"You can't be serious. You cannot be serious. She's here? For good?" I had been at the Lodging House only a few days when Mix's angry voice jarred me out of a fitful sleep one sunny afternoon.

"Christ, Mix, keep it down, would ya? She's sleeping right next door."

"You know what, Spot? I don't give a rat's ass if she's sleeping. When did she get here?"

"A couple days ago. I found her in some alley—she was in real bad shape…"

"A real sob story, Conlon. Really, I'm touched. Why didn't you just drop her back off at that convent, where she belongs?"

"She hated it there. I wasn't gonna make her go back! God dammit Mix, enough!" There was a muffled thump. Pete was throwing things. "She's staying. She is now a permanent fixture in this house. And I don't wanna hear another word about it from the likes 'a you." There was a pause, then Pete's voice again, deadly seriously. "And if I get one report about you messing around wit her, just one, you're gone. So help me God, Mix. You're my girl, but she's...she's my sister."

They remained a couple, which completely dumbfounded me, not to mention the rest of the occupants of the Lodging House. Even after all that fighting immediately after my arrival, they stayed together. I would watch them when I could, secretly contemplating why Pete wanted a girl like her. What on earth was the appeal?

"I'm tellin' you, she's knocked up. That's gotta be it. Why would he still be with her otherwise?" The cold December wind swept Fearless's words from her mouth and sent them swirling down the street. I could barely hear her.

"D'ya think?" I sighed, pushing renegade strands of hair back under my knit winter hat. "Maybe. I mean, I can't see any other reason they're still together." Crinkling my nose, I shifted my small stack of newspapers from one shoulder to another. Discussing Mix and Spot's relationship had become a terribly entertaining activity for Fearless and I. Well, mostly just for me.

"Look, don't worry about it. I'm bettin' they'll be through real soon—Spot can't handle the pressure of Mix's bullshit and these crazy rumors that have been going around. He'll drop her like a bad habit." Fearless patted my arm absent-mindedly, and I reverted back to the old habit of chewing on my bottom lip, already chapped and split from hours out selling papers in the cold.

"It's freezing," I finally muttered, unsure of what else there was to be said. "Let's hurry it up, okay?"

With a whoop of agreement, Fearless tore ahead, feet barely skimming the pavement as she raced on towards home without me. I sighed, wishing I could somehow find the energy to do the same.

I was turning the corner, the Lodging House barely ten feet away, when someone yanked me into a dusky alleyway.

The beginnings of quite a scream were escaping from my lips when a slim hand clamped quickly over my mouth. A familiar, concerned face materialized from the dark.

"Aki?"

She took her hand away from my mouth and nodded solemnly. "Sorry to scare ya, Rose, but we need to talk." She swallowed hard. "Listen um... I've got something important to tell you." Her eyes were big and shining in the fading light. My heart leapt.

"What? What is it?"

Aki cleared her throat. She started to speak, then stopped, shaking her head, and then, after another moment, began again. "Last night I went to the Rose Theatre, ya know, to see the show with a few people?" I nodded, urging her on.

"And?"

"Well I went outside during the second act, plannin' on having a nice quiet smoke before things got crazy at intermission. An—and while I was outside, I heard people talking."

I couldn't quite see where this was going, and her plodding pace was frustrating me. "So what? We all eavesdrop sometim—"

"They were talking about Pete," Aki interrupted, voice grave, "they were talking about some kinda plan, about how they were gonna set him up and…and…" She trailed off, and I could guess what they had been planning on doing to my Pete.

"Did you see who it was, Aki? Did you?" I took a step forward, grasping her arm. She looked at the ground and I shook her, her silence answering my question. "Aki, you did see. Who was it? Was it someone we know?"

Her voice was a strangled whisper. "It was Mix," she said finally, "It was Mix and some fellah I've seen once in awhile down at the Pub. He's a bad guy, Rose. He's got a lot a friends in the wrong places, if ya know what I mean."

My heart was flopping around my rib-cage like a caught fish, and I swallowed hard. "Jesus…"

"Listen, Rose, I told you this because you gotta tell Spot. Before it's too late."

I shook my head. "Why can't you tell him? You're the one who heard it, after all. He'd probably like to hear it from an eye-witness..."

"You're the only one he ever really listens to! Please, Rose. Please. You gotta."

I took a step backward, sighing. "Are you sure you won't do it, Aki? The last thing I need is another reason for Mix to hate me."

"Pete's gonna die if ya don't Rose," Aki responded, slipping back into the shadows of the alleyway, "you gotta tell him. Forget Mix. This is about him." A moment later she was gone, and as soon as she was I turned on my heel and rushing off to the Lodging house. Despite Mix and the threat she carried, I had to tell Pete. Of course I had to tell Pete. There was no other way.

"But you have to believe me! Listen, I know it sounds crazy—"

"Crazy? No Rose, this sounds impossible. Now I know you and Mix don't exactly get along…but this is takin' things just to far."

"Please, Pete, you have to believe me. She's plotting against you. She wants you gone! Do you know where she was last night? Can you tell me for sure?" I knew the answer as well as he did–he could not. Pete had spent the night in, playing cards with some of his boys. I clenched my fists, frustration turning my cheeks pink. "Please Pete, you have to listen. If you don't listen—" The words caught in my throat. I couldn't even bring myself to say it.

Pete sighed, looking up at me from where he was sprawled on his bunk. The room was empty save for us, dark and cold. "Rose," he said, rolling off the bed and walking to where I was sitting by the window, hugging myself, trying to make the goosebumps go away. With a few fingers he lifted my chin so that our eyes met. "You're telling the truth?"

