hard work

Who: Mickey and Eily
Where: Eily’s building
When: evening

Mickey didn’t take the short way home after December threw him out. In fact he walked the long way, twisting through Little Haven, watching the buildings as he rolled by them in his truck. He wasn’t really thinking when he saw the lights on in her building, not at first, but passing it he looped back pulling up outside of it and getting out of his truck. It was late for her to still be in there, and really he had no business stopping in on her, but after what had happened with December, maybe it would be a good change of pace.

Knocking on the door to the outside, he looked in the windows, just to see if he could see her in there.

Eily was in there, putting things away. The progress was clipping along fairly well, even if she still wasn’t anywhere near ready to open. When she heard the knock, she looked over, spotting Mickey through the glass. Smiling brightly, she headed to open the door for him right away. “Hey!” she greeted cheerfully, happy to see him.

“Hey,” he answered in return, finding a smile as the pain from what happened earlier was masked over. “Burning the midnight oil?”

She laughed a little. “Yeah. Just...trying to get as much in order as I possibly can before tomorrow’s work crew comes in to do more. Want to come in for a while?” she asked. They had to talk anyhow, since she’d started seeing Jason. She hadn’t actually had an opportunity to tell Mickey that yet, even if he’d been aware she had more than one suitor.

Mickey glanced outside for just a moment, trying to sort out if it was a good idea. His head wasn’t really in the right place, not with having been under December, shirtless with her pressing against him less than an hour before. Still, walking away would bring up questions and while Mickey wanted people to get closer, or wished they would, this was one time when he didn’t. “Sure, maybe I can help out. Better than heading back to the apartment to sit there alone.”

“Well I’m not doing anything all that interesting, I’d like the company.” she said, heading back in so he could follow. “Want something to drink?” she asked. “And just heading home to sit alone? No plans for tonight?” she continued, not sure what Mickey did with his free time, really.

“Uh yeah, a drink would be a good idea,” Mickey agreed, following behind her and closing the door. “Plans fell through.” Which wasn’t exactly the truth. He had just dropped in on December, but then he was thinking about staying, then she’d thrown him out. Any way he looked at it the night hadn’t gone like he expected.

Eily got out two glasses, glancing up at him a moment. She paused, giving a hesitant smile before she poured. “Are you okay?” she asked. She didn’t have anything overt to be worried about, really, but something seemed slightly off. She could be imagining things, of course, but she thought it best to ask.

Mickey considered telling her, for the briefest of instances the idea crossed his mind, but then he pushed it away. No use in spilling it. What was confiding in one person if that last time he’d done it had gone so terribly wrong. Shaking his head he gave her a more genuine smile and sat down at the bar. “M’fine,” he promised. “Just long day at work then plans getting messed, makes a guy weary. That’s all. Place looks good.”

“Okay. Well, if you want to talk about anything, I’m here, okay?” she asked, pushing his glass towards him. She smiled at the compliment, however, and glanced around. “It’s starting to take shape.” she said. “So that’s nice. I want to open as soon as I can. And I want to get the apartment upstairs ready so I can move in.” She paused. “...which brings me to another thing...remember how I told you I had another suitor?” she asked, wincing a little. “...we’ve decided to give things a real try.”

“I know that,” Mickey said, knowing he wouldn’t talk to her about things. It just wasn’t like him. He took the glass, sipping at it as she spoke. At mention of the apartment he almost offered to help out but the next comment slowed him down a little. Looking down at the bar he managed a nonchalant shrug and a nod. “Makes sense. Just so long as you’re happy.” Twice. Massively rejected twice in one day by women he wasn’t even with. It was a record or something.

Eily really couldn’t not notice that. She watched him, not saying anything for a moment. “I’m sorry. It wasn’t anything to do with you, I promise. If Jason hadn’t barged back into my life, I would probably be asking you if you wanted to take things to a less casual level. I think you’re adorable, and great, and you’re going to make some girl incredibly lucky some day. I really hope that we can stay friends. Though I understand if you don’t want to.”

“Eily, stop, really. You don’t have to explain.” He’d seen that guy, that Jason. Mickey was not that guy and outside of the limp they both had there was nothing that connected them. “Of course we’re still friends. We always were. Doesn’t make sense to stop now.” Even if, yeah, that sucked a bit. Especially hearing the part about how if there wasn’t another guy she would have wanted to be with him. How was that supposed to make him feel better? It was like blatantly being told he wasn’t good enough. He was’t going to be making any girl lucky any day soon, not at this rate. “You have anything around here I can do?” he asked, needing something, anything to keep from just walking out now.

