Something More Than Temporary
Disclaimer: Alright, this is the usual disclaimer I guess, lol. I don't own Newsies, but I guess I own Fleck. Okay? Okay…and thank you so much to those of you who reviewed! It definitely makes my day! My thanks especially go out to Gypsy, Bittah, Olive, Candi Kane, Blinks-Tiger, Dragon, Sab, Script, Draco's Secret Lover, Quipster, Thunderstorm, Gemini Kelly, Iris, Cheladoniel, and Bam! You guys just plain rock! And a very special thanks to Bittah and Half-Pint for harassing me into writing faster!
Chapter 13: Discovered
Jack and Blink started up the stairs in the Lodging House, heading towards the bunkroom, laughing and joking around. By that point in the day, Jack had all but forgotten about Fleck and Mush, figuring that since Mush had never come back to the restaurant, he had gone out selling again. It was relatively normal to not see any other newsies out on the street while he was selling, so he shrugged it off. Nothing suspicious had ever even crossed his mind.
"Ya know, ya shoah struck out with dat goil at da Harbah, Blink," Jack said with a laugh.
"Are you kiddin'? She was all ovah me!"
Jack rolled his eyes. "Shoah Kid."
"If she wasn't den how come we got a date latah, huh?"
"Cuz ya practically begged her! An' she's getting' a free meal outta it…"
"Aw, whadda you know?" Blink said, reaching up and knocking Jack's cowboy hat off of his head and tumbling all the way down the stairs.
Jack just looked at him and laughed. "Asshole," he muttered, walking back down the stairs to retrieve his hat.
Blink smiled and took the remaining set of stairs two at a time. Once at the bunkroom door, he flung it open, making sure to stop it before it slammed into the wall. Kloppman hated when he did that. He threw his hat down on his bunk then glanced around the room quickly. His gaze passed over Mush's bunk fleetingly, but he immediately did a double take when he realized what was in front of him: a partially naked Fleck cheating on Jack with Mush.
He dashed back out of the room, closed the door as gently as he could so as not to wake up the sleeping lovers and then spun around, nearly colliding with Jack. "Whaddya doin', Blink?"
"Jack! What am I doin'? Nothin', nothin' at all."
"Awright…" he said bemusedly, reaching for the doorknob. Blink pushed Jack's hand away and put his own hand over the doorknob. "What?"
"Jack, ya don't wanna go in dere."
"Why not?" he asked, suspicion apparent in his tone.
"Uh…well, it such a nice day outside."
"I just spent all day out dere."
"I know, let's go ta Medda's, huh?"
"Blink, I don't wanna go ta Medda's. I wanna go inta da bunkroom, see my goilfriend, den maybe lay down fer a lil bit. Now what's da problem?"
"Funny ya should mention dose woids, 'goilfriend' an' 'problem' in da same breath," he said, frantically searching for a reason to keep Jack out of the bunkroom. Blink and Fleck had their differences, but he still didn't want anyone to get hurt here: Fleck, Mush, or Jack. "Da thing is, Fleck's been sick. Real sick. An' what with da goims, da puke, an' da smell, I don't think ya wanna go in dere."
"She's dat sick?"
"Shoah is."
"Maybe I oughtta get Kloppman…"
"No! I mean, why worry him? 24 hour bug goin' 'round, she'll be fine by tomorrah!"
"Yeah, well, I gotta get me money offa my bunk if I'se gonna go out tonight."
"No! Ya can't!"
Jack had had enough of this. "Blink, get da hell outta da way," he said, pushing him aside. He was going in there one way or another.
He stepped into the room and the first thing he saw was a shirt on the ground in the middle of the floor. Fleck's shirt. He slowly brought his gaze up, dreading what he knew was going to come next. For a second he just stared at Fleck sleeping with Mush, hurt written all over his face. But somewhere in those few seconds his hurt turned into anger. "What da fuck is goin' on heah?!" he yelled, walking slowly towards the bunk.
Mush woke with a start, jumping into a sitting position. He took in his surroundings, seeing a dumbfounded Blink, an irate Jack, and a topless Fleck still struggling for full consciousness. She looked down and immediately pulled the sheets around her body, despite the fact that she had been naked in front of all three of them before. Seeing the look on Jack's face, she brought her hand to her face and winced. "Shit…" she mumbled.
