Author's note: WHEW! Writer's block sucks! I was supposed to update this story like a week ago and just couldn't think of anything to write. I hope you all had a great Christmas/Hannukah/Kwanza/etc. I thought I had died and gone to heaven when I opened up NEWSIES on dvd Christmas morning! I was soooooooo happy. Haha..anyhoo...

I would like to say a special thanks to my first reviewer on this story: Sparks Kelly. And I'm terribly sorry for my crappy summary on this story (just FYI...it might change a couple times as the chapters in this story increase)So here it finally is...Chapter 2! Hope ya all enjoy...and I hope ya all review! (Please...I would really like to hear what you all have to say)Thanks!

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DISCLAIMER: I do not own Jack (sad isn't it?...) but I do own Hope. And as I said in the first chapter I do not own the story line to the movie "Ghost". Enjoy...

Jack was nervously tossing back a forth between his hands a small blue box. He had never been more nervous in his life. Then again, he had never loved someone more than he loved Hope.

He slowly opened the box to reveal a small but stunning ring. It was a simple gold band with a diamond about the size of the head of a pin. The diamond was embedded in the middle of the band, and on the back were the words engraved "Until my dying day." He admired the sparkle of it and couldn't believe he had actually been able to afford it. He had put almost all of his life savings into it.

Jack heard the doorknob on his door start to twist, and he frantically shut the box and hid the ring under his mattress. He saw Hope walk through the door with a look of disgust on her face.

"Hello gorgeous. How was another day at Medda's?" Jack asked. Hope didn't answer. She was completely oblivious to anything he was saying.

"Hope?..." he tried again. Nothing. "Hope! What's going on?" Jack walked up from behind her and lightly placed his hand on her shoulder. Hope was so startled she whipped around and accidentally smacked Jack right in the nose. Jack grabbed a hold of his nose and Hope gasped as blood began dripping through Jack's hands.

"Oh my God Jack! I'm so sorry! Quick sit down, and I'll be right back." Hope quickly ran to Jack's bathroom and grabbed a small towel. She walked back into the room and handed the towel to Jack.

Jack gratefully took the towel and held it to his nose. He couldn't understand why Hope was so jumpy.

"I'm sorry Jack…I…I don't know what's gotten into me tonight" Hope lied. She couldn't stop thinking about Ice and his frequent nightly visits to Medda's. Why wouldn't he leave her alone? They hadn't been together in years and Hope was now the girlfriend of Ice's best friend: Jack.

"Maybe I'm just tired" she said. "Medda has been working us all really hard lately." Hope slowly walked over to the bed and laid down on top of the covers. She thought she heard something creak under the mattress, but then decided it was just because the mattress was old.

Jack walked into the bathroom with the towel still at his nose. He turned on the water in the sink and rinsed the blood out of the towel.He looked at his reflection in the mirror and noticed a stream of blood from his nose to his chin, and quickly washed it off and set the towel on the sink.

He walked back into the room and was surprised to see that Hope was no longer in the room. Jack walked to the door and looked down the hall. She was no where to be found.

"Where the hell did she go?" Jack asked himself. The quiet sounds of crying came through Jack's window, and Jack knew exactly where Hope was.

Hope sat on top of the cold roof gazing at the stars. Her entire body felt numb, and the only thing shecould feelwas the warm tears that spilled down her cold cheeks. "I just want him to leave me alone!" she thought. "Jack doesn't know…I should tell him. He needs to know about Ice and me. It's not right to keep a secret like this away from him especially when it involves his best friend, and I love Jack. I love him more than life itself. He needs to know…Jack..."

Her thoughts were interrupted by Jack climbing on top of the roof. Hope held her knees to her chest as Jack came and sat down next to her.

"Awfully chilly up here. Ain't it?" he asked with a small laugh, but his smile faded when he saw Hope. He'd never seen her so upset about something before. He wrapped his arms tightly around her shoulders and pulled her close. Hope wrapped her arms around Jack's neck and buried her face into his chest as she cried.

"Hope…Hope please. Please just tell me what's wrong" Jack pleaded as he ran his hands through her hair. Hope lifted her tear stained face and looked up at Jack.

"Jack…I have something…well…something rather important to tell you" she stammered. "It's about Ice."

"What about Ice?" Jack asked. "Is he hurt somewhere? Did he hurt someone else? Please Hope just tell me!"

Hope sat up straight and took Jack's cold hands in hers. "Jack…I love you. I love you more than anything in the world, but I haven't told you something. Something that's part of my past…"

Jack looked confused. "What does this have to do with Ice?"

Hope felt the tears beginning to build up inside her eyes. "W…well when you first introduced me to Ice…well I…I already knew him. He and I were together for about two years…"

Hope let a few tears fall. She felt disloyal to Jack, but she had to continue with her story.

"He's not a nice person, Jack. His name speaks for his heart. His cold..icy heart. He…he raped me Jack…he raped me damnit, and I never told anyone what he did to me until now. I couldn't tell you because he is your good friend, but he's not who you think he is, Jack. He's not a good person, and you and the other newsies wonder why he never comes back to the lodging house until after midnight. It's because he's too busy stalking me at Medda's. Please forgive me Jack for not telling you!"

Hope's head hung low as she sobbed. How could she have kept this from Jack for so long? She should have told him the day he introduced Ice to her.

Jack sat there dumbfounded. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. His best friend for so many years was not the type of person he claimed to be. Jack's blood boiled at the thought of him laying a finger on Hope.

Hequickly stood up and helped Hope to her feet. He held her tightly and said "He's gone... I'm throwing him out tomorrow."

"No Jack!" Hope cried. "He'll know I told you, and he'll come after me! Please Jack don't!"

"Do you expect me to sit here and let the best friend I've had for years get away with this?" Jack yelled. "I can't let him hurt you again Hope! I can't let him hurt anyone else!"

"Please Jack!" Hope pleaded. "I know you think that's the safest thing to do, but trust me on this one. You don't want to make Ice angry with you…I'm surprised he hasn't killed me already. The only thing I'm asking of you is that you keep me and yourself safe."

Jack held Hope's face in his hands. "I just can't do that" he calmly said. "I can't let him get away with something like that. As the leader of the Manhattan newsies, I need to make sure everyone is safe at all times. I can't have Ice around here if he's a threat to you. If anything else ever happened to you, I would never forgive myself…"

Hope sobbed into Jack's chest again. "Please Jack. If something ever happened to you, I would be hurt worse than if Ice raped me again. Just promise you love me and you won't do anything to put yourself in danger."

Jack lifted up Hope's face from his chest and kissed her gently on the lips. "I do love you Hope. I will love you until my dying day."

Hope kissed Jack again, and Jack wrapped his arms around Hope's waist. As the passion in their kiss grew the snow slowly began to fall opon them.