“Sorry, I just really didn’t want to hurt you or anything. But if you aren’t, and you’re fine, then okay.” she said, not sure if it was a front or not. Though if he really wasn’t hurt, then maybe he hadn’t been that into her in the first place. Which would make the friends thing more workable. “And...er..like right now?” she asked, not sure if he was asking about long term job offers, or if he wanted to be doing something this very second.

“I’m fine,” he lied, but it didn’t seem like a lie at all with the even tone and the smile that went with it. “Just so long as you’re happy. That’s what matters.” At her question he looked around and shrugged. “I was asking for now, but whatever. Tomorrow, next week. If you need help with the apartment I can help there too.”

“Well, I was thinking about trying to work on the bartop here. It needs to be sanded. I started on that end, but as you can see, I didn’t make it all that far.” she said, pointing to the sanding block down the way from them. “Though if you start work right now I think I’d have to pay you like, ridiculous amounts of overtime for the silly hour.”

Mickey was already picking up his glass and making his way towards the end of the bar, looking at what she’d done already and what was left. “You don’t have to pay me,” he told her shaking his head and sipping at his drink again. He just wanted something to do, something to fix and make right rather than his relationships which seemed to be in a shambles.

"Well that's just insanity." Eily told him, looking for a second sanding block, which she found over by the set of tools on the floor behind the bar. She started a little down from him, figuring they could work on it together and talk at the same time. "You're too nice--you need to stop making it easy for people to take advantage of you, you know. I'm certainly not going to be a party to it."

“People don’t usually take advantage of me,” Mickey told her with a shrug of his shoulders while he set to work. “I’m too big and mildly intimidating for that.” He ran the block over the bar, watching the old furnish fall away, relaxed at just having something to do with his hands.

Eily watched him out of the corner of her eye as she helped. The trouble with his statement was the best kind of con was where someone didn't even realize they were being taken for a ride. She could see him falling into that category. "Well...either way, Mickey, I'm not taking advantage of your kindness." she assured him.

“I’m not gonna take your money Eily,” Mickey say shaking his head. “It was the kind of night where having something to do with my hands helps. Consider that payment enough.” He was focused on what he was doing, sanding hard and making quicker progress than he guessed she did.

Frowning, she watched him for a long moment. "Okay. Something's the matter. What's going on?" she asked. "Why is tonight the kind of night where you'd rather be doing free hard labor than going home to relax? Something's up. Please tell me." she said, setting her sanding block down for the time being.

Mickey didn’t want to tell her. There was no good answer for what had happened with himself and December. It wasn’t easy to explain and given that he was still doing whatever he’d been doing with Eily until she shut him down fifteen minutes earlier it wasn’t appropriate either. Focusing on his sanding for a long moment he didn’t answer right away. “Plans fell through tonight because I got in a fight with a friend. Not sure if there’s any fixing it.”

She could wait. So she gave the time, not going to fill the silence until he gave in and answered. When he did, she nodded. "Okay, what happened with the fight?" she asked. "You don't look roughed up, so I'm guessing it wasn't a physical altercation?"

In a way it had been a physical altercation, but not like Eily meant, which had Mickey shaking his head. “Stupid really. Just...there’s some things going on that is messing my friend up and now we’re...I don’t know where we are. Threw me out at the end of the night. Doesn’t want to be fixed. But you know me. I fix things. So I’m here.”

Walking down the bar closer to him again, she leaned her elbows on a section already sanded, and watched him. "What's messing them up? Why would they throw you out?" she asked. "You're not really a 'toss him on the street' sort of guy." she pointed out. Because he really wasn't. He was a sweet, respectful person.

Mickey kept sanding even if she was closer. “I...I can’t tell you what is. But it’s bad and in the moment...being the nice guy was the wrong thing. But it changes things between us and apparently too much.” And now December wanted nothing to do with him. She’d threatened to call the cops on him and he was sure the fact that he wouldn’t give in to her physically was playing a bigger part than he wanted it to.

Eying Mickey critically, Eily made the logical leap. "We're talking about a woman, aren't we?" she asked. It was the mention of being 'the nice guy'. That sort of phrase didn't play in as far as she knew unless there was a female involved. She didn't mind, though. She'd had other suitors herself, so if he'd had other prospects, that was just fair. The fact that she didn't mind was clear in her tone. "What happened with being a nice guy?"

