DISCLAIMER: Newsies is owned by Disney. Not us. *sigh* All OCs are ours, though.
This story is primarily slash. There are some het. pairings, but, again, it's mostly slash. Also, the first few chapters focus quite a bit on our OCs. After we've set up the plot (around chapter five or six), our OCs probably won't be as prominent.
Please review if you like this story (or if you don't- that's fine, too). Constructive criticism is greatly appreciated!
Chapter One: Just Another Day At Tibby's (During Which Spot is Hot)
It had been nearly a week since the usual wait and kitchen staff of Tibby's had returned from their visits home, but from the atmosphere you'd have never guessed they'd be gone. The only clue that it was the first day in almost two months that the entire crew had been back together was how crowded the restaurant was, crammed with the regulars, all glad to have their favorite waiters and waitresses back. Due of how incredibly crowded Tibby's was, the restaurant was hot.
Or maybe it was just Spot.
All the waiters and waitresses rushed from table to table, trying to get the orders in and out as quickly as possible. Well, all except Dutchy, who stood in front of the table in the far corner, flirting with his boyfriend. And Spot. Who sat in the corner and looked hot.
Most days, Spot spent his shift, and, more often than not, the time before and after his shift, sitting in the corner, observing the customers and staff. Today was no exception. Many of the customers seemed unnerved by the boy in the corner, staring blankly at them and tapping a pencil on his notebook. His gaze wandered across the room. He smirked. A customer had accidentally spilled her soda on Mush's previously spotless white shirt.
The female customer flushed a deep red, "I'm so sorry! I wasn't watching where I was going!"
The good-natured waiter just smiled, "It's alright Miss."
Spot almost rolled his eyes. Mush was always ridiculously polite to the customers.
"But your shirt is all wet," the woman said guiltily, "And..." Spot knew why she'd stopped talking. The entire restaurant had gone unusually silent. When the thin white shirts that Tibby's employees wore got wet, you see, they got very see through. And clingy.
"Don't worry about it Miss," Mush assured her, and turned to Jack, who was exiting the male employee's changing room, "Hey Cowboy, you got a spare shirt?"
"You got it Mush," Jack agreed, disappearing for a moment, and tossing Mush a shirt when he reappeared.
Every customer and employee held their breath as they watched Mush unbutton his soaked shirt. Just as he was about to peel it off, the only two people who'd mind Mush going shirtless in a packed restaurant leapt into action.
"Mushee," Abigail Richards, Lucky, barreled forward, "You really shouldn't-"
"Oh, come on, Abby!" joked her best friend, Faye Ballat, often called Songbird. "It's been so long since we've seen him shirtless!" Lucky glared back at her.
Blink pushed past the two girls, and grabbed Mush by the shoulder, "Lets get you dried off in the changing room," he said, dragging Mush after him.
"Cover for me Lucky?" Mush called out to his childhood friend, as he let himself be dragged off.
A sigh of disappointment rang through the restaurant as the two boys left for the changing room. The girl who'd caused all the trouble by spilling the soda sent a glare at Lucky as she flounced back to her table. Spot smirked to himself. The girl and her friends all looked extremely disappointed. They weren't alone. Most girls looked to be on the brink of tears. Spot also felt a twinge of disappointment. Songbird was right, It had been too long since they'd seen Mush shirtless.
Once the restaurant quieted down a bit, Spot found himself staring into the kitchen. At the hot Italian boy standing behind the stove, flipping burgers. Spot stopped tapping his pencil and watched him cook. Damn, Spot thought, only Tony "Racetrack" Higgins could make flipping a burger look so fucking sexy.
"Hey, uh, Spot?" called Race from the kitchen, "Whatcha writing?"
Shit.
"Umm... just a paper. I'm having writer's block," Spot replied. He knows I was staring at him. Well, who could blame me? That boy's hot! Spot found him extremely attractive, but was sure that was the extent of his feelings for Race.
"Okay, well, good luck." Race smiled at him, flashing his blinding smile. Spot almost returned that smile, but then someone poked Race's shoulder. Dominic Gonzales. Spot sighed as the two boys in the kitchen greeted each other and... Kissed. Ugh. Any trace of a smile quickly disappeared from Spot's face. Those two had been dated for almost two years, and Spot really couldn't stand watching them together. It seemed like all they did was make out. Too much PDA for Spot's taste. Ten seconds, and those boys had barely come up for air. Spot's stomach started churning as his fists involuntarily clenched. Hmm... Weird.
