#crutchie x finch

[mostlybroadway]

i’ve been thinking a lot about crutchie recently.

charles morris. charlie. crutchie. born to a “loving” single mother who abandoned him when he first got sick. the convent was better equipped to handle the polio virus anyhow, and that’s just where he stayed. the fever subsided fairly quickly, but his leg never worked right again. at the age of five he has to learn to walk with a third leg, without a family by his side.

the nuns were nice enough. they gave him food, helped him learn how to live after his paralysis hit. but they weren’t family. the solace he didn’t find in the nuns, he found in God. he prayed nightly, hoping for someone to come along and save him. a family to take him from the convent and show him what truly living was really like. and then he met jack kelly.

crutchie was convinced that jack was a literal godsend. they were both thirteen and too scrappy for their own good. jack and his expert persuasion convinced the sisters that crutchie was ready to be off on his own, beginning a life as a newsboy. crutchie was over the moon. his disability suddenly became a goldmine, and he had the closest thing he’d ever had to a family. he had a brother, hell, many of them, and he was happy.

his leg never got better. not that he had expected it to. not that it mattered.

it was him and jack for years in their penthouse above kloppman’s boarding house, until the strike. until david jacobs. and suddenly jack had a new right-hand man, a new protege. and crutchie found himself in the refuge.

he had a lot of time to think there. he realized that he’d likely been in love with jack as long as he’d known him. it was impossible not to be. jack kelly oozed charisma, and his smile could melt anyone’s cold heart. crutchie fell instantly. but he also realized that they would never be more than friends. crutchie saw how he looked at davey, like his eyes held all the stars in the sky, and it didn’t hurt him. not like he thought it would. he still wrote to jack, but as brothers. and just as soon as he realized his crush, it was gone.

strike settled, snyder imprisoned, and crutchie is back to selling. jack sells with davey and les now, which doesn’t bother crutchie as much as it should. they’re still best friends—jack still stays in their penthouse when he isn’t at the jacobs house. and besides, crutchie has finch now. finch who wouldn’t leave his side after he got back from the refuge, who bandaged all his scabs and listened to his sobs when he got a particularly bad reminder of his time in the refuge. they sold together now almost every day, and crutchie had honestly never been happier.

charles morris had lived more, lost more, and loved more at eighteen than most people did in their entire lives. and he did it all on one good leg.

[athousandboxjumps]

pic creds: yourany_14 on instagram

What a great day to be a BirdCrutch fan am I right?

[military-newsboys]

Race: Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? Spot: Uh sure, I guess. Race: Thou art hot as fuck.

[bigmack2go]

When people ask what ships i have in newsies im always like

BRO??? I can maybe tell you the ships i dont have that’ll go faster. There are like three.

[kitswritingantics]

Pleeeeease newsies fantasy AU I beggggg

HEHEHAHAHAHAHH I'VE BEEN WAITING MY ENTIRE LIFE TO YAP ABOUT THIS

now just hear me out. think of like. super mario. evil king (pulitzer) has princess katherine locked away. prince jack (forced to marry her in like a month) has to go save her, don't wanna, blah blah blah. get's sent with his servant/partner in crime/best friend charlie (aka crutchie) and knight david. (they're gay. in case you can't tell. i'm a javid truther but i can also be a jatherine truther. jack has two hands.)

on the way the goobers find travelling minstrels (race and spot), bounty hunters/thieves (buttons, finch, and elmer. the guys ever), and all of them tag along to help them fight the king and his dragon (the dragon's probaby snyder now that i think really deeply about it. that's honestly so funny). also more homosexuality, elmer's down BAD for charlie who's an oblivious (and equally down bad) little loser.

you know the drill, fairy tales have happy endings, they save princess katherine and jack decides "hey! i don't wanna marry her!" and goes and kisses davey instead. davey sets up kath with his older sister sarah and they fall in love. charlie and elmer are really bashful and adorable i'm obsessed with them. also LESBIAN SPRACE. BECAUSE I CAN.

anyways there's my yap hope you enjoy!!! i might end up writing this later only time will tell!!