"Why would I lie to you, Pete? Especially about something this serious?" I said, standing up and wrapping my arms around him, burying my face in his shoulder. God, he was warm. "If you died," I mumbled, "what would I do then? I'd be all alone. Please believe to me, Pete. Please."

He stroked my back for a minute, each movement of his hand strumming more reassurance into my worry-racked soul, then stepped away, face earnest. "I ain't planning on leavin' you alone. Not again. Not ever."

He turned then, embarrassed by this flash of emotion, and, snagging his hat from a nearby hook on the wall, fit it low over his eyes. "I'll take care of things," he assured me, and with a final nod he swept out the door, leaving me in the dim bunkroom, shivering without him.

"Read all about it! Mayor's Daughter Caught in Secret Love Affair!" My voice was rough with disuse as I shouted headlines into the dense crowd charging up and down the sidewalk, each face pinched with the surprise of a cold breeze every now and then. "Extra, Extra! Accident on Train Leaves—"

A hand latched onto my arm. I turned to come face to face with Fearless, her cheeks pink from the chilly air. "She's gone."

The hand that was raised and waving a newspaper frantically about fell abruptly to my side. "Really?" I muttered in slight surprise, half to myself, " that was fast." The conversation with Pete in the darkened bunkroom had taken place only the evening before. Our embrace was still fresh in my mind. Hell, it was the only thing in my mind.

"Yeah. And it wasn't a pretty thing to watch," said Fearless, "And we all watched." A hint of a smile curved her lips. "Newsies can't resist scandal."

She waited for me to agree, to offer up a smile of my own, but none came. Instead I stared blankly ahead of me, chewing on my lip. "What happened?"

"It happened as we was walking to get some lunch. Spot pulled 'er over to the side... it wasn't a quiet conversation."

I was silent, but nodding. Fearless went on. "Eventually they went inside, and naturally we all followed…" She paused to wipe her nose on the back of her hand. "She denied it all, Rose. Every bit of it. Flat out denied it to his face. Said she wasn't even at the Theatre that night."

"Well, what did ya expect 'er to do? Did she have any alibi's to back her up?"

"Nope. Spot asked her, too, and she just stood there like an idiot." Fearless shrugged. "She punched 'im, too."

I turned to stare at her, open-mouthed. "Punched him?"

Fearless nodded, grinning. "Yeah. Talk about a bad idea, right? But yeah, she did. And after that she stormed out of the Lodging House, bag in hand. Mr. Hawkins crossed her name outta the ledger and everything. Her bunk's empty."

"She's really gone..." I breathed, realizing suddenly that I had been holding my breath while Fearless was talking.

"Yup. Really gone. I heard she's headed to Jersey."

I nodded, feeling a bit as if a curse had been lifted. Mix, the evil queen, was gone forever, and the handsome prince was free of her spell. With a slight smile I lifted the paper again. "That's good. That's very good. I gotta get sellin' though," I muttered. "Got at least thirty papes left."

Fearless nodded, squeezing my arm before fading away into the river of people that rushed past me. "Okay. See ya later then."

Pete's eye was a lovely shade of purple when I came upon him in the kitchen later that night, frowning into a clouded mirror that hung by the back door. Making noises of discontent and disapproval, I went into automatic mother mode and pushed him into a chair, scolding, "Stop pokin' at it. It'll only make it worse. Do we have any ice?"

He shrugged, never one to be concerned with groceries, and I ducked my head into the icebox. There was a small melting block left on the shelf that I scooped up and wrapped in a dishtowel. Sitting down across from him, I pressed it to his eye. "Hold it there."

He obeyed, watching me intently with his good eye. "So I'm guessin' ya heard."

"I heard. Was it as bad as it sounded?"

Pete shut his eye for a moment. "Worse."

I sighed and let my eyes fall to my hands, watching my fingers wind around themselves as they sat in my lap. Pete leaned his head back against the chair and a small, barely audible groan escaped from his parted lips.

"Did you love her?" My sudden question sounded harsh in the brutally quiet kitchen. Pete lifted his head and stared at me, letting the ice fall away from his eye. Wordlessly I grabbed his hand and guided the lumpy pack back to its rightful place. He said nothing for a long time, just stared out at me, then at the ground, then back out at me, an endless pattern.

"I don't know," he said finally, quietly, a furrow forming in his forehead as he considered the question.

"You were together for a long time."

"That don't mean I loved her."

"Then why did you stay with her?" My voice raised a octave. I sounded desperate. Cursing myself silently, I clamped my mouth shut.

"Who else was I going to be with?"

Me! a voice shouted inside my brain as my lips remained dutifully together. Shaking my head, I tried to dislodge the renegade thought, but it remained loud and clear, singing in my ears. "There are plenty of girls who would have happily volunteered, Pete. You know that."

Pete couldn't resist smiling ever so slightly at this comment. He knew. "Mix treated me differently. She wasn't afraid."

"I'm not afraid either." The words came out before I knew what I was saying. Horrified that I had spoken such words aloud, I glued my eyes to my feet, and tucked my chin into my chest, wanting to sink into the dirty wood floor.

"I know," said Pete, and I could hear the smile in his voice. My cheeks burned, and I didn't dare look up. "But, you're…you're you, Rose."

Finally, curiosity got the best of me. I lifted my chin to frown at him. "Yes, I am."

"…and I…I'm me." This was getting nowhere. I raised my eyebrows.

"So where does that leave us, then?" I asked quietly, looking back down at my hands, slightly dreading the answer. Friends forever. Brother and sister.

The ice pack clinked softly as Pete set it down on the table. He leaned toward me and touched my hot cheek with cold, moist fingers.

And then he kissed me.