Chapter Nineteen: In Which Celebratory Hijinks Ensue
Word Count: 1,021
Manhattan, 1899
Trains tend to be pretty expensive, especially if they're trains from Manhattan to Santa Fe.
Needless to say, Jack had quite a bit saved up from all his time being a newsie. However, seeing as he was no longer going to be using that money to head to Santa Fe, he decided to use some of it to buy the Manhattan newsies a lunch at Jacobi's Deli. He ordered them all pastrami on rye with a sour pickle – and he even got a seltzer for Albert.
Mush grinned again as he looked around at everyone else still cheering and dancing about. He'd smiled so much today his cheeks were starting to hurt. This all felt so surreal and incredible. They'd won the strike, Crutchie was back from the refuge and Jack was staying in New York? The day couldn't get much better.
New York was fine for those who had a big, strong door to lock it out, as Jack always said. Well, the newsies and Medda and now Katherine – Mush's family – were his big, strong door. And besides, New York wasn't all that bad.
New York had Cassie, for a start.
Mush had realized that he'd always loved Cassie. Not romantically the whole time, of course (that was definitely a more recent development), but as a wonderful friend and overall wonderful person. And he'd realized that when Cassie had told him how she felt, he hadn't known how to respond because he didn't understand the difference. He certainly felt love for her, like the way Jack loved Crutchie or Medda or anyone else he was close to, but did he love her the way she loved him? The answer at the time had been no. The answer now? A resounding yes.
Mush was sixteen. The whole concept of romantic love was still tricky to him, and he wasn't sure if he'd be romantically attracted to Cassie forever, but presently, it was undeniable.
He took a deep breath, closed his eyes, took a deep breath again, and walked up to Cassie. He tapped her shoulder. "Cassie."
"Hi, Mush," she said, smiling. A beautiful smile. Everything about her was beautiful, he noticed now. She was beautiful.
"Can we talk?"
"Sure." She got up and followed him.
What are you doing, what are you doing, what are you doing?
"Um. Cassie. I have to tell you something." Is it hot in here?
She blinked her huge, blue eyes expectantly. It's definitely hot in here.
"So. Uh. You know a while back when ya wrote me that note? About how you, ah, loved me?"
Her cheeks colored. "Mm-hm, yep, I-I definitely remember that."
"Well, the thing is..." Mush suddenly became acutely aware of all the other newsies' stares. The deli had gone quiet. He took another deep breath. "I kinda sorta feel the same way."
You could hear a pin drop.
He what?
For once, Cassie, the girl who had such a way with words, could not think of a single thing to say. The silence was unbearable. After a long stretch of deafening quiet, she said the first thing that came to her mind: "Why?"
"Why?" Mush repeated, laughing in disbelief. "Cassie, why not? You'se the sweetest girl I'se ever met – no, scratch that, the sweetest person I'se ever met – and the smartest, too. And you're beautiful, and ya keep us from doin' stupid things."
She laughed, still partly in shock. "And then you do them anyway."
"Yep! You're, like, ninety percent of my impulse control...but I'm hopin' you won't stop me from doin' this."
"Doing what?"
And then Mush was kissing her.
Cassie was being kissed.
Cassie was being kissed by Mush Meyers.
Her best friend Mush Meyers, her crush Mush Meyers, the person she saw in every future she imagined, Mush Meyers.
She almost didn't hear the cheering behind her. (She was absolutely sure that the loudest was Romeo's.)
When they pulled apart after what felt like it could have been an eternity, they were both beaming.
"You're right," Cassie said. "I didn't stop you. I mean, I don't think I'll ever stop you if that's what you're going to be doing."
"Good," said Mush, "'cause I figure I'll be doin' it a lot more often."
Cassie giggled, and turned around at the sound of metal on glass. Romeo was standing on top of a table, clinking a fork on his empty water glass. "Well, fellas, I think that such a momentous occasion deserves celebration. Don't you, Jack?" He smirked.
Jack rolled his eyes, grinning. "This is the first and last time I ever buy food for a buncha hungry newsboys."
"And one hungry reporter," added Katherine from next to him.
"What do you fellas say to five cent pie?"
The cheering intensified. When the waiter came back, Jack ordered the pie, and the cheering started up all over again. Cassie was kind of glad they were pretty much the only people there, or they would have caused quite the disturbance.
This was the happiest Cassie had felt in a long time, probably since she became a newsie. Not that there weren't other great days, but this one took the proverbial cake – they'd won the strike, she was eating a whole sandwich (and was about to eat a lot of pie), and Mush had just kissed her. This day was beyond great. It was wonderful, and incredible, and if the mind was winged by words, then hers was soaring with all the words she could use to describe today.
Books were so much easier to handle than reality, which was one of the many reasons Cassie loved them. But if she was in this reality – a reality where she had friends, or better, a family, a reality where she and the newsies had won a strike, a reality where Mush Meyers liked her the same way she liked him – she just might be willing to try to understand it a little bit better.
A/N: And that concludes the final chapter of By Words the Mind is Winged! It's taken time, but I'm very proud for having finished it. I truly hope you enjoyed it! This was my first full-length romance fic, so if you have any critiques or comments on the development or the pacing or characterization or anything like that, please don't be afraid to share your thoughts! I know this chapter was (very) short, but it was mostly just me tying up some loose ends and concluding the story.
A response to AetherlightGirl: Thank you for your review; I'm glad you liked the story!
Thank you so, so much for reading!
-mouse :D