It is I, Moseph, with another fic! Don't worry, it's just a one shot, so you won't have to wait even longer for your favourite fic to be updated. Just a quick note before I get started. It's my first ever song fic ((is happy)), based on the best song from Wicked, "As Long As You're Mine". Oh, side note: I JUST SAW WICKED AND IT IS THE BEST THING EVER! All right, back to the fic. Now, please, don't be crushed, but it's not a David fic. I'm sorry David lovers! He'll be back! But considering the song and the happenings leading up to it, it just didn't feel like a David fic. So, hope you enjoy!
Disclaimer: Obviously, I don't own Newsies or Wicked. What would I be doing with either? The most I own is the merchandise. Anyway, Newsies, as you all well know, belongs to Disney. The book Wicked belongs to Gregory Maguire and the musical belongs to...whomever. My most gracious thanks to you, whomever you may be. And the girl character? Copying Brunette's one-shot format (love you, honey! I swear, I will review them!), she's anonymous. She could be anyone: some background chick in the movie, you, your cousin, your mom ((shudder)), the librarian ((double shudder)), absolutely anyone. Let your imagination run freeeeee!
Kiss me too fiercely
Hold me too tight
Our bodies entwine in sweaty, passionate perfection. His hands are here and there, back and forth. We're going at lightening speed, but I'm taking my time to mentally photograph each moment. His hands stoke the fire in my body. Our mouths meet in a conjunction of passion.
I need help believing
You're with me tonight
I take a moment to gaze at the eyes belonging to the body. They aren't looking into mine, but it doesn't ruin the perfection of the moment. I still can't conceive it, even with our bodies so close. Those eyes that I stared at endlessly for at least a month now are scrutinizing my body. That beautiful hair is flopping back and forth in front of his face, but he doesn't push it aside. His taut muscles descend upon me and I lean back to take in the moment.
My wildest dreaming
Could not foresee
Lying beside you
With you wanting me
With one last surge of energy, Jack grunts in what I hope is content and lies back beside me. He releases his grasp on my hair and starts winding it around his fingers, still panting. His breath slows and it becomes deep and long.
"You're beautiful, you know that? Absolutely perfect," he whispers in my ear, kissing it gently. I smile at the ceiling. I know that if I look at him, I won't be able to control myself. He traces a circle on my shoulder and goose bumps raise on my arms and neck.
"You're cold," he says, frowning and rubbing my bare shoulders to create heat. I'm not cold, but why would I protest his touch? I close my eyes and think back to when we first met.
"This is Jack. Jack Kelly," Elizabeth says, gesturing to the tall, handsome boy beside her. I gaze up at him in awe. I hope my face doesn't convey my thoughts; they're quite inappropriate. Jack gives me an acknowledging smile and nods in my direction. I give a similar smile and watch him carefully as Elizabeth drags him away to meet the other girls. He doesn't bother to glance back at me. Typical. Who would bother to look at me when Elizabeth was there to behold?
It's not unlike Elizabeth to be on the arm of a gorgeous boy. They flock to her like flies to honey. The beautiful, flirtatious type that we all know and loathe, Elizabeth has a natural charisma that make boys love her and me hate her. Of course, she is my best friend, but all friends have those little annoying qualities and lovability just happens to be one of hers.
Still, something about Jack Kelly sticks with me. I have a feeling he's not going to be just another pretty face; not to me, at least. No, I'll make sure he's not.
Just for this moment
As long as you're mine
I feel a rustling beside me and see Jack throwing back the covers.
"You're not leaving, are you?" I ask worriedly. I want him to stay. I want him to be here with me. I don't want this moment to end. Jack smiles at my concern, leans over, and kisses my forehead.
"Of course not. I'm going to get a drink," he says, before ambling out of the room, the sheet thrown around his waist teasing me, ready to slip at any moment. I arch my back and finger-comb my hair as I look out the window, the sunlight glaring at me.
I've lost all resistance
And crossed some borderline
The birds chirp accusingly and the sunlight beams harder as if to blind me for my sin, but I couldn't care less; I just slept with Jack Kelly. I just slept with my best friend's boyfriend.
I've entered the privileged world of the few, the lucky. The Bedmates of Jack Kelly. It's an important title, although not an uncommon one, if I understand correctly. Still, he's spending his precious afternoon hours with me, instead of running off with his other friends. Not even Elizabeth gets that privilege.
To tell the truth, I feel a little bad. And I did try to put up some resistance. At least, I did when hepulled me into bed five days ago.But Elizabeth should know. She shouldn't leave her men unwatched; they can do dangerous things when left to their own devices. Like bed their girl's best friend.
