#gotta get some good ol' jack kelly pov

[that-one-fandom-vore-blog]

it’s because he’s afraid (exactly)

Wow. This is a monster of a fic and I have absolutely no apologies for writing it (nearly 30 pages of absolute angst!). First fic installation of the shifter ‘verse! Just to clarify, this happens later in the story, after all the boys know about Davey’s identity as a shifter, though they aren’t exactly... excited about it. Warnings up here for: panic, mentions of fatal (doesn’t happen), vore, a little bit of blood/injury, and fearplay. Hope y’all enjoy!

The cellar was cold.

More than cold. The darkness of the room was nearly suffocating. The air was damp and tasted of mould, and the harder Davey tried to focus on the sliver of light filtering in from beneath the heavy wooden door, the more his vision seemed to swim in and out of focus in a way that made his head spin. Everything around him was hazy. He could feel concrete under his palms and pressing against his back, and with every breath he forced himself to take in the darkness, the more painful the throbbing in his head grew. Inhaling, choking on the stagnant air, Davey balled his hands into fists. His shoulders shook.

How long has it been?

He didn’t know the answer.

He wasn’t sure he wanted to know the answer.

Long enough for the gash on his cheek to scab over and for the small pangs of hunger to turn to a constant ache. Every noise echoed. His heartbeat sounded far too loud, muffling the noises of footsteps and voices coming from upstairs to a point where they sounded like they were coming from another world, and they may as well have been. Not a single person had come down to see him since he’d been tossed into the dark, dank prison, not to ridicule him, not to bind him, not to—

His stomach growled.

A choked little moan wound up from his throat. Shifting his weight, trying in vain to curl up on his side rather than continue kneeling with his back pressed up against the ceiling, Davey managed to curl up tighter.

The fact that they’d gotten him into the cellar in the first place was his own fault, he knew, but he’d clung to that stubborn hope that maybe, just maybe, if he obeyed their commands they’d let him off easy, keep him with the other boys. Crutchie had said something about it, something about bunks crammed so tightly together you couldn’t see the floor, and Davey could’ve sworn he’d seen some of them as he’d been dragged through the refuge’s doors, but he couldn’t quite recall it. It had been a mess. A mess of colours and shapes that didn’t make sense, and it had been near dark when he’d been hauled in, anyway.

All he remembered was his heart beating out of his chest and the sound his shoes had made as they dragged across the floor. He remembered talking in a hushed voice, remembered giving up on struggling, remembered trying to talk down the pair of thugs that had him by the arms.

And that had gone so well.

One of his eyes was still swollen shut from being thrown down the stairs, and as he’d been thrown into the suffocating darkness, his cap had been snatched by one of the Delanceys.

One of his hands came to tug at his hair. It brushed against the ceiling, trembling slightly as it grabbed a fistful of mussed brown curls, pulling on them until they slid past his fingers and he was left with yet another dull ache on his head.

I’m such an idiot.

Crutchie had told him, he’d told him not to do it with such desperation painting his face, told him not to step in, but by then, they’d both known it was too late. It had been too late once he’d felt that familiar prickling over his skin and anger had pooled in his stomach in a thick, molten sludge, the kind of anger that words wouldn’t fix, and from there it had been a blur. A blur of bruises. A blur of that shifting and changing, of his hands gripping the fabric of someone’s shirt, pinning them down against his better judgement and hissing at Crutchie to run.

His breaths were growing shaky again. He could hear it with every ragged inhale, and try as he might to fight back the choked, desperate sobs trying to escape his throat, little whimpers pulled from his lips.

How long has it been?

Came the question again. Louder.

How long until they come beat you black and blue?

How long until Les realizes his brother might not be coming home?

How long until Jack—

He sank his teeth into his lip, scarcely realizing that he’d drawn blood until the taste of it made him gag.

Don’t think about Jack.

It was easier said than done. He knew he’d wasted that first day crying out pathetically, begging for a second chance every time he saw shadows block the line of light, asking why they’d done this, asking what gave them the right to lock him in a filthy basement just because he was a freak, and do you know who I am? Do you know who’s on my side? They’ll bust me out of here, you’ll see.

He clung to those words, still. He’d clung to them until his throat was hoarse. He’d clung to them afterward. He’d clung to them as his eyelids had grown heavy and he’d succumbed to sleep’s siren song, halfway convinced he’d wake up to see a certain newsie standing there with fire in his eyes and telling him to get his sorry ass in gear.

And then he’d woken up.

Breathed— more like choked on— the stale air and shivered in the damp cold that had settled in the night under his checkered shirt and dirty vest.

Heard the noise of voices upstairs.

Realized that Jack hadn’t come.

Curled up tight against the sudden urge to sob.

He’d stayed like that until that itching, tingling feeling had made his skin burn and his back brush against the ceiling. He’d stayed like that until the support beams started to creak in indignance at Davey’s increasing size. He’d stayed like that until his legs had gone numb and his fingers were pressed tightly against the heavy door as if he could force it open.

Not that he could. He could barely force his eyes to stay open, and any movement he made only made the ache in his limbs worse.

Stop thinking like that.

Piped a voice that sounded eerily like his own.

Don’t lose hope.

How many times had he told Jack to do that same thing? How many times had he grit his teeth and been the one telling all the other sunken-faced boys to lighten up? He was the only one who hadn’t paid a visit to the refuge’s stone keep, and the other boys had all come out okay. He’d be fine.

Trying to regulate his breathing with the rational thoughts, Davey closed his eyes and furrowed his brow.

It’s been two days, right?

He’d fallen asleep twice.

So this…

This is day three.

A stone settled in his empty stomach.

Three days of waiting for a rescue that isn’t coming.

He was stupid for thinking it. Crutchie must’ve gotten nabbed, that would explain it, though both of the Delanceys had pounced on him once he’d gotten himself back to normal and tried to talk them down, and they’d been occupied with dragging him back to the refuge, which would’ve given Crutchie plenty of time to get him some help—

Help that didn’t come.

A voice in his head hissed.

Help that didn’t come even though you were looking for it and shouting for it at the top of your lungs.

Help that isn’t coming because Crutchie couldn’t be bothered to tell Jack—

Or maybe he did tell Jack, but Jack couldn’t be bothered to—

He didn’t realize he was crying until a hiccup caused him to bump his head against the ceiling and tears made his eyes sting. He didn’t try wiping them away. His hands were both by the door, and they quivered and twitched weakly with every wavering breath he managed to take.

Would you just focus?

If they were here, they wouldn’t know you’re in the cellar, and if they were smart about it, you wouldn’t know they were here until that door opened and—

A creak sounded from the staircase.

Davey’s breath caught in his throat. His whole body stiffened, freezing up without so much as a warning, the constant ringing that had filled his ears for the past three days suddenly disappearing, giving way to another creak from the stairs, followed by some grunting and the scuffing of boots.

Don’t get your hopes up.

It’s probably the Delanceys.

Here to throttle you and toss you out on the streets once you shift back.

His heart was starting to race. The voices were growing less and less muffled by the second, sounding less like nonsensical mumbles and more like—

“Wouldya get your stinkin’ ‘ands offa me? I’s goin’!”

No.

The beating of his heart— that noise that had filled his head— stopped as his heart lurched in his chest. Although his throat hurt and the air was grimy, he couldn’t stop a terrified, strangled noise from escaping his lips.

A name.

“Jack.”

It didn’t sound like him. It sounded raspy. Broken. Desperate. The second after he croaked it out, Davey clamped a hand over his mouth and tried to back away from the door, his heart thrumming louder by the second in his veins.

“Ya happy now?” Came another voice— Oscar— or maybe Morris— “like we said, we’s takin’ you t’yer pet, alright? So stop—“

Jack ignored them. Davey could hear his footsteps increasing in volume, thundering down the rickety stairs with a sudden burst of force. “DAVEY! DAVE, WHAT HAPPENED—“

A thump that sounded more like a shove made Davey suck in a sharp breath through his teeth, his body beginning to quiver as the footsteps grew louder. He opened his mouth to respond, but was cut off by the noise of another shove.

“Nothin’s ‘append! We haven’t touched ‘im!” promised the other brother— that one was Oscar.

“‘Cept for when we threw ‘im down there,” piped Morris.

“An’ roughed ‘im up on th’ way...” Oscar added, earning a chuckle from his brother.

“OH, and we definitely punched ‘im at least three times.”

More than that.

He had bruises to prove it. His swollen eye had been bad before the tumble down the stairs, and the nasty gash on his cheek hadn’t been from the first, second, or third blow. Pressing one hand to the slit in his skin, Davey tried to ignore the pained noises that were growing more and more audible. Jack’s pained noises.

What did they do to you?

As much as he wanted to cry out, he knew there wasn’t a point. Jack knew he was here, and his voice was so broken and shredded from that first night that he knew it would do far more harm than good. It would just encourage the Delanceys, though Oscar and Morris didn’t seem to need any further encouragement. Davey had practically tuned their mocking voices out. The cacophony of his panicked thoughts and rasping, laboured breaths coupled with his thundering heartbeat made everything sound like it was underwater. Everything except for Jack.

“Get OFFA me!”

“We said we’s takin’ ya to ‘im! Said it twice,” a dull crack of a fist against a jaw punctuated the statement, “so it’s in your best interest ta can it!” Oscar’s voice was dripping with malice. Davey could see it so clearly in his mind’s eye that it hurt, see the two brothers with Jack hanging between them as he was forced down the rickety staircase.

“Bastards,” Jack spat through his teeth, “when I get outta here—”

Shadows crossed in front of the door, and before Jack could finish his sentence, he crashed against the door with a thud. It had to be him.

Swallowing, Davey tried to summon his words despite the fact that his hands were trembling profusely. “J-Jack—” He began, though he was quickly silenced by the sound of a hand connecting with the door, the noise of the locks jingling following shortly after.

“Dave?”

His voice was so close that it hurt.

Davey’s heart lurched. With his body moving without his permission, he found himself with one hand— one massive, monstrous hand that pinned down Oscar like he was nothing, did you think of that, Davey?— inches from the door.

“Jack,” he choked, voice turning desperate, the sudden reality hitting him upside the head with enough force to send him reeling.

The Delanceys are with him, which means this isn’t a rescue.

Choking a little on his own breath, Davey’s tone turned urgent. “You— you shouldn’t be here, you—“

“Aw, gee, Dave, I’m touched,” came a snappy reply, though it was quick to break into a yelp followed by a sharp crack of a body connecting with the door.

“Sheesh, if ya wanted t’see your boyfriend so bad, why’d you fight us the whole way down?” Morris sneered over the rasping, heavy noises of Jack trying desperately to inhale.

Another crack. From the light under the door, Davey couldn’t tell who’d been hit, though the pained moan that followed no less than a second after caused him to draw away from the noise. Had things been different, he knew he would’ve cried out. He could’ve pried the door off its rotting hinges and flung himself into the fray as though it was Les in danger, could’ve tried to reason, could’ve gotten Jack out of the way, could’ve done anything other than cower back further.

Cowering made his ribs feel like they were going to snap, but it didn’t stop him from drawing into himself, numb to everything but his heartbeat pounding through his veins and the shadows slipping under the doorframe, numb until—

With a bang, the door flew open, and before Davey could truly process what had happened, his hands shot forward to catch something that tumbled into the cellar with him. Something warm. Something breathing.

“Jack…” He whimpered, cupping his hands around the battered boy. He couldn’t see much— his vision was covered in spots of purple from the light that was still flooding in, but Jack wasn’t moving. He wasn’t fighting the handling. He wasn’t moving at all, was he even breathing? What if was dead, what if he’s—

“Shit, he’s a big one,” Morris hissed, causing Davey’s gaze to snap upright to the silhouettes of the two thugs standing in the doorframe, “maybe that story ‘bout that Conlon kid ain’t as bullshit as we thought…”

His stomach dropped.

They’ve heard.

Of course they’ve heard.

His discomfort must’ve shown on his face, because Oscar grinned. A wide, toothy, mocking sort of thing, and he spoke with enough malice to make Davey’s blood turn to ice in his veins and draw the limp form of Jack closer to himself.  “Hope it’s not. It’ll make this more interestin’ for Kelly…”

Blue eyes widening in a mixture of shock and terror, stomach churning at the implications, Davey opened his mouth to say something— anything, but—

The door snapped shut, dousing the cellar in darkness once more.

The silence left in its wake lasted about three seconds, but three seconds was long enough for Davey’s addled mind to finally snap into the present.

“You—“ he started, looking down at the dark shape of Jack in his palms, the gravity of the situation crashing down on him like a tidal wave, “—you’re joking.”

It wasn’t what he wanted to say, but it was all he could get out.

You’re trapped, too.

