p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Feet pounded the pavement, voices echoed off of buildings as dozens of bodies swarmed the dock, surrounding Racetrack. "Get out of my way!" Shadowed One Voice Above the rest, power entwined with anger. The Newsies backed off, each one falling silent and making a wide circle around Racetrack, Spot falling to his knees beside of fragile boy. Spot gently brushed the hair out of Race's face, his fingers tracing the smaller boy's jawline before landing on his neck, checkimg for a pulse. Spot closed his eyes for a moment, letting relief wash over him, a breath of air releasing from his chest, before snapping back into action. He swiftly , but carefully lifted Racetrack off the cold wood of the dock and sped back down the planks towards the Brooklyn Lodging House. The rest of the Newsies followed, concern in every one of their eyes. They stayed close as if to guard Spot and Race, but fell back once they reached the Lodging House, allowing Spot to make his way into the Lodging House alone, the limp body of Racetrack Higgins in his arms./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"As soon as the door opened to the lodging house, the air felt like it went out of the room, a buzzing sound filled Spot's ears as he laid Racetrack down on his own bunk. The rest of the Newsies smartly thought to leave them alone, though Spot knew they were as worried as he was. Spot knelt next to the bed, a lump forming in his throat. He knew something was wrong, even though Race was alive, he knew something wasn't right. He took Race's hand in his own, feeling the cold flesh there. His heart broke for Racetrack. He reached up again with his free hand to brush the hair out of the younger boy's eyes, knowing Race was particular about how his hair looked. Stupid kid with his stupid hair, and his damn mouth running all the time. Spot felt his eyes fill with tears. What he would give to hear Race's smart mouth again. He gripped his hand. "God, Race, what the hell is going on with you? You ain't eating, barely sleeping, seeing people who aren't there-" He took a ragged breath. "You take off and I find you passed out on the damn ground. What if you had fallen in the water, huh? What if you went and got your damn self killed? What then?" Spot felt himself falling apart. He dragged an arm across his eyes, not daring to let go of Race. "Where would I be then?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Spot felt his body giving into his emotions, both thankful and yet not caring that the rest of the gang was outside. He leaned forward into the mattress, burying his face into the dirty sheet, his body heaving with pain. He was supposed to be tough, supposed to be the King of New York, as it were, and here he was kneeling next to a broken boy, as he himself became even more broken. As he allowed himself to cry, something he didn't do often, he suddenly felt his breath catch in his throat, jolting his head from the mattress where Race lay. "Racetrack." He breathed./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Race groaned, flinching as he brought a hand up to his head. Pain radiated behind his eyes and even the smallest movement made his breath catch in his throat. He turned his head slightly, Spot coming into view, and closed them again to the image. He didn't want to face Spot at the moment, and if he were honest, he didn't know where he was or how he got there. He just knew that he wanted to be alone./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"He forced his eyes open again and Spot was still there, the blonde's eyes staring back at his own, and even in his current state, Race could see the worry there. He swallowed thickly, his stomach threatening, and he took a deep breath in through his nose. "Spot." His voice was raspy, raw from screaming, sick with emotion./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Spot side and a smile played at his lips. "What happened to you, Race?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Racetrack shook his head and went when it's tearing pain ripped through his body. "It's okay, Race. You don't have to say anything yet. I'll get you some water." Spot took his hand from Race's and went to get a cup of water for him. Race said nothing and closeed eyes again, wanting sleep to overtake him, to rid him of the reality of what was happening. When Spot returned, Race didn't make any move to open his eyes again. Spot sat the cup on the bed frame and sat down on the edge of the bed, reaching a hand up to cup Race's cheek. " you know you can talk to me. You are my best friend, Race. I hate that whatever this is is starting to destroy you." Racetrack opened his burning eyes, now beginning to fill with tears that slowly sit over his nose and dripped into his dry, cracked lips. "I'm sorry. " He croaked./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""No, don't be sorry. Just talk to me. Tell me what's been going on with you."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Racetrack sniffed, a light check a living his lips. "You'll never understand. " Spot reached for the cup of water and helped Race to sit up, bringing it to his lips for him to sip./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""I want to. " Spot told him. When Race shook his head, Spot took his hand once again. " at least let me look at your head. You can hardly sit up on your own so I'm guessing you hit it pretty hard. Maybe after that you'll tell me what's going on inside of it."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Race allowed Spot to examine his head, didn't say a word as Spot stared into his eyes, checking his pupils, or when he felt around for any serious bumps or bruises, any sign of blood. He didn't speak when Spot slowly lifted his shirt to check his torso and arms, carefully unbuttoning his vest, then his shirt, and finally his undershirt, pulling it over his head. Spot's eyes darkened as he took in the slim frame that was now races body. It hadn't taken long for him to lose a few pounds and on Race those few pounds made a huge difference. His eyes were dark and sunken from so little sleep, his skin dry from not drinking much water. Spot's eyes echoed the pain in Race's and Spot gently pulled Race to him, arms and enveloping the younger boy, and Race felt himself giving into something he needed: comfort. Race laid his head in the crook of spot's neck, while Spot's hand came up to tangle in his dark locks. "When you're ready I'm here i I'm ready to listen. I didn't mean to scare you before. It hurt me to think you were-"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Race pulled away. "Hallucinating?