So, I finally finished this one-shot! I started writing this and then stopped for a long time, so I hope you enjoy this. I'm sorry if some parts are unclear, I tried to avoid that as much as possible while still having it unfold like how I wanted it to... if that makes sense

I also got Grammarly because I was sick of misplacing commas, so I hope that's happening less from now on

ALSO, important note, the girl that's selling together with Snatcher is Cassiopeia, Newsies Square's OC :)

Anyways time for some review responses :)

VeronicaWeasley: AAAH I'M SO GLAD YOU LIKED IT! I honestly have no clue how you pronounce Elmer's name, but I know it's not like how Jack pronounced it. Elmer thinking Specs is a tree will forever be superior. SNIFFLES IS EVERYONE'S SON AND EVERYONE LOVES HIM AND I LOVE HIM! I'm glad I managed to make your day, and if the sadness you're talking about is the sadness I think you're talking about it was the best payment!

Make His Parents Proud

"Stupid mom, stupid dad, stupid… parents," Sepp mumbled to himself, striding down the streets of Brooklyn. Why did they have to send him to get a newspaper? They were perfectly capable of doing that themselves. They were stinking rich, they could've just hired someone. He didn't even know where, or how to buy a newspaper. Well, he knew about the newsies and that you could buy newspapers from them. But where would he find a newsie? On the streets obviously, he answered his own question quickly.

He was pulled out of his thoughts when he almost bumped into a police officer. Even though the officer wouldn't hurt him, he still nervously apologized and walked away. Snapping his fingers he looked around the streets. Nothing special. At least not to him. Some guys were joking around, some kids playing tag, adults rushing to their job. It was nothing he hadn't seen before.

"SNATCHER!" A girl's voice he didn't recognize from behind made Sepp jump and turn around rapidly. The girl was walking up to him with calm, fierce steps. Out of instinct, he reached for the Rubix Cube in his coat's pocket. He searched for it with his hand while the girl came closer and closer. She was making him even more nervous than the police officer from before. In her hands, she held a newspaper. Wait, a newspaper-

"Snatcher, give it back," she demanded, looking straight past Sepp. He looked behind him and only now saw the fairly large guy standing there. He also noticed that both the girl and the guy were wearing something with the colors red and black.

The guy, who Sepp assumed was Snatcher, groaned and opened his hand to show… "You stole my Rubix Cube?" Sepp exclaimed, grabbing the toy out of Snatcher's hands.

"It ain't nothin' personal," he defended himself.

"Yeah, he just does that sometimes." The girl now stood next to Snatcher. They were quite an intimidating duo. The large guy together with the fierce girl made Sepp want to run away as fast as possible. "But what is a fancy guy like yerself doin' here, in this part a' Brooklyn?" She asked, crossing her arms across her chest. Now that Sepp properly looked around he did seem to have been stranded in a part of Brooklyn he hadn't been to before.

"I uh… I was, I was just, just looking for a…"

"A what?"

"A newsie, a newsie, to... to sell, I mean buy, to buy a newspaper from," Sepp struggled his way through the sentence.

"Well, you came to da right place," Snatcher said, gesturing to his bag of newspapers.

"Yeah… yeah, I guess."

"You got any trouble with buyin' a pape from me?" Sepp only now noticed how blue his eyes were. It was like they were made of the ocean itself. They looked an awful lot like May's eyes.

"Wha- No! No, not at all. You seem like, like a very n-nice guy, heh." Sepp laughed nervously while Snatcher handed him a paper. He reached into his pocket to grab the money but was interrupted by Snatcher laughing. It was a loud laugh and it made Sepp nervous.

"Don't worry, dude. Ya already paid," he smiled a genuine smile and Sepp looked down just in time to see Snatcher put some money into his pocket.

"I- thank you?"

"Thank you for buyin' the pape. I promise ya won't regret it, seems ta be very interestin' t'day… I saw somethin' about a circus, might be fun ta go to sometime…." Snatcher scratched the back of his head.

"You mean the circus that closed yesterday?" Sepp asked, raising an eyebrow.

"No- Yes! I just thought that uh… I don' know what you rich people do…."

"You didn't read the article at all, did you? You just looked at the pictures," Sepp continued.

"Look ya don't gotta rub it in! Just 'cause ya rich people get fancy reading lessons an' shit, don't mean we can all afford it!" Snatcher snapped a little as he crossed his arms over his chest. "Readin' is hard."

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to insult you…." Suddenly Sepp got a golden idea. "Y'know, if you want… I could teach you some stuff," He offered.

"Like… teach me how ta read?" Snatcher lowered his arms.

"Precisely! I love teaching, and you would be even better at selling newspapers!" Sepp smiled.

"Can ya really teach me how ta read?" The hopefulness in Snatcher's eyes gave Sepp even more motivation.