Even in the dark and squinting through one eye, he could see the gleam of Jack’s eyes, the reflection of the light filtering in under the door make it look like they were glowing. “This is the part where you say ‘thank you’, Dave.” The other boy huffed, flatly, “but thanks for the sentiment. ‘Preciate it.” Catching his breath, Jack pressed one of his hands heavily against the surface of Davey’s palm and hissed: “now would’ja quit shakin’? You’s rattlin’ my brain around in my head, and if “I’s gonna get us outta here—”

It was then that Davey stopped paying attention. “Where were you?” He hissed, unable to keep his voice from cracking pathetically. His eyes were growing damp, and try as he might to keep from letting his anger boil over, his words were turning to a hiss as he bore down on the other boy in his palms. He was uncomfortably close and he knew it, and normally, he would’ve been able to calm himself down, but he found himself drawing Jack closer to his face to better see him in the low light.  “I— I’ve been down here for three days, Jack!”

Jack winced, but before he could even try to respond, Davey plowed forward. He’d been alone in the dark for three days, and try as he might to regulate himself, to keep his calm— those words had had longer to build up in his head.

“I thought you’d just left me here!” He snapped. “I— what, am I just not important to you? Do you even care?”

“Hey, Dave, e-easy—” Jack tried.

Davey barely heard him. His fingers were starting to curl around Jack’s sides, and when Jack tried to shift, their trembling grip tightened, silencing his sputtering. “I didn’t think anyone was coming! I waited, Jack! A-And if I’d tried, I could’ve escaped, b-but I didn’t— I didn’t want to cause a scene, and I thought— I thought you’d come!”

It sounded even more pathetic when he said it out loud. The wobbling of his voice didn’t help anything, either.

Through his teeth, he continued, struggling to keep himself from shouting. “I spent that whole first night thinking that I’d get w-woken up because you were there, but you weren’t, and I thought you’d f-forgotten I was even—”

“We did NOT forget you!” Jack snarled, his ferocity catching Davey off guard enough to make the taller break into a sharp gasp. “So get that outta your head right now, Jacobs!”

His eyes were stinging, his bad vision blurring even further in the dark, leaving him with just vague shapes. He could see Jack— still feel his weight and warmth on his palms— and as he tried to inhale past the knot in his throat—

“Dave, breathe.” Jack ordered.

Davey choked out a bitter laugh, the noise coming out in a garbled, breathy sob. “What’s it—”

Jack’s hand hit the surface of his thumb. “You ain’t breathin if you’s talkin’!” He snapped, and when Davey went to respond—

He was out of breath. When he inhaled, it was raspy and made his throat feel raw. It sounded like a wheeze. “I— I thought you weren’t g-gonna—” He began, stopping to choke down another ragged gasp and use a free hand to swat at his watering eyes. “—I thought you didn’t c-care enough to— t-to—”

Jack gave a small noise of frustration. “I did!” He hissed, “two days ago, we came in through the window!”

Davey’s mouth shut abruptly. Watching as well as he could, fighting back a small sniffle, he could make out the shape of Jack tugging at the hair that had snuck out from beneath his cap. “Two days ago,” he repeated, the anger just beneath the surface of his words alone enough to keep Davey quiet. “It  would’a been sooner, I swear it, but Crutch needed help an’ I wasn’t about to leave ‘im alone, and the other boys, once they heard what happened…”

A stone settled in Davey’s stomach when those glimmering eyes flicked away from his own.

“They didn’t want to go alone… did they?” He finished.

Jack didn’t look up. When he nodded, it was slow, as if he didn’t want to be doing it. “They just didn’t wanna find ya like this,” Jack explained, patting the surface of Davey’s palm beneath him for emphasis, “an’ after the whole thing with Spot… just bad timin’.” He explained. He still wouldn’t meet Davey’s eyes. Shifting, coughing slightly to clear his throat, Jack gave a dismissive shrug. “So we waited. Waited for morning, an’ the second the sun was up, you knows what we did?”

This time, it was Davey who looked away. Jack’s eyes looked dark. His teeth were grit, too, and although he was small in Davey’s hand, he certainly wasn’t powerless.

“Jack—”

“We came to get you outta this mess, only you weren’t there! We came in through the window— four o’ us. Specs, Albert, Racer and me, and you wasn’t there! Combed through everythin’ we could find, we did—” He stopped, suddenly enough to make Davey’s brow furrow.

“What?” He prompted, concern lacing his words.

“Found something ya might miss, is all. Just gotta…” Sticking a hand into one of the inner pockets of his vest, Jack pulled a dark item into the light, and before Davey could even ask what it was—

It connected with the side of his head with a soft thump before flopping lifelessly to the floor next to his hand, falling into the light filtering under the door.

My cap.

Turning his eyes to Jack, shifting so his hands were steadier, Davey moved to thank the other boy, but Jack spoke first.

“That’s all we found upstairs,” Jack mumbled, “an’ we took it as a sign that’cha busted out, but then Les said ya hadn’t been home and that you’s folks was worryin’.”

Jack took his own cap in his hands and leaned so his back pressed further against Davey’s fingers, fiddling with the clumsily stitched hem. “We didn’t know what to do. Crutchie felt the worst, I think. Kept on ramblin’ about how it was all his fault, which is some bullshit if I’ve ever heard it. He kept on tryin’ to think of any rooms we could’a missed when he got real quiet and mumbled somethin’ about a cellar.”

Davey swallowed hard. His hands were starting to tremble again, jostling the other boy in his grip. Jack swatted his thumb.

“Hey, I said t’cut that out,” he tried to joke, though it fell flat, leaving an uncomfortable silence in its wake. It was almost quiet enough to hear the rustling of the other boys upstairs— the ones Davey had been dragged past in the darkness— beginning to softly chat. Bedsheets rustled, and if Davey really, really strained to hear it, he could almost hear laughter.

Delanceys must’ve left the room.

Awkwardly shifting, trying to breathe steadily, Davey carefully lowered his hands to the ground. “Sorry.” He murmured, hollowly, uncurling his fingers from around Jack.

Jack took the hint. With as much swagger as he could muster in the enclosed space, he slid his way out of Davey’s grasp and stood. “S’fine. Ain’t like I’s usin’ these here brains for nothin’, anyway.”

The best Davey could manage was a weak snort. It made his chest ache, Inhaling, opening his mouth to agree, Davey managed to get out the beginnings of a quip before his head started to spin. The world around him blurred together in a mess of dark shapes and colours that didn’t connect, and as he screwed his eyes shut against it, he was made aware of a low, whining sort of groan filling the air.

It was only when Jack’s hand tapped on his cheek that he realized it was pulling from his own throat.

“Shit, Dave, what’s gotten into you?”

“Nothing,” Davey bitterly replied, still stubbornly refusing to open his eyes, “and that’s the problem.”

The noise of Jack inhaling was sharp. Already, he knew the other boy was going to ask for clarification, but before he could even deliver the question—

A muffled growl sounded from his middle, sudden enough to make him flinch and open his eyes, coupled with a hunger pang that made him shudder violently.

Jack stiffened. “Oh.” He mumbled, suddenly making Davey painfully aware of the space between the pair of them. Something in his chest pulled taut.

“Yeah.” He managed to get out. His throat felt tight. His eyes tracked Jack’s movements as the other boy began pacing, an almost predatory precision falling over his face. Subconsciously, he licked his lips. It had been easy to ignore the small twinges from his stomach when he was alone. He could focus on something else. Daydream. Retreat into his head like he always did when things got bad, but Jack’s presence was keeping him locked in the present, bringing to mind thoughts of how easy it would be to—

He swallowed, suddenly aware of the fact that his mouth wasn’t painfully dry anymore.

Jack took his cap in his hands. If he noticed Davey’s sharp gaze, he didn’t show it. “You means that this whole time… they was starvin’… you was starvin’...” He trailed off, blowing out a heavy breath through his teeth. “Shit, Davey, I’s sorry I took so long to come, but I didn’t wanna get caught—” He broke into a harsh laugh, the noise sudden enough to make Davey flinch. “—though I guess that didn’t matter none either, huh? Fuck.”

Jamming his cap on sideways, pacing growing quicker, Jack turned his attention to the door and slammed a fist against it, repeating himself, louder. “Fuck!”

“Language, Kelly,” Davey weakly intoned, earning a halfhearted glare from Jack.

“Whatever.” He hissed, attention flicking back to the door. We’s gettin’ outta here, now.” His hands began to pry at the door, scratching, searching for something to grip onto with a noise that made Davey close his eyes again.

“Can’t.” He rasped, quietly.

The scratching didn’t stop. If anything, it grew more dogged. “Shit, there’s gotta be a loose board or somethin’—”

“Jack.” A little louder this time.

Jack’s hands continued to scrape across the wooden door. “All I need’s a loose board. I’s gotten outta the refuge before, once we’s upstairs, we’s just gonna creep out th’ window an’ then—”

Inhaling sharply, opening his eyes as well as he could manage, Davey set his jaw. “Jack, I can’t.”

The scrabbling stopped as Jack whirled on him. “Why not?” He snapped. “You’s big enough ta be doin’ this part, jus’ get that there door open an’ get yourself back to normal, then we can bust outta this joint!”

An irritated little moan worked its way out of Davey’s throat. Gesturing as well as he could, fingers bumping up against the floor, he lowered his head slightly. “I can’t,” he hissed through his teeth, trying to ignore a small twinge from his gut.

Jack’s eyes narrowed. “The hell ya mean, ya can’t?” He asked, incredulous. “You’s big enough ta scare the shit outta the Delanceys an’ you’s tellin’ me ya can’t—“

“I’ve been down here for three days!” Davey shrilled. Trying to shift his body so he was closer to Jack, he twisted his torso as well as he could despite the fact that he was wedged firmly in place.

“Yeah, you’s said,” Jack snarked back, his volume rising, “so fine. I’ll take th’ door, then you shift back an—“

“Do you have any idea how much energy it takes to shift?” Squaring his shoulders as well as he could while on his hands and knees, Davey lowered himself so his chin practically touched the floor. “I— Jack, I’m running on empty! I’d probably… I dunno, pass out or something, and then I’d never get out. I’m stuck like this!” Bringing one hand up to his head, he jammed it between the ceiling and his hair, curling his fingers in with his scruffy brown locks. Desperation was flickering to life in his eyes. “Even if I could change back, it’d be useless. I can barely even move without everything spinning— I can barely move at all!” He gave a bitter laugh. “Shit.”

Jack gave a weak laugh. “Language, Jacobs.”

Davey rolled his eyes and huffed. Taking a moment to gather his words, he couldn’t help but track Jack’s movements when the other boy began pacing. “I… I read about shifting when I first found out, and it… it takes a lot of power to change. Usually I’d have it all pent up, but now…” He broke into a huff. Raising a hand to shakily run through his hair, Davey exhaled through his teeth. “I’ve got none. A-And some shifters can get stuck, it— it just happens, Jack, we can’t— we panic, and then it kicks in like a defense, and then—”

A hand connected with his own. Had he been more in his right mind, he might’ve yelped in protest, but instead, all he did was stop talking and warily meet Jack’s eyes.

“Geez, you’s really out of it, huh?”

“I’s... it’s fine.”

Jack’s brow furrowed, though Davey barely saw it through a blink that took a little longer than normal. His eyes, however, were focused almost too sharply on Jack’s face.

“No, you’s not fine,” Jack was saying, though Davey barely registered it, “you’s talkin’ like me, that’s— that ain’t a good sign!”

When Jack started pacing again, pacing the small strip of the ground that wasn’t covered by Davey’s quivering shape, Davey felt another small twinge from his belly and a surge of saliva puddling on his tongue.

Don’t.

He swallowed. Shifted his weight.

“Does it matter?” He tried to banter back, squinting through his swollen eye. “Les isn’t here to hear it, so he can’t make… he can’t make fun of me.”

When Jack turned back to face the door, Davey swallowed again, trying to move so the ache in his legs was lessened. Anything to distract him from the newsboy standing in front of him.

“Okay, well, we ain’t stayin’ in here,” Jack grumbled.

Davey inhaled. Already, his mouth was open to speak, but—

“Don’t argue with me, Jacobs.” Jack’s hands were back on the door, nails scratching away at the wooden surface, looking for a lock or loose board that Davey knew wasn’t going to get found. “We’s just gotta think of a plan, s’all. You’s all about that shit, ain’t’cha?”

“Jack. It hurts to think.”

His vision was blurring again. The scene before him looked all smudgy, like when he’s once tried on his father’s glasses.

“How the hell is you alive, then? What, with all that thinkin’ ya do. Ain’t it what fuels ya?” Jack fired back as Davey slumped forward. His chin brushed the ground. If Jack noticed, he didn’t react. “I mean, what, you got all them big ole words in there, like what— ass-piss—“

Davey tried to laugh despite the fact that it made his ribcage feel too tight. “Auspicious?”

It came out almost slurred. He could feel something hot on his lower lip, and as he tried to lift his head and swatted at it—

You’re drooling.

—a gasp caught in his throat. He managed to clap a hand over his mouth before Jack turned his head, his smile a little more guarded. A little more wary. A little more like it had been after a certain incident with a certain Spot Conlon.

“Hey, what’s’a matter with you?”

