A/N: AN UPDATE! I know, I know. It's been awhile. Well, this here chappie has lots and lots of fluff…detailed fluff at that. Catherine belongs to MargieDriscoll and Whisper belongs to SpellBell. Go read their stories, great stuff!

Disclaimer: Nope…still don't own it…although it'd be a GREAT X-mas gift…eh?

Chapter 14

The Demons of True Love

Two hours after everything had occurred; Rachel was sitting in Spot's bedroom upstairs, feeling numb. Everyone else was downstairs, but Rachel once again couldn't bear to be down there with them, especially Spot. The younger Newsies were sleeping in the room Rachel, Catherine, and Spell had shared so that they could get some sleep. Rachel couldn't even look at Spot when she told him that she needed to be alone. Catherine and Spell were the only ones to step in to take her upstairs. All the others were looking at the floor, as if they were ashamed with her. Spot, the boy she loved, didn't even look at her from the point when the police came to the point when she left the room. Remembering the look Spot had sent her when she looked at him, the pain seared through her heart again. It wasn't a look of contempt, but it wasn't a look of sorrow either. It was as though he blamed her for Ricky's death, but couldn't bring himself to hate her so much. It tore her apart, and the simple fact that she could have stopped it if she hadn't gotten involved with anyone made her sink deeper into thoughts of deep depression. Sighing, she got up and walked towards the window. The storm had subsided, and now only a light sprinkle fell from the skies. It was past midnight, and Rachel knew that come morning, she'd have to face everyone once again. Perhaps the thing that hurt her most was that Spot didn't even care about her face. Rachel did not even bother to try and take out the pieces of glass. She knew she should take them out or else she would have an infection or the skin would start healing. She just couldn't bring herself to do it. Leaning up against the window she looked down on the empty street below here. She had grown close to Ricky over the past few days and now that he was gone, it was hard to imagine. Closing her eyes, Rachel dreamed of a day when she could leave her past behind and start a new life where no one knew about her.

Spot sat in the corner, looking with dark eyes at everyone around him. His sisters were with the men they loved, and all the Newsies were talking in whispers, some shooting glances his way every now and then. He didn't like it, yet it was the truth that he had purposely set himself away from everyone after Ricky died. It had hit him hard in the stomach when that shot rang out. Ricky had pushed him out of the way, in order to save Spot's life and Rachel a broken heart. But it didn't help. Rachel had immediately gone straight upstairs when the bulls left. Spot didn't particularly blame her, but his sisters gave him cruel looks when they came back down from bringing her up. He supposed he deserved it; after all he should be with Rachel. They both lost someone they cared about this night. But somewhere in Spot's mind, he figured he had the right to do what he did. He lost his best friend, the only person who had stood by him when things got bad, really bad. And now…now Spot would never see him again. Didn't he have the right to be mad at Rachel?

He knew it wasn't her fault. If Ricky hadn't acted the way he did, Spot would be the one dead. Rachel might be even more broken over it, but Spot didn't know. He knew that if she could have prevented it, she would have. Spell told him in a small whisper that Rachel had fought Sarah, and Spot knew that something had happened to Rachel. When she was talking to one of the bulls, he kept looking at her face and the look on his face scared Spot. The bull's eyes had held a fear in them, perhaps a fear for Rachel's life, Spot didn't know. Her hair covered both sides of her face, and she had kept her head down when she came inside. Spot did notice that she had a few blood stains seeping into her shirt when she came in, but he figured it to be from the fight with Sarah. How else could she have gotten hurt?

Shaking these thoughts from his mind, Spot looked up as he heard soft footsteps coming closer to where he was sitting. Race stood in front of him, a look of anger and sympathy on his face, which would make for quite an amusing look, but the circumstances were too dark for Spot to mind.

"Spot…" Race said, trailing off. Suddenly, he became nervous and started twiddling with his cigar stained fingers. "Listen, ya gots ta talk to Rach. She ain't gonna takes this well."