"Come on, you two, it'll only be two weeks," Elizabeth assures us, trying to cheer us. It doesn't work. We both pout. "You'll hardly even notice I'm gone," she insists. Not likely. She's my best friend and confidant and Jack? Well, Jack's a handsome guy, so if he went looking for a companion, he could easily find one...but he's loyal to Elizabeth. ...Right?
"All aboard!" the engineer calls, hanging out the train window.
"Oh, that's me!" Elizabeth giggles, smoothing her hair nervously once more. "Don't worry, everything will be fine! You two can...get to know each other," she says, kissing me on the cheek, then Jack. With a final wave, she picks up her luggage and totes it off to the train. We wave as we watch her train depart and I long for her to turn around and come back.
I turn and am startled to see Jack staring at me. "What?" I ask self-consciously. "Is something wrong?" Jack shakes his head and ambles away without mumbling any sort of goodbye. I frown at his back. If only he weren't so good looking...
And if it turns out
It's over too fast
I'll make every last moment last
As long as you're mine
He plods back into the room, holding a glass of water. Setting the glass down carefully, he sits back on the bed and lies across it, his head resting on my stomach. I brush his bangs out of his eyes and just watch him watching me.
"What are you smiling at?" he asks me.
"What do you think?" I reply, my grin widening. He sits up, takes his rightful place lying beside me and slyly pulls me on top of him.
"Are we gonna do this again?" I sigh. Why am I resisting?
"Why not? Don't you want to?" he asks, pressing hard against my lips, not giving me a chance to resist. I must be crazy, but I try to think of one last reason not to.
"But...what about Elizabeth?" I ask. He stops and raises an eyebrow at me.
"What about Elizabeth?" he retorts.
"Well, you know. She is still your girl," I remind him. He flips me on my back expertly and moves over top of me once again.
"Screw Elizabeth," he says triumphantly.
"I thought that was your job," I say jokingly.
"Not anymore," he murmurs.
Maybe I'm brainless
Maybe I'm wise
But you've got me seeing
Through different eyes
Now that I've been with Jack, it feels like everything's clearer. Like something about him woke me up and made me a whole new person. Okay, so it sounds silly. But everyone who has been in love knows.
That's right. I'm in love.
I'm in love with Jack Kelly.
I'M IN LOVE WITH JACK KELLY!
Somehow I've fallen
Under your spell
And somehow I'm feeling
It's up that I fell
While I love being with him, he's almost more interesting to watch. The way he moves, the way he smiles. He captivates me and I can't stop watching him; until, that is, he distracts me.
Take, for example, the way he gets dressed. It could be because I still love seeing him in all his glory. But there's something so deliberate about the way he does it. It's slow and careful. Like if he does something wrong, his whole day is ruined.
I'm watching him get dressed now from my seat on the bed. I'm clothed now as well and regretting resisting his third advance of the day. He finishes by slowly tying his trademark red bandanna around his neck, carefully watching, his fingers fumbling ever so slightly with the knot.
"Why do you wear this bandanna, Jack?" I ask casually, out of idle curiosity. He pauses to think for a moment.
"I guess because I always have. It's comfort to me. No matter where I am, where I'm sleeping, it's the one thing that's always familiar to me," he says carefully. Smiling, he pulls me close to him, where I linger, smelling his shirt. It smells like the essence of New York City: dust, smoke and blood. Strangely, the scent is comforting, much like Jack's red bandanna, and I nestle further into the safety of his arms.
Every moment
As long as you're mine
I'll wake up my body
And make up for lost time
"So, where do you usually go on Friday nights?" Jack asks me, sticking his hands in his pockets and strolling casually down the middle of Duane Street. It's been close to a week since Elizabeth left and Jack and I have formed a makeshift friendship. As far as we can figure, we've got a bit of common ground (Elizabeth) and she would love it if we got along well. So Jack's been shadowing me all day, following me around to my regular haunts. I can tell that Jack's not the following type and his constant being at my back is teasing my nerves.
"Sometimes, if we have enough money, Elizabeth and I go out for dinner," I say. "But most of the time, we don't, so we just laze around the apartment and talk about everything."
"What sort of things do you talk about?" he asks, stopping to light a cigarette and watching me observantly. I tilt my head toward the sky and examine the stars.
"The future. Where we'll be when we're 25. Where we'll live, who we'll marry, what we'll do. We like to imagine that we'll be rich baronesses in France," I say, smiling wistfully. I'm actually relieving a far away moment; this is the sort of thing we dreamt about when we were kids, still innocent. Back when we relied on each other. Back when we had only each other. Back when she didn't have any boys waiting on her. We thought we could get out of this God-forsaken city. But that will never happen. The rest of the world might as well be as far away as those stars. It'll never happen.
