---Chapter Six---

Two Weeks Later

"I can't believe it was her birthday and she didn't tell us," Kid Blink muttered for what seemed like the hundredth time in the past hour or so. "How did you guys find out?"

"The credit for this party goes to Les Jacobs; thank God he can't keep a secret," Racetrack replied, tying a balloon on the back of the chair. "He told me this afternoon when he was selling papers with me. I told Jack and now here we are, due to the lovely help of Ms. Medda."

"Thank you Racetrack," Medda said warmly in a surprising New York accent. "You boys know I'm always here to help out."

"And we're so grateful," Jack replied, kissing her hand flirtatiously. He'd known Medda for years, but it's not like they'd ever get together or anything. They had a strictly platonic relationship.

"This Maddy is a lucky girl," Medda commented, sprinkling glitter all over the table. "I'm positive she is going to be so surprised!"

"I hope so," Jack added absent-mindedly, making sure the balloons were tied on perfectly. He wanted everything to go on smoothly; Maddy had seemed awfully stressed the past couple of days and he figured it was because of her birthday. However, he got the feeling that there was more to it than that.

"Jack, that's like the fifth time you've tied that balloon to the chair," Racetrack observed, coming up to his side. "Relax! I'm sure as long as the balloon floats up, we won't have a problem."

"You're right, you're right," Jack agreed, sitting down. "I just want things to be right, you know? Do you think she'll be surprised? I'll bet she hates it." Racetrack sighed and tried to be a supporting friend.

"You ain't got nothing to worry about," he told Jack. "She is gonna love it and she will have a great time tonight. The rest of the guys and I will finish decorating; why don't you go pick up Maddy? It's almost time for her to get her ass over here anyway."

Jack agreed and with some more prodding from Kid Blink and Medda, he set off towards the lodging house. He didn't really remember the journey; all he remembered was appearing in Maddy's doorway and watching her cry.

She couldn't believe it. She just couldn't believe that the bastard was looking for her after all these years. Maddy remembered what it was like leaving home and being thrown in the Refuge; if you could even call it home. He'd never really loved her, but she'd gotten over that because she wasn't really looking for a father-figure that could love her. After all, no one could replace her dad, especially his dumb-ass brother. At least, that's how she thought of him. Everyone else kissed his ass, wanting to be Joe Pulitzer's best friend in exchange for a little something. Uncle Joe had quietly made Maddy's life a living hell and there wasn't even so much as a notification that he was looking for her in one of his newspapers when she had run away two years ago.

Sitting on her bed, she gazed at the black and bold headline of Pulitzer's god-damned newspaper. The only thoughts that littered her mind were why he wanted her back. Or at least, why he wanted the public to think he wanted his sweet, little niece back. It was something Maddy didn't want to deal with. To be more honest with herself, it was something Madison Pulitzer didn't want to deal with. And she would make damn sure Uncle Joe wasn't going to mess things up.

Leaning on to her pillow, Maddy threw the newspaper under her bed and sighed. And that's when she noticed Jack standing in the doorway. Rubbing her eyes, she motioned for him to come in. With her eyes still closed, she felt the bed sink from his weight and his hand taking hers while he tried to be her friend.

"What are you doing here?"

"Hate to break it to you kid, but I live here too," Jack replied, feeling discouraged when she didn't smile. "Question is why are you crying?"

"I don't want to talk about it."

"Why?"

"It's not something that concerns you," Maddy replied, a slight tinge of ice to her voice. Jack stared at her hard and she let a yelp of surprise when he grabbed her by the shoulders and sat her upright so she was staring into his eyes.

"It is something that concerns me Maddy," Jack said, his voice dead-even. "We work together, we're a team. Over the past month or so, we've been able to become friends, despite our rocky beginnings. I've been able to share things with you that I can't talk to about the other guys. So I'm considering your business to be my business."

"That is complete bullshit Kelly," Maddy spat back, twisting out of his grasp. "The things really close to you I know nothing about! Remember when you told me about your parents and the Refuge? I considered it a big step, but after that, you clammed up! Just like I do; that's probably why we're such good friends. We're both so god-damned stubborn that it works."

"What things haven't I told you?" Jack demanded to know. "I tell you everything! I tell you things before Dave knows!"

"Not about Santa Fe," Maddy replied, her voice lowering. "And not about Sarah." When Jack didn't say anything, she shook her head and began to pace around the room, wanting to cool off. Unfortunately, it wasn't working all that well.

"How do you know about that?"

"That's the problem; I don't," Maddy said. "Dave mentioned something about you leaving, but he stopped because he didn't know if you told me. He said you would tell me when you thought it was best but that hasn't happened yet, has it? And as for Sarah? Well, you've mentioned her and I noticed the pain on her face when I mentioned you at the Jacobs' dinner. But that's pretty much it. So don't go around campaigning to be Mr. Honesty when you can't even claim to be completely honest with me!"

"Oh yeah? Well what about you?" Jack exclaimed, getting angry at all these accusations. "I know just as little about you. Sure, we both know the basics about each other, but you know a hell of a lot more about me than I for you! I don't know anything about your parents, I don't know why you were in the Refuge, and you never explained why you ran away. Need I continue?" Maddy folded her arms and turned to face him, the slightest prickle of tears stinging in the corners of her eyes.

"Fine. What do you want to know?" A pause filled the room between the two of them as they stared at each other; both could hear the other one breathing. "C'mon, you want to be so honest with me? Fire away; I can take it." Some birds chirped outside while Jack had decided to be direct and ask her his first question.

