Ch. 9

Spot was talking to Scoop with a worried look on his face when Stilts and Scatter walked in. Scatter smiled and started to wave at him when she realized something was bothering him. He waved back at her distractedly as he finished talking to Scoop, then he turned away and headed upstairs. Her smile faded as Spot walked upstairs. She glanced at Stilts then at Scoop before she headed upstairs to find him. She started looking in all the different rooms before she finally found him sitting in a room by himself with his head in his hands. His head shot up as he heard her walking toward him and he glared at her.

"Why are you in my room? Tornado is the only one I let come in here," he snapped. She stood there for a moment before walking over and sitting next to him.

He couldn't believe her nerve. Didn't she know there were lines you just didn't cross with him? Why was she in HIS room on HIS bed?

She sat there quietly as she tried to find something to say. Finally she just reached over and held his hand. He glanced at her before pulling his hand away and standing up. He had never felt that before. That spark he felt when she grabbed his hand. He was tough, he was Spot Conlon, king of Brooklyn. He didn't do things like fall in love. He had Tornado, she was a devoted girlfriend but she never made him feel like this.

Scatter stared silently at his back wondering why she felt that spark when she grabbed Spot's hand. Why didn't he say anything? What was he thinking?

She stared at the ground in confusion before getting up and walking towards the door. She was about to open the door when she felt his hand on her arm turning her to face him. She looked into his eyes and was confused by what she saw there. He had feelings for her. She could see it in his eyes as he slowly lowered his mouth to hers.

She was stunned but quickly deepened the kiss, knowing that this whole thing was wrong. She couldn't help it though, she felt what he felt. He saved her life, he helped her find her sister, he made her feel things she hadn't felt before.

She finally pulled away and sat down. She couldn't look at him knowing that she had kissed him back even though he had a girlfriend. Not when she was hiding such a big secret from everyone she cared about.

He knelt down and tilted his head so their eyes met. She immediately looked away, refusing to meet his eyes. He finally gave up and started to walk away when she finally spoke.

"I made a mistake. I don't know if I'll ever be able to take it back."

He turned around and looked at her. This time her eyes were looking right at him.

He walked towards her and looked down at her as he finally spoke.

"What do you mean? If it's a mistake, you should be able to fix it."

" Not this time. I did something I'm not proud of." She replied glancing down in shame.

He lifted her chin, "Tell me. Please?"

She nodded and took a deep breath before speaking. "I met this guy Josh about 5 months ago. We liked each other but it wasn't anything serious. Then I met his brother David who was a bad guy. He was cruel and a real scumbag. He liked me I could tell, but I wanted nothing to do with him. He tried to force me to do things with him but I wasn't interested. One night, me and Josh were drinking, him more than me when David came home. David was flat out drunk and he wanted me more than ever. I tried to fight him off but even drunk, he was way stronger than me. Josh had passed out at this point, so he couldn't help. I saw my chance to get away when David went to take off his pants. I got up and tried to run away but he grabbed me again. I grabbed a fireplace poker and stabbed David in the neck. I was in shock about what I had done and..." her voice trailed off and she started crying.

He grabbed her hand and squeezed as he wiped her tears away with the other hand.

She took a deep breath and continued. "I knew that I was in real trouble, but I had Chatter to think about. I took the fireplace poker and put it in Josh's hand then I ran. Josh found me 2 weeks ago and was gonna rape and kill me until you stopped him. He's gonna keep looking for me until he finds me and finishes the job."

Spot listened as she finished the story, his mind reeling from what she told him. He finally looked at her and smiled.

"I won't let him. You're my newsie now, and your gonna be safe from now on."

She smiled and kissed him on the lips. "Thank you Spot."