Disclaimer: I do not own Newsies. I take all claims to Liz, Hoodlie, Chicken Wing and Josh. I do not own Christina, she's owned by Blue Boxer; I do not own Tag Along, she's owned by Tag Along.

Sorry for the long wait. Had a lot of things going on in my life: ie. School, a bad break up, etc. :shrugs: Oh well, life sucks, that's part of life. :I'm back to writing now.

"Fear. Shame. Run away. Snitch, run away! Liz, run away! Take refuge in something else." Narration

The sleepover had ended and morning came, once again, as expected. The girls and Chicken Wing said their goodbyes and headed back to their homes. Liz headed back to the Lodging House, when she was stopped by Christina.

"Liz, could I talk tah you?" She asked, her eyes having tears in them.

"Yeah sure." Liz said as she swallowed, hoping and praying she didn't know. "What's wrong?"

Christina took a breath before she spilt it out. "I have tah tell Blink about...you know what." She explained. "I need tah tell him today, an' I need you dere wid me."

Liz wiped Christina's tears away. "Okay." She said, smiling.

"Really? You'd do dat for me?" She smiled, her face lightening.

"Yeah. It's no problem really."

"Thank you so much!" Christina said, hugging Liz. "Can we talk tah him now? Or do you need tah talk tah Snitch or somethin'?"

"No, he'll survive. We're not together anymore, you know."

"I know, but I thought you guys were still friends."

"Yeah, I guess. I mean, things have happened, an' it's hard for us tah be like we used tah be, you know." Liz explained. "Things change, people change." She smiled.

"Liz, what happened? Why did dey change?"

"Because dey did. I can't explain it, dey just did. Somethin' happened, an' dey did."

"What?" Christina asked.

"Nothin'. I-I-I don't know." Liz trembled, trying to keep her cool.

"Liz you can tell me, really. I won't tell anyone, I promise. Did somethin' happen wid you an' someone else?"

"No."

"Then what is it? Did somethin' happen wid you an' Oscar?" Liz shuddered and started shaking as the images came back into her mind. "You don't hardly talk about him anymore, did he do..."

"I-I'm cold. Can we go, please?"

Christina stopped dead in her tracks and looked down at the ground. "Yeah, we can."

"Okay." Liz said as she started walking.

"Are you sure you're alright? I mean, if you need anyone tah talk...."

"No I'm fine. Honestly." Liz told her. "I'm fine, I'll...."

"Okay." Christina stopped her, noticing her pain. She looked around and saw Snitch coming right towards them. "Hey Snitch!" She yelled as she ran up to him and hugged him.

Snitch's eyes widened and he had a confused look on his face. This was the girl he still can't remember who she is. They already went through this before when she came to 'Hattan and met up with the people in the LH again. Oh well. "Hey...you. How ya doin'?" He asked. He looked over and smiled at Liz. "Hey Liz."

"Hey." She said, as she looked away.

"Hey Snitch! How are ya doin'?" Christina asked as she smiled.

"Drunk, very drunk. And yourself?" He replied.

"What did you do?" She said noticing that his hair was all ruffled up and stuff like that, he looked like, I don't know, but it was all weird.

"I don't remember." He said.

"Where did you go?"

"I don't remember." He shrugged. He scratched his head for a little bit, thinking. "Wait, what? Were? Huh? What were we talkin' about?"

"Snitch, are you okay?"

"What do ya mean?"

"I mean, like, I don't know. Is everythin' alright wid you? It seems like 'Hattan kids are all different now."

"What do ya mean?" He asked.

"I don't know. Do you remember who I am, Snitch? Do you know who I am?" Christina eyed him.

"Who am I? I'm Snitch, or Tom or...what? What are ya talkin' tah me for? I don't know you." Snitch said, pushing Christina away. "Who the hell are you?"

"It's me, Christina. Do you remember? I'm da one Blink's livin' wid now. Remember now?" She explained.

Snitch paused. "Oh yeah! Haha, no." He said as he shook his head. "You know what? Dis one time, I like, I went tah Brooklyn an' I..." He said really quietly. "Ate a hamburger." He nodded. "You know dis one time I was like singin' a song about a rabbit an' a razor blade. Yeah, an' like, I was singin'. An' den dis big-ass rabbit came an' I like petted it. An' den it like bit me, an' like it really hoit. An' den I went in an' told da guys an' dey were all like 'did ya touch it?'. An' I was all like 'yeah'. An' dey were all like 'well den dat's what you get you asshole' an' den, I put a chair on a da roof an' sat on it." He laughed. "Dat really happened."