Jack picked up her shirt and threw it at her forcefully. "Put some clothes on, ya fuckin' whore!"
"Jack, b'fore ya say anythin', let me explain…" Fleck started, pulling on her shirt and jumping off of the bunk. She wasn't sure how she could possibly explain this, but she had to try.
"What could ya possibly hafta say 'bout dis?!"
Mush jumped off the bed and walked around to the other side so that he was facing Jack. "Look, nothin' happened. I was just lookin' aftah her cuz she got real sick alla da sudden, dat's all. Den I guess we just kinda fell asleep-"
"Oh really? So I guess ya just kinda ended up taggedah in bed, an' Fleck just kinda ended up naked, an' den ya just kinda had sex, I see!"
"I took off her shoit cuz she was boinin' up from a fevah! It seemed like a good idea, an' it ain't like I ain't nevah seen her naked b'fore," Mush said. Thinking on his feet had always been an asset of his.
Jack rolled his eyes, grabbed Fleck by the arm, and pulled her collar out of the way, revealing a dark spot on her neck. "So den explain dis one."
Fleck tried to pull her arm out of Jack's grasp, but no such luck. "It's a bruise?" she said in a feeble attempt to explicate herself.
"A bruise, huh? Ya think I was born yestahday or somethin'? Anyone can tell dat dat's a fuckin' hickey!"
They were busted. "Jack, I'se sorry-"
"You'se sorry?! Well, ya know what, Fleck? I'se sorry too. I'se sorry I evah thought dat maybe us havin' a relationship would woik. I'se sorry I evah thought dat ya'd stop bein' a fuckin' whore long enough ta have a relationship!"
"Yeah well, it takes two ta make a relationship woik ya know."
"Don't go blamin' dis on me, I didn't do nothin' wrong heah!"
"Maybe if ya'd just walked me home like I asked ya ta, none a dis woulda happened! Maybe if ya'd shown any affection at all none a dis woulda happened."
"Aw, dat's a cheap shot, Fleck. It's dis lil thing called trust, maybe ya oughtta try it sometime. See, what happens is dis: I trust you ta stay loyal ta me an' den you do. Though you seem ta be doin' it like dis: I trust you ta stay loyal ta me an' den you do one a my best friends. Dat's real classy."
Blink suddenly felt extremely out of place. Usually it was kind of funny when Jack and Fleck fought because usually it was pointless. But this time was a pretty big deal. And this time he wanted nothing to do with it. "Lissen, I'se gonna give you guys a lil privacy," he said, backing away and heading towards the door.
"Yeah, me too," Mush said, hoping to get out of the situation.
"Mush, you ain't goin' nowhere," Jack said, pushing him roughly back into the bunk.
"Ya know, what's ya fuckin' problem, Jack? She doesn't wanna be with ya, give it up!"
"Like hell she don't wanna be with me! She's been waitin' fer dis fer nearly a year. So don't give me dat shit!"
"Oh yeah? Why doncha ask her yaself den?"
Jack glared at him, then turned his attention towards Fleck, who was staring intently at the ground. "Fleck, look at me. Tell dis cocksuckah what ya told me da oddah day bout us! Tell him!"
"Tell him what? When I toldja not ta dump Sarah? Or when I toldja I didn't wanna have a relationship with ya cuz we didn't have nothin' ta base it on? Or maybe when I said-"
"Shut up," Jack said, at a loss for any other words. She was right. She had never said that she wanted to be with him. She had never even agreed to be his girlfriend either. All she had done in the last few days was hint that she didn't want a relationship and that they shouldn't be together. Why hadn't he seen this coming?
His features softened and his anger subsided a bit as this realization came. "Ya hoit me, Fleck. Real bad."
"I know, I'se sorry. But dere was no oddah way ta make ya see!"
"Can't we give dis one more chance? I can make dis woik, I promise."
Fleck wanted to scream in frustration. "No, Jack, we can't. We can't make dis woik. Maybe if ya'd asked me when I did like ya, but things are diffrent now. We've changed. An' now dat your timin's all messed up, it won't woik anymore."
"I shoulda seen dis comin'. Now everythin's ruined. Ya ruined me life, Fleck!"
"What?! Ya life ain't even ruined! An' even if it was, you're da one dat fuckin' ruined it!"
