We Need You (Jack Kelly/Reader)
Fandom: Newsies
Warning: Canon-Typical violence
Words: 6.4k
Read it on my ao3 instead if you want!
The circulation bell chimed, cutting through the peaceful morning.
“Newsies! Time to get up!” You called out as you exited the washroom, smoothing out your dress.
Some boys popped right out of bed and started getting ready for the day while others grumbled and were slower to rise.
It was like that most days. Each boy had their own routine and as long as they got out of the lodge in time, that’s all you could ask for.
It was utter chaos when everyone was up though. Boys were scrambling to get into the washroom to bath and freshen up and others were getting dressed, the housing lodge not terribly big when with all the newsies inside at once.
“Come on Albert, get up.” You said, sitting on the edge of his bed and rubbing your hand up and down his back.
Albert moaned and opened his eyes.
“I was having the most wonderful dream. A large steak, cooked to perfection.” Albert said, scrunching his eyebrows together.
“You’ll have time to dream later, you got work to do.” You said, standing up and moved across the room.
You walked over to another boy who always took forever to get up, Romeo.
“Romeo, wake up lazybones!” You said, patting his cheek.
His hand shot up from under the covers and grabbed yours to hold it to his face.
“How’d you get so beautiful this early in the morning, [Y/N]?” He said, eyes still half closed but looking at you.
You leaned in real close, smiling. Romeo’s eyes widened and he started to lean in as well.
“I got out of bed on time.” You whispered and pulled away. Romeo pulled a face and rolled over in his bunk.
“Here Tommy Boy, I fixed your sock.” You said and pulled his sock out of your dress pocket, having mended it the night before.
“Thanks!” Tommy Boy said, happy to not have a large hole on the heel anymore.
“[Y/N] have you seen my cigar?” Race asked. He was crouched over, looking under his bed.
“And my shoe?” Kid Blink called.
“Blink, I’ll help you look for your shoe in a second,” you said with a smile, “Race you always end up stashing them in between your mattress and bed frame when you’re half asleep. Just put it away before you go to bed.”
“No can do.” Race said, pulling out his cigar from where you said it would be and sticking it in his mouth.
“Boys, you have about 10 more minutes before the papers are distributed.” You called out to the room as a whole.
“[Y/N]! The water’s freezing in here!” Elmer said, sticking his head out from the washroom’s door.
“It would have been warm if you had gotten up on time.” You said with a laugh.
“I hope the headlines are better today.” You overheard Mush complaining to Specs “This whole trolley thing is boring, and no one is interested anymore.”
“Matter’s to the workers,” Specs said, adjusting his suspenders.
Mush grumbled a reply.
“Don’t forget its laundry tonight for…” You pulled out a small piece of paper you kept in one of your dress pockets and read off from the laundry list. “Finch, JoJo, and Buttons.”
Buttons saluted you and the other two made noises of acknowledgment.
As Smalls ran by, Blink’s shoe in hand, waving it above his head, you grabbed it from him. Smalls let out a noise of disappointed but went back to getting ready.
“Blink!” You called out.
The newsie looked over at you and easily caught the shoe when you tossed it to him.
“Are you gonna meet us for lunch today?” Crutchie asked, buttoning his shirt.
“Yeah! You know I love Jacobi’s, wouldn’t miss it.” You replied, placing Mush’s cap on his head that you had found on the other side of the room.
Newsies rushed past you, still trying to get ready for the day on time, while you remade everyone’s bed, tucking covers back in and fluffing pillows.
“Can someone go make sure Jack is up. He’s usually down here by-” You started but stopped when you heard a heavy weight hit the floor. You turned over your shoulder to see that Jack had just come in from the fire escape through the window.
Jack glanced at you but quickly turned away, straightening his vest.
You weren’t really sure why it seemed like Jack didn’t like you. Maybe because you weren’t a boy, maybe because he didn’t think you were useful, there was no way of knowing with him.
Jack did let you sleep on his bunk since he claimed to only ever sleep in his penthouse anyway, but he still seemed reluctant to like you at all.
“Okay boys, you gotta leave now.” You said and soon there was a flurry of bodies heading towards. It was a mad dash to be at The World in time, all wanting to see the headline for the day.
As boys passed, they each gave you a quick wave or hug as a goodbye. Jack was the only boy to do neither.
