Disclaimer: I don't own any of the original characters from the Disney movie, "Newsies."

Wow, guys. It's been forever since I've updated. I'm suprised I remembered how to write a disclaimer.

To be honest, I'm quite pissed with myself. I used to be really good about updating, and I was kinda proud of that. But I seriously haven't had any time lately. I started school a few weeks ago. I'm on a new campus now, so I'm still trying to get used to it. On top of homework, marching band, and cheerleader coaching, it's taken me just about three weeks to get one chapter written. I'm way sorry, and I promise promise promise, now that I'm getting settled in with the school year and all, that I'll try to write more often. Actually, I'm gonna start the next chapter as soon as I press the "Save Changes" button.

Anyway: (quick review of what's going on) When we last left off, Silver forced Ella to talk to Dutchy by calling his name and jumping into an alleyway. Great friend, huh? Actually... She did get Ella a selling date with Dutchy. So here goes. Hope you guys like it...

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There was a grand total of about 15 newsies in line for the afternoon edition. I got the hunch that many of them preferred the morning edition. Looking around the emptying streets as people went home from a long day at work and the street vendors packed up their merchandise, I could understand why.

I was running a bit late on account of Silver wouldn't let me leave for my "date" until she had given me multiple tips on how not to get tongue-tied. And no matter how many times I informed her that it was just selling newspapers, she refused to call it anything but a date. Besides... Although she was trying to help, I knew well enough that there was no avoiding getting tongue tied. Not around Dutchy, anyway.

A stack of 20 papers under my arm, I hurried to Central Park, hoping that he didn't already get tired of waiting and leave.

I didn't have to walk far into the park before I found him. Dutchy was lying across a bench, his long legs dangling off the edge and one of his newspapers opened, draped over his face. That way the late-afternoon sun was blocked from his eyes.

Unsure if he was asleep or not, I lightly cleared my throat. He didn't move. "Dutchy?" I whispered, taking a step closer to him. Just as I was about to tap him on the shoulder, he jolted awake and quickly sat up. The paper that was on his face slid off and floated down to the ground.

Dutchy looked confused for a moment as he squinted in the light. I choked back a small laugh at the way he glanced around, bewildered as to where he was.

Then, shaking his head free of sleep, he casually said; "Oh... Hiya, El."

And that was it. My brain was completely robbed of all the 'how not to get tongue-tied around Dutchy' tips. No one ever called me El except for Silver. I didn't really like when other people did it. Silver was only allowed to because she was my best friend; sort of like how she let me call her Silvia once in a while. But for some reason, when Dutchy called me by the nickname butterflies rose up inside me instead of anger.

I unintentionally stared blankly at him, but I'm pretty sure that by now he was used to reactions like that from me. He didn't require an answer for anything that wasn't a question.

Dutchy scooted to one side of the bench, leaving the other end empty for me to sit down. I put my papes next to me and sat, my gaze ahead of me as I timidly wrung my hands in my lap.

The park was nearly empty aside from the two of us. I could see why Dutchy had decided to take a nap. "Slow day, huh?" I muttered.

He nodded. "Yep."

Silence hung heavily around us. The only noises were the wind in the trees and the rustling of grass as Dutchy tapped his feet absentmindedly. "So how--"

"Do you--"

We both stopped speaking, waiting for the other to continue. "Sorry, go ahead." Dutchy said.

"No, it's a'right. Go on." I replied. Dutchy half smiled and sort of looked away before he went on to finish his sentence

"A'right... Well, I was jus' gonna say dat it's kinda dead heah. So if ya want to, we can sell somewhere else." He suggested.

I looked over at our two stacks of papers, sitting between us on the bench. For some reason I guessed that few of them would be sold. "Where's it busy around dis time of day?"

Dutchy stood up from the bench and wandered over to the nearest tree. It was across the small dirt path and a little to the left. I watched while he started to climb up the trunk with a pensive look on his face as he considered the question.

With his feet planted firmly on the first and lowest branch, he reached for the second. I shut my eyes tightly and shuddered when one of his hands slid off the branch, but he casually replaced it and pulled himself up.

Dutchy finally sat down on a wide branch, jutting out almost horizontal to the ground. He let his feet dangle about 8 feet above the grass. "Nowhere, really," He concluded. "Da afternoon edition's a tough one to sell because jus' about everyone is in for dinner."

I wondered why he invited me in the first place if he didn't plan on getting much selling done, but nevertheless I was glad he did.

Leaving the papes where they were, I stood and walked over to the base of the tree. I swallowed nervously upon realizing how high up he was now that I was closer. "Uh... Dutchy?" I asked.

