F.Y.I, to all of you reading now, if you read my story Manhattans Queen, this is some Spot and Caroline fluff-ness(: Hope you all enjoy!
Faithfully
"Oh Girl
You stand by me
I'm forever yours
Faithfully."
April 3, 1898
Near the Brooklyn Bridge
"Extra, Extra, ice cream soda named nationally drink of the US of A! Read all about it!" I shouted at the top of my lungs. My day had started earlier than on most days so I was down to one last pape. But no one seemed in the mood to hear about anything in the news today. But who could blame them? It was a beautiful April day, barely any clouds and the weather was perfect for a nice walk in the park.
I let out a small sigh and out of the corner of my eye, I saw a rich couple walking arm in arm. I pulled on a mischievous smirk and I tightened my suspenders. As I walked over to the couple, I switch my smirk to a frown and pinched my cheeks really hard to make them pink. It's show time. I tapped the man's shoulder. He looked over his shoulder at me and gave me a smug expression, "What do you want street rat?"
The women slapped his arm, "Arthur, be polite!" he simply rolled his eyes and she turned and gave me a soft smile. "How may we help you sweetheart?" Do I look like I'm six years old…? Instead of saying it out loud, I simply coughed, well more like hacked my lungs out.
"My mudder is really ill and I'm getting really sick." I wiped my nose. "And I need to sell these papers to pay for her operation…" she gave me a sympathetic smile and her husband snickered.
"Don't fall for it dear, he is one of those newsies…" he said in a smug voice and patted her arm. She simply ignored him and still gave me the poor-little-boy eyes. Then she gave another smile so I let out another cough. Then she turned back to him and hit him in the arm.
"Honey, give this poor boy some money!" Reluctantly the man reached into his wallet and pulled out three silver coins. I felt a smile coming on but I kept it hidden. He handed them to me as I held out the paper but he shook his head.
"I already have one." he gestured to the paper under his arm, I shrugged. The women smiled once more and they left. Behind them, I tipped my hat.
As I was tipping my hat, my smirk crossed my face. "Suckas." I pulled out my small leather tote, which looked like a marble bag but it really held my entire life savings. I threw in the three coins and quickly stored it in my pocket. One more paper left then I can finally go out and help Blitz...Recently, I had gotten a new second in command who we all called Blitz, he was a natural. But he still needed help with his shot. His aim was terrible!
I scoped out my next victim to buy my last paper when I felt a small tap on my shoulder. "Excuse me sir…" I turned around to see a girl with soft auburn curls under a sun hat that covered most of her face. "I would like to buy that pape." I knew that voice, it was all too familiar.
She lifted her head up with a soft smile and that is when I saw a girl with dark emerald eyes. "Cele…I mean Caroline." I said in a shocked voice. Her smile deepened and she giggled as she held out a penny. I shook my head and pushed away her hand. "I aint takin' your money Caroline."
"Uh, yes you are Conlon." she said with a smirk. "I am a paying customer and every newsie deserves there pay." She shoved the money into my hand and grabbed the paper. I rolled my eyes and added it to the rest of my pay and turned my attention to Caroline. Her attention was in the newspaper.
"That's a first, a newsie don't know the headline?" I asked sarcastically.
"Took the day off." she mumbled as she flipped the page. I stood there, awkwardly, staring at her not believing she was here. She flipped to the last page and crumpled it up and turned to face me. "Well, I better be getting back now…"
She turned to make her way down the bridge but I yanked her arm back, "That's it? I haven't seen you in months and you say like twenty words to me and then leave!" she smirked and shrugged her shoulders. "I don't think so."
"Well, then come with me." Her eyes were sparkling even more so now. I bit my lip and looked back at Brooklyn then to her. "Oh come on, they can survive one day without their precious king." she smirked and grabbed my hand. Before I could nod my head, she was pulling me across the bridge and sprinted into Manhattan.
We finally made it into Manhattan around lunch time and my stomach was growling. She giggled and pulled me over to a place called Tibbys, which looked a lot like our Fitzgerald's.
When we entered the restaurant and discovered it was packed with newsies. Old friends that I hadn't seen in a long time waved but mostly kept to themselves. She stopped over by a small newsie and whispered in his ear. Immediately after, he stood up and ran out of the room.
She turned to me, "That's Stick, my new runner. He is going to tell your boys you're here." I nodded and we sat over in a booth in the corner. Once we sat down, a man with a thick mustache came over. His name tag said Frank.
"Hey there Caroline, what can I get for you and your friend?" the waiter asked, giving her a smile.
"I would like a coffee and Spot, do you want anything?" she asked me. I shook my head and he walked away.
"So hows your mom? She feeling any better?" I asked. She bit her lip and her color dropped for a second. "You feeling okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine!" she said laughing. Her color returned to her face. "My mom is great, she is actually home now." She smiled and took off her hat. I decided to change the topic.
