Title: Cuts Like A Knife
Author: Stress
First written: May 12, 2002
Edited and replaced: January 21, 2005
Summary: Part I of the Soul Mates Series; She thought that life couldn't get any better. She had friends and a family that loved her – she was taken care of and had no complaints. But that was before he came into her life. And, no matter how hard she tries to escape his grasp, he'll never let her go.
Disclaimer: As I've said countless times before, and I'm sure I'll say it countless times again, I, sadly, do not own any of the newsies. They are © to Disney, as hard as I try to get them for myself. I do, however, own Jess/Stress, Rip, Spindle and the O'Connor's. Any other character is property of the author I've borrowed them from.
Author's Note: As I edited this (and, yes, there are still errors), changed the ghetto New Yawk accent to proper English, I've decided to change this to a PG-13. There is mention of rape and violence in this story, that I do not deny. However, I feel that I have handled it as tastefully as I could and the matter in which I approach it is not deserving of a R rating. If you disagree, feel free to e-mail me: stressie at gmail . com. And, of course, if you are uncomfortable with reading about violence and/or sexual encounters, I encourage you to find something more your speed.
Soul Mates Series: This is the first installment in Stress & Jack: Soul Mates. It is followed by Secrets Behind the Lies, One Year Anniversary and Can't Keep Running, in case you would like to follow the story further. There is also an author's cut being done with this story - Obsession: Cuts like a Knife. It is (for the most part) the same plot with (in my opinion) better characters, better dialoge and a better handling of the material. It is much more historically accurate and it weaves in details from AVT that you will not find in this story. So, yeah, you might want to take a gander at the re-write.
Also: If you would like to read further into the Rip story, read A Virgin's Touch. In that fic, you learn what happened to make Rip into the guy he becomes. I guess, in a way, it's a prequel to this story.