"But, you know, that's just the silly dreaming of two teenage girls. I know where I'll be at 25. I'll still be here, I'll still be working sunrise to sunset at the shop, I'll still be poor and lonely and I'll die ten years later," I say, trying to sound as if I don't care. A hand grabs my chin and twists it. I'm suddenly inches away from Jack's face.
"How do you know what's going to happen?" he asks huskily. "The future's unpredictable..." My eyes close as our mouths meet and I suddenly realize that I won't put up resistance. And I'll like it.
Say there's no future
For us as a pair
And though, I may know
I don't care
As long as you're mine
As Jack smooths out his shirt, ridding himself of wrinkles, I jaunt into the kitchen and pick up the small pile of mail in front of the door. Flip, flip, flip. Bill, bill, bill. I try to ignore the price of our electricity bill and focus on a small, square envelope with neat handwriting on the front, detailing the address of the grotty apartment Elizabeth and I share. I know that handwriting. I carefully tear the envelope open and remove the single sheet of paper with a hastily scrawled message written on it. Jack strolls into the kitchen, whistling a familiar tune.
"What's that?" he asks, planting a kiss on my cheek. It barely registers with me. I'm busy scanning the letter, wondering if it's some sort of joke. Jack looks at me worriedly. "What's that?" he repeats, his brow furrowing. I clear my throat and give a shaky laugh.
"It's a letter from Elizabeth," I say, attempting a smile. All expression fades off Jack's face. For the past five days that we've been together, Elizabeth has been an almost taboo subject, aside from me using her as an attempt to stupidly fight off Jack. Not like it won me anything. We've never actually discussed what's going to happen when she gets back. I'm suddenly doubting every look and moment shared, every loving word whispered, everything. He looks at me with the same doubting look.
"What's it say?" he asks, his tone clipped. I scan over the words again, finally taking the time to process them.
"She's fallen in love with London. Her cousin has convinced her to stay for another month. She's even considering attending school there. Her aunt and uncle will pay for it. She'll be back to get the rest of her things," I paraphrase, folding the letter back up and dropping it on the table. Jack's eyes dart to it.
"Does it say when?" he asks, his eyes glued to it.
"No. She could be back any day," I say, pursing my lips. There's an awkward tension between us and I want it to go away desperately. Jack looks up and our eyes meet.
"Screw Elizabeth," he says, pulling me toward him roughly. I don't resist, merely sink into him. "This is real. I love you." I smile at his shirt and know that I should implore him, but that's far from my mind right now. All that's in it is his broad chest and big hands stoking my hair. Finally, I realize I have to say something and pull my head back to look at him.
"Jack, we can't just ignore this," I mumble unconvincingly.
"Yes, yes we can," he insists.
"No. She's my best friend. Hell, this is our apartment. I can't pay rent on my own," I say, backing away from him and spreading my arms around the kitchen. My arm hits the wall, but I ignore it.
"I'll move in! I'll help pay!" he says eagerly, moving closer to me. I take another step back.
"You can't afford it. You can barely afford the lodging house. Being a newsie can't pay half the rent," I protest.
"I'll get another job!" he proclaims, looking at me with pleading eyes.
"She's your girl," I manage, choking on my words.
"No, she's not," he says sharply. "Don't ever say that. You are my girl." I want to believe it. I really do. I want to sink into his arms again and not give a second thought about rent or Elizabeth or second jobs or anything but him and me. But my spontaneous, carefree side is seriously lacking right now.
"Jack, let's not kid ourselves," I say bitterly. It sounds like I'm angry with him, which I'm not. I'm angry with Elizabeth for leaving her stupid boyfriend with me in the first place. I'm angry with stupid London, with all its fancy shops and snooty, rich people. I'm angry with myself. For all of this. Is this my fault? Probably not. But I blame myself anyway. For falling in love with him.
"What are we kidding ourselves about?" he asks, taking another step toward me. I can feel his breath.
"This! All of this! We're two teenage street rats, trying to have an affair in an apartment we can't afford. We must be insane. I must be insane. This can't work. This could never work," I say, massaging my aching head.
"I don't care," he says emphatically. He grabs me again and I think for a second that he's going to hit me. Instead he throws himself upon me, kissing me with all the vigour he has in him. I fight to break away, to breathe, but his mouth is insistent. It won't let me go. We're locked in this position for at least five minutes. Finally, his grip loosens and I manage to detach from him. He's still holding my head, though, and he puts his forehead on mine. "I love you," he says, looking down at me with those beautiful eyes. I can feel myself weakening. There's no way I'm winning this one.
