A/N:The part in the thingy's is…all supposed to be italicized. But its not workin' for me.
Here it is!
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Jesse grunted as a fist was thrust into his stomach. He had let himself be distracted, and as a result, he was hit. Angry, he brought his knife up and quickly took care of the attacker.
Looking around, he noticed that members of his gang were all outnumbered by one or two, and he was beginning to worry about the likelihood of their success. Switch and Blade were together, but they were the most outnumbered with the ratio being six to two. They certainly weren't winning.
After deciding to help Jesse started moving in their direction, vaguely aware that someone was following him. He waited for the right minute, and turned as the person pounced. His knife sunk deep into his opponents middle before he pulled it out. When he looked down at the person he had most likely just killed, he swore and closed his eyes.
A girl about Jenny's age lay crumpled on the ground with blood pooling around her.
Though normally harsh and uncaring when fighting, he couldn't bare to physically hurt females. The fact that he had killed one, was a bit too much for him.
"Jenny!" Jesse called out, his eyes flying open. He struggled to sit up, and realized that
his side was still sore.
He stopped moving and tried to remember where he was and what had
happened. It didn't take long for him
to remember Jenny, and how she had helped him.
He sighed and moved to get up again. This time he managed to swing his legs over to the side of the bed when he realized that he was in his underclothes. Changing his mind, he put his head back to the pillow. He closed his eyes and went back to sleep, this time dreaming about Jenny.
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Brooklyn"Heya Stress, Jack." Stripes greeted from her perch on the lobby desk.
The Brooklyn Lodging House had been the search party's agreed meeting place and by Christmas morning it was crowded with newsies. Stripes had taken up post near the door so she could collect information from each group that came in.
"Heya Stripes," Stress replied tiredly. She looked around for a place to sit in the crowded lobby, and on seeing none she retreated to the bunkroom.
"I take it you all didn't find anything?" Stripes asked Jack, watching Stress walk up the stairs. She noted that the two had made up during the night.
"No. Nothin' helpful. Where's Spot?" Jack asked.
"He went upstairs a few minutes ago."
Jack nodded and headed towards the stairs, but turned abruptly when the door to the lodging house was roughly thrown open.
"Spot!" Race yelled, running into the room. He looked around but didn't see him. "Where's Spot?"
"Upstairs." Stripes said again.
"What'd ya find?" Jack asked at the same time.
"Spot!" Race yelled again having not heard Jack.
"I'm right heah Race ya don't gotta yell."
Spot said from the top of the stairs.
"What'd ya find?"
Nobody noticed Jack roll his eyes. He didn't appreciate being ignored, but there were more important things and he knew that.
"A girl. She seems to be okay, jus' knocked out. Seems like dey attacked 'er." Race explained, going to the door.
Skittery came up the front steps carrying a pale black-haired girl in his arms. She didn't appear to have too many injuries, but she was unconscious and lay limp in the tall boy's arms.
"Where'd ya find her?" Spot asked, leading them to an empty room near the back.
"In an alley near the fight. She probably tried to escape an' da Shadows stopped 'er." Skittery said, setting her down on the cot in the dark room.
"Well, we ain't shoah she's not a gang member, but we don't think so." Race put in.
"She doesn't look da part." Spot commented, looking her over. "But I'll have one of my boys watch 'er just in case."
"She'd probably be better off in Manhattan." Stripes said from the doorway.
Everyone turned to her and she just shrugged, not explaining. She thought it was fairly obvious since Brooklyn didn't have any girls at their lodging house.
Skittery and Race didn't say anything, not wanting to insult Spot's beloved territory. Spot scowled at the girl dressed in black but eventually decided she was right.
"We'll move her later." He said brushing past her and heading towards his own room.
For the rest of Christmas morning the Manhattan and Brooklyn newsies rested in the crowded lodging house. They set up a watch over the girl, though Stress insisted that she stay in the room with her once she discovered she was there.
"There should be a female dere when she wakes up. Da boys'll probably scare 'er." She had said, though she was a little more interested in the quiet of the room than the unknown girl.
"Let us know if she wakes up." Jack told her before retreating to the bunkroom.
With that, the lodging house became surprisingly calm, as Christmas morning passed into afternoon.
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ManhattanJesse woke again around noon and this time decided he had to get up. He struggled like before, but after a few minutes he was finally sitting with his feet on the ground. He took a deep breath and looked around the room. He had no idea where he was, but he knew that the building was abandoned from the lack of noise. Brushing his hair out of his face, Jesse stood and, after wrapping the sheet around his waist, very slowly made his way to the door. He opened it and found himself in a hall with several different doors.
"Jesse?"
He started and turned towards the front door. He mentally lectured himself for letting someone sneak up on him. Living life looking over his shoulder had taught him to be very aware of his surroundings, and he was annoyed at his slip-up.
"You shouldn't be up!" Jenny chided, setting her things down and rushing to him.
"Jenny what are you doing here?"
She looked up at him to see if he was serious. "Selling papes. Dis is wheah all da costumers are."
"Funny."
"I try to be." She smiled, "Come on, you should get back to bed." She wrapped her arm around his waist and led him back to the bedroom.
Jesse let himself be led while he stared down at the beautiful girl taking care of him. He had always thought of Jenny as a pretty little girl, but that's what she had been to him—a little girl. More like a beloved younger sister than a possible lover. But something had changed. Something had changed. Something was different now. He couldn't the idea of kissing her sweet lips out of his mind.
"Are you hungry?" She asked, breaking through his thoughts.