Davey swallowed numbly. “I— it’s just—“ he tried, lowering his hand just a little, “—I dunno, pick something. I’ve been down here three—“

His stomach growled. Loudly. Loud enough to silence him mid-sentence and make his eyes fix on the floor in silent shame.

The silence was heavy. Too heavy. Heavy enough to make him feel almost queasy as he shakily inhaled. “Sorry.”

Are you?

Are you really sorry?

Another question he didn’t want an answer to.

“It’s fine,” came Jack’s response, and although there was a teasing edge to it, it was less gentle than normal. Harsher. “Just don’t go gettin’ any ideas.”

“Again, head hurts too much for that.” Davey huffed.

“Right, so long as it ain’t makin’ it so ya can’t think clearly, ‘cos I don’t want to end up in a certain spot that a certain Spot has visited, underst—”

“YES,” Davey hissed through his teeth with a voice sharp enough to echo a little in the enclosed space, “Jack, I got it! I— I promise you, that is the last thing on my mind!”

“Then why’s you droolin’?” Jack was getting closer to him, now. Even in the dark, Davey could see the way his shoulders were starting to tense.

“I’m not—” Something wet on Davey’s lower lip made his sureness falter, if only momentarily. He swallowed. Hard. He couldn’t stop himself from salivating, though, and to his horror, it only seemed to be getting worse. His fingers twitched as he raised his hand, clamping it firmly over his mouth. “—shit.”  He finished, weakly, his voice coming out in a sharp wheeze. “J-Jack, you know— you know I wouldn’t— n-not to you…” He trailed off almost desperately, the noise of Jack sighing one of the few rising above his own heartbeat throbbing away in his ears.

“Sure.”

It didn’t sound like he believed it. The silence that hung in the room was heavy as could be, though it was quickly broken by another mournful groan from the direction of Davey’s middle and a pang of hunger sharp enough to make Davey screw his eyes shut and give a choked off little whine. He didn’t look at Jack. He didn’t need to— shouldn’t, not with his instincts going absolutely ballistic. Already, he wanted to apologize, though for what was beyond him. It wasn’t his fault, not really, that they were in this absolute mess of a situation. Maybe if he’d fought back, things would be better, but—

Jack interrupted his thoughts. “The boys’ve gone quiet.”

Davey blinked. Wiping his mouth with his hand, disgustedly, he felt his lips tugging into a sharp frown. “What’s that got to do with anything?” He questioned, watching as Jack began to back away from the door.

“Means they’s not alone. Crutch says they never shuts up unless—”

A thump sounded from the stairs.

Davey’s heart sank. What was left of his hope was starting to disappear, and as much as he wanted it to be a familiar face— god, did he ever want to see Race or Romeo, Buttons, Specs, any of the other boys— he knew in his heart that that wasn’t the case. These weren’t footsteps that were trying to be quiet. They were loud, thumping down on the squeaky steps as though they hadn’t a care in the world.

“Five to one, ‘e’s dead.”

“You’re on.”

The Delanceys…

Something in his shoulders tensed at the realization. Their words were making his stomach twist. He could almost guess the reason why the bet was in place, though before he could come to any sort of conclusion, the door swung open, and there the brothers stood.

It was, thankfully, dark, save for the lantern the two carried, but it still stung Davey’s eyes to keep them open enough to see the rest of his dingy surroundings. He found himself squinting against it, already tensing, ready for another fight that he knew he didn’t have the energy for. How could he?

“Damn,” Morris grumbled, “why the hell’s they both still ‘ere?”

Jack bristled. “The hell you mean, why’s we both here? We’s here on account’a you throwin’ us down the—”

“We wasn’t expectin’ shifty over there to be gone, jackass.” Oscar’s words were dripping with a false sort of charm as he leaned down over the step, his eyes sparkling with an awful sort of glee in the lantern’s flickering light. “But durin’ feedin’ time at the zoo? The tigers sure as shit eat up the goats.”

“When’s you ever seen a tiger?”

Davey blanched.

They couldn’t mean…

They can’t mean—

Again, his frantic mind began to draw a conclusion that made him feel sick to his stomach, and again, he was interrupted.

“What’s that mean?” Jack’s voice wasn’t as sure as it normally was. The bravado was starting to waver. Break. Fall away. It left without warning, and as Davey listened, Jack’s tone changed to that of someone more than a little unsure of what the future may hold. “The fuck are you on about?” His shoulders were square. He looked about ready to throw himself at the Delanceys without a moment’s pause, but as he inhaled to speak again, Morris cut in.

“We was told t’get rid’a ya and to be creative,” he announced, somewhat proudly, “so we figured we didn’t need nobody knowin’ about no body gettin’ found an’...” He grinned, pausing for dramatic effect in a way that made Davey’s heart sink. “We figured out exactly how t’do it. Just needed your dumbass boyfriend to get himself caught, then we got ‘im nice an’ starvin’.” He shrugged, clearly disappointed. “Thought you’d be somewhere warmer than a cellar by now.”

Davey's heart was starting to thunder out of control, and when his gaze turned to Jack, he could see the other boy looking at him with a mixture of apprehension and abject terror. “You… ya want Dave to…”

“Get rid of you, once an’ for all.” Oscar finished, somewhat proudly. “Comes with th’ added bonus that he won’t be goin’ back t’see your boys, after what he’s done, so the union fails, too. Win win.”

Nausea washed over Davey. “No! That’s— that’s disgusting!” He sputtered, frankly unable to believe his ears. “I’m not— I’m not an animal, I won’t—“

His stomach growled again. Louder, this time, and Davey came to a stammering halt. Shit, this was bad. Worse than bad, and as Davey tried to force himself back into as small of a ball as he could curl up into, it didn’t sound like it was getting better.

“That’s right, he won’t.”

Jack’s voice caused Davey to look up, only to see him get shoved. Hard. He’d gotten too close to Oscar, and the brother had reacted quickly. “Well, that ain’t an option. If he don’t, we throws you off the Brooklyn bridge in a carpet, an’ we leaves this bastard ‘ere to die.”

“How come I die in both?” Jack sputtered, “what— whaddid I do t’you?”

Davey barely heard him. His thoughts were starting to race, panic churning through his mind at a million miles per hour. He was supposed to be the rational one, for christ’s sake! But his mind was far from a rational place, and the exhaustion clinging to him in a thick shroud didn’t help him in the slightest. It made it so much harder to focus. He kept his eyes trained on Jack as the rate of his breathing quickened to harsh little wheezes that stung his throat. The other boy’s tense stance didn’t help, either.

“I’d say it’s warranted, wouldn’t you, Morris?” Oscar asked, jabbing his brother in the ribs afterward and earning a swat on the shoulder.

“Absolutely. You’s been nothin’ but trouble, Kelly, with all this union bullshit. S’not gonna work, alright?”

“Was workin’ fine,” Jack snapped back, “‘fore you took one of my fuckin’ friends an’ locked ‘im up down here!”

Davey’s heart stuttered.

The union?

“S-Something’s wrong with the—”

“Not the time—” Jack began, though, before he could finish—

Morris jumped off the last stair and shoved him hard in the chest. “Make a choice, smartass,” he hissed, bringing his fist back to strike, “an’ you’s dead either way. Both is just as fun for us.”

Oscar was quick to join his sibling, and despite the fact that Davey was absolutely monstrous compared to them, he found himself shrinking back reflexively. “C-Can’t we just talk this out?” He tried, somewhat desperately. “This is murder! You wouldn’t— you wouldn’t kill us, and when you get found out— th-the other boys, they’ll come for us!

Morris grinned. It was a twisted thing, sharp enough to make something in Davey’s chest tighten. “Think we care? Either we lie about this one snappin’ ya up, or we say it was an accident that’cha fell off the bridge. Nobody’ll find your body, and d���ya really think this one’ll say a fuckin’ word?” He hissed, gesturing to Davey with enough force to make the larger boy flinch.

“Guys, this ain’t funny—”

“You see us laughin’?”

As the pair stalked forward, Jack began to back up, causing Davey to pull even further into the corner despite the pressure it put on his ribcage.

I have to do something.

Anything would’ve been better than watching as Jack stumbled away from the brothers with their hands curled into fists.

“You’s grinnin’ like a hyena!” He sputtered, stepping more and more into Davey’s personal space. He was standing just in front of Davey’s face, and when he looked over his shoulder, his face paled. “And you’s makin’ it worse!”

Davey sucked in a sharp breath through his teeth before he realized that he was drooling again. Shit. His heart was thumping wildly. His hands were starting to tremble, his fingers twitching uncontrollably, and the worst part of it was that his senses were starting to kick into overdrive. He was painfully aware of how close Jack was to him, and it only worsened when Jack’s back brushed against his chin, touching up against the saliva he couldn’t bring himself to wipe away.

“Looks like we’s gonna do this th’ fun way, then,” Oscar crooned, stepping forward with a fist raised. Despite Jack’s fighting stance and glare that Davey knew was fearsome, the thug didn’t stop advancing, Morris cracking his knuckles a step behind him. Jack couldn’t take them both. It was only when Oscar moved to swing that Davey suddenly sprung to life.

Without thinking, he closed his hand around Jack and yanked the other boy close to himself, guarding him fiercely. “You’re not going to touch him!” He snarled, his voice losing its wobble as though he was back on one of the discarded boxes out in Newsie Square, rallying the other boys. Inhaling, ignoring the surge of the world spinning around him, he tried to speak, but—

His stomach gurgled.

He bit his lip, not finishing the rest of his statement.

The silence that followed left him painfully aware of the fact that his heart was beating out of his chest. He could feel Jack in his hand beginning to try moving, and although it made him feel physically sick, he tightened his grip on Jack. All eyes were on him. His lungs felt too small as he hastily choked down another breath. “I-I’ll…” He swallowed, pretending not to notice the way Jack tensed at the noise.

I don’t want to.

“I’ll do it.”

He was vaguely aware of Jack making a strangled, choked little noise as he adjusted his fingers and shifted his weight, his eyes growing damp. It looked almost like they were glittering in the low light. There was something of a haze falling across his vision, and although he could blame it on the wetness of his eyes, he knew there was something more to it. It was familiar. Something he knew. Something that had fallen over him once in Brooklyn, and now here in the cellar as dust clogged his nostrils.

Jack’s voice was shaking almost as badly as he was. “D-Davey— you— you ain’t gonna— you’s— you’s not—”

Davey tightened his grip further. Before he could talk himself out of it, he lifted the other boy off the ground with a jerk of his wrist, earning a sharp gasp.

“Dave, hey, this ain’t— this ain’t funny—”  Jack started to protest, though he was cut off by Davey tightening his grip. “—ey— ey— sn-snap outta it, you can’t— you’s not gonna—” There was poorly disguised panic flashing across Jack’s face as he squirmed a little in Davey’s careful hold, looking up at his captor somewhat confusedly. Although he gave a little laugh, it was riddled with anxiety. “—you’s not gonna…”

Davey’s lips curled back in a grimace. Although he wanted nothing more than to explain, his words were sticking in his throat along with his breaths that weren’t coming quite right. Looking at Jack was only making it worse, and as Davey forced himself to look down to the Delanceys, he found his grip on the newsie tightening.

Look scary.

It wasn’t as though he needed to try; he was huge. Still, he inhaled and tried his best to hide his shaking by clinging to Jack tighter. It was met with a wheeze.

“D-Davey, David— we—”

Davey’s stomach growled.

Jack blanched.

“Shit, Davey, ya can’t just— ain’t we friends? You said— ya— ya PROMISED!”

It was killing him to keep his face expressionless. Davey clamped his teeth down hard on the inside of his cheek as he lifted Jack closer to himself, completely tuning out Jack’s struggles. He had to work to keep his hands from trembling any more than they were as he swallowed back the apologies threatening to spill from him.

I’m sorry.

I’m so sorry.

Forcing himself to tighten his grip, to shift Jack closer still to his mouth, Davey puffed himself up. “I’ll eat him,” he hissed through his teeth that were only grit to keep his lip from quivering any more than it already was. It came out in a near growl.

The two brothers looked ready to bolt.

C’mon…

Davey silently willed them as he shifted his grip on Jack yet again, trying to keep the other boy from hyperventilating or panicking too badly. It wasn’t working. Jack’s breathing had turned to rasping barks, and although he was silent, Davey knew that wasn’t any better. When Jack was quiet, it meant he was out of words. Out of smart-mouthed remarks. Out of curses. Out of words spat through his teeth. The only thing Jack had left now was panic.

Davey’s thoughts were spiralling.

If they go, I don’t have to…

I don’t have to…

He bared his teeth, trying his best to look like the monster they thought he was and bristled, and although Oscar stumbled…

Morris squared his shoulders. As much as there was fear in his eyes, there was also defiance as he raised his chin in Davey’s direction and snarled out two words in a wobble of a voice. “Prove it,” he hissed, stepping forward on wobbling legs.

