"How could ya do this to us, Jack?" A voice cried out from the crowd.
"Shut your mouth, ya moron!"
"Make me!"
"Everybody stop!" David commanded, his eyes glued to Jack's. He took a step forward, taking in his friend's appearance. This was wrong- Jack was supposed to be their leader. And now here he was, no longer a leader, but a traitor. The thought made David's head spin.
"We don't need him." David struggled to get the words out knowing deep down, at least to himself, that they weren't true. But now he had to step up, he had a strike to lead now. "Seize the day!" He turned to face the crowd, fierce determination written on his face.
"Seize the day!" The boys shouted back, but it couldn't ease the ache in his chest. The pain that came from losing the only real friend he'd ever known.
"Let's go guys." David sighed, and the group scattered, silently mourning the loss of their leader.
Later that night, David was on the roof gazing at the stars, deep in thought. He didn't understand why Jack had switched sides so suddenly. He knew Jack wanted to get out of New York, but he never would have thought that Jack would betray his own friends- who were practically his family!- to get there.
"Guess I was wrong." David whispered sadly.
"Wrong 'bout what?" David turned around, eyes wide. In shock or in anger… he wasn't quite sure which.
"What are you doing here?!" He asked defensively.
"Just came ta think." Jack shrugged nonchalantly. "I ain't dumb enough to go back ta the lodgin' house."
"So you came here?" David raised an eyebrow. "After what you did to us?" 'To me' David added in his head.
"Listen, Davey…" Jack started, rubbing the back of his neck.
"No!" David interuppted. "You listen! I just…I believed in you! We all did, and you just turned your back on us, for what? A few bucks and some new threads?!" David felt awful, but somehow not nearly as awful as he'd felt that morning when he first learned of Jack's betrayal.
"I didn't do it for tha money, David." Jack countered. "You remember what I told you last night, I'm tryna keep you outta jail. You got a family that needs you, Davey. I ain't got nobody but myself."
"That's not true." David said softly, staring into Jack's eyes, and something in him shifted. "You've got the Newsies, Jack. Everybody loves you."
"That ain't gonna keep you safe, Davey." And before David could respond, Jack's lips were pressed to his. There were no fireworks, no magic touch that he'd read about in all those books, but it was warm, and for that moment, everything was right.
"You're my family, Davey." Jack muttered, his eyes refusing to meet David's.
"Then don't let me down." And this time, David kissed Jack.
"Okay." Jack agreed. "Okay." They kissed again, and held each other close, as the world turned.