Disclaimer: Disney owns the newsies from the movie…see the movie and you'll know which ones are theirs and which are mine…Gospel and Bite Size, Glorianna, and the Hayden twins, Jonothan and Jasmine are mine, as well as any other miscellaneous newsies and or people that were not in the movie…

PS

Jono is pronounced "jon-o" no joe no…heheh…

This is a sorta sequel (cause it features the same characters) to [At Least Out Loud] I wont' Say I'm in Love . For those of you who read the little note thingy I left at the end of the story, I decided to make Jassy mute, not deaf…anyway… hope you enjoy J

"Nothing Heals Me Like You Do"

Ch. 1

Jonothan "Jono" Hayden grinned at his friend, Racetrack, as the news boy and proudly self professed gambler threw pebbles at the window. He opened the window and was plugged in the forehead with a rock.

"Shit!" He gasped, "That hurt!"

"Shhhhh!" One of the boys he shared the large bunkroom with whispered.

"You won't rat on me, will ya?" Jonothan asked quickly, one leg out the window.

"We haven't yet, have we? Don't worry 'bout it Jono, nobody'll say nothin'." The tired boy replied.

"Alrighty, then I'll be back before mornin'! Cover for me and leave the window open!" He said smiling, and continued on his way out the window, into the bushes, and over to where Racetrack huddled in the shrubbery.

"Nice aim, race!" Jono said with a smile, rolling his eyes.

"Hey…I got yer attention didn't I?" Race replied as the two spit shook, "It's been to long Jono, wait til I tell ya what's been goin' on lately…"

The two walked companionably down the street towards the Manhattan Lodging house while Race recited to Jono the latest gossip that was running around the newsies and how Kid Blink's sister, Glorianna had shown up and that the tough Brooklyn leader was officially smitten with the girl.

"Yeah…you shoulda seen 'er Jono, quite da lookah…" Race sighed, "Almost as beautiful as a Royal Flush…"

Jonothan chuckled, "Whoa Race…you're gonna make Lady Luck jealous."
Race shrugged, "I said almost Jono me boy, almost."

They reached the lodging house walked up the stairs into the boy's room. The boys were sitting around, some playing cards, some sleeping, and some just lounging. Jack, Kid Blink, Mush, and Spot sat in one corner, playing poker. According to the look on Spot's face he was winning and Jack was losing big.

Jonothan grinned, Jack had his, "I'm going to try and smooth talk my way back to my money" look on his face.

"Jono!" Kid Blink called out, glancing up, "It's been awhile!"

Jono grinned and sat between Jack and Kid Blink. Race sad down beside Spot and was asking him what he had missed.

"Just Jacky-boy losin' da shirt off his back is all…" The Brooklyn leader replied with a grin, "Hey Jono, hows life at the orphanage?"

Jono shrugged, "Same as always, nobody wants to adopt a couple of sixteen year old orphan twins, one of which hasn't talked since she was eleven…they all want the cute babies without tragic histories and such…"

"Dang…sorry ta heah that, Jono."

Jono grinned, "I'd rather not be adopted…you should see some of the people that come there…whoo boy…" His grin faded a little, "It's just that Jassy needs the help…I wish I could figure out how to help her…"

The boys were silent for a moment, continuing in there game, not really knowing what to say.

Jack won the next hand, much to Spot's chagrin. Then Race won the hand after that.

Spot sighed, "Well…I guess I should get back to Brooklyn and that crazy Priss of mine…" He sighed softly.

"I heard about your new girl…congratulations." Jono said, smoothing his hair back with one hand.

Spot sighed, "Thanks…but I think I could use wishes a good luck more 'n congrats…"

"Hey, that's me sistah yer talkin' about." Blink said, but he clearly wasn't upset.

"What's eatin' at ya, Spot?" Jack asked, "Glori to much for ya ta handle or somethin'?"

Spot snorted, "No…she just has this crazy idea ta buy dat building and make some kind a huge orphan…run away…refuge or somethin…only she won't do it in Brooklyn…she's determined ta do heah, in Manhattan, even though I showed her dis perfect buildin', right in Brooklyn."

"Yer never gonna change 'er mind, ya know dat, don't ya, Spot?"

Spot shrugged, "We'll see…"

"Well fellas, I have ta get back to the orphanage. I'll see ya again soon though."

"Want me ta walk wid ya home?" Race asked.

"Nah, that's okay."

"Good…cause I'm beat."

Jonothan walked out of the Lodging house with Spot, who said a quiet goodbye and started walking towards Brooklyn.

Jonothan arrived at the orphanage, snuck back in through the window, and was in bed without anyone being the wiser.

The next morning Jonothan was called into Mrs. Clarence's office, a social worker who had been trying to get him and his sister, Jasmine, adopted since their parent's death when they were eleven.

Jasmine, or Jassy, as Jonothan called her, was already waiting. She sat in a high back chair, her posture perfect. She had wide shoulders and was tall for a girl, 5 ft 11, same as him. She was boyishly thin and believed herself to be plain, but in Jonothan's eyes she was beautiful. Her big green eyes and all her brown hair, tinted with red in the sunlight were his favorite features. She was unbelievably kind and gentle. He and Jassy had been best friends since they were born. They were twins and surely looked like. He too, had thick brown hair and green eyes. He was 5 ft 11 and thin framed. He had a big smile though, with dimples that charmed most females.

He grinned at her and gestured a "hello" and a "I love you, sis" as he took his seat.

Jassy grinned back and gestured the same. She hadn't spoken since the tragic murder of their parents that took place when they were eleven. She had witnessed the entire thing from the closet their mother had shoved her in and it had traumatized her. They had never caught the criminals who did it and it still hurt Jonothan to think about it. He and Jassy rarely spoke of their parents.

She had never learned formal sign language, and when they talked it was pretty much through their own "secret language" they had made far before their parents were killed.

"What'd ya call us in for, Mrs. Clarence?" He asked, taking a seat in the chair beside Jassy's.

"Well…I have some wonderful news!" She said smiling, "We have two lovely couples who can't wait to adopt you!"

"Wow…two? Which one did you chose?" Jono asked with a grin, he couldn't believe they were actually getting adopted. Jassy could finally get the help she needed.

Mrs. Clarence frowned, "No, dear, I don't think you understand. We have a couple who is interested in adopting you and another couple, who work with people like Jassy, who can't talk, read to adopt her…I'm sorry."
Jassy's eyes widened and she began shaking her head, her hand grasping at Jonothan's tightly.

Jono patted her shoulder consolingly, "Don't worry, Jassy, they aren't going to split us up."

"Well, Jonothan, you don't really have a choice. We've finally found someone to adopt you and they are coming to pick you up first thing tomorrow morning. You have today to get your stuff together and say good-bye to your friends and to each other, and that is final."

Jono shrugged, "If you say so, Mrs. Clarence….c'mon Jass, let's go say our goodbyes…" He took Jassy's hand and walked out of the office.

Jassy was looking at him with huge worried eyes and shaking her head, no.

"Don't worry, Jass. I'm gonna get us out of here tonight…"

Where will we go? She gestured quickly.

He shrugged, "I think I know a place. Wait with your window unlocked tonight and make sure you're ready to leave quick."

She nodded worriedly, I trust you. She said, then squeezed him tight.