Hey fansies! This is my first fic. I'm excited to see what you think!
A quick note, this is set shortly after the strike.
-Sis21K
Disclaimer: I do not own Newsies.
"Let's head home, boys!" shouted Jack, jumping off the pile of papes he'd been lounging on. The boys often hung out at the circulation desk after selling. "They's gonna kick us outta here soon, we best be on our way!" He was in a good mood, and waved to the Delancies, who glared at him. Jack tousled Romeo's hair and gave Davey a friendly punch on the shoulder before spotting Les, who was hunched over and quiet. Normally the younger boy was chatting with everyone and running all over the place.
"How's my favorite little brudda?" Jack asked, throwing an arm around Les's shoulders and giving him a squeeze.
Les didn't answer, but shrugged Jack's arm off and slouched away.
Jack frowned. It wasn't like Les to be like this. He'd never ignored Jack before; if he was upset, Jack was usually the first to know. Something was really bothering him, then. Jack tried to think back. Les had been fine yesterday; a little quiet, but fine. Actually, the whole week, Les had been acting sort of worried. Jack looked at the little boy's back and decided to try again. He pushed through a couple more of his boys and placed a hand on Les's shoulder. "Why the long face, kid? Ain't it been a good day for you?"
Les pushed Jack's hand away. "Just shut up," he muttered, not meeting Jack's eyes, and started to hurry away through the crowd of newsies.
Now Jack was really worried. What the heck had he done to deserve this treatment from Les? He grabbed Les's shirt before he could get away and pulled him back. The boys streamed around them, towards the lodging house about a block away.
"Hey!" Jack said, raising his voice. He bent down and gently shook Les by the shoulders. "What's wrong with you?" he asked more quietly. "I ain't never seen you like this before."
Les muttered something incoherent, looking at his shoes.
"What?" Jack rubbed Les's shoulders, which were strangely tense. "Is it somethin' I can fix?"
"I ain't your little brudda."
Davey smiled, caught up in the newsboys' crazy antics, but as he entered the lodging house to talk for a while before going home, he heard a familiar clunk, step, clunk, step.
He ran up the stairs after Crutchie, glancing back to make sure no one was following—particularly Les. He didn't see his little brother anywhere, and just hoped he wasn't getting himself in trouble.
"Hey, Crutchie? Do you have a second, to talk?" Davey asked timidly, as Crutchie climbed onto the roof.
Crutchie turned around with his usual bright smile. "Sure, Davey. Come on up. Just make sure not to touch any of Jack's stuff—he don't like people looking at his drawings before they're done, ya know."
"Yeah." Davey sat down next to Crutchie and sighed. "Actually, it's sort of Jack I wanted to talk about." Crutchie glanced over at him. "It just seems like Les is going to him with his problems instead of me these days. I don't mean to sound…" Davey ran a hand through his hair. "Ah, never mind. It's gonna sound horrible no matter how I say it."
"It's all right, Davey. Just gotta get it out sometimes, ya know?" Crutchie smiled.
"Yeah. I know. It's just…I feel like Les likes Jack better as a big brother than me. And sometimes…Jack is a better big brother than me."
"Aw, don't say that. Jack's used to playing the big brudda to everyone."
"Yeah, and I should be used to playing the big brother to Les. Don't you think?"
"Huh?"
"I ain't your little brudda," Les repeated. He risked a glance into Jack's concerned eyes, then looked away. "I'm Davey's."
"Yeah? So what? You know we's all a family."
"But me and Davey are more family."
Jack shook his head. "Okay, kid. Whatever you says." He paused. All the boys had gone into the lodging house. Hopefully Davey wouldn't be wondering where Les was for a while. "What's so wrong with being a brudda to me?" Jack asked, making a goofy face in an attempt to cheer Les up.
But Les was having none of it. He looked into Jack's eyes again. "You'se taking Davey away from me!" he finally burst out.