[knockoff-conlon]

80's newsies!!

and it's your typical shitty coming of age story. it follows jack and his group of friends (race, albert, crutchie, finch, tommy boy, and katherine) in high school. they get a new kid at their school and race immediately asks him to go to the arcade with their friend group. race introduces him to everyone.

davey meets jack. is a little enamored by him. tries to hide it because being gay in the 80s in high school was interesting. jack doesn't understand that he's allowed to be gay/bi and doesn't realize that's what he feels for davey. they fall in love through the course of the story. but they have a huge falling out when davey kisses him for the first time cause jack freaks the fuck out and shoves him away, yelling that's he's not a fag. they get back together though after race punches jack in the face and makes him go after davey again. then they're gay together.

race meanwhile meets a jock, spot, who looks all bitchy and mean but is really nice and doesn't mind the fact that race shoves a camera in everyone's face, no matter who they are. race hangs out with spot a lot and learns all about him and his life. race will sometimes blow off his friends to go to spot's house. they fall in love too but they only get together at the very end when race invites spot to his and his friends' grad party they're holding for themselves. they kiss there and the story is pretty much over at that point.

albert is already with finch at the beginning of the story. that's a large part of the reason jack realizes he's gay. they're publicly out at school and albert has multiple times beat the shit out of people for going after him or finch.

katherine is a year older than everyone and already in uni. she gets an open ending. she moves in with sarah as friends for her second year of university and sarah's third. they have lots of tension but they don't get together during the course of the story itself.

crutchie stays the ho we all know bro is and he goes to uni as a fuck boy. he's very respectful toward women, he just likes sex. (get it crutchie, living his best life out there, isn't he???)

tommy boy moves away for university at the end and gives crutchie a little kiss on the cheek as he leaves. crutchie has a gay awakening but he does not in fact make a move on tommy boy before the story ends.

[daveyfvckingjacobs]

how to get better at acknowledge and being okay with saying you’re disabled via projection, a guide by me

[emmedoesntdomath]

So anyway do you have any new newsie thoughts for me while I got put my blorbos in the pathetic little man tournament?

um um um

jack mumbling in spanish and davey not understanding a fucking word, but hugging him from behind anyway

I’ve firmly latched on to the idea of romeo being aro, you cannot take this from me (he’s probably somewhere on the ace spectrum, too, but I haven’t thought too much about that)

I might try making fanart in my pursuit of being less shitty at drawing on an ipad. suggestions as to who?

even if race had straighter hair like max casella’s, it probably gets curlier when it gets really hot.

tommy boy tried giving les lessons on how to better flirt. it didn’t work. les’ techniques are questionable at best.

finch is still from brooklyn in my mind. spot has known this entire time, and nodded at finch once as he passed. finch was terrified.

smalls is the best, and I love them. also, I feel like they would really be into movies they could pick apart, plot wise.

crutchie’s single, and the one tossing popcorn at everyone else while watching movies

spralbert could possibly have substance in uksies, but I’m never going to see it, so I have no idea

[incorrectuksies]

specs: admit it! you like crutchie!

finch: oh, come on. i mean, am i attracted to him? sure. do my days feel better when i'm around him? yeah. does he understand me in ways no one else ever has? indubitably. do i fantasise about him? yes, every night. but do i like him? the answer is no.

[upside-down-theater-kid]

A Bouquet For The Dead

“Anyways,” Albert says, no doubt in an attempt to change the subject. “Katherine was telling us about the Refuge, that old haunted orphanage. What if we lived out our high school fantasies and went—” he pointed a flashlight on his chin and spoke in a deep voice, “—ghost hunting!” Everyone laughs at the absurd idea. After all, they think, ghosts aren’t real, right?