A halfhearted smack to Davey’s fingers caused his attention to shift down the the young man in his grasp. “Davey— c’mon—“ Jack pleaded, though he was cut off by Davey bringing him a good foot off the floor in his quivering hand. He was running out of space between his hand and the ceiling. Jack was inches from him, now, every one of Davey’s panicked breaths causing his hair to ruffle on his head and his cap to tip back.

I’m sorry.

His heart was beating so fast it sounded like a constant, thundering drone, and as he looked to jack with a helpless, terrified expression finally piercing through his mask—

“I knew it,” came Oscar’s wobbling voice, “he ain’t gonna do it, ya owe me five, an’ we’s gotta find a way t’get rid of them—“

“I said I was gonna do it!” The force of his own words surprised him, and moments after Davey said it, he felt his stomach lurch dangerously.

“Yeah?” Morris tried, “well, you’s all talk—“

He was cut off by Davey opening his mouth. Wide. As wide as it would go, actually, which normally wouldn’t be much to think about, but now, Davey was all too aware of the implications.

Moving quickly, not thinking too hard about what he was doing, trying to block out the strangled cry that escaped Jack’s throat when he shifted his grip, Davey pinned the other boy’s arms to his sides with his fingers as well as he could manage and lifted him closer to his gaping maw.

Jack was trembling. “Davey,” he hissed through his teeth, giving his legs an experimental kick despite the fact that Davey was keeping him from moving too much, “Dave, I get that you’s bluffin’, but now’s a good time t’stop— sh-shut yer trap an’ put me down before—”

Davey moved him closer. Close enough that he could practically taste him already.

“—N-No, Davey— Davey, don’t, I know you ain’t gonna— you’s not—” His words were coming faster, now, and his struggling was getting harder, hard enough that it was making him almost hard to grasp. “—no, n-no! You’s not— you CAN’T!”

Davey forced himself to meet Jack’s eyes.

That was a mistake. The betrayal shining in them was impossible to miss— there in the fact that they seemed watery and in his knit brow— but beneath it was fear. Genuine terror— terror he’d never seen on the fact of Jack Kelly, and terror he never wanted to see again. Jack was as stiff as a board in his grip, and as he looked down on Jack, Davey couldn’t stop himself from closing his mouth.

The relief that washed over Jack was painfully visible. He looked like he’d deflated in Davey’s grip, and with a breathy laugh, he leaned his head against Davey’s skin. “Geez, Dave, ya really had me goin’—“ he managed to say despite the fact that his voice was wobbling. “—really— really thought you was gonna—“

Davey moved before Jack could finish. In one smooth motion, he opened his mouth, screwed his eyes shut, and stuffed Jack in headfirst. His teeth clipped up against Jack’s waist, and as he jerked his head back and swallowed heavily, a noise that sounded almost inhuman sounded from the confines of his maw.

“NO! DAVEY— DAVE—”

Jack’s legs— hanging past his lips— flailed wildly, smacking up against his chin with a surprising amount of force. Davey swore he could taste blood. Blood and something else. Something human. Something dirty, sure, but also something that tasted panicked.

The struggles grew more frantic, and as Davey struggled to inhale, he was made aware of one thing.

It hurt.

Jerking his head back, trying to pull the rest of Jack’s thrashing body into his mouth, trying to remain deaf to the muffled pleading and cursing, trying to do anything other than spit Jack out like he wanted so badly to do, Davey gave a short, sharp swallow and snapped his mouth shut. It didn’t do much, but it earned him a terrified shout and the feeling of something connecting with the back of his throat, prompting him to swallow again.

“DAVEY—  DAVEY—  SPIT ME OUT, C’MON!”

The voice was so desperate, so awful sounding that Davey could barely place it as Jack’s.

Jack scrambled to get a grip on the surface of Davey’s tongue, and when Davey tried to pin the scrambling newsie to the roof of his mouth, he felt the sharp pain of Jack’s fingernails digging deeper into the flesh around him. He was fighting hard. With every painful second that passed, Davey was made painfully aware of Jack’s terrified state through kicks and slams to the inside of his mouth that made him lock his jaw tighter.

“YA PROMISED!”

Came a muffled cry.

“YA PROMISED YA WOULDN’T—”

Another harsh gulp sounded, and this time, the pain was enough to make Davey gasp and bring a hand up to his throat. He regretted the action as soon as he made it.

He could feel every little struggle and kick from Jack under his fingers, and when he swallowed again, harder, he could feel that, too, the contraction of muscle that forced Jack past his collarbone and out of sight. His chest felt tight. His heart was beating so fast he felt that it might pop, and as he struggled to catch his breath, his eyes burning from tears that threatened to spill down his cheeks, he could feel Jack’s struggles falling lower and lower, slipping into his chest.

Jack’s cries were muffled completely, now. The squirming had grown minimal as he was forced further and further into Davey’s inner workings, though he was certain that it wasn’t because he’d wanted to slow down. Swallowing again, resisting the urge to gag, Davey screwed his eyes shut and pressed a hand flat against his stomach, trying his best to ignore the sensation of Jack squirming down the length of his esophagus. His breaths were coming sharply despite his attempts to act like he didn’t care— like it didn’t matter.

You’ve done this before.

You’ve done this TWICE.

But it hadn’t been Jack.

His whole body jolted when Jack made the final drop into his empty stomach, jolted to a point where he slammed his head against the ceiling and made the support beam give a sharp crack. Dust rained down on his head. And in the midst of it all— in his raging panic— Davey kept his face as blank as he could manage.

I just—

Did I really just—

A kick from his stomach confirmed it, coupled with the weight of something shifting under his skin, moving to fight and claw and kick and—

“Holy shit, he— you’s— you really—”

The Delanceys—

Davey’s eyes shot back open, falling to the brothers before him—

Where did they—

—who were standing on the stairs, gawking.

The second his eyes fell onto them, they both stumbled back a step. Oscar had his fists at the ready, and although Morris also looked ready to spring into action, his eyes kept darting between Davey and his middle. He looked pale, like he’d seen a ghost, and he only grew paler when Davey bared his teeth. When he spoke, his voice was dangerously soft— as if he was telling off a child. “Get out,” he stated, calmly, calmly despite the fact that his heart was beating in his throat, “or you’re next.”

His hands were shaking. Twitching. Sweat was beading on his forehead, and as he glowered down at the Delanceys with his jaw set, he squared his shoulders. One of his hands twitched.

The door slammed shut faster than he could react to, plunging him into complete and absolute darkness once more with a sharp bang.

For a moment, he was still. Completely and utterly still. The noise of footsteps thundering back up the stairs was the only sound that he could hear, and when he finally dared exhale—

A sharp jab from under his skin made him gasp.

“J-Jack—” He started, though he was cut short by another hit to his insides that made him clap a hand over where the internal pressure had come from, pressing down hard enough to feel the shape of Jack starting to throw his weight around.

“SPIT ME THE HELL UP, WHY DON’TCHA!?”

The fighting only got harder when he shouted. He put his whole body into it, pitching to a point where Davey had to bite back a gag. His stomach turned dangerously, and as he tried to catch his breath, tried not to focus on the lingering taste in his mouth, the thrashing only grew more violent.

“Jack, I—” His explanations turned to a whimper at a sharp jab to where his hand was pressed.

“STUFF IT!” Jack roared. Although his voice was heavily muffled, Davey could still more than make out the anger it held. “You— I can’t believe you just— you ATE ME! You picked me up and ya just— ya just—

“I’m aware of that,” he managed to huff out, “and I’m sorry, alright? B-But would you just—”

Jack wasn’t listening. The kicking and scratching got worse. Davey choked on a breath as Jack slammed his weight against his hand.

“—ya fuckin’— what, is that all this was to you, then? Was I just— is this all I am? Just— Just a light snack t’ya, ya hungry bastard? How long have you been wanting this? How— How long have you—”

“I didn’t want to—” He started to protest, though Jack kicked him hard enough to pull a gasp from his throat.

“DID I SAY YOU COULD SPEAK?” Jack snarled. “‘COS I SURE AS HELL DON’T THINK I DID! YA GOT SOME NERVE, JACOBS!” He stopped to breathe, and although Davey could barely hear it, he could see it so perfectly in his mind’s eye as Jack heaved and struggled to form words. He kept interrupting his sentences with gulps of air and other jabs to the flesh around him. “Can’t— can’t believe ya just went an’—”

He broke into a yelp as Davey shifted his weight.

I was SO STUPID for trustin’ you— after that stunt with Spot, I thought— Crutch said ya ain’t a monster—”

“Jack, listen—”

“—He said t’give ya a chance! Said ya didn’t mean it, but I guess that was stupid’a me ta believe—”

“Please— J-Jack, c’mon, you— you’re fine—”

When Jack’s voice met his ears, it was past the point of shrill, coming out in a muffled scream. “YOU FUCKING ATE ME, DAVEY!” It was followed by a barrage of kicks and jabs to his stomach lining that left him clutching tighter to his middle.

“I— I’m aware of that,” Davey whimpered, struggling to keep his tone even, “now can we move past it and focus on—”

“The hell do you mean, ‘move past it’?”

With every muffled curse and thrashing, jerky movement, he felt hot bile rising in the back of his throat and forced himself to gulp it back. At least he was feeling less groggy. He was wide awake, now. His hand trembled as he pressed it harder against where Jack was kicking him, trying to bring the other boy’s struggles to a stop.

“You just WAIT, Dave! Wait ‘til the other boys hear about this, they’s gonna—”

Something in him snapped.

Slamming one hand down on the cellar floor, Davey jabbed at Jack’s shape angrily. “The other boys AREN’T going to hear about this,” he hissed, “because YOU’RE not going to TELL THEM!”

The silence that fell upon the room afterward was enough to make Davey aware of the fact that he was panting heavily. His heart was thrumming away in his ears, and as he swallowed back a little gasp, he slumped defeatedly against the nearest wall of the cellar. His vision was swimming. The exertion had cost him. Woozy, keeping his hand over Jack, he let his eyes slip shut just for a moment.

And then the implications of his words hit him.

Oh… that’s… that’s why he’s gone quiet...

Eyes opening despite the fact that it didn’t change much, Davey sank his teeth into his lip and winced. “...Jackie?” He tried, his voice coming out wobbly.

Jack was trembling, now. He could feel it against his stomach lining, and with every little twitch from the other newsie, he felt his heart sink. “J-Jack, I didn’t mean—” He started, though he was interrupted by a bitter sounding snarl.

“Save it for someone who cares.” Jack snapped, his voice, though muffled, more than conveying his betrayed feelings. “I thought— damn it, Dave, I thought we was friends—”

“We are!” Davey protested. “I— I’m not gonna— why would I hurt you?”

“I’ll tell ya when I figure it out!” Jack snarled, though there was a quiver in it that Davey couldn’t ignore. The next hit to his innards was weaker, though still pointed and hard enough to make him wince. “I can’t believe you’s… so this is it, huh?” The bitter laugh that followed it made Davey’s heart twist. He kept quiet, though.  “This is just… this is all any of it meant, huh? I— we’s— just like that, huh? I knew— I knew that thing wit’ Spot was just the beginnin’ of all this! I knew ya was just gonna snap an’—”

“You— Jack— hold on a second!” Davey’s tone was turning sharper. He couldn’t help it— the nausea was making his head spin. “You’re not going to die in there, okay? N-Nobody has, a-and nobody will, s-so would you stop kicking me and LISTEN?”

He hadn’t meant to shout. Gasping for air, the adrenaline fading into more of a shocked feeling that left his eyelids heavy, Davey worked to keep his breathing even.

Another impact to his stomach lining made him grit his teeth and inhale sharply, though… another hit didn’t come.

“I’s listenin’,” came a small voice.

Davey winced. A soft gurgle from his middle sounded as he tried to adjust his weight, keeping his hand over Jack despite the jab it earned him. “Right,” he breathed, “okay, look, I know it seems bad, but I promise, it’s completely safe!”

Jack gave a harsh laugh. “It seems bad?” He sputtered, weakly, his accent seemingly a little thicker than before. “Dave, ya— you jus—”

“Can we not dwell on it?” The pressure of his hand over Jack intensified. “Jack, I— I’m sorry, and you can be mad at me later, b-but I need you to stay there, okay?” He prodded Jack’s shape on the word “there” for emphasis, earning himself a sharp noise of protest.

“Like hell I’s stayin’ in here! You’se made a BIG mistake, once I— once I gets outta here, I’s gonna—”

Davey’s heart sank.

He’s not getting it.

Struggling to keep his tone even, Davey gnawed on the inside of his cheek. “You aren’t getting out of there until I let you out,” he stated, matter-of-factly. Already, he was feeling less tired than before— though he knew that Jack was having the exact opposite experience. It was a part of his anatomy— shifters could draw energy from pretty much anything, and Jack Kelly was no exception, if the pleased little gurgles resonating from the direction of his stomach were anything to go by.

