Restoration [Shawn Mendes] AU

Chapter 21

Michelle woke up in the morning, feeling like she'd been run over by a truck. Her eyes were swollen from crying so much from the day before and she felt a little nauseous, not like she was going to throw up, but just a pit in her stomach. She went downstairs and made a cup of tea and had some saltine crackers to see if that would settle her stomach. While sitting at the breakfast bar she looked out the kitchen windows, watching a light snow begin to fall. The sight of the snow made her feel like crying all over again, thinking about how Beau used to get so excited when he saw the snow and always wanted to go out and play in it, even if it wasn't that deep. She stood up and walked over to where she had left her purse yesterday, to find her phone.

She pressed the contact for the Stevenson's number and heard the phone ring, waiting for one of them to pick up. On the third ring, Margot Stevenson answered, "Michelle? It's so good to hear from you honey!"

"Hello Margot. It's good to hear your voice too. I'm sorry I haven't called sooner," Michelle answered. "Would it be alright if I came by to see you and Daniel either today or tomorrow?"

"Why yes dear, today would be fine. We'd love to see you. How about this afternoon? Would you like to have lunch?" Margot asked.

"I can come this afternoon, but I'd rather skip lunch, if that's alright. I haven't really had much of an appetite lately," Michelle replied.

"Certainly dear, but you are taking care of yourself I hope. You need to make sure you're getting enough sleep and eating healthy, honey," Margot said, concern in her tone and sounding a lot like Gran.

"Oh, I know. I just go through these spells where I either can't sleep or sleep too much and sometimes I just don't feel hungry. This just happens to be one of those times I guess," Michelle explained. "But anyway, I'll be over around 1:00 if that works for you."

"That's fine dear. We'll look forward to seeing you then," Margot replied.

"Alright, I'll see you then," Michelle bid her mother-in-law goodbye.

~~~~~

Being that it was one of the last weekends before Christmas, people were hurrying from one place to the next, trying to finish their holiday shopping, meeting friends or family or just enjoying time off from work or school. Shawn had driven to the liquor store to find a bottle of his dad's favorite whiskey so he could finish wrapping his presents for his family and put them under the tree and as he walked out of the store to get in his mum's car, which he was using since his Jeep was back in Providence, he ran into a couple of friends he hadn't seen since summer.

"Hey man, how're you doin'? Damn we weren't sure when you were coming home!" Jon greeted Shawn.

"Yeah, I got home late yesterday afternoon. So how're you guys doing? What've you been up to since I saw you last?" Shawn asked Jon and Brian.