Chapter 7:

The next morning, things were pretty awkward. The lodging house woke up to Baby loudly slamming everything in her path. She knocked over a small table, threw her hair brush down in the sink, slammed the restroom door shut, and all but ran over Boots when he tried to enter the wash room. Everyone was looking around for Jack, but he was nowhere to be found.

Jack never made it off the roof that night. He had fallen asleep in their secret spot and had a restless night full of terrible dreams. In one he had been chasing Baby around town while she was wearing a wedding dress. He chased her down an aisle and right into the waiting arms of Skittery. It was that last dream that caused him to bolt awake in a panic. Unfortunately he woke up slightly wet all over from the morning dew and with a terrible creak in his neck.

By all accounts, today was not going to be a good day.

Jack and David had talked with Mr. Jacobs about forming together the newsies outside of the distribution center. So with that in mind, Jack crawled slowly down the roof to round up his newsies. Today, they had to prove themselves to everyone, including Spot.

As the newsies all headed out, there was a thickness in the air. Everyone could tell that something was wrong. Jack was being unusually quiet and Baby looked ready to kill anyone who dared speak to her. And for some reason, though no one understood what, Jack and Baby were refusing to look at one another.

When they arrived at the distribution center, there was a silence, a pause, a brief moment where the newsies starred down at the scabs who were still trying to sell. Jack was trying to focus, trying to figure out his next move. Suddenly, all of the emotion, and all of the stress on his shoulders, it was just too much to handle. He messed up things with Baby, he had failed his newsies by not securing Spot's help. He had even failed in protecting Crutchy. Something in Jack snapped that morning.

"LET'S SOAK THEM FOR CRUTCHY!" He screamed out before storming into the distribution center.

As everyone piled into the small center, it was Race who first realized something was wrong.

"Jack! Jack! It's a trick!" But it was too late. The gates shut behind the newsies trapping them in. Large men with chains and brass knuckles began to come out from inside the center. As fights began to break out, Jack looked around for Baby, hoping she got out before the gates closed.

He barely got a good look around before Oscar and Morris were in his face, trying to corner him in. Thankfully, cries of 'Brooklyn' began to fill the air and Jack looked up to see Spot and his army descending on the fight.

Jack began to fight back, all the while looking around for Baby. He still had no idea whether she was inside or out.

Meanwhile, Baby was being shoved into a corner by a rather large brute. She tried to struggle free, she kicked and clawed at her attacker, hoping he would loosen his grip, but it was all to no avail. The man pinned her to a wall by her shoulder.

"I don't hit females. But if you don't stop squirming I just might!" he growled out at her after she clawed his forearm with her one free hand.

Baby called out to Jack but he was lost in the mob of men. She had no idea where he was, but she kept calling out, hoping he would find her. She looked over to see Skittery take a hard hit which caused him to fall back into the group behind him. Next thing she knew, he was flying back up to get his revenge.

Skittery glanced over and saw Baby being restrained by one man. The man didn't appear to be doing any harm, but he still rushed over to save her. With one solid punch to the gut, the man released Baby. Skittery and the thug briefly struggled before suddenly the crowd of men was being pushed back.

It seemed that more Brooklyn boys had arrived through the front gate.

As everyone began celebrating, Skittery grabbed Baby in a tight hug and spun her around. She pulled out of his arms, but then he leaned in to give her a kiss. He never made it that far though.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Baby cried out, backing away even further.

"Excuse me? I did just save your life ya know." Skittery argued.

"So? It's not like that makes you my boyfriend?!" Baby called out in disgust then turned and ran off before Skittery could respond. She turned to see him pulled into a group of newsies in front of some news reporter.

Baby couldn't believe that Skittery had just tried to kiss her. She also couldn't believe how she responded. Suddenly guilt swam over her. She didn't mean to have been so coarse about her reaction. She needed advice, someone to talk to. She needed her best friend.

Baby headed back to the lodging house, determined to work through things with Jack. She also promised herself that she would apologize to Skittery. She had never meant to lead him on, or to reject him so harshly.

Unfortunately, both things were hard to do without the other party involved present. For some reason, she couldn't locate Jack or Skittery. What she did instead was lay on her bed, staring at the bunk above hers, determined to stay awake until one, or both of them came home. It only took twenty minutes for her to fall asleep.

When she woke up the next morning, she felt a familiar rise and fall of someone breathing. She looked up to see Jack still dozing. It seemed as though he had come home at some point in the night and was sleeping in her bed.

'I thought he didn't want to sleep together anymore,' Baby pondered.

Jack must have felt her move or felt her staring at him, either way, he began to stir. The bright sun outside told them they probably slept in longer than they should have. With no need to wake up early to sell, they both had gotten a decent night's sleep.

Jack mumbled 'morning' before turning to lay on his side, still holding Baby close.

"Morning," she managed to squeak out, still confused about everything.

"Bout time you two woke up, almost lunch," a voice called from the bunk above theirs.

Baby reluctantly sat up and let out a long sigh. The bunk above hers was always empty, unless one person was in town.

"Spot…. You're still here.."

"Nice to see ya too Baby." He retorted, a smirk playing on his face.

"Never said it was," Baby replied lazily as she headed into the washroom to get ready for the day.