Disclaimer: I do not own Newsies. However I do own and take full responsibility to Liz. I also take all claims to Hoodlie, Josh and Chicken Wing. Christina is owned by Blue Boxer and Tag Along (or Becky) is owned by Tag216.

Well here is another quick update. I want to do as much as I can before school starts (August 31). For some reason I am not looking forward to this school year for one reason or another. I just have a sucky feeling about this one, but I'll survive.

Chapter 27:

Snitch sat by himself on the rooftop waiting for Itey to come home. He wanted to confront Hoodlie himself, his old best friend, and find out why he did what he did. He knew Hoodlie better than anyone else, well; at least he thought he knew him. He sat alone and thought for the rest of the day about what he was going to do.

"Snitch?" Liz asked, as she sat down beside him. "Please talk tah me. Are you mad at me?"

He didn't answer; in fact he didn't even make a sound at all. He just stood up and went on the opposite side of the roof. He wasn't mad at her; he just didn't want to talk to her right now. He knew she wouldn't understand that. He didn't understand any of this and he wanted to. He was determined. That's just the way he was. Justice was in his blood, revenge was running through his very veins. Freedom was something he always lived for, and he knew she wasn't free. She would never be free, until he could make her free. He wasn't planning on being reckless or anything, he just wanted to find answers. He wanted to find out the truth.

Liz looked at him as a tear fell down her cheek. She wrapped her blanket tightly around herself almost as if she was cold, but she wasn't cold. She was ashamed, so she hid herself from the world. She wanted to just curl up in a little ball and disappear forever, but she knew life wasn't that easy. Why won't he talk to me? Why won't he even look at me? God, what did I do wrong? Is he ashamed of me? I thought he was my friend. I don't know what it's like to have friends. I never had a friend. I thought I did, but now I'm not so sure. I'm so confused God. I don't know what to do; I don't know where to turn. It's like life is going so fast. My life is in rough, unfriendly waters and I don't know what to do about it. I feel differently than I felt before. I feel old, although I know I'm not. I feel like a different person, am I? Does he see right through me? Does he see my fear of him? I don't want to be afraid of him. Really I don't, but I have to. Deep down I'll always be close to him, but I don't want to be. I don't know why, and I can't understand it. She silently prayed. I just wish he could understand. Is he scared? Is he confused? Does he love me still? So many questions are running through my mind, God. Am I loved? Am I wanted? Who'll want me, if Snitch doesn't? He's the only one who really gave me the time of day, who really saw through me. Maybe he doesn't like what he sees anymore. Maybe the mask has faded and the walls have been brought down and now he sees the real me; the one whom he's never laid eyes on before, the one whom he thought was there but dismissed it. Maybe he is just being like every other man in this world is: a slug. They can't be trusted, none of them. He can't be trusted.

Minutes felt like hours and hours felt like days as he waited in silence for Itey to come back. He didn't know the time; he didn't care about the time. He couldn't leave her, but for some reason, he felt like he had to. He thought the whole time, quarreling with his mind. They chewed her up and spit her out like she didn't even matter at all. How could they do that? How could anyone do that? They're sick, they're so fucking sick. I can't take it! It's intolerable, I won't tolerate it. They think that they can just do whatever the fuck they want to her, they have another thing coming. I don't care if she can't tell me what happened; I know how I'm going to get it out of them. I'm going to tell someone and they're going to pay for this. Oscar deserves to pay for this. This whole thing was planned. They fucking planned it, which is even sicker than anything. It wasn't just a snap decisions, "hey I got angry, I think I'm going to fuck you", it was something that he planned out and talked about for a while. He's so sick, they're all fucking sick. They're all low lifes! Fucking slugs, every single one of them. They deserve to pay, and they will pay. He thought as Itey came through the door. Snitch jumped up to his feet and ran over to Itey. "Look I'm goin' tah do somethin'; I'll be back in a little while."

Itey stopped him. "What are you gonna do?"

"I need tah figure things out, alright. I need tah get some answers." Snitch explained. "Hold up da fort, buddy boy." He said as he smacked his shoulder and left.

