Updated: 4-12-08

Disclaimer: I have no delusions about owning or holding rights over Newsies; you shouldn't either. Don't sue.
Also, any pop culture references...guess what? Don't own those either. Actually...anything that you may have heard of and/or recognized in this story is owned by someone who isn't me.

Warning:Updates may (and probably will be) slow.
This contains SLASH, in other words same sex couples. If this doesn't appeal to you, you shouldn't be here. It also contains drug use, violence, sexual situations, and may contain a(n OC) death. This story is marked for mature readers only, please treat it as such.

Pairings: Will be switching around quite a bit. If you have any preferences please let me know. They probably won't end up together unless I already planned for it to happen, but I can put in a couple flings for you if you ask nice enough

Getting Back Together Again

I
Good Morning

"Sorry man, my parents came home today. They want to hang out and do…" the boy shrugged, "family shit, I guess…I don't really know."

"I thought your family hated each other," Jack answered, "Isn't that why no one's ever home?"

"Melissa almost died or some crazy shit like that. I don't know. I don't really care all that much," Skittery explained, shrugging again, "But I guess Ma's feeling grateful she didn't actually kick the bucket or something. Everyone keeps on cryin' and shit. It's annoying as all fuck."

"Yeah," Jack agreed reluctantly as he leaned against the side of the house and faced Skittery whom was daggling out of his bedroom window, half in and half out, "I guess near death experiences can do that to people. So what happened?"

"I don't know," Skittery replied, "She took drugs or something and OD'd on accident. That's all she told me anyway. She probably did it on purpose though, knowing her."

"Shit," Jack breathed, not really knowing what else to say.

"Try Bumlets' house," Skittery offered, getting back to the original topic, "His parents are usually too fucked up to care if you spend the night."

"Ah…yeah, okay," Jack agreed. He had seen Bumlet's glaring at him in the hall practically everyday and had been avoiding him every since. But he was the closest person to Skittery's house, so he might as well try, right? Besides, maybe Bumlets would act like he wasn't pissed at anything and they could both pretend they were a few years younger and still friends.

If Bumlets didn't let him crash then he'd probably have to go to Itey's, which was quite a few blocks away. He was pretty much guaranteed a spot in Itey's car though, so it kind of made the walk worth it. Unfortunately he didn't know these guys very well…or rather: he didn't know these guys very well anymore. They were all childhood friends originally; they all had fucked up parents and nicknames and paper routes and made up their own twisted but happy family. Jack smiled at the memory. He had always looked at himself as the 'father' while David fit the role of 'mom' so perfectly it was comical.

Everything had changed when they started high school though. Crutchy moved away and they all kind of stopped hanging out after that.

Jack had slid into the jock circuit as soon as school started (immediately making first-string quarterback for the football team) and Swifty had joined him a little later on in the year (becoming one of the school's best track stars).

David and Specs both joined up with the nerds thanks to their good grades and David forcing Specs into multitude of academic clubs.

Racetrack, Mush, and Blink had managed to somehow stay together, most likely thanks to Mush's complete naivety when it came to cliques and Blink's complete and utter loyalty to his two friends. It wasn't some famous teach-people-cliques-are-bad revolution; no one learned any life long lessons, no one died, and nothing had changed. For the most part the three friends were just ignored.

Finally Dutchy, Bumlets, Skittery, and Itey were with the druggies and other people with unbearable childhoods. Really the entire old gang belonged in that clique (except maybe for Dave), but it was just those four that were the only ones of the old group to have come clean about it.

So they went their separate ways and made new friends (ones that weren't quite as loyal as the old gang had been) and pushed the past behind them.

Except maybe for Jack who used his four old friends from the druggie clique. He used them to help keep his tracks covered and never so much as even offered a simple 'thank you' for all their trouble. And when they were at school, Jack didn't even notice their existence.

Jack Kelly wasn't exactly as rich as he led everyone to believe, you see. The truth of the matter was that he didn't even have a home. His clothes were spread out to Dutchy's, Itey's, Bumlet's, and Skittery's homes (because they were the only four he had come to with his problem) and he moved from one house to another every night. He hadn't really told his friends what had happened and he shied away from all the questions until they had eventually just stopped asking.

"Bumlets," Jack greeted happily as he came across the lawn.

"What the hell do you want Jack?" Bumlets answered rudely.

"You've got a problem?" Jack asked, immediately falling back into jock-mode as some sort of defense mechanism that he wasn't really aware of. So much for this night not being confrontational.