"Yeah it is ruined. I dumped da best bet fer my future fer a goil dat I thought I might learn ta love. Den dat didn't woik out, an' I ended up losin' two a my best friends cuz I can't trust eiddah a dem now. An I know I ain't gonna be able ta stand seein' ya everyday now."
"So whaddya sayin?"
"Nothin'. Just nevahmind," Jack said, shaking his head. He wasn't sure of anything anymore.
"Look, I'se sorry it hadda come down ta dis."
"No, ya know what it comes down ta? It comes down ta da fact dat you'se a slut an' ya ain't nevah gonna change. An' I shoulda realized dat."
"Jack-"
"No, no, no, ya know I'se right! Dere's nothin' dat anyone can do ta keep ya from sleepin' with what, three guys a day? More on a real good day! Once a slut, always a slut, dat's what ya motto should be."
"Jack, dat ain't fair!"
"Well ya know what, Fleck? Life ain't fair. Deal with it!"
"She said she was sorry, we both are. Give her a fuckin' break, wouldja?" Mush said, getting protective of her.
"Why should I? Nobody's givin' me a fuckin' break heah!"
Fleck looked at Jack, tears of frustration welling up in her eyes. "Just ferget it, Mush. He ain't nevah gonna let it go."
"Ferget you too. I hope I nevah hafta see ya again, cuz I'se sick a havin' ta deal with all your shit. You ain't woith it. So ya know what? Good luck ta you two in da future. You'se gonna fuckin' need it," Jack said, backing away from them. He went to his bunk and gathered everything he owned, which certainly wasn't much. Turning around, he banged into a bed table, which he violently pushed out of the way, causing it's contents to spill all over the ground. He walked out of the room and slammed the door behind him.
After a moment of silence, Fleck looked to Mush. "Wheah da hell is he goin'?"
Mush shrugged. "I donno. But I'm shoah he'll be back."
"Ya think we did da right thing?"
"Fleck, dere ain't no such thing as da right thing. We just did what was less wrong," he answered gravely, putting his arm around her shoulder and kissing her on the cheek. "Let's clean dis up."
She consented and they both set to picking up the scattered objects. She did so mechanically, her mind obviously elsewhere. She should've been happy. She had finally gotten what she wanted, so she should likewise be content. But if everything was going so well, why was her mind so clouded with guilt?
Disclaimer: Alright, this is the usual disclaimer I guess, lol. I don't own Newsies, but I guess I own Fleck. Okay? Okay…and thank you so much to those of you who reviewed! It definitely makes my day! My thanks especially go out to Gypsy, Bittah, Olive, Candi Kane, Blinks-Tiger, Dragon, Sab, Script, Draco's Secret Lover, Quipster, Thunderstorm, Gemini Kelly, Iris, Cheladoniel, and Bam! You guys just plain rock! And a very special thanks to Bittah and Half-Pint for harassing me into writing faster!
Chapter 13: Discovered
Jack and Blink started up the stairs in the Lodging House, heading towards the bunkroom, laughing and joking around. By that point in the day, Jack had all but forgotten about Fleck and Mush, figuring that since Mush had never come back to the restaurant, he had gone out selling again. It was relatively normal to not see any other newsies out on the street while he was selling, so he shrugged it off. Nothing suspicious had ever even crossed his mind.
"Ya know, ya shoah struck out with dat goil at da Harbah, Blink," Jack said with a laugh.
"Are you kiddin'? She was all ovah me!"
Jack rolled his eyes. "Shoah Kid."
"If she wasn't den how come we got a date latah, huh?"
"Cuz ya practically begged her! An' she's getting' a free meal outta it…"
"Aw, whadda you know?" Blink said, reaching up and knocking Jack's cowboy hat off of his head and tumbling all the way down the stairs.
Jack just looked at him and laughed. "Asshole," he muttered, walking back down the stairs to retrieve his hat.
Blink smiled and took the remaining set of stairs two at a time. Once at the bunkroom door, he flung it open, making sure to stop it before it slammed into the wall. Kloppman hated when he did that. He threw his hat down on his bunk then glanced around the room quickly. His gaze passed over Mush's bunk fleetingly, but he immediately did a double take when he realized what was in front of him: a partially naked Fleck cheating on Jack with Mush.
He dashed back out of the room, closed the door as gently as he could so as not to wake up the sleeping lovers and then spun around, nearly colliding with Jack. "Whaddya doin', Blink?"
"Jack! What am I doin'? Nothin', nothin' at all."