Spot looked away from Race for a moment and locked eyes with Jetty across the room. Jetty quickly looked away and towards the window, which showed a blackened night.

Turning his attention back towards Race, Spot sighed. "She'll take care of herself. Ya don't hafta worry bout her."

Race scowled; angered by the way Spot was handling this. Granted, Spot just lost his best friend, but Rachel had been through more, and Race knew her well enough to know that Rachel shouldn't be left alone in a situation like this. He knew she'd try to do something desperate, and if she succeeded, Race would kill Spot. He had no right to sit there and scowl at Rachel or Race. Race wasn't about to let Spot get away with not talking to Rachel.

"Listen Spot, she's gonna blame herself for what happened. Ya gotta go up dere."

Spot looked Race in the eye, and Race looked back without backing down. "Alright…I'll go talks ta her." Spot said, giving in. Other times, he would have fought, but this time he just wanted to get out of the room. He could feel the eyes on him when he got up and started walking to the stairs. As he started slowly up them, he almost felt a sense of relief. His heart had been nagging him all night to see Rachel, and go to her, but his stubborn temper and mind stopped him from doing so. Continuing up the steps he took a deep breath before knocking on the door. He heard a muffled 'ow' before a voice came out.

"Yeah?" He almost broke when he heard Rachel's despaired voice through the door.

"It's Spot; I need ta talk ta ya." Spot shuffled uncomfortably as he waited for her response.

A few moments later, the door opened and Spot caught a glimpse of Rachel's face before she turned her back on him and went over to the bed to sit on it. His heart almost stopped when he saw the blood on it, slowly starting to dry and crust.

Quickly closing the door, he rushed over to her as she sat on the bed, one side of her face cupped in her hand. "Rach?" Spot asked in a worried tone.

Rachel closed her eyes tightly before she could respond. "Yeah, Spot?" She asked, almost timidly, to the only man she ever truly loved in her life and who loved her back, or so she had thought.

"Wha's da matter wit ya face?" He asked gently. "Yous bleedin'." He tried to gently take her hand away from her face, but she turned her head away from him so that he couldn't take it away. "Rachel…please. Let me take a look at it…"

Rachel didn't know what to do. Sure, she'd love to be okay again, the glass in her face hurt like hell, and she felt it all throughout. Even though the fight was long ago, the pain was still piercing. She also wanted to be in Spot's arms again, to feel his hand on her cheek in comfort, because she missed it terribly. But at the same time, she was afraid of what he'd do if he saw her like that. She had a terrifying fear that he would lash out at her and say she deserved it. Sighing, she decided to risk it and slowly brought down her hand from her face. Slowly turning on the bed so Spot could see the entirety of her face, she heard him utter an audible gasp.

"Shit." He said quietly. Her face was worse than he thought it'd be. Pieces of glass stuck out from her skin, ranging from just above the eyebrow to her chin and extending back just before her hairline. The blood around the edges had dried, and Spot could see where the blood had dripped down her neck and onto her shirt. The elbow of her right shirt was ripped and Spot could see the now crusted blood on both the shirt and skin of her elbow. He couldn't bear to look at it, but he knew if he turned away, she'd take it the wrong way. Gently, he wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her across the bed towards him, making her straddle him on the bed. She whimpered a protest, but he pulled her body closer, shushing her. He gently brought his hand up to her cut up cheek, and it lingered there for a moment before cupping her face gently. "Rachel…" he said softly, and she looked up at him with tears in her eyes. Moving his hand down from her cheek to her neck, he pulled her face closer to his. "I love you no matter what," he said before gently kissing her on the lips. Pulling her body closer, he deepened the kiss, sliding his tongue into her mouth and becoming greedier. He had been waiting for this for awhile, and as her hands slipped up to his back and around his neck, he felt a sensation going down his back. He slipped his hand on her neck to her back, pulling her even closer to his body and urging his tongue deeper. This is what he was waiting for, what he needed. He needed to feel her, he needed to know that he could kiss her and she wouldn't pull away. He had been questioning himself for a long time. He questioned whether he could kiss her like this and that she wouldn't hate him for it. He questioned whether he could even bring himself to pulling her this close to him, pulling her onto his lap and keeping her there. But, as the kiss wore on, he knew he didn't have to question it any longer. He wanted more of her, he knew that, but he didn't want to make her do anything she might regret in the future. One of her hands got tangled in the mess of his hair and he took the incentive to become greedier. Suddenly, she let out a painful gasp, and he pulled his lips away quickly, fearing he had hurt her. "Rach?" He asked fearfully.