I wrote this for @smallsies for the @seizethefanfics winter gift exchange

Content warning: death and violence

Thank you to all of my friends who gave me feedback!

ao3

Very few people visit a flower shop on a Monday afternoon, so Albert is watering the plants on display. It’s mostly quiet at this time of day, within the place he owns with his longtime boyfriend Finch and their best friend known as Race. A familiar face enters.

“Oh, Katherine. It’s you,” says Race. Kath is a frequent visitor to Manhattan Florists;she comes so often she’s becoming a friend, although they'd never admit it.

“Hi! The newspaper has been absolutely crazy lately with some reports of disturbances in the area near that abandoned orphanage where many children died back in the late 1800s…” Albert turns his focus to Finch, who is looking distraught.

“Are you okay?” he asks, throwing his arm around his partner.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Finch replies. “It’s just that orphanage and all of those dead kids…I just hope that someone remembers them.” Katherine leaves after buying her bouquet and the trio decide to take their lunch break.

--

“Do you remember us in the ninth grade? We all wanted to be ghost hunters,” Finch remarks while playing with Albert’s hair. Race laughs.

“I remember ninth grade! You two were so in denial about being soulmates for each other, but here you are. Still the same losers, just out of the closet,” Albert laughs.

“You’re one to talk! Even after transitioning, you still tell people to call you Racetrack!” Race throws his hat at Albert.

“Anyways,” Albert says, no doubt in an attempt to change the subject. “Katherine was telling us about the Refuge, that old haunted orphanage. What if we lived out our high school fantasies and went—” he pointed a flashlight on his chin and spoke in a deep voice, “—ghost hunting!” Everyone laughs at the absurd idea. After all, they think, ghosts aren’t real, right?

--

After the last customer leaves, the trio is almost prepared to leave. Race has an outrageous proposition.

“So, do you guys actually want to go ghost hunting in that old orphanage?” Before they can say anything, he starts defending himself. “Yeah, I know that we’re actual adults now, but hey it might be fun! We might as well live out our teenage dreams on a Monday night.”

“Definitely,” says Albert. He looks over at Finch after he says it. He doesn’t want the sadness from earlier this morning to reappear.

“Sure. Why not?” Finch says, much to Albert’s surprise.

“I’ll grab flashlights,” says Race as he runs to the storage room.

“Can I kiss you?” Albert asks once Race is out of sight. Finch nods. For a few seconds it’s just them together and everything seems alright in the world.

“Sorry to interrupt, lover boys; but, I found the flashlights.” Race has a shit-eating grin on his face and Albert’s face turns redder than his hair.

“I still need to grab something.” Finch procures a bouquet from behind the desk.

“What’s it for?” asks Race. Finch looks solemn.

“It’s a bouquet for the dead. I’m sure that most of those orphans didn’t get gravestones, so this is my way of honoring them since no one else would.” There’s a brief silence until he says that he’s ready to go if everyone else is. And so the ghost hunting begins.

--

“Wait, I think I forgot my phone,” exclaims Race when the three of them are halfway to the Refuge. Finch and Albert check their pockets. All of them left their phones back at the shop. “I guess it doesn’t matter. We’re going back to the shop later and we’re not exactly going to die in an abandoned building.” No one laughs at his half-hearted attempt at a joke. Albert grips his flashlight a little tighter.

“I did a bit more research on the Refuge after lunch,” Finch announces. “It opened in the late 1800s and it ran until 1899. At that point the residents had been dying from neglect and one day the warden of it–someone named Snyder–mysteriously died and it shut down.” Albert stops in his tracks.

“That’s seriously messed up.”

“It is,” agrees Race.

“Let’s keep walking. We’re almost there and it’s getting darker out.” Finch is a few steps ahead of both of them. Suddenly, they see a decrepit building ahead of them and they know that they’ve found their destination.

The building looks even worse once they’re closer. Only some of the windows are boarded up and a few are broken. They soon realize that the door is closed but not locked. Finch places his bouquet near the door and then slips his hand into Albert’s, and they go inside.

--

“Hi, ghosts! We’re right here!” exclaims Race once he’s inside the entryway.