"Where's the hat from?" I asked.
"Racetrack won a good amount and bought it off of some rich hat shop." she sighed. "Only my brother." We both laughed as Frank stopped by the table and put the drink down in front of her. She reached into her pocket but I stopped her.
"This one is on me." I said, quickly pulling out a few pieces of change and handing it to Frank. He nodded his head and walked away. Caroline gave a soft smile. "So…how have you been?" I asked as she took a sip of her coffee.
"I've been good." she mumbled. We were silent and sat like that for what felt like hours on end. I tapped my fingers on the table as she finished her drink. She was staring out the window so I looked out the window as well just to notice clouds rolling in. It was shocking considering how beautiful the day had started out being…
The silence continued for a few more minutes until I got the courage to ask her the question that had been bothering me the entire time I had been with her, "So why did you come see me today?"
Her head shot back to me and she glared. What did I say wrong this time? "Do you not remember what today is?" she asked in a soft voice. Instead of lying to her, I shook my head no. She rolled her eyes and looked back out the window. "It's April 3." She didn't look back at me but she rested her hand on mine. "Spot, it's the day that you first told me you wanted to be with me. It's our 3 year anniversary Spot."
I felt my body go pale. How could I forget? "I'm so stupid!" I mumbled. I smacked my free hand to my forehead. She squeezed my other hand and looked at me.
"Nah, just forgetful." She whispered. "I'm not mad at you." She gave me a soft smile. But I was mad at myself even if she wasn't. I had forgotten the most important day in my life…in our lives. I brushed my hair out of my eyes again and sighed. Then I realized that our hands were still together. This was a rare thing for her to hold me this long…it felt nice.
I had missed her, more than I let people know. When our relationship started, Jack Kelley was training her to be the leader of the Manhattan newsies, the first girl ever. He told her that she wasn't allowed to be with another newsie for some reason but she fought for us. Eventually Kelley told her it was me or Manhattan. She came crying to me that night and said she chose me…I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I sent her home, telling her that she needed Manhattan and those boys. That was the last time she set foot in Brooklyn, well that is up until today.
From then on, we were a secret. Only a few people knew, we didn't like it but we had learned to live with it. However, through the years, it had gotten harder to see each other. I could barely ever get out of Brooklyn without being questioned why and I wasn't going to make her come to Brooklyn and relive the memories. That is why it was such a shock that she came near the bridge, but then again, it wasn't truly in Brooklyn, just the outskirts.
A few boys passed us laughing and she jerked her hand back quickly, resting it at her side. I turned back to the window and tried to hide my frown. I never wanted her to stop touching me…
Suddenly, rain patted against the roof of the restaurant. I groaned. This couldn't be happening; I have to walk home in this. Well aint this wonderful.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Caroline smile and lay her head against the back of the booth. "I love the rain." she opened her eyes. "It's my favorite thing in the whole world." she then smiled and laughed a little. "Well that and being in your arms." she whispered. We smiled at each other and an idea popped into my head.
I stood up and grabbed her hand, dragging her to the door. "Spot, what the hell are you doing!" she screamed. People were staring but I didn't mind much, I just dragged her out the door.
It was raining harder than I had expected. It was falling off of the awning and hitting the ground with a hard thwack on the ground. We looked at each other, I gestured for her to go out, and she ran out from under the awning. I looked over and noticed her smile had grown. Her eyes were a lighter emerald now, and her hair was sticking to her.
She was alone on the road, everyone else was running away or under cover. She was spinning and laughing, it had to be the most beautiful thing I had ever seen in my life. Then she stopped and looked over at me and smirked.
She ran over to me and pulled me out with her. I tried to pull back but then I remember what she had said to me in the restaurant. Her two favorite things…so once we were out in the street, I wrapped my arms around her waist and lifted her up.
She giggled and threw her head back. After a minute, I put her down but I didn't let her go. I removed my one hand off of her waist and put it gently on the back of her neck. I pulled her forehead to my lips and placed a single kiss on it. Our eyes met a moment later, and she lifted herself up so our lips nearly met.
"I have to go soon." I whispered. She shook her head. "What happened to no public display of affection?" She giggled and lifted her lips to mine. The kiss was passionate, like all of our kisses were. A chill went up my spine and I pulled her closer. The kiss deepened and I lifted her up again and spun her as fast as we could. She giggled, not pulling away.
"I love you James Conlon." she whispered, pulling away for a moment. "And I always will."
"Huh? That's kinda ironic…" I whispered. "I feel the exact same way. I'm forever yours Celestina" We smiled at each other and our lips met again.
It was as if the whole world had stopped, that we were the only two standing in the rainstorm. Faithfully together forever.