A/N: Hi everyone! I am finally back with more of this story. I know it's been literally half a year since I updated, but I've been so busy and so much stuff has been going on. I have been thinking about this story a lot, and I finally had some time to squeeze in a little chapter before I finish my school year. Once summer starts, I'm planning on updating weekly, like actually, so that should be fun! Anyway, I hope you like this chapter. This story is very much about building tensions, so that's why these chapters are sort of slow. Also I know some parts of the beginning have been kind of cliche, but I promise you it will start moving soon.
So yeah, I hope you like this, look forward to more frequent updates in the near future (I can actually promise that) and please please leave a review! Enjoy!
Les ran the last few paces to newsies square, leaving Jack carrying his leftover papes behind him. It had been a good day- no, a great day, one of the best. Jack had been unbelievably fun, never saying no the whole day to anything Les had proposed. He had agreed to hawk Les's own made up headlines, which Jack usually said were too far fetched for anyone to believe, he bought Les a slice of cake after lunch, and even begrudgingly agreed to go exploring. Selling with Jack was always great, but today had been almost perfect.
Les had knelt down to pet a stray dog when Jack caught up to him. The other newsies were starting to get return and sell their extra papers back, getting ready to head back to the lodging house for the night. As he greeted them, Les scanned the throng of newsboys for Davey. If there had been one thing wrong with the day, it had been that he hadn't seen his brother at all, and although Les sometimes wouldn't admit it, he loved selling with Davey. Thinking back to his brother's strange behavior this morning and his failure to come back on time, Les started to get a little bit worried. He buried his face in the dogs dingy fur to try and mask his concern.
Jack smirked at him. "What are ya doing down there kid? You wanna catch fleas?" He scratched the dogs head and pulled Les up from the ground.
"Hey Jack? Where's Davey?" Les asked, ignoring Jacks comment and hoping for a reassuring and confident response. Jack looked surprised and glanced around the distribution center.
"I guess I don't know Les. We ain't seen him all day have we? I'll ask around, I'm sure one of the boys saw him today."
But no one had, and Les could see Jack starting to get a little bit concerned too. It wasn't like Davey at all to be late, especially when he always nagged everyone else about it. Les grabbed Jack's hand and suddenly decided that he would have traded in all the good things from today to be standing next to Davey right now.
"It's okay Les. It's not even nighttime yet, we'll wait. He'll come. He's allowed to be late, even if you ain't." Jack smiled and punched Les in the shoulder, and began shepherding the newsies back to the lodging house. They all looked kind of worried now- Davey never did things like this, he would have let them know if there was something he had to do. Race looked a little guilty.
As Les trudged forward to the lodging house, he felt aware of Jacks arm tight around his shoulders, so that every time he tried to look back to scour the city for his brother he was stopped. In the back of his mind, he knew Jack was doing it on purpose, because every time Les turned around he only felt more panicked at the sight of a Davey-less newsies square. Les was mad at himself for being so afraid- he was always complaining about Davey bugging him, but he apparently couldn't even make it a day without him.
The newsies reached the lodging house, the atmosphere quieter than usual. Jack let go of Les and whispered something into Crutchie's ear.
Les sat in the corner picking at the material on his hat while the newsies talked to each other. He knew everything was fine, Davey was fine, but he couldn't believe it. He'd believe it when Davey came back.
"Alright boys, it's time to start looking" Jack said, smacking the old paper he'd been holding against his thigh. " It's near 9, he must be in trouble. We gotta find him."
The newsies muttered their assent, and Les watched in a panic. He couldn't stand not knowing what was going on. Everything felt wrong and disconnected and he knew he was overreacting but suddenly he could only see Crutchie and Jack whispering urgently to each other and Specs shifting his weight nervously and Romeo chewing his sleeve. Les hadn't even been this scared during the strike, when Wiesel and the strike breakers had come, because at least then he had been with Davey the whole time. Jack was always telling him how dangerous New York could be, and although Les had always felt thrilled about living in a city full of adventure, now he wished it weren't true.
Jack and Crutchie came over to Les and Jack knelt down calmly. "Hey kid, we're gonna go and look for your brother okay? You're gonna stay here with Crutchie, and we'll be back soon with Davey."
Les shook his head. "I wanna come!" He said. "He's my brother!"
"Les, I don't know how to say this, but uh, we don't want you to have to... See anything, that's- you know-" Crutchie shot Jack a warning glance. "Look, what I's saying is that we don't want you out at night. So you's staying."
Les sighed. He supposed it wouldn't make any difference if he was there or not. He trusted Jack to find Davey, and if Jack thought he'd get in the way, he'd stay behind. He nodded weakly.
"Thanks Les. Now don't worry, okay? Everything's okay. " Jack patted Les on the arm and made eye contact with Crutchie, and then left, splitting the rest of the newsies into groups.
Les watched the newsies leave the lodging house and decided that if Davey came back safely he'd never complain about anything again. He wished harder than he had wished anything before that his brother was okay.