"Les, are you okay?"
"What, oh ya, I'm fine."
"Really, cause you seem kinda out of it."
"Davey, I'm fine."
"Okay." Davey didn't believe Les at all but decided not to push it. He knew that his little brother was 16 now, but the bags under his eyes made him look ancient. As Davey looked closely at his brother, he noticed something dark along his hairline.
"Les, why are you wearing your hat inside?"
"Oh my gosh, Davey. Would you leave me alone, I'm tryin to do my homework!"
"Fine, as soon as you take off your hat."
Les sighed and knocked his hat to the floor.
"Why the hell do you have a bruise on your forehead?!"
Les tried to ignore Davey and started walking out of the room.
"Les, stop. Please, talk to me. What's going on? Clearly, something is happening."
"Davey, please, I've been at school and selling papes all day. I'm fine, really."
Les almost ran out the room before Davey could question him anymore. Davey buried his head in his palms. Something was wrong and he had to find out what it was.
Davey woke up much earlier than normal. He quietly slipped on his shoes and left the small apartment. He had work at 6, so he still had about an hour. Davey walked down the busy streets, surprised by how many people were already out and about. It was five minutes later when he reached his destination. He quickly started climbing the fire escape and then slipped inside a window. Looking around at all the sleeping newsboys, he realized that he didn't recognize most of them. Thankfully, he finally spotted a familiar form.
"Romeo, Romeo, wake up." Davey whispered in Romeo's ear as he gently shook the boy awake.
"Davey? What are you doin here?"
"I need to talk to you. It's about Les."
Romeo's smile dropped immediately.
"Okay, clearly you know something. Please tell me."
"I don't know if I should say..."
"Romeo, I'm his older brotha. He lives in my apartment and eats my food. I'm the only family he has left. You have to tell me."
Romeo chewed on his lip as he considered his options.
"Alright, but not in here. Let's go up to the rooftop."
Davey followed Romeo up the stairs to Jack's penthouse which was now Romeo's seeing as how Jack and Crutchie had both moved out. Davey walked across the roof and pulled up a crate across from Romeo.
"Okay, so what's going on with Les?"
"Well, it started about two, three weeks ago."
Davey's jaw dropped. How had whatever was happening been going on for so long without him noticing?
"I started noticing that he would show up to buy his evening papes later and later each day. And then once I noticed that, I started to notice the bags under his eyes getting bigger and darker everyday. Finally, I asked him about it and he told me that he was havin trouble at school..."
Davey looked at Romeo expectantly.
"That's it. That's all I know."
Davey nodded and ran a hand through his hair.
"Thanks, Romeo." Davey started walking across the roof, when Romeo's voice stopped him.
"Davey, please, wees is all worried about him. Be sure to tell me when you find out."
"Sure thing."
"Oh, and Davey."
"Yes, Romeo?"
"It was nice ta see ya again." Romeo and Davey tipped their hats to each other as Davey climbed down the fire escape. He looked at his watch; 5:45, he sighed and decided that he needed to go to work, but he would stop by the school on his way home.
Davey sat up in his bed. His talks with Les's teachers had proved useless. They all said the same thing as Romeo except that Les claimed he was having trouble at work instead. He looked at his watch, 1:20 AM, it was late, but if his suspicions were correct, Les would still be up. Davey quietly got out of his bed and walked down the hall to Les's closed door. The flickering light of a candle shined out the bottom of the door. Davey placed his hand on the door knob and was just about to push open the door when he heard...something. He pushed his ear flush against the door and listened closely. Les was crying. The sound broke Davey's heart and he had his little brother in His arms before he even realized he had walked through the door.
"Davey, I'm fine," Les choked out as he tried to stifle his sobs.
"No, Les, stop. Please, stop. Tell me what's wrong."
"I miss them so much. Ma and pa. And Jack and Crutchie and Specs..." Les's shoulders shook as tears soaked the front of Davey's shirt.
"They all just left. And Romeo's gonna take off soon. Everybody's leaving me." Les's voice cracked as Davey pulled him in even closer. The two brothers stayed like that late into the night. Finally, Davey felt Les relax and heard his breathing even out.
"Davey, can we go see them?"
Davey nodded his head and slowly stood up. Les stood up and followed Davey out of the apartment and down the street. As they got closer, Les reached out for Davey's hand. When they finally got to the cemetery, both of the boys had tears spilling out of their eyes and Davey had his arm around Les's shoulder.
"You know, they're not really gone."
Les looked up from the headstones to give Davey a questioning look.
"Look up at the sky. Choose a star." Les pointed to one of the few stars in the sky. "That's them. Up there, watching over you. Go ahead, talk to them."
Les looked up at his star and wiped his eyes.
"Hi, mama. Hi, papa. I miss you. A lot. I hope you're okay. I'm doin fine. Well I'm doin pretty okay; I haven't been sleepin very well and I fell down the stairs yesterday. But other than a bruise, I'm fine. I'm learning a lot in school. I'm pretty excited for next year. I'll finally have that open slot, so I can take art with Jack. Well...goodnight. I love you."
Les went and sat next to Davey on the grass. He leaned over and rested his head on Davey's shoulder.
"Thanks, Davey."
Davey nodded his head and then rested it on top of Les's. They sat together next to their parents until Davey raised his arm and pointed.
"Hey, look. It's the sunrise."
"It's pretty."
"Are you ready to go?"
Les nodded and stood up. Davey turned towards his brother and put a hand on his shoulder.
"You know, nobody would ever leave you. But even if they did, I'll always be here for you."
So, I know I usually put my disclaimer earlier but I felt like I shouldn't put anything before this story. But I don't own Newsies. If it wasn't clear, Mr. And Mrs. Jacobs died. The other boys all moved on from being Newsies. Jack teaches art at Les's school which I thought was perfect after he took care of all the Newsies and he arted. I'm not really sure how the parents died, nor what the other boys are doing. If my mind ever decides to tell me, I will relay the message. I hope you enjoys it or it made you really sad. Is it a bad thing to hope that? Maybe, but my brother's goal whenever he makes a PowerPoint is to make people cry, so... Why am I still typing? My tablet suggests the next word I might use so I'm going to put a sentence on here that starts with the word Newsies and see what my tablet makes the sentence. Newsies and I don't know some of the new York NY and I don't know some of the new York NY. My tablet us is stupid. Wow, are you still reading? Major kudos! Since this is the longest outro known to man anyway, I'm gonna rant for a second. I was so pissed that Corey Cott kept posting pictures about singing at the Tonys because I was like yas he is gonna sing. Then he didn't and it was just Vanessa Hudgens and I cried. Well it's national best friends day and my best friend and I are going hiking tomorrow. It's 1146 PM so good night, good morning, and good everything in between!