Title: Cold as Winter, Warm as Family.

Summary: Winter isn't easy when you're a newsie. Especially when you're the leader of the Manhattan newsies and have a bunch of kids to take care of. Good thing David is around to take care of Jack in turn.

Warnings: None.

Notes: None.

OoOoO

Jack had a pape in his hands, already busy reading at today's headlines when he approached. David stared at him for a second before sitting down at his side, ignoring his own stack of papes as he hunched closer to read along with him. Jack's eyes flickered in his direction, but neither boy said anything as they continued reading.

It was until Jack turned the page that something else caught David's attention.

"Where are your mittens?" He asked, looking down at Jack's pale hands.

"Uh?"

"Your mittens," David repeated. The day was cold enough he could see his own breath. "You're not wearing them."

"Nope."

He waited for an explanation but wasn't surprised when Jack didn't say anything else. He sighed. Jack could be so difficult sometimes. "Why?"

"Lost 'em," Jack replied without looking up, brown furrowed as he mouthed the words as he read.

"You lost your mittens?"

"Yeah."

David frowned. That made no sense at all.

In the short time David had known them, he had witnessed how well the newsies guarded everything they owned, especially clothes. They couldn't afford to be careless with any of their few possessions when they knew they couldn't simply replace them if needed. They had to work hard just to have some food and a bed to sleep at the end of the day.

Winter clothes were probably the most important thing for the newsies. They had to be out selling all day in the cold, and they needed to be well-covered if they didn't want to risk getting sick.

He looked at Jack's battered coat, the old cap, and the scarf around his neck. David's own clothes were old as well, but every garment was in better condition than Jack's. Or almost every one of them. He knew the red scarf was a gift from Medda, but the rest were probably hand-me-downs from other boys who had outgrown them.

David saw him shiver, but just as he opened his mouth to ask how exactly he lost his mittens, Jack picked up his stack of papes and rose to his feet.

"Come on. We'se gotta hurry so we'se outta the streets soon."

He did have a very good point, so David picked his own stack and stood up as well, fully intending to ask his question anyway.

Jack frowned, looking at David and then around him. "Les ain't with you?"

David blinked. Jack hadn't spare anyone more than a glance this morning, so it shouldn't surprise him he hadn't notice Les' absence. "No. Mama heard him coughing a little last night and decided to keep him home today."

"He okay?"

"Yes, he's fine," David replied with a small smile. "He's not sick or anything but Mama wanted to keep him away from the cold just in case."

Jack nodded. "Come on, then. We's gonna need to work harder without our best guy."

With a quick farewell to the other newsies, they left the distribution center.

It continued to get colder as the hours passed, and they still had a stack of unsold papes when they finally decided to call it a day.

There weren't a lot of people out today with this cold weather, and the people that were on the street were too busy hurrying to go somewhere warm to stop for even a few seconds to buy a pape.

At least they could turn in their unsold papes, David thought as they headed back to the distribution center. He didn't want to think about what the newsies had to do back when they didn't even have that option. Either they would stay out in the cold until they finished selling, or lost the money they paid for the papes.

It didn't take long for David to notice how much Jack was shivering now, or how his teeth were chattering together as he did his best to wrap his arms around himself. That was caused by the worn-out jacket he was wearing, but it still made him remember the missing mittens.

"Are you going to tell me what happened to your mittens?"

"Told you I lost 'em."

"I know. And I'm asking if you're going to tell me the truth now."

Jack turned to him then, his face flushed and his chapped lips curled into a tired grin. "Who says I'se lying?"

"Aren't you?" David countered, meeting Jack's eyes.

"'Course not."

David stared at him with an arched eyebrow.

"Give 'em to the new kid. He needs 'em more than me," Jack admitted after a moment, shrugging.

David shook his head, but there was a smile on his face. It was always heartwarming to witness how much Jack cared about the other newsies, even if David sometimes wished Jack thought of himself a little more. He tried to meet Jack's eyes but the other boy was stubbornly looking anywhere but at him.

"Hand me your papes."

That made Jack look at him. "What?"

"Hand me your papes," David repeated, holding out his hand.

Jack watched him for a moment longer before complying and then buried his hands in his pockets as soon as they were free.

David considered suggesting they stop at Tibbys' for something to warm them up, but dismissed the idea quickly. Jack couldn't waste money on a hot beverage when he needed to start saving to buy another pair of mittens. David could offer to pay, but he knew Jack wouldn't accept. Especially with the bad selling of the last few days.

"Do you want to come back home with me?" David shrugged in response to the look Jack gave him. "I promised Les I was going to ask you. It was the only way to convince him to stay home today."

He may be improving the truth a little bit. He never promised Les anything of the sort, but he had been thinking about asking Jack to come with him anyway. He knew that seeing him would put his brother in a good mood and it may help if his mother decided to keep Les home tomorrow as well.

"Alright. But just a little 'cause I gotta go back to the lodging before it gets too late."

"Great," He replied with a smile.

There was no point in arguing now when David knew his mother and Les would be able to convince Jack to stay for diner and spend the night in the tenement as well.

OoOoO

a/n: I hope you enjoyed this and thank you for reading!