Rachel's tears slid slowly down her face. "It just…it hurts so much." She gasped slightly as she brought her own hand to her cheek, touching it slightly. "The glass….it just…hurts."

"God…I'm sorry Rach…" Spot said, taking her hand in his. "Hold on…I'll go get some help."

Gently sitting Rachel back on the bed, Spot stood up and then turned back to her. "I'll be back in a minute."

"Spot…wait…" Rachel said, trying to stop him.

"Listen Rach, you gotta get some help. I can't do it by myself." He said, before gently kissing her on the neck before turning back and going out the door to get the girls to help with Rachel's face.

A few minutes later, Rachel heard footsteps coming up the stairs. The door opened to reveal Catherine and Spell with Spot and Jack close behind them. Both girls' eyes widened at the sight of Rachel's face as they rushed in and bent down to her.

"Oh, dear!" Catherine said, biting her bottom lip.

"I'll go get some tweezers." Whisper said. "Jack," she turned to him. "You and Spot go get two big buckets of warm water and washcloths." Running into the bathroom, she found the tweezers that she and Catherine used to fix their eyebrows.

Catherine had torn Rachel's right sleeve from the elbow done and gently had taken the large piece of glass out from Rachel's arm, since it was loose enough. By the time she and Whisper were ready, both Jack and Spot were back upstairs with full buckets of water and cloths.

"Bring 'em over heah." Whisper said before kneeling down in front of Rachel.

"Now, Rach, dis is gonna hurt." Catherine said, taking the second tweezers that Whisper had found in the bathroom. "But it'll be alright one dere all out."

"Spot," Whisper turned around to Spot who was looking at Rachel with a worried expression. "Sit next ta Rach and hold her hand. She's gonna need ya."

Obeying, Spot sat next to Rachel, taking both her hands in his. Looking up at him, their eyes locked before she looked down to her lap. When Whisper pulled out the first piece of glass, Rachel gasped from the pain.

"Damn," she heard Catherine whisper before opening her eyes again and looking up at both the girls. "The bloods crusted round da pieces of glass. We's gonna need to wet your face to make it hurt less."

Rachel nodded, just wanting the glass to be gone, and the pain to subside. Letting go of Spot's hands reluctantly, she held her face over the first bucket of warm water and let both Whisper and Catherine dip the cloths into the water and squeeze it out onto her face. There was a bit of stinging pain at first, but then it wore off as the water ran down her face.

"Alright," Whisper said softly. "You can sit up again."

Doing what she said, Rachel sat back on the bed as comfortable as she could. Spot took her hands once again, and Whisper and Catherine took up their job.

It was a slow and painful process to take out all the pieces of glass from Rachel's face, but when they were done, they had a small pile of shattered pieces of glass in a thick cloth Jack had gotten out for them. Rachel had closed her eyes during the whole process and Spot had held tight onto her hands. Opening her eyes, she could see Whisper and Catherine wetting the cloths. Looking sideways, her eyes met once again with Spot's.

"Dis here is gonna sting." Whisper said as she and Catherine gently wiped clean Rachel's face and elbow of the crusted blood. Biting her lip, Rachel bit back the tears in her eyes. A few minutes later, she opened them and saw both Catherine and Whisper smiling at her.