“Does it matter?” Mickey said half defensively before looking with a sigh. He knew he was going to get lectured for this and he felt really bad about what happened. Maybe Eily had others, but he didn’t and he’d been interested in more than just the friendship they had between them. That she didn’t seem to mind hurt as well, but he kept that to himself. “Just too nice. Too good, whatever. It’s not...it’s different with us and me trying to fix things would take that away. Apparently she’d rather get rid of me all together than me help out.”

"Generally, the differences between men and women matter a whole lot." Eily told him, not reacting to him getting a little defensive there. "If I weigh in on what you're going through, it'll change depending on who this person is to you, and if they're a man or woman." She explained, taking in the rest of what he said. "What qualifies as 'too nice'?" she asked, confused on that. "How could that possibly be held against you? That's...crazy sounding." she said delicately. "And you fixing things is bad too? I...is this woman not stable?" she asked, wincing a little. "Either I'm really missing something, or she's off."

Mickey set down the sander and rubbed at his eyes a little, trying to figure out where to start without telling everything. “She’s upset. And we...we have a different relationship than just friendly people. There’s an expectation of honesty and this idea that we’re not there to give into one another’s crutches. Mine being the urge to fix people. She says her becoming that changes things, even if she needs it.” Looking down at the bar, he brushed at the dust there. “As for too nice, it’s because I kept things in check. Not going to take advantage of her.”

Eily tried to follow what he was saying about his relationship with this girl, but wasn't sure she understood fully. But she didn't ask for more clarification. This seemed hard enough on him as it is. So she took the point instead, not thinking she needed to be wholly on board with what the technical details were. "What do you mean 'kept things in check'?" she asked. "And what do you consider taking advantage?"

This was the part that he didn’t want to talk to Eily about. It made things slightly awkward given how he felt about her. “Physically,” he finally admitted, but looked away from her again, and pushed back away from the bar. “It was nothing, stupid really, but...I stopped it. She got upset.”

Eily took a beat to let that sink in, and after a few long moments it clicked. "Oooohh." she said. "You mean things were getting sort of hot and heavy and you hit the breaks?" she asked, surprised. She also left it there so she could get the confirmation.

“That makes it sound more interesting than it was,” Mickey lied. It had been so much more than that. It wasn’t just hot and heavy it was something they’d talked about then almost ran away with. “But sure. That’s one way of putting it.”

Making a face, Eily sighed. "Sweetie, if getting physical with someone isn't interesting, then you're not attracted, end of story. It shouldn't feel boring. And if you're the one saying to stop, and she got mad...sounds to me like you just aren't into this girl. Which probably means you should kind of let things lie as they are. Sort of non-fixed. Move on to someone you're actually excited to be around, who makes sense to you and you want to be hot and heavy with."

Right, because that was working out oh so well for him right now with Eily hooking up with some other guy. There was a bitterness there, in the back of his mouth that he wanted to give into but Mickey wasn’t like that. “That’s not why it wasn’t that interesting. It’s...just not as bad as you might think. And I didn’t stop because I didn’t want to, I stopped because it was the right thing to do. It wasn’t a good idea.” She’d been drinking for who knew how long, she was lonely and upset and he wasn’t that kind of guy.

Propping her chin on her hand, she kept her eyes on him, not sure what to say to that for a second. But she recovered soon enough. "Why wasn't it interesting?" she asked. "And why was stopping the right thing to do?" If she got where he was coming from, maybe she'd understand better. Though she still maintained if you were getting into physical stuff with someone and things weren't interesting, there was a massive, massive problem.

He looked at her for a moment, wondering if she had any idea how cute she was. Mickey was going to go with yes, but at the same time what could he do. Looking away he shook his head. “It was interesting to me, but it doesn’t get to be to you. I’m not going to kiss and tell.” He shot her a look at that, firm in what he was saying. “Because it was too much too fast. I’m not that kind of guy. Plus she’s a mess. That’s wrong, no matter how interesting it is.”

Eily gave a little pout. "Just a second ago you were saying it was uninteresting--which is kind of a big deal, dear. I'm not asking for the gorey details or anything, but you can't change your story and expect me to believe you." she said. Because it was blatantly obvious that he was just pulling a one-eighty now. That didn't fly. She tried to figure out the logistics of the rest of his statement, but was still a little confused. "....you're not what kind of guy?" she asked, feeling like she missed a beat. "To sleep with someone when they're sad or whatever she was? 'messed up'?"

