All of the newsies in the Lodging House were trudging around in the bunk room after a long day of selling preparing for sleep. Jack's mind was clearly a thousand miles away, lost in thoughts about Cora.

He listened to the rain outside as he washed his face in the sink. After he dried himself off with a towel, his eyes caught movement outside the window on the street below. He ran to the window and wondered who in their right mind would be outside this late at night in such weather. He watched as the person, obviously a female, looked around her as if she was lost, then kept walking.

Could it be…?

Jack bolted outside and took off after the girl he had seen. He quickly got drenched, but he didn't care. When he finally caught up with the girl, his suspicions were correct. It was Cora.

"Cora, what are ya doing out here?"

"I…I had to see you. My father wouldn't let me leave the house at all. But I couldn't stay in there another second."

Jack looked at her. Her hands clutched her arms to keep warm and her hair was all matted down around her face. Her bottom lip quivered from the cold rain soaking through to her very bones. Her dress, short-sleeved unlike what he usually saw her in, was torn in a couple places.

"Come on," Jack said, putting his arm around her. "Let's getcha inside."

Jack's body felt warm against her freezing skin. She could feel his arm gently rubbing her own to keep her warm. Despite the cold, Cora could feel a blush rise to her cheeks.

They walked into the Lodging House together and Jack directed her upstairs where the rest of the boys were.

Almost all chatter immediately silenced at the sight of a female in the Lodging House.

"Here, let me get ya a towel," Jack said. He went to the washroom and wrapped a warm towel around her shoulders.

"Thanks," Cora said quietly.

"Hey fellas!" Jack announced. "This here is Miss Cora Monahan."

"Monahan?" Racetrack said suspiciously.

"Yeah. She's da judge's daughter."

"And you brought her here?!"

"Relax, Race. She can be trusted. I swear."

The boy he called Race backed down, but she could still see that look in his eyes. Jack introduced all the newsies to her one by one. How they managed to remember each other's name was a mystery to her.

As she looked around her, she could see how close all these boys were. There was no doubt in her mind that they would die trying to protect each other. Cora had never had someone like that.

In that moment, she realized that while she had a huge house to live in and everything she could ever ask for, these boys had more than she ever would. They had a special bond that no one could ever break. Though not by blood, they were family. If she could, Cora would gladly give up every cent she had in order to have what these boys had.

"It's nice to meet ya, Cora," the boy with the crutch said to her with a smile.

Cora smiled back. "Likewise."

"What's it like havin' Judge Monahan for a fadder?"

"Well, I love him, but…he's very hard to please. I took Jack to meet him, believe me when I say I didn't know about their history, and after that, he never let me leave the house. I've been trapped in there for days."

"Well…" the boy with the eye patch started. "Dat judge really don't like Cowboy here. Especially since he's da reason his friend Snyder got sent to jail."

"Wait a minute, Snyder was sent to jail because of you boys?"

"Yep!" Racetrack said proudly. "You'd be surprised what a little newspaper and some help from the governor will do."

"Wow. You are all incredible. I told Jack that I was so proud of you for standing up for what you wanted. You all really inspired me."

At that, she could see most of their tense shoulders relax a little bit. She hadn't even thought about how they would feel with the judge's daughter in the room. She probably could've planned that a bit better.

"Cora, you're welcome to stay here tonight," Jack said. "We have a separate room over there with a bed in it. It hasn't been used in a while, but it should be fine."

"Um, if the rest of you all don't mind…"

"Nah, Kelly's right. You're welcome here," Racetrack said.

Cora was shown to the room and she had to admit that it was definitely a far cry from what she was used to. But she really didn't care. She'd rather be here with Jack and all these other boys than back home with her father who didn't understand her at all.

A couple minutes later, Jack knocked on the door and walked in. "I got ya some extra clothes so ya can get outta those wet ones." He handed her a shirt and some pants.

She gratefully took them eager to change then realized something and began blushing furiously. "Um, Jack, I, uh, have a corset on…and well…I can't exactly…get it off by myself…"

She noticed Jack turn a slight shade of red as well. "Well, uh…I guess I can help if ya want me to."

"You don't have to," she insisted. "I don't want to make you uncomfortable."

"I have enough sense to know dat a woman can't breathe in dat thing. It'll be better if ya get it off. We'll just do it and do it fast."

Cora took a deep breath. "Okay. Turn around for a second." She slipped her dress off so she was just in her white underclothes with the corset on top. "Alright, just start unlacing it."

Jack turned back to her and tried to ignore the fact that she was only wearing a white gown. He quickly undid the laces on the back of her corset, forcing himself to keep his mind off her state of undress. His nervous fingers kept fumbling with the laces, but eventually he made it through all of them. "Okay, it's all undone."

"Thank you. You can leave now. I'll just finish getting changed."

Jack left and Cora took off her corset and undergarments and put on the pants and shirt Jack had brought for her. It was so strange to wear such clothing, but it was a lot more comfortable than what she normally wore.

"Cora, ya finished?" she heard on the other side of the door.

"Yes, come in." She wrung out her wet hair as Jack came back into the room.

"We're all about to head off to sleep. Just wanted to make sure you were comfortable and all."

Cora smiled. "I'm great. Just…my father will be looking for me. I don't want to go back to my house when he's just going to keep me locked up in there."

"We can just figure dat out come mornin'."

"I suppose you're right. I'll see you tomorrow morning then. Good night."

"Night." Jack turned to leave.

"Oh, and Jack?" He turned back to face her. "Thank you for letting me stay here."