"Where are you parents?"

"Dead. Mom died at childbirth and dear old dad died when I was ten. No one really told me why, all I knew was that he was gone and he wasn't coming back."

"Where did you go? To the Refuge?"

"No, worse. With my uncle," Maddy replied, a bitter taste filling her mouth. She felt brutally honest with Jack and while it was a little intimidating, she felt a little relieved to. Only a tiny bit of her did though.

"Is he why you ran away?" Jack asked, noticing both of them were beginning to calm down. Maddy went as far as to sit back down on the bed, but she sat as far away as she could.

"Partly. Uncle Joe decided to throw me in the Refuge three years ago and I managed to escape two years ago. I've been running ever since. No message, no newspaper ad to look for me. He just let me run and that's the way it's been ever since," Maddy replied, her voice getting lower and lower. A tear managed to escape, but she quickly wiped it away. She hated letting people watch her cry. Maddy felt so vulnerable crying in front of Jack, more vulnerable than she ever had in her whole life.

More tears began to slide down her cheeks as she felt a pair of arms wrap around her body and she rested her head on Jack's shoulder. She didn't need any sympathy; it was the last thing she wanted. His arms felt good and she was beginning to relax into his body, her ragged breathing becoming smoother and more even. When she was able to gain control, Maddy looked up to see that he was already looking down at her with a look of love and concern mixed into his eyes. The feeling of vulnerability came up again, but it washed away when Jack lightly kissed the top of her head.

"Thanks kid," he whispered into her ear, the breath tickling her neck. It took a lot of work, but Jack had managed to unlock some secrets to Maddy's past and for that, he would be forever grateful.

"Tell me about you," Maddy said, as they walked outside. The dusky twilight was beginning to darken over the city, but Maddy and Jack had agreed that this was their favorite time of day. People were bustling home, things were closing down, and the city was beginning to allow nighttime life to take over. It was exciting and adventurous, just like the two young people themselves.

Jack looked ahead, deciding to take the long way towards Medda's so they would have more time to talk. Past memories weren't exactly what the teenager had in mind though. However, Maddy had been able to open up to him and if he wanted to maintain their friendship, he was going to have to give a little too. Besides, he was more sure than ever that Maddy needed this party.

"It began after the strike," Jack started, remembering the day well. "I was forming new friendships with Dave and Les...pretty much the whole Jacobs' family. When I met Sarah, it was like there was an instant attraction. We both felt it and it felt right to start up a relationship when the strike was over. After a lifelong dream of wanting to go to Santa Fe, I gave it up to stay in New York. Not just for her, but Sarah was a pretty big reason. I'd never had somebody to think about and for them to care about me the she did."

Jack glanced at Maddy to make sure she wasn't bored, but to his surprised, she seemed completely enraptured with his tale, so he continued on with his past.

"For awhile, the relationship went great. We were that loving, perfect couple; almost like her parents. In that summer, she made me learn more about myself than I thought I knew and I will be eternally grateful for that. But after awhile...things changed. It seemed like we were getting used to each other and the spark was beginning to burn out. We tried everything to keep it alive, but the fact was we weren't the same. She would accuse me of hanging out with the guys to much and I blamed her for not understanding. We fought for a long time.

"In a desperate attempt to save the relationship, I proposed to her. I thought maybe this was it; I could settle down and Sarah and I could fix our problems. She saw right through the proposal and turned me down. She said marriage was no way to fix a relationship and that I shouldn't be jumping into such a big step that she wasn't ready for. So I offered to take her to Santa Fe, but she said no to that too. We began to realize we just weren't going to last and that was that. The money I saved up for Santa Fe was gone; I had spent it on papers and booze and Sarah. A couple months later, I saved up enough again and I took off. Left all my friends and the life I had known since I was a kid. Santa Fe ended up being full of disappointments though. I couldn't maintain a relationship or a job and I missed my friends and the life back here. So I hitch hiked back and never really brought it up, not even to Dave until a couple weeks ago. As for Sarah and me...we don't talk anymore. We'll be friendly, but that's as far as it goes. And that's the story you been waiting to hear kid. Extra, extra, read all about it."

They walked for two blocks before Maddy would say anything. Her first reaction was semi-shock; she hadn't expected Jack to get so involved. But the more she thought about it, she realized that after the way he opened up, it probably would've been better to tell the whole truth rather than some vague story.

"So we're even now," Maddy said, breaking the silence. They both smiled at each other and stopped in front of the door to Medda's bar. "I say we get so drunk that they are going to have to literally throw us out on to the streets."

"Sounds tempting," Jack replied, both of them getting closer as they stood in front of each other. "Although I'd never picture you as someone who could let their inhibitions go like that."

"What do you mean?"

"You know...able to get drunk so that the mind would become...," Jack trailed off, his eyes slowly burning into hers. For an instant, Maddy allowed her emotions come over her and she felt something rumble inside her.

"Blurry?" she finished for him, her voice getting shallower. Jack nodded, unable to speak due to the lump in his throat. He brought his hand up and gently brushed a piece of hair out of her face and tucked it behind her ear. She'd never felt anything softer and believed as though she was only living this moment.

Both of them stood there, not saying anything. It could've been her imagination, but Maddy swore she saw Jack's head moving closer. Before she had any time to react, he straightened himself up again and cleared his throat.

"Well...let's go inside, shall we?" Jack took her hand and led Maddy into the darkened bar. She was confused by his actions but before she could say anything, the lights flickered on.

"SURPRISE!"