“We want to meet you!” yells Albert while holding his flashlight in a death grip.

“I’m sorry that you’re dead!” says Finch with a bit less zeal.

The trio wanders around for a bit, trying to ignore their gut instincts to leave. Eventually, they stumble upon what was probably a dining room once upon a time.

“How many people do you think lived here?” Albert asks.

“More like how many people do you think died here?” Finch contradicts. “You also see how many of these chairs are crowded together. It wouldn’t have taken a lot for diseases to spread.”

Suddenly, two windows open all on their own and the wind comes barreling through and the cold seeps into the bones of Albert, Finch, and Race.

“Do you think that the ghosts opened those windows?” jokes Race even though his hands are clearly shaking.

“It’s weird but maybe it was the wind? And it is an old building–” Finch and Race raise their eyebrows at Albert. “Never mind, I’ll just go with ghosts. We are ghost hunters after all,” says Albert, but his voice is shaky.

The three friends march on while holding hands and white-knuckling their flashlights. Eventually, they stumble upon what must have been the sleeping quarters. There are rows upon rows of tiny beds with moth-eaten mattresses. They try not to think about what the old stains are and how the floorboards are just a bit too worn out to be safe. It smells of death and decay, lost dreams and hopeless nights. For a second, it feels like they lived here in a past life. That feeling soon fades. The floorboards creak, but they’re not walking around. Everyone is anxious, but no one will admit it. Albert starts to pace back and forth and he sees something out of the corner of his eye.

“Race, Finch, come over here,” he says quietly. The two of them obey. Finch gasps. They all see a crutch. It’s broken, and even though over a hundred years have passed, there’s still an unmistakable substance on the rotting wood.

“Is that….blood?” asks Finch with a quivering voice. No one answers, but they were all thinking the same thing. grips Albert’s hand and closes his eyes in the hopes that it will be gone when he opens them, but it’s still there.

All of a sudden, a broken window opens and the cold wind fills the room. All three of them scream. Under his breath, Finch whispers that he wishes he never came here. Against his better judgment, Race wanders over to another bed. He finds a faded drawing on old paper, but he can still make out the meaning; the terrible conditions of this place back when it had living inhabitants. Finch and Albert squeeze each other’s hands. Race picks up the drawing and then–

“Hey, don’t touch that,” exclaim mysterious voices behind them. Race, Al, and Finch turn around and are absolutely petrified. They see two figures. One of them has an old-fashioned hat and a very wrinkled blue shirt and vest. The other is wearing the tattered remains of a shirt and picks up the broken crutch.

“Is this real?” whispers Finch.

“I’m Jack, this is Crutchie. We’re as real as you,” says the taller figure.

“Are you ghosts?” asks Race, even though he thinks he knows the answer.

“No, we just happened to still live here after 123 years,” Crutchie rolls his eyes. “Of course we’re ghosts.”

“So ghosts are real. My entire life is a lie. Ok then-” Race is quickly interrupted by Albert.

“So how did you two die?” Finch gives his partner a look.

“I don’t think you can just ask them how they died-”

“It’s fine,” Jack interjects. “Snyder the Spider used to run this place. He’d let vermin run all over and wouldn’t give us medicine when we were sick. We got sick a lot. There were three of us to a bed. That big dining room that you walked through earlier? It’s just for show. Crutchie and I starved to death like most of the others.”

“There are others like us. Ghosts. We don’t like showing our faces to outsiders for the most part,” explains Crutchie.

“How many others are there?” Race asks while looking around the chilly room.

“Eh, around 30. Including Snyder, but he hasn’t shown his face for a while,” says Jack.

“And sorry about spooking you with the windows in here, but since there’s always a chance that Snyder could come back, it’s not really safe for the living to be here,” Crutchie chimes in. “I think Specs was the one who spooked you in the dining room.” The floorboards start creaking, as if someone was anxiously jumping up and down. “Elmer doesn’t want to show himself, but he wants you to leave. We don’t want to accidentally bring back Snyder. He can’t kill us anymore but that doesn’t mean we don’t feel pain.” Finch checks his watch.

