-1Disclaimer: Ya know this already, you smart kids you!

Okay sorry the last ones have been so short. I have been short on time, and I figured some update is better than none eh?

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The walk to Brooklyn was uneventful and quiet. Race and Blink got in a snowball fight once, but that was the highlight of the whole trip. Even if much had been said between the three, Shay probably wouldn't have heard most of it. She was to focused on Rhythm. It had been 4 months. He probably hated her, for all that Parker did to him. It was all her fault. That and a thousand other thoughts ran through her head, exhausting her brain. She started rubbing her temples, which was a nervous habit she had picked up from Parker.

"You okay?" Blink asked noticing the worried look on her face.

"Oh, yah, I'se fine, my head is just bugging me a little." Shay said, sticking her hands deep into her pockets.

Blink just shrugged, knowing that she was lying, but she obviously didn't want to talk about it right now.

In what seemed like no time they were at the front step of the Brooklyn Lodging house.

"Shit" Shay muttered under her breath, but not quietly enough.

"What?" Race asked, as he clenched the remnants of a cigar between his teeth.

"Uh.. Nothing" Shay answered quickly, and began knocking on the lodging house door. It was Sprigs who answered.

"Well well well" Sprigs said leaning up against the doorway, with a warm smile. "If it isn't my favorite little cheap drunk." he said with a laugh

"Hey, watch it pal" Racetrack said, kicking into protective brother mode. Sprigs backed up from the door, not wanting a fight.

"Ise just playin." He said, his hands raised in defense.

"Race, its okay." Shay said, putting a reassuring gentle hand on his shoulder. Race looked at her for a moment, and then walked back to stand next to Blink.

"Youse here to see Rhyt?" Sprigs asked turning his attention back to Shay.

"If he wants to see me, yah. Just comin by to tell him merry Christmas" She said with a smile

"We'se come all the way to Brooklyn so she could tell somebody Merry Christmas?" Race whispered to Blink.

Blink smiled a little and said "Yah crazy aint it?". Truthfully, Blink didn't like Rhythm any more than Skittery did, but he could tell that him and Shay had gotten close, and she really missed him, so he tried to ignore the nagging feeling at the pit of his stomach that said "YOU IDIOT STOP HER! All Brooklynites are bad new Blink, you cant let her go through with this. She deserves better, Jacob Chastity, she deserves you."

Blinks mind raced. HE had never thought like that before. He had always seen Shay as a little sister, not as… well a girl. What had changed. Before he was afraid of Parker, and now he had someone to be jealous of, that's what had changed. He had to stop her, she couldn't go through with this.

"Shay wait" He blurted out as she was about to step through the doorway

"Are you sure you wanna do this?" He asked.

"Yes" was all Shay said before she entered the Lodging House.

Blink hung his head in defeat. "Your such a coward" He muttered under his breath.

Race looked as his friend in disbelief. He wasn't stupid enough to not see the look in Blink's eyes --sorry I mean eye -- but he was also smart enough not to bother him about it.

"You idiots comin' in or not" Sprigs asked from the door. Race and Blink nodded and followed in after Shay.

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There was a quick knock on Rhythms door.

"Dammit, hang on a second" He shouted, hastily trying to hide the pistol under his bed. "What is it?" He called towards the door, once he was satisfied it was well hidden.

"Youse got a visitor" Sprigs voice said from the other side of the door.

"Tell them to go fuck themselves." Rhythm answered diving back into his bed.

"Now is that anyway to talk to a lady" Shay asked, crossing her arms and leaning against the now open doorway.

"Shay!" Rhythm screamed and ran to give her a hug. He picked her up off the ground and squeezed her as hard as he could.

"Umm….. Rhythm" Shay finally said.

"Yah…" Rhythm answered, his arms still gripping her.

"Cant….breathe…" She said with what was meant to be a laugh, but came out more as a gasp for air.

"Oh…sorry" Rhythm said putting her back down on her feet. "So, to what do I owe the pleasure of your visit."

"Uh, that would be us" Racetrack said from the doorway. Following closely behind Race was Blink. Rhythms eyes went cold and he saw red. The image of Blink in bed with Shay, their arms around each other suddenly filled his mind. He tried to hide it and just laughed.

"Ise, just wanted to say Ise sorry" Shay said grabbing Rhythms hand

A sudden shot of jealousy ran up and down every inch of Blink body. What the hell made this dope so special? How the hell did he get so lucky?

"Sorry for what" Rhythms words interrupted Blinks thoughts.

"You know, for everything. For not telling you about my stomach, for what Parker did to you, all of it. Ise really truly is sorry Kaden." Shay said, using Rhythms real name for added effect. Race and Blink both snickered as she said it.

"Oh I wouldn't talk if I were you Ambrogino Higgins" Shay shot at Race with a smirk

"Who's told you my real name?" Race said, standing up on the balls of his toes, to make himself appear taller.

"You did" Shay said lightly

"Uh. No Ise don't tell nobody my real name" Race answered back, thoroughly confused.

"Its amazing what you can get out of people when they are sleeping" Shay said, playing with a strand of her hair.