Mickey gave Eily a look. “I might have fudged the truth in attempts to not have this conversation with you of all people,” he told her, admitting his own embarrassment. “And no. I’m not that kind of guy. I’m the nice guy and he doesn’t take advantage of someone in a vulnerable state.” Or any state in Mickey’s case, but since Eily had been so brazen with the terminology and where the situation could have gone, he opted to keep his virgin status to himself.

She still wasn't entirely sure she believed him. But she let that part of the conversation drop, for now. She didn't want to make him more embarrassed, since he'd mentioned it. But she was wondering if it was so boring he couldn't perform or something. She didn't know. Moving on, she focused on what else he said. She opened her mouth, then shut it again, a mildly disconcerted expression on her features. Then she tried again. "I understand what you're saying, and you're probably right, but it isn't always like that." she said hesitantly.

That wasn’t what he was expecting to hear and Mickey looked at Eily with confusion spread across his features. “What do you mean by that?” Sure, he wasn’t well versed in sex, but he was pretty sure he figured out what ‘taking advantage of’ looked like.

Biting at her lower lip a little, she made a touch of a pained face. She considered how to put things, then went for the most honest of answers. "You probably don't want to hear this, but it's the best example I have. When hooking up happened with my ex, it was pretty much at the lowest point in his life. I have never seen him like that before. Like...the world just up and drowned him. And...what happened wasn't 'taking advantage' of someone vulnerable...it was helping ease the pain. Sometimes people just...need to know they aren't alone." she said, trying to get through it as succinctly as possible. "And sometimes the best way to show that isn't through anything involving words. Words...can be empty. They can ring hollow, when you're feeling hollow yourself. But if you show someone they aren't alone, you give them that ready, undeniable connection...the world might not suck so much anymore. It's something to hold on to, not what you're talking about. And trust me, I know a lot of men do that, they push things, or whatever. But if she was the one who wanted things, and I think I understand that from what you're saying, if I'm wrong, I'm sorry. But if she was the one who wanted something, maybe it was because that was what she needed, not some awful thing you were trying to do. Do you see what I mean?" she asked.

She was exactly right. That was not what he wanted to hear about at all. Not in any way did he want to know about her hooking up with some ex. Having sex with some ex. Or the ex was probably the better way to look at it, the one that got her back. For a moment he lost track of what she was saying, too caught up in a swirl of emotion that stayed off his face but ate at his insides. It passed though and he listened to her, leaning on the bar again with his head hanging a little. “But I’m not that kind of guy. Even if it would have helped...I can’t do that casually. And when I couldn’t, even me staying there or just being there wasn’t acceptable.”

Eily watched him, exhaling quietly. She felt bad. He looked pretty pathetic himself right now, pretty out of sorts and his tone wasn't helping that image. She poured him a little more to drink and slid it towards him. "If you can't do that casually, then that's your decision. And I personally commend you for it. Most men are all about the physical without strings attached. You're different, and that isn't a bad thing." she said first. "As for her tossing you after you turned that down...you probably just really hurt her feelings. And if she was already upset, and looking for a connection or whatever, and such, then you staying there would probably have made things worse. No one wants to deal with rejection when they're already raw on the insides. But if she wants more out of you than you're willing to give, then we're back to what I said before--maybe this girl isn't who you should be spending your time with, even if you are worried about her mental health. Maybe it isn't up to you to try and fix her. Some people are just broken, you know. And there isn't anything anyone can do. I know. I had some family members like that. They just..." she shrugged and sighed. "They just weren't quite right. And nothing was going to fix that. It was best to just get out of their way."

Mickey looked up, rubbing at his chin and not taking the drink right away. He appreciated the gesture, but for the moment it wouldn’t help. “I’m not most men,” he said softly, shaking his head again. “It’s not that I didn’t enjoy being with her. I did. More than I expected, but I don’t know what I am to her and I can’t just...I can’t just be nothing. It’s not in me to get that involved and not be anything to the other person.” It was why he didn’t let people in at all and he’d stupidly let December get under his skin and now she was tearing him up from the inside out. Taking the drink he gulped a good bit of it in one swig before setting it down. “If she shuts me out, she’ll shut out the whole world. And all I did was fuck it up.”

"What was it you were saying earlier about her?" Eily asked, going back to the part she wasn't fully getting. "You said she was different?" she prompted, taking another sip of her own drink. "Also--no, you didn't fuck anything up, okay? Don't be so hard on yourself. You've got standards, that's nothing to apologize for, and it shouldn't mess anything up at all. If you really think it did then that is not your problem, that is hers." she tacked on adamantly, not wanting him to feel like his choices were wrong.

