Gonna start writing A/N's in italics from now on.

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"Is he awake yet?"

"Shut up, stupid! Youse is gonna wake him up!"

"If he talks any louder, he sure's hell will!"

"Youse should all shut up now, before I shut youse up!"

There was light around the room when I opened my eyes, not to mention the multiple boys sitting at my bedside with their eyes watching my every movement. A confused look crossed my face as they scattered around the room, and the tallest boy in the room stepped forward, cracking his neck loudly.

"Mornin' snoozeball." The tall boy said, crossing his arms and pulling a chair from beside a bed closer to my side.

I was on the bottom bunk now, rather than the top, and my leg was wrapped tighter than the night before. Though seething pain still radiated through it, there was a part of it that was bearable. My eyes wandered around the room, while boys still sat, scattered around.

"Whuz goin' on in here?" I mumbled, rubbing my face roughly while propping myself up on my elbows, careful not to move my leg at all.

"Your leg looks like shit," The tall guy deadpanned, before turning his attention to his dirty nails. "But, its a little better now."

"Whaddya mean?" I replied, swapping glances between my freshly bandaged leg and the rest of the boys in the room. "Did youse do all this?"

"Hey, that's why theys call me Med." The boy, Med, shrugged, a smug smirk plastered across his face. "'Nd from what I've heard, they call youse 'Crutches'."

"Crutchie. I only has one, ya know." I laughed, offering a hand to him. He took it, with a smile before standing and walking towards the other end of the room.

"These boys' been here since they were tiny enough to all squeeze into a bed. Snyder found thems near the Wharf by the Hudson, beggin' for food. Took 'em in quicker than you could say 'come 'ere, boys.'"

I nodded slowly, remembering Jack's tales of the refuge, and Nicky and I's conversation last night. "Nice to meet youse."

Every boy mumbled a reply before walking back to their beds, or out of the room, and down one of the many halls that I had been kicked through on my first day.

"Where's Snyder?" I asked as soon as the thought came to my mind.

"Snyder never comes 'round here much anymore, and when he does, it's not for long. Mebbe we can hold him off while youse is getting better." Med replied, wrapping up my bloodied bedsheet and tossing it another little boy. "But for now, just sleep, got it?"

I nodded, leaning back into the bed while my hand brushed my pocket, and I quickly was reminded of my letter to Jack, that would probably never make it to him. "Um, do youse knows of anywhere to send a letter from?"

Med smiled, pushing an average-sized boy towards me. "Ricky knows where. Just give 'im the name and a penny, and he'll send it for youse."

The letter was soon out of my pocket and into the tiny, dirty hands of Ricky, along with a penny as he rushed out of the room, a smile on his face. The door creaked open moments after him, and in the doorway stood the girl I saw last night. Nicky. Her eyes searched the top bunk for me and floated around the room, before resting on my newly bandaged leg. She held a bowl of something greyish that looked like the mush I'd been served at an orphanage before. My stomach growled before I could even say hello.

"Thanks, Med." Nicky nodded, walking towards my bedside and stealing his chair beside the bed, holding the bowl to my lips and gently poured it into my mouth.

I've lived on the streets close to my whole life, but nothing could taste as terrible as that. And, take it from someone who knows, dirt tasted better than that junk.

"You'll like it sooner or later. Nothin' like the stuff I gave you last night." She said, focusing on the bowl that touched my lips. Med quietly took a seat on the bed across the room.

"So I see you've met Nicky before." Med breathed, leaning against the bedpost. "She's the spokeswoman of the lot here, you know."

"Can it, Med. He don't wanna talk." She muttered while placing the bowl back onto the ground. "Just let him sleep."

The three of us stayed silent for a moment while avoiding each other's gaze.

"Thank you guys, for all this." I said, turning my head back to Med. "I don't know how to repay you all."

"Win that strike, bud. That's how we want to be paid." Med said slowly. "You said it last night, you were going to win, right?"

"We's got a good chance."

The room grew more quiet as I rolled my head towards Nicky, shooting her a smile. "And thanks for the breakfast."

She rolled her eyes lazily, walking towards her window seat. "Yeah, yeah. Shut up and eat youse's damn breakfast before I shove it down youse's throat."

Med snorted loudly, along with another little boy that was left in the room. Nicky's sharp gaze cut around the room like a knife, silencing the snorts and giggles while I sat with a dumb smile on my face. When she looked back at me, a smirk was back on her face as she stared out the window at the dirt road below us.

"Hey, Crutchie?" She asked after a few moments of looking out the window while I tried to choke down the rest of the cold mush. "What's it like out theres, on those streets?"

The memories I've made during the last ten years of my life flashed before my eyes, before resting on the perfect night sky I missed with all my heart.

"Beautiful." I said simply. "Dozens of strangers to louse youseself's between, the daily news between youse's fingers, and new things to think about alls the time. Jack, my's best friend, we live up top of da Lodging House. He likes watchin' the sunset, and waitin' for those stars to poke out from the pollution. I, I like da sunrise, and lookin' over da building's for miles and miles, thinkin' about the day ahead. We'se, we likes that."

The memory of the sky seemed more distant than before, duller than how I remembered.

"People, they think that we'se is bad news. Lyin', cheatin' kids. But we'se is the real heroes. The rest of the Newsies and me, we'se a family out on those streets, lookin' out for each others, helpin' out the new guys. It's a life that's worth livin', for me."

When I finished speaking, Nicky's eyes were on me.

"I like hearing youse's stories." She smiled, leaning her head on the window. My heart fluttered a little bit as I pushed myself against the post of the bed. "Can you tell me more?"

And thus, the story of the Newsies was passed onto the kids of the Refuge, each tale as hopeful and new to their wanderlust. When fatigue began to creep up on me, Nicky's entranced face was smiling brighter and happier than ever before.

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