“He’s right. We should be going. It’s getting late.” Albert nods.

“Wait, what’s down that hallway?” Race walks out of the room and through several other identical ones and then he reaches a hallway with a singular door at the end of it.

“Don’t go down there,” yells Jack. “That’s Snyder’s office. That where I–” Jack cuts himself off.

“That’s where what?” Finch asks that question even though he already knows the answer.

“That’s where I…..that’s where I killed him,” Jack replies slowly. “I had died a few days before and I realized that I would be stuck here forever. I saw him bribe an inspector to not shut this place down. I couldn’t take it anymore so I grabbed a knife from the dining room and barged into his office and……” Jack trails off, but everyone understands what he means. Nobody blames him.

Race is becoming more and more uncomfortable in his surroundings. He doesn’t want to accidentally awake a murderous ghost, and he can see how Albert is shifting from side to side and clearly uncomfortable as well. In an attempt to slowly leave the corridor without seeming rude, Race takes a step to the side and accidentally trips over rat bones that have been sitting there for over a hundred years. He tries to grab on to something, anything, so that he doesn’t fall through floorboards that are one moment away from breaking. He reaches for something. Unfortunately, that something is the doorknob for the entrance to Snyder’s resting place. Jack helps him to his feet when they hear noises coming from inside the office.

“WHICH ONE OF YOU USELESS ORPHANS STOPPED ME FROM RESTING IN PEACE?” The door bursts open- and out comes Snyder in all his ghostly presence. He towers over all of them. There’s rage in his eyes and pure evil in his heart. He looks like a man who wants them dead so that he won’t be the only one who has to suffer in this pathetic excuse for an afterlife. “I’M GOING TO KILL WHOEVER DID THIS!”

Jack, Crutchie, Albert, Finch, and Race start running with Snyder chasing behind. They run from room to room and eventually end up back in the first room with places to conceal themselves. They never should have done this, Albert thinks. They might die, all because they wanted to be stupid ghost hunters. Some dreams are best left in high school before they turn into nightmares. They hide under beds and hope that their enemy won’t hear them crying. Some of Jack and Crutchie’s old friends make themselves visible and hit him however they can. Snyder hasn’t reappeared since 2012 and they’re desperate for revenge. Jack silently gestures for the trio to go. They’ll have a head start and maybe they can make it out of there alive.

The trio make their way to the dining room. They’re almost out of this awful place. They’ll be free if they can run for just a bit longer. Finch and Albert are almost at the door, Race lagging behind. He’s almost free when Snyder catches up with him. He’s grabbed a knife. The very same one that Jack stabbed Snyder with back in 1899. Jack knows what’s going to happen before it does. He closes the door on them. Race screams. He never thought that his friends would leave him behind. Maybe he can’t stop Race from dying, but he can save Albert and Finch. Snyder stabs Race five times before he falls down. Lying in a pool of his own blood, he tries to say his final words, but he’s choking on his blood. He stops coughing at the same time that his heart stops beating.

--

Time both stopped and sped up. Albert and Finch scream louder than they ever have. They have to see their best friend die right in front of them and they’re helpless. Completely helpless. There’s blood on his face where there used to be a smile. Their friend who was always so full of life is now nothing more than a wilted flower on rotten wood. Jack begs them to leave. There’s nothing they can do. They wanted to become ghost hunters, not have their best friend be hunted. Eventually, the two lovers walk away from the house. They’re in shock until Finch trips over the bouquet that he brought. Then they start to feel the weight of everything that has happened and they collapse on the ground, holding each other and sobbing.

[we-were-both-born-today]

The sequel to Papers, Post-It Notes, and Protests is here and completed!