“That…” Jack trailed off, and Davey could feel him struggling again, though the movements were sluggish. “That sounds like a th-threat,” he pointed out. “Why— Why’s I so damned… t-tired, why’s I—”

It was happening faster than it should’ve. Maybe it was the starvation kicking in, but as Davey began to sap Jack’s energy at a ridiculous rate, he could feel the other boy growing groggier. It was all too obvious that Jack was tiring himself out. The kicks and punches were growing clumsy.

“—Dave, what— what the hell?”

“I promise, you’re going to be fine,” Davey tried to reassure, though it came out a little strained. His stomach hurt. Jack had done a number to the lining there, that was certain. “Just… don’t panic all that bad, alright? I’ll get you out, just… give me a minute.”

Jack’s nails dug into the muscle surrounding him, the pressure enough to make Davey flinch and bite down hard on his lip. “Why don’t you sound sure of that?”

“What?”

The pressure on his stomach lining ceased, though another sharp kick to his innards made him give a small whimper. This wasn’t going well. This wasn’t going the way he’d wanted it to at all. Why couldn’t there have been a proper rescue?

Guilt painted across his face, Davey kept his hand over Jack as the other boy struggled to find his voice.

“Like you’se just—” Jack started, though he slumped further against the nearest wall with a groan. “—shit, why’s— m-my head—”

“I’m just taking energy—” Davey tried to explain, though he was cut short by a muffled, panicked wail of:

“You’se digestin’ me? S’that it?”

A groan of discomfort and frustration escaped his throat at the sensations of Jack trying to right himself— the scrabbling of hands against his stomach walls enough to make him gag. Jack wasn’t exactly a lanky guy, but Davey was hyper aware of the space he took up under his skin. “I— No! Jack, that’s— that’s disgusting, I— I wasn’t lying when I said you were safe, just trust me, okay?”

Jack’s accent was thicker than ever. The struggling had stopped— and although it was a momentary relief, Davey felt a stab of guilt pierce his chest at the next set of words.

“Why would I trust… someone like you?”

And with that, Jack went completely limp, leaving Davey in silence, save for the gurgling of his stomach and the sharp, laboured noise of his breathing.

Shit.

[mirkwoodshewolf]

It’s a kind of magic tour pt.1; Queen x reader

*Author’s note*

Hey guys wow been awhile since you guys got a Rock Angel update but I figure it’s time you all got an update, and good news, it’s A TWO PARTER!!!! Okay so here’s the deal with this chapter, it’s all one thing but I’ve chosen to break it up into 3 parts because this chapter is ALL about the It’s a Kind of Magic tour, the very last tour Queen did with Freddie.  So this first chapter is strictly the Wembley performance, the next chapter I will post up is the Budapest events, and the last one is the very last show Freddie did at Knebworth. 

So in this part prepare for some fluffy feels, and LOVEY-DOVEY MUSH!!! Not really any hard warnings, except for the swearing or two. And for anyone interested in watching the concert to follow along are free to watch it on this link----> Concert here

Taglist:

@plethora-of-things​

@psychosupernatural​

@waddles03​

@ixchel-9275​

@platawnic​

@bohemiansweede​

@onebigfangirlworld​

@naturalswifty89​

@starswin​

@dj-lowkey​

@isabella-bby​

@labessieisallama​

@5sos-wdw​

@geek-and-proud​

@queendeakyy​

@simonedk​

@kairosfreddie​

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*July 11th, 1986. Wembley Stadium*

It was the hottest tour that Queen had ever done.  In light of having just recorded some songs for a movie known as “Highlander” Queen came to the decision in calling their next tour the “It’s a Kind of Magic Tour”. A full on summer European tour filled with new surprises, new songs, and of course the partnership of the decade, for the Rock Angel was also in on the show as the supporting act.

So in reality it was really called Queen+Angel “It’s a Kind of Magic ‘86” tour.  Tickets were filling up and had sold out quicker than any tour in the past for both Queen and the Rock Angel.   One place in particular ran out faster than anywhere else, and that was Wembley Stadium, so the tour managers of both Queen and the Rock Angel worked out that they would do 2 nights performing at Wembley so that fans could get the chance to see them perform.

*My POV*

I was currently in my dressing room getting ready when I heard a knock at my door.

“Who is it?” soon peeking inside was the face of my loveable husband.

“Fanclub of the Rock Angel, party of two.” It was then Jack came in holding our baby girl in his arms. I smiled and turned towards them.

“Aww there’s my little girl. Ohh darling you’ve gotten bigger since I last saw you.” I cooed as I took my daughter in my arms and held her close.  I kissed her cheek repeatedly making her coo and laugh.

“So baby about tomorrow when do you want to head out for our dinner date?”

“Oh Jack I don’t know. I’m scheduled for a full rehearsal all day tomorrow, and then the concert. By then I don’t know if I’ll be up for anything.”

“Then why not just a simple room service dinner and a bottle of champagne. Then I could make you a bubble bath and we could—get in together and……”

“Jack you dirty man. Not in front of our daughter.”

“Ahh she doesn’t know what all that means, do you sweetie bell?” Jack cooed down at her as he took her back and held her once more.

“I swear you’re as bad as Roger and Jensen mixed into one.”

“So how long do you guys got till showtime?”

“About ten minutes. C’mon why don’t we go and try to find the guys?” I asked him.

“When did she last have her bottle?”

“I gave it to her on schedule right before we left the hotel. So she should be good.”

“And how about her nappie? Does she feel wet at all?”

“You know I can never get used to that word, why do you guys call it that here?”

“Because we just do. And why did you Americans have to change it to diapers? I swear it almost sounds like you’re saying diarrhea.”

“That is not what it sounds like at all! Those are completely different words.” Jack tried to defend himself and for all Americans in that manner.

“Whatever, but seriously does she feel wet?” Jack felt around and he said.

“Oh yep, it does feel a bit damp. Must’ve done it on our way here.”

“Okay, c’mere love-a-bug. Let’s change your nappie.” I placed her on my loveseat couch and took off her dress so that it wouldn’t get wrinkled.  Jack handed me the diaper bag and I took out the necessary things I needed.

Thank god for the Sensei-Veronica and her wise teachings about changing nappies.  Cause boy when it came to changing her nappie, Kelly sure could throw a tantrum.  She then began crying as I took off her diaper, her legs kicking in protest.

“No! No none of that now. We gotta get your wet nappie off of yah. Don’t want you to go smelling like pee all day do we? No I don’t think so.” She continued to fuss and kick her legs as I threw the soaked nappie away, applied the baby powder and medicine on her, before finally getting her into a fresh nappie and putting her dress back on.

“Aww see there’s our good girl, don’t that feel better?” Jack said as he picked up our girl while I grabbed my Red Special.  We then left my dressing room and went down the hall where I knew Freddie and Roger’s dressing rooms.

Already from down the hall I could hear Freddie’s vocal warmups.  Which made Kelly alert and her eyes widened as she reached out. I gasped and said as I took her.

“Who’s that? Who is that poppet?” I could even hear the faint echo of Roger’s vocalization and at that point she let out a “Bah” “Yeah that’s papa Roger and Uncle Freddie, shall we go say hello?” we then walked over to the dressing room but stayed hidden as to not ruin the surprise.

Freddie continued going up his scales in a scat like manner that he always did and that’s when I heard Roger go.

“Oooh!”

“Ohh-Ohh!” Freddie replied in a slightly higher octave.

“Ohhh!” Roger sung again before Freddie and him laughed.

“Well I see you guys are doing your little vocal competition as per usual.” I said as I came around with my family in tow.

“And I see you’ve brought the entire Kline clan with you.” Freddie sassed back at me.  I grinned and said as I adjusted Kelly.

“Hope you guys don’t mind your smallest fan coming today.”

“Of course not love, you know we love it when she comes to see us.” Roger said as he came around and took his goddaughter in his arms.  “Plus I thought that was her making all that fuss, for a moment I thought it was her mum.” I mockingly gaped at him.  A wide, gummy smile spread across Kelly’s face as her godfather played the helicopter game with her.

“Happy to see her again Rog?” Jack asked.

“Of course, last time I saw this adorable face was the around Christmas time. So it’s basically been seven months, and she was still such a tiny thing. Kiddos growing like a weed.”

“So how has parenthood treated you both?” Freddie asked.

“She’s a blessing. I mean there are a few nightly wakeups but other than that she’s good.”

“Although she’s still scared of the horses over at Jared’s place. Anytime we go near them, screams her head off like a banshee.”

“Aww poor baby, did the mean ole horsies scare you?” Roger cooed as he brought her close to him and bounced her up and down gently while rocking her soothingly.

“Well I thought I was hearing a baby earlier but I thought my ears were playing tricks on me.” We turned to see Brian coming out from the tuning room, holding an acoustic guitar in his hand.

“Yep. Our mini-angel came to see us.” Roger bragged as he bounced her once more.

“What do you say lovebug? Wanna go see Uncle Brian?” I said.

“No she doesn’t, she wants to stay with god-papa Roger, isn’t that right my little lovie?” he said as he softly tickled her tummy with just his index finger.

“Oh no you don’t get to dictate on who she stays with. She loves all of you guys equally.” I proclaimed as I took my daughter out of his arms and walked over to Brian and allowed him to hold her.  “Careful now Bri.”

“I know (y/n), I know this isn’t my first rodeo trust me.” He assured me as he held Kelly in his arms.  Out of all the guys she was always entranced with Brian (probably because of the hair).

Sometimes she would reach out to touch it, and it goes either one or two ways either she tugs it, or she just holds a strand of his curls in his hand.  The first few times she did tug at them, but then she relaxed and we told her not to pull it, but of course there’s the occasional pull and tug.

Luckily this time all she did was touch it and even stroke her hand down, almost like she was petting a dog.

“I swear Brian dear you’ve got that little girl wrapped around your finger, and I’m the one whose supposed to spoil her.” Freddie stated with a wave of his hand.

“It’s the hair what can I say?” Brian said as he handled Kelly very delicately and allowed her to take hold of his finger.

“So there’s no chance of you ever cutting it or even changing it, is there?” I asked.

“Not on your life my dear. Especially if this little one likes it, huh? Whatcha say Kelly?” she babbled and continued to grip onto Brian’s index finger.  She even started to nuzzle herself into his shoulder.  We all awed and that’s when I asked.

“So where’s Deacy? I’d figure he’d want to see his little niece.”

“He’s probably up backstage with his Deaklings as well as the rest of the Queen family.” Freddie replied as he stroked Kelly’s head softly.

“So everyone else is here?” asked Jack.

“Yep, Chrissie brought the kids, and Dominique brought Felix and baby Rory.” Brian replied.

“Well why don’t we head up there now, seems like we’ve got about seven minutes till showtime.” I said as I looked down at my watch.  We gathered up our stuff and walked out of our dressing rooms from the bottom of the stage and headed up outside towards the stage entrance.

For some reason security almost wouldn’t let Brian through because he didn’t have a pass. So I spoke for him in the light of mentioning you can’t have Queen without their guitarist (and I may or may not have threatened the guard to let him through cause Brian was still holding my baby and I wasn’t gonna be parted with her for another second).

As the kids reunited with their parents and the crew took the backstage pictures that they wanted to get.  I was sitting and watching as Jack stood beside Dominique as Kelly was entranced with baby Rory.  Even with being six months apart, Kelly and Rory got along very well.

I was even imagining that when those girls got older, they were gonna be more than just cousins to each other.  They would grow to be sisters.

“You doing okay love?”

“Yeah. Just—picturing what Rory and Kelly are gonna be like since they’re technically sisters by law.” I said with a soft smile as I turned towards my brother Deacy.

“Roger did luck out in making you the godmother. Seeing how you fit into the mother role so well with your own baby girl.”

“That or to just make it even since he’s Kelly godfather.”

“Or that too you’re probably right.” I hummed a soft chuckle before turning back. “You miss her when you go on tour, don’t you?”

“How could you possibly know that?”

“C’mon you’ve heard this time and time again sister dear. We know you too well. Plus I know firsthand how that feels. Remember I had my first child at around your age. So I know how hard it is for a first time parent to be away from their child for such a great lengths. But I have a feeling you’re feeling it much worse than what I did, cause after all I didn’t give birth to Robert.”

That finally got a laugh, a real laugh, out of me which made Deacy smile and he wrapped an arm around me as I said.

“I just—I don’t know how you guys do it every year. Every tour you all go on.”

“Having children puts things in a whole new perspective. Same thing with relationships.”

“I totally get your song now. The line ‘I’m happy at home’. It all makes sense now. Because did you know that I missed my daughter crawl for the first time ever?”

“Really? Kelly’s first crawl?”

“Yes. It happened during our show in Paris. Jensen and Jared came for a visit to our home in Napa, California and they were trying to get her to crawl. After hours of getting nowhere, when they had their backs turned, Jack came down from doing some laundry to see Kelly crawling across the floor. Of course poor baby ended up bonking into the couch but she crawled Deacy. And I missed it.”

“It’s hard missing those milestones. Believe me I would know. I missed Robert crawl for the Night at the Opera tour, during News of the World I missed Michael take his first steps. And my little girl Laura, she actually said her first word, and it was my name. Well title name, during the Hot Space tour. I was fortunate with Joshua but.... I can never take back the first experiences with Robert, my first child, or my only baby girl Laura.”