"You're my fucking problem," Bumlets answered, "I heard you making fun of us with your fucking jock buddies, you fucking bastard. What the hell Jack? It's not like I expected you to fall down the social ladder a couple of bars and ruin your name by talking to us, but fuck Jack…You're laughing at the expense of people who are risking punishment to help you keep your image. Do you know what the fuck Dutchy's parents would do if they found you in his room? They'd accuse him of being a fag and they'd kick him out into the street! The least you could do is not talk shit about them."

"I wasn't talking shit," Jack argued in a loud voice before calming down slightly and continuing on a little softer, "Look, I didn't start it, Masson did, and what could I possibly do, huh? You don't argue with Masson and you sure as hell don't defend the people he's ragging on. C'mon Bum, you know he insults everyone, it's not like he's got it out for you or nothin'."

Bumlets turned around stiffly and walked to the door. "My mom's sleeping at a friend's or some shit like that; you can have the couch if you want it."

Jack flashed a smile and jogged after him, acting as if their argument had never happened.

"We're earlier than normal, you wanna stop for coffee some place? Otherwise I won't be able to stay wake in class," Blink suggested, yawning so widely his jaw popped after he had managed to get the coherent thought across.

"You never stay awake in class, coffee or not," Racetrack pointed out. He was sitting next to Blink in the driver's seat and took his eyes off the road to give his friend's head a small smack.

Still, if Blink wanted coffee then Race would get him coffee so he turned the car off the road and pulled into a Wafflehouse (because nothing else was open this early) without even consulting Mush on the idea.

"Why did you pick us up so early Race?" Mush asked, jiggling the door handle in the hopes that the car door would open.

"It didn't open this morning, what makes you think the damn door will open now?" Racetrack asked, avoiding the question, "Just crawl up to the front again."

"So…early…why?" Blink asked in a scattered sentence, his tiredness coming on full force.

"Pop was out for blood this morning and Ma was absolutely no help (big surprise)," Racetrack explained, "I was just planning to wait in Mushie's driveway until the time we usually leave to go pick you up, but his Mom saw me and made us leave for school. Then, I don't know…you got up super early I guess. Care to explain that?"

"Not up…Never slept…big test," Blink answered, rubbing his eyes.

"Blink, you know you could have called me, right?" Mush jumped in as soon as he had climbed out of the car, "I have that same test today; we could've helped each other study."

"Started late," Blink answered before he opened the restaurant's door.

"Jesus man, do you even try at school? If you knew there was going to be a big test why didn't you prepare yourself?" Racetrack asked, worried for his friend and showing it in the true Racetrack fashion.

A waitress brought them all some coffee as soon as they sat down and Blink couldn't have been more pleased. Sipping at his hot beverage he was finally able to think more steadily. "Who needs school anyway? What do you think of male prostitute as a career choice?"

"That's disgusting Blink," Racetrack answered, sipping at his own coffee.

"You got a problem with gays, man?" Blink asked looking angered.

"Blink, he is gay," Mush pointed out. "He was just saying that prostitution in general is disgusting, right?" he asked, turning to Racetrack.

"I recommend drug dealer if you decide to not finish school, it's much cooler," Racetrack recommended after nodding in agreement with Mush.

"So what would you do?" Blink asked, looking towards Racetrack.

The boy gave him a look that clearly said that's obvious; "Gambling addict wins over everything else for me. What about you Mush?"

"I don't know…I've always just assumed I'd finish high school; I never gave much thought to any alternatives."

"Hmm…well, how about Mush be the male prostitute then?" Racetrack asked, "He could pull it off."

"Hey! Are you implying I can't?" Blink accused, sounding pissed.

"It's the eye patch," Racetrack explained, "The only people it would attract are the kind that would kill you afterwards. With Mush…well he pretty much just attracts everyone, doesn't he?"

Mush laughed happily, not at all upset that Racetrack gave him a job that they both had agreed was disgusting just minutes ago. "Is that a compliment? I'm not quite sure."

" 'You should become a male prostitute because you're hot'," Blink said, rephrasing and trying out the sentence. He shrugged afterwards, "It's probably the best compliment you could get out of Race."

"Did you get the last answer to that English assignment?" Specs asked as soon as he reached David at his locker.

"I hated doing that homework, I almost torched it," David confided to his friend, "but I did manage to get it done. I can help you with it at lunch."

"It'd be easier if you just let me copy off of you," Specs pointed out, trying to look as pitiful as he could in the hopes that David would become too guilty not to let him cheat.

David shot his friend a disappointed look. "You know how I feel about cheating, Specs."

Specs sighed. "Yeah, yeah. 'Cheating's bad and wrong and we could get in trouble'," he mocked.

