Chapter Text
Finale
By the time September 23rd comes around, Morse is suspicious. He’s been home for a few weeks and is still having regular visitors to keep an eye on him but for the last week or so they’ve all been up to something, and he was fairly sure Joan is the ringleader. It was nothing obvious at first, odd questions about his food preferences and small comments about his lack of furniture. The final clue as it were comes when Inspector Thursday insists that he goes to their house for lunch with the excuse that it will be a nice change of scenery for him and it’s a lovely day, but he should give Joan a spare key so that she can do some shopping for him.
“Why not just wait for the shopping until I’m home? Or better yet why not let me try doing it myself?”
“Because this fits in with work and you can’t walk that far yet or carry anything with your crutches. You know how it is.”
“Do I? I think I’m starting to forget. You know I’m fairly sure I can at least manage desk work at this point.”
“Stop sulking and get your coat.”
So now here he was, sat at the Thursday’s dining room table with a lovely lunch in front of him including homemade lemonade. He wasn’t involving himself in conversation much, it mainly seemed to be about Sam and his lovely new wife they’d yet to meet, choosing instead to let Fred and Win’s voices wash over him quietly. It’s very soothing for some reason. He manages to blink himself back to attention when he hears his name.
“Morse? No Joyce with you today?”
“No, no she had to get back for work. I’m going to go to her new place when I’m fit for travel and we’ve got an agreement to call at least once a week. She’s asked me to walk her down the aisle.”
“Good. She’s a lovely girl and Keith seems a lovely man. Shame about her mother but what can you do?”
Morse smirks, he never fails to be amused at Win Thursday’s thinly veiled barbs aimed at Gwen. It had taken several exhausting conversations with Joyce after he got home before she finally conceded that he and his stepmother will never get along. It will probably make her life easier now that she won’t be trying to keep a peace that was never there.
Once they’ve all eaten as many sandwiches and as much cake as they can, Win disappears for a moment and returns with a neatly wrapped parcel which she hands to him with a smile and gets a confused one back.
“What’s this?”
“What does it look like? Happy Birthday, love.”
Morse freezes for a moment. His birthday…he’d forgotten his own birthday. In his defence, he hadn’t celebrated properly for years, since his mother died if he really thought about it. His father often forgot, and he and Joyce had agreed not to bother a long time ago. He hadn’t thought anyone else would think to note the date. Inspecting the parcel in his hand he feels his eyes burning slightly as a lump forms in his throat.
“I er…I forgot.”
Win puts her hand over his gently as Fred put his hand on his shoulder as they let him have a moment. They both find themselves hoping that Joan’s plans won’t be too much for him, she does have the habit of going all out for birthdays. Eventually, Morse sniffs and looks up with a slight laugh.
“Miss Thursday didn’t need my key for shopping did she?”
Win winks at him but doesn’t confirm his suspicions.
“You just open your parcel and it's Joan, she really will get airs one of these days.”
Morse does as he’s told and unwraps the parcel with slightly shaking fingers. He pulls back the paper carefully to reveal a beautiful, soft, deep blue, woollen jumper. He suddenly remembers seeing her knitting in the hospital but never paid enough attention to notice what she was making. He looks up at her with a touched and grateful smile.
“Thank you. Really. No one’s ever…”
“Not even your mother?”
“I don’t remember.”
“Well, I hope you don’t mind but I took your measurements while you were unconscious.”
Morse blinks, he’s not sure what to do with that but it seems he wasn’t expected to do anything.
“Go on then lad…try it on. We’ve got to keep you here at least another hour yet.”
“Fred!”
“What? He knows somethings up. No point in pretending.”
“Hmpf. I suppose I would like to see that it fits. I wasn’t sure about the sleeves.”
Watching her bite her lip in genuine concern has Morse swapping his thin, red jumper for his plush new blue one as quickly as he can manage. It’s softer than he first thought and a perfect fit, the sleeves are maybe a little long, but Morse likes that. The polo neck is loose enough not to be constricting but tight enough to feel secure. It’s perfect.
He looks back up at Win with a small grin and sees her beaming back at him. For the first time he can remember, he can’t stop himself from moving in for a hug which she joyfully returns.
“Oh, I’m so pleased! It looks lovely on you.”
“I’m going to have to start celebrating my birthday more often.”
Fred laughs at that and moves to go and fetch more lemonade.
“Don’t make any decisions until you’ve seen what Joan has in store for you.”
The first thing Morse notices on returning to his house with Fred and Win is the cars in his driveway, his neighbours must wonder what’s happening seeing more than one for the first time since he moved in but he’s simply relieved that there are only four.
The second thing he notices is the light in his living room going out as they park the car which has Fred tutting.
“Well, if you didn’t know before…you do now. Honestly.”
“They’re going to jump up and shout aren’t they?”
“That was the plan.”
“In which case, I’m glad I know. Might give me a heart attack otherwise.”
Win insists they make a show of having a normal conversation and so they enter the house chatting about the days getting shorter before the Thursdays hold back to let Morse brave his living room alone.
