Author's Note: So I just spilled my Iced Carmel Macchiato all over the floor and had to clean it up while everyone at Starbucks was just sitting there watching me. Instead of running away and crawling under a rock, I stayed so I could edit this chapter and get it to you.
Also, most of y'all seemed to think this was the last chapter. Nop! We've got one more before the end! So here's your second to last chapter!
A bazillion thanks to my reviewers: Lucy Conlon, Austra, BritishIsBetter639, lovingstories, Ealasaid Una, Rachel, Narniafan96, mysterygirl, and maxsmilesalot. Y'all are amazing. :)

Chapter 37- Never Once Asked

I'm letting go
Of the life I planned for me
And my dreams
I'm losing control of my destiny
It feels like I'm falling and that's what it's like to believe
So I'm letting go
~I'm Letting Go: Francesca Battistelli~

"You won't be seein' much of him anymore," Denton announced as Al moved to stand beside him again. "Say 'Goodbye, Warden!'"

"Goodbye, Warden!" the boys (and girl) around him cheered. The entire group of kids and teenagers still loitering about in the Square screamed their approval of Snyder's arrest. Judging from the way they acted, he wasn't just the bane of the newsies' existence. Apparently, he'd been giving plenty of other kids trouble too.

"How'd you do it, Denton?" David asked, moving closer to the group, his arm still firmly around his sister as if he were afraid she would get lost if he didn't hold on to her.

"An old friend," the man laughed. He stretched an arm out and pointed. They all turned, only to find him pointing at Governor Theodore Roosevelt. Al's mouth dropped open in surprise. "The governor's very grateful you brought this problem to his attention," he continued, looking at Jack. "I said you might need a lift somewhere. He said he's glad to oblige. Anywhere you want. This time, you ride inside."

"So, uh, could 'e drop me at the train yards?"

Al felt like all the air had been sucked out of her. In all of the excitement and the ruckus, she had completely forgotten about what Jack had told her the night before. She had forgotten all about Santa Fe and Jack's endless yearning for it. Even as the newsies around them hushed, she lost her ability to breathe.

Without even bothering to say his goodbyes, Jack started moving toward the carriage grabbing peoples' outstretched hands like he was a movie star and laughing. He didn't seem to notice the fact that she had frozen in place, feeling like her feet were made of lead.

"Ya goin' with 'im, doll?" Racetrack asked, grabbing her hand. His smile had vanished, but he didn't look upset. He had his perfectly crafted mask on. He had always known it was only a matter of time before the Kelly siblings left. She had always known it too, but she couldn't seem to find her own mask.

"Yeah," she responded, blinking rapidly in order to regain her senses. "Just gotta say goodbye real quick." She wrapped him in a bear hug and he squeezed her back.

"You make sure Jacky-boy takes real good care o' ya, alright?"

"I will. Write me, okay?" she asked. He nodded and she hoped to God he meant it.

She squeezed through some other newsies and found Runner with the Jacobs'. She kissed both he and Les on the forehead.

"You two watch out for each othah, alright?" They nodded and she stood to give Sarah a bear hug. "You been like the sistah I nevah had. Thanks for everythin'."

Sarah nodded, already crying. "I'll miss you. You'll write as soon as you get settled?"

"I'll write on the train." Al laughed, refusing to let herself cry.

Crying is for sissies, Al. Don't you dare cry, she reminded herself swiftly. She had to suck it up or she wouldn't be able to make it.

"Jack?" Sarah asked weakly.

"He don't do goodbyes. They're too 'ard for 'im. But he'll write. I promise." Al wished she could offer more comfort, but she couldn't.

Then she found herself in front of David and she lost the ability to speak. She lurched forward to wrap her arms around him and he did the same, holding her tightly against himself. She bit her lower lip until she nearly tasted blood. That was when she knew she had to pull away or risk not leaving at all.

"You don't have to go," David said, but even he knew it sounded weak and the argument was pointless. They'd had this discussion before and nothing had changed since then. Al looked into his eyes and wished she didn't have to go. She wanted to stay here with him, find out everything about him, find out what it would be like to be his girl.

