only let your grades suffer,' 'but it'll be too much stress,' 'but I could help you'… and then to him that meant they didn't really understand.

He had been grief stricken when they had left Ireland, so his declaration that he couldn't be there anymore had been normal to him. With months behind him though, he would wake up some days and think about his life there, his friends, everyone he knew, the places, silly things like the crooked tree down the road from his old school, his backyard… his house. He missed his house more than anything, save for his mother and father. He knew it wouldn't be his home anymore, and he didn't need it to be, but there was more to it than that. He had tossed his whole past aside. He needed to reclaim it.

If he was going to do this, then he needed to get to Ireland. And if he was going to get there, then he needed the money, his money. If he asked for more hours at the shoe store, Rich would tell his aunt, and both of them would argue that he shouldn't do it. That left one option: he was going to have to get a second job.

He'd managed to keep his search from his aunt, and Sugar, and Tina. But one day in Glee Club, Mike had caught him looking through postings on his phone. After he'd explained it all, Mike had agreed not only to keep his secret but to help him.

"I saw they're looking for someone at the arcade," he suggested as they walked out of the choir room.

"Can't have it at the mall, they'll just know," Ewan shook his head.

"Where would it be then?"

"I doubt they would take me in an office."

"Okay, this might be a crazy idea…"

"I'm desperate," Ewan reminded him.

"Okay, well you could talk to Puck and ask if he'd take you on with his pool cleaning business."

"Does that pay much?"

"The way I've heard him talk, it should. Unless he was only boasting…" Mike frowned, but Ewan thought it out.

"It could be an option. Will he say anything?"

"If you tell him to keep it quiet, he'll keep it quiet."

After taking a night to consider it, and after he'd hit yet another brick wall on his regular search, he had made up his mind, and the next day he went to find Puck at his locker. "Hello…" he nodded, then, "Can we speak in private?" Puck stared at him, hesitant.

"What's it about?" he asked. Ewan checked to make sure no one was around that shouldn't be.

"This stays between us?" Puck stood up straight, closing his locker door and nodding for Ewan to follow him. They headed into an empty classroom and he shut door.

"It's nothing illegal, is it? I'm already riding the line with all that."

"No, I swear. I've been looking for work."

"Don't you already work at the shoe store?"

"I need a second job."

"Don't tell me you knocked up Sugar," Puck sighed and clapped Ewan's shoulder. "Look, if you need any pointers, I'm your guy. I went through all that crap with Quinn and…"

"No, and please stop talking," Ewan held up his hand. "It's not about Sugar, it's for me. I need to earn enough money for a trip back to Ireland over the summer, but I don't think I can get enough with only the shoe store. I don't want my aunt to think I'm working too much, so I need a second job. Mike found out, and he said I should talk to you and ask if you could use some help, with the pool cleaning."

"Oh," Puck blinked, understanding now. "Ever cleaned a pool before?"

"Not in my life."

"Well you've got that accent, they'll love you," Puck smirked.

"They?" Ewan was less enthused.

"You're hired." He was briefly relieved enough by those words that he could put aside the questions Puck had just planted in his head.

"Thank you, it means so much to me, I… You can't tell anyone about this, alright? Not my aunt, not Sugar or anyone in Glee Club, no one."

"Relax, dude, I got you. You're in the Puckerman Pool family now," he clapped at his arm. "It's all good."

"Right, good… all good."

THE END

A/N: This is a one-shot ficlet, which means that signing up for story alert will not bring you any alerts.
In the event of a sequel, the story will be separate from this one. And as chapter stories go, they are
always clearly indicated as such [ex: "Days 204-210" in the summary] Thank you!