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Spot nodded, not looking at Race. Race took the cup of water from the bed frame were spot had set it so he could examine his head and go put the rest of it. After that, he realized just how empty he was, he wanted more, and not just water. "There is something I haven't told you. "/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Spot didn't say anything, didn't want to interrupt, so he just kept his hand on Races knee. "My life before being here was a lot different than you might think. I had a family. They died in a fire. And right before I blacked out I remembered something about that fire. I remembered the pain of them being gone. But then I remembered something else, the reason i thin n all of this is happening." Race took a deep breath and exhaled before continuing. "There was a reason I didn't help them, Spot. I started the fire."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"As soon as the door opened to the lodging house, the air felt like it went out of the room, a buzzing sound filled Spot's ears as he laid Racetrack down on his own bunk. The rest of the Newsies smartly thought to leave them alone, though Spot knew they were as worried as he was. Spot knelt next to the bed, a lump forming in his throat. He knew something was wrong, even though Race was alive, he knew something wasn't right. He took Race's hand in his own, feeling the cold flesh there. His heart broke for Racetrack. He reached up again with his free hand to brush the hair out of the younger boy's eyes, knowing Race was particular about how his hair looked. Stupid kid with his stupid hair, and his damn mouth running all the time. Spot felt his eyes fill with tears. What he would give to hear Race's smart mouth again. He gripped his hand. "God, Race, what the hell is going on with you? You ain't eating, barely sleeping, seeing people who aren't there-" He took a ragged breath. "You take off and I find you passed out on the damn ground. What if you had fallen in the water, huh? What if you went and got your damn self killed? What then?" Spot felt himself falling apart. He dragged an arm across his eyes, not daring to let go of Race. "Where would I be then?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Spot felt his body giving into his emotions, both thankful and yet not caring that the rest of the gang was outside. He leaned forward into the mattress, burying his face into the dirty sheet, his body heaving with pain. He was supposed to be tough, supposed to be the King of New York, as it were, and here he was kneeling next to a broken boy, as he himself became even more broken. As he allowed himself to cry, something he didn't do often, he suddenly felt his breath catch in his throat, jolting his head from the mattress where Race lay. "Racetrack." He breathed./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Race groaned, flinching as he brought a hand up to his head. Pain radiated behind his eyes and even the smallest movement made his breath catch in his throat. He turned his head slightly, Spot coming into view, and closed them again to the image. He didn't want to face Spot at the moment, and if he were honest, he didn't know where he was or how he got there. He just knew that he wanted to be alone./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"He forced his eyes open again and Spot was still there, the blonde's eyes staring back at his own, and even in his current state, Race could see the worry there. He swallowed thickly, his stomach threatening, and he took a deep breath in through his nose. "Spot." His voice was raspy, raw from screaming, sick with emotion./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Spot side and a smile played at his lips. "What happened to you, Race?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Racetrack shook his head and went when it's tearing pain ripped through his body. "It's okay, Race. You don't have to say anything yet. I'll get you some water." Spot took his hand from Race's and went to get a cup of water for him. Race said nothing and closeed eyes again, wanting sleep to overtake him, to rid him of the reality of what was happening. When Spot returned, Race didn't make any move to open his eyes again. Spot sat the cup on the bed frame and sat down on the edge of the bed, reaching a hand up to cup Race's cheek. " you know you can talk to me. You are my best friend, Race. I hate that whatever this is is starting to destroy you." Racetrack opened his burning eyes, now beginning to fill with tears that slowly sit over his nose and dripped into his dry, cracked lips. "I'm sorry. " He croaked./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""No, don't be sorry. Just talk to me. Tell me what's been going on with you."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Racetrack sniffed, a light check a living his lips. "You'll never understand. " Spot reached for the cup of water and helped Race to sit up, bringing it to his lips for him to sip./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""I want to. " Spot told him. When Race shook his head, Spot took his hand once again. " at least let me look at your head. You can hardly sit up on your own so I'm guessing you hit it pretty hard. Maybe after that you'll tell me what's going on inside of it."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Race allowed Spot to examine his head, didn't say a word as Spot stared into his eyes, checking his pupils, or when he felt around for any serious bumps or bruises, any sign of blood. He didn't speak when Spot slowly lifted his shirt to check his torso and arms, carefully unbuttoning his vest, then his shirt, and finally his undershirt, pulling it over his head. Spot's eyes darkened as he took in the slim frame that was now races body. It hadn't taken long for him to lose a few pounds and on Race those few pounds made a huge difference. His eyes were dark and sunken from so little sleep, his skin dry from not drinking much water. Spot's eyes echoed the pain in Race's and Spot gently pulled Race to him, arms and enveloping the younger boy, and Race felt himself giving into something he needed: comfort. Race laid his head in the crook of spot's neck, while Spot's hand came up to tangle in his dark locks. "When you're ready I'm here i I'm ready to listen. I didn't mean to scare you before. It hurt me to think you were-"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Race pulled away. "Hallucinating?"/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Spot nodded, not looking at Race. Race took the cup of water from the bed frame were spot had set it so he could examine his head and go put the rest of it. After that, he realized just how empty he was, he wanted more, and not just water. "There is something I haven't told you. "/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 13.23px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Spot didn't say anything, didn't want to interrupt, so he just kept his hand on Races knee. "My life before being here was a lot different than you might think. I had a family. They died in a fire. And right before I blacked out I remembered something about that fire. I remembered the pain of them being gone. But then I remembered something else, the reason i thin n all of this is happening." Race took a deep breath and exhaled before continuing. "There was a reason I didn't help them, Spot. I started the fire."/p