I don't think I can possibly tell you guys how much I adore reading your reviews. They make me genuinely happy. So thank you to KatherineRoseTiggular, Teeloganroryflan, bexlynne and my guest reviewer! Thank you so so much!
Teeloganroryflan: Ya know, I've been asking the same question for years. Haha I'm just kidding. Honestly I just write the first thing that comes into my head, sometimes I do a second draft and sometimes I don't. I just write things that pop into my head. And you are so sweet for calling me brilliant. I love you!
KatherineRoseTiggular: I think this is the hardest question I've ever had to answer. On one hand, you've got the Manhattan boys. They're so cute and affectionate and adorable and I love them. However, the Brooklyn boys are badasses. Spot Conlon is freaking fantastic. Over all though, they are all the kings of New York. I would honestly become friends with all of them and be the only female Newsie to go back and forth ya know? It would be awesome! What about you? I'd love to hear your guys' answers to that!
Guest: I know you didn't ask a question, I just felt the need to comment on this. Oh my gosh! Writing these stories are my guilty pleasures. I am so happy you love this story. I wanted to write about these characters like this because it makes sense in my head. Jack is the leader. He protects everyone. He protects his brothers. Yes, him and Crutchie have an extremely close brotherly bond. They're the best of friends in the musical but people always overlook Race who is clearly the second in command. He has to be second in command for a reason which means he is also very close to Jack and be just as protective. So it only makes sense.
I'm so glad you guys love this story. It is my favorite story that I've ever written and it's not finished so unfortunately I will not be able to post so often after the next few chapters but please don't stop reviewing. It keeps me going. Thank you!
In Manhattan there was no such thing as a quiet, peaceful morning. There were horns blazing and sirens blaring and people all out and about and that was fine with Jack. He didn't care much about the sounds that woke him up in the morning. As long as it wasn't a door opening very sharply, making the whole house echo when it slammed against the wall.
"What the hell do you idiots think you're doing?!" A man barked from the doorway of the small bedroom.
Jack bolted upright and found that light was streaming into the room. He looked through the window and took a guess. It must've been eight o'clock in the morning. He looked over to see a man in the door way. His eyes were squinted as if too much light would hurt and he was hunched over like his stomach was killing him. Yet, he still had on a nice black suit and his old, grey hair was combed back neatly.
He also saw his brothers. Crutchie was starting to sit up but Race was laying down still. He looked to be scared to move. He didn't look over at the man, he only looked down at his own hands as he played with the seem of the blanket.
"The hell do you think you're doing sleeping at this hour?!" The man yelled, stomping closer to the bed. Jack saw Race flinch and he was on his feet in an instant, despite Crutchie's desperate grab at his arm.
Race sat up straight as his older brother blocked the old man from his view. He hissed as a pain shot in his head and he heard a memory of glass shattering over his skull.
"Let them sleep, they're sick. They need to rest." Jack stated, calmly, glancing over his shoulder to see Crutchie with his hand on Race's shoulder, watching him with concern as the older boy touched his hand to the back of his head, flinching at his own touch. He sighed and turned back to the man, who was slowly advancing on him. Jack stepped back but still shielded his brothers from view.
"Sick?" The man scoffed, his voice gruff and harsh. "The gimp has been 'sick' for the past week." He stated, using his fingers to indicate that he didn't believe their story. "And you expect me to believe that this," he pointed to Race, who looked to be growing angrier by the minute, "little thieving bastard, is sick?"
The blond boy almost jumped off the bed, but his little brother grabbed his wrist, resulting in the gambler on his knees on the mattress. "I didn't steal nothin' from you! You lying son of a-"
"Racetrack!" Jack scolded, looking at the boy over his shoulder. He shook his head and Race's angry gaze avoided his and shot down to the ground instead.
"Oh..." The man sighed. "Feeling better now, are we?" He laughed at Race and then his features became cold. "I would love to hear you finish that sentence Anthony." He leaned forward to the boy and Jack tried his best to stay in between them. "I'm all ears, boy." He spat.