"Buddy boy?" Itey thought, he'd never called him that before. "Oh shit, he's gonna kill someone!" He yelled as he went to run after him, but then he remembered the reason why he came back: Liz. He stopped himself and realized that if Snitch does something stupid, it's his own damn fault. He looked over at Liz who was staring at him. He gave her a half smile and walked over to her so he could sit down.

"Why won't Snitch talk tah me, Itey? Why won't he even look at me?" She asked. "Did I do somethin' wrong?" She cried.

"No you didn't do anythin' wrong. He's jus' confused about somethin'. He just needs some time, alright. He's jus', I don't know, he just blames himself about da whole thing. He thinks dat he was da one dat caused it an' everythin' like dat. Look, don't worry about him, he'll be back tah his old self in no time, trust me." He told her.

"Can I?"

"Can you what?"

"Trust you?" She asked.

He paused for a moment and looked at her. He looked into her tear stained eyes and saw something he never saw before: innocence. His heart sank at that moment. For the first time in his life he saw what Snitch saw. He understood why Snitch wanted to protect her, why he wanted to keep her to himself. It wasn't because he wanted her all to himself, it wasn't because he was jealous of everything she had, it wasn't because he loved her as much as he did, and it was something more than that. He wanted to protect her because she was something rare. Something that was hard to find. She was a delicate flower in the rainforest, a new species of flower that needed to be bred, protected and preserved. She had a mix of grace, determination, innocence, beauty and faith inside her. A rare breed of person, and he wanted to preserve those characteristics as long as he could, because he lost them himself. Itey nodded his head and with tears in his eyes he replied, "Yeah."

"Do you know a guy named Hoodlie?" He asked some passersby. He wasn't having any luck. In a huge city like New York it was hard to find people and to find a person who'd help you find that person. "Hey you, do you know a guy named Hoodlie?"

"Move it kid." The man said.

Snitch was getting angry and frustrated by every passing second. "Oh miss, excuse me, miss have you seen a tall, dark haired guy about 'yeh' high an' about 'yeh' big an'...."

"Múdese por favor de mi manera, el niño. Trato de llegar al mercado." The woman said back. (Translation: Please move out of my way, kid. I'm trying to get to the market)

"Oh oh! Wait! Uhh. ¡Espera! ¡Espera!" He said. How did he know Spanish, you ask? Well his parents used to live down in the Mexico region of the United States and they learned to speak Spanish. They moved up to New York because the business was better and they taught it to their son. Pretty far fetched right? Believe it, it's true. (A/N: Don't you love how I just throw this irrelevant stuff in here? Snitch can do anything, after all, he's Snitch!) "¿No habla usted inglés, lo hace?" (Translation: Wait! Wait. You don't speak English, do you?)

The woman stopped. "No. ¿Usted habla español?" She asked. (Translation: No. You speak Spanish?)

"Sí! Pueda usted me ayuda realmente rápidamente, por favor. Trato de encontrar un amigo mío. Por favor hará sólo toma un segundo." He asked. (Translation: Yes! Could you help me really quickly, please. I'm trying to find a friend of mine. Please it'll only take a second.)

"Bien. Pero lo se cerciora es rápido." (Translation: Alright. But make sure it's quick.)

"Bien. ¿Bien ha visto usted a un tipo con pelo negro que quiere, él es kinda alto, flaco, su nombre Hoodlie? ¿No lo habría visto usted dondequiera por aquí, lo hace?" He asked her, hoping that she'd have an answer for him. (Translation: Alright. Well have you seen a guy with like black hair, he's kinda tall, skinny, his name's Hoodlie? You wouldn't have seen him anywhere around here, would you?)

The woman thought for a second and then answered. "No, lo siento. Yo no he visto nadie de esa descripción. Mire tengo que obtener realmente yendo. Lo siento que yo no lo podría ayudar." She said as she turned away and left. (Translation: No, I'm sorry. I haven't seen anyone of that description. Look I really have to get going. I'm sorry I couldn't help you.)

"Gracias!" Snitch yelled back at her. "God damn it." He continued asking anyone he saw if they could help him. New York was full of different languages and people. But they couldn't be of much help to him. He only knew what he was taught, and that was it. "Excuse me, excuse me Sir, have you seen...."