He hoped it wasn’t what he did, but he wasn’t sure he believed Eily. It was easy to blame Eric for what he’d done to December, but Mickey was still sure some of the blame belonged to him. “She’s different from anyone I know. Lives by different rules, treats me different, all of it. It’s hard to explain outside of different.”

"And you don't know what you are to her? Isn't that playing by the rules everyone else does?" Eily posed, though it was less to be devil's advocate and more to just be sure she understood things. But, even as she did say it she realized it could be taken like that. Like a question that warranted thought.

“We’re friends. Were friends, whichever is applicable. But...it hasn’t come up outside of that. Maybe for her, adding that would change nothing, but for me it would change everything. I don’t take it lightly.” Mickey was past the point of caring what questions she was asking at this point. He was feeling beaten down, part from the fight with December, from holding her secrets as his and from Eily’s own rejection. Putting up a fight was falling low on the list.

She believed him that it would change everything for him. She kept watching him, still feeling bad for him. "You don't sound like you want it. Like you're ready for things to change. Maybe you just don't want to be with her, and she's pushing things you don't want. If that's the case, hon, then you should steer clear. She sounds like a mess. And you don't need that in your life, especially if it's involving your own personal standards." she said gently.

There was a moment of quiet, Mickey swirling what was left of what was in his glass while he thought. The answer was there, right there on the tip of his tongue but admitting it was something else. Looking up at Eily he let out a small sigh. “I can’t. I can’t steer clear or walk away.” It had taken everything in him to leave tonight, even more to not sit outside her door, waiting until she let him in again. “As much of a mess as she is, I don’t want to lose her.”

Eily watched his eyes, sighing slightly. She was definitely missing something, if he did feel that way. From his description of everything, it seemed pretty cut and dried. A very 'not worth the headache' sort of situation, where they both wanted different things. Plus, Eily was not convinced this other woman wasn't a total basket case. But she didn't say that. It wouldn't help him. So she went another direction. "What do you want from her? You said you don't know what you mean to her. What does she mean to you, or what would you want her to mean to you?"

That was a harder to answer question than it should have been. Before she’d pounced on him, Mickey would have easily answered her friendship. The no-bull-shit-not-here-to-save-you friendship they’d started. Now it was a far murkier answer that he couldn’t quite explain properly. “I don’t want to lose our friendship, what ground we’ve already covered. I like having her in my life.” It was stupid, but the little things about her had resonated with him. That she called him Michael and not Mickey, even when she was miserable. The way she’d asked about the tattoo on his arm and what it meant. How she’d asked about his other siblings. Losing that seemed dangerous, like losing all the others he’d lost before her.

Biting at her lower lip again a moment, Eily looked sympathetic. "...if she wants.." she cleared her throat. "'other' things from you, friendship might not be on the table." she said lightly. "Which is probably stupid, but one of those truths about human nature." she added. "And you're not into the physical, so..." she trailed off. "I'm sorry, I know that's probably not what you want to hear."

Mickey frowned but wound up letting out a sigh. “I know it’s true though.” Maybe he should have just gone through with it, let her coax him into things he didn’t do, hadn’t done before. It was a stupid thought to even consider and it was pushed away quickly. He didn’t do that and no matter how different it was seeing her like that, he wasn’t going to change because she needed someone to fill a space Eric had left behind. “I can’t not try though.”

"My honest opinion is you two aren't anywhere near the same page." she said. "And I know, I don't know all the details or anything, but that's what I'm getting from what you've told me. And if you're not on the same page, then all this is going to do is end in people getting even more hurt. And you're hurting already. So...you might want to let this go, Mickey. I can see she's important to you, and you want to give things a try, but...sometimes people are just too different to be compatible, even as friends." she said gently.

There was a strong chance he wasn’t even in the same book as December, let alone page, but that wasn’t stopping things. “Yeah, maybe,” he said and it sounded believable, like he was going to consider what Eily was saying even if he was already internally shaking his head at it. He was compatible with anyone, but only December knew the truths. She knew more than Elle, than anyone since his family and that he’d felt good enough to tell her was something he couldn’t explain properly to Eily. Even drunk he wasn’t the type to spill that information to someone, but December had left him feeling like he could say anything. So while he was speaking like he was considering giving it up and walking away, Mickey was internally thinking of ways to fix it, to get himself let back inside.