"I'll write. You're my best friend, Dave. Ya know that?"

He nodded, but he still carried that wounded expression that was slowly killing her. She started to turn away, then stopped. Without further hesitation she went up on her toes, grabbed David by the shoulders, and smashed her lips into his.

She had never kissed anyone before, but she did her best, moving her lips to catch his and trying to fill that goodbye kiss with all the emotions she felt coursing throug her. She felt David's hands on her waist and his mouth kissing her back.

She almost lost herself in the moment, in that one kiss, but reality hit her and she pulled away. She didn't look at him one last time, she couldn't bear to. She merely slipped into the crowd, David's taste still on her lips and tears clogging up her throat.

"Al!" She couldn't turn when he called for her. No, she had to go. She had to leave now. She hurried through, issuing quick hugs to Skittery and Specs, wishing she had time or the energy to hug everyone she knew before she left.

She pushed and shoved her way through the crowd and grasped Jack's extended hand when she reached the carriage. The moment she was seated, it lurched forward through the crowd and broke free of the many kids and teenagers. It wasn't long before they were on practically empty streets.

Al put on her best poker face, even though she felt her heart ripping in two. She shouldn't have kissed him, she realized. She only made it harder on them both. Still, how could she regret it? She couldn't. She was glad they had been able to share that one kiss before they were forced to part ways.

"Al? You gonna answer 'im?" Jack's voice cut through her thoughts.

"Huh?"

"I said it's nice to meet you, young lady," Mr. Roosevelt laughed.

"Oh, nice to meet you too, sir."

"So where are you young folks headed?" The man asked, puffing away at an expensive looking pipe.

"Santa Fe," Jack said proudly. "We's gonna get ourselves a ranch an' horses an' everythin'."

"And what made you decide now was the time to go?"

"Well, things 'ave been real rough lately an' I finally got the chance to get me'n my sis off the streets," Jack answered, shrugging.

Roosevelt nodded with a small smile. "So you've decided it's time to go?"

"Yeah," Jack answered a tad more quietly than before. He ran a hand through his hair and adjusted his bandanna.

"You seem to be a little uncertain about that, son," Roosevelt said, shifting a little in his seat as he spoke. Al perked up at this, wondering what the governor was talking about. "Why is that?"

"Well," Jack hedged looking as if he were fumbling for the right words. His gaze swept over the cobblestone drive and the shops they were steadily passing. "I'm just gonna miss everyone, that's all."

"And who's everyone?"

"Well, I'm the leadah of the 'Hattan newsies," Jack shrugged. "So it's basically everyone ya just saw."

"You're very close with these newsies." It wasn't a question, just a statement.

"'Course I am. Known most of 'em for years now. Plus, I got a goil back there."

"Oh really?" Roosevelt let a pleased smile spread across his face. "Tell me about her."

"Well, 'er name's Sarah. Sarah Jacobs. She's got brown hair'n brown eyes and she's prolly the prettiest goil I evah laid eyes on. She's smart too. Got a brain on 'er an' she uses it. She helped with printin' them bannahs we passed out, even though she didn't have to. She gets on real well with Al too." Jack grew more and more subdued as he talked, looking distracted with the thought of her.

"And the other newsboys?"

"Well, there's David, the Walkin' Mouth. He's kinda new, but he helped me'n Al start the strike. He was the brains behind the whole operation. Must run in the familiy. He's Sarah's brothah." Jack smiled, but Al turned her head away, feeling tears prick her eyes at the mention of her friend's name. She hadn't expected the conversation to take a turn toward the subject of her own thoughts. It was already taking everything in her to stay on this carriage instead of running back to him. "An' Les, their lil' bruddah. He's made real good friends with Runner. Now Runner's been beggin' for a wood sword like the one Les's got. Then there's Racetrack, he helped Al an' I get a place at the Lodge when we lived there. Then there's Mush, Blink, Skittery, an' Crutchy. An' a bunch of other boys too."