“Oh Deacy I—I can’t believe that. And here I am bitching about missing a simple crawl. Man I’m such a drama queen.”

“No you’re not. You’re just protective and loving mama bear, well mama lioness I should say. After all you had Kelly inside you for nine months.”

“Nine months and a week.” I corrected him.

“Oh yeah, that’s right.” We both softly laughed and he said as his hand came up and ruffled my hair a bit. “But there’s no doubt in my mind you’ll make it up to Kelly. And there will be plenty of milestones to come, because she’s gonna need someone strong to look up to, and I already know she has the best role model a kid could ever have.”

“When did you ever get so wise?” I asked him with a teary eyed glaze.

“Comes with the territory, and experience. You’ll get there one day.”

“Thank you brother mine, really this talk….it’s been the best relief I’ve had in a while. I don’t even think I could’ve talked about this with Roger or Brian.”

“I’m always here for you sister dear. And anytime you want to talk, I’m here for you.” He leaned his forehead against mine and I closed my eyes and drew in his strength.

After the whole family reunion; it was getting close to showtime.  We were escorted by our team towards the stage, all five of us pumped up on adrenaline.  Even though I wouldn’t go on till the guys started Under Pressure, I was still feeling the anxiety of going on stage.

“Good luck guys, I’ll see you all in a bit.” I told them.

“We’ll see you then darling.” Freddie said as he came up and kissed both my cheeks.

“You’re gonna kill it out there as always.”

“We try our best.” Brian said as he tuned his Red Special.  As the opening for ‘One Vision’ began echoing through the speakers and we could hear the audience clapping along and cheering I knew it was time. The guys got into position and I waited backstage from my spot on stage where I would enter and I heard the roar of the crowd as Queen finally made their appearance.

As always Freddie was extravagant on stage, a living legend and a God amongst men.  With songs like “One Vision”, “Tie your mother down”, and a surprise for both me and the audience two oldie but goodie songs of Queen, “In the Lap of the God (revisited)” and “Seven Seas of Rhye”, “Tie your Mother down” and “It’s A Kind Of Magic”.

During “A king of Magic”, giant balloons of the guys’ cartoon drawn selves from the album were floating and bouncing amongst the crowd and it was comical to see.  Once the song was over Freddie starting doing his vocal echoes with the crowd.  As usual they replied back to him with each vocalization that Freddie gave them.

If he held out a note, they did the same thing.  But I was noticing that his voice didn’t hold the same amount of power as it used to, even kinda cracking but he still powered through it.

“I can’t go any higher than that. Aye-Oh! Let’s go down. Aye-Oh!” Either it was just due to age or just due to the fact he’s been working his voice so hard, but it surprised me that Freddie couldn’t go higher than he just did, cause just a year ago he was able to.  But he still held a long “Aye-Oh” just like he did last year during Live Aid, which I admired. “Fuck you.” I grinned and shook my head.

“Ohh Fred you cheeky son of a bitch.” It was then Deacy began playing the bassline for ‘Under Pressure’. One of my roadies “Lucky” handed me my mic and he gave me a thumbs up and I mouthed a thank you.  I shook my jitters out as Freddie and Roger began the song.

*Roger and Freddie*

Pressure pushing down on me

Pressing down on you no man ask for

Under pressure that brings a building down

Splits a family in two

Puts people on streets

Um ba ba be

Um ba ba be

De day da

Ee day da that's okay

*Freddie (Roger)*

It's the terror of knowing

What the world is about

Watching some good friends

Scream

Let me out (Let me out!)

Pray tomorrow gets me higher

Pressure on people

People on streets

Day day de mm hm

Da da da ba ba

Okay

Chippin' around

Kick my brains around the floor

These are the days

It never rains but it pours

Ee do ba be

Ee da ba ba ba

Um bo bo

De do

People on streets ee da de da de

People on streets ee da de da de da

I had my Red Special on hand, I took a deep breath as the two volunteers pulled back the slaps of the see-through curtains and I walked through the smoke and sung the next verse. And as soon as the cameras showed me, everyone was in a roar of applause as I came right up and stood next to Freddie.

And as agreed for this performance whenever I came in at the second verse, I would go up in my high, controlled alto range with Roger and Freddie backing me up before Freddie ended the bridge.

*Me*

It's the terror of knowing

What this world is about

Watching some good friends

Scream! (let me out)

Pray tomorrow higher

Higher high!

*Freddie*

Pressure on people

People on streets

When the bridge came out, Roger, Freddie and I sang in a mezzopiano volume before Freddie sang the rest of the bridge before Roger and I came in on the first “Why”.  Then to show off my vocal range, I did a sorta ‘Freddie’ vocal with my why’s and adlibbed a bit.  Before we ended back together.

All the while Fred and I danced around together, even sharing his mic at one point as I joined Brian on guitar.

*Me, Freddie and Roger*

Turned away from it all like a blind man

Sat on a fence but it don't work

*Freddie*

Keep coming up with love

But it's so slashed and torn

*Me and Roger*

Why

*Me*

Oh why.

Tell me why?

*Freddie*

Insanity laughs under pressure we're breaking

*Both*

Can't we give ourselves one more chance

Why can't we give love that one more chance

Why can't we give love give love give love give love

Give love give love give love give love give love

*Roger, Freddie and me*

'Cause love's such an old fashioned word

And love dares you to care for

The people on the edge of the night

And loves dares you

To change our way of

Caring about ourselves

This is our last dance

This is ourselves

*Freddie and Me*

Under pressure

Under pressure

Pressure

Freddie and I hugged and kissed each other.

“Ladies and Gentlemen the Rock Angel herself Mrs. (Y/n) Kline!” Roger spoke into his microphone. I bowed graciously as the crowd roared in applause.

“HELLO WEMBLEY BEAUTIES!” I then saw Rock Angel signs being raised high in the sky like a banner waving in the wind.  I then heard Deacy strum and fiddle with his bass another familiar bassline.

“I’m feel a little boogie coming on, what do you think?”

“I’m feeling it to Fred.” I spoke into my mic before proclaiming to my dad, “HIT IT ROGER!!” He gave us a beat before counting into the microphone.

“1 2 3 4!” And it was then he and Deacy began playing “Another one bites the dust”.

“Hey! You both called me out.” Freddie spoke.  I grinned at him and began playing alongside Brian as the crowd began going crazy and clapped along.

During the song it was like a little competition between Freddie and I.  He would sing the first verse, then get the crowd rolling to sing the title of the song with Roger backing him up.  Then it was me and Brian getting the crowd pumped up during the second half of the song.  Then during the instrumental break, he and I would have a “Scat-off” which is basically all the ’be-boops’ or “de-ba-ba-boop” scats that Fred is known to do very well.

We would even have a competition between the guys and the girls to see who could chant the title out louder.  I obvious led the girls and Fred led the gentlemen.  Before the two of us would end the song together, and by the end of it all as the crowd cheered, Fred and I hugged each other once again.

After dabbing his face with a towel and I already needing to get myself wiped off from the summer heat as well as the beaming lights, I went up and stood by Brian who was up by the keyboard and he would tell me that now was the time when I would play his guitar part for their newest song, “Who wants to Live forever”.  Fred took a sip of beer before saying into the microphone as he walked further up towards the edge of the stage’s catwalk designed specifically for him.

“You know something there’s—there’s been a lot of rumors lately. About a certain band called Queen, along with a talented female artist known as the Rock Angel. The rumors are that uhh—the rumors that we’re all gonna split up and—break our partnership, what do you think?” at that point the crowd began booing and crying out in protest.

It's true.  I don’t know where or how it came to be.  I mean I myself have heard the rumors about Queen cause to my knowledge, they are literally the longest band to stay together without fully breaking up.  I mean yeah there was that break 2 years ago, but Freddie and all of us learned to forgive and forget because we’re family.

And families have their fights, but it’s those fights that keep us together.  But now some of the press are saying that Queen is planning on splitting up, and that I may also be thinking about severing my ties with Queen.  To fully go off and no longer want anything to do with them.

And it warmed my heart to see Freddie pointing to his ass before proclaiming.

“They’re talking from here!” I grinned and nodded as the crowd cheered.  Brian placed his arm around me and I leaned my head against his chest and wrapped my arms around him. “My apologizes but I say what I want. You know what I mean. So forget those rumors, we’re gonna stay together until we fucking will die I’m sure.” The crowd cheered and I nodded. “I keep—I must tell you, I keep wanting to leave but the Devil Angel back there won’t let me.”

“Watch it Mercury.” I warned him into my microphone as the crowd laughed and cheered.  He grinned cheekily at me before blowing a kiss my way and I blew one back at him, but also snuck in the finger.

“Also I suppose we’re not bad for four aging Queens and an eternal youthful angel, are we? Really what do you think?” the crowd whistled and exploded with an applause.

“I’d say you guys look great. Better than ever even, what do you all say?” at that point I heard some airhorns go off.

“But you my fine Angel. Serious folks some may not know but that angel right there, just became a mother for the first time ever just several months back last year.” At that the crowd went awe and I even heard some shouts of congrats and cheers, mostly from the women in the audience “And she’s positively glowing, what do you all think? Cause she’s been saying all tour how she wasn’t ready to come out just based off her body now.”

At that point the crowd all booed at the last part and I even heard some men shout out “YOU’RE STILL BEAUTIFUL!”

“YOU’RE A FINE GIRL ANGEL!!”

“WE LOVE YOU ROCK ANGEL!”

“Thank you all it really means a lot to me. At first I didn’t even want to do this tour but—it not only took these four misfits to get me back on stage, but all of your love and support. So I thank you all from the bottom of my heart. Thank you.” I blew the audience a kiss and whether it was the hormones I still had or just seeing all this support from thousands and thousands of people, I honestly got a little teary eyed.

I wiped them away so that I wouldn’t be crying on stage but I could hear the sounds of the crowd awing me.  It was then I felt Brian give me a real hug and he said in my ear.

“You’re still beautiful (y/n). We all love you.” He gave me a kiss on top of my head, which showed up on the cameras and I continued to try and suck in my tears.

“Thanks Bri.” I said to him before we separated from each other. “Okay,” I spoke into my microphone, “Before you all truly make me cry. This is a new song of Queen’s ‘Who wants to Live forever’.” The audience clapped and that’s when Brian led in on the soft and gentle intro before Freddie’s voice entranced the audience.

Just like Brian had taught me the scales and notes for this song, I came in when necessary while he kept at the keyboard.  When the solo came on, I walked up center stage onto the catwalk and performed the solo which had the audience cheering and whistling as Queen came back on the song.

I got to sing the backup vocals alongside the guys by the end of the song, Freddie sung out the last line as I gave the whammy bar a soft shake to make the last note of my Red Special vibrato a bit before we finally closed the song.

The concert continued with a couple more Queen songs before we did some of my songs like “Rock the World”, “Who I am”, “So good”, “Shallow” (accompanied by Roger, with Fred conducting the audience to sing along since he knew this song was special to me and Rog), and a new song from my recent album, a song I called “Rush”.  After that, Roger, Deacy and I left backstage to change while Brian and Freddie took over the stage with “Love of my Life” and “Is this the world we created”.

After that it was time for a little close in personal bonding time as all five of us came down the stage, Rog with the tambourine this time, Deacy and Brian standing at each end, me standing between Rog and Deacy and Freddie (who was now sporting a police officer’s helmet) gathered around as we began to sing our ‘medley’ songs like.

“(You’re so square )Baby I don’t care”.

“Hello Mary Lou”.

And some new songs of mine, one of which I had dedicated to the guys called “Protecting me”.

“No One”

“Tutti Frutti”

Then there were the more popular songs of Queen like their famed “Bohemian Rhapsody”, the audience participation that was “Radio Gaga”, the groovy dancing of “Crazy little thing called love”, the head banging that was both “Hammer to Fall” and my famed song “Set it all Free” (which was more of the audience singing the song and all I did was sing the chorus).

By the end of the entire concert after singing the last two songs “Friends will be Friends” and “We are the Champions.” Freddie came out for the first time on stage in his kingly attire that consisted of a very long red and white robe and a king’s crown that had red velvet inside and had jewels that could actually rival the actual Crowned Jewels of her royal highness.

Like the true Queen he was, he held his crown out to the audience as the boys and I rocked out the final part of the song and once we ended the song, Deacy, Brian, Roger and I came down with Freddie and waved goodbye to the crowd.

“Thank you, you beautiful people. Goodnight, God bless you.” Then as a final touch to the end of the tour we decided to add something special.  You know how in every Queen concert you hear their rendition of ‘God Save the Queen’, well for my second album, I included me actually singing Britain’s National anthem.  And thanks to the brilliant mind of our sound department and sound mixers, they’ve found a way to combine the two versions together so it sounded like I was singing alongside Queen’s recording.  

All for this tour.

