It was very late at night in the lodging home and at this point all the newsies were asleep. Most of them, at any rate. Crutchie was lying stiffly in his bed, frowning. He mumbled unintelligibly to himself, not loudly enough to rouse the other boys. He gritted his teeth and slowly, carefully crept out of his bed, taking care to be as quiet as possible. He advanced towards where Jack was sleeping, all the while making sure his crutch did not create more than the tiniest sound every time it struck the floor.
"Jack," Crutchie whispered, kneeling down beside him. Jack did not wake. "Jack," he repeated, slightly louder.
Jack squirmed in his bed momentarily. "Wha-?" He then rubbed his eyes and looked at Crutchie. He stared resolutely, seriously at him and whispered, "You okay, kid?"
Crutchie looked down. "Uh, I suppose…." His heart was racing madly and he was sweating uncomfortably. "Can we go up to the rooftop for a bit? I need to talk to you."
Jack smiled. "Sure, whatever you want!" Jack crept silently out of bed and headed towards the rooftop, Crutchie following closely behind him. They both sat down, Jack cross-legged and Crutchie cradling his knees.
"Now then," Jack began, concerned, "is anything the matter? What is it that you need to talk about so late? Ain't you want to sleep now and talk in the morning?"
"If I'm bothering you by keeping you up now then I guess you can go back to sleep and I can find you tomorrow." The disappointment rung clearly in his voice.
"No way could you ever bother me! I take care of my brothers. If you need to talk, then I'm here," Jack proclaimed, slinging his arm around Crutchie's shoulder. Crutchie shivered.
"Okay then." Crutchie's face brightened immediately.
"So what is it you got to talk about so badly?" Jack inquired.
"Could you maybe give me a moment?" Crutchie requested. He closed his eyes for a few seconds, trying to compose himself. "Uhhhhhhhh," he said.
Jack stared encouragingly at him. "Hey, you know whatever you have to say, you can tell me if you want to."
Crutchie breathed gently, nodded, smiled wanly, and looked directly into Jack's eyes. "I like you, Jack," he uttered.
Jack's eyes widened, stunned. Whatever he had been expecting, it was not that. "Whoa," he said simply.
Crutchie cringed. "I'm sorry if this messes things up or anything. I just thought you should know," he said softly.
Jack blinked a few times, still in shock. "Mess things up? No way! This is…wonderful."
Crutchie stared at Jack, baffled. "What do you mean?"
Jack grinned and tousled Crutchie's hair playfully. "Duh. I like you too, kid."
Crutchie smiled enormously. "Are you for real?"
"'Course I'm for real!" Jack said incredulously.
Crutchie smiled even wider. "Whoa," he said, mimicking Jack. He then leaned forward, still smiling immensely, and pressed his lips sweetly to Jack's, though only for a moment.
"Glad we had this talk, then." Jack beamed. He kissed Crutchie firmly, though still gently. He could feel Crutchie smile against him. "Ready to go back to sleep now?"
"I might be. Though I think I'm too excited to sleep."
Jack snorted. "If that were true, then you'd never get any sleep."
Jack escorted Crutchie back down to their room. As he climbed into bed, Crutchie kissed his cheek. "Goodnight," he whispered, and ambled slowly, trying hard not to make a sound, back to his side of the room. He crept into bed and sighed contentedly. Exhilarated as he was, he was also exhausted and was fast asleep mere moments later.