"Fuck off."

"Oh well fuck you too!" He yelled back. "God damn it, hey you, wait. Have you seen a guy named Hoodlie? Sir?" No one answered him. "Shit!" He yelled.

"I know a guy named Hoodlie." Josh said as he walked up to Snitch.

"You do? Where is he?" Snitch asked.

"What's it tah you?"

"I jus' wanna talk tah him. He's an old friend of mine an' I wanna talk tah him." Snitch replied. "Could you tell me where he is?"

Josh looked at him for a second, not knowing he was the guy who beat the shit out of Oscar last night. "He's over dere in da restaurant. Third table from da left." He told him.

"Thanks man. Thanks a lot!" Snitch said as he walked away.

Josh watched Snitch go into the restaurant. "God I hope I didn't fuck him up or anythin'." He said to himself as he continued walking to his destination.

When he made it into the restaurant he looked for Hoodlie. And by golly, right in the third table on the left was Hoodlie. He was just sitting there staring off into space. He had just about finished all his food, but was just not paying attention to anything. Snitch walked up to him, fists clenched, but he knew he had to keep cool. "Hoodlie." He said.

Hoodlie looked up from his trance and recognized him. "Oh hey Tom. What are you doin' here?"

"Could I talk tah you outside, please?" He asked, trying to keep his cool. He was already mad as a hornet's nest.

"Yeah sure. Hold on, let me pay." He told him as he paid for his meal and went outside with Snitch. They got to the back of the restaurant. "So, what was it...."

"You fuckin' bastard!" Snitch yelled as he punched him making him fall to the ground.

"Whoa! Tom, what are ya doin'?" He asked in confusion.

"What da fuck did ya do tah my goil, Hoodlie?"

Hoodlie's eyes widened. "What? What are you talkin' about?"

"I'm talkin' about what you did las' night, you rapist!" Snitch yelled.

"Rapist? Oh my God, Snitch, how do you...?"

"Because I was da one dat was dere las' night, Hoodlie. I was da one who beat da shit outta Oscar, las' night. You were too fuckin' drunk tah remember, but it was me." Hoodlie looked at him and started shaking. "What are you so scared of you rapist? What?"

"I'm not a rapist."

"The fuck you aren't!" Snitch yelled back.

"What do ya want wid me?"

"I jus' wanna know why! Why da hell did you do dat, Hoodlie? Why? Because for da life of me I can't understand why you would do somethin' so fuckin' stupid! What happened tah you, man? You've changed so much. Do you like da way you are now? Do you like bein' a rapist? Do ya?"

"Stop sayin' dat!" Hoodlie yelled back.

"I'm gonna say whatever da hell I wanna say, you rapist! It's da truth! You are a rapist!"

"I didn't want to."

"Oh you didn't want to?"

"I didn't want to." Hoodlie said again.

"Well why da hell did you? Why?" Snitch yelled at him. "Talk tah me, why did ya do it?"

"Look I know I fucked up real bad, I know!" He said back.

"Fucked up? Dat's all you can say about it is dat it was fucked up! It was more den fucked up! Hoodlie it was a fuckin' crime! You're a fuckin' criminal! Do you understand dat? Do you understand what I'm sayin' tah you?"

"Look, Tom, jus' take it easy!"

"My name is not fuckin' Tom! My name is Snitch an' you son-of-a-bitch better call me dat!"

"Alright, Snitch, jus' calm down! Jus' take it easy." Hoodlie said, trying to calm Snitch down.

"Dat was fuckin' easy, man. Jus' tell me why!"

Hoodlie paused for a moment to gather his thoughts. "It jus' felt wrong not to."

"It jus' felt wrong not to? It jus' felt fuckin' wrong!" Snitch yelled as he kicked the trash can beside him. "You're no friend of mine, you're a fuckin' rapist. God if you wanted tah ruin her life why could you jus' have killed her? Huh? Why didn't you do dat? You had tah make her life full of humiliation an' pain, didn't you? Didn't you?" He said as he threw Hoodlie against the brick wall and pinned him there. He got in his face because he wanted answers and damn it he was going to get them.