Abby spent most of her shift alternating between glaring at Dutchy, and rushing around to take orders and deliver meals to the tables in both her and Dutchy's sections. That bastard, she thought to herself. She, of course, never covered Dutchy's section for his sake. Specs, on the other hand, would work him self to death if he could, and Dutchy was the only one who could prevent that.
Abby set the glass down a little harder than she normally would have when she gave the idiot who had dumped her soda all over her Mush a new sprite. "Try not to spill this one," she glared at the girl.
The girl paled a little, but returned the glare, "It was an accident."
Abby, according to protocol, shouldn't respond. She had just opened her mouth to lash out at the twit when she caught Mush's eye as he left the changing room, Kid Blink just behind him. Mush gave her a smile and a wave, which she returned.
Blink eyed her suspiciously. Abby glared at him. Who knew what he'd been doing to her innocent Mushee while they'd been alone in the changing room. She shuddered to think of what awful things could have been done. They had taken an awful long time in there...
Abby grimaced, and shook off the unpleasant thoughts. She made a rude hand gesture at Blink when no one was looking, which he returned, then continued along her business. She'd have a serious discussion with Mush about being alone with that guy, or any guy for that matter, later.
In a moment of rare rest, Abby glanced over to her friend. Specs had claimed the table in the far right corner of Dutchy's section. He had a half a dozen books spread across the booth, and was constantly scribbling out an essay, or an analysis, or annotating this, or that. He was completely focused. He hadn't even looked up during the commotion earlier when Mush had very nearly taken off his shirt.
As she began to look away, Dutchy said something that made Specs tear his eyes away from his latest paper and laugh. Her heart warmed slightly, and she allowed herself a brief smile. She watched a second longer as Specs said something to Dutchy, which made him reluctantly leave Specs' table, and hurry back over to Abby.
"Hey there Lucky," Dutchy said, "Thanks for covering. I got it now."
"How convenient," Abby mumbled, as three of the tables in Dutchy's section emptied.
"I owe you," Dutchy beamed, just as he always did.
Abby glared at him, and continued glaring at him as she headed towards the counter to pick up her next order.
Glare.
Glare.
Glare.
Trip.
So busy with her glaring, Abby almost didn't notice the tiny toddler who suddenly darted out in front of her. By the time she did, it was almost to late. She twisted a little, and tried to avoid the kid-she'd never forgive herself if she accidentally hurt him. She just barely managed to avoid crashing into him, but then she found herself falling.
Abby was almost certain she'd end up on the ground, with maybe a broken bone, or worse, but she had picked up the name "Lucky" for a reason. Before she could hit the floor, one hand grabbed her arm and pulled her back up, while the other came to her waist to help steady her again.
"Are you alright?" Abby asked the little boy. When he nodded, and scurried back over to his parents, she turned to face her savior, who had let go of her as soon as she's regained her balance.
Spot Conlon was right behind her, hands shoved in his pockets, heading back to his usual corner. Abby blushed at the very thought of Spot touching her... Before she could stop herself, she reached out, and grabbed his elbow, "Spot."
Spot paused, and turned to face her, "Yeah?" he asked.
Abby turned suddenly shy, "Um... Th-thank you," she mumbled, "For... you know..."
"Yeah, well," Spot suddenly seemed uncomfortable, "No problem Lucky."
Abby felt her face heat up even more. She hoped that the sunburn on her cheeks would hide her blush a little, but somehow she doubted it would.
"That all?" Spot raised an eyebrow. Still blushing, Abby nodded.
Spot turned away again, and glanced over towards the kitchen. Abby followed his gaze. Bumlets and Racetrack were making out. "Oi! Bumlets, Race! Stop making out back there! The kitchen's supposed to be sanitary, ya scabs," Spot called out, a lazy smirk stretching across his face.
The couple jumped apart. Bumlets was blushing a little, but Race seemed more amused, "Don't be such a ass Spot," he called back, "Just cause you haven't been getting any action doesn't mean the rest of us can't get some!"
"Race," Bumlets hissed, nudging him.
Abby snickered a little, and grabbed her order, and turned to leave, only to come face to face with one of her best friends. "Those guys'll never let up," Itey said cheerfully.
"Yeah," she glanced back at the guy she was in love with, her best friend's best friend, and the boy who might as well be another brother to Faye, "But it wouldn't be Tibby's if they did..."
"Anything else I can get you?" Faye asked her table, with a smile permanently glued to her face. The customers responded by looking at each other, then shrugging. She inwardly groaned as she made her smile grow even more. "Okay then. I'll be right back with your drinks."
She made her way towards the bar and gave Skittery the drink orders. He took the note, and smiled kindly at her. She returned his smile with a frown and turned around.