Race's gaze stayed on the ground. His breathing speed up as he couldn't figure out what to do when the man demanded he finish something he'd surely be punished for.
"He didn't mean it." Crutchie muttered, his hand still wrapped around his brother's arm, trying to pull him back.
"Oh I see," the man sighed. He took a step back, letting Jack continue to shield his brothers from his grasp but the man just laughed and shook his head before he struck. He pushed Jack to the side, not giving it any thought when the boy grunted in pain as he landed on his side on the ground. He stepped forward towards the bed, not even feeling a spec of guilt when he backhanded Racetrack across his right cheek. The boy's head snapped to the side but he refused to make a sound of pain, no matter how badly his cheek burned from the loud slap it had just received.
"Race!" Crutchie cried and the fifteen year old looked up at the kid's warning. He saw a hand grab for his throat and was powerless to stop it.
Jack was forced to sit and watch his choking brother claw at the man's hands, desperately gasping for air as the hand around his throat squeezed his air supply shut. He was stuck watching the boy be slammed against the wall. He wanted nothing more than to throw himself on top of the hungover man and fight him off but he knew that would only make matters worse.
"You have three seconds to apologize to me." The man ordered. "Or not only do you get punished later, but I will do twice as much damage to your useless brother over there." He nodded to Crutchie and Jack almost lost it but he patiently waited to see what would happen.
Race growled but he looked up into the man's cold grey eyes and saw he was serious. He knew he wasn't getting out of this. So he did his best to get enough air to speak.
"I-I'm..." Race stuttered, forcing the words out of his squeezed throat.
"Two seconds." The man urged, nonchalantly looking down at his watch.
"S-sorry... sir..." Race forced out. He felt humiliated. He said nothing wrong, only spoke the truth. This man was crazy. And hungover, and Race wasn't sure if it was better than him being drunk or not.
The man hummed in some sort of satisfaction before he dropped the boy and let him fall to the mattress on his hands and knees. Crutchie immediately wrapped his arms around his panting brother.
Race put a protective hand over his throat as the man started to turn and walk away. Once he made it to the door, he turned. "I'll be back to deal with you later." He announced, then he looked pointedly at Jack who was propping himself up by his elbows on the ground. "And this place better damn well be spotless!" Then the door was slammed shut and the three brothers sat in the silence, only Race's harsh breathing was heard until the sound of another door slammed, indicating that the man had left the crummy apartment.
Race closed his eyes, trying to get enough air to make his head stop pounding. He felt Crutchie's gentle hand running over his back and his other wrap around his torso. The younger boy's knees were under him so he could hover over his brother's heaving form. Race also heard some shuffling from the ground in front of the bed and he couldn't stop the tears from streaming down his face.
When Jack heard Race's first sob, his heart broke a little. The boy pushed himself to his feet and slowly walked over to his brother, knowing why he was so upset. He locked eyes with Crutchie and he broke under the gaze of those tears shimmering in the boy's eyes.
"Racer-" Jack tried but he found he didn't know what to say. He carefully sat down on the bed. He sighed but knew better than to touch his brother.
"I-I'm sorry Jack..." Race hiccuped. "I didn't mean ta-" Race sniffled as Jack cut him off with a soothing shush.
"Jack..." Crutchie whispered, still holding his brother. "He's gonna hurt him again. He said-"
"I know Crutch..." Jack sighed. He just took in the sight of his two brothers. Race was still hunched over, refusing to look up, balancing on one hand and his knees while the other still held his aching throat. Crutchie was sitting on his knees. He was leaning over Race, both his arms still around the older boy's torso as Race caught his breath and sobbed. His head rested on the other boy's back and Jack shook his head. He scooted closer to his brother and gently spoke, "Come here." He ordered softly, opening up his arms for the two boys.
Hesitantly, Race let himself sit on his knees, still looking down at the mattress and letting Crutchie's hand continue to rest on his back. He felt a hand touch his arm and flinched before hearing, "It's just me, kid. I would never hurt you. Come here..." Jack whispered. Race's teary eyes looked up to met his big brother's. He saw the older boy sitting in front of him, his legs criss-cross and his arms wide open for him. Then, without another thought, Race launched himself at his brother.