Rhythm laughed "So you finally figured it out?" He asked

"Yah, I used Race as my guinea pig, you wouldn't imagine the things he has done." Shay said her smirk widening

"What the hell are you talking about?" Race asked

"Well, when I stayed here, Rhythm taught me one of his spy tricks. First you get the guy drunk, which by the way you made WAYYYYY to easy" Shay said, playfully shoving Race's shoulder. "Then, once they are good and passed out, you ask em' some questions. They tell you anything, and not even remember it." She said with a laugh.

"Shit" Race muttered "What did I say"

"Well…." Shay said, her smirk widening to a smile. "Lets just say, I know way to much about how you spent you 4th of July."

Race went pale. "You tell anyone and I swear….." Race trailed off.

Shay just smiled. "I aint a rat Race, you know that. As long as you stay on my good side you got nuttin to worry about."

Race blushed a little and nodded his head "Didn't we come here to give Rhythm his Christmas present, not talk about me?" He asked.

"Oh yah." Shay said, now remembering her reason for coming. "Kaden, this is for you." She said pulling a silk case out of her pocket.

"Shay you shouldn't have.." Rhythm began to say. "I didn't get you anything" He said truthfully.

"Kaden, just take it already. I owe you for all the times you had to watch me puke anyways" She said with a laugh.

Rhythm smiled slightly and took the case from her hand. He opened it up and looked inside.

"Shay…. Its….you remembered." He said suddenly at a loss for words.

"I'll never forget." She said with a smile

FLASHBACK

"Fellin' any bettah?" Rhythm asked, walking into Shays room.

"A little" Shay said with a smile.

Rhythm pulled up his usual chair next to her bed and started to remove his shoes

"Hey Rhythm…" Shay said quietly

"Yah" Rhythm answered, looking up from his laces.

"Can I ask you something?" She said, sitting up in her bed a little.

"Sure" He answered, removing his second boot. He put his feet up on the bed next to her legs and placed his hands behind his head "G ahead shoot"

Shay smiled a little and asked "Where did you get you name from?"

A small smirk came across Rhythm's face. "Well you see, when I first became a newsie, I had an older brother. His name was Andrew, but everybody called him blues, because he could play um real good. He used to have this old silver harmonica, he'd play it all the time. When he got nervous or scared, or when I did, he would always reach for his harmonica and all our fears, and worries, just floated away like the notes. And I was the typical little brother, that followed him around every chance I could, might as well been attached to his hip. So Conlon though he would be funny one day when he saw Blues walkin by, with me at his side and he yelled

"Hey look their goes Rhythm and Blues"

And I guess after that it just stuck.

"Oh, what happened to Blues?" Shay said, wondering why they hadn't met.

Rhythm hung his head and quietly said "He's gone."

"Oh Kaden, I am so sorry" Shay said, wanting to kick herself for opening her big mouth.

"No its okay, its good to talk." Rhythm said clearing his throat. "It was about 5 years ago. Blues was one of the best spy's Brooklyn has ever had. It was back when we were in deep shit with Harlem. Not good times. So one night Blues was following this guy back to Harlem, cause that was his job. One of the bulls spotted him, he was piss ass drunk." Rhythm said, chocking back his tears. "He um… he grabbed Blues and started hitting him. I don't know why, Blues had kind of a smart mouth ya know, like Jack does sometimes. So I am guessing he mouthed off to the bull, and then the bull went crazy on him. He beat him till he was unconscious, and then he shoot him. Right through the stomach, he never had a chance. One of the Harlem boys brought him back. Us newsies may be dirty and unsophisticated, but we still have hearts. They brought him back the next day, with a letter explaining what happened. Btu that was a long time ago"

Rhythms voice began to trail.

END FLASH BACK

"Shay, thank you." Rhythm said, pulling the silver harmonica from its case. "Thank you" he said again.

"It was nothing" Shay said modestly

Rhythm looked at her and smiled, and then hugged her again. Another shot of jealously went through Blinks body again this time stronger.

"Shay, sweetie, we should go" He said quickly "Medda's having us all over for Christmas Eve over at Irving Hall, and we wanna get back before it gets to late" He said.

Shay looked at his skeptically. There was something different about Blink today. Something in his eye that just want right.

"Okay" She said flatly. She hugged Rhythm again and kissed him on the cheek

"I'll come see you soon, I promise" She said as she walked out the door. Rhythm just nodded. As soon as the door to the lodging house closed Rhythm went for the gun he had hidden beneath his bead. He flipped it over in his hands, running his finger along the cool metal.

"You're a fucking idiot" He said to himself. He walked over to the window, and chucked the gun into the river.

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Hope that was good enough for you guys. Leave reviews, cause they make me happy on the inside.!

Oh and the idea for the Spy trick Rhythm taught Shay, came from one of my moms friends. When she was like 14 and 15 her mom would com in at night and talk to her about what she had done that day and she would be like

"You didn't really go to the library did you?"

And Crystal always answered truthfully in her sleep. Her mom didn't tell her till she was like 20 sumtin, so she went through her teenage years thinking that her mom was spying on her, cause she always knew everything

CTB

Skids Ilaria