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 59th cycle. Now cycle 60!
This is a shift day. There are two updates today.
"One Song Closer"
Beiste & Ewan (OC; Damian McGinty), Sugar, E/S
A/N: This story and all stories for two weeks (days 1240-1253) are dedicated to
a very dear and awesome friend on the occasion of her birthday ;) Here's to you, Anne!
The day was going to be as much of an event as he'd ever had in the time since he'd come to Lima. He'd participated in one competition already, and this one was a big deal, too, he knew. If they got through these Regionals with a victory, then they would go on to the Nationals competition, and that was a bigger deal, that much he got. But the thing about going to this competition that had him fretting only had to do with the performance itself up to a point. The real thing he was focusing on was that they would all be there to watch him, not only his Aunt Shannon, but Rich and Mitch Henley as well.
After the storm of the store theft had blown over, his aunt and Rich had had a bit of a road to travel before they could get back what they had lost. Ewan had not wanted to intrude, feeling he'd done all this damage himself, even if he knew it had not been his fault.
But in the past weeks he had seen them, and what he saw were two people who had gotten across the mountain, across the bad, and who had never been stronger. Even Mitch had come to him, apologizing for the way he had treated him back when it was thought that Ewan was the culprit. He had accepted the apology. They were slowly but surely becoming a unit of four all over again, a family, and he had never been happier to have them all in his life.
His aunt had been alternating between nervous maternal figure and driven football coach mode since he'd woken that morning. He knew that, when they would all come on stage that day, he would be able to pick her cheer out of the crowd in an instant.
The whole of New Directions was busy fixing hair, checking makeup, straightening ties… He looked in the mirror and thought about his parents, the ones he had lost, not those he had found. He didn't get so sad as he used to, but then there would be moments like this, special occasions, birthdays, holidays, when he couldn't help but think about them.
His mother would have been the same as his aunt, he knew, getting him and his father wrangled and ready to be out the door so they wouldn't be late. They would never forget anything. She was magic with her bag, always had whatever he could need. She would have been focused the whole time, but he knew once the show would have actually started, she would have been in tears, watching her boy perform. This much he held in confidence from his father. He had to pretend like he had no idea, but his father had revealed that 'secret side' of his mother long ago. As anxious as she would be about them getting there, he would just want Ewan to feel ready on the inside, not to stress himself out too much. His aunt had both those sides inside her, and for that he loved her very much.
"We've got this in the bag," Sugar had told him, sliding in at his side.
"We do?" he asked, and she nodded.
"I saw the other clubs, we're definitely the best ones here."
"I don't know, I heard…"
"Ewan, have to think positive. We're the best, now say it," she insisted. He thought about this, turning a smile to her.
"McKinley for the win," he told her, and she pressed her hands together.
"Better, let's go."
Being in Glee Club like this, with Sugar, with Tina and Mike, with all of them, it had become like healing, a therapy of song and dance that made getting through the days just that much easy on him, light to wash out darkness from over him. He wanted to win as much as they did, and his stomach was going to twist in knots if he had to wait much longer.
Sitting in the audience, Shannon was feeling those same knots in her own stomach. At least she had Rich there to hold her hand, even though… "You're just as nervous as I am, aren't you?" she realized, looking at him, and he chuckled.
"I won't tell if you won't," he offered his other hand, and she shook it.
"Deal."
"I think they're next," Mitch informed them, so they looked ahead.
They never doubted that they were about to get a great show, but it didn't take away from their amazement in the least. They cheered on the New Directions as a whole, along with Ewan himself. When their number was over, Shannon was on her feet and cheering for her nephew. He looked into the audience, and she knew he could see her. At least this far away he probably couldn't see her crying. Even Mitch, who was coming more out of support for his would-be brother than for actual enjoyment of the whole Glee Club process, was determined that, if they didn't win, then someone had 'seriously messed up.'
No one had messed up. The New Directions had won, and they would be going to Nationals. The three of them sitting there had exploded with happiness, shouting and clapping for the group.
They would be reunited with Ewan soon. He spotted them through the crowd and smiled, working to make his way to them. His aunt was the first to receive him into her arms, squeezing him close.
"I knew you'd win, I just knew it," she laughed. His thanks were muffled, and she pulled back to give him air. Rich hugged him next, less choking than Shannon, while Mitch shook his hand and clapped his shoulder.
"That actually didn't suck," he declared.
"Thank you," Ewan smirked. "Sugar's parents are taking her to dinner to celebrate, they were wondering if we'd like to come along," he went on. Shannon and Rich had shared a quick look before she turned to her nephew.
"Lead the way."
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!