Author's Note: Hello all! We're very close to the end now. One or two chapters left, depending on how I divide it up!

That being said, I've had an awful case of writer's block lately. If anyone has any prompts, I'm begging you. Prompts for one-shot or multi-chaps. I do not care. I just need prompts. Thank.

Also, I have a Tumblr now! My url is crunchie-morris! Peruse it to find lots of ramblings about Newsies, and the unhealthy amount of things I've reblogged in the two days I've had it.

Anyway, thank you for reading, as always! I really hope you enjoy it!

10/26

Well.

I got the results back for my tests today.

I…

Ugh.

I have to get surgery.

It ain't like it's the first time, it's hardly the first time. Still, it's always scary.

I think Jack can tell I'm nervous, too. He keeps asking me if I'm okay.

I'm fine, though, really.

You just never know when something will go wrong, you know?

I mean, being in the system, I've heard so many stories from friends in the same group home as me and they'll tell me about how their parents died in freak accidents…

Like surgeries.

Ugh.

I shouldn't get myself all worked up like this. I'll be fine, I know it.

The surgery is in just a few days. I don't really know what they're doing. They told me, but it's all doctor-speak, you know? Something to try and increase the...spasticity (?) in my leg?

I don't know, but I'm supposed to feel better afterwards.

Well, wish me luck. Even though you can't, like before. Ah, well. I guess I don't need you to wish me luck anymore, though.

I got Jack.

10/27

Guess what? Jack got to meet Romeo today!

I almost couldn't believe it when the nurse said I had a visitor. I thought for sure it was gonna be Davey and Katherine again (which I wouldn't have minded, they is real nice!), and she'd meant to say Jack had a visitor, but then, little Romeo peeked his head around the nurse, his hair sticking up in all directions like usual.

"Romeo!" I exclaimed. "I thought you was never gonna visit me again!"

"You guessed wrong!" Romeo beamed. "I was really behind on math homework, so Kloppman kept me back, and then I had to convince him to let me ride the subway alone."

My eyebrows shot up. "You rode the subway alone?"

"Hey, I'm a teenager, just like you," Romeo crossed his arms in a pout.

"Oh, yeah, and you weren't a teenager just a few weeks ago," I pointed out. "You haven't even been thirteen for a month, calm down."

Romeo rolled his eyes and sat on the edge of my bed. His gaze fell on Jack. "He's awake this time?"

"Yes, he is," Jack replied with a chuckle. "I don't think we'se met."

"Well, kind of," Romeo scrunched up his face in thought. "But you was unconscious, so I don't think that counts."

"Allow me," I cut in with a grin. "Romeo, local flirt, spunky kid, has done some pretty crazy stuff for a twelve-"

"Thirteen!"

"-thirteen year old." I made a point of rolling my eyes before motioning to Jack. "Jack Kelly, local Santa Fe enthusiast, secretly a cowboy, has quite the skill for art."

"Aw, shut up," Jack smirked. "I doodle."

"Pfft! Doodle?" I shook my head incredulously. "Jack, show my little brother here that Santa Fe drawing you did."

Jack's face went red, and I felt a certain pride in making him blush for once, instead of the other way around. "My sketchpad's on the nightstand, I'm bedridden."

Romeo hopped up and flipped through the sketchpad, eyes widening with every page turn. "You call these doodles?"

Jack shrugged, still red. "Yeah, I mean, I ain't got my supplies anymore, I'se just been using a dull pencil while I'se been here."

Romeo shook his head and looked at me. "Your pal Jack is being awful modest."

I laughed. "Modesty's not a quality you'd pin on him at first, either."

"You sayin' I ain't modest?" Jack feigned disbelief. "Me, the great Jack Kelly, not modest?"

I chuckled. "How could I possibly accuse the great Jack Kelly of that?"

Romeo brought Monopoly and we spent the rest of the time playing. It was an intense game. I went bankrupt real fast, but watching Jack and Romeo compete was entertainment enough. If you're ever bored, just pin a cocky 17 year old in a Monopoly match against a prideful 12 year old. Amusement for hours.

Aside from the competitiveness, Jack and Romeo got along real well. It was nice to see that Jack liked one of my best friends. I like his friends, he likes mine...heck, we could make one big group. A boy band + a Katherine.

Anyway, that's pretty much all that happened today.

I mean, except this, um, conversation I had with Romeo when Jack left to use the restroom. (Which used to be a lot more complicated, but ever since they unhooked him from the heart monitor some time ago, he's taken advantage of his little opportunity to move around.)

Once Jack was gone, Romeo let out a long whistle.

I raised my eyebrow. "What?"

Romeo laughed. "You drool much?"

I gave him a look. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Romeo pointed at Jack's empty bed forcefully. "You'se tryin' to tell me you don't like him one bit?"