Eily took that as him accepting what she said. "Trust me, it'll be for the best in the long run." she assured him. "You can find some nice Catholic girl who shares your beliefs and standards, and you can be happy." Since it seemed like he was saying he was against sex, or at least casual sex, so she was thinking he adhered to the letter of Catholicism than she did. "Actually, maybe you could start teaching Sunday school or something, I know there's a few young ladies who help out with that sort of thing, maybe you could meet someone there. Or there are other events, maybe we could both sort of put together a church picnic or something, see who comes?" she suggested. After all, they both went to the Cathedral on Sundays, and that was that. And since she wasn't going to be with him, she wanted to set him up with someone who would make him happy. Someone who wasn't whoever it was who he was talking about, because that sounded like all kinds of bad news.

That she was already planning for whom he might date after this was rubbing salt into some fresh wounds, but Mickey, like always, didn’t really show it. Instead he found a smile and shook his head. “I’m there all the time already. Trust me, if some nice girl there was going to find me, she would.” Still, Eily was trying and it felt wrong not to at least give her something. “But a picnic couldn’t hurt, just to see who has time to come out.”

"Maybe it isn't some nice girl that has to find you, maybe it's you who has to go finding the nice girl." Eily said. Which was the more traditional manner of going about things. She was pretty sure the girls that went to their church were much more the 'wait for them to come to me' types. "And a picnic it is then. I will put my head towards something! Promise." she said, giving him an encouraging smile. "You deserve to be happy, Mickey. You're a nice guy, and you just need the right girl." She hadn't been the right one, and the chick he was talking about definitely wasn't.

He was starting to think there wasn’t a right girl, especially with the way the women in his life kept talking about her existing, but not pointing her out. “Alright, alright, but you know what I meant,” he said in response to make the move himself. Picking up the sander he looked down at the bar, working on that instead. He was a nice guy, sure, but that wasn’t securing his happiness right now and part of him thought maybe it wouldn’t ever.

"Yeah, I do. I just...Mickey you're adorable and you're sweet and you are hands down the nicest guy I have ever had the privilege to know. But you might lack that little bit of the eye of the tiger, so to speak." Eily said, going back to sanding herself. "They say nice guys finish last, and the reason is because sometimes nice guys expect everything to fall in their lap, or they don't go for what they want, not wanting to step on toes to get it. Just think about that a little. Maybe if you really want something, you might need to forget you're so nice all the time and go for it."

He had to wonder if she was talking about herself as well, or just limiting it to everything else in his life. It ran parallel with what December had said about wanting more in his life, about rising from what he was. That thought came with a roll of his tattooed shoulder and just as much pain as what Eily was saying was bringing. “Guess I just have to figure out what I really want,” he said, not looking up from his work as he made a decision about which toes he was going to step on to get what he wanted. December wouldn’t be pleased, but Mickey was starting to think that maybe that wouldn’t matter.

"That would be a start." Eily confirmed. "Like, I didn't really know what I wanted before, but I sure do now. And I don't care what it takes? I'm getting this place up and running, and it's going to be successful." she said firmly. Not that she'd ever lacked the ability to go for what she wanted. Eily was a force of nature when she wanted to be. "So...yeah. For you? Figure out what you want, then go for it. And if you need anything from me to get there, you just let me know. It's the least I could do."

“I’m sure it will be great,” Mickey said about the place, relieved that she didn’t mention Jason as what she wanted. Maybe she meant him, but he was holding on to what she’d explicitly pointed out which was the building itself. “I’ll get on it. Thanks though. I’ll let you know if I need help.” He wouldn’t even if he paired the comment with a grateful smile. If the first thing that popped into his head was December, he wouldn’t get Eily’s help. He was pretty sure she just wouldn’t understand.

She smiled back at him. "That's the spirit." she told him, happy he seemed to be perking up a little. And listening. Hopefully it would work out for the guy. He was very sweet, she'd meant that sincerely. "Til then...church picnics. And who knows what else. It'll get figured out." she said with confidence.

“It always does,” he agreed, not quite feeling the smile on his features, but keeping it there nonetheless. It was sad, in a way, that she had no idea how he really felt, that he wasn’t able to show her how many times just tonight she’d hurt him, but he wasn’t like that. He kept it inside and dealt with it, just he always did. “Sanding and church picnics. What else could we need?”

I can think of a whole lot. Eily thought but didn't say. She was being positive and such. "Can't think of a thing." she told him. "Well. Maybe another drink." she added, getting them more. They could ride out the rest of the night like this, or at least however long he wanted to stay and help. She still planned on paying him for his time, as well. Maybe that would help too. Who knew. She just hoped for the best.