AUTHOR'S NOTE:OMG! How long could it take me to update a story? Well anyways it's here now...Yeah!

Haha! Ok so this is old new for some of you, but like a week ago in my physics class, I was listening to my Newsies soundtrack, and I had been listening to "King of New York." So then we had to do this experiment where we stood on tables and dropped things like marbles and paper,etc. So anyhoo...I got up on the table and totally started tap-dancing the ontop of the table like in "King of New York"! Haha...yeah I'm a dork. So what! It was the major highlight of my day!

Ok back to my story....YEAH! I have two new reviewers!!

Sparks Kelly: Haha! Please don't send Spot or Race to soak me! I told ya I promised ya on the life of the love of my life, Jacky-boy, that I would have my story updated, and HERE IT IS!!! Haha...you didn't really think I'd let Jack die twice, would ya? Haha and I still say ya got a better life, and I'm gonna prove it to ya...someday. Haha! It's been great talkin to ya! Hopefully talk to ya again soon!

ilovecherries123: Ok...so I know you didn't sign my review with this name, but hey! It's your penname and I think other people should know it too. Hehe. So yeah I thought about "Unchained Melody" when I wrote this story and almostlost it! It's so sad! But I hope ya enjoy anyways! And you're right...we SO need to get together soon! Okie dokie talk to ya later!!

malehopelessromantic: Same thing here...I know ya didn't sign my review with this name, but like our good friend ilovecherries123 I thought people should know what your penname was. So...yeah! Loved your story about Les. It's soooo cute! Oh pleeeaaaassseee tell me the guy with the cowboy hat is Jack! PLEASE!! haha! Talk to ya later!

Ok so now I'm gonna let ya guys read me story that I FINALLY updated! Enjoy!

Carryin Da Banner & luv ya all!

Lissie/Jack/Jacky-boy/Cowboy/Hope/read-all-about-itgoil/whatever you wanna call me!

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Jack (Sob!!!) (maybe someday...) and I don't own any of the other Newsie characters such as Blink, Mush, Race, Spot, etc. I do however own Hope and Ice. ENJOY!

Previously...

The three boys reached the alley to discover Jack's lifeless body in Hope's arm.

"Oh my God! Jack!" Mush yelled, and the boys ran towards him and Hope.

Jack stood in the middle of the alley. "You guys! Come on! I'm right here! What's goin…" All three of the boys easily ran through him, as if he wasn't even there. Jack shook with fear. He ran towards Hope and tried to hold her hand, but his hand just went right through hers. "Come on Hope! You guys! What's going on?!"

"Jack! Jack, come on man! Wake up!" Blink yelled.

"Come on Jack! Don't do this!" Racetrack cried.

"Jack…"Hope whimpered. "Come on Jack! Please…please wake up Jack! You promised me! You promised me Jack! Come on…Jack please!!"

Mush wrapped his arms around Hope and held her close. Racetrack and Blink quickly picked up Jack and rushed him to the nearest hospital. They knew they didn't have much of a chance, but they couldn't just give up on Jack.

Jack stood in the alley and watched all of them rushing down the street. Mush holding onto Hope, and Blink and Racetrack carrying him.

Jack just stared in disbelief. What was going on? How could he be there and here? Why had he been shot? Who had shot him? Without a second thought Jack ran down the street following Hope, Mush, Blink, and Racetrack to the hospital.

Jack had made it halfway down the street when he noticed Hope and his friends fading away. Everything was becoming light as if the summer sun was shining upon him and not the dark cold winter sky.

"Wha…what the…" Jack stammered. "I can't be dying…I can't! I'm engaged now and I promised Hope I wou…"

Jack's thoughts were cut off when he noticed himself no longer in the middle of the snow covered streets but inside a brightly lit hospital. It was as if he had flown there. He couldn't figure it out or comprehend anything that was going around him. He walked down a few equally lit halls before he saw Hope sitting in a chair nearby with Mush's arms still wrapped tightly around her. She looked as white as the snow and all the light had been drained from her eyes. Mush could do nothing but hold Hope and stare at the ground. Jack thought he saw a few tears slowly drip to the ground. Blink leaned against a door frame with his face buried in his arm. His shoulders were shaking uncontrollably and Jack could tell he was sobbing as well. Racetrack was crouching down in a corner of the wall, staring off into a deep space. He wouldn't cry, or speak to anyone he just looked as though he was simply frozen.

"This can't be happening!" Jack frantically thought. He just stood there watching his friends in agony, but nothing hurt him more than to see Hope in pain. How could he do this to her? He promised her he would be there. He couldn't be dead…he just couldn't be!

A man in a long white coat was slowly walking down the hall towards them. His eyes were filled with pain and sadness as he approached Hope, Mush, Blink, and Race.

Hope slowly stood up as the doctor came towards her. She felt as though her knees were about to give under her at any second. She didn't want to hear what the doctor was going to say. "My dear…"he said slowly. "I'm afraid he was long gone before you even brought him in. We did all that we could but I'm afraid it wasn't enough to save him. I'm so sorry." The doctor's eyes began to tear as he gave Hope a gentle hug and walked back down the hall.

Hope stood there with the same frozen look on her face that Race had had. Her body began to shake and she dropped to her knees as she let out a tearful scream. Blink lunged towards her and picked her up from the ground. Race and Mush soon joined them as they were all crying and they all held on to each other for comfort.

"He promised me!" Hope screamed with tears staining her cheeks. "We…we were…goin…going to get.."

"Hope, sweetie…there was nothing that could have been done" Race said with fresh tears running down his cheeks. He wrapped his arms gently around Hope's shoulders and held her close. Blink still had his hands on her arms for extra support. She was consistently gasping for air between sobs. Jack stood there in horror as he watched Blink, Mush, and Race lead Hope outside of the hospital. He had never seen his friends like this before. They had always been a strong group. Not much could make them break down, not even for Mush, and now here they were as their world seemed to have shattered before their eyes.