"Awright…" he said bemusedly, reaching for the doorknob. Blink pushed Jack's hand away and put his own hand over the doorknob. "What?"
"Jack, ya don't wanna go in dere."
"Why not?" he asked, suspicion apparent in his tone.
"Uh…well, it such a nice day outside."
"I just spent all day out dere."
"I know, let's go ta Medda's, huh?"
"Blink, I don't wanna go ta Medda's. I wanna go inta da bunkroom, see my goilfriend, den maybe lay down fer a lil bit. Now what's da problem?"
"Funny ya should mention dose woids, 'goilfriend' an' 'problem' in da same breath," he said, frantically searching for a reason to keep Jack out of the bunkroom. Blink and Fleck had their differences, but he still didn't want anyone to get hurt here: Fleck, Mush, or Jack. "Da thing is, Fleck's been sick. Real sick. An' what with da goims, da puke, an' da smell, I don't think ya wanna go in dere."
"She's dat sick?"
"Shoah is."
"Maybe I oughtta get Kloppman…"
"No! I mean, why worry him? 24 hour bug goin' 'round, she'll be fine by tomorrah!"
"Yeah, well, I gotta get me money offa my bunk if I'se gonna go out tonight."
"No! Ya can't!"
Jack had had enough of this. "Blink, get da hell outta da way," he said, pushing him aside. He was going in there one way or another.
He stepped into the room and the first thing he saw was a shirt on the ground in the middle of the floor. Fleck's shirt. He slowly brought his gaze up, dreading what he knew was going to come next. For a second he just stared at Fleck sleeping with Mush, hurt written all over his face. But somewhere in those few seconds his hurt turned into anger. "What da fuck is goin' on heah?!" he yelled, walking slowly towards the bunk.
Mush woke with a start, jumping into a sitting position. He took in his surroundings, seeing a dumbfounded Blink, an irate Jack, and a topless Fleck still struggling for full consciousness. She looked down and immediately pulled the sheets around her body, despite the fact that she had been naked in front of all three of them before. Seeing the look on Jack's face, she brought her hand to her face and winced. "Shit…" she mumbled.
Jack picked up her shirt and threw it at her forcefully. "Put some clothes on, ya fuckin' whore!"
"Jack, b'fore ya say anythin', let me explain…" Fleck started, pulling on her shirt and jumping off of the bunk. She wasn't sure how she could possibly explain this, but she had to try.
"What could ya possibly hafta say 'bout dis?!"
Mush jumped off the bed and walked around to the other side so that he was facing Jack. "Look, nothin' happened. I was just lookin' aftah her cuz she got real sick alla da sudden, dat's all. Den I guess we just kinda fell asleep-"
"Oh really? So I guess ya just kinda ended up taggedah in bed, an' Fleck just kinda ended up naked, an' den ya just kinda had sex, I see!"
"I took off her shoit cuz she was boinin' up from a fevah! It seemed like a good idea, an' it ain't like I ain't nevah seen her naked b'fore," Mush said. Thinking on his feet had always been an asset of his.
Jack rolled his eyes, grabbed Fleck by the arm, and pulled her collar out of the way, revealing a dark spot on her neck. "So den explain dis one."
Fleck tried to pull her arm out of Jack's grasp, but no such luck. "It's a bruise?" she said in a feeble attempt to explicate herself.
"A bruise, huh? Ya think I was born yestahday or somethin'? Anyone can tell dat dat's a fuckin' hickey!"
They were busted. "Jack, I'se sorry-"
"You'se sorry?! Well, ya know what, Fleck? I'se sorry too. I'se sorry I evah thought dat maybe us havin' a relationship would woik. I'se sorry I evah thought dat ya'd stop bein' a fuckin' whore long enough ta have a relationship!"
"Yeah well, it takes two ta make a relationship woik ya know."
"Don't go blamin' dis on me, I didn't do nothin' wrong heah!"
"Maybe if ya'd just walked me home like I asked ya ta, none a dis woulda happened! Maybe if ya'd shown any affection at all none a dis woulda happened."
"Aw, dat's a cheap shot, Fleck. It's dis lil thing called trust, maybe ya oughtta try it sometime. See, what happens is dis: I trust you ta stay loyal ta me an' den you do. Though you seem ta be doin' it like dis: I trust you ta stay loyal ta me an' den you do one a my best friends. Dat's real classy."