"I have no problem helping you with it though," David offered.

"Yeah? I guess I'll have to settle for that then. Honors English is just so much harder than the normal one," Specs complained.

"Well it is an honors class. And for the record, your comment is pretty much rubbish. You never even took 'regular' English, therefore you don't really know anything about that class and can't compare Honors English to it," David corrected.

"Okay, how about 'Junior Honors English is ten times harder than Sophomore Honors English'?" Specs rephrased.

"Yeah, that's a bit better," David accepted. "Hey, I'm going down to the library to get some studying done, you want to come with me?"

"Study right before school starts? No thanks, Mouth, I'm not that big of a nerd yet," Specs replied, turning down the offer.

"Yeah well, nerds in high school are the ones that end up running the world," David reminded him with a smile before walking off towards the library with a load of books.

"Of course, Mouth," Specs called patronizingly to him, "If that's what you need to keep telling yourself… You do realize it's complete crap though, right? The fact that you're a dork will always scare normal people away."

"So you keep telling me," David replied, still moving in the general direction of the library, albeit a bit slowly. "Remember to bring that paper to lunch so I can help you on it, okay?"

"Yeah, yeah," Specs brushed off uncaringly. "Now get your ass to the library, you big nerd," he ordered with a grin.

"I was kind of surprised when you let Jack in your house…with you being so pissed at him and everything," Skittery said as soon as Bumlets stood beside him along one of the school's walls. He took out a cigarette and looked around for approaching teachers before lighting it up and taking a hit.

"Yeah, well, I made him sleep on the couch," Bumlets enlightened Skittery before taking out a cigarette and following his friend's lead.

"His back must be complete shit right now," Dutchy laughed as he walked towards them, blowing smoke from his mouth with the help of his own cigarette.

"Yeah well, he deserves it. We put so fucking much on the line for him and he thanks us by talking shit. If he got caught at any of our houses…you could get kicked out," Bumlets fumed, looking at Dutchy. "My parents would freak out thinking someone caught them smoking pot and would probably burn the house down in an attempt to get rid of all the pot plants currently growing in the basement, and Itey's parents would beat the shit out of him and say it was a learning experience."

"But he can't stay at my house every night, my parents are strict about that stuff too," Skittery explained, feeling guilty because his parents wouldn't do anything as drastic as what his friends' parents would do.

"I'm not asking you too," Bumlets said, shrugging, "I just meant that Jack doesn't ever see that we risk a lot of shit just to protect his image while he goes around destroying ours."

"Yeah, but really what image is there to ruin, right?" Itey broke in, coming from the side of the school with a cigarette dangling from in between his fingers. "Because I mean really, we aren't exactly on one of the 'top branches' of the 'social tree'…so to speak."

"That's true, I mean the only thing that's worse than being a druggie is being a fag, right?" Dutchy laughed for a minute before pulling back and looking worried. "You don't think Jack would tell anyone that we're gay, do you?"

"He's not that big of a bastard," Bumlets replied, strangely sticking up for Jack now. "But really…who the fuck gives a shit? I'm straight."

"I'm not, and neither are Skittery or Itey," Dutchy whispered, his cigarette forgotten.

"Well yeah, but me and Skitts are bi and the only gay action we get is from each other so it's not any big worry," Itey replied, taking a hit.

"Open relationships are the shit," Skittery nodded, taking in a hit too and then putting his cigarette out on the wall.

"I don't think anyone here has any gay pride at all," Dutchy complained.

"Oh please, don't act like you do; you're so far in the closet you're finding Christmas presents," Skittery argued as Itey chuckled appreciatively.

"I'm out to you three fuckers, ain't I?" Dutchy asked, proper grammar slipping a bit.

"Yeah, but Skitts and Itey are together…or not together…or whatever the hell they are and believe me, there's no way you could ever get insane enough to understand them, and I'm straight, so unless you have a fucking good plan for turning me gay, the three of us knowing doesn't really help you all that much," Bumlets pointed out. "You don't even go on dates with other guys because you're afraid it'll get out to the school. And how fucking paranoid is that?"

"It's kind of a touchy subject, okay?" Dutchy grumbled as he put out his cigarette, "I mean, what if I'm not really gay?"

"Dutchy…you're as gay as leather pants," Skittery argued, following Dutchy's example and putting out his cigarette as well. "Trust me…you like the cock."

"It's just…ya know…my parents keep saying I'm going to hell and shit…and I don't really want the whole school telling me that too," Dutchy confided to his friends.

"Dutchy," Skitts replied sympathetically, going over to his friend and putting a hand on his shoulder. "…You're gay…and you're going to hell."

