A/N: Sorry for yet another long wait everyone! My final semester of college is taking over my life! Gah! Luckily, I managed to find some free time to write this for all of you! Things will be a lot better once I graduate! Thanks to all of my reviewers, and I hope you all enjoy this!

By nightfall that day, the snow had ceased, the weather was calm, David and Les had gone home for the day, and Jack had already finished selling his papers and was helping Charlie sell the last of hers. At this moment, he had stopped to take a break outside of Irving Hall and was listening to Medda's lovely voice. Suddenly, he took notice of an excited Charlie rushing up to him.

"Jack, Jack! I did it! I sold my last pape of the day!" she exclaimed.

"Hey, dat's great, kid! First day, and you're already a natural born Newsie! Couldn't be more proud of ya!" Jack said as he ruffled her hat a little bit.

Charlie started to speak up, "I can't wait 'till…" Suddenly, she started to feel a little dizzy and lost her balance for a second. Jack caught her before she could fall to the ground.

"Youse okay, kid?" He asked her with concern in his voice.

"Y-yeah, I'm fine," she said as she got her balance back.

"You're lookin' a little on the pale side. You sure you's alright?" he said.

"Yeah. I'll be fine. I'm probably just a little exhausted from selling papes all day," Charlie said as she tried to shake it off. "Which is funny, since I'm usually used to doing work much tougher than this," she said.

"Whaddaya mean?" Jack asked her. Charlie suddenly looked a little down.

"Well, I did so many chores at home before I ran away," she said with sadness in her voice. "A lot more than I could handle, mind you."

Jack's good mood faded upon hearing that. "Your parents made ya woik?"

"Actually, it wasn't my parents. They died earlier this year. It was actually my aunt and uncle that made me work for them. They were supposed to care for me after the death of my parents, but instead they made me into their servant girl." Charlie said.

"Yeesh," Jack said. "Dat's a Cinderella story if I ever heard one."

"It was, believe me. Soon I decided that enough was enough and I thought myself up a plan to escape from them. I gathered up a bunch of boys' clothes while I was out on the town doing some errands for them one day and hid them in my room. Then one night, I changed, grabbed some money and matches from them, and ran off. I dress as a boy because I'm trying to hide from them." Charlie explained.

"Wow. You sure have had it tough," Jack told her.

"Mm-hm. But I'm alright now," Charlie reassured him.

Jack smiled, "Dat's good." Suddenly, he felt a speck of snow on his nose, and he looked up. "Oh, look!" he exclaimed. "It's beginnin' to snow again!"

Charlie observed the icy sight herself. "It is! I guess that means it's time for us to go home then," she said. She took off into the streets of Manhattan. "See you tomorrow, Jack!" she called out.

"Night, kid!" Jack called back to her. Even though he knew she couldn't see it, he gave a slight wave and said quietly, "Merry Christmas," then he started walking back to the lodging house.

Meanwhile, Charlie was trudging through the snowy streets of Manhattan, sneezing and coughing and feeling a little more dizzy than before. She tried to ignore it as she scavenged out the alleyways, trying to find a spot to stay for the night. Didn't take long until she found a nicely sized alley, not too big, not too small, a few crates, and some wood scraps she could use for a fire, and some paper and twigs and garbage she could use for kindling. She put her things down, made a wood pile to be burned into a fire, then she pulled out her blanket and took out her matches. She struck one, lighting it, and lit her fire. Wasn't long until the fire had gone from a few minor flames to a great blaze. She wrapped herself up in her blanket as she tried to control her coughing. She was about to rearrange the alleyway to make a tent of some sort to shield herself from the big snowflakes when she heard a familiar voice behind her.

"Charlie?" She turned around fast and there was the cowboy himself, peeking in the alleyway.

"Jack!" She exclaimed, a bit of alarm in her voice.

"What are you doin' here? I thought you were goin' home," he said to her.

Charlie spoke up, "I am home." She paused. "Well, I don't really have a home-home, if that's what you're referring to, unless you count my aunt and uncle's house," she said dejectedly.

Jack seemed concerned, "Wait, are you tellin' me dat you live all by yourself? At dis age?"

Charlie nodded. "Pretty much."

Jack started to feel a sadness creep over him. "Den who's lookin' after ya?" he asked her.

"I look after myself." Charlie told him, a bit of confidence in her voice. "I live in nooks and alleyways just like this."

"Don't ya ever get cold or lonely?" Jack asked.

Charlie shook her head. "Lonely, not really. I do get cold, though, but these help with it." She showed him her matches. "These help keep me warm. Well, actually, the fires I make with them keep me warm, but they're a huge help for me."

"Wow," Jack said in response. "Sounds like a story I once read."

"If you're talking about the same story I'm thinking of, I think I might've heard that same story myself. My father used to read tales like that to me when I was little," Charlie told him.

"And dis is exactly how you live?" Jack asked.

"Yep. Been living like this for a while now, until I find myself a more suitable home, which I don't think will be long now…" Charlie replied as she let out a cough. The cough was enough for Jack to come to the realization that he had to tell her the truth about living in conditions like these.

He spoke up, "Okay, Charlie, ya know what? I'm gonna be frank with ya." He sat down on a nearby crate, "Dis ain't a good way to live."

"I know," Charlie admitted. "But I'd actually much rather live like this than how I was living with my aunt and uncle!" she said.

Jack was not impressed, "You may have had a terrible life living with your aunt and uncle, but even if this is a step above, ya can't keep living like dis."

Charlie spoke up, "I've been living like this for a few weeks now, and I'm still living!" She wrapped herself up in her blanket to control her shivering.

Jack scoffed, "Yeah, right, and if ya keep on doin' dis, ya probably won't live for another few weeks. Especially with that cough of yours."

Charlie coughed again, "It isn't too serious. It'll probably pass."

"Yeah, it'll pass, and you'll pass, too, as in pass away from pneumonias or somethin'!" Jack suddenly thought of something. He approached Charlie and put his hand on her forehead. She felt very warm. "Oh, yeah, you's is warm," he said.

"What do you mean?" asked Charlie, who was feeling more dizzy than ever and wasn't thinking very clearly at the moment.

"You're boinin' up. You're gettin' a fever. I can't leave ya like dis," Jack told her sternly. "Come on, alleyways are no place for a sick girl like you in dis kind of weather." He stood up and held his arm out for her. "Come on, you're comin' with me. Cowboy's orders."

Charlie, now feeling completely weak, laid down with her blanket wrapped around her. "Do you think you could wait until later? I don't really have the strength to stand right now."

Jack realized that things had become more serious than he thought. He put out her fire, gathered her things, and picked her up in his arms. She was pretty light. I don't think she's been eating very much, considering how easy she is to carry. He said to himself. He said to Charlie, "Don't worry, kid. I'm taking you to a place where you can get nice warm home, warm food, warm everything. It'll all be alright." Charlie squeaked in response, she had started to fall asleep. Jack started walking back to the lodging house, but thoughts chased the idea away. What if the rest of the Newsies don't know the meaning of 'take it easy'? What would Kloppmann say about this? What if what she has right now is contagious and the others get it? He asked himself. As he thought more and more, the idea of keeping her at the lodging house wasn't as great as he thought it was. Then, another idea struck him. He started heading to another place that he knew would be more gentle on her, and was closer, so he could get her to warm shelter in time. They have to help, they just have to.

A/N: Poor Charlie, but don't worry, things will turn out alright for her! :) Much, much more to come in the future! Well, what do you think everyone? As I say, I'm always open to criticism, and flames will be fizzled out with water! Stay tuned!