"You seem to be having second thoughts," Roosevelt observed. Al held her breath. She wasn't sure she could believe this.

"It ain't like we got a place we can go back to," Jack reasoned, his fingers now fidgeting with the bandana around his neck. "We ain't got no place to live, 'cause lodgin' houses don't take goils and boardin' rooms'd get too expensive aftah a couple o' months, even with what Pulitzer gave me."

Silence prevailed in the small buggy for a good minute or two before the governor turned to Al. "And you? What's taking you to Santa Fe?"

Al blanched. No one had ever asked for her opinion on Santa Fe except for David. Everyone else had just wanted to know if she was going too and assumed that, if she was going, she must want to. She felt her throat dry up.

"I- uh. . . Well, I'm goin' with my bruddah." She knew it sounded lame, but it was the only thing she could think of on the spot.

"But surely you're excited?" She knew when her hesitation had lasted too long. The governor sat back smoking a pipe and studying her. "You don't want to go." He didn't even phrase it as a question. It was a statement that they both knew was true.

Al felt her brother's eyes turn on her and she refused to look at him, like she often did when she didn't want to confront something.

"It's not that," she hurried to fix things. "I'm just gonna miss everyone." At least that much was true. But she was so caught off-guard and antsy that it came out just as bad as an amateur liar would have stated it.

She spared a glance at her brother now and saw him run a hand through his hair again. She dropped her head in her hands and groaned. Here she was, messing everything up again. It was Jack's only dream: Santa Fe. She didn't want to be responsible for taking it away from him.

When she looked up, Jack was looking at her with a confused and troubled expression on his face. Doubt flickered in his eyes and he was quiet for a long moment. Mr. Roosevelt seemed to know he shouldn't interfere and didn't speak either.

"I nevah asked what you wanted to do." It was a sudden realization and he said it quietly, looking like he wanted to kick himself. "Oh God, Al, I been plannin' this for years an' I nevah once asked how you felt about it or nothin'." Al wanted to reassure him, say something that made him feel better, but her mouth felt dry. Her tongue was stuck to the roof of her mouth and her emotions were all jumbled and confused after everything that had happened. Not only was she exhausted, which always tended to make her testy, but everything else that was happening had decided to cram itself into one morning. "Do you even wanna go to Santa Fe?"

Al didn't want to answer. She didn't want to see what it looked like when her brother's dream was shot down. She didn't want to ruin the very thing he had been longing for years before now. He seemed to sense her internal debate and laid a hand on her shoulder.

"We don't have to go now. Snyder's not aftah us anymore, we can sell papes again. You ain't ruinin' nothin'," he told her sincerely. "Maybe now's not the right time. Maybe we should wait."

"I kissed 'im." Al wanted to smack herself the moment the words rolled off her tongue.

"What?"

Now she had to clarify. "I kissed him- David." She chewed on her lower lip for a moment. "I really like 'im."

"Like kissed 'im kissed him?" Jack asked, beyond surprised.

Al nodded, a sheepish smile creeping across her lips.

"That's it. Turn the carriage around," he ordered, a huge smile tearing at his face. "We needa go back. Sorry, governah."

"No trouble at all," the man laughed as the driver changed directions.

"No, Jack, what about your dream?"

"What about your dream, Al? An' what about Sarah?" He suddenly looked pale. "She's gonna be so hoit that I left 'er. Didn't even say goodbye. 'Sides the 'Hattan boys still need me. Race ain't gonna be able to handle 'em all by hisself."

Al was surprised at how quickly her brother had changed his mind. "Are you sure, Jack?"

"I still got things I gotta get done here. I think Santa Fe can wait for me a lil' longah." He winked at her and Al suddenly felt like she could breath again. She felt like running and jumping.

She realized she was about to see David again after she had kissed him so unexpectedly and suddenly butterflies were trying to burst from her stomach.

Al gripped the side of the carriage and felt like her smile would literally split her face in two.