"Of course, I-I like him," I replied, feeling my dang cheeks go red again. "But, not like that! No, no, we'se just friends."

"Oh, come on," Romeo scoffed. "You think I'm an idiot, don't you?"

My eyes suddenly found the ceiling very interesting. "No, I never said that, but what-what you're implying is-"

"Absolutely correct," Romeo cut me off. "Come on, Crutchie. I know it when I see it. They don't call me Romeo for nothin', you know."

And, that's where that ended because Jack came back in.

Hmm.

That's one memory to put in the "to ignore" section of my brain, though.

Romeo don't know nothin' about me and Jack.

Right?

Right .

Glad that's settled.

10/28

Today, a social worker came and talked to Jack about where he's gonna stay once he gets out.

Apparently, that's gonna be real soon.

They say his recovery is phenomenal.

I'm happy for him. Really, I am. I want him to get better, I want him to be happy.

I'm just gonna miss him, is all.

I really hope they don't move him too far. If we could stay friends, after all this is over. Maybe we'd be able to hang out outside of a hospital room.

I could take him to that coffee shop by the school! I never really drink the coffee there, to be honest. I'm not a coffee person, I usually just get tea or cocoa. But, it's such a cozy little building, and the people there are so friendly. Jack would like it. It ain't too crowded, and if you're a regular (like me), the workers remember your name. Maybe it'd be a little like Santa Fe for him.

I mean, that's only if they don't move him too far.

If they bring him to Brooklyn, though...I mean, that ain't too far. Plus, Davey And Katherine said they got a friend in Brooklyn, right? Surely, I could visit there every once in awhile.

I don't know.

It's all hypothetical.

Jack is sleeping right now, but I'll ask him what they told him in the morning.

I can't really wrap my head around How different it'll feel without Jack around. I didn't even know him a few weeks ago, but now...

I can't imagine life without him.

10/29

I didn't learn where Jack's going, but I learned a lot about where he's been.

I asked him what the social worker told him and he said he don't know where they're gonna bring him yet. He said they just asked him a few questions. He seemed upset.

"Are you okay?" I'd asked after he gave me short, dejected answers.

Jack nodded, not looking at me.

It was quiet for a bit before I said, "Moving is hard, I know. We can talk about it, if you want."

Jack glanced at me. "I ain't moved houses in a long time. I was with...I was in the same place for a year."

This felt like someone punched me in the stomach. I know what happened in his last home. (Kind of.) But, he had to go through it for a year? "Oh my gosh...Jack, I'm so sor-"

"Don't apologize," Jack cut me off, wearing a very fake grin. "It's-it's all been...it looks worse than it was."

I swallowed hard, unsure how to ask the question that had been tugging at my mind ever since Sarah figured out it was Snyder who did it. I swallowed a second time, and quietly asked, "Did it-did it happen..often?"

Jack shook his head, understanding quickly what I was alluding to. "Most of this," He motioned to his bruises, which had faded into dull purples and blues. "Most of it's my own damn fault." He let out a forced chuckle. "Tryin' to, uh, get to Santa Fe, you know."

I felt my eyebrows furrow. "Were you running away?"

Jack nodded, scratching the back of his head. "I jumped out my bedroom window with a pillowcase full of clothes. I only lived on the second story of the building, landed in a bush." He pointed to some scars on his arms. "That did some of the damage."

There was another silence. I didn't want to go too far, I didn't want Jack to shut down and go to the Santa Fe in his head. But, Jack seemed to be opening up, and I'd like to imagine it was helping him heal.

So, I asked, still tentative, "What-what made you want to run away?"

Jack sighed. "A hell of a lot of things. The Spider- that's what I call him, it's easier than sayin' his name- he-he would say stuff that'd, uh, mess with my head. He'd say stuff that made me feel like crap. And...when I, uh, messed up, he would sometimes...he'd threaten to...to hurt me, b-but he never did. Only little...little slaps here and there, nothin' like-like this.

"But, one day, I said I was sick of it, and I tried to run away. Found a bus to Santa Fe and decided that was that. But, he musta seen me leaving, or-or something, 'cause next thing I know, he was on my tail."

Jack paused for a moment, closing his eyes and taking in a deep breath. His face was splotchy, the way it gets when you cry. I thought maybe he was done. I was about to say something, but then, he said more. He began talking very fast, instead of the hesitant way he'd spoken before.

"I-I was at the bus stop, and he was real close, and-and I tried to get on th-the bus. An-and then, he-he grabbed me by the waist, y-yanked me off. And-and then…" He let out a shaky breath and pulled his knees up to his chest, unable to hold back sobs anymore.

I felt my heart drop to my stomach. I never imagined that someone could be so twisted.

But, here it is.

Jack's asleep now. He was pretty exhausted after telling me what happened. I can't blame him.

I can't undo the past. I can't go back and make what happened to Jack un-happen.

But, I really, really wish I could.