A/N As you could probably guess I didn't write this chapter at midnight when I finished the last chapter like I said I might. I sorta got stuck in a writers block. (My worst enemy!) But here it is, chapter 10. I think I will be finishing this soon, maybe in a few chapters but I haven't really figured out how I want it to end so it probably wont come for a while. So don't worry (if you even care) about this ending soon. Well here we go.

I rounded the corner and the circulation office came into sight. All the newsies where standing there in line joking around. I spotted Angel and quickly I stepped back around the corner out of sight. I stood there, eyes closed, hand on my chest trying to catch my breath. Once I stopped panting I turned the corner and marched straight up to the little devil and popped her one.

"AHHHHH!" She screamed falling dramatically to the ground. "SHE SLAPPED ME SHE, SLAPPED ME!" She said getting up and hopping around like an idiot. I looked around and saw that all the newsies where staring at me, either completely dumbfounded or they were trying to suppress hysterical laughter. I noticed that my brother was one on the suppressed laughter side.

"Did you even see what she did to me?" Angel continued to scream. Nobody answered her. "Well, are you just going to stand there?"

"What would you like us to do? Slap her back?" Jack said. He was another one holding back laughter.

"Yes I do." She squeaked. God she's annoying. I thought.

Finally I spoke. "Well you know I just wanted to find out if smacking people up beside the head actually does knock sense into people. But I guess not." I said turning away. I started to walk in the direction of the lodging house when I turned back around. "Actually I just wanted to be the one to wipe that stupid smirk off your face because guess what? You win! You got Spot. Congratulations! I hope you two'll be happy together!" I said as I left.

When I got back to the lodging house I ran upstairs and started chucking Angel's stuff out the window. I took extra care to cause as much damage to her stuff as possible. I finished and, exhausted, I flopped on my bed and closed my eyes. I winced as images of Spot flashed across my mind. After what seemed like only a few minutes, but was actually hours, I was snapped out of my fantasies by a knock at the door.

"Come in," I sighed. I jumped up when I saw Mush enter the room. He saw me gasp and jump and stopped in his tracks. "Sorry I just wasn't expecting you. I figured you'd be my brother.

"Oh, actually he wanted to come but asked me to come instead because he figured I had more advice to offer on the subject of…um…love." He said delicately.

"Well do you have any idea what happened? Or did Angel decide to leave out the fact that she's got an arranged marriage to Spot?"

"No actually she didn't leave it out. She kinda screamed it at us before she ran off. We figured she came back here but judging by the fact that her stuff is still outside I guess not. Did you fling all that stuff out the window or something?" He asked smiling.

"Yeah I did," smiling back. That was something great about Mush. His smile was contagious.

"So Spot told you everything?" he asked.

"No…Angel did. Last night. I just didn't say anything in case I heard wrong or something."

"Or to attempt to prove to yourself you could block it out."

"Or that." I said trying to keep my smile. Mush noticed the falter in my smile and hugged me.

You fold his hands, you smooth his tie, you gently lift his chin.
Were you really so blind, and unkind to him?
Can't help the itch to touch, to kiss, to hold him once again.
Now to close his eyes--never open them...

A shadow passed, a shadow passed, yearning, yearning,
For the fool it called a home.

All things he never did are left behind.
All the things his mama wished he'd bear in mind,
And all his dad had hoped he'd know.

The talks you never had, the saturdays you never spent.
All the 'grown-up' places you never went.
And all of the crying you wouldn't understand.
You just let him cry, 'make a man out of him.'

A shadow passed, a shadow passed, yearning, yearning
For a fool it called a home.

All things he ever wished are left behind.
All the things his mama did to make him mind,
And how his dad had hoped he'd grow.

All things he ever lived are left behind.
All the fears that ever flickered through his mind.
All the sadness that he'd come to know.

A shadow passed, a shadow passed, yearning, yearning
For a fool it called a home.

