I do not own Newsies or any of the Newsies characters. To the best of my knowledge they are owned by Disney.

I do not own the character Saiorse "Irish" Callan. She is owned by her creator Lady of Tir Na Nog, who has graciously offered the use of "Irish" as a character in this story.

I am making no money from this story. (Bet that comes as a great surprise to y'all.)

Rated M for Slash, Sexual Situations, and Language.
A/N: This chapter was beta'd by the fun and fabulous pennylanye. Even though she is busy with her own writing and her work as co-creator of the "wondertwins" LJ, she still found the time to help me out.

A/N: I want to thank those who have stuck with me throughout this story. Last fall's unavoidable three month delay did cost me some readers, but you didn't give up on me.

My new beta and renewed energy have me back on track.

Thanks to all for your support.

Chapter 19 – An Orgy Looking to Happen

"I'm not kidding," Mush said, taking a swallow of Spot's Irish whiskey. "I had no intention of going to Itey's eighteenth birthday party. I tried everything I could think of to convince my mom to let me stay home, but she had other ideas. She literally dragged me kicking and screaming all the way from our house to Itey's. When we got to the corner it suddenly dawned on me that I was about five inches taller than Mom, and had about thirty pounds on her. That's when I made the big mistake."

"What'd you do?" Itey asked, taking the bottle from Mush.

"I did what any mature young man would do in my situation. I acted like an ass! I dug my feet into the ground and threw my arms around the light pole in front of the house. Then I declared that I was the man in our family, and that Mom had no right to treat me like a kid."

"Were you trying to get yourself killed?" Dutchy laughed. "Nobody speaks to Kate Meyers like that. I worked a few cases with your mom, and I've seen her make grown men cry!"

"You're not kidding," Mush replied. "Before I could say another word, she reached up and grabbed a handful of my hair, and didn't let go until we got to the front door. Needless to say, that was the last time I ever tried to tell her I was the man of the family!"

Everyone except Chris was laughing. . The others hadn't noticed Tony slip away during Mush's story. Now Tony was standing where Chris found him that afternoon. Tony's back was towards the others, and he was standing in the place where they'd shared their first kiss. Chris stood to go and join him, but was stopped by a hand on his arm. "Wait a minute," Spot said, as he poured some whiskey into a paper cup. "This might help loosen him up."

Chris looked at the cup than back at Tony. "I hope so," he sighed.

"Well, if that doesn't work, give him that goofy grin of yours. I never understood how lookin' at you with that big bunch of teeth could make him happy, but it always did."

"Thanks, Spot."

"Don't mention it," Spot replied with a wink.

"Hey, babe," Chris said as he placed a hand on Tony's shoulder.

Tony jumped and gasped in a breath. "Jesus, Chris. Are you trying to give me a heart attack?"

"C'mon, Tony. Will you relax? Skittery feels real bad about what happened. It was just a joke that got out of hand. Nobody got hurt."

"I know it was a joke, Chris. And I'm not angry with Skittery . . . Even though it was an asinine thing for him to do. But what if it hadn't been Skittery? We've all been laughing and having a good time, but think about what brought us here. We could be pissing off the wrong people. That really could have been someone with a gun. Someone who doesn't want us to find out what's going on around here, and then what would have happened?"

"C'mon, Tony. This isn't you talking. You're not the type to go around worrying about what might happen. You face life head-on, and damn anyone who gets in your way. That's one of the things that made me fall in love with you."

Tony turned back and stared at the wall. "You know what I've been standing here thinking about?"

"Our first kiss?"

"Well, sort of, but not really. I was thinking that this is where it all started. I met you here at Pulitzer, and I fell for you the minute I saw you. This spot, right here, is where we had our first kiss. And this is where we both said 'I love you,' for the first time. We even made love for the first time back there in that locker room. Everything for you and me started here. And tonight, with you lying on the floor with that nut-job at the door, I realized that it all could end here. It could all have been over in a matter of seconds. I don't know what I'd do without you, Chris. I don't think I'd survive without you."

"Well, nothing happened. And you're not going to get rid of me that easily. I plan on sticking around until long after that thick black hair of yours turns gray."

"Oh yeah? Well, that may not take too long," Tony said running his fingers through his hair. "After that scare tonight, I think that my hair will be snow white by my next haircut."

"That wasn't the hair that I was referring to," Chris grinned as he pulled out the waist of Tony's sweat pants and peeked down the front.

"You're such a perv," Tony laughed, slapping Chris' hand away.

"And that's one of the things that you love about me." Chris smiled.

"One of the many," Tony said, pulling Chris into a tight embrace.

"Shit!" Chris spat when he felt the whiskey trickle down his arm. "You'd better drink this while there is still some in the cup."

"What is it?"

"Irish whiskey, courtesy of Spot Conlon. He said that I should give you this, and if it didn't make you feel better then I should give you my goofy grin."

"That grin isn't goofy," Tony smiled as he pulled Chris closer. "That smile is the reason I get up every morning."

"You mean, that's the reason that you get it up every morning, right?"

"You really are a perv," Tony laughed.

"Lucky you! Now drink that stuff and come back by the guys so you can finish that story about Itey's party."

Chris leaned against the wall in the Higgins' kitchen to keep his balance. He had his crutch under one arm and was holding the telephone in the other.