You shook your head, turning your thought back to the rest of the gang and smiled fondly. You made yourself useful and started picking up discarded towels left over from the boys bathing.
-
You had first arrived at the newsies lodging house when you heard it was really the only safe place for a kid to live. You had run away from home about a week before with no money and desperately needed somewhere to stay.
You knew staying on the streets for too long meant that you might be thrown into the Refuge.
You arrived at the lodgings in the early evenings with only yourself and a small suitcase. You knocked on the door and waited.
You heard nothing for a moment than thumps and crashed from inside like stampeding elephants.
The door slowly crept open and you found dozens of eyeballs staring back at you from the doorway.
“Hi.” You said shyly, not really prepared for this at all.
The boys all wore confused expressions. They never got house calls except for the landlord, looking for rent money. They had never had someone come and knock on their door, and they had never had a girl come to see them.
“What, uh, what can we do for ya?” One of the boys asked
“If yous gots a problem with your edition, take it up with The World.” Another boy said, laughing. A few other boys join in.
“No, no, I was…looking for some place to stay, actually.”
“What?” A few boys asked, the confusion only growing more.
“I ran away from home and…I heard this was somewhere safe for kids to stay who were working. I need to make money and some place to sleep so…here I am.” You explained, knowing your face was turning red.
“Someone go get Jack.” A boy with a crutch under his arm said.
You were invited in and several candles were lit. Soon you were greeted by what seemed to be the newsies leader.
“Hello…who is this?” Jack asked the other boys, looking you up and down.
“Says she ran away from home.”
“Needs a job.”
“Wants to stay here.”
Jack looked at you with a face full of skepticism. “Yous wants to live here with a bunch of stinkin’ boys?”
You looked out of place. A nice dress, styled hair.
“I need a job, you’re all newsies, right?.” You said, trying to sound confident.
“Sorry kid, yous in the wrong place. Goils ain’t newsies.”
“Please, they turned me away at the other workhouses that I could find. I’ll do anything. I’ll cut my hair off and wear trousers or -”
“First off, the hairs not your problem, you got too many other,” Jack paused for a moment “attributes that make you distinguishable from a boy. People don’t wanna buy from no goil. Also, girls ain’t allowed in this lodging house. We could all get kicked out if the landlord finds you here.”
“Please, I don’t have anywhere else to go. This was my only chance. I’ll end up in the Refuge or somewhere worse if I can’t stay here.” You pleaded, eyes watering, knowing you sounded desperate but unable to do anything about it.
Jack glanced at the rest of the boys and your eyes followed. The boys looked at one another before nodding at Jack.
“Alright, alright, you can stay. But no funny business and you got to earn your keep.” Jack said.
“Earn my keep?” You asked
“Yeah, until you have a job to pay rent, you has to earn your stay here!”
For a moment you thought about the fact that the landlord not knowing you were living here meant you wouldn’t need to pay rent, but you were desperate for the boys to stay so you were willing to go along with just about anything.
“How do you propose I do that?” You asked, furrowing your brows.
“Well…uh…you could…” Jack scratched the back of his head “keep this place clean?”
You looked around the room and noticed how messy it really was. Cobwebs in the corners, dust on the walls and floors, items scattered all over the floor, and you really did not want to see the inside of the washroom.
“What do you say? Take on the womanly duties of the house?” Jack asked before spitting into his hand and offering it to you.
Did you really have a choice? It was embarrassing to have to be a maid to a large group of teenage boys, but you really didn’t have any other choice.
You spit into your own hand and took Jack’s.
“Deal.” You said.
The newsies broke off into small groups, excitedly talking. Most likely about you.
A girl, living with a group of boys? It was scandalous. It was unheard of. Of course, it would be the other thing they could talk about.
You realized that your hand was still in Jack’s and you quickly pulled away. It seemed like Jack barely noticed as he turned and started heading towards a window.
“All right, now get back to bed, all of ya,” Jack said and, giving you one last brief look, opened the window and climbed onto the fire escape.
You watched him go, a little entranced, until a hand landed on your shoulder, startling you out of it.
“Hi, name’s Crutchie.” A boy with golden hair said with an inviting smile.
“I’m [Y/N].” You replied, with a shy smile.
“Let me show you were the empty bed is you can have.”
