Hey guys! I'm so glad you guys all liked the last chapter! It's amazing knowing you all like my writing. I swear, I wish I could go out and hug you all but… you'll just have to settle with a virtual hug. So… VIRTUAL HUGS! Love you all! Also, BTW, TheatreGirl, do you have an account? Cause I really need to PM you. We could be really fast friends. Anyways, I'm sorry I didn't post last weekend. Last Friday was a very… difficult time for my family especially me. So I just couldn't.
But all that went away tonight because as of a few hours ago, I hold in my hand pre-bought, orchestra level seats to Newsies at the Pantages! My mom could get them before anyone else because we go to so many shows there, they offered us a pre-ordering deal! And now I have my tickets! April 7, I am seeing the show that I dream of being a part of one day.
So, in honor of that, here's the latest chapter! Enjoy!
Jack tapped his foot impatiently as he waited for the Southern blonde. Clara had promised to come with a message from Katherine and she was running late. Jack was starting to get irritated. This was as close to talking to Katherine as he was gonna get and he didn't want to get rid of that so easily. Trying to distract himself, Jack had started sketching. But he couldn't get his nightmares out of his head. All he could see was Katherine's blood spilling onto the dirty New York floor. No matter how many other things crowded his mind, it was always sent back there. And what resulted was an entire page of his sketch book taken up by that exact image. Suddenly, his train of thought was broken by a knock on the door. He dashed to the door, hoping to God it was Clara. Unfortunately (not really), Romeo, Racer, and Les stood in the doorway.
"Hey guys." Jack greeted, letting them in. Closing the door, he yelled down the hall, "Hey, Davey! Your little brudda's here!"
A few moments later, Davey appeared in the front room. He ran up to Les and gave him a tight hug. "Hey, Les." Releasing his brother, he took notice of the other boys, "What're you all doin' here?"
"We came to see if you wanted to head down to the deli," Romeo responded, glancing over Davey's shoulder with a confused expression, "But now we're just wonderin' why the hell Jack looks so anxious."
Davey turned and saw Jack pacing the front room, biting a few fingernails. He walked up to Jack and stopped him. "What's goin' on with you?" He questioned.
"Clara's late." Jack said vaguely. "She was supposed to be here over 25 minutes ago with a message from Katherine and I'm getting really nervous. What if something happened to her?" Jack plopped himself down on the couch with a groan and dug the heel of his palms into his eyes.
Racer rolled his eyes. "You know, I'm gettin' really tired of Jack bein' like this." He complained.
"I'm gonna pretend I didn't hear that." Jack called from his spot, not even looking at the newsboy.
Davey sighed and came to Jack's defense. "It's called love, boys." He explained, "Jack can't live without Katherine. It's killing him not seein' her."
"Come on, Jackie!" Racer groaned, walking over to stand next to the newsboy leader. "Katherine was just some girl. You need to get over her."
"Hey…" Les started to object, but Davey pulled his little brother closer to him, covering his mouth with his hand.
"Stay out of it." Davey murmured quietly to him.
"Race is right, Jack." Romeo agreed, "You gotta get yourself out there so you can forget Katherine. I could set yous up with one of my old girls. What d'ya say?"
Jack uncovered his eyes, but still didn't look at the pair. "You wanna know what I say?" He questioned. The two boys nodded in unison.
"Oh God." Davey groaned. Racer and Romeo looked at him in confusion, "You shouldn't have said that."
The two shrugged and turned back to Jack. He felt their attention on him and stood up from the couch. "I say, you don't know nothin' about my feelings for Katherine." He said in a dangerously calm voice. "I've told you before, Katherine's not just some girl. She's the reason I ain't standing on the edge of the roof anymore. To me, she's not just some girl that I try to brag about. She's the girl who I sure as hell don't deserve. She's the girl I sketch on every surface I can because I can't get her out of my mind. She's the girl who was, an' still is, the angel on earth who saved us from gettin' our asses kicked by Pulitzer. Yeah, she's Ol' Joe's daughter, but that doesn't define her. She ain't some snooty rich girl who just thinks we're some dirty street rat newsies. So don't you dare even think that or I swear you'll be swallowing your teeth. She doesn't take one penny she doesn't earn. That's the girl I fell in love with. The smart, independent, beautiful girl I saw that first day. The girl who I knew I loved from the moment I sketched her on that pape in Medda's theater. An' if you can't get that through your thick skulls, you can just get the hell out of here right now." The boys stared at him in shock. He had never said anything like that to anyone, especially his newsboys. Once the faces registered in his mind, his tone softened, "I'm sorry, guys. It's just…"
"No." Romeo breathed, "We was out of line. I mean, without Katherine, we would've never won the strike."
"Yeah." Racer agreed. "Even if she is Joe's daughter, she doesn't act like it. She defied him just to help us. We can give her a break for that."
Jack smiled at the responses. "An' it's obvious yous crazy about her." Romeo pointed out, "I haven't seen you go this mad over a girl in your life."
Jack opened his arms and the boys hugged it out. They let out a few laughs before Davey tapped Jack on the shoulder. He released the pair to see Davey pointing behind him. Jack turned to see Clara standing in the doorway, a shocked but happy expression on her face. "Clara," Jack stuttered, "How long ya been there?"
Clara smiled. "Since you started your little rant. The boys must've left the door open." She explained, "Jack, what you just said, that was amazing."
Jack smiled a little, a slight pink coloring his cheeks, "Thanks." He muttered. "What did Katherine say?"
"She said the Delancies are basically choking her." Clara relayed, "She can't get a moment alone because her father believes if he lets her out on her own for a second, she'll just run back to you. Though, in his defense, she most likely would." Jack smiled brightened at the sentence. What he wouldn't give for just a moment alone with Katherine.