This is a sequel to the Newsies College AU and here is the summary for this story:

It's senior year! David's nervous about taking his art credit, Jack is struggling with his internship, Race and Spot have growing pains while Spot starts grad school, and Specs has decided he's going to say something to Romeo about his crush; all while the threat of real life and graduation looms over them.

This has 12 chapters (11 full chapters and an epilogue) and is around 35K words! Every chapter is up on ao3 so you don't have to wait for the next chapter to be uploaded! I hope that if you read Papers, Post-it Notes, and Protests before you'll check this out and if you haven't ready either, please take a gander at my Newsies College AU series on ao3!

[mostlybroadway]

oh be a fine girl, kiss me

dedicated to gray, the finch to my crutchie <3 @athousandboxjumps

jack was staying at the jacobs residence, something he did a lot after he and davey finally admitted they liked each other. crutchie saw it the moment davey and les arrived at the world (jack didn’t offer to sell with just anyone) and he was happy for his brother, he truly was. he was also selfishly relieved that he didn’t have to hear the both of them pining anymore. it was nothing short of excruciating.

crutchie also loved jack being away for another selfish reason: he had the penthouse all to himself. he could stretch out a bit more in the morning, and leave his clothes to dry on the railing (which jack usually despised—“too much clutter”). he also could have guests. not that he couldn’t before, but this was different.

finch was different.

crutchie was a lot better at hiding his feelings than jack was. he knew how to hide his blush and suppress his smiles when the boy he liked so much laughed at his jokes or held the door open for him. it was a pathetic, schoolboy crush. and he had had years and years of practice hiding his affection for men. he could get killed for his feelings. and unlike jack, he wasn’t daring. he was daring once, and now he only had one good leg.

but he liked finch. hell, he really liked finch. and having him up in the penthouse instead of jack was a welcome breath of fresh air.

“you see that one up there?” finch said, pointing at a cluster of stars. that particular night, they were stargazing as best they could through the light pollution in new york. finch knew all the constellations, which definitely didn’t send crutchie’s heart ablaze. “that one’s ursa major. ursa minor is somewhere nearby, but she’s hard to see in new york.”

she. finch called all the constellations “she”. crutchie tried hard not to swoon.

“that’s a shame,” crutchie replied meekly. “i would have liked to have seen her.”

finch sighed. “i’m sure she would have liked to have seen you, too. you’re nice to look at.”

crutchie prided himself on how he could conceal his feelings. but finch cortes was making that harder and harder by the moment.

they sat in silence for a while. not an uncomfortable, awkward silence, but a welcome one. a warm, soothing silence. like somehow, being together was all they needed to be okay.

but the silence was broken, as silence often is. not that crutchie minded. “i learned about the stars in school. before i left.”

“yeah?”

“yeah. astronomy was my favorite subject.”

this wasn’t shocking at all. even when jack was still around, finch would find his way up the fire escape. usually, he just sat by himself and looked up. sometimes crutchie joined him, but sometimes he just let him be. he was absolutely stunning looking up to the sky, smiling to himself. he always did want to fly away like a bird and become one with the sky.

suddenly finch was nervous. crutchie could tell by the way he wrung his hands. “there is this saying. it’s a dumb saying. but it helps signify stars by their heat.”

“what?”

and finch explained: every star was given a letter based on its heat signature. O, B, A, F, G, K, M. he didn’t know which meant what, but he knew every letter.

crutchie was in awe. “that’s… lovely. but what is the saying?”

finch giggled anxiously. “it’s real weird.”

crutchie turned to be face to face with finch. he could have sworn he saw blush upon his cheeks. “i’m okay with weird.”

“it’s ‘oh be a fine girl, kiss me’.”

and crutchie immediately burst into guffaws.

“man! i bet you use that on all the girls!” crutchie laughed, lightly hitting finch’s arm. but the latter wasn’t laughing.

“ha. yeah. i mean, wait. no,” finch stuttered.”

crutchie paused. “no?”

“i’ve never used that on a girl. i…” finch gulped. “i wouldn’t use it on a girl.”

he wasn’t sure what he was hearing. “you’re not making sense, finch,” crutchie replied. though a part of his brain nagged at him that he might know exactly what finch meant.