"Hope…Hope!" Jack yelled at the top of his lungs. He ran after her and desperately tried to hold her in his arms. He couldn't even touch her. He went right through her body as if he was some kind of….ghost! "No…no way! This ain't happenin! I've gotta get married and have a family and live the rest of my life!!!" He began to sob as he ran outside of the hospital doors. The snow began to fall again and Jack punched his fist into a brick wall. Yet again, his fist unbelievably went right through the wall. Feeling weaker than he had ever felt in his life, Jack dropped to his knees in the cold snow and sobbed. He felt as if he had betrayed Hope. How could he have broken his promise to her? His felt his soul being ripped apart and the pain was greater then anything he could ever imagine. He couldn't even feel the fresh tears or the snow that was falling upon him that cold winter night. Jack had been known to complain when it snowed in New York, but he wanted nothing more than to feel every snowflake on his cheeks that night.

All of a sudden, the familiar bright light began to shine in Jack's eyes again. He found himself no longer in the middle of the streets. Jack couldn't recognize where he was and he began to walk around the bare area. He felt himself lose his balance as he tripped over something in the ground, and fell flat on his face. He looked behind him to see what it was he tripped on and just stared at the snow covered ground with terror in his eyes…a tombstone. "This can't be happenin…this can't be happenin…" He kept repeating that to himself. He even thought he must have been dreaming and began to pinch his own arm. "Come on Jacky-Boy…time to wake up…time to wake up!!!!" Nothing. He remained standing in the cold cemetery alone.

He heard a man's voice in the distance and decided to follow it. He came across a large hill with a very large group of people standing together. All in black, and they all lookedso foreign to him. Jack started walking up the hill when he spotted Mush, Blink, Race, and all his other newsie friends. They all looked like they hadn't slept in months. Each one of them presenting large dark rings under their eyes. Jack also noticed Kloppman, and Dentin, Spot and almost all of Brooklyn, and…Hope. She looked unrecognizable. She was wearing a long black dress, and her dark hair was pulled up into a tight bun. The color of her face still resembled that of the snow. The color she had been the night of Jack's death.

"And so we say goodbye Jack Kelly. May you rest in peace..." the priest said. Jack quickly set his gaze upon Hope whose shoulders began to slump down lower and lower in her despair. The large crowd of people one by one threw a flower into the newly dug hole in the ground. Hope just stood there and stared blankly into the hole in the ground as one by one, a person came to show their respects. The crowd began to dissolve and all that remained was Hope, Blink, Mush, and Race. They were the only ones that knew. Knew what it had been like that night. Slowly the three boys walked up behind Hope and Mush slowly placed his hand on Hope's shoulder.

Completely startled, Hope whipped around to face the boys who had stuck with her during it all. They all looked like they had aged ten or more years. Hope began to feel herself tear apart again as she threw herself at Mush. She sobbed into his shoulder as the other two boys quickly joined them in their embrace.

"I…I think…I think I need to stay here…fo…for a little while" Hope weakly said in between sobs. Blink, Race, and Mush knew that they couldn't push her at this time. She needed time to heal her internal wounds. This was a cut deep inside her heart that was not going to go away over night. The boys simply nodded and each of them gave her one last hug before walking away.

Hope walked back towards Jack's grave. She sat on the cold snow above the grave and looked down into it. She didn't care if she was getting her dress wet.

Jack saw Hope sitting alone by his grave. He ran over there as fast as he could. He knelt down next to her and desperately tried to hold her hand. No matter how many times he tried, his hand would continually run right straight through her hand. Jack knew fresh tears were falling from his eyes, but he still could not feel them. He couldn't feel anything.

"Jack?" Hope weakly mumbled. Jack whipped his head in Hope's direction. Was she actually trying to talk to him? "Jack…please come back. Why did you leave Jack?...You promised me…YOU PROMISED ME!" Hope's head hung low and she buried her face in her hands. She felt lost and helpless.

"Hope!" Jack yelled. "Hope I'm here…baby I'm still here! Can't ya see me? Come on Hope! I know I promised ya! Come on Hope…Come on!"

No matter what Jack did, Hope was still completely oblivious to Jack's spirit trying to comfort her.

"Well…well. I love da snow. How bout you gorgeous?"

Hope slowly turned her head around in fear. There he was again. She quickly stood up from the ground and began to run as fast as she could. The combination of her heels and the snow did not make her go very fast. Ice caught up to her rather quickly. He grabbed both her arms and held on to them firmly. Hope could already feel the bruises beginning to appear on her arms.

"Listen doll…" Ice began. "Nobody knows it was me and me boy Bruno, but you and that frozen corpse in da ground there…"

"How dare you talk about Jack like that!" Hope cried. She was able to free one of her arms and slap Ice roughly across the face. A scarlet handprint slowly began forming on his face.

"Listen little bitch…"Ice said with his firm gripstill tight on her other arm. "According to Jacky-boy's will, since I was his right hand man, I'm officially da new leada of da Manhattan newsies." Ice grabbed Hope's other arm again and pressed his face mere inches away from hers. "If you do anything to ruin dat, I'll make sure you are in dat hole with Jack. So be a good little girl and do as you'se told. Got it?"

Hope's tear streaked face nodded slowly. Ice gave her a small smirk before throwing her into the snow. "See ya back at da lodging house…sweetie" he called over his shoulder.

Hope lay there in the snow for a few moments before picking herself back up. She continued to sob as she softly whispered to herself "Jack…please help me Jack!"