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The walk to the beach wasn’t bad, not since they had been fishing at the town river for the past two hours. The entire town would be there, so Bee went around the beach and pier saying hello before finding their way over to Shane and Jas. Jas was skipping along the edge under Shane’s watchful eye when they got there.
“Bee!” Jas threw herself at them, hugging them around their waist.
They laughed and hugged the little girl, running their hand down through her hair. “Hey, Jas. Behaving yourself?”
“Always!”
Shane tried hiding his smile as he watched his goddaughter interact with his partner, but Bee could see through him.
Bee was about to speak when Evelyn came up with a plate of cookies and interrupted. “Happy birthday, Bee. Don’t think I’ve forgotten.”
“It’s your birthday, Bee? How old are you?”
“Uh, 28, Jas. Thanks, Granny Evelyn.” They took the plate of cookies, unable to look anyone in the eyes. It wasn’t until Evelyn went back to where George was that they spoke up again. “Hey, Jas? Can I talk to Shane alone for a second?”
She nodded and bounded off toward Vincent. Shane turned to look at Bee, a curious look in his eyes.
“I- um… I need to tell you something. You’ve just been so honest to me about your drinking problem and I’ve been hiding my own addiction from you.” They sighed, turning to look up at him. “I was a drug addict, I’m clean now. Three months this week. I overdosed three and a half months ago, I guess it was a good thing because it set me straight.”
Shane was quiet as Bee spoke and when they finished, he just wrapped his arms around them and pressed a kiss to their head. “Thank you for trusting me with this.”
“Don’t go telling everyone this, only you and Harvey- maybe Maru know. I’m not ready for everyone else to know.”
“Of course, bumblebee.”
They smiled at the nickname and leaned against him as Lewis sent the candle boat out to sea. Soon after the moonlight jellies came close enough to be seen.
-
After the festival ended, Shane walked Bee home. He wouldn’t take no for an answer, so the two of them took the hike through Cindersnap Forest to the farm. They joked around and really enjoyed their time together so much that the hike didn’t seem to take that long.
Soon enough they were at the door of Bee’s cottage. They stood at the door in silence for a long moment before Bee spoke up.
“Do you want to come in? Eat a cookie or two before you go?”
Shane smiled, not hiding it this time. “Yeah.”
They walked in and Bee’s dog, Honey was up on the bed waiting. She jumped off and went over to them, tail wagging like there was no tomorrow.
“Hey, pretty girl. Miss me?” Bee laughed and pet her before going over to the dining table and putting the cookies down, Honey followed and let out a bark in reply.
Shane came up behind them, hands resting on their waist. “Can’t believe summer is already over, you know? Guess you’ll be pretty busy from now till fall ends.”
“Never too busy for you.” They turned and wrapped their arms around his neck. “You still have to teach me about chickens after all. I don’t remember much from when Grandpa had them.” At the mention of their grandpa, their smile fell.
“Whoa there. What’s wrong?”
“I...” Dammit, Shane. You just have to notice the little things. “Tomorrow is the anniversary of Grandpa’s death.”
It took Shane a moment to realize the gravity of the situation. “Oh. Do you want me to stay the night? You shouldn’t be alone right now, at least I wouldn’t want to be.”
Bee nodded, burying their face in his neck. They didn’t end up eating the cookies after all.
Shane went to bed after they talked for a while, but Bee stayed up needing to write their weekly recap down in their journal. It was getting colder in the cottage, they’ll need to check out the heating situation before winter came, so they were wearing Shane’s old hoodie.
For once, Bee was safe and happy and they knew then that moving back to Pelican Town was a good idea.
“Bee… Come to bed already.”
They smiled and turned off their lamp and stood. “Okay, you big baby. I’m coming.”