Okay, for Tonight || Newsies Race x Oscar

Chapter 16 - Race - A Knife to His Neck and a Gun to His Heart

- Chapter 16 - A Knife to His Neck and a Gun to His Heart
Warnings: Abuse, blood
Third Person POV

Race felt himself get dragged.

He didn't know where.

He just knew that his father was dragging him somewhere.

That was, until he felt the chill of the October air in New York, and he knew he was outside.

He squeezed his eyes shut, and let himself get dragged along, not having the energy to fight.

Then, they stopped.

Race heard gasps. He heard people shouting his name, and he heard sobs and whimpers.

He easily picked out Jack, Spot, Morris, Albert, JoJo, Davey, and Oscar's voices.

Oscar's sobs broke his heart. He hated hearing Oscar sad.

And something in him was telling him that Oscar was thinking the exact same thing.

He smiled a bit at the thought. He loved Oscar so much.

Race slowly opened his eye. His could barely see out of his left eye, as it was bruised and bleeding, but he wasn't going to give up.

He had gotten this far and he wasn't going to back down now.

If he did, what was the point in fighting in the first place?

He immediately made eye contact with Oscar, who, trembling and sobbing, shouted his name, silencing everyone.

"Hey Osc," Race responds. Oscar let's a sob escape his lips at hearing Race's voice. Race weakly smiles. "I'm gonna be okay."

"Race" Oscar whispers, as Albert and Romeo hug him.

"Remember Oscar, we're gonna be okay because- because," Race starts, but ends up coughing up blood and not being able to finish.

Oscar puts his pinky finger out, like Race had done. "Because we have Something to Believe in."

Race weakly nods, smiling softly.

"Wow, that was so cute I might puke" Race's father, George Higgins, sarcastically states.

"Didn't your mother ever teach you 'if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything'?" Buttons snarls at him. Race's eyes widen, in approval and shock.

George scowls at Buttons. "I would be careful what you say, I know your father."

Buttons freezes for a minute, before shaking it off. "That doesn't matter. He forgot all of us in the accident."

George smirks. "I can easily help him remember, Benjamin. After all, what you two forget is that we were friends before the accident. Do you remember ever being friends before becoming Newsies?"

Race and Buttons' eyes widen in shock as memories of them playing together when they were a few months old to six years old came flooding back.

"Oh my God, I never put Uncle Higgins and Anthony Higgins with you two" Buttons mumbles. George laughs evilly.

"That's right, so I suggest you keep quiet unless you want your father after you, too" George threatens. Buttons shakes his head.

Buttons looks around at the Newsies. "I don't care if he comes after me. Let him, he's weak from the accident, even though it's been years. As long as I have the Newsies it's fine, since they're my family, and I'm not backing down from protecting them because of some stupid bloodline."

"We gave birth to you, brought you into this world, and you just want to leave us. You kids are so ungrateful!" George shouts, picking Race up by the collar of his shirt and yelling in his face.

Race scowls at him. "Maybe if you didn't abuse us and go around showing it off like it was the greatest thing you've done in your life, which it probably was because you are evil, we wouldn't leave you."

George glares at him, before throwing his to the ground.

Race let's out a cry of pain, and Oscar shouts his name, as Race hits the ground.

"See! This is exactly what he's talking about!" Buttons shouts, stalling. "You abuse us because you think we're worthless. Either we were a 'mistake', or we remind you to someone you miss or hate, or something else, and you think it'll make us behave. Well, here's a headline for you, it won't! We are people, never mind kids! You can't just treat us like this and expect us to be okay with it!"

"We can, and we will. You kids are worthless. We have power, you don't, and you never will" Snyder snarls. Buttons grits his teeth as he glares at Snyder, clenching his fists.

Henry pulls Buttons into a hug to calm him down before Buttons jumped at Snyder. They all knew how that would end, so Henry was trying to make sure it didn't happen.

"Here's the deal, you all give up, or all of you are going to the Refuge for assaulting an officer and dating someone do your own gender" Snyder threatens the Newsies, who scowl at him.

"So what if we like someone of our own gender?!" Oscar shouts, stepping up. "What does it change?! We haven't come at you yet, you're the ones who should go to jail! This is child abuse!"

Weasel leans over to Snyder. "Do they have the same mind? The Higgins kid asked the same thing."

Snyder scowls, as some of the boys smirk, having heard what Weasel had said.

"Enough!" Snyder shouts, startling everyone.

Oscar steps back in shock, as Race looks at Snyder, frightened. They both knew first hand what Snyder could do when he was angry, and they did not want to go through this right now.

Race and Oscar share a look, before looking back at Snyder, who was fuming. Literally, if someone could turn red and have steam coming out of their ears like cartoons, that's what Snyder looked like.

"Here is what's going to happen," Snyder continues, his voice a little lower, but still louder than his regular volume. "You will all give up, or we will have some fatalities on our hands and I don't care if I die if it means you worthless street rats are removed from this Earth. You don't deserve to be here."

Snyder pulls out a gun, and aims it at Oscar, who freezes, as George pulls out a knife, grabs Race, and holds the knife to Race's throat, with Race's back against him.

Race also freezes, and he and Oscar share another look.

1044 Words
The two Epilogues will be out next Sunday.