(i totally messed up and posted the wrong chapter. MAKE SURE YOU READ THIS CHAPTER. i'm so sorry for posting the wrong one. Thank you to singdancedream (it won't let me put the periods in between the words,, sorry) for pointing that out)
After a couple of hours of limping, Kit, Blink, and Cowboy soon made it back to the Manhattan lodging house. A mixture of her limping and having to stop every once in a while for her to rest made the journey a lot longer. It was around 5 PM. They helped her get inside. Kloppman greeted her.
"Hey, look who's back. What happened to ya?" Kloppman said.
"Just got into a lil' bit of trouble. But I'm good now." Kit said.
"Aright, but if ya need any medical assistance, jus' holler." Kloppman said.
"Thanks."
Blink and Cowboy helped Kit up the stairs. It wasn't as easy as going down. They opened the door and the three of them entered. Newsies were on their beds, some sleeping, talking to one another, or playing cards. As soon as they entered, those who were awake looked up at them.
"Ya guys found Kit!" Mush said happily.
"Whoa what happened to her?" Race said worrily.
"Are ya okay?" another asked.
"What happened? Whoevah did dis to ya, I'll soak 'em!" Skittery said, holding up his fists.
Kit quickly found herself surrounded by newsies. All asking questions on what happened. She felt Blink guard her protectively from those who got too close.
"Guys! Give 'er some space! We needa get 'er to a bed" Jacks yelled.
With that, the newsies parted and made a path to the nearest available bed. Cowboy and Blink helped her into the bed.
"Thanks." Kit said.
Kid Blink and Jack stood on either side of her bed As guards. The other newsies slowly started to surround her bed, some sitting by her bed or on the beds nearby. They all looked at her expectantly.
"So what happened to ya?" Racetrack asked.
"Yeah, one minute ya dere an' da next moment ya gone." Snoddy said.
"And ya look pretty beat up."
"Well, da night I got here I needed to go for a walk so I went for a walk 'round in the middle of the night-" Cowboy interrupted Kit.
"If ya wanted ta walk, ya shudda told me. Ya shuddan't have gone by yaself." He said. She shot him a glare which made him shut up.
"As I was saying, I was walkin' around when the Delancy brothers cornered me…" Kit trailed off, She felt a hand on her shoulder and saw that it was Blink. She smiled and continued. "They hurt me a bit, but I'se was able ta run away and I ran all da way ta Brooklyn where I passed out. The next thing I know, I wake up in da Brooklyn lodging'house. They took care o' me there, bandagin' my wounds and lettin' me stay for a little bit." Kit decided that it would be better if she left out her panic attack and almost getting taken advantage of. The room was silent.
"Da next time I see da Dalancys, Ima soak 'em." Mush said and others replied saying "Yeah!"
"Soaking them won't make 'em into any more of a decent individual." Kit said.
She was ignored and some of the newsies started to plot out plans of what they would do to hurt the Delancy brothers. She rolled her eyes. Cowboy then sat on an unoccupied part of her bed.
"They didn't- ya know- take advantage of ya, did dey?" Cowboy asked with concern.
"Oh, no." Kit said. She didn't want him to worry even more about her and decided it was better to not tell him that they were close to.
"Good."
"How 'bout da Brooklyn newsies? Dey weren't mean ta ya were dey? Cuz if dey were-"
"They were fine." Kit said smiling at his brotherly protectiveness.
"All o' e'm? Even Spot?" Jack asked.
"Well, Spot was a little bit cold towards me at first, but he wasn't too bad." Kit said.
"He's jus' like dat."
Jack leaned in closer to whisper to her. "I was getting' scared dat ya found another portal and left without saying goodbye." He whispered.
"I promise I won't leave without saying goodbye." Kit said quietly
"Alright, dats good ta know. If ya evah wanna go for a walk, tell me or someone, I don't want ya going 'round by yaself." Jack said.
"Okay." Kit said.
"I'll leave ya ta rest or talk to da odahs." Jack said amd winked. He then went over to Race and Mush who went back to playing cards.
Most of the newsies had scattered from around her and went back to what they were doing before. She saw that Blink was still shyly standing by her bunk. She pat down on the empty space that Jack left.
"Wanna sit?" she asked.
"Yeah, thanks." He said taking the seat.
"So how ya feelin'?" He asked.
"I've had better days." Kit answered.
"Oh. Well I was real worried 'bout ya." Blink said, not looking her in the eyes.
"Really?" she asked, he looked at her and nodded. "I'm sorry I left without telling any of ya." Kit said. He still looked at the ground.
"I feel like it's mah fault that ya got so beat up." He said.
"It's not your fault at all!" Kit said.
"I shudda kept a better eye on ya." Blink said and she could see the sadness and pain in his eyes.
"Really, it ain't your fault." Kit repeated, but he kept looking at the ground.
She slowly put her hand on top of his and repeated her statement.
"It's not your fault."
He looked into her eyes and she smiled warmly.
"I swear from now on, I'll protect ya." Blink said while adjusting his hand so that they'd be holding each other's hand. Kit smiled shyly and blushed
The rest of the day considered of her and Blink talking about random things and eating some food that they brought her for dinner. In a blink of an eye (LOL) it was time for bed and she said goodnight to Kid Blink and the others. She closed her eyes and fell asleep.