Crutchie smiled when Race allowed Jack to touch him, hold him even. Then he carefully crawled into Jack's embrace himself.
Race was sobbing into Jack shirt. His knees were folded underneath him as he buried his head in Jack's chest. His arms were tightly wrapped around his brother's torso and his whole body shook.
Crutchie sat next to Jack. His back was up against the bars at the edge of the bed. His legs lay out in front of him and he leaned into his brother's welcoming embrace. His head was laid on Jack's shoulder and he pulled his knees up to his chest as his brother put his arm around his shoulders. He closed his eyes and sniffled before he coughed again.
Jack held his brothers close. One on the verge of tears and one fully sobbing. "Shshshsh..." Jack soothed. "It's gonna be ok." He promised. He rubbed Race's back as he cried and kissed Crutchie's forehead. They sat there in silence for a long time before Jack heard one of his brothers whisper.
"I'm so sorry..." Race sobbed into Jack's shirt. Crutchie reached his hand over and rested it on the back of his big brother's neck.
"It ain't your fault Race." Crutchie tried.
"It is my fault!" Race countered, lifting his head up from Jack's shirt. He looked at Crutchie with such guilt in his eyes and it killed the smaller boy to see his brother like that. "I can't shut my big mouth! And it's gonna get you guys in trouble!" He cried, recalling what the man had said about what was to happen later if he hadn't apologized.
"Race..." Jack sighed, letting the boy sit up and swallowing hard when he saw that his brother's cheek was burning red from the slap he'd received. The boy sat on his knees in front of Jack and looked down at his hands, waiting for Jack to continue. "It doesn't matter what ya said. If you were right or wrong." He explained. "He has no right ta attack you like that! You're just a kid..." Jack wasn't prepared for his voice to shake. He wasn't prepared for the emotion that hit him like a ton of bricks. He put his hand on Race's knee and tightened his hold on Crutchie, who looked up at him with tired green eyes. "You're just kids who have been through a lot... a lot that I couldn't stop..." Race leaned back into his brother and simply let himself be held.
For a while, they sat there in the comfort of each other's presence. Race calmed down eventually letting Jack rock him and Crutchie slightly, trying to calm himself down and stop himself from thinking of the things he couldn't stop. The things that haunted him everyday. After a while Jack finally thought they might as well get up and clean because he hated to think about the things that would happen if they didn't.
"Let's get a move on fellas." Jack patted his brothers on the back. "This house ain't gonna clean itself." He watched sadly as Race glumly slipped off the bed and started getting dressed and felt even worse when he saw Crutchie shove his crutch under his right armpit and start limping his way around the room. Still Jack sighed and followed his brothers' lead.
It took them three hours to clean that disaster. Beer bottles everywhere, vomit stains on the carpet, and liter everywhere. They scrubbed the countertops and the floors as best they could and they did their best to make the bathroom look new but they were no miracle workers. They did their best and then promptly collapsed on the couch. It was about noon now and the three boys were exhausted.
Jack sat on the edge of the couch, his chin resting in his hand which was propped up by his elbow on the arm rest. His legs were neatly stretched out in front of him as he let his eyes rest for a moment. Crutchie's head lay on his lap, peacefully. The boy's crutch was disregarded on the ground at the moment as the boy got some well needed rest. He lay on his side, the rest of his body up against the back of the couch allowing Race to be silently dreaming right next to him. Race's head lay on Crutchie's chest and it rose up and down as the younger boy took each and every breath. The fifteen year olds legs were bent at the knees and curled up to his chest. They lay there like that, exhausted, until the sound of someone knocking at their door snapped Jack back into reality.
The oldest boy on the couch jumped when he heard the firm knock at the door. His eyes snapped open and he took a quick look around. He saw his brothers, oblivious to the person knocking on the door, and smiled. He carefully slipped his hands underneath Crutchie's head and gently moved the boy to the couch as he slipped out from underneath him.