"Yes. I'm pretty sure I can," he answered.

"How?"

"It's easy really. Tomorrow we meet up here, I will take some simple books with me, we will go sit somewhere and I'll teach you how to read them!"

Snatcher seemed to think about it. "Do I have ta pay you?"

"No, it will be entirely free. Except for the fact that you might miss some time you could've used to sell newspapers…." Sepp started solving the Rubix Cube in his hands. By now he knew how to solve it with his eyes closed.

"Could ya also teach me how ta solve that thing?" Snatcher asked, gesturing to the cube.

"Sure, why not?" Sepp chuckled a bit. "So, do we have a deal?"

"Yeah, I think so!" Snatcher spit in his hand and held it out for a handshake. Sepp looked at his hand and back at Snatcher before he hesitantly did the same. While he closed his eyes, pretending the saliva was just water, they shook hands.

"See ya tomorrow!" Snatcher said, waving one last time before running off into the crowd.

During his walk home, Sepp thought about what he had just done. Doing this he made a list in his head. First, he went outside to buy a newspaper. After that, his Rubix Cube almost got stolen by a newsie. Then after that, he'd offered a stranger to teach him how to read. And now? Now, he would go home and search for some easy children's books. Yes, that seemed like a good plan.

As soon as Sepp got inside he noticed the smell of burned food. "Mom?" He quickly went over to the kitchen where his mother was sitting on the floor. She looked up, wiping away some of the tears that were rolling down her cheeks. "A-Are you okay? Why does it smell like something's burned?" He kneeled down in front of her.

"I-I-I," His mother gasped, choking on her own words.

"Okay, take a deep breath, alright?" Sepp instructed.

"Thank you…"

"Will you tell me what's wrong?" He asked.

"I couldn't even- I couldn't do it."

"Couldn't do what?" Sepp took her hands.

"I couldn't even make them properly." She sobbed.

"Make wha-" Sepp noticed the burned cookies on the table. "You tried to make…. Mom, you didn't have to-"

"I forgot how to make them, Sepp! It's only been a year and I'm already forgetting stuff about her." His mother hid her face in her hands.

"It's okay, we can just look up the recipe."

"Don't you understand? Soon I'll be forgetting what she sounded like, and what her favorite movie was… then she'll be really dead…"

Sepp sighed and rubbed his eyes, swallowing the tears that were building up. "Mom, May loved you. She loved you so much-"

"Sepp…." His mother began. "Just go upstairs please…."

Without saying more Sepp left. Upstairs he locked himself in his room. Sitting down at his desk he looked at the picture right next to his dictionary. His sister, May, had been dead for almost nine months now. It had destroyed his mother. She hadn't worked ever since. She barely went outside and spent her days looking at old pictures. Sepp couldn't remember the last time he'd seen her smile.

The picture had been taken when May was still a baby. Sepp, who'd been 10 at the time, was smiling brightly and holding his little sister. A small chuckle escaped his lips as he remembered how just a few moments after she'd grabbed his nose and tried to pull it off.

He missed her.

The books. He thought, trying to distract himself. In his cabinets were only school books and books that wouldn't be useful at all. He looked in his parents' room but there was nothing there either. There was a good chance he'd find some books in the attic, but he was quite sure those would be too difficult. The only logical option left was May's room.

Sepp hadn't been in his sister's room ever since she'd passed away. Too many memories, good and bad ones. But when he remembered the hopefulness in Snatcher's eyes, he found that he simply had to find some books. Teaching Snatcher how to read would not only help Snatcher but himself as well. If he could just prove to his parents that he had it in him. If he could just convince them he wasn't as hopeless as they thought he was…

Slowly he opened the door to her room. Inside not a thing had changed. The paper-thin, pink curtains still looked the same. Her loft bed still had the exact same sheets, and even the pencils on her desk didn't seem to have moved an inch. The only thing missing was May herself.

The books focus on the books.

He walked over to the cupboard that contained her books. He scanned through them, they were all too advanced. Just one simple children's book, why was that so hard? He was about to give up when he saw it. One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish by Dr. Seuss.

Perfect.

He grabbed the book and slid it underneath his bed. His parents couldn't know he was doing this until he'd actually accomplished something. They had never really appreciated his wish to become a teacher. His father was a doctor, his mother had been too before she stopped working, they had always wanted him to follow in their footsteps. He had no interest in being a doctor at all.

May had. She'd wanted to be a doctor for as long as Sepp could remember. He could still clearly remember his parents' faces when she told them. They had looked so proud. He couldn't remember a time they had looked at him that way. He didn't think there even was one.

But soon there would be. He'd make sure of that. He would teach Snatcher how to read and show his parents that he could do good. He would make his parents proud.

That's it! I hope you enjoyed reading this, and if you feel like it, please do leave a review, that would make my day!