Crutchie led you over to the bunk in a far corner of the room as the rest of the boys scrawled back into their beds.
“Here, let me take that from you,” He said, offering his hand out to take your suitcase.
You hesitated and Crutchie smiled again.
“Don’t worry, newsie code; We don’t take or mess with each other’s stuff,” Crutchie explained.
“Yeah, except for when Albert takes my cigar,” A boy said from somewhere in the room.
“Aaaah shut it,” Another one said, and a loud smack was heard.
The first boy let out a small shriek and muffled laughter could be heard around the room.
You cautiously handed your bag over and Crutchie slid it under the bottom bunk.
“Take the top bunk, I can’t get up there myself, not with this leg.”
You nodded and watched Crutchie sit down and start to get settled down into bed.
“Crutchie” you whispered.
“Yeah?” He asked and sat back up.
“I need to…” you struggled for the right word “change.”
Crutchie quirked his eyebrow for a moment before realization came over his face.
“The wash closet is right over there. I’ll wait outside the door and make sure no one bothers you.” He said with a reassuring smile. He grabbed his crutch and the blanket off his bed before leading you to the bathroom.
As soon as you were in you washed your face, relieved yourself, then undressed down to your undergarments. Once you were done you cracked open the door.
Crutchie turned around towards you, eyes deliberately locked on the ceiling and offered you his blanket. You wrapped it around yourself and Crutchie ordered everyone to blow out their candles. It was pitch black in the room.
“Gimme your arm, I’ll lead you back to the bunk.”
After a few tries, you laced arms and were soon back at the beds, despite a few trips.
“Do you need any help getting up?” Crutchie whispered
“If you wouldn’t mind…”
Crutchie had you up on the bed in no time, thanks to him letting you use his intertwined hands as a step. You passed his blanket back to him and you both lay down on your thin mattresses.
“Crutchie?” You asked again
You heard him stand back up, “Yeah?”
“Thank you.”
“It’s no problem. I know what it’s like to be someone that people always look at and talk.” He whispered before lying back down on his bed.
You smiled, glad to have one friend in a house full of strangers and closed your eyes to sleep.
-
It took you about a week of cleaning to get the place almost remotely livable by your standards. It was hard since every day the newsies would come home and, unintentionally, undo some the hard work you had done.
You couldn’t blame them. They worked long, hard hours in all kind of weather conditions and a lot of the time all they wanted to do when they got off work was come home and relax.
Jack never seemed that impressed with you though. You worked hard to try and gain his approval, but he never said anything to you about how much better the place looked.
You scrubbed the washroom toilets and floor so they sparkled. You cleaned and polished all the newsies shoes. You did the laundry for each boy at least once a week and would get up earlier than everyone to boil hot water for their bathing. You took care of the boys when they got sick and would run errands for them when they needed it. You swept and dusted and made beds every day. You even sewed curtains for the windows and thicker blankets for the boys for when winter came.
You played mother to all the boys and were really very good at it.
But still, Jack didn’t seem to care. After that initial meeting, he barely spoke to or looked at you. It hurt to be ignored by him. He was kind and funny with the newsies, always joking and smiling with them but as soon as he saw you were around, his joy seemed to die, and he became more reserved or left entirely.
But you really couldn’t seem to do anything about it. So you worked hard so maybe, secretly, he would appreciate all you did.
-
You were sitting on your bed, working on sewing a new blanket for Henry for his birthday, when your stomach started growing. You reached into your pocket and pulled out a small pocket watch to check the time.
You stood up and quickly took off your apron, you had to be at Jacobi’s for lunch in a little bit.
You fixed your hair and straightened out your dress. Just because you lived with a bunch of boys, doesn’t mean you weren’t going to care any less of your appearance. You were still a respectable young lady going out into the world and wanted to appear that way.
The boys had all agreed to give you a few pennies every month so you could get food for yourself, so you made sure you had some in your pockets.
You made your way out of the house and onto the streets of lower Manhattan. Along the way, you investigated the windows of many different shops and admired the fancy items each of them held.
As you got closer to Jacobi’s, you saw all the newsies already inside.
“[Y/N]!” A few newsies called out to you as you walked in the door.
“What happened?” You asked, extremely interested to know why the newsies were in such a good mood today.
“We went on strike, like those trolley workers!” Mush ran up to you laughing. He picked you up and spun you around.
