Disclaimer: I do not own Newsies or any of the characters and in no way have any rights to be using them in a story. I do however own Angel, Titan, and any other characters who may show up in my story that don't show up in the movie. Oh, and the lyrics belong to The Killers' "When You Were Young."
The Devil's Water
They say the Devil's water, it ain't so sweet.
You don't have to drink right now,
But you can dip your feet, every once and a little while.
It had been three days since her chance encounter with Spot, and Angel was beginning to wonder if she had simply imagined the whole thing. It seemed too surreal. Still, her doubt didn't keep her from hurrying a lot faster than usual through that particular part of Brooklyn. She did not want another run in. She had been humiliated enough the first time. The last thing she needed was for him to take notice of her and start thinking of her as 'that creepy girl who keeps stalking him' or something along those lines. It crossed her mind that perhaps she had only run into him that day because she was coming home later than usual. Maybe he didn't sell there earlier in the day. That thought had reassured her yesterday, but today, she was once again about two hours late getting off work and could almost feel her skin crawling with nerves.
As she rounded the street corner where she had collided with the boy on the run yesterday, she found that her fears were entirely founded. In fact, everything she had feared paled in comparison to what was actually happening. Lounging against a streetlamp, with a satisfied smirk on his lips, was Spot, absent-mindedly twirling his cane. He couldn't have been more than two feet in front of her. He smiled and stopped his cane mid-twirl, planting the tip firmly at her feet as he stepped towards her.
"Been waiting for you to come around." There was no getting out of this one.
\ - \ - \ - \
After seeing the girl across the street, Spot had become determined to find out if she was indeed who he suspected she was. He had returned to the street corner where he saw her, every day for the past three days, and stood there for hours on end in the hopes of catching her. He was just about ready to give up on the whole thing and call it quits when fate decided to grant him a little luck. Her she was, standing right before his very eyes. Most definitely not his imagination, and upon getting a better look at her this time around, most definitely Angel. Albeit, she was a significantly more grown up version of the girl he'd met so many years ago, having developed, very nicely he might add, over the past six years. Her hair was longer, hanging in thick curls that feel just across the top of her breasts, and nearly as dark as the midnight sky. She was taller, obviously, and no longer a scrawny little kid with protruding bones, had just enough extra skin to accentuate her womanly figure. The only thing that hadn't changed and gave away her age was the innocence in her sparkling, amber eyes, in which he could almost see a reflection of the eight-year old girl beaming up at him like he was king of the world. Funny thing, now he really was.
"I think you must have me confused with someone else," she stammered in response to his address. He leaned in close so that their faces were mere inches apart.
"No, Angel. I don't think I do." He heard a quick intake of air and the girl jumped back into the wall, looking absolutely flabbergasted.
"You…remember me?" He slipped his hand into his pocket and pulled out the shiny blue stone, holding it up between his index finger and thumb for her to see. Her eyes widened and her jaw dropped. She stayed that way for a moment, awestruck by the sight of the small relic she herself had almost forgotten.
"I can't believe you sill have that," she said, having finally regained control of her basic functioning capabilities. He nodded.
"My little good luck charm," he added as he dropped it back into his pocket. "Works too." She laughed hesitantly, as if she was unsure of whether or not she was allowed to.
"Did you ever find it?" she asked.
"Find what?"
"Whatever it is your key opens." He let out a brief chuckle, remembering the quest of his youth, and shook his head.
"Don't think it really matters much anymore. Don't know if it ever did." Angel pursed her lips as if deep in thought.
"I'd like to help you find it," she stated matter-of-factly.
"Well, I can't say no to that offer. Especially if it means I get to see more of you," he said and winked. Her cheeks reddened and she smiled awkwardly. They sat in silence for a moment before Spot broke it. "So, where are you headed?"
"Home," she replied.
"Need an escort?" he asked with a charming grin, offering her his arm.
"It couldn't hurt." She slid her arm around the crook of his as they started off down the road. He could feel her shaking and noticed as she wiped her palms on her skirt. He smiled inwardly. He found her nervousness to be astonishingly cute and refreshing in comparison to the overbearing nature of most of the girls he found in his company.
They chatted along the walk, catching each other up on the past six years of their lives, but only superficially, discussing things like where they worked, what they did, and where they lived. He told her a bit more about the strike, and about life in the lodging house with the rest of the newsboys. She told him about her brother and her friends, or rather, lack thereof. Finding nothing wrong with her himself, he chalked her lack of companionship up to an overprotective big brother who kept her shut away from the world, but she didn't seem to make the connection. They stopped a block before their destination.
"I should probably say goodbye here. If Titan sees you with me, there'll be a whole lot of questions I'd rather not be bothered to answer." Spot nodded, accepting her logic.
"I'd like to see you again. Say, tomorrow, same time, same place?"
"Well, I'll probably be getting off work a couple hours earlier, so if you don't mind meeting then you can walk me home again…if you're not busy I mean…" she trailed off, averting her eyes. He grabbed her chin and tipped her head up so that her eyes were looking straight a his.
"Sounds great." He let go of her jaw, but not before holding on a moment longer than he should have to look her over once more before turning to go. He was certain she hadn't breathed once until he stepped away.
"Don't you stand me up or anything," he joked, adding on his signature wink for good measure, and left her standing in the street, frozen in place. He didn't know when she finally went home, but he was certain it wasn't until long after his figure had faded from view.
AN: It has been brought to my attention that the timeline of this story might be confusing (sorry!), and I have thought about putting time markers at the beginning of every chapter but idk, i don't think it will work. But, I do mention how long its been since the original meeting of Spot, Angel, and Titan in every chapter, just look for it. And some general rules that might be helpful - most everything told from Spot and Angel's perspective together is the present, and anything told from Titan's perspective is gonna be the past. That's not 100% true, but like I said, I do put the time in every chapter so just watch for it. Anyway, hope you enjoyed this chapter. Let me know what you think either way, I love reviews!