"Shut the fuck up!" Dutchy shouted pushing him so hard Skittery fell on the grass.

"Now all you have to do is do that exact same thing the next time your parents bring up the gay thing and you'll be…what's the word your people use? …Fabulous?" Bumlets said with a smirk, dropping his cigarette and stomping on it.

"Fuck you," Dutchy answered. "God, I have the fucking worst fucking friends in the fucking history of the fucking world!"

"Relax man, we'll get you nice and drunk as soon as school lets out," Itey said, deciding that Dutchy had enough insults from his friends for the morning.

"Sweet ass, that's more like it," Dutchy said happily.

"God, we really are druggies," Bumlets mumbled.

"Why don't we just cut out and go get drunk now?" Dutchy suggested, ignoring Bumlets.

"Dude, it's like…not even eight in the morning yet," Itey said. "After school, I swear."

"Plus, I can't cut out early I've got like, three major tests I have to take," Skittery said.

"Since when are you into school?" Itey asked, "And why didn't you say anything about studying after we were done having phone sex?"

"Jesus Christ," Bumlets swore as he rolled his eyes.

Skittery smiled, knowing full well that they never had phone sex (because why have phone sex when you can walk a mile and get real sex?) and knowing that Itey just liked messing with their friends. "I was going to…but after we decided to go for a second round it kind of slipped my mind. You know that thing you said you were doing with your-"

"I think I'm at my quota for gay porn this month," Bumlets interrupted right as a grouped of girls were passing by. They all giggled obnoxiously before speeding up their walking. "Fuck me," Bumlets mumbled before turning to go into the building for first period.

The rest followed behind him while laughing happily, because there was nothing funnier than people thinking that Bumlets was the gay one in the group.

"Swifty," Jack greeted, giving him a weird and complicated handshake that only the jocks knew and used.

"Jack," Swifty greeted right back with a smile as he kept up the handshake with practiced ease.

"I heard you got a race today," Jack began, "How much do you think we're going to beat their asses?"

"I'm fucking ready for it Jacky; last week I managed to cut point two seconds off my run," Swifty bragged.

"Yo! Kelly! Swift!" Masson greeted before walking up to them and doing the handshake with both the underclassmen. "Swifty, you gonna kick some major ass tonight?"

"No doubt," Swifty answered happily.

"Oh, and hey man, I talked to your teachers, they said you could cut out early to start practicing for the meet whenever you want and they'll take care of everything," Masson said smugly, obviously proud of himself for accomplishing such a feat.

"Nuh-uh! Dude, I ask them to do that for me all the time and they've never said 'okay' before. Fuck, you must've had a really good sales pitch," Swifty replied excitedly.

"Hey it was no big deal, plus a lot of them owed me favors anyway. Seriously, it was as easy as finding one of the druggies high," Masson brushed off, laughing loudly at his own joke.

"So I don't have to go to the office or anything? I can just leave?" Swifty asked just to make sure.

"Yeah man, just go. The teachers just said they'll mark you as here and give you 'A's on everything you miss," Masson assured him.

"Fuck man, what blackmail have you got on these teachers?" Jack broke in.

"Oh hey, is Jack allowed to come too?" Swifty asked as if just remembering him.

"Nah, man, you're solo," Masson answered, "There's no way that I could have gotten two guys out of class, at least not in the same day anyway."

"Well me cutting out is better than nothin', right? S'long guys," Swifty said, going towards the outside doors and leaving for some unknown location.

"Fuck man, I told you not to kick in his knee cap. If he didn't have to go to the hospital you wouldn't have gotten expelled."

Spot snorted at his associate's (he didn't have friends) comment. "I'm sure. Fuck, that was what? …The fifteenth fight I've been in during this year? They would've kicked me out no matter what…at least this way I get to know the joy of sending that little bitch to the emergency room."

"Shit man, isn't that kind of demented?"

Spot shrugged, "We are Brooklyn."

"Yeah, that's another thing, why the fuck did you switch to a school in Manhattan? You're like the very definition of Brooklyn and now some new fuck is going to steal your title while you're stuck somewhere during the fucking commute."

"You're such a fuckin' girl, Slingshot. Jesus, stop being so melodramatic. I can kick any fucker's ass who thinks they can take Brooklyn from me, got it?"

"Yeah yeah, Boss, just don't let Manhattan make you soft," Slingshot replied.

"You giving me a fucking ride or what? Because if you think I'm just going to stand around and endure a lecture from you you're a lot dumber than I thought," Spot said over his shoulder, already heading out the door and into Slingshot's poor excuse for a car.