And it whistles through the ghosts still left behind.
It whistles through the ghosts still left behind.
Whistles through the ghosts still left behind.

I put my arms around him and rested my head on his shoulder. I squeezed my eyes shut as the tears came flooding back.

We stayed this way until I had had sufficient time to cry every tear left in me. Actually it was until Skittery came banging through the door not-so-gracefully.

"I…uh…ummm…I just wanted to see if you were okay." He stammered.

I sniffed and said "Yeah I'm okay. Thanks Mush." I said as Mush got up to leave.

"Anytime." He said and he left us alone.

"So, your alright?" Skittery asked again.

"Yeah Skitts, I'm fine." I turned away to wipe the remaining tears from my eyes. The bed lurched as he sat next to me.

"Hey, do want to go see if you can see Spot tonight? We could probably find the house." He said trying to make me feel better.

"Yeah right, like we could get near him with Angel around. And what are we going to do? Waltz in through he front door?"

"Well actually Jack has perfected the art of scaling a building. He could probably figure out a way to get in."

"Are you serous about this Skitts?" I asked. I wondered if it was an actual possibility.

"I'm dead serious." He said looking me in the eye.

An hour later found me, Skitts, Jack, and Aqua standing outside on the curb of a huge house that looked like Pulitzer's mansion. I just gaped, wide eyed at it.

"Tell me again how we're getting in?" I whispered. I didn't need to whisper but I was a little nervous (paranoid is how Jack put it) about getting caught.

"Easy, there's a tree around the back of the house and we just have to climb it and go in through the window.' He said it like he did this kind of thing every day.

"Oh. Okay.' I said still gawking at the overly large house looming in front of us.

"Snap out of it.' Aqua said snapping her fingers under my nose. We walked around the back of the house, and indeed, there was a tree back there. It ran right up the side of the house up to a window on the second floor.

"Okay." I said taking a deep breath and approaching the tree. Just as I got to the base of the tree a light flickered on in the window by the tree and I tall slender figure appeared as a silhouette through the curtain.

I froze on the spot before realizing that it was Spot's silhouette at the window. I'd know that silhouette anywhere. I let out a breath and started to climb.

I had never climbed a tree before and it was surprisingly enjoyable. I reached the window and situated myself on the branch before rapping on the window.

"Spot. Spot its me." I whispered to the window. I was nearly thrown off the branch as the window flew open and Spot stuck his head out the window.

"Tiger what the hell are you doing here?" He asked forcefully. He looked terrible. I could tell he wasn't used to being stuck inside a place like this. And he was defiantly not used to being forced to do anything. Spot had authority issues, but that's what happens when you've lived by your own rules for eight years.

"I wanted to see you." I said. "I couldn't just watch you walk away. Not after what happened this morning. Spot, I changed my mind."

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"Spot come with me. Right now. We can leave like you said earlier. We can jump a train and go somewhere, anywhere." I said. I wasn't thinking things through at this point and was just talking nonsense. Spot knew this.

"Tiger you don't mean that. I know you don't. You made yourself perfectly clear today and you were right. There is no where we can go where we will be safe. I don't want anything to happen to you." He leaned over to me and put his hand on the side of my face and used his thumb to stroke down my cheek. I shivered.

"Spot please. At least give me a minute to be with you. Then I'll leave you to work out a way to deal with Angel for the rest of your life." At that it was Spot's turn to shiver. The thought of spending the rest of his life with Angel repulsed him.

"Okay come in." He said and he put out his hand to help me inside. I climbed slowly over the window sill and entered a room that was bigger than the entire lodging house. I walked over to a giant fluffy bed. It reminded me of my home back in Tennessee. I sat down and memories of home came over me and it took a minute for me to get back to reality.

Spot sat down next to me and pulled me into a hug. I turned to him and it was like a repeat of what had happened this morning. The kisses, the hugging, the tears, and the goodbyes.