Jack sighed as he tiredly stumbled his way around the couch and to the door that was right next to the small kitchen. He opened the door until the chain restricted it from going any farther and his face scrunched up in confusion at what he saw.
Outside the door stood a tall, dark haired boy. He wore a nice, long sleeve, button up, white shirt with some black slacks. His shoes were shiny, new and black. He saw a slight smile on the kid's face, a friendly one. One that was foreign to Jack. His kind eyes found Jack's hesitant ones and he just smiled at him.
"Hi there!" He greeted, happily. "My names David. I'm your new neighbor."
Jack glanced back at the couch. His brothers were hidden from view and he was hesitant but he sighed anyway. "Hold on one second." He muttered softly, before he quietly shut the door, undoing the chain that held the door shut and reopening it, making sure there was no way the door would lock if he shut it. He opened up the heavy door to find the boy still standing there a kind smile on his face and Jack gently shut the door, noticing that the kid, David, was trying to catch a glimpse inside the house from over Jack's shoulder. The boy chose to pretend he didn't notice and instead asked, "Can I help ya with somethin'?" He crossed his arms and leaned, casually, against the closed door.
The tall boy shook his head, as if to remember why'd he'd been there. "Uh, I'm sorry to bother you but my folks and my brother and I were eating breakfast this morning and we, uh," Jack shook his head. Folks. Breakfast. Luxuries that he couldn't quite grasp. "Well, we heard some yelling." He finally finished. "My father sent me over to see if everything was ok..."
Jack scoffed and shook his head before smirking. "Yeah I'm sorry about that, Davey." He apologized. "My, uh," Jack forced himself to say it, scratching his nose with his thumb, hoping the other kid wouldn't look too much into this. "My foster dad has no idea what the word quiet means." He quickly stated, nervously laughing as he spoke. But when the boy looked at him, as if he was expecting more, Jack sighed. "Listen, if you guys are gonna be livin' in that apartment," he nodded in the direction of the apartment that he knew had been empty only a few days ago, "You're gonna have ta just ignore everything that ya hear from in here. It's not what ya think it is." He tried, so desperate to get this boy to leave. He hoped that this kid wouldn't look too much into it. But sadly, he was wrong.
"And what is it that we think it is?" He asked, taking a step towards Jack, his eyes questioning the boy more than his voice.
Jack scoffed and shrugged. He untucked one of his hands from his crossed arms and started speaking, moving his hand up and down with his words. "Look Dave," His voice was low and he looked around the hall to make sure no one would hear him. "Ya seem like a nice kid. But I'll tell ya right now, ta survive in this side of Manhattan, mindin' your own business is key." He finished, once again folding his arms over his chest.
David stood there for a moment, not quite knowing what to say. The statement didn't come off as rude. The boy's tone came off as something hard to identify. Something he could only identify as protective. So he shrugged and spoke again. "I'm sorry for bothering ya..." The boy stopped, realizing he'd never gotten the other kid's name.
Jack nodded, understanding. "Jack. Jack Kelly." He extended his hand and Davey shook it, nodding.
"Jack." He repeated. "Again, I'm sorry about the intrusion. We were just a little worried is all." Jack nodded, looking at the ground rather than the boy's eyes. "Listen, Jack, if you ever need anything... we're just next door." David finished, awkwardly, scratching his head.
Jack smiled and lifted his green eyes up to meet the light brown ones of the boy he'd just met. He had a genuine look of gratefulness on his face. "Thanks Davey." He smirked as the boy laughed at the nickname he had given him.
"Sure Jack." Davey clasped his shoulder before walking down the hall to his door and entering his apartment.
Jack sighed. He sadly pushed the door open and re-entered the apartment. That was just what they needed. Nosy neighbors. Crap.
If you guys love it when things get intense, definitely don't miss the next chapter. I'm having so much fun writing this story. If you guys have any suggestions I will definitely take them into consideration. I have the next two chapters written and I'm excited for you guys to read them!
Thanks for reading! Make sure to tell me what you liked, what you didn't, what you'd change or what you'd improve by leaving me a review! Love ya babes!