The boys all clambered to tell you what had happened. You listened intently the whole time.
As soon as they finished with the story and everyone decided where they were going to go, they each raced off in different directions to alert other newsies in other parts of the city of the strike
You waved off each of the boys. Both Romeo and Race left kisses on your cheeks before they sped off. You felt eyes on your back and when you turned around you found Jack standing there.
“Brooklynn, huh?” You asked, impressed.
He just turned away and left the restaurant.
You left to head back to the lodgings, interested to hear the news the guys would bring back at the end of the day.
-
The next morning, the energy in the lodging house was high. All the boys dressed quick and were out the door in only a few minutes, all hooting and hollering, ready to go receive their answers from the other newsies and meet up at The World distribution center.
You busied yourself with cleaning up the lodgings and fixing a hole Finch had torn in his blanket. Less of a tear and more of him getting bored and finding loose threads to pull at.
It wasn’t even an hour later when you suddenly had a sinking feeling in your stomach. You had no clue where it came from, but you stopped everything you were doing.
You were out of the house, running straight to The World circulation desk in a matter of minutes.
You ran and ran and ran and a fight was already well underway when you got there. You cried out at the chaos exploding in front of you. The Bulls were beating on your friends and you were terrified.
What if someone got seriously hurt? What if someone died?
You turned your head and saw the Delancey brothers. Morris had his arms locked around Race’s while Oscar was punching him in the gut.
Anger seethed through your veins. You sprinted forward and slammed into Oscar as hard as you could. You both went sprawling to the ground, you on top of Oscar. You quickly stood up and stomped on Oscar’s face with your foot as hard as you could. His body folded in on itself and he held his face, yelling.
You whipped back towards Morris, your hair and dress flying out, teeth bared.
Race was able to escape Morris’ grasped with a jerk of his body. They grabbed at each other, but Race had Morris pinned to a wall in seconds.
“What the hell are you doing here?” Ike asked, running up to you.
“Helping!” You said before kicking Oscar as hard as you could in the side of his ribcage. “No one messes with my newsies.”
You dodged a rouge flying newspaper stack and saw Romeo stumble up to a police officer, looking relieved. He was smacked hard across the face and crumbled right to the ground before you could tell him that the officers weren’t here to help you.
You screamed, but it was cut short by a hand getting tangled in your hair and pulling hard.
You couldn’t see who it was, but they slammed you into a pole. You cried out and suddenly the hand let go. You looked up to see Crutchie crashing his crutch down over Wisele’s head.
You jumped up and suddenly came face to face with a large police officer. He grabbed for you and caught the skirt of your dress in his hands.
You tried to pull away, but the officer wouldn’t let go. You looked around for help, but all the newsies had fled the area.
The police officer sharply pulled at your skirt and you fell to the ground. You struggled to get the man off you, but he started pulling you back by your dress. You managed to flip over and found Crutchie in a similar position as you.
The Delancey’s were dragging him away by his bad leg. You tried to reach for him, but it was no use. You cried out his name, hand still extended like it might work if you tried hard enough, but the officer holding you wouldn’t let go.
Another hand grabbed onto your extended one and pulled hard in the opposite direction of where the officer was taking you. The man lost his grip and went stumbling backward.
You looked up and there was Jack staring down at you.
“C’mon!” He yelled and you jumped up as fast as you could.
-
You both ran out of The World and ran up and down what felt like a dozen alleyways, Jack pulling you along. You didn’t stop until you were safe on top of the lodging house, high above the city on Jack’s penthouse.
Your lungs were screaming at you to breathe and you felt like you were going to collapse from the adrenaline. You wiped sweat from your face and tried to calm your speeding heart.
You looked over at Jack, doubled over, panting.
You coughed, trying to get more air into your lungs and, in a flash, Jack spun around to face you.
“You,” Jack said, turning around with a snarl and pointed finger, “They got Crutchie cause of you!”
“What? Jack, no, I was there to help! I just wanted to help.” You tried to explain in between deep inhales.
“No, no, no, if you hadn’t been there, I would have been able to save Crutchie, but thanks to you those damn Delancey’s got him!”
“Jack, please I-”
“Who do you think you are?” Jack seethed.
“Jack,” His name came out a breath from your mouth.