Just for this moment
As long as you're mine
Come be how you want to
And see how bright we shine
We're tumbling into the bedroom again. It seems like it's all we ever do together, not that I mind. My hormones tell me to start undoing his buttons, as he is doing to me. But something stops me.
"Jack?" I say, gasping as his lips reach my neck.
"What?" he grunts.
"Do you want to...maybe...just...talk?" I manage. He stops and raises an eyebrow at me.
"Talk?" he asks unsurely, as if unfamiliar with the concept. I nod. "About what?"
"Jack, we do everything but. Why don't we just...be together?" I ask, flouncing onto the bed. A smile crawls onto his face and he sits down beside me.
"All right. What do you want to talk about?" he asks.
"Nothing at all."
Borrow the moonlight
Until it is through
I know I'll be here holding you
As long as you're mine
As I stumble into the annoyingly bright kitchen the next morning, all I can think about is how badly I want to run down to Tibby's and get some coffee. Instead, I start to boil some water for tea and turn to sit in my favourite chair. I almost have a heart attack when I see a slumped figure sitting in the only shadowy corner.
"BAH!" I jump away from the chair in fright. As I start to back away, the figure gets up and steps into the light. Oh...Jesus.
"Hello," the slight, black-haired girl says icily. I swallow uncomfortably and scrutinize my feet.
"Hi...Elizabeth," I chokeout. She narrows her eyes.
"So. I see you're doing fine without me," she says scathingly. I move away from my feet and onto my nails. I can still feel her eyes burning into me.
"Um...yeah," I add brilliantly. Her eyes narrow ever more. She couldn't look more like a snake if she had a forked tongue.
"Well. How did this happen?" she asks. I struggle to meet her eyes.
"Look, Liza..." I begin.
"No, forget it. Don't answer that. How could you do this to me?" she yelps like a wounded cat.
"Shhh, calm down, Liza!" I hiss, shushing her. "Jack's still asleep."
"Oh, well, let's stop the world for Jack the saintly!" she says sarcastically.
"Look, Liza, we didn't do this to hurt you. It just...happened," I stutter. Elizabeth remains silent. "You're moving to London. You were going to have to leave him sometime." Elizabeth purses her lips.
"Well. I came for my things. I'll be back in a month to collect any mail I missed," she says briskly. I nod, clutching my elbow to my side. She walks past me into the bedroom and I can hear clothes being thrown into a suitcase. Soon, the suitcase snaps shut and Elizabeth strides back into the kitchen.
"So, this is goodbye, then," she says coolly, smoothing out the pale blue fabric of her dress.
"Bye, Liza," I say quietly. She wraps her free arm around me for an awkward hug and pecks me on the cheek. I watch her stalk out the door without another glance. Slowly, I sink into my chair, barely noticing the sound of boiling water on the stove behind me.
"Mmmm, morning, hon," Jack's voice says behind me, kissing me on the top of my head. I smile warmly at him, but Elizabeth's voice nags at the back of my head. "Hey, you know there's a pot of boiling water on the stove, right?" I leap out of the chair and dive for the stove, immediately removing the pot from the stove. Jack begins to chuckle at me and I glare at him, barely able to contain my grin. He walks toward me and wraps his arms around my waist, planting a kiss on my forehead.
"Hey, don't you have to go to work?" I ask his chest. He sighs heavily.
"Yeah, I do," he says. "But I could always just stay here..."
"Jack, if we're going to live together, you're going to need to contribute some money," I half-scold, half-tease.
"Yeah, all right," he says, rolling his eyes and kissing me again. "Oh yeah, is it just me, or did I hear another voice out hear this morning?"
"Uh, no. No, there was no one else here," I lie. Jack quirks his head to the side and shrugs it off.
"Guess it was a dream. Bye, hon," he says, heading to the door. Before he goes, he takes one last look at me and smiles. My insides swell as he walks out the door.
Eat your heart out, Liza.
Okay, I seriously want some feedback on this one. First song fic, so I want to know if I should just stick to normal, non-song stories or if I can continue with this kind of thing. Of course, this is a one shot, so there won't be shout outs, although I would like to make a few comments. ((whips out notes)) Elphie: thanks for reminding me that I wanted to do this. Brunette: thanks for the inspiration. And please don't sue me. Um, I think those are the only comments I wanted to make. So, hope you enjoyed! Please review!
newsiesmoseph