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 66th cycle. Now cycle 67!

"You Speak For All"
Beiste & Ewan (OC; Damian McGinty), Rich & Mitch Henley (OC)
Beiste & Ewan series
(all series now listed under the communities tab in my profile)

When Rich had offered him overtime so that he would close the store with him that night, Ewan jumped at the chance. It wasn't until the last few minutes before closing that he realized there might have been an ulterior motive to the request. Rich looked almost nervous, more so than what Ewan was ever used to saying. He didn't bring it up, not until it was just the two of them and the day was done.

"Is everything alright? You're not letting me go again, are you?" Ewan asked, and Rich went to the back of the store without a word. "Rich? What…" he started, but then his boss returned, let out a breath, and put a small box on the counter in between them.

Ewan didn't have to ask what it was. The size and the nervous look on Rich's face told him exactly what he needed to know. He pointed at it and Rich nodded, so he opened it. The diamond sparkled in the low light of the store, and he looked back up.

"That's not for me, is it?" he joked.

"I want to ask your aunt to marry me. I know that it hasn't been an easy year on her, and for you especially, and I don't want this to come too fast, so that's why I wanted to talk to you first."

"Do it, what's there to ask me?" he shrugged, smiling.

"You sure? Because I can wait."

"Can you, really?"

"Well… Sure, if that's what you…" the man looked like a puppy.

"I didn't mean it like that, I meant I don't think you could wait even if you wanted to. You love her, I know that. And she loves you, too. You're right, this year… Well, it's sucked. But not when it comes to you. You make her really happy, and I think after all we've been through, then she deserves this," he closed the box and slid it back to him. "What are you waiting for then?" Rich smiled, pocketing the box and coming around the counter. He wanted to hug him, Ewan could see, just as he could see that he wasn't sure if he should or could. So Ewan had saved him the trouble and initiated the hug.

"Thank you, Ewan."

"So how are you going to do it?"

Rich hadn't figured that part out yet, but with Ewan's help – along with Mitch – they had figured it out. It all had to go back to the place where things had really taken off for them… Rosalita's Road House.

They'd had to make some sort of arrangement with the owner, to get the underage boys in the building, if only for a few minutes, but then Shannon the Cannon was a regular of theirs, and a beloved one at that. Once they knew the reason for this 'infraction,' they had agreed, provided that Ewan and Mitch would both have eyes on them at all times and would not be served. They would come, do what they had to do, and then they'd leave. That was fine by them.

When Rich had called, asking if she wanted to go to the Road House that night, she'd hesitated at first. She'd had a long day at work and part of her wanted to just relax at home, but then there was something about Rosalita's that could grant her energy she didn't think she had left in her, so finally she agreed. She would put on her finest and join him. They sat, they got some drinks, and already she felt energized. She was glad he'd convinced her.

"Packed house, tonight," Shannon was just saying, when she turned and found Rich wasn't sitting next to her anymore. "Rich? Where d…" she looked around, but he was nowhere to be found.

"Alright, let's welcome one of our regulars to the stage right now. Rich Henley, come on out, I believe you have a song for us tonight? Come on out!" As the crowd cheered, Shannon was stunned to see him come up on stage, and she wondered for a moment if he'd fallen and hit his head.

"Okay, well, I'm not much of a singer myself," he spoke into the microphone. "So if you don't mind, I'm going to call in reinforcements," he gave a whistle, and Ewan and Mitch emerged from the back. The rest of the Road House's patrons, some of them clued in to what was about to go down, the others completely in the dark, welcomed the two boys, while Shannon looked at her nephew, still asking herself what was happening. It hadn't all come together, not yet. But the song helped.

While she knew for a fact that Rich wasn't too good of a singer, as he'd said, but he could hold his own, she hadn't expected Mitch to have a voice like the one she heard coming from him that night. This amazement had listed only so long as it had taken for her not only to recognize the song but also to realize its importance. This was the song they had first danced to, Rich and her. Looking around the bar, slowly, she'd begun to get it, or at least wondered if it was possible. What were the odds that something so wonderful could happen to her?

But then Rich came down from the stage, while the boys went on, and he came right up to her, pulling a move he would do often at work: he got down on one knee. Only this time he wasn't helping a shoe on to a foot, he was presenting a small box and opening it to reveal a diamond ring. She tried not to cry; she failed. With the music loud around them, there would be very few who could hear what Rich told her, but the response was clear, when he placed the ring on her finger and they kissed. Rosalita's went wild.

Ewan and Mitch were going to have to leave soon, they knew, but Ewan wanted the chance to see his aunt and talk to her. Rich must have explained this part of the deal, because just as they were making for the exit, two strong arms had pulled him in, and he embraced his aunt right back.

"You knew about this?" she asked.

"Surprised?" he asked back. She was still crying, still smiling.

"I just… I can't believe this."

"Believe it," Ewan kissed his aunt on the cheek. "Go on then, this is your night, Cannon."

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!