Jack closed his eyes, finally understanding. "All right, Les. I get it now—"
"No! You don't get it!" Les couldn't seem to stop. "He neva talks to me anymore! At home it's always 'Jack did this' or 'Jack said that'. He's always actin' like I'm in the way or somethin'. He was my favorite person in the world for my whole life, but then we got caught up in the strike and suddenly he's too big to play with me anymore. He likes you more than he likes me! You're just so—" Les cut himself off and swiped angrily at the tears now streaming down his face. "Neva mind. You wouldn't understand."
Jack pulled Les into a big hug and tried to think of something to say to make the young boy feel better. "Hey." He squeezed Les tighter. "Listen. You and Davey are both part of our family now, whether you likes it or not. And in this family, things is always gonna be changing. Some days you might feel happy and love everyone in the family. Other days…might be more like today." He wiped another tear from Les's cheek with his thumb. "Look, I know that Davey still likes you just as much as he likes me. You know, when you ain't around, you'se practically all he talks about! It's just like you said about him talking 'bout me—'Les did this' and 'Les did that'. Your brudda's growin' up, he's got different things on his mind. And you'se growing up too. That don't mean you gotta grow apart. And you don't gotta get mad at me either, all right?"
Les sniffed and nodded. "I'm sorry, Jack. I was being pretty nasty. I didn't really mean to get so mad."
"I know, kid." Jack pulled Les's hat over his eyes, something he did to tease. Les frowned good-naturedly and adjusted his hat. Jack grinned. "Hey, how's about you come and sleep over with us tonight? You've been saying you'll do it," he reminded, "but you've never actually stayed. Think that's a good idea?"
Les nodded happily, and Jack thumped him on the back. "There's the Les I remember. Let's go."
Crutchie lightly punched Davey's arm. "You're Les's best big brudda," he said. "It don't matter what anyone else is doing. Not even Jack."
"I feel like Les and I are growing apart," Davey said quietly.
"Davey, the strike ended just a couple'a weeks ago. Nothing's ever gonna be the same. But that don't change the fact that you and Les—"
"Hey Davey!" Les climbed timidly onto the roof. Jack was right behind him. Davey gulped. "C-can I stay over?"
There was silence. Davey looked from Crutchie to Les, and finally his gaze met Jack's. Jack was giving him a stern look, almost as if he knew exactly what Davey and Crutchie had been talking about. Davey looked at Les, who had a pleading look in his eyes.
"I…I dunno, Les…we never asked our folks…"
"Then ask em." Jack spat, his glaring eyes on Davey. He clenched his fists, and when Davey hesitated, he advanced forward with one fist up, ready to fight if Davey said the wrong thing. Jack didn't want to get into this issue between the brothers, but enough was enough. Les needed a big brother he could count on. Jack wouldn't sleep tonight unless he knew the problem was solved. He gently pushed on Les's chest to get him out of the way, his eyes not leaving Davey. "Come on, Davey," Jack said fiercely. "Be a brudda."
Davey raised his hand. Jack tensed, but all Davey did was grab Jack's fist and push it down. "All right, Les. We gotta work this out, huh? And I don't just mean sleeping over."
"I just wish you talked to me like you used to," Les murmured.
"Me too. I wish we talked more. You wanna talk, Les? I love talking to you!" Les ran the few steps to his older brother and threw his arms around him, burying his face in Davey's shirt. "Come and talk to me whenever you want to, Les!" Davey said, embracing him.
After a few moments they broke apart. "Now, why don't you run home and ask dad about staying. Okay?"
"Sure," Les agreed breathlessly, running off. Crutchie limped after him, giving Davey a grin.
Jack turned to face Davey. "You're a real good brudda."
"Thanks. So are you. You're a brother to all these boys."
"Yeah. And you know you're still our bruddas. We'll fight for you."
"Or against me, if that's what it takes," Davey added, laughing.
"I guess. You wanna finish that out?" Jack asked jokingly, raising his fists.
Davey just laughed and punched Jack in the side lightly. "Let's go, brudda."
So what did you think? I know it was super cheesy, but that's how I roll. Since I'm new to writing these characters I'm not sure if I got their personalities quite right. But I did enjoy writing it!
Just to let you know, this will probably just be a one-shot unless anyone gives me new ideas. If you want to see some more Davey-Les brotherly love just tell me and I'll try my best to write it. Or, any other ideas are welcome.
-Sis21K