The More Important Kind of Love

DISCLAIMER: Only Annabelle is mine. All the guys are Disney's. *Sigh* Too bad.

Chapter 1

Spot was just walking into Tibby's, ready to sit down after the long walk from Brooklyn, when something bumped into him hard.  He was trying to see what had hit him, regain his balance, and get ready to fight at the same time when a hand reached out to help steady him.

"Hey, sorry about that," said the girl who the hand belonged to. "You're Spot Conlon, right?" She asked after looking into his eyes for a long moment.

"Yeah, and who are you?" Spot asked suspiciously, narrowing his eyes a little.

"I'm Annabelle Sullivan, Ann for short," she replied. "Franky was right, your eyes are exactly my favorite color."

"Really? I like my eye color, too," Spot said, smirking.

Ann laughed. "Looks like he was right about your ego also."

Spot chuckled and was about to ask who this Franky was when Blink and Race walked out of the restaurant.

"Heya, Spot. Haven't seen you around for a while," Race said before noticing Ann. "Who's the girl?" He asked.

            "Well, boys, this ain't just any girl. This is the girl who I'm gonna have to keep my EYES out for." Spot laughed at his own lame joke, putting his arm around Ann's shoulders to keep himself steady, while Ann raised an eyebrow and smothered a laugh. The two Manhattan newsies just looked at each other, not getting the joke at all.

            Just then Jack tried to leave Tibby's, but was blocked by the small crowd standing outside the door.

            "Guys, what's goin – Annie!" Jack yelled, interrupting his own sentence. The three boys looked puzzled, glancing between Jack and Ann, wondering how they knew each other.

            "Oh, umm hi Franky," Ann said to Jack, a little startled by the loud welcome. "It's been too long for a girl not to see her brother."

            "Brother?" Blink and Race asked in unison. Spot would have joined them, but he was to busy hastily dropping his arm from Ann's shoulder.

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            "You them left a note on your bed?" Jack asked. They were all sitting in the LH's main bunkroom 20 minutes later and Ann hade just explained how she had come to be there. "Well the good news is you, my precious sister, get to stay with me a little while."

Ann was looking around distractedly. "Hmm, that's great, uh, where's Spot?" She asked to no one in particular.
            "Uh, he's out selling," Blink answered, unsure of why she would ask that question.

            Race casually added, "He'll be back in a few hours." Ann's face fell for a second, but she quickly covered up her disappointment at not being able to see the boy she had become so fascinated with.
            "Hey, Annie, it's not too late, we could go swimming, or play poker, or do each other's hair. It'll be fun," Jack suggested, getting excited. Race and Blink, now joined by Mush, started giving Jack weird looks.

Ann raised her eyebrows. "Yeah, uh actually, I'm kinda tired, I think I'm gonna wash up and go to bed."
            Mush had known Jack and Ann way back when Jack had just left the orphanage and Ann was about to be adopted. He and Ann considered themselves as uncle and niece. "Annie, before you go..." Mush began.
            "Yeah, Uncle Mush?"
            Mush grinned and grabbed at Ann's nose, pretending to take it off and hold it in his fist. "I got your nose!!!!!!" He cried in a sing-songy voice.

Ann let out a quick half laugh – half sigh, then replied in a mocking voice, "Keep it," before heading into the washroom.

Mush's grinned widened. "She loves it when I do that," he exclaimed. Race and Blink, for about the hundredth time that day, exchanged a look.

Jack was on his own little world as he watched his little sister walk into the washroom. "Can you believe she came all this way to see me?"

"No."

"Not really."

            "You mean she's not here to see me?"
            Jack ignored the returned comments, or maybe he just didn't hear them. "I'll tell you, this is my big chance! I know you guys look up to me as being perfect and everything, but I have had a few failures in my life."
            Blink nodded knowingly. "That falling head over heels –literally- for any girl you meet thing," he said, sounding pitying.
            "The fact that you can't sing?" Was Race's guess.
            "Or dance," Mush added.
            Getting into the sprit, Race put in "You have a hard time getting outta chairs."
            "You have a really bad accent," Blink said without missing a beat.
            Finally getting fed up with the game of Jack-bashing, he interrupted. "Hey! Hey, fellas! Those were not failures, alright? Those were character building experiences; my failure was as a brother. But I have a chance to make up for that all right now," he said, serious.  Ann chose that moment to walk out of the washroom and over to a bunk near the window. "Oh, Annie, hunny, that's Spot's bunk. Your bed is over here, near me," he told her, pointing out the spare bed under his own.
            Ann, not having noticed the four boys still in the room, had jumped at the sound of Jack's voice. She sighed quietly. "Oh my mistake, your the best brother," was the last thing she said before glancing towards the door and then climbing into her bunk.

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AN: Sorry about all the Jack-bashing in this chapter, but he was the perfect victim.

I know this is sounding Mary-Sue-ish so far, and it might for a bit. Just keep reading, it'll change. *Grins evilly* heeheehee.