As the five of us waved goodbye and I could hear them singing alongside me, I came up to Freddie who had actually placed his crown on top of my head and he bowed before me.  I went along with the act by knighting him with his music staff before he stood up and wrapped an arm around me and the two of us walked out, waving and blowing kisses to the audience with the rest of the boys trailing behind us doing the same thing.

After all that, we quickly raced out towards the back where the cars would take us back to our hotel. So all of us gowned in our after concert robes, mine being a red with white wings on the back quickly raced out with my assistants by my side with towels or water as we quickly raced towards the cars.

I got in my car and as soon as I got in, my driver took off back for the hotel.  When we all finally arrived, we all had a celebration up in Freddie’s suite with some drinks (non-alcohol due to the fact we had a show tomorrow) and food.  It was a small family party really with all our loved ones surrounding us and congratulating us on yet another successful concert.

The next day it was the same thing all over again at the same place.  But I began to notice that Jack was acting a bit strange today. He knew that today was our 2nd anniversary and yet he was playing it off like it was no big deal.

I mean yeah I told him I would be busy today rehearsing for today’s concert but I would’ve thought he’d at least wish me a Happy Anniversary.  But here’s the catch, whenever I tried to talk to the guys about it, they also waved it off like it was nothing and told me to keep busy.  

So I decided was going to get to the bottom of this.

“Now we sure she doesn’t know anything about it?” I heard Brian say.

“Oh she doesn’t have a single clue darling.” Freddie’s voice rang out proudly.

“Shhh! Fred lower your voice. Do you want her to overhear you from her dressing room.” Roger hissed.

“Too late!” I made myself known.  They gasped and turned towards me all huddled together, almost like they were hiding something. “Alright spill it, what are you four Queen’s up to?!” I demanded.

“Up to?”

“Up to?”

“Up to?”

“Up to?”

They all chorused out one at a time starting from Deacy, Roger, Brian then Freddie.  Brian began stammering trying to find the right words while Freddie threw some accusations at me for thinking that they would be behind something devious (coming from the most devious one of the Queens, that was just rich).

“We want you to rehearse the drums for ‘Now I’m here’.” Deacy blurted out.

“That’s it!” proclaimed Roger.  Soon I was hurried out by all four members with Brian and Freddie gently pushing my back or shoulders, while Deacy and Roger each had my wrists gripped in their hands as they proceeded to drag me away from the room.  All four of them agreeing with Deacy’s statement.

“But I wasn’t told I had to do the drums in tonight’s show.” I said to them.

“Well things have changed darling.”

“Yep and you’re skilled enough to learn it.” Roger said as he handed me his drumsticks and kissed both my cheeks and nose.  “Now go and practice at my kit love.”

“And don’t rush through it.” Advised Brian

“Take all the time you need.” Said Deacy.

“Practice, practice, practice.” Freddie proclaimed.  I rolled my eyes and went on to practice at Roger’s drumkit.  I waved them off and turned the corner to head up to the stage.

*3rd Person POV*

The four band members continued to wave so long to her, then when she turned the corner, Deacy muttered.

“You still think she doesn’t suspect?”

“Of course not Deacy dear, now c’mon.” Freddie turned with a clap of his hands. “She’s gone!” he proclaimed and that’s when her roadies, costume designers, hair and makeup team as well as Jack came out.

“You’ve kept her busy?” Jack asked.

“Yep. Got her practicing the drums. And she always struggles with ‘Now I’m here’ so she’ll be there for a while.” Said Roger.

“Excellent, okay everyone I’ve got your assignments. Hair and makeup, I want you all to make sure that tonight she looks her best, including waterproof mascara.” Jack explained.

“Yep, cause lord knows she’ll be bawling her eyes out once we execute the surprise during the show.” Freddie said.

“Costume designers, make sure she wears the dress I had picked out once Brian and Freddie begin ‘Love of my Life’.”

“Right-o Jack. And may I just say you picked out a wonderful dress for her to wear. It’ll fit her like a glove.” Her head costumer Phillipe said.

“Thanks, and roadies, you all are in charge of setting up the color themed lights for our dance, as well as the video projection of our wedding.”

“We’re on it Jack.” Said Lucky, (Y/n)’s head roadie.

“Okay now we don’t have much time, get going go!” Jack said with a flick of the pencil to the clipboard and the Rock Angel’s team all scattered to get ready.  “And you guys will come out with the cake right?” he said to Roger and Deacy.

“You can count on us Jack.” Deacy said.

“Ohh she’s gonna be so surprised!” Freddie said with pumped up fists.

“And guys, thank you again for helping me plan this. After last year’s anniversary kinda going down the drain due to late rehearsals for Live Aid, I wanna make this up to her.”

“We’re happy to help you Jack darling, anything for you two.” Freddie said with a pat on his shoulder.  Jack smiled at the frontman of Queen and said.

“Okay, before she gets even more suspicious, let’s head out and see if we can help the others.” The band nodded and they left the room and helped out around backstage.

*My POV*

As the hours ticked by, it was finally concert time.  It pretty much ran the same way as it did yesterday with the songs in the exact order as we sang them yesterday.

But what was odd was that just before ‘Now I’m here’ which the guys told me I was gonna drum to, my roadies and agent pulled me aside and my wardrobe and makeup people began to fit me into something else.  I was now sporting a wine ruched bodice high silt velvet dress.

The two spaghetti straps were snug against my shoulders and the slit in the dress only came up to my mid-thigh and was barely noticeable unless you moved and exposed it. I was also forced to wear 2 inch black heels and my hair was done up even curlier than before.

“Okay Phillipe what in the world is going on?”

“My darling I am sworn to secrecy I cannot explain.” He said in his heavy French accent.

“Then can you at least tell me where this dress came from?”

“Maybe from a secret admirer no?” he teased as he told me to look up and he applied some mascara on me. “Ahh and there she is our beautiful Rock angel is complete!”

“Oh wait one more thing,” his assistant Marie said as she came up with a wand and gave me some wings at the corner of my eyes.

“Oh brilliant Marie. Now then my dear, let’s get you back on stage.”

“But how am I gonna perform looking like this?”

“Oh don’t worry it mon Cherie. Now go out there and be beautiful. Kisses.” He kissed each of my cheeks before he and Marie shoved me out and shut the door.

“God what the hell is wrong with everyone today?” but I walked back towards the stage.  When I arrived I could still hear the roar of the crowd and that’s when I saw the lights go down and a spotlight came onto Brian as I could hear him prepare to play ‘Love of my life’.

“This is the point where the guitarist gets to speak, now and again.” I grinned softly. “And today I don’t have very much to say except thank for you making this the hottest ticket we’ve ever seen. You’re great we love you.” He played a few more chords before then saying something that caught me off guard, “But tonight, tonight is something very special. And I’d like all of you to give a warm welcome back onto the stage the beautiful Rock Angel (Y/n) Kline.”

Oh god, with me looking like this I’ll be totally out of place but Phillipe and Marie went to all this trouble and work and I hate to disappoint them.  So I slowly walked out from backstage and I could immediately hear the wolf whistles and proclamations of love.  I smiled and waved before going up to Brian and I said.

“Tell me what’s going on right now May or I swear your Red Special will be missing by morning.”

“Just trust us darling.” He said to me.

“We’d also like to bring out another special person,” Freddie said as he came up beside me. “He’s the one who took this lovely Angel away from us, and was also the one who knocked her up.” I slapped his arm which made the audience laugh, “But he was also her bass player for a time, ladies and gentlemen give a warm Wembley welcome to Mr. Jack Kline!”  

The audience cheered loudly as Jack came on the stage sporting a white button up shirt, dark grey pants, and his hair sleeked back.  I looked at him and my heart went BOOM! But with that boyish grin, it also made my stomach flutter.  He came up to me and took my hands in his and wrapped them around his neck.

“For you see two years ago today, was the day these two young turtledoves became one.” At that point the audience awed and was in a roar of applause. “So this song is dedicated to them, Happy Anniversary Jack and (Y/n).” Freddie said.  Finally Brian began playing the final opening chords before Freddie began to sing “Love of my Life”.

All the while Jack took me towards center stage under the spotlight so that we could have a slow dance together. What was even more romantic was when Freddie conducted the audience to sing the song, and Jack stopped dancing and had the two of us look out as the audience sang.

“They’re singing to us baby.” By the end of the audience participation, I cupped Jack’s cheek and brought him down for a kiss which made the audience cheer and whistle.

*Freddie*

Love of my life, you've hurt me You've broken my heart and now you leave me *Audience*

Love of my life, can't you see? Bring it back, bring it back Don't take it away from me, because you don't know What it means to me

*Freddie and audience*

Love of my life, don't leave me You've stolen my love, you now desert me Love of my life, can't you see? Bring it back, bring it back Don't take it away from me Because you don't know What it means to me

You will remember When this is blown over Everything's all by the way When I grow older I will be there at your side to remind you How I still love you

*Audience*

I still love you

“He still loves you (y/n).” Freddie spoke as he came up to us which made the audience cheer.

“I love him too.” I said into Freddie’s microphone and as I kissed my husband of two years once more under the pink lights that shined down on us, the audiences whistled and cheered. The sweet sound of Brian’s acoustic playing and the warmth of my husband holding me in his arms as we continued to sway, had me feeling like I was in heaven.

It was then I took notice of the monitor and saw that there were pictures of us playing on the screens in a slideshow format, some of is were just us goofing around from the summer we met, to our first Christmas and birthdays together, then finally our wedding pictures.

*Freddie*

Oh, hurry back, hurry back Don't take it away from me Because you don't know what it means to me *Audience*

Love of my life *Freddie and Audience*

Love of my life Ooh, yeah

As the song ended, the slideshow ended with Jack and I at the wedding doing our first kiss as husband and wife.  It also did a cute little editing of fireworks and a heart around the two of us before finally ending in elegant cursive writing.

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY JACK AND (Y/N) KLINE.

Jack then softly dipped me before capturing my lips with his and I gladly accepted the kiss. I stroked my hands through his hair and down his jawline before he sat me back in the upright position, as the crowd was in a roar of whistles and exclamations.

By this time I was in full on waterfall moment as tears kept pouring down my face.  I hugged my husband before turning to Freddie and hugged him.  He patted my back and kissed my temple then I turned to Brian.  He wrapped an arm around me and kissed my other temple before saying.

“Happy Anniversary love.” I turned around and that’s when I saw Deacy and Roger coming out with a cake.  The two of them grinning as they clapped along with the audience.  I buried my face into my hands as I jogged towards my dad and brother and hugged and kissed them.  Jack came up and wrapped his arms around me before kissing my cheek and the two of us stared down at the beautifully decorated vanilla icing cake with angel wings decorated around it with the words HAPPY ANNIVERSARY KLINES KLAN.

“As an added bonus; we’ve elected to give our beloved Rock Angel the rest of the night off to spend with her beloved husband who worked so hard to put this together.” Freddie said into the microphone.

“Wait what?” I said through the crowd.

“We talked about it love and after having to miss your first anniversary last year for Live Aid stuff, we want you and Jack to have what you couldn’t last year.” Roger said.

“But what about the audience?” it was then I saw Deacy go towards Freddie and Fred handed him his microphone and for the first time Deacy spoke to the audience.

“She believes that she should stay here and continue with the concert. Should she?” at that point the audience all hissed in rejection, telling me to go and be with the love of my life.

“Seems your spoken for darling. Now go on you two crazy kids. Spend your anniversary together.” Freddie said.  I smiled and lowered my head when I suddenly felt myself being carried bridal style.  Jack grinned cheekily at me before leaning forward and gave me another kiss and carrying me backstage, some of my roadies taking the cake back out.

Once we reached backstage, Jack set me down and wrapped his arms around me.

“I can’t believe you did all this for me.”

“How could I not? I know how devastated you were last year, so I decided to make it up.”

“But you know I had said we could’ve just made it up with wine at the hotel after the show.”

“I know that’s not what you really wanted. I know when you really mean something, and when you said that to me yesterday you were just trying to cover up the hurt you thought I would feel fearing we had to miss another anniversary because of your career.” Damn him, he’s just as perceptive as Brian and Deacy combined.

“Oh Jack, I love you.” I sobbed happily as I hugged him.

“I love you too baby, happy anniversary.”

“Happy anniversary.” With that we raced out of the stadium and caught a ride with my driver Louis.

“To Mazzello’s Italian restaurant Louie, and step on it. We’ve got special reservations tonight.” Jack said.

“Right away sir.” Louis said graciously before starting to car and getting us on the road.

We arrived at the restaurant around 20 minutes later and that’s when Jack led us inside after Louis wished us a Happy Anniversary, which we both thanked him for.  Jack opened the restaurant doors for me and I thanked him in a posh tone before he followed in after me.

We went up to the front desk and Jack said the reservation name and the waiter confirmed it and escorted us up the stairs to the upper level of the restaurant.  He then led us outside to the balcony sitting and it turned out we were the only ones there.

“Here we are signor, signora.” The waiter said as he set up our table with our menus.  Jack allowed me to sit down first and he scooted my chair in before he himself took a seat.