"That's great." Jack whispered. "Can you tell her…" Clara cut him off.
"Oh. I already have all that I need." Clara smirked and turned to head out the apartment door.
"What d'ya mean?" Davey called after her, stopping her in her tracks.
Clara turned to the boys. "What? You think I would let you go on a huge big speech about how much you adore and love her and not tell her?" Without another word, she left the room, the door shutting behind her with a click.
Katherine gnawed on her fingernails waiting for Clara's return. It was a nervous habit she picked up from her mother. She heard a knock on the door downstairs and her heart stopped for a second. Elizabeth's muffled voice floated up before small footsteps could be heard climbing the staircase. Her heart fluttered with excitement at the blonde's arrival. As soon as she heard the knock on her bedroom door, she flung it open to drag Clara in. What she didn't see was the dirty blonde climbing the stairs just in time to see the exchange. He had his ear pressed to the door to hear what the two were saying. "Well?" Katherine pressed inside the room.
"I told him exactly what you told me to." Clara reported. Katherine let out a breath of relief.
"And did he say anything back?"
"Always a reporter." Clara joked. Katherine snorted out a laugh before turning serious again. "Okay. You're never going to believe what he said to his friends."
Clara then proceeded to tell her the entire speech Jack had given the boys. She didn't leave out a single detail. When she was finished, Katherine had tears shinning in her eyes. "My God." She breathed, "I can't believe anyone would say anything that beautiful and amazing to me." Matthew clenched his fists at his sides outside the door.
"I know." Clara agreed, "I was there and I still can't believe it." She stood up from the bed. "Well, we both better call it a night. I'll come back tomorrow for another message."
Katherine stood up and pulled her best friend in for a tight hug, "Thank you so much for this Clara." She whispered.
"It's my pleasure." Clara responded as Katherine released her. "I love seeing you two so happy. I'll see you tomorrow."
Clara walked down the stairs, not noticing Matthew on her way out. As soon as the blonde was out of sight, Matthew gritted his teeth and stomped inside the room. "Matthew," Katherine exclaimed, acting completely innocent, "What are you doing here?"
"I was just hoping to take you to dinner and then I see Clara come in here." Matthew started, calmly. Katherine swallowed hard at the statement but didn't show any sign of cracking, so Matthew continued, "Now, I might have eavesdropped a little on the conversation you two were having."
"Oh?" Katherine questioned as he stepped towards her. She backed up but he followed her until she had her back pressed against the wall.
Suddenly, his hands were on her arm, gripping it to the point where she knew it would leave a bruise. "Just in time to hear Clara deliver that message from that street rat I told you never to see or talk to again." He spat through clenched teeth. "I should've known better than to trust you around him."
"He loves me." Katherine said, as calmly as she could in that moment, "And I love him. You only want the money. Someday, somehow, he will come for me. He'll beat you to the ground for what you're doing to me."
"What I'm doing to you?" Matthew repeated. "You mean giving you the punishment you rightly deserve." He released her and she rubbed her arms, trying to rid herself of the irritation. "You have a lot of faith in that newsboy don't you?"
"Of course I do." Katherine said, "I told you, I love him. Unlike you, Jack is a perfect gentleman who would sooner jump off a roof than even think of hurting me in any way, shape or form."
"I told you not to compare me to that rat!" Matthew shouted. His hand swung out and struck Katherine across the face. Her head snapped to the side as her cheek started burning. She flew to the ground, landing with a small thud. She looked at him in shock as her hand reached up to her cheek. Her fingers met with a sticky liquid and when she pulled it away, came back with a dot of crimson on them. It was then Katherine saw the ring nestled onto Matthew's right hand. The ring must've cut her when he slapped her. Matthew's voice broke her train of thought, "I'm ten times better than that street rat ever hopes to be." He grabbed her recently healed wrist with enough pressure to leave yet another bruise. "So I'm gonna give you another chance. Just know that if you ever compare me to that dog or try and communicate with him, there will be consequences."
With that, he pushed her back onto the floor before stomping out of her room, slamming the door on his way out. Katherine sat there for a moment, too shocked to move. Matthew had backhanded her. Hard enough to draw blood. She lightly touched her fingers to the spot again and another drop of blood was on them. Finally she stood up and grabbed her handkerchief from her nightstand. Pressing it to the spot, she tried to stop the bleeding. After succeeding, she curled up onto her bed, but sleep wouldn't come to her. Slowly, she reached under her pillow and pulled out Jack's drawing.
My Angel, My Ace, Katherine
She traced Jack's handwriting with her fingertips, hoping to find some comfort. But it didn't help. She needed Jack here, physically. Holding her after beating Matthew for even daring to hurt her. That's what she needed. She clutched the drawing to her chest as the tears started to fall. Jack had told her on the rooftop that she was his angel come to save him. He thought of her as his guardian angel. But now she needed him to be her guardian angel.
Just when she needed Jack more than ever, it seemed like he couldn't be farther away.
Ooooh! Matthew getting a little more violent. How'd you guys like that chapter? I don't know why but I can't get enough of writing speeches like Jack's. It's just so much fun. And for some reason, I really like that ending, but can you guys give me your opinions? Don't worry. I'm officially on Thanksgiving break, so I'll have much more time to write. But I'll probably be taking some time off from this and Selected to start and finish my Newsies Christmas story before Christmas. So… bear with me here.
Anyways, R&R please! Reviews are smiles and serious confidence boosters!
Quote of the Day: The marks humans leave are too often scars –John Green
Song Suggestion: Face Down –Red Jumpsuit Apparatus