Blink suddenly felt extremely out of place. Usually it was kind of funny when Jack and Fleck fought because usually it was pointless. But this time was a pretty big deal. And this time he wanted nothing to do with it. "Lissen, I'se gonna give you guys a lil privacy," he said, backing away and heading towards the door.
"Yeah, me too," Mush said, hoping to get out of the situation.
"Mush, you ain't goin' nowhere," Jack said, pushing him roughly back into the bunk.
"Ya know, what's ya fuckin' problem, Jack? She doesn't wanna be with ya, give it up!"
"Like hell she don't wanna be with me! She's been waitin' fer dis fer nearly a year. So don't give me dat shit!"
"Oh yeah? Why doncha ask her yaself den?"
Jack glared at him, then turned his attention towards Fleck, who was staring intently at the ground. "Fleck, look at me. Tell dis cocksuckah what ya told me da oddah day bout us! Tell him!"
"Tell him what? When I toldja not ta dump Sarah? Or when I toldja I didn't wanna have a relationship with ya cuz we didn't have nothin' ta base it on? Or maybe when I said-"
"Shut up," Jack said, at a loss for any other words. She was right. She had never said that she wanted to be with him. She had never even agreed to be his girlfriend either. All she had done in the last few days was hint that she didn't want a relationship and that they shouldn't be together. Why hadn't he seen this coming?
His features softened and his anger subsided a bit as this realization came. "Ya hoit me, Fleck. Real bad."
"I know, I'se sorry. But dere was no oddah way ta make ya see!"
"Can't we give dis one more chance? I can make dis woik, I promise."
Fleck wanted to scream in frustration. "No, Jack, we can't. We can't make dis woik. Maybe if ya'd asked me when I did like ya, but things are diffrent now. We've changed. An' now dat your timin's all messed up, it won't woik anymore."
"I shoulda seen dis comin'. Now everythin's ruined. Ya ruined me life, Fleck!"
"What?! Ya life ain't even ruined! An' even if it was, you're da one dat fuckin' ruined it!"
"Yeah it is ruined. I dumped da best bet fer my future fer a goil dat I thought I might learn ta love. Den dat didn't woik out, an' I ended up losin' two a my best friends cuz I can't trust eiddah a dem now. An I know I ain't gonna be able ta stand seein' ya everyday now."
"So whaddya sayin?"
"Nothin'. Just nevahmind," Jack said, shaking his head. He wasn't sure of anything anymore.
"Look, I'se sorry it hadda come down ta dis."
"No, ya know what it comes down ta? It comes down ta da fact dat you'se a slut an' ya ain't nevah gonna change. An' I shoulda realized dat."
"Jack-"
"No, no, no, ya know I'se right! Dere's nothin' dat anyone can do ta keep ya from sleepin' with what, three guys a day? More on a real good day! Once a slut, always a slut, dat's what ya motto should be."
"Jack, dat ain't fair!"
"Well ya know what, Fleck? Life ain't fair. Deal with it!"
"She said she was sorry, we both are. Give her a fuckin' break, wouldja?" Mush said, getting protective of her.
"Why should I? Nobody's givin' me a fuckin' break heah!"
Fleck looked at Jack, tears of frustration welling up in her eyes. "Just ferget it, Mush. He ain't nevah gonna let it go."
"Ferget you too. I hope I nevah hafta see ya again, cuz I'se sick a havin' ta deal with all your shit. You ain't woith it. So ya know what? Good luck ta you two in da future. You'se gonna fuckin' need it," Jack said, backing away from them. He went to his bunk and gathered everything he owned, which certainly wasn't much. Turning around, he banged into a bed table, which he violently pushed out of the way, causing it's contents to spill all over the ground. He walked out of the room and slammed the door behind him.
After a moment of silence, Fleck looked to Mush. "Wheah da hell is he goin'?"
Mush shrugged. "I donno. But I'm shoah he'll be back."
"Ya think we did da right thing?"
"Fleck, dere ain't no such thing as da right thing. We just did what was less wrong," he answered gravely, putting his arm around her shoulder and kissing her on the cheek. "Let's clean dis up."
She consented and they both set to picking up the scattered objects. She did so mechanically, her mind obviously elsewhere. She should've been happy. She had finally gotten what she wanted, so she should likewise be content. But if everything was going so well, why was her mind so clouded with guilt?