Seize The Day [Roceit/Newsies AU]

Chapter 5 - The Diary

Roman, panting, collapsed on the roof alone. He pressed the palms of his hands to his eyes, frustration and anger causing tears to fall. He let out a shout, getting to his feet and walking around the roof, unable to get the image out of his head.

The brutal fight between the newsboys and the cops hadn't ended will. They just kept coming, with their weapons and handcuffs and- He didn't want to think about it, but what else could he do?

His breath caught and he sat down, leaning against the sides of the building jutting up from the rooftop and hugging himself.

Remus.

Biting his lip, he recalled how the cops had just beaten his friend up like he was nothing more than a dummy. Something to be toyed with. Dragged away and forgotten.

He slammed his fist against the wall, the vibrations followed by a little noise somewhere n his left. He looked down just in time to see a pencil stop rolling, some paper with music on it below it.

He reached out, eyes scanning the pages as best he could through the tears.

It was the song. The one Remus had been working on for weeks now. 

Santa Fe.

And the lyrics were perfect. It was as though his friend had looked into his mind, taking the abstract thought and effortlessly turning it into art.

He shut his eyes, leaning his head back against the cool cement, the sky twisting with colours as the sun dipped below the horizon.

Roman gently set the papers back, replacing them under the pencil as he stood up and looked to the west.

All those boys, counting on him. To lead the way, to show them what's right.

And he'd gotten them hurt.

A dry laugh escaped his throat and he grimaced. "Prince Roman," he scoffed to himself, leaning against the wall with his forearms and bowing his head. He didn't deserve it.

There wasn't anything keeping him from running off to the west. Make a new, quiet life somewhere out these - away from the newspapers, and the lying, and everything about New York. The dirty, dusty grey city that it was. 

He looked back towards the sunset, oranges and yellows and pinks mixing and blending.

Santa Fe.

He would leave in a week, he decided quietly. No one would miss him.

Right?