"Yes, Mom," he said, rolling his eyes at Tony. "Yes, Mom, I'll be careful. . . . Yes, Mom. If I don't feel well I'll have Race bring me home right away. . . . We've been over this a dozen times, Mom. . . . All of the guys are going to be there. I'm not going to be the only one that has to come home right after the party. It isn't fair! . . . Please Mom, don't embarrass me. . . . Okay, okay, Mom. . . . Hey, Mrs. H.! My mom wants to talk to you!"

Chris put his hand over the mouthpiece of the telephone before he handed the receiver to Mrs. Higgins. "My mom isn't crazy about all us guys sleeping at Itey's after the party. She's afraid that it might turn into an orgy or something. I can't make her understand that there is nothing Race and I can do at Itey's that we can't do anyplace else."

Tony looked up from his magazine and grinned. "There's nothing that we can do at Itey's that we haven't already done on your mom's living room couch," Tony chuckled.

"Shut up, Race!" Chris hissed. "You're not helping!"

As his mother reached for the telephone, Tony whispered, "Hey, Mom. Tell her that Blink will be safe as long as the other guys are around. Tell her he'll be fine as long as I don't get him alone."

"Hush, Tony," Mrs. Higgins said, taking the receiver from Chris. "Hello, Mrs. Hunter. What can I do for you? . . . . Yes, there will quite a few boys staying at the Callos' after the party. . . . Who? . . .Let's see. There will be Christopher and Anthony, of course. Then Jack Kelly, Sean Conlon, David Jacobs..."

"Now there's an orgy looking to happen," Tony chuckled.

Mrs. Higgins glared at her son as she continued with the list. "Adam Schuyler and Daniel Bergman are invited . . . . Yes, that's right. Dutchy and Specs."

"Oh, yeah," Tony laughed. "Now it's definitely an orgy looking to happen."

"Be quiet, Anthony!" Mrs. Higgins warned, holding her hand over the receiver. "Then there's Snoddy Morrison, Pie Eater Scolari and Swifty Steaken - -"

"That's good, Mom. Throw in a few straight guys to throw her off the track!"

"One more word out of you and you won't be going to the party," Mrs. Higgins warned. "Well, I'm not sure, Mrs. Hunter. I suppose the boy got the nickname because he likes to eat pie."

Chris let out a mournful groan and dropped his head onto the table. "My mom isn't going to be happy until she drives me completely crazy." Chris' last two words were punctuated by hitting his head against the table.

"Stop that, Christopher," Mrs. Higgins said, thumping him on the back of the head. "You are going to make yourself dopey if you keep doing that."

"Too late," Tony chuckled.

"Then there will be Itey, of course, and three of the older Callo boys, Skittery, Emilio, and Paulo . . . No, Mrs. Hunter. Itey and Skittery are not Italian names. They're nicknames."

"Yeah. Roughly translated, Itey means little creep who can't keep his hands off my sister," Tony huffed.

Mrs. Higgins had had enough of Tony's smart remarks. She removed her bedroom slipper and tossed it at her son. Chris burst out laughing when the slipper bounced off the side of Tony's head.

"The party will be well chaperoned by Itey's parents and grandparents . . . . Yes, Mrs. Hunter, I will definitely keep an eye on the boys. . . . Goodbye."

"That was a great shot you made with that slipper, Mrs. H." Chris laughed.

"There hasn't been an Italian mother yet who couldn't zero in on one of her children with a bedroom slipper. Now, the two of you better be ready to go in five minutes or I'm leaving without you."

Tony helped Chris on with his jacket, and when his mother wasn't looking he slipped a bottle of Irish whiskey into the pocket.

"Why do I have to be the one to sneak it out of the house? This was your big idea," Chris grumbled.

"My mom will see it if I try to hide it in my short jacket. You've got enough pockets in yours that you could take a two week vacation without any luggage. Just don't clink those crutches against the bottle, and Mom will never know."

"You're a bad influence on me, Race," Chris smiled. "First you steal my virtue, and now you want to turn me into a smuggler."

"I stole your virtue?" Tony laughed. "Jeeze, Blink. It's not like you're a princess and I climbed a tower to have my way with you. You are a lot of things, but virtuous was never one of them!"

"Remind me why I love you," Chris said, with mock indignation.

"I'll refresh your memory later on tonight," Tony whispered as he brushed his lips against Chris'.

"You know, Race. My memory isn't what it used to be. You may have to remind me twice to make sure that I don't forget."

Tony moaned as he nipped at Chris' bottom lip. "I love it when you're a man-slut."

"Knock it off, you two," Mrs. Higgins said as she walked through the kitchen to the front door. "If you two aren't out this door in three seconds, you won't be going to the party! I'm going to make you stay right here. . . And you will be staying in separate rooms!"

"That was one hell of a party, little brother," Skittery said. "I don't think any of us will ever forget that night."

"That was the night that you stole Irish from Snoddy, wasn't it?" Mush asked.

"I didn't steal anything. Irish was never Snoddy's girlfriend. That was just wishful thinking on his part."

"What ever happened to Irish?" Mush asked. "You too were pretty serious for a while, weren't you?"

The room fell silent as all eyes glared at Mush.

"What? What did I say?" Mush asked.

End – Chapter 19

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