I do not own Newsies or any of the show's characters. I am merely a die-hard fan.

This story is not as good as my DEH one (it's called "Don't Forget Me" and you should check it out if you're a fan of the musical). I wrote this all by myself. My cousin (who helped with my DEH story) is a much better writer than I am.

The inspiration for this was the Santa Fe (Prologue). I had to write a story for creative writing last year, and the assignment was to take a song and write it as a story. This is the song I chose.

Also, the description of Santa Fe most definitely does not fit the Modern AU setting, but just pretend it does:) If you have any ideas on how I could make it more realistic, feel free to tell me in a review!

Reviews are always welcome (good and bad alike). If you have any good ideas for stories or just random headcanons you want to see, please feel free to contact me:) I only ask, try to stay away from romantic requests...I am not very good at romance.

Anyway, enjoy!

Jack climbed through the window and onto the roof. It was still a little too hot for a New York City autumn, but he had more important things to worry about than getting frizzy hair from the heat. He had a duty to be a big brother. After the day that Crutchie had...being a frie—brother was far more important.

"Crutchie?" Jack whispered over the uneven roof. It didn't take long for him to spot the blonde hair poking out from behind one of the triangle. Jack carefully moved a little closer. "Crutchie, you okay?"

"I'm fine, Jack." Crutchie wiped the tears from his face.

"Morris and Oscar are idiots. Don't let what they said get to you."

Crutchie suddenly whipped his head around to face Jack. "Easy for you to say! You don't have to deal with them. You're about to head to the other side of the country. I still have another year."

Jack eased himself down onto the roof. He placed an arm around his brother. "It's only almost 2,000 miles away." A silence fell over the two boys—brothers.

After about ten minutes of just sitting under the stars, Crutchie finally spoke with a small voice. "What's it like in Santa Fe?"

Jack looked down at his brother. "Well, in Santa Fe, there are no dirty allies or big buildings. It's just open, clean, and pretty with buildings made out of clay."

"What about the people?"

"I can tell you that there won't be people like Morris and Oscar over there. No—when you get there, they'll welcome you like you were already one of them. They'll beg you to stay because you'll be like family to them."

Crutchie couldn't help but smile. "No Morris and Oscar. That'd be nice."

"You'd be able to do a lot more over there too."

Crutchie looked up at his brother. "What do you mean?"

"Well, here, you're kept from doing anything because either Morris or Oscar do something. In Santa Fe, everyone just plants crops, splits rails, and swaps tales around fires." Jack smiled and ruffled the boy's blond hair.

"What if we got tired?"

"Well, Sundays are reserved for lying around all day, but if you get tired during the week, just hop on a Palomino and do your jobs while you're riding in style. Soon, you'd get more used to it the more you spend in the clear air." Jack got an idea. "Why don't you come with me?"

"To Santa Fe?" Crutchie laughed, showing the disbelief of the offer in his voice.

"Yeah! We could work the land, chase the sun…we could even swim the whole Rio Grande together!"

Crutchie's face lit up. "You promise there won't be anyone like Morris or Oscar?"

"Would I ever let you down? We are family and family looks after family. It's what we're supposed to do." Jack stood up and stretched his hand out to his brother. "What do you say, Crutch?"

Crutchie took the hand and allowed Jack to pull him up. "Santa Fe, here I come."

Short, but sweet. Again, not my best work, but I'd love some feedback! Please, leave me a review!

Thanks,

Always34