Note--this is the follow-up to the Some Kind of Bond That Cannot Be Broken Trilogy. It will make a lot more sense if you read Complete, Becoming "Angel", and The Return first, but you don't have to if you absolutely don't want to.
Right In Front of Your Nose All Along
Disclaimer--I don't own any of the male newsies. The girl newsies, such as Hazel, are mine, and so is Jean Kloppman, but the name Kloppman isn't mine. Yadda, Yadda, Disney owns all of that but it would be pointless to sue me 'cause all you'd get would be a handful of pennies and some old lollipops.
Author's Note: I know the chapter title is really, very cheesy, but it's all I could come up with. Any and all suggestions for a different, better, title would be very gratefully received.
By: Kora
The pencil felt cool and slippery in Becca's sweaty hand. She frowned at the paper before her, and in frustration scratched out what she had just written. Becca breathed in the humid night air as she re-adjusted the candle she had brought up on the roof with her. It was the middle of July and was much too hot in the bunkroom to concentrate, so Becca had moved up to the roof. She gazed up at the twinkling sky while her mind skimmed over the past year's events.
In two short months, it would be the first year's "anniversary" of being reunited with Jack. When winter had approached, the Lodging House filled with girl newsies, just as Jack had predicted. It fact, their numbers had so grown that Kloppman's sister opened a Newsgirl's Lodging House down the street to accommodate the numbers. At first, Becca had moved along with the rest of her female friends, but that didn't last. She missed Jack terribly--since her return, the Kelly siblings had hardly been apart. The last straw was drawn one night when Becca experienced the nightmare again. Jean Kloppman had ended up having to send Hazel to run down the street and get Jack, for he was the only one who could calm Becca down after the nightmare. The next morning, Becca moved back to the Newsboys Lodging House.
Becca would have assumed that after her reconciliation with Rhys Sullivan, her father, that the nightmare would go away. But only part of it did, other parts remained. The memories of her mother's death, the realization that she was all alone, running through the streets, and the flailing horses hooves...those spectrums from her past had stubbornly refused to fade away all together. As for her father, he had moved to a smaller town about a day's train ride from the city. Both she and Jack had an open invitation to come and visit as long as they liked whenever they wished, but Jack wasn't that close to his father yet and Becca was still wary to leave the city.
'Paranoid and stupid, I know. C'mon, pull yourself together, you've been sixteen since May 25th--' Becca's thoughts were interrupted by an array of shouts from below. Becca smiled to herself while fondly thinking of all the guys. Sixteen, and still the youngest girl, and the little sister. In fact, Dave was the only one of the guys older than she who didn't treat her like a little sister. Over this past year, she and Davey had grown very close. He was her "best guy friend" as Hazel, her other best friend, put it. She and Davey had so much in common that the others had begun joking about them being separated at birth.
'I wonder if he'll come tonight,' Becca thought. 'I know he's real busy with school, but it is a Friday night.' As if one cue, a figure appeared in the middle of the roof. He climbed out of the trap door and sat down next to Becca. "Hey."
"Hi. Why'd you come up through the trap door? The fire escape's much easier."
"Yeah, but to get to the window, I'd have to crawl through and over about 40 newsies all crammed into one room." Dave saw Becca grin in the candlelight.
"That's what happens when it's our turn to host the monthly Brooklyn-Manhattan poker game." Davey nodded in agreement and glanced down at the paper in Becca's lap.
"Writing?"
"Yeah, well, I was. I'm done now. Here," Becca folded the paper up and handed it to Davey, who took it and stuck it in his pocket. It had become their custom since Dave had gone back to school for Becca to write something and give it to Davey, who would read it over, tweak it to perfection, then give it back. Becca's education was fairly good, but she insisted that Dave be her "editor", as she had jokingly dubbed him.
Becca watched Davey tuck the paper away. 'It's so sweet of him to go over my writing for me, with all the work I'm sure he was to do. He's gotta be busy, we only get to see him on weekends and a few nights a week.' Davey looked back up to see Becca studying him. The locked eyes, warm brown drowning in cool blue. They started to draw closer when another outburst from downstairs broke the silence, and the moment. Becca quickly pulled back and reddened slightly, although one couldn't tell because they were both fairly flushed from the heat.
"Never a dull moment." Davey commented, receiving a soft laugh from Becca. The awkward moment passed and the two continued on as if nothing had happened. They discussed Dave's schooling.
"Tell me again, I forgot. Why, exactly, are you going to school in the summer?"
"To make up for the time I lost at the beginning of the school year last year as Papa's arm was still healing. There's usually a couple of schools that run in the summer for kids who miss time during the year because they have to work due to their parents getting injured. It's not that uncommon."
"Oh." The two went on as they watched the star-studded night sky. Becca told Davey the Greek myths about the constellations she pointed out, while Dave informed her about the things he learned about the same sky in astronomy class. After an hour passed, the candle gave out. "I'll take that as a sign that it's getting late and we'd better go in."
"I guess so. My parents'll want me home soon, anyway."
"Can'tya stay tonight?"
"No. My parents and Sarah all have to leave for work early tomorrow. Somebody's gotta be there with Les. We'll swing by Tibby's for lunch, how's that?"
"Great." Dave helped Becca up. They stood, and their eyes found one another's again. They both leaned in closer and their lips had just barely grazed each other's when Davey pulled back.
"Um, I'd better going." Becca nodded, heart pounding. Dave climbed down the fire escaped and off into the night. A few moments later, Becca followed him, only she went in through the window.
***
The assembled newsies inside heard a clattering as someone climbed down the fire escape. They watched as Davey took off, heading back home. "Ain't he comin' in ta say goodnight?" Mush asked to no one in particular.
"Guess not." Specs answered. Not much later, Becca came down as well. She crawled through the window and headed top speed towards her room when Jack stopped her.
"Hey Becky?" When she turned around, Spot noted the scarlet hue to her heat-flushed face.
"Yeah, Jack?"
"Whereya goin'?"
"Bed."
"Oh. Okay. G'night."
"Night!" Becca called over her shoulder as she briskly walked down the hallway. Curiously, Jack turned to Spot, who had a small, knowing smile on his face.
"Did somet'in happen up t'ere?"
"No," Spot replied. "Nuttin' but a brush wit' destiny."
Note: I just wrote this last night and this morning. I really don't have much of an idea what I'm doing with this, I'm just writing it off the top of my head, so that explains why it's so bad. Please review, tell me what you think, any constructive criticism would be great, what I should do next, that sort of thing. Thanks!