"Snitch, do you really wanna know why I did it?" Hoodlie asked, a little bit afraid.

"Yes!" Snitch said firmly.

Hoodlie looked scared to death. And Snitch knew that. He knew he was scared to death, but he didn't know why. It was just Snitch talking. It didn't matter how mad he was he couldn't do anything really bad to his old best friend. I mean, Hoodlie wasn't the Hoodlie everyone thought he was. He held secrets inside of him, but he was afraid of letting those secrets out. They gave him his identity; they made him who he was. Snitch was the only one who knew that all Hoodlie did was just wear a mask. And he certainly did wear a mask, a simple mask, one which wasn't very detailed. His whole life he hid from the outside world and lived in his own inner world, which was real life to him. He didn't let people know who he was, what he wanted, and where he wanted to get in life. He didn't let people see his soul when they looked in his eyes. He controlled what people saw and what people knew about him. He was so connected with himself (because he was living inside himself) that he could control that. But there was one secret that Snitch didn't know about nor realized.

Hoodlie knew what he had to do. He knew the only way Snitch would see why he did what he did. He knew he wouldn't accept it, but he would understand. He would understand because he was once in the same situation as Hoodlie was. Lies, lies, everything they said about Snitch were lies. But everything they said about Hoodlie was the truth, even though he denied everything. So Hoodlie took a deep breath, swallowed and before Snitch knew it, the boy's lips were connected with his. Hoodlie pulled away before Snitch could even realize what just happened.

Did he just kiss me? That bastard just fucking kissed me. Oh my fucking God he fucking kissed me!He thought to himself, taking in the whole situation. What are you going to do, Snitch? Stand here and take it like a faggot? You're going to beat his ass! Snitch pulled his arm back, clenched his fist and went to strike Hoodlie. The blacked haired boy covered his face with his hands, knowing for sure that Snitch would kick his ass. He knew he deserved it too. It didn't matter how long he waited, because the strike that Snitch was about to inflict on him, never came.

Hoodlie stood still in silence, covering his face with his hands, just waiting. Why hasn't he beaten the shit out of me yet? What is going on? Hoodlie thought to himself. Does he know I didn't want to, but it was the only way that he'd understand? Did he know that? Why the hell would he know that? It's been six years, how would he know that I'm gay? Wait, oh fuck. Maybe he's gay too! No Snitch? Gay? I can see it. He is fucking hott isn't he? Shit, stop that. How can he be fucking gay if he fucking hates men? Wait, no that must be the bitch, I mean, his friend. The one I fucked last night. Oh God why the hell did I do that? The thoughts kept coming, but the blow never did.

Snitch didn't know what to do or what to think. He didn't hate him for being scared; he understood why he did what he did. He was afraid. He was all alone in this big world and he was scared. He was kind of like Snitch, not that Snitch was gay or anything, but he was alone. His whole life he felt alone as if he couldn't trust anyone. He had to fight for what he was, he had to fight for who he became and that was exactly what Hoodlie was doing. If Hoodlie would have refused, he would have been the one getting fucked instead of Liz. Snitch knew that straight out. He didn't know what to make of it though. "So you raped her because you're gay." He said.

"Snitch you don't understand what it's like for me. Okay, I don't want tah be dis way, honestly I don't. I didn't want tah do it, but it woulda been da other way around if I would have told dem. I was jus' lookin' out for myself. I'm tellin' ya, I had no intention of hoitin' anyone. I jus' thought dat, you know, dat I was gonna hang out wid my friends for a little bit." He paused. "You know I actually thought I wanted tah be like Oscar, an' now I have no idea why. Look, I'm sorry. I know it ain't gonna make it go away, but I really honestly didn't want tah do it. I jus' had to. It's survival of da fittest, ya know."

"Why couldn't you have jus' walked out?" Snitch asked.

"I tried to. Honestly I did. Don't you understand? I was in, an' once you're in you can't get out. Dere ain't no way tah get out, you see? So I did what I did an' I feel like shit about it."

"You did it so you wouldn't get made fun of an' humiliated, right?"

"Yeah."