“SURPRISE!”
Despite already knowing, Morse still jumps and loses grip on his crutches slightly but manages to stay balanced. If it had happened as soon as he got out of the hospital, that one small thing would have hurt like hell, so he’s pleased to recognise how much he’s recovered.
Looking around Morse manages to match the faces to the cars fairly easily. Joan is standing at the front grinning ear to ear and wearing a blue dress that oddly matches his new jumper. Behind her are Jim Strange, Dorothea Frazil and Max DeBryn all looking relatively jolly.
It’s then that Morse notices his living room.
“You brought extra furniture?”
“Correction; we bought, donated and rescued furniture. Congratulations Sergeant Morse you know have a house that looks lived in. Happy Birthday.”
Dorothea couldn’t have looked prouder of herself if she tried. Morse has to wonder about the ‘rescued’ furniture but decides it’s not worth it.
“Er…thank you, I think. I’m guessing I have you to thank for organising this Miss Thursday?”
“It was a team effort…but yes, haha. I was going to leave an open invitation at the station, but I was overruled so it’s only a small party. Mr Bright will be along after his painting class.”
“I prefer small. Thank you.”
Smiling at each other, they almost forget that they’re not alone until Win almost dances into the room carrying trays of food and Fred isn’t far behind with a tray of drinks.
For the next few hours, Morse’s house is filled with talk and laughter and what is in his opinion the worst music he’s ever heard until he has to excuse himself and make his way out into the garden, leaving his crutches by the door and limping onto the grass. The sun has set, and the stars are out, it’s a beautiful night. He stands for a moment, taking deep breaths and simply enjoying the peace and quiet.
“You can tell us to leave you know.”
Startling he spins round, momentarily forgetting about his limited mobility and stumbles, nearly falling before he finds himself in Joan’s arms as she steadies him.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have snuck up on you.”
“It’s alright. I’m alright.”
Standing this close to her, he’s struck by the clear blue of her eyes. Unconsciously, he raises his hand to move a stray strand of hair from her forehead which leads her to look down with a blush. Looking back up at him she smiles her signature cheeky smile that he loves so much.
“Nice jumper! We match. Maybe it’s a sign.”
“Maybe it is.”
Joan feels like a teenager on a first date instead of a grown woman in her early 30’s. She’s so tempted to do what they both do best and cover the moment with another joke before walking away but Jim’s words come back to haunt her and she knows that if she doesn’t put her cards on the table now, she never will. So, she raises her arms to hold his face gently in her hands and looks him square in the eyes.
“Morse, I love you. We’ve both been so…stupid with each other and you know me far better than I know you even after 8 years. The number of times I’ve wondered if I should’ve said yes, consequences be damned, and you need to finish your sentences! So…I’ve decided that I’m going to ask you two questions and how you answer those two questions determines where we go from here. The ball is in your court. Alright?”
Morse’s eyes couldn’t be wider as he nods quickly with a harsh swallow, the bright shine of tears making them almost glow in the starlight. One of his hands is holding her arm the way he did at the train station before she walked away from him and it’s all enough to bring tears to her own eyes.
“Alright.”
The moment of truth then. This is the moment where he either breaks both their hearts or, the moment where she hands him hers on a silver platter.
“Detective Sergeant Morse…what is your name and what or who do I mean the world to?”
Morse lets a couple of tears fall as he releases a sound that’s something resembling a laugh, his spare hand coming up to wipe a stray tear from her cheek before he lets it rest there.
“Please don’t laugh at me. My...my name…is Endeavour and...you mean the world to me.”
Looking back at this moment they would never remember who moved first. They’d just remember how right it felt when their lips met for the first time in a soft but passionate kiss. They’d also remember the mortification as a whistle and round of applause comes from the back door where they find the entire party looking like all of their Christmases have come at once.
They both blush bright red but laugh as Joan confidently wraps Morse in a tight hug which he returns with a happy sigh.
“Sod off! I’ve waited 8 years for this! You can at least give us 5 minutes.”
“You’ve had five minutes. That’s why we came looking.”
“Fred!”
“Alright, alright. About time too is all I’ll say.”
It’s all he did say before a delighted Win ushers them all back inside with orders to put the kettle on and leave them to it.
Safely wrapped in each other’s arms, Morse and Joan simply stay there for several moments before Joan shifts to look up at him, her chin resting on his chest.
“We do this right yeah? Get to know each other properly. No rushing, no secrets, and no leaving it by the front door. I want to be the one you come to with your problems and I am definitely coming to you with mine. Promise?”
Morse smiles and drops a kiss on her forehead.
“Promise. It won’t be easy you know that don’t you?”
“I know. Good thing neither of us is afraid of a challenge. I love you, Endeavour Morse.”
“I love you, Joan Thursday.”
Morse wouldn’t say that his found family had fixed him because that would be wrong. He wasn’t who he used to be but between the Thursdays and their friends they were slowly gathering all of his broken pieces that had been scattered all around through the course of his life and they were slowly forging them into something new. For the first time in a long time, Morse was looking forward to seeing what that became.