He blinked at her, "Excuse me?"
"I asked if you were hungry." She repeated, tying an old wrinkled apron around her waist. "I brought some food from the kitchen at da lodgin' house. There was a lot for da holiday, but since many of our newsies are gone, I don't think dey'll miss the little bit dat I took."
Jesse nodded, noticing her bags were now inside the room. She gathered a few things together and left with a smile. When she came back fifteen minutes later, she had a nice tray of food that had all been carefully arranged.
She set the tray on the bed and urged him to eat. She watched him closely as he ate, observing everything about him.
"Are you going to eat?" He asked her. She shook her head saying that she had eaten a bit before she came.
So he continued eating and she continued observing him. "How come you talk so proper?" She asked suddenly.
Jesse started to scowl at the question, but stopped when he saw the Jenny's wide blue eyes looking at him innocently. If anyone had asked the question he would have taken offense, but he knew Jenny was just plain curious.
He sighed and swallowed a piece of bread. "I have never liked this city. I don't like the buildings, or the smell or the people. I chose not to take on the accent and improper way of talking because that is what so many of the people on the street do."
Jenny thought about this for a few minutes. "D'ya miss Colorado?" She asked softly.
He shrugged, showing indifference. He missed Colorado more than he cared to admit, even to himself. But he never shared things like that with others. It didn't occur to him that Jenny would be one of the few people who would understand. Instead he proceeded to put up his normal front showing no outward emotions.
Jenny noticed his look, and though she was hurt she didn't say anything about it. Instead she checked his bandages and made sure that his wound wasn't turning any strange colors. She wasn't really sure what exactly she was looking for, but she knew that it had to be kept clean and that was something she could do. Jesse protested gruffly, saying that he could take care of himself, but Jenny was persistent.
"There." She said when she finished rewrapping it. Jesse had looked down at his side and mumbled a thank you.
After that they had just sat there in silence, one not wanting to say anything and the other not sure what to say first. Jenny wanted to know so many things about Jesse but she didn't know where to start.
"Where have you been?" She finally asked, breaking the uncomfortable silence.
"In Queens." He said slowly. "Working." It's not a complete lie, he reasoned.
"Queens?" She repeated.
He nodded and asked her what she had been doing. He was curious despite himself.
"I ran away from da orphanage aftah almost a year. Me an' two other goils became newsies heah in Manhattan."
"You're a newsie?" He asked showing mild surprise.
"Yeah. Not a very good one dough. I'm not as loud as some a da others." She said.
Jesse looked at her carefully. He didn't think she was made to be a newsie. He thought she was made to sit in a nice house and live an easy life. She should have a lot of nice clothes and beautiful jewels to accent her crystal blue eyes. She shouldn't be out on the streets selling newspapers. Especially since he didn't like newsies.
"Where do you live?" He asked.
"In a lodgin' house."
"With other girls?"
"An' da boys."
His eyes narrowed at that and he was suddenly very annoyed. "You live with the boys?"
"Yeah. Not in da same room, but dey're down da hall from our bunkroom."
He didn't like that. It took him a lot of control to keep him from saying something. He had no right to say anything about where or how she lived. If she wanted to live with these boys who would probably assault her given the chance he really couldn't say anything. But he still didn't like it.
Jenny didn't notice though and continued on, absently grabbing hold of one of his large, rough hands. "Its kinda nice livin' dere. It don't cost too much."
Jesse nodded, but between being annoyed at her living with boys and her hands caressing his, it was hard to concentrate on her words.
Her hand traveled upwards until she was running her hands up his arm, occasionally brushing his leg as her hands came back down. "An' da people are nice. Dey don't tease me like everyone else use ta."
He forgot to nod as her hand transferred to his leg, innocently caressing him. She didn't realize what she was actually doing. But Jesse could only focus on her hands and almost forgot that she was talking. "An' I 'ave some friends dere too."
Her hands stopped for a moment, resting gently on his knee as she looked straight into his eyes. "But I needed you."
Without realizing it, Jenny had put her face right in front of his. Jesse noticed and leaned in further, gently touching his lips to hers.
He kissed her lightly until she leaned into him a little and the kiss deepened. Jenny's head was whirling as she got lost in Jesse's taste and his warmth. Jesse forgot where he was and what he was doing, only knowing that he was finally content with something in his life.
Though she was careful to avoid hurting him, Jenny got closer to him and ran her hand through his dark hair. She had always loved his long hair. She had always loved everything about him. And now she loved kissing him.
Jesse enjoyed the feeling of Jenny next to him, but it only lasted a few minutes. He quite suddenly realized exactly what he was doing and who he was doing it with.
With unnecessary force, he pushed away from her and stared at her in shock. He hadn't meant to do that. He hadn't meant to touch her in any such way. He wasn't good enough for her and he knew it well.
But Jenny could only stare at him wide-eyed. She didn't know what she did wrong, and the look Jesse was giving her told her that what happened must not have been good for him. She could feel tears welling up in her eyes but she held back.
"I'm sorry Jenny." Jesse finally said and turned away. "I didn't mean to."
That almost did it for her. He hadn't meant to kiss her. "I...well...I'm not sorry." She said, before getting off the bed and quickly getting her things together. She needed to get out of there before she started sobbing.
"I'll be back tonight with some food." She said with a shaky voice..
"Jenny..." He said, turning back to her.
She waited briefly, but when he didn't say anything she hurried out of the room.
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I'm finally getting past this really hard part to write. Let me know what ya'll think! Birthday cake for the reviewers!
~*Holiday*~