newsies one-shots

jackrine

look i KNOW straight couple gross ew heterosexuals BUT i love their dynamic leave me along

prompt: person a teaching person b how to kiss, and person b ends up kissing person a really quick, nervously asks 'Like that?' and leaves person a silent and flustered for a moment.

-

Jack was sitting at the lunch table along with the rest of the newsies. They were laughing at some story that Race was telling about Spot.

"So I open the door, right? And then I see him standing there-" Race was laughing so hard he could barely finish the story, "-he's standing there, shirtless, listening to 'Baby' by Justin Bieber! He was acting it out and everything!"

"Is Spot really a belieber?'' Specs asked, smiling.

"He's going to be pissed when he finds out that you told that story." Finch giggled.

"You think he doesn't know that? He's lucky that Spot's still dating him at this point." Albert nudged Race, who rolled his eyes in response.

Suddenly, Jack got a text on his phone. He opened the notification to find Katherine yelling his name.

lava girl: JACK

lava girl: JACKIE

lava girl: JACQUELINE

shark boy: that's a new name

shark boy: what's up and where are you

lava girl: unimportant

lava girl: i did something

shark boy: did you murder somebody

lava girl: no i asked sarah out

shark boy: fuckin FINALLY

lava girl: and i don't know how to kiss

shark boy: oh fuck

shark boy: kath i am not teaching you how to kiss

lava girl: PLEASE

lava girl: i beg you

lava girl: it wont be romantic and you can go back to pining for dave afterwards

shark boy: fine

lava girl: I LOVE YOU

Jack turned his phone off and put his head in his hands. Nothing could go wrong with this, he and Katherine managed to stay friends throughout all of the bad dating jokes Race made about them.

"You good Jack?" Crutchie asked.

"Hm? Yeah, I'm fine. Just tired," Jack replied. Crutchie nodded suspiciously. Jack almost never acted like this, but he decided to brush it off.

...

After school, Katherine made her way to Jack's house. She knocked on the door, and Miss Medda opened the door, smiling warmly at her. "Katherine, my dear, how are you?" She hugged the ginger.

"I'm good, thank you." Katherine replied, pulling away. Miss Medda moved out of the way, allowing the girl to enter the house. She kicked her shoes off, setting them gently next to the doorway. She then proceeded to run up the stairs and open Jack's bedroom door without warning.

When she opened the door, she found Jack sitting on his bed. "Hey Kath." He waved slightly to her, setting his phone down.

"Hey." She smiled back, jumping onto his bed. An awkward silence fell between the two. They both knew what was about to happen, and it's weird when you have to kiss your best friend of 10 years. It didn't occur to Katherine how she might've been second guessing her attraction until now.

No, not today, Katherine. Just a plain old friendly, platonic kiss. She thought.

"Okay, let's just.. go with it. Nothing romantic is going to happen." Jack mumbled to himself. He turned to face Katherine. "So, basically-"

"Wait, how intense are we going to get with this? Like, are we-" Katherine interrupted him.

"No, no, nothing intense. Just- promise that we aren't going to be weird about it? I don't want to lose you Kath, I really don't." Jack looked down at his hands.

"I wouldn't want to lose you for the world, Jackie." Katherine smiled, grabbing his hands. He met his eyes with her's.

"Alright then," he laughed, "god, this is so stupid."

Katherine laughed with him. "It kind of is, I can't even kiss and I have to be taught how to."

Jack smirked, "At least you considered me."

Holy shit, Katherine thought. She blushed at the flirtatious remark. "And I thought we weren't going romantic?" Katherine crossed her arms, grinning.

"Yeah yeah, whatever, Plumber." Jack lightly