Author's Note: I hope you like this fluffy little story everyone!
Also, I do not own Newsies its characters.
Katherine closed the doors that led to the outside deck of the hotel room.
"Oh, man," Katherine yawned. "Your yawning really got to me."
Jack chuckled.
"I'm going to get ready for bed," Katherine told him, grabbing her nightgown out of her bag and heading into the bathroom.
"Okay."
Jack plopped down at the end of the hotel bed, thinking.
He usually didn't wear his vest and long-sleeved blue shirt to bed.
But he didn't want Katherine to see his scars.
All of his awful, ugly scars.
She'd been with him while he was painting backdrops for Miss Medda before, and he did wear only his short-sleeved shirt while painting, usually.
But he painted in the dim basement, so she couldn't really see his scars.
What would she think of him?
Would she admit to thinking he was ugly?
A useless scrap of scars- scars from his days in the Refuge?
"Is something wrong, Jack?"
He sharply glanced up to see Katherine standing a few feet away from him.
Her hair was flowing down her back, and she was in her nightgown.
"You're beautiful." he breathed.
She blushed, tucking an auburn curl behind her ear.
"Th-Thanks." Katherine slowly walked over to Jack and sat beside him. "Jack, is something bothering you?" she asked, lacing one of her hands into his.
"Um, n-no." he said, not meeting her gaze.
"Jack?"
He looked her directly in the eyes.
"Please tell me."
Jack took a deep breath.
"I usually don't wear my vest and this blue shirt to bed."
Her brows furrowed.
She thought for a moment.
"Oh, do you need help unbuttoning them? You could've just asked." Katherine said, beginning to undo the buttons on Jack's vest.
"Well, I didn't really mean that-" Jack sputtered.
"It's okay to ask for help," Katherine smiled, slipping off his vest and putting it aside.
"Kath, you really don't have to-"
"Oh, no, it's not a problem." Katherine replied, now undoing the buttons on his shirt.
"Katherine, please-"
"Almost done," she said, working her way down to the bottom button.
"Katherine, no!" Jack cried, just as she slid his shirt off, revealing the many, many scars on his arms, and a few on his neck.
Katherine's eyes widened.
"Jack-"
"This is me." he whispered. "I'm ugly. Snyder told me I's am, and I am."
Katherine's eyes filled with tears. "Honey, you're not ugly. And I'm so, so sorry that you were ever told that, even by Snyder."
She gently ran her hands along his arms, feeling all of the bumps of his scars.
She glanced at his chest and saw a maroon scar peeking out from under his shirt.
"Are there more?" she asked softly.
Jack nodded feebly.
"May I?" Katherine whispered.
"Yeah."
Katherine carefully slid off Jack's other shirt.
"Oh, Jack."
There were hundreds of scars on his chest.
Green, purple, yellow, maroon, red scars.
Bruises, scrapes, scratches, gashes, tears, cuts.
"Jack-"
"These is from the Refuge." he whispered. "You knows I's been theres five times."
"Jack, sweetheart. Why didn't you ever show me?"
"I thought you would think I's ugly. Or nots good enough for you." Jack's eyes filled with tears. He looked down at his lap. "Which I'm not."
"That's not true, Jack. You're amazing, and sweet, and adorable, and wonderful, and I love you so much. And you're right- you're not good enough for me."
"What?" Jack glanced up.
"You're perfect for me," Katherine finished, placing a hand on his chest. "And you're not ugly, Jack. You're unique. You've survived the hardships of the Refuge."
Katherine scooted into his lap. "Listen; you don't need to hide anything from me, Jack. We're married now. We tell each other what's going on."
He nodded. "I-I know."
Katherine wrapped her arms around his neck, kissing him passionately.
Jack pulled her closer, kissing her back ardently.
A few minutes later, they pulled away, breathless.
They stared at each other for a minute.
Then they smiled.
"I love you, Katherine."
"I love you too, Jack."
Katherine leaned closer to him and hugged him tightly, leaning her head on his shoulder.
Her eyes swelled with tears as she saw all of the scars on his back.
She gently kissed his shoulder, then stroked his back with one of her hands.
"I'm sorry I didn't listen to you a few minutes ago. I should've respected your boundaries."
"That's okay... It's-It's good for you's to see my scars."
Katherine moved one of her hands up to his head, pulling of his Newsie cap and running her hand through his chocolate-colored curls.
"Hey, Ace?"
"Yes?"
"I'm real glad that we's married."
"Me, too."
"To be honest, I's never had anybody. And to have you, and to have you tell me about God, and that He loves me, it-it makes me feel at peace." Jack whispered.
"You're never alone, Jack." Katherine responded, pulling out of the hug and looking into his adorable hazel eyes.
Jack smiled as he stared back into Katherine's chocolate-brown eyes.
"Thank you, Plumber."
"You're welcome," she replied softly, grasping Jack's face in her hands and pressing her lips against his.
Jack reciprocated, pouring all of his love and passion into the kiss.
He drew Katherine as close as humanly possible, so happy to be with this amazing person, and hardly believing that she was his.
This time, when they gently broke apart, they were even more breathless than before.
"I-I love you, Jack," Katherine breathed.
"I l-love you too, beautiful." he answered.
As Katherine watched him smiling at her, she thought about how beautiful this man- her husband - was.
As he grabbed her face in his rough hands and closed the gap between them, Katherine thought, You're pretty beautiful yourself, Jack Kelly.
A/N: That's it! I hope you like it!
