Chapter 17

"What a dick!" Daisy exclaimed when Delilah finished telling her what happened between her and Spot. They were sitting on Daisy's bed; Snyder had left about an hour ago. "How could he possibly think that was okay?!"
"Shhh," Delilah tried to quiet the other girl. "I don't want the entire Lodge House to know."
"No, they should know. They should know that their so called "friend" and "ally" is too much of a player to respect one of our own."

"Look, I really don't want this to turn into a big thing. So please, don't spread this around."

"Fine, okay. I won't. But what are you gonna do?"

"I really have no idea. I mean, I kinda called off the truce, but I really don't wanna be enemies again. I still like him, and if there's any possible way he didn't mean to hurt me, and actually has an explanation, I wanna hear it."

"It's up to you, but if a guy was a douche like that to me, I'd freeze him out and wait for him to come to me."

"Maybe I'll think of what to do in the moment the next time I see him."

"Just be careful Dee. You don't know-"

Daisy was interrupted when the door swung open and the newsies invaded the room, all getting ready for bed.

"What were you two girlies talkin' 'bout all in private?" Kid Blink asked.

"Spo-" Daisy almost told them, but Delilah stopped her.

"We were just worried about Jack and Heather. Hoping they're okay for tonight."

"Where'd dey end up goin?" Mush inquired.

"I think they're sleeping on David's fire escape."

"Well, if Lace get's cold I'm sure she can get nice and warm wid Davey," Blink joked. Daisy and Delilah shared a subtle look with each other.

They bit their lips and tried not to laugh as they heard Race arguing, "Shut up now ya graftah! Lace is like me sistah and if Dave tries anythin' wid her dat is too fast, he's in for a brusin'! Whadda you two laughin' at?" He directed the last part to Daisy and Delilah. Their faces were bright red and they were doubled over trying to keep the laughter in.

They sat straight up and wiped tears that were forming in their eyes. "Nothing, nothing," Delilah told him. "We were just...remebering...something."

"It's a really funny something," Daisy added. Race just rolled his eyes and walked into the bathroom with the other boys. Soon, they were all asleep.

NEWSIESNEWSIESNEWSIESNEWSIESNEWSIESNEWSIESNEWSIESNEWISIES

The next morning, after David had woken up, he looked towards his window and noticed two figures that he recognized instantly. He smiled and walked to the window.

When he opened it, he leaned out and said, "Did you two sleep out there all night?"

They shot awake. Seeing David smiling at her, Heather sat up straighter and smoothed down her hair, smiling back and blushing. "Yes, yes we did," she answered.

"Can I ask why?"

"Snydah was scopin' out da Lodge 'Ouse, so we couldn't stay dere," Jack replied.

"Well, why didn't you wake us up? You could've actually slept inside."

"We didn't wanna disturb anybody," Heather told him.

David chuckled. "You're idiots. Both of you." He gestured with his head for them to come inside. They followed him, and he led them to the kitchen. "You two must be hungry. Let me get something for you."

"No, Dave, we already crashed on your porch. We don't want to take advantage of you."
"It's free food Lace. I say we take advantage," Jack said, sitting at the table. David smiled and walked into the kitchen.

"I'll help you," Heather called, walking after him.

As she got some milk and bread out of the refrigerator, David came up behind her and hugged around her waist. He kissed her cheek and asked, "How are you feeling?"

"What do you mean?"
"You know what I mean Lace."

She took a breath and turned to face him, putting her arms around his neck. "You don't have to worry about me. I love you, but the last thing you need to do is hover. Just...trust me."

"Okay, I trust you." They kissed quickly, and got back to getting food.

As they ate, they talked about the rally.

"So, you two got da theatre all squared away?" Jack confirmed.
"Yeah, Medda said she's more than happy to have us," Heather responded.

"And Cherry and I got da woid out ta all boroughs' leadahs. So we'll see who shows up."

"How many newsies should we be expecting?" David wondered.

"If as many come as we think'll come, I'd say a few 'undred."

"And-and, we're gonna talk in front of them?" David suddenly got very pale.

"You won't be alone," Heather reassured him, squeezing his hand.

"We bettah get goin' so we can prepare de ouddas for tanight." Jack stood up.

"Why don't you two go ahead, and I'll clear the table?" Heather offered.

"Don't be silly. We can help," David said.

"No, no, that's fine. I like it."

"Ya sure?" Jack confirmed.

"Yes, now go."

"We'll see you outside," David said and the two walked out.

Heather did in fact clear the table, but that wasn't why she stayed behind. When she was done, she slowly walked into the bathroom. She knelt in front of the toilet, trying to will herself to not do this. She didn't want to break her promise, but the guilt from eating was, well, eating her alive. Without thinking about it anymore, she pulled back her hair and stuck her fingers down her throat.

Short, I know. But the next one will be much longer