“YOUS JUST SOME GOIL WHO CAME HERE BECAUSE SHE COULDN’T TAKE LIVING IN SOME RICH FAMILY! THE GUYS DON’T EVEN CARE ABOUT ANYTHING YOU DO HERE, THE ONLY REASON THEY EVEN WANT YOU AROUND IS TO STARE AT YOU! THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!” Jack screamed at you.
Your tears poured down your face and your body felt like it was shutting down. He was right and you felt so stupid just now realizing it.
You could tell Jack started talking to you in a calmer tone, but you couldn’t hear any of it. You pushed past him and raced down the fire escape. You flew back through the open window, tears streaming down your face.
The few boys that had made it back to the house already after the fight perked up when they saw the state you were in, but you rushed past them, running straight towards the door.
“[Y/N], stop, what’s going on?” Finch asked you could barely see him through his tears.
“I have to go.” You sobbed, throwing open the door. You gave yourself a moment, to turn back and look at the boys.
“What happened? What’s wrong? Where are you going?” The newsies called out to you, but you couldn’t answer.
You were out the door in a matter of seconds. Running away for the second time from home.
-
You hid in Central Park for two days, not knowing where else to go. You were too scared to face Jack or the other newsies again.
What Jack had said was true. It had to be. Why else would he have said those things?
You were worthless to the newsies and you knew it, you were a burden, just someone they kept you around out of pity or to…gawk at.
You didn’t dare leave to get food in case you ran into one of the boys. You felt sick and weak from not having enough to eat but you powered through somehow.
You didn’t know how you would feel if you ran into one of the newsies selling papers. If they were selling papers.
You had no clue how the strike was going or if that was old news by now.
You were finally able to pull yourself together enough to decide to go see Crutchie in the Refuge. It was his fault you were in there, and you had to go make sure he was okay.
No newsies ever sold anywhere near the Refuge, so you were safe on that end. Being caught by Snyder or a bull was a lot higher of a risk.
You waited until nightfall to make your way to the Refuge. It stood like a prison.
You silently crept up the crisscrossed bars that were attached to every window on the building until you were sure you found the window of the room boys around Crutchie’s age were kept.
A boy was standing at the window when you pulled yourself up. His eyes nearly popped out of his head when he saw you.
“Is Crutchie Morris here?” You whispered, not trying to alarm the boy or anyone else in the room.
He nodded and ran back over to where you saw your friend sitting. Crutchie turned to look at you and smiled brightly. He looked battered and bruised from the fight a few days ago but he managed to hobble over to the window.
“What are you doing here [Y/N]?” He asked.
“I had to see how you are, Crutchie. I’m worried about you.” You said
“I’m alright.” He said with an unsure laugh “You know me, always resilient.”
“I’m sorry this happened, it’s all my fault.” You said, worried you were going to start sobbing.
“What? No, no, it’s not. The ol’ leg just ain’t as fast as it used to be.” Crutchie said, “How are the fellas? All doing okay without me.”
“I don’t know.” You said, looking anywhere but his face. “After the strike…Jack and I…we got into a fight.”
“What?” Crutchie asked.
“I,” You had to take a breath to stop your shaking voice “I left. For good.”
“You left?!” He asked.
All you could do was nod, the pain in your chest feeling ready to burst.
“It was clear he didn’t want me around anymore. Never wanted me around. But I had to come see you.” You said.
“You can’t leave [Y/N]. Wese your family. Yous is ours!” Crutchie said desperately.
“I know but Jack-” Suddenly a voice from down below cut you off.
“Hey! What are you doing up there?!”
You looked over your shoulder and saw a bull about a block away pointing right at you.
“I’m sorry.” You shouted out to Crutchie as you scaled back down the wall.
You jumped down to the ground once you were close enough and took off running before the bull could catch up to you.
You ran through different alleyways and streets, weaving in and out until you were sure you had lost the man who would drag you straight back to the Refuge as a prisoner.
You were looking behind you as you turned another corner and ran smack into a wall. You stumbled back onto the ground.
You rubbed your bottom where you had fallen and looked up at what you had run into. It was the back of a young man.
You froze up at the sight of him. Oscar.
He turned around to look down at you and you saw his brother lean around him to get a look at you too.
Your heart was caught in your throat. You had never come face to face with the brothers before the fight, but you had heard story after story from the newsies about them and their rough behavior.