"Now ya clean…" Catherine said, smiling even more. Turning back to Jack who stood motionless in the doorway, she looked up at him. "Can ya get those bandages in da bathroom for me?" She asked and he nodded stiffly before going into the bathroom. Whisper proceeded to clean up, taking the dirty buckets of water out into the hall where they would picked up and throwing out the pieces of glass and cloths that they used. When Whisper came back in the room, she helped Catherine quietly bandage up Rachel's elbow and put some small bandages on her face, with Rachel not moving throughout the whole process. When they were finished, both Catherine and Whisper stood uncomfortably. Jack had quietly gone down the stairs, leaving the four to deal with what was happening.

"Rach…" Whisper murmured. She looked at Spot who was looking at Rachel with unreadable emotions in his eyes. "Ya want us to leave you two to talk?"

Rachel seemed to come out of her trance and looked up at both Catherine and Whisper. "Yeah…dat would be great…" she trailed off before looking back down at her lap.

Whisper nodded and she and Catherine quietly left the couple to talk things over, closing the door behind them. Back in the room, there was almost an uncomfortable tension between the two. Spot still held both of Rachel's hands and, looking down at their hands intertwined, he realized he couldn't stop himself. Pulling her onto his lap again, his hands went from being intertwined with hers to pushing her body close to his. He could hear her audible gasp of surprise before one of his hands went to cup the back of her neck.

"Spot," Rachel gasped his name before putting her hands against his chest. "What are ya doin'?"

Not bothering to answer, Spot started nuzzling her neck, laying random kisses upon her bare skin. He knew the feeling he had in the pit of his stomach wasn't lust, but he was scared to call it love. Raising his face up, he kissed her once again on the lips. Sliding her tongue into her mouth, she broke down under him and gave in, opening her mouth for his tongue. She slider her hands up his chest to wrap her arms around his neck, making him pull her closer onto his lap. Spot then pulled her even closer, so that there was barely any space between their bodies. Groaning, his tongue sought deeper into her mouth and his hands roamed her body, making her shudder. When Spot's lips left hers to take their place kissing her neck again, a shiver went down Rachel's spine. Her hand cupped the back of Spot's head as he kissed and nuzzled her neck. "Spot…"Rachel managed to say before Spot captured her lips in his once again. Grabbing her around the waist again, without breaking the kiss, he pulled her under him onto the bed. Practically lying on top of her, he continued to kiss her passionately with her responding with the same enthusiasm. Her arms continued to wrap around his neck, pulling him closer to her.

Then something in Spot broke. He pulled back from her, looking down at Rachel. "Can't…" Spot managed to get out before collapsing next to Rachel. Lying on his back, he rubbed his hands over his eyes. "I can't believe I just did dat."

Rolling on her side, Rachel looked at Spot with troubled eyes. "Spot…" she said, tentatively reaching out to him. "What's da matter."

Spot didn't know what to do. For his whole life, he had been able to get any girl that he wanted, and if he wanted to have his way with her, he could without her protesting. But, when it came to Rachel, he had her but he didn't want to take her. He just didn't know how to explain it to her. "Rach," Spot sighed before going on. "I love you, ya know dat. I ain't takin' no advantage of ya. I ain't gonna be like dat. I couldn't do dat to ya. I wanna wait, and I jus' can't do dis tonight."

Rachel smiled. "Spot. I love you too. I…just…don't know what ta say."

Spot smiled before reaching out and pulling her close, wrapping his arms around her and pulling the blanket up over their bodies. Rachel snuggled close to Spot's body and tucked her head under Spot's chin. Grinning, he kissed the top of her head. "Night dahling." He whispered in her ear.

"Good night Spot." Rachel said before closing her eyes to one of the most peaceful sleeps she's had in months.

A/N: So….whatcha think? This isn't the last chapter of the story, so I've decided and it will go on! Sorry for the late, late update, this site wouldn't let me get on! Anyways, I'll definitely update a lot more. R/R!