Hi everyone! As always, thank you so much for reading this story and for all of the support. I've had a bit of trouble with my computer so that's why updates have been slow. Anyway, I hope you like this chapter and please leave a review!
Davey sat on one of the bottom bunks in the lodging house, the newsies liked on top of each other around the room. He was fairly certain that he was sitting on Race's bunk, because he could see a cigar on the table adjacent to it, but then again, he wasn't sure. Everything still felt hazy and heavy, and Davey was exhausted. The pain in his ribs had gotten even worse.
Les was right by his side, holding his hand. Amidst all the pain and confusion, Davey was very touched. When Jack and Specs had brought him in, the first thing Davey had seen was Les jumping to his feet and running over to him, attempting to throw his arms around Davey before Jack had held him back and gently explained that Davey was hurt pretty bad and hugging him might make him hurt even worse. And then Davey had seen Les cry, which had only made Davey want to do the same all over again.
Jack and Specs hadn't spoken much on the journey. They had been mostly concentrated on dragging Davey back to the lodging house in a way that was efficient but didn't cause Davey any further pain. Davey didn't remember any specific moments from the experience; he had been too exhausted to really focus on what was going on.
Davey looked tiredly at the gang of boys around him. He felt a pang of familiarity at the situation, and thought back to that same morning, when all the boys had surrounded him at the distribution center, being extra friendly to make up for the night before. He'd initially been overwhelmed at how much they had made hm feel like he belonged, and then almost immediately the feeling had disappeared. He wished he'd been able to hold onto it.
Jack was bent over Davey, pressing his ribs, trying to assess the damage, Davey guessed. His ribs were killing him, but Davey tried to breathe through the pain and held back a wince as Jack touched his side. He got the feeling that newsies didn't cry over cracked ribs.
"Is he gonna be okay?" Les asked quietly, still holding Davey's hand. "He looks really bad."
"'Course he is," Jack said. "It ain't all that bad. He's got a few broken ribs, but nothin' that won't heal after a little while. We's all had 'em before. Only gotta worry if they screw up the breathing. Everything else is rough for sure, and it's gotta hurt a bunch, but he'll live." Jack lightly clapped Davey on the shoulder and moved to sit down. All eyes were on Davey now that Jack had given his report.
"So Dave, you gonna tell us who did this to you so we can kick their asses?" Race said dryly. "Or do you wanna just let 'em get away with it."
"You know, it's-" Davey took a painful breath. "It doesn't matter. It was just some rich kids looking for trouble, I didn't know them. I was alone, I was outnumbered. It happens. Nothing you can do." Davey was speaking in short gasps; he felt like his broken ribs were stabbing into every breath, every word, every movement.
Davey knew why he hadn't told the boys the truth: some part of him didn't feel like a real newsie anymore. Well, he supposed he never fully had, but he had been able to ignore his doubts until Sam had brought them to light. It didn't matter what Jack said, Davey couldn't truly believe that their friendship was genuine anymore.
There must be something wrong with his head, Davey thought to him tiredly. It must be his fault that he had never had any friends- Sam had only revealed the truth. Davey suddenly felt like he needed to be away from these people. He only knew that for some reason, something inside him kept urging him to believe that the newsies didn't care. That all the joy of the past few months was ruined, and he would never be happy. And all at once it felt too overwhelming to think about.
Davey made himself look around at the newsies, gauging their reactions to his explanation. They all seemed to buy it, and if they didn't, well, if Davey was honest with himself, he was too exhausted to worry about it right now.
Davey hadn't even realized that there had been a pause until Jack spoke again, staring up and brushing off his pants. "Okay. Boys, let's keep an eye out for any rich looking bastards around the area. Now get to bed guys, Dave's gotta go to sleep. Race, take my bed, I don't wanna move Davey and I'll be on the roof anyway. Les, you can have the extra one over by Mush, all right kid?" Race grumbled but nodded his assent.
As the newsies climbed into their bunks, Davey eases himself backwards into the bed, sighing before remembering how much it would hurt. His parents were aware that he spent the night at the lodging house sometimes, but he knew he really should have let them know himself. Oh well. It couldn't be helped this time.
Davey saw Jack walk over to him and quickly tried to turn into his side to avoid him before gasping in pain. Jack smirked a little bit as he approached.
"Nice try," Jack said, grinning. "I know you's trying to get out of talking to me." Davey rolled his eyes and Jack's smile faded.
"No, but lemme be serious for a minute. We was all really worried about you tonight. I'm sorry you had to go through what happened to you. The city can be rough sometimes."
Davey grunted. "I'm well aware of the dangers of being alone in New York, Jack. I can usually take care of myself, tonight I couldn't. I'm sure it's happened to all of you."
Davey desperately wanted Jack to go away, but he only peered more closely into Davey's face. "Hey Dave?" Jack asked quietly. "You sure it was just a random group of kids? You sure you's okay? Like I said earlier, you's been a little off lately, and after tonight, I just want to make sure... 'Cause you know Dave, if there was anything we could do to help you, we'd all do it. You know that right? That's what being a newsie means." As Jack finished talking, Davey realized that he was using the same tone of voice he used when he talked to little kids on the street when he brought them food, the same voice he used when he had to explain something to Les. For some reason, it made Davey even more upset.
"I'm fine," Davey said shortly. There was not way Jack could ever know how weak Davey was. How he couldn't even handle an old school bully, how he was so pathetic and stupid that he had let schoolboy insults ruin everything he had.
Davey suddenly found he wanted nothing. No conceivable scenario posed any shred of hope. There was nothing at all he could imagine that would make him feel okay. Davey felt panicked at the realization, so panicked that he felt like he might throw up. He needed Jack to leave him alone.
"I'm fine," Davey said again. He felt incredibly frustrated that Jack wouldn't go.
"Alright," Jack said doubtfully. "If you say so." He stood up and touched Davey's arm. "If you need anything during the night, yell for me, okay?"
Davey nodded, feeling his throat burn and tears come to his eyes. Why couldn't he feel reassured by what Jack was clearly trying to offer? Why couldn't he let anyone help him?
As Jack walked away, Davey looked around the room one last time before closing his eyes. His gaze moved across Specs lifting Buttons up to the bunk above him, over Albert lightly smacking JoJo on the back with his hat and shoving him towards his bed, and finally lingered on Race and Romeo sitting on the floor. Davey strained his eyes and saw the usually sarcastic older newsie with an arm around the younger one, a sight that was out of character for Race but was as clear as day.
And then Davey caught sight of Les, who was pressed up closely against Mush and was tightly gripping his arm. Davey watched as Mush gently pried his arm out of Les's hold and put both of his hands on Les's shoulders so that the boy was facing him. Davey saw Mush's mouth move and saw Les nod and then saw Mush stand Les up in front of him and hug him before putting his hand on his back and ushering him towards the the beds they were to respectively occupy. Davey sighed again, despite the stab of pain in his side. Even though he knew that Les was almost definitely upset over him, Davey felt left out. These boys were clearly a family, and Les was just as much a part of it as any of the other newsies. Why couldn't the same be true for Davey? And he had to admit, as he watched the boys interact with each other, he felt multiple pangs of jealousy. Davey had never been on the receiving end of such comfort; he was always the one giving it. Whenever he was afraid or upset, he had to deal with it, and not only that, but he had to put it aside to be there for Les first.
Davey shook his head slightly, trying to move on from the vortex of self pity. He needed to sleep. He focused all his energy on pushing the unbidden thoughts into the furthest reaches of his mind and took a breath. His only hope was that things would look better in the morning.