“You,” Oscar whispered, nostrils flaring.
“Who’s that?” Morris asked.
“The one that belongs to the newsies,” Oscar growled, a dangerous scowl twisting on his face. “The one that nearly broke my nose.”
“What are you doing so far away from your dogs?” Morris said in a sinister voice.
You couldn’t make a sound.
The brothers both lunged at you, each grabbing one of your arms and pulled you up to standing.
“Let go.” You managed to breathe out.
“Oh no, I think you’ll be coming with us.” Morris turned to his brother. “What do you think Oscar, think the Refuge has an opening?”
Oscar let go of your arm and moved his hands onto your waist and started pushing you from behind while Morris roughly pulled on your arm.
“Stop!” You yelled and hastily tried to wiggle out of their grips.
“HELP!” You screamed at the top of your voice “PLEASE! SOMEONE HELP!”
You started to sob and tried to twist your wrist out of Morris’ hold.
“Please!” You begged, “Don’t do this!”
“Hey!” A voice called from the end of the street. You all paused.
You felt relieved and even more scared at the same time. A bull meant no more Delancey brothers, but it still meant the Refuge.
The Delancey’s turned to see who it was.
“Well, well, well,” Oscar said, “look who’s come to collect their garbage. Sorry Kelly, but we’ve already got plans with this one.”
You felt tears trickle down your face as you looked at Jack’s figure standing about 20 feet away.
“Jack.” You whispered.
“Let her go,” Jack said sternly.
“Don’t think so.” Oscar snapped back, motioning to Morris.
Suddenly, Morris picked you up and threw you over his shoulder. The act of your stomach slamming down onto his shoulder knocked the air out of you.
You struggled to breathe and escape. You managed to look over at Jack, he and Oscar were both on the ground, wrestling with each other, punching and grappling.
“Jack.” You tried to wheeze out.
The feeling of not being able to breathe and the lightheadedness from not eating in the past few days mixed with the lack of sleep and the stress from it all finally caught up with you in that one moment.
You promptly fainted over Morris’ arm as he carried you off to the Refuge.
-
You awoke on a lumpy mattress and a thin pillow. There were voices around you and something cold pressed against your face.
Your eyes fluttered open and you woke to the newsies lodging house with all the newsies running around, shouting.
“[Y/N]?” A voice asked. You turned to find Sniper patting a cool rag on your forehead.
“Is this the Refuge?” You asked in a moment of confusion.
All movement and noise in the room immediately stopped and the newsies all gather around the bed you were on.
“Are you alright?” Henry asked.
“You scared us half to death!” Finch cried.
They all started talking at once while your head started spinning.
You raised a hand and the boys fell quiet. You readjusted yourself so you were sitting up more and rubbed your eyes before giving the boys the ok to keep going. Everyone began speaking again.
Your face sprouted a sad smile, feeling horrible that you had even left in the first place but also feeling special that the newsies all seemed to have missed you.
“…And I lost my shoe!” Specs cried as the group fell back into silence.
You laughed a little and tried to clear your throat to apologize but all that came out was a sob.
“Oh [Y/N], come on, don’t do that,” Romeo said, voice wobbling a little.
You looked around at the group, seeing all the boys had watery eyes.
“I’m sorry.” You mouthed and felt tears come falling down your face.
Tommy Boy, who was the closest to your left side, leaned over and hugged you, whispering “Please don’t leave again” into your ear.
Each boy followed suit, giving you a hug and telling you how much they missed you or asking you not to run away again. You nodded along to whatever they said, feeling so guilty.
Mush took an extra-long time, weeping into your shoulder. He really lived up to his nickname of Mushy.
Soon the boys were all sitting or lying on or around your bed, filling you in on all the events that had taken place in the past week.
“And wese having a big gathering today in newsies square. We handed out flyers to every workin’ kid we could find.” Mike said with a large smile.
“And Spot Conlon and the rest of the Brooklynn boys are going to be there! We saw them last night at the rally!” Elmer cried, looking so excited.
“We already said that.” Kid Blink said with a roll of his eye.
“Pulitzer will have to lower the prices after we shut down this city!” Jojo laughed.
“I hope we win.” You said, squeezing both Button’s and Small’s hands.
“We will.” Buttons said, looking very sure. The rest of the newsies all nodded and voiced their approval.
