Family Don't Break

CHAPTER 18

ALEX'S POV:

The streets are lined with snow. White islands cover the roofs and sidewalks, marked by footprints. "Hey! Finch!" Ike shouts. Ike looks over, turning around. Finch chucks a snowball at him and hits his mark. Ike brushes the snow off his face, frowning. "You're going down, Finch." he grabs a handful of snow and throws it at Finch, who dodges it. "Snowball fight!" Race yells. All the newsies come running over, making snowballs as fast as they can.

The snowballs sail through the air, some hitting and some missing. I dodge a few, dragging Jack behind me. We kneel behind a small wall of snow. "Hey! No fair!" Les shouts, sending a snowball our way. I shield my face, laughing as the icy snow hits me. "Avenge my honor, Jack!" I shout. Jack throws one at Les, but it hits Davey instead.

Everyone freezes, looking towards him. Davey wipes the snow away from his eyes. Everyone waits to see what he'll do. "You asked for it!" he gathers a large chunk of snow and throws it, hitting Jack straight in the face. "Who knew Davey had such an arm?" he mutters.

Davey joins in, all his snowballs hitting a newsie or two. Mike and Ike are engaged in a fierce battle against each other, both of them covered in white. I can't feel my fingers anymore, but I don't care. I'm having too much fun to worry about frostbite.

I run behind Albert, getting snow down his shirt. He jumps forward with a surprised yelp. He starts to chase after me intending to do the same, but he gets distracted by Specs nailing him with a snowball.

Race tackles Spot and both disappear into a large pile of untouched snow. Both of them arise like the living dead, covered head to toe in snow. Race is laughing hysterically at Spot, who is unamused. "You look the same as me, Higgins." he says. Race just keeps laughing, and eventually Spot joins in.

The fight continues for a while longer, until everyone is covered in snow and exhausted. I flop onto the ground, making a small snow angel. Jack joins me, making one of his own. My chest heaves as I recover my breath. "I can't feel my face." Jack chuckles. "Me neither." Both of us start laughing, loud and unhinged.

"I'm going to go put on some hot water for some cocoa." Davey shouts. "Make sure to dust off all the snow before you come inside, I don't want to have to clean up your puddles." The boys follow him inside, shaking the snow off of their clothes and shoes.

Soon it's just the two of us sitting in the snow. Jack's cheeks are rosy with cold and I imagine that mine are too. Jack grabs my hand and I look at him. "My hand was cold." he says with a smirk. I lean my head against his shoulder and stare out at the snowy streets.

"Let's go get some of that hot chocolate." Jack helps me up but neither of us move. We stare at each other, our breath forming one cloud. "I'm so glad I met you." Jack says quietly. "Me too. I don't know what I would do without you," I explain. We look at each other, not saying a word. The outside world quiets, shrinking to be just the two of us.

"I love you, Alex." My face breaks into a smile and my heart flutters, and it feels like it could fly right out of my chest. "I love you too, Jack." I press my cold lips to his. The fire inside my veins starts to warm me up, chasing away the winter cold.

I can't believe it. Jack Kelly loves me.