Title: Can't Keep Running

Summary: It's been five years since the strike, seven since she learned Jack's true history and nine since she said goodbye to Rip -- what's in store next for Stress & Jack? Marriage? A Family? Or the return of the one she fears above all others?

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 © 1992- to Disney, as hard as I try to get them for myself. I do, however, own Jessa/Stress, Luke/Rip, Caitlin/Spindle and Tyler/Danger. Any other character is property of the author I've borrowed them from.

Soul Mates Series: This is the fourth installment in Stress & Jack: Soul Mates Series. It is preceded by Cuts Like a Knife (I), Secrets Behind the Lies (II) and One Year Anniversary (III), in case you would like to read the earlier chapters in their lives.

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Chapter One

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Knock, knock. "Hello? Anyone home?"

Opening her eyes slightly, trying to ignore the morning sunlight pouring in from the small apartment's only window, the twenty-two year old woman glanced at the wooden door across the room. Drawing the thin blanket up to her chin, Jessa Rhian reached over with one arm and tapped the back of the man in bed next to her.

"Jack?"

"Mm-hmm?"

"Jack? I think there is someone at the door."

"Mm-hmm."

She waited a moment to see if he would rise. However, when the knocking became more insistent and Jack made no motion as to answer the door, the girl clipped back her golden-brown curls, pulled on a simple robe to cover her pale nightgown and made for the door. "Yes?" she croaked, her voice not yet rested from the previous night's activities. It seemed like only mere minutes since she and Jack had left the Phillips' wedding reception next door.

"Jess? It's me."

Shaking her head with a small smile, Jess opened the door. There, on the other side, stood a young woman, around Jess's age, with long, straight dark hair, bright blue eyes and a chipped cup in her slender hand.

"Hello, Ava. What will it be this morning? Sugar? Milk?" Jess asked as she stepped away from the door and pulled the robe tight around her.

"Actually, I could do with a cup of coffee grounds," Ava said with a grin as she entered the apartment. "You know how Michael gets when he doesn't get his caffeine."

"Let me guess," called Jack from across the room, still in bed, though now somewhat awake, "just as glum as he is when he does get his morning joe? Is it time for your morning visit already, Ava? Didn't the party just end?"

"And good morning to you, too, Jack," called Ava as she waved to the corner where the bed was stowed, before turning towards the wood burning stove in the far right corner of the one-room apartment. There stood Jess, rifling through a cupboard located adjacent to the stove. "Thanks, Jess. What with helping Filly with her wedding preparations and the extra washing I brought in this week, I did not have any extra time to run down to market."

"That's no problem, Ava. There's a marketplace just a few blocks away from The Chronicle building. I usually make Jack stop there with me at least once a week when he's not on assignment," Jess said as she took Ava's cup and dipped it into a bag of coffee grounds before handing it back to her.

"You're a doll, Jess," Ava said, taking the cup back with a grin. "Now, I better get back and make Michael's coffee before he heads down to the factory. I'll see you tonight."

Jess walked Ava to the door and waited until she watched Ava enter her own apartment down the hall before closing the door and walking back inside. With a slight yawn, she shuffled to where Jack was still lying in bed. "Well, Jack, I think it's time we get ready. After all, didn't you tell Mr. Jenkins that you'd still be at the office bright and early today, even though the wedding party was last night? And remember, mister reporter, I ain't but a secretary down at the newspaper office and my boss expects at my desk by seven."

Shielding his eyes against the dawning sun, Jack smirked up at Jess. "Dave was at the wedding party himself last night, Jess. I doubt he'll be at the office before you get there."

"Yeah, well, that's beside the point. It's time to get up," she replied, her hands on her hips, but a grin creeping across her face; Jack was right: Dave had arrived at the party alone and proceeded to spend the evening in the company of several available young girls from the neighborhood. Though the floor on which Jess and Jack's apartment is located housed three other families: Ava & Michael Mackenzie, Rae & Patrick Conlon, and, now, Filly and Jason Phillips, many other families on different levels had young, single girls who were more than happy to keep a single, lonely man company at a wedding reception.

With an exaggerated sigh, Jack pulled himself up to rest on his elbows. "Yes, dear, I guess you're right."

Jess nodded once and turned away, satisfied that Jack was getting up to get dressed. "Of course I am," she replied before beginning to take off her own robe. But, after she pulled her arm out of the right sleeve, Jack leaned forward and, wrapping his arms around her middle, pulled her back onto the bed. "Jack..."

"Mm-hmm?" he asked, busy nuzzling his face against her silky robe.

Jess swatted him away from her back and, when he leaned away from her, she laid back against her pillow. "Jack..."

Jack sat up so that he was next to her. "Yes?"

She opened her mouth for a moment and paused. "Never mind. Let's just get ready." She tried to get back off of the bed, but Jack's hand on her arm stopped her.

"I think I know what this is about," Jack said, his eyes alert and awake now, without the hint of sleepiness that had been there during Ava's quick visit. "It's about the wedding yesterday, isn't it?"

"How did you guess?" she asked with a weak smile before laying back down on the bed, her head on Jack's bare chest.

Jack matched her smile as he played with a loose curl that had broke free from her clip. "Well, you've been acting weird all week, just like you did when Mike and Ava got married, when we got Spot and Rae to get hitched. Hell, you even went strange when Rae found out she was pregnant with Genna. I figured, now that Filly and Jason finally tied the knot, it was time for the issue to cross your mind."

She kept her head on his chest, his rhythmic breathing creating a sense of calm deep within her. "Jack, it's been five years now that we've been together. Why aren't we married?"

Jack's breathe quickened, but he was silent for a moment. "We've been through this before, Jess. We just can't afford to make it legal right now, ya know. I mean, we're comfortable right now, we live in a nice place and we both have good jobs. If you become my wife, you know that Mr. Jenkins will discharge you from the newspaper office. As it is, you only have your job because you work with Dave and old Man Jenkins has no idea that we're together."

It was Jess' turn to snuggle up against Jack. "I know. It's just that, with everyone I know getting married, I feel left out. And it ain't just Ava and Rae and Filly. They all just got hitched within the last few years or so. Remember the girls from Bottle Alley -- Bookie and Martini?" she asked, referring to her childhood friends by their old nicknames.

Jack chuckled as he rested his arms on her back. "Yeah, I remember those two. Didn't they run off with Blink and Race? What was that? Four years ago?"

"Yeah, all four of them eloped a year after the big strike. I haven't seen them all since then, but Ava got a postcard from Aurelia - Martini, a few weeks back. Seems they all settled down out west and had a couple of babies each. Jack, I want that," she finished with a whisper.

Jack rubbed her back, comfortingly. "I know, Jess, I know. As soon as we can afford it, we'll have that. But, for now, let's just be happy together. Alright?"

"Mm-hmm," she replied, in a precise imitation of Jack's own non-committal answers.

Jack laughed. "Whatever you say, Jess," he said, shaking his head, before tapping her on her back. "Come on. Up you get. Time to get ready for work."

"Oh," she said, smiling, as she sat up, "now it's time to go."

Jack returned her smile with a smirk. "Race you there," he challenged before jumping out of bed, glad to see that the marriage discussion was assuaged so easily this time. After Ava and Michael married two years ago, Jess had hummed the wedding march for two weeks straight.