"Ryan, darling brother," Faye began as she walked to her big brother.
He sighed. "Whatever you want, Songbird, it's a no."
"But-"
"And, we talked about this. Please call me Kid Blink or Blink here, okay?"
She pursed her lips. "Fine. But only if you cover the rest of my shift. Skitts keeps... looking at me. It's weird."
Blink looked down at his sister. "You dated for, what, like eight or nine months last year, and you were the one to break it off. Of course he's going to look at you; he probably still has feelings for you. Just ignore him and finish your shift. Or, here's a thought: talk to him!"
She rolled her eyes at him, but she started to smile. "Fine, I'll finish my shift. Some big brother you are..." He reached out and tousled her wavy light brown hair. She smiled and gave him a quick hug, then she ran to the bar, smiled slightly at Skittery, picked up the drinks, and plastered her "customer smile" back onto her face. She made her way over to the customers, and plopped the drinks down and took their food orders. While she was writing, she looked at her watch surreptitiously. Ten more minutes before closing.
As she began to step away from the table, a little boy ran passed her. "Whoa!"
The little boy kept running around the restaurant, and then right into Abby. Almost. She watched as Abby spun a little to avoid hurting the boy. Faye closed her eyes and waiting for the sound of her hitting the floor, but it never came. She slowly opened her eyes, and saw... She found what she saw to be incredibly hilarious. Spot had left his usual corner to save her. It was too funny watching Abby turn even redder than she already was. Instead of disguising her blush, Abby's sunburn was making it worse. Faye knew how much her best friend was infatuated with Spot Conlon. Though Abby always did, Faye couldn't call it love, because she herself didn't believe it was possible.
Anyway, she laughed at Abby as she awkwardly talked to Spot. Then Spot looked past Abby and his face... Faye wasn't quite sure what happened to Spot's face. It momentarily fell, but then seconds later, his signature smirk spread across his face. She looked in the direction that he was and saw Bumlets and Race making out in the kitchen. She smiled warmly, almost wistfully, as she looked at her best friends.
"Oi! Bumlets, Race! Stop making out back there! The kitchen's supposed to be sanitary, ya scabs," Spot called out.
Faye started laughing as she walked into the kitchen. She saw the two boys jump apart, and Bumlets's cheeks turn slightly pink. She smiled at him as Race yelled something back at Spot. "Race!" Bumlets said. "Way to go, Bumlets!" she teased. He grinned back at her.
Then smacked the back of her head. "No teasing!"
"Hey!" She poked him in the stomach, and they both stared at each other. They then started cracking up.
"Songbird!" yelled Blink from across the restaurant, "aren't you still working?"
Without turning around, Faye flipped her brother off and gave Bumlets a quick hug. Then she turned around to see Blink glaring at her. She smiled innocently as she went back to her tables. She suddenly remembered Spot's weird reaction to Race and Bumlets, and thought about it. Why would his face just... fall like that? Maybe my brain was seeing things. Yeah, that's it... Deciding it was nothing, she quickly thought about what she was going to do after work. All she could think about was sleep, even though she wasn't sure why she got so tired all of a sudden. And then it was time to close up for the night. She changed in the aptly named changing room, and then met up with Blink and Race outside. They said goodbye to everyone and hopped into their car. Faye fell asleep immediately, and, when they arrived at the apartment they shared, the boys had to drag her inside.
AUTHORS' NOTE:
S: Finally it's done!
C: It actually went surprisingly quick... only took a couple days to write ^,^
S: I know! Even though we had so much other crap to do, we actually got it finished in a timely manner!
C: Shocking! =P
S: :D Now I have to finish my Spanish homework... Yay...
C: And I should probably get started on my math... and English... and Spanish... -,-" I've really gotta stop procrastinating...
S: Yes you do! Okay, now that the first chapter is done, I can memorize my monologue... Haha. I completely forgot to practice it all night... That's bad... Anyway, we hope you enjoyed our first chapter! Review! You know you want to...
C: And if you don't then we won't let you ever see our favorite shirtless!Mush... (And that would just be a tragedy!)
S: Incentive! I'm so weird... Oh well. Just please review, because it really would be a tragedy.
C: Yeah! I want to see hot shirtless!Mush .
S: I couldn't agree more. But for now, I need some sleep.
C: Meh, sleep is overrated...
S: Goodnight! And, because it simply wasn't said enough, please review! And, C, amazing writing! Thanks for all of your wonderful help and numerous fangirl squeals!
C: You're writing, was simply amazing as well my dear S. And our fangirl squeals were indeed magnificent!
S: :D