"Well let me tell you somethin'. I know a lot about fuckin' humiliation, Hoodlie. I've been humiliated so many times in my life, an' half da time it's by bastards like you. Dey're afraid of da real world. Dey're afraid of what people are goin' tah say an' goin' tah think. Well I ain't afraid of what people are goin' tah say or think, I'm who I am an' I show everyone dat person. Don't you understand?" He said. "You don't have tah ruin a poor goil's life, jus' so you can save your own. You can save your own life by bein' da real you."

"Snitch dey won't accept me, you know dat."

"Dey don't accept me either, but do I go out an' rape some innocent goil?"

"You're not gay." Hoodlie pointed out.

"It doesn't matter! I don't have tah ruin someone else's life jus' tah keep people from ridiculing me. Hoodlie, you can't do dat. You have tah fend for yourself, you have tah learn tah fend for yourself. It's a cruel an' heartless world out dere, an' you'll make it only if you're a winner! An' you're a winner, Hoodlie. You're a fuckin' winner." He said as he turned away and walked off.

"Snitch!" Hoodlie yelled at him. Snitch briskly turned around and looked at him. "Da Linville boys got da real balls, right?"

"Right." Snitch replied back. They were the Linville boys. That was one of their childhood games they played with the other kids around their neighborhood. They were nicknamed the "Linville boys" because of the block they represented.

"Hey Snitch." He yelled back. Snitch turned around again. "I'm sorry, an' tell Liz dat too."

Snitch didn't say a word; he just shook his head and walked away.

Wow that was totally unplanned! I actually thought the big secret was just some of the things Oscar did to her, etc. I never planned on Hoodlie being gay. But it was funny how I came up with the idea. I was walking down the stairs, coming down to work on this story and all of a sudden I see an image in my head (it was a hott image I must say). I saw Hoodlie kissing Snitch. Hoodlie: the hottest extra on Newsies, and Snitch: the hottest newsie, kissing each other, except Snitch wasn't gay. I love gay men, they're so hott. XD.

Splashey – LOL the whole My Immortal thing, yeah I was gonna have that song be a theme song for this fic, but then I kinda didn't think about it anymore and it just went along with it, doesn't it. :thinks: Yup it does. And the whole thing about Skittery and Liz, I do have an idea about that. I'm pretty sure I'm going to talk about their infamous kiss sometime in this story; probably Itey's going to talk about it. :thinks: I'm not sure, but I hope so. And about Chicken Wing. He does need to come back doesn't he? I mean, he brought so much joy to those two chapters devoted to him. I might be able to have him slip into the LH sometime. Queens isn't that far away from Manhattan, he can make it. I'll see what I can do! Thanks for reviewing, and it doesn't matter how long or short your reviews are. A review is a review and every line counts, even if it's just one! Love you!

Just Duck – LOL I swear you guys think so much like me! It's like a syndrome or something, what could it be called? Lindsey-syndrome or something like that. No he's not going to do anything impulsive to land him in the slammer, but he will land in the slammer, maybe. I'm currently planning on it, but it's not because he goes psycho and kills someone. It's more of an easier, sluggish thing that happens. XD You're going to have to wait and see. I'm glad that you're psyched about my plans for the rest of this story. I'm so happy you guys aren't getting bored. Yay! It makes me really happy to hear you say that. And it also makes me really happy that you still think Liz is such a kick-ass girl. She's awesome, I know it. Haha. And I'm really glad that besides all the bad that has happened in this fic (and there was a lot) you can see right through that and get into the heart of these characters. :tips hat: I do whatever I can to get my point across. Thank you so much, hun. You know I love you!

Blue Boxer – You're letting me down Number 1! Where are you? Why don't you ever review anymore? I always have your stories reviewed in no more than a week. It has been over two for my other fic. Don't you care anymore? It doesn't matter if you care about the fic or not, if you have a responsibility to review you better review. It's not like I'm just some random person or whatever, I'm your sister. Doesn't that mean anything? Don't disappoint me Number 1!

I got this one up fast, didn't I? Probably something you guys didn't expect, but I hope you liked it nonetheless. Now all you lovelies out there go do what you do best and drop me a line about anything. Thank you and you know I love you.