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 57th cycle. Now cycle 58!
This is a shift day. There are two updates today.
"Mend What Was Broken"
Beiste & Ewan (OC; Damian McGinty), Ewan/Sugar, Rich/Beiste
Beiste & Ewan series
(all series now listed under the communities tab in my profile)
He hadn't stopped turning the whole thing in his mind, as he waited in the food court. Sugar had gone home now, and Ewan waited for Rich to join him. He wasn't sure how long it would take, with everything he had to take care of really, but he would wait. As he did, he thought about everything that had happened, what it had done to him and his family. He hoped what Rich would tell him was that he could have his job back, but there was no guarantee.
Finally he could see him come along, the yellow shirt they all wore over at the store. He sat across from Ewan. "Thank you for waiting."
"Sure," Ewan told him. "Rich, I…"
"Those were your friends, weren't they? From your club? I thought I recognized them from somewhere, it was your competition, the one I went to," he recalled. Ewan could only nod. "That was clever, whoever thought about it," he admitted, and as much as Ewan trusted him, he wouldn't drop Sugar's name.
"Did you get the money back?"
"Most of it. He's spent some, but I should get it back," Rich confirmed. "I thought it was the new flyers that made business boom all of a sudden, but I guess that was you." Again, Ewan didn't give any indication one way or the other. "I know you've been put through the ringer because of all this, and I know I can't make up for all of it, but I'm going to do my best, starting by not only hiring you back but promoting you." Ewan blinked. "Now that Ronny's gone, I'm going to need a new assistant manager," he went on, and Ewan could practically hear him say 'good riddance' when he'd mentioned Ronny. "That is, if you'd like to come back."
"Oh, yes, please," Ewan quickly answered, and Rich laughed. There was a pause, and then… "Are you and my aunt going to…" he started, then paused like he realized he might have been overstepping his bounds. Rich looked to him, torn.
"I miss her, every day. I don't know if she'll have me again, after everything…"
"Is the store open now?" Ewan asked.
"No, we're closed down until tomorrow."
"So come with me," Ewan offered, holding out his hand. The man had been there for him, from the moment they had met, and Ewan knew that if it had been up to him he would never have fired him. Now as he'd offered his job back, he looked downright relieved.
When they had arrived back at his aunt's apartment, Ewan found her like she'd been about to leave. She paused at the sight of him. "I was just coming to find y…" Her pause shifted as she spotted Rich behind him.
"Hello, Shannon," he all but bowed his head to her.
"Rich, what are you doing here?"
"He came to talk to you," Ewan volunteered, coming up to his aunt and giving her a nod as he rested a hand to her arm before continuing on to his room, which left her and Rich on their own.
"They've, uh… they've caught the thief," he spoke up after a beat. "Ronny, my assistant manager… Former assistant manager, I should say. He confessed all of it, including how he tried to put it on Ewan's back the first time. I don't know who he would have put it on this time, but he'll never get to."
"That's good," she managed, and the sadness they'd both felt in these weeks was apparent on both their faces. "So what happens now?"
"I've given Ewan his job back, promoted him to assistant manager. I should have trusted him all along, I did trust him, only I couldn't protect him, and for that I'm sorry, Shannon, you have to know…"
"I do," she assured him, and he looked to breathe easier. "I never wanted things to get this bad, with both of us… If you knew how much I've missed you…"
"About as much as I've missed you, I guess," she told him, and the trace of a smile joined his face. "So… what happens now?" she repeated.
"I don't expect this to make the last three weeks go away. I've made mistakes…"
"We both did," she wouldn't let him go on his own there.
"And we need to live with them. But maybe we can start again, slowly."
"I'd like that," she told him, feeling her eyes water. He was not far behind, and he walked up to her, embracing her. She had not felt his arms around her for far too long.
X
They had heard about the new robbery, the arrest, and Ewan getting his job back and then some, and the Glee Club had welcomed him at the next rehearsal with cheers, all of them donning their new shoes. He couldn't stop smiling, thanking them all, including Mr. Schuester. Sitting by Sugar, he looked at her, showing off one of her many new pairs, and he believed wholeheartedly that he loved her. "It should be you they cheer on," he had told her, and at any other time she might have agreed with him, but now she simply sat there with a smirk.
"They're happy for you, that feels like a cheer to me. I wanted to help you, not them, so…" she shrugged. "But now your trip is back on, right? That's good news?"
"Will you come with me?" He hadn't planned on it, hadn't thought of it not until that very moment. Her eyes grew wide.
"To Ireland?" she asked, and he nodded. "I would love to," she told him, and he smiled. "Okay but you're not paying my way, that's on me," she insisted.
"Got it," he promised, and now she was excited all over again.
"I get to go to Ireland," she breathed, moving to hug him.
"And I get to show it to you."
THE END