I was in the attic. My favorite place to think. Spot had gone back to Brooklyn, but had left Bandit to keep an eye on me. He doesn't know I know he likes me. He wants to make sure I don't get to comfortable here, so he can rip me away from my friends at any time. Scandal had somehow moved here non-permanently. He's a great boyfriend, even though we're only pushing on 5 days. Caleb stayed to support me, and he was great to talk to, along with Eyes, who turned out to be a very good friend, despite her big mouth, there was also Fearless, who was very nice, although rather threatening sometimes, and a little slow. And there was Bandit, who was now a good friend of mine, who I could talk to also. And there was of course Scandal, devoted boyfriend, listener, friend, kisser, damn stupid name though. Doesn't fit him at all. I shrugged. Thinking time is what I need.

Spot's a good guy, though he's overpowering, tough, sarcastic, dumbass sometimes, protective, egotistical, the list goes on. I was being decent to him up until he left, and he seemed to warm up a bit. Key words: a bit. He actually *gasp* smiled once. It was more of a sarcastic smirk, but it was better then nothing. Every time he sees me and Scandal together, which is basically every time he sees me, I swear, he grimaces, or scowls, or glares, or walks away. It pisses me off. Then there's Bandit, who seems to have taken a special liking to me, according to Polish's guy-o-meter, which she swears can tell you anything you want to know about guys. I don't know if I believe her yet though. I'll have to think about it. Caleb and I, despite the boyfriend thing, are as close as ever, and I try to put time aside for him, and not when Scandal's there, which is hard to break to Scandal. But, Caleb has seemed to have taken a special liking to Bliss, a pretty auburn haired, dark blue eyed beauty. She seems to live in her own little peaceful world. She's very nice and calm, perfect for Caleb. But nope, according to Eyes, I'm perfect for many guys, Scandal, Caleb, Spot, Swifty, Dutchy, and thought she won't admit it, actually I got this bit of info from Despot, but everyone thinks Blink and I would make a perfectly adorable couple. I stuck my finger so far down my throat I almost threw up. The thought of Blink and I together is nauseating all in it's little own self (AN: sorry Chelci! That wasn't my idea! I thought it was funny tho!)

My thought were jarred back to reality when somebody entered the room. I looked up and saw Scandal, I smiled slightly and looked out the window. I sighed.

"What ya doing?" he asked, hands in pockets.

I looked at him, then looked back out the window. "Thinking," I replied wistfully. I looked back at him and he smiled. "Is there something you would like?" I asked playfully.

"Yeah, I came here looking for my girlfriend so I could have some good make-out time, but it appeared that aliens abducted her and replaced her with someone who likes to think," he smiled. I smiled back and patted the ground next to where I was sitting. He got down. He leaned in and kissed me. I kissed him back. He worked his way across my cheek and down my neck. I leaned back and sighed. He did have nice lips. And another plus was that he wasn't a biter. He didn't try to suck my lip either. That's just plain gross. I leaned into him. He was back onto my lips. He slipped his hand back up my shirt but I pushed it back down and pulled away from him.

"I don't know," I was unsure. I mean I still had it and I guess I want to keep it for awhile. I just wasn't sure. I had heard stories. My old friend from Buffalo who was a good deal older then me, lost his virginity when he was 14, he and his friends got wasted and he knocked up some girl, and left her. I didn't like him so much after that.

"C'mon sweet. I love ya. I never felt this way about anybody before. There's something about your personality that…just makes me love ya even more every time I talk to ya. You're perfect. For me. I'm not sure why you chose me. You had all those other guys that would have killed to have you, I just cut them to the chase. But you still could have dropped me on my ass for any one of them. Dammit, I just don't have the right words," he sighed, and ran his hand through his hair. I leaned over and this time initiated the kiss. "Is that a yes?" he said, the sound muffled by my lips.

I pushed myself up, my hair hanging in my face. I looked at him thoughtfully for a second. He was laying flat on the ground, his hands now at the back of his head. He was looking up at me. I bit my bottom lip. "Yes."

~°~

"Spot sent word from Brooklyn. He wants you back. Pronto," Bandit sighed. My mouth dropped open. "AJ, I'm really sorry, I know you like it here, hell, I like it here better then Brooklyn. I know that no one wants you to go back except Spot, I'm sure the other newsies would too if they knew you." He was fumbling for words. Spot probably heard I was having fun here and wanted to rip me away form the people that I grew to love. I had only been here for a month and a half! I knew this was the only place I could truly call home.

"Fuck! No Way! This is not fucking happening! I don't care who the fuck Spot thinks he fucking is, I am fucking not going back to fucking Brooklyn! I don't care who the fuck tells me to! No fucking Brooklyn leader will get me back to fucking Brooklyn," I fumed, pacing around, muttering obscenities under my breath. (AN: sorry about all those curses, but I AM angry right now and needed to get it out, seeing as saying was I just wrote to my dad's face wouldn't go over very well. Hehe.) I paced and cursed. I didn't even notice when Scandal and Caleb walked in the door.

"I wouldn't approach her just now if I were you," said Bandit warningly, as Scandal was about to walk up to me.

"Why? What's wrong?" asked Caleb, concerned for my welfare. I suppose.

"Spot wants her back in Brooklyn," Bandit sighed.

"Fuck!" said Scandal.

"You wanna know how many times she's said that or a form of that in the past 5 minutes?" asked Bandit. Caleb nodded. "Over 40."

"Wow," said Scandal, a new respect for me welled up in him.

Finally I calmed down enough to sit down on my bunk. I looked up when Scandal sat down beside me, despite Bandits' protest. "I'm gonna miss ya," he said guiltily.

"No yer not," I said simply. He gave me a strange look.

"And why not?" he asked suspiciously. He knew I was up to something.

"Because I'm not leaving," I said simply. Scandal smiled. Bandit put his head in his hands and sighed.

"Oh good Lord. Please don't let both of their tempers get going at one time," he whispered. "That would be hell on earth."

I almost smiled. I hadn't been able to hold my own against Spot before, but Scandal had given me some fighting lessons. Now I knew I could take Spot. And plus I had many backing me up. This was going to be a fair fight, so help me God.

So? Did you like it? I do. Lol. Drop me a review. Athena: I PROMISE you'll be in the next chappie. I just sorta got caught up in this one. I'm gonna write a lot more chappies before ff.net gets back up again, I swear. It's a piece of fuckin shit. Ok I'm done now. LYL! ~Rachael