Our waiter came in and Jack ordered us the special champagne they had going on sale for tonight and we both ordered our meals.  Jack ordered the spaghetti with meatballs while I got the Fettucine Alfredo with a side of calamari for the both of us.

Once our food came and we both began to eat, it was then I saw the band come up to us and I heard the accordion player begin to play a familiar tune.  Oh my god no way, it was then he began to sing “Bella Notte” from my favorite Disney movie, Lady and the Tramp.

“Jack you didn’t.” I said in awe.

“I knew it was your favorite movie. So…..shall we give it a go?” he said as he held up a single strand of spaghetti.

“What did I do to ever deserve you?”

“Just lucky I guess.” I then took one end of the spaghetti and placed it in my mouth as Jack did the same for the other end, till we both slowly came towards each other (timing it with the song just right) as our lips met in a kiss.

Like Lady did, I turned away and blushed thinking I couldn’t believe I had done my fantasy dream kiss. I felt Jack take my hand in his and he stared at me with those beautiful blue eyes of his.  He leaned his forehead against mine as the two of us fell under the spell of the Italian singers singing to us.

After dinner the two of us took a romantic stroll under the moonlight in the park.  The streetlights and the fireflies being our only source of light, along with the full moon and the stars.

As we walked along the sidewalk, guess the two of us were too dazed and entranced with each other to realize we were now walking on wet cement.

“Oh bugger!” I swore as I laughed embarrassingly.

“Not really, look.” He knelt down and drew a large heart with his first and last initial.  I smiled and knelt down beside him and wrote mine in the heart underneath his.  Then we imprinted our hands next to the heart before looking at each other smiling lovingly at each other.

Once that was done, we cleaned our shoes and hands off at a nearby sink and continued on our walk through the park.  As we came to ‘Lover’s bridge’ we stared down at the small lake stream that flowed under the bridge and watched as two swans swam together.

“Did you know that swans are known to be monogamous?” Jack asked me.

“Really?”

“Yep. It’s even said that when they swim together, they can intertwine their necks into a heart. Which makes swans the sign of love.” Jack said as his hands cupped around mine and when I looked down at my hands, I saw that both his and mine made a heart with mine being the inner heart and his being the outer.

I looked up at him and he looked down at me.  He slowly leaned down towards me, his lips softly grazing against mine, his nose nuzzling against mine.

“I hope we can last forever, just like those swans down there.” He whispered.

“I want that to my love.” I whispered back as we turned back towards the water to see the swans intertwine their necks together to form the famed heart shape.

We ended our walk by sitting on top of a hill that overlooked the rest of the park and had a great view of the moon in front of us.  Jack and I spoke not a word as we turned to each other.  Because truthfully there were no more words that needed to be said at this moment.

I loved Jack and he loved me.  As the two of us cuddled close together to stare up at the moon and enjoyed what this night meant to us.

The night we became “And”, the day we became “We”, the day we became husband and wife.  

[following-a-story]

Something You Can’t Publish In The Papes

Summary: Race is the reader’s boyfriend, and his cheeky attitude just might get him in big trouble.

Pairing: Racetrack Higgins x Reader

Warnings: Um well hickeys I guess

Word Count: 2034

Reader’s POV

Laughing, I smacked away Race’s hands. “Stop it!” I whispered urgently. Waking up an entire room of teenage boys that probably weren’t sleeping well anyway and had a long day ahead of them was not the best idea. So, I was definitely not looking to start that.

Race leaned over me, smirk on his stupid, cute face. “Why’s that?” he shot back, raising an eyebrow at me. Rolling my eyes, I ran my fingers through his hair, then pushed his head away from me. I could feel his chuckle through where his arm was thrown over me.

Squirming, I hit his arm. “Because,” I retaliated. “I’s wanna go to sleep so thats I can make enough dough to eat tomorrow.”

The response was immediate. Race sighed, lightly setting his forehead against my collarbone. “I knows.” His hands gently settled on my waist, fingers so long that they nearly touched the small of my back. “You’s been lookin’ thinner than normal. I’s worried.” I didn’t dare look into his eyes. I knew that he was trying to catch my gaze, blue orbs wide and concerned. Pitying. I didn’t need that.

I plopped my head back against the pillows, blowing out steadily. “I knows,” I echoed, starting to trace patterns across his back with my fingertips.

Before I knew it, my boyfriend was grinning down at me. “Wow, that feels great, doll.”

Snorting, I shoved his shoulders away from me. “Shut up, you idiot.”

“Nah, I was bein’ serious. It felt real goods.” He grabbed my hands as I retracted them and pulled them back to him, lightly kissing the knuckles.

I had to fight down a blush. “I’s serious, too. Goes to sleep.”

He pretended to think for a moment before shaking his head. “Nah, doll. I’s gonna stay up for just a bit longer.” I’d just decided to stop trying in my mind when I felt his lips against my neck.

Barely even caring enough to wave him off, I groaned. I squinted up at his cheeky grin with malevolence. He wasn’t about to stop, so I settled for muttering, “Don’t leave marks.”

When sunlight hit my eyelids, I moaned and brought an arm up to shield my vision. However, when I tried to roll over, I found my progress stopped by an arm securely fastened around my waist. “Race,” I mumbled, pushing at his forearm. The only response that I got was him grumbling inaudibly into my shoulder and the grip tightening. I let out a grunt at the force. “Race, c’mon,” I snapped, a bit louder this time. I could practically feel the second he gave up. All at once, his grasp slackened. I hurriedly scrambled off the small barely-even-cot, grabbing my overshirt from the floor to pull on. You would think that I would have enough sense not to look back down at my boyfriend of nearly two years. But, I wasn’t being all that wise that day. The exact moment I caught sight of his cute little scrunched up face, my resolve crumbled. Leaning down, I kissed the corner of his mouth. “Thanks, baby,” I whispered. As I stood up fully to go to the bathroom, I swear I saw him smirking. I wondered briefly what it was about, but I shrugged it off. He’ll probably let me know later anyways. He never could keep his mouth shut.

After I finished up in the bathroom, I toweled off my hands and strolled out into the main area. As I had predicted, the boys were nearly all up, yawning quite freely as they sluggishly pulled on their clothes and stuffing the money to buy papes into their pockets. A glance revealed that the only two that were still in bed were Elmer and Race. I rolled my eyes, but those two wouldn’t wake up for a hurricane, so I didn’t even bother heading over there.

I turned to head towards the street when I ran straight into Finch. “Oh, sorry,” he apologized, pulling his cap on over his hair. And then, the strangest thing happened. He looked down. Now, you might be thinking that any normal boy would be thinking just like that, but not Finch. Never Finch. He respected me too much. And Race, come to think of it. So, why was he-? I started to follow his gaze, only to be stopped short when his eyes sprang back up. A smirk was on his face. “You’s didn’t get much sleeps last night?”

Was I really looking that awful? I thought I looked fine in the mirror. But I hadn’t looked in the mirror. I hadn’t even thought of it. I furrowed my eyebrows at him. “Um… I’s slept jus’ fine, thanks,” I answered back, the epitome of awkward.

If nothing else, Finch looked way too amused for his own good. “Sures ya did.” The added wink as he walked off astounded me. And it turned out that I was about to get a lot more confused.

Within maybe five minutes of my run in with Finch, the boys were gathered into groups, laughter spilling every now and then. I couldn’t help but think that they were talking about me in some way. It made me so uncomfortable that I grabbed my bag and started to leave before the boys did, eager to just get away from the madness. But I didn’t get as far as to the door.

Buttons leapt in front of me, cheeky grin on his face. “Yous sleep good?”

Frustration poured out of me. “Why does everyone keeps askin’ me that?” I snapped, wanting him to just back off so that I could get to the front door in peace.

The boy grinned at the others in the room, all of whom chuckled. “Likes ya don’t know,” he commented sassily, prompting more laughter from the group. “Looks like good ole’ Race got a little adventurous last night, eh?” This made the entire room erupt into giggles. Meanwhile, I was standing there, still confused and growing more angered by the second.

A voice broke through the fray, breaking them apart. “Hey, what’s goin’ on? I ain’t got time for a traffic jam this mornin’!” Jack Kelly came wading through the practical sea of kids, the annoyance on his face poorly masking his endearance for the ragtag company. They dispersed quickly, murmuring all the way. I instantly relaxed at the break. That was, until Jack’s gaze landed on me. He rushed toward me, then tilted my chin up almost roughly. “What is yous doin’, showin’ that in public? You’s causin’ a stir-up with the boys.”

When I failed to make my mouth work, Jack rolled his eyes and grabbed my arm, gently leading me to the roof of the lodging house. The ladder rungs creaked at every step and the long-ago worn down skin of my hands embraced each sharp corner formed by rust. As soon as we made it to the top, a cool breeze hit us, but while I stopped to bask in it, Jack kept walking. I sighed. “Jack, what’s you doin’?” I demanded, crossing my arms.

He looked up at me like the answer was obvious. “You’s kiddin’ me, right?” The look I gave him was answer enough. He huffed, then grabbed a small shard of something from his little chest. Without a second’s hesitation, he tossed it underhand to me. I barely caught it. In an instant, I knew what it was. A piece of mirror. But why? At my confusion, Jack pointed at it from where he was still rummaging in his chest. “It’s called a mirror. You’s usually look in it to see youself.”

Catching the slight lilt of amusement in his voice, I snipped, “Shut up,” before taking a look. I could only get one piece of me in the mirror at a time, so I started with my nose, then my eyes, cheeks, chin, lips, until I’d gotten everything on the face. “Jack, I’s still don’t-”

Jack stood, something clutched in his hand. “That’s ‘cause it ain’t on your face.” He grabbed the tips of my fingers and tipped the glass so that it was pointed at my throat. My breath caught.

There, right in plain sight, was the largest, darkest hickey that I have ever gotten. Or seen, for that matter.

“That little, cocky, son of a-”

Jack slipped in front of me as I tried to get down. “Woah, calm down. It's alright,” he soothed. Not that it was really working.

I immediately began to furiously pace. “No, it ain’t! How am I supposed to sell papes with this thing on my neck? I specifically tolds him to not leave any marks! I’s gonna kill him!” I lunged for Jack, trying to move him. He simply grabbed my forearms and pushed me back.

“I’s gonna take care of it. I promise. But foist… Foist, you gotta let me cover it up.” He snatched something from his back pocket, a light blue piece of fabric. His fingers gently tapped my chin, and with a roll of my eyes, I tilted it up. Jack gently slipped the cloth around my neck before tying a knot in the front. I watched his actions in the mirror, and was awful surprised when I realized that he had made it look more like a scarf than an awkward shred of cloth. “Dere we goes!” Jack exclaimed, sitting back and admiring his work.

My mind went right back to the entire reason this whole thing started. “Great. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’s gotta go beat up Race,” I said, faking politeness even though I made it obvious that I wasn’t happy.

I started for the ladder, only for Jack to catch my arm. I whipped to glare at him without a second to think about it. He held his hands up immediately, surrendering. “I’s was just gonna tells ya that I’m comin’ with,” he defended. I grinned at him.

As we swung into the window, the murmurs shut down and the newsies dispersed quicker than I’ve ever seen them move before, averting their gazes. But I could see them exchanging glances. Oh, Race was so dead.

The devil himself came swaggering out of the bathroom, combing his hair as a cigar bobbed between his teeth. I stormed at him, clenching my fists. He didn’t see me in time to guard himself. I slapped him right across the face, and was actually a bit surprised at the feeling of triumph that rushed through me. “Ow!” Race complained, rubbing his cheek. “What was that for?”

Running my tongue over my teeth (a habit I had that I did when I was angry), I wordlessly pointed at my neck. He didn’t even have to follow my finger. He just smirked. “Oh, right. That,” he said, completely unapologetic.

That was, until Jack stepped forward.

Now, don’t get me wrong, Race is a pretty well-built guy, but Jack had at least a head on him height-wise and his fury no doubt made him look even larger than usual. Race instantly lost the grin, looking instead at his feet. “What was you’s thinkin’? How’s is she supposed to sell anything with that on her? Huh?” he boomed. If the room hadn’t already cleared out, the newsies probably would’ve shrunk back in unison.

Race swallowed, taking his cigar out of his mouth for a moment. “I wasn’t,” he finally replied, finally sounding ashamed of himself. In the next instant, he was meeting my eyes. “I’s sorry, doll. I guess I got carried away, huh?”

And however mad I wanted to be at him, I still smiled when I realized that he was being sincere. Besides, I couldn’t stay mad at him forever. That’s not how things got better. That’s not how relationships worked. “It’s fine, thanks to Jack, ‘ere,” I rasped back, gesturing at the cloth.

As we walked down the street, hand in hand and Jack a few paces ahead of us, I casually pointed out, “I ain’t never heard you apologize before.”

“Well, that’s the last time.”

“Sure, just likes that was the last time you’ll ever do something stupid. I’s don’t buy it, Anthony.”

“Shut up.”