A/N: Sorry it took so long to update, I've been majorly busy lately!!

Disclaimer: Unfortunately, I don't own Newsies, Disney does. I'm not making any money off of this, nor do I have any money to begin with, so please don't sue me.

**1 month later**

"Ewwwww!" Bean shrieked as she bolted through Central Park. "Keep them away from me!" It was the summer of the cicadas and the newsies were having a ball. As soon as they realized the huge bugs grossed out Bean, she found them in her hair, on her pillow, and anywhere else the newsies could think of. That day's events included chasing Bean around Central Park.

"But it liiiikes you!" Skittery taunted. He grabbed Bean by the arm and pulled her into a deep kiss. He contemplated putting a cicada on her back, but decided it would ruin the moment.

Race looked at the couple with a mixture of anger and pain, the same way he had since the two had started dating a few weeks before. When they broke apart a moment later, and Race saw how Bean looked into Skittery's eyes, his heart broke. The look in her eyes showed complete and total devotion, like she would give him the world on a silver platter if she could.

"Hey Race, whatsa matta?" Bean called out as she settled into Skittery's arms. "Ya look like yer cryin'."

Race's hand shot up to his eye. "Naw, I jus got sumthin in me eye."

Race tried to make it look like he really did have something in his eye, but Kid Blink wasn't buying it. He walked over to his friend. "Race, what is goin on wit ya? Yer actin all funny."

"Itz nuttin, look, I gotta get back tah da lodgin house."

Kid Blink didn't give up. He followed Race all the way back, pestering him with questions. "Whatsa matter? Why were ya cryin? Ya dun usually cry. Sumthin's gotz tah be wrong."

Race kept insisting that he was fine. He stormed up the steps to the bunkroom, hopped out the window to the fire escape, and slammed the window on Kid Blink's finger.

"Ow!" Kid Blink cringed in pain as he pulled his finger out of the window.

Race climbed up the fire escape and sat on the roof. He came up to the roof when he needed to think, which was every day lately. 'What am I doing?' he thought. 'She's happy, so I should be happy, shouldn't I? But I could treat her so much better than Skit could, why can't she see that?'

"RACE!" Race's head shot up when he heard Bean's voice. She always seemed to interrupt his thoughts.

Bean climbed up the fire escape and plopped on the roof next to Race. "Hey babe, whatcha up tah?"

Race's heart jumped through his throat when she said 'babe.' "Um, nuttin, jus thinkin."

"Oh my goodness, Skit is soooo sweet. I can't believe I'm dating him!" Bean sounded like a puppy excited to see it's owner after he'd been away.

"Oh, really, that's nice." Race lied.

"What's wrong wit you?" Bean asked, puzzled. She put her hand on the nape of his neck and played with the ends of his hair. "Ya sound like yer noivus er sumthin."

"No, no, I'm cool." Race fidgeted. He was suddenly very aware of the back of his neck. "So, uh, why dya like Skit so much, anywayz?"

"He's so cute an' sweet an' funny an' he treats me like a princess an' I can beat 'im at cards." Bean grinned.

Race made a mental checklist. 'I'm sweet an' funny an' I'd treat 'er like a Iqueen/I. But I dun know about cute, an' I can beat 'er at cards, but I'd let 'er win.' "Oh, okay." He finally said.

"What is wit you, Higgins?" Bean tried to tickle him, but he squirmed away.

"Don't. Please. Not now." Race said seriously. "I betta get down dere, it's prolly almost time fer me tah turn in." He hopped onto the fire escape and quickly slid through the window into the bunkroom.

Noticing it was still light out, Bean wondered why Race was acting so strangely. "I'll nevah understand dat boy!" she said to herself. Soon, her thoughts turned to Skittery and she went to look for knight in shining armor.