Suddenly, a loud thump came from the other side of the room. Everyone turned their heads to find Jack standing by the window, hands in his pockets and not making eye contact.
The guys all scrambled to get up and quickly exited the room, all looking back at you with worried expressions.
Jack slowly wandered up to your bed, still not looking at you.
He shuffled his feet and pulled his hat off, wringing it between his hands. You had never seen this version of Jack Kelly before, always so loud and brash. Now he looked too nervous to speak.
“I was-” He started “I mean…I didn’t think that…well…I…”
Jack sighed and moved so he was kneeling by your bed, looking extremely guilty, “What I’m trying to say is…I’m sorry.”
He looked up into your eyes finally.
You felt like you were going to burst into tears, you missed Jack so much. He was a part of your home and his presence brought a safeness only he could provide. You started to move your hand in his direction just needing to touch him, if only for a second.
Jack glanced down at your hand and practically threw his arms around your waist, his body sort of collapsing over your lap.
“I’m sorry,” Jack said, face in your lap, “I was wrong, we do needs you. I don’t know what I was thinkin’. We need you, [Y/N].”
You felt relieved and surprised and happy. You rested your hands on his head and shoulder.
“I shouldn’t have run away,” You breathed, brushing your hand over his hair.
Jack straightened back up and let out a shaky breath, “You had every right…after the way I talked to you. Nothing that happened that day was your fault and the boys don’t ever look at you like that. And if they do its only cause yous always lookin’ like an angel and are way too good to be hangin’ out with us newsies that we can’t hardly believe it.”
Jack took your hand slowly, lacing his fingers together with yours. “I don’t know how we survived before you came along. You’re the best thing to ever happen to us.”
You smiled and squeezed his hand.
“The best thing to ever happen to me.” You stared deeply into each other’s eyes.
“And maybe…if I didn’t screw this up too bad and make ya hate me…maybe-”
Abruptly, Jack leaned and gently pressed his lips to yours. You sighed softly and moved up to cup his face, thumbs stroking the apples of his cheeks.
Jack moved up so he was sitting on the bed with you and slide his hands in between your back and the pillow to cradle you gently.
You broke apart from Jack for air. His eyes were half-lidded, and his eyes moved from your lips to your eyes then leaned in for another kiss.
You had never been kissed before, but Jack was full of passion and didn’t seem to want to stop.
“I thought you didn’t like me.” You said resting your forehead on his. “Felt like you couldn’t stand to be in the same room as me.”
Jack closed his eyes and breathed for a moment, looking totally blissed out. “No, it wasn’t like that. It’s just…you make me all nervous. You showed up here with your fancy clothes and nice smellin’ hair and it was so obvious you come from money and I didn’t think I’d ever be good enough for you, even if you didn’t just want money. And all the guys are always talkin’ to you and makin’ ya laugh soes I thought you might like one of them. You just seemed too good for me, so I didn’t get my hopes up, but I guess I kinda pushed you away when I did that.”
You grinned and laughed gently.
Jack pecked your lips a few times before bringing his free hand up to cup your cheek.
“Say you’ll come back for good,” Jack whispered against your lips.
“I will,” You breathed into his mouth before he kissed you again.
“Promise?” He asked leaning back enough to stare into your eyes.
You nodded, not able to speak when he looked at you like that.
He moved around so he was leaning against your pillow and your head was resting on his chest. You let out a small noise of pain. Your stomach sore from where Morris’ shoulder had rammed into you.
“What happened with the Delancey’s?” You asked, rubbing your stomach a little.
“Taught them to never mess with you again,” Jack said, kissing your forehead. “Yous one of us now and anyone who messes with you mess with me.”
“What about Crutchie? He’s still in the Refuge, Jack.”
You didn’t mean to make the moment melancholy, but you had to know what Jack was thinking.
“We’re getting him out. Tonight. No matter how the rally strike goes today. Spot and his Brooklynn boys have broken plenty of their own out of the Refuge in their area.”
You sighed in relief and snuggled closer to Jack. You had never felt so full of happiness before. He reached up and ran his hand through your hair, both of you just lying in the quiet, enjoying the simplicity of it now everything was out in the open between you two and how, regardless of how the strike ends, Crutchie would be back soon.
“So,” you said with a small giggle after a few minutes, “you think my hair smells good?”