Christina made a distorted face. "Wow! Snitch, you're a mess."

"No I'm not. You are. Look at dat shirt you're wearin'. It has like, stains on it! An' it's all like 'ugh'!" He mocked.

"You don't know what you're talkin' about, Snitch."

"You don't what you're talkin' about, Snitch." He mocked her yet again. "Shut da hell up."

"Snitch, jus' stop. You don't know what you're sayin'!" Christina yelled back, a little hurt.

"Wait. Am I talkin'? Was I talkin'?" He asked. "I can't tell if I'm talkin' or not."

That was it, Liz couldn't take it anymore. She couldn't bear to see Snitch drunk; she hated it with a passion. She hated it more than anything in the entire world. She stomped up to him, grabbed his arm and pulled him down the street. "Stay dere." She yelled back at Christina as she ran down the street.

"Whoa." Snitch said, trying to keep up without tripping over himself.

"What da hell did you do tah yourself, Snitch?" She yelled at him. "What happened las' night?"

"I don't know, I don't remember. Oh wait, yeah I do. No wait, I don't." He said. "I don't remember what happened."

"Snitch, don't do dis tah yourself anymore, okay?" She asked him. "Promise me you won't do dis tah yourself anymore."

"I promise." He said.

Liz stopped dead in her tracks, and threw her arms around him and hugged him. She caught him by surprise. "Snitchy it hoits me when you do dat, you know dat it does." She explained as she started crying.

"I'm sorry."

"I don't wanna be alone no more. I'm scared when I'm alone, Snitch." She told him.

"Didn't you have fun?"

"No!"

"I'm sorry."

"Why do ya do dis tah yourself, Snitch? You know it's wrong." She told him.

"Look I'm sorry, I jus' got fucked up, okay. Everyone does once in a while. It's how I deal wid my problems, okay. Dat's it. It's nothin' about you, honestly." He explained.

"Dis whole problem is about me. I am your problem." She told him, lowering her head in shame. "Everythin' dey told me was true."

"No it wasn't. Liz, don't believe dat. Dis ain't your fault; it's just what happened, alright. It ain't your fault; I don't know how many times I have to tell you dat."

"Not enough. Snitch, you know I'm never gonna believe dat, just give up." She told him.

"No!"

"Yes. Dat's da way it is. Deal wid it. I am." Liz said as she turned around and ran away from him.

Why is she acting this way? He thought. I'm so confused. She can't possibly think that all of this is her fault. And everything I did. I know what I did. It's a secret. I can't tell her. I hope no one tells her, she'll hate me. Maybe she won't. I don't know what I did, but then again I do. I think it was a dream. God I wish it was all a dream. My whole world is falling down right in front of my eyes. I can't stop it. I see it crumbling, but I can't stop it. I can't be its support and hold it back up. I've lost it. I've lost everything. Now I'm just a confused boy who has no idea what he's doing with his life. I'm ruining myself. I'm ruining my friends. I'm ruining my life. This has to end. Something has to change. I can't live like this. So many things he wanted to tell her. So many times he's wanted to listen to her. He couldn't. He wouldn't. They couldn't be the same. He couldn't be the same. The devastating event tore them a part and held a barrier between them. They can't be the same, they won't be the same.

...they don't want to be the same.

Fear. Shame. Run away. Snitch, run away! Liz, run away! Take refuge in something else. Control your pain. Control everything that you can't. Run away. Leave! End this! Somehow.

-----

Dude, wow. That last part was just written and I had no idea that it was that powerful. I don't know if you guys found it powerful, but I did. :nods head: The first part I'm not happy with it, but the last paragraph or two, I am very happy with. Again, I apologize. I wish I could have gotten this out some other time except now. But I couldn't.

Special thanks to:

Just Duck

Blue Boxer: Chris, you will tell Blink. In like the next chapter or something. :I don't know, but you will. I promise.

Splashey

You guys are amazing. I love you all. Pweeze go and review!