"Hm?"

"Ya think ya could, you know, come down? It's kinda makin' me noivous havin' to look up at ya..."

He laughed. "So come up, den."

I questioningly raised an eyebrow. "What's dat gonna solve? Den we'll both be up in da tree..."

"Exactly." He stated. "But ya won't gotta look up at me anymore."

I cracked a smile, but it straightened out again upon realizing that Dutchy really did mean for me to join him. "I can't... I'm afraid of heights, member?" I reminded him.

"Shaoh ya can. It's not very high. I ain't gonna let ya fall..." He assured me. Dutchy repositioned himself in the heart of the tree where all the branches met. Leaning over, with his hand clutched around a branch for support, he extended his other hand towards me.

"C'mon. Don't ya trust me?" He asked.

"A'coarse I do... But it ain't trustin' you dat I'se worried about. It's trustin' every one of dose branches that could easily snap and leave me on da floor wit a broken arm..." My nerves were forcing me to wring my hands again.

"Dey won't break. Look," Dutchy said, standing up. He found his balance and began to bounce, causing all the leaves in the tree to rustle and swish.

"Okay, a'right!" I exclaimed. His good-natured laugh sort of calmed me, but I couldn't explain why. Dutchy crouched down and extended his hand towards me again. He raised his eyebrows and smiled, waiting for me to accept the offer.

I took a deep breath while I warily put my hand in his. His smile widened.

"Okay. Now put yer foot dere," Dutchy instructed, pointing to an indent in the tree's bark. I did as I was told, clutching onto his hand for balance.

"Ready? On da count of three... One, two, three." He pulled on my arm and I pushed up from the ground with the bottom of my foot.

If I thought the tree looked high up from the ground, it was nothing compared to what the ground looked like from the tree. I started to feel dizzy and my heart rate sped up right away.

"Hey, calm down..." He said soothingly. "I told ya, I ain't gonna let you fall." Dutchy squeezed my hand to assure me that he was there. I tore my gaze away from the seemingly-huge drop and looked instead at Dutchy. He smiled again, but let go of my hand.

"Jus' find a sturdy branch and sit down wit yer back against it. You'll feel less jumpy."

I did as he said. Then I watched him sit down across from me. He was right; I did feel safer. There was a spot in the heart of the tree that looked almost hollowed out. The branches curved and twisted around it to form something like a nest.

I slumped down further so all I could see were the branches and the skyline in the distance. It was almost like being on the ground, but the thought that I wasn't still made me fidgety. Dutchy could sense that, so he changed the subject.

The two of us talked for god knows how long, skipping from topic to topic. We talked until the sun disappeared. When the guise of darkness started to creep over the park, we decided it was time to head back to the lodging house.

As I stood up from my spot in the tree, it dawned on me that getting down would be much more difficult than it had been to get up. I couldn't see the ground below me through the darkness...

The dizziness came back and I had to lean against the tree and shut my eyes. I could feel my body slipping against the rough bark. I started to fall through an opening in the branches.

I snapped back into reality when Dutchy grabbed my wrist and quickly pulled me back up. The sudden force made me stagger forward, instead of backwards, into Dutchy's chest. His arms wrapped around me to help support my body until I could regain balance.

Still, even after I was able to stand up perfectly straight on my own, his hands didn't leave the small of my back. I forced myself to look up at him and found that he was staring at me with a curious, sort of pensive look on his face. Before I could ask why, he had closed the distance between our mouths and brushed his lips against mine.

The kiss was extremely soft and lasted only a few seconds, but it was perfect. Everything was perfect until he pulled away. The air that had been between us before the kiss was now filled with awkwardness. It was as if the last few hours that I had spent growing comfortable in Dutchy's presence just never happened.

We were back to dodging glances and saying nothing, exactly the way we were when we first met.

Dutchy cleared his throat, which should had helped disperse the unease but it only added to it. He jumped down from the tree.

My mind was swarming with so many thoughts that I barely worried about the distance from the ground as I lowered myself to a seated position, letting my legs dangle next to the trunk. Dutchy took my hand to help me down and I slid off the tree. I heard the thump of my feet on the ground.

This time, Dutchy didn't squeeze my hand for assurance. He dropped it as quickly as he had taken it. He started for the lodging house while I absentmindedly followed after him. Neither of us bothered to remember our pile of unsold papers, sitting on the bench.

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Thanks for reading!

Yeah, I know I don't really deserve it after three, maybe four, weeks of non-posting... But I'd love to hear what you guys think of this chapter. I was a bit unsure about it, but I needed to get something out.

I'll post again as soon as I get a chance.