“there’s a reason i’m telling you this, crutchie. you.”

and suddenly it all made sense. but instead of saying something profound about his feelings and how they had only grown the more time the two spent together, crutchie instead replied, “but i’m not a girl.”

and finch laughed. a loud, hearty laugh that made crutchie’s insides flip. “i know, but ‘oh be a fine guy, kiss me’ don’t sound the same.”

crutchie was beaming. “so you want me to kiss you?”

and finch laughed harder. crutchie could get drunk on that sound. “yes! i’m tryin’ to make it obvious!”

and before he could justify himself more, crutchie kissed him. and suddenly every constellation in the sky seemed dim. crutchie had all the light he needed right in front of him.

[athousandboxjumps]

“Mother loves you, god save my son”

So it’s been established that Finch is Patrick Cortes, and it’s his mother that’s singing during 92sies Carrying the Banner. But consider:

Finch never planned on running away forever. Sure he had a lot of problems with his family, but at the end of the day he always went back home because he loves them. But then one day, he runs out to clear his head because his family is driving him up the wall. And he makes one wrong turn at the wrong time and is picked up by Snyder. He’s sent to the Refuge and the by the time he’s released, his family has moved and he can’t find them again and he thinks that because of his mistake his family abandoned him.

Cut to Finch now who’s so terrified of the Refuge, not only because the horrors of what’s inside, but the fear that his newsies family will disappear once he gets out again. It’s why he refuses to leave Crutchie behind until he has to be dragged away — he will not abandon the one he loves the way he (thinks he) was abandoned.

[military-newsboys]

Jack: Guess what number I’m thinking of. Race: 420? Jack: No, that’s really immature of you. Someone else guess, and please take this seriously. Crutchie: 69. Jack: Yeah it was 69.

[thehermitcardix]

Cat Ears and Crutches: Plot

Evangeline “Crutchie” Morris is ready to face the new year! After coming out to her girlfriend and family as a demi-girl they are ready to let the school know. But after a diagnosis from her youth comes true, can she finish the school year and still be true to herself when her whole world gets turned upside down?

TWs: Abelism, Self Harm, Bullimia

(More TW to be added along the way)

[knockoff-conlon]

albert who's the oldest of like seven or eight and his whole family is a fucking mess. his parents are barely around so albert takes care of them and tries to keep them in check. race and jack and crutchie are around at his house a lot, too, and help with all his siblings.

it's kinda like a shameless situation- all the kids help out with money so they can pay bills and the neighborhood is all in a similar state of mess but they're all helped by the others. race and jack and crutchie are like an extra set of siblings- they give albert money, help him take kids places, give them clothes, get them food. it is a weird family they created.

when albert meets finch, they're about 24. albert has seven little siblings, the other oldest only being seventeen. so he's still taking care of then. finch is always a little annoyed that albert cancels plans last second or just never really has time and albert refuses to let finch in on the whole family thing he has going on.

one of the big points of this story comes when albert and finch finally get a night to go on a date. jack offered to keep watch on the kids. the date night is going great, it's awesome. up until albert gets a call from jack saying one of his siblings got injured and is in the hospital. finch drives albert there and then comes in with him- the first time finch has ever met everyone.

the whole family is posted up in his sibling's room, all seven siblings plus jack, crutchie, and race. finch looks out of place and uncomfortable. all the siblings flock to albert and start talking and freaking out. finch asks where their parents are and doesn't really get why everyone laughs at him. race, crutchie, and jack introduce themselves and the kids as albert checks on the injured one.

finch tries to help out with the kids but albert quickly gets annoyed at him. crutchie explains the whole family situation to finch, who looks a little more uncomfy. albert breaks up with him pretty quick because he doesn't wanna burden finch with his whole family thing. the kids liked finch a lot though so he has to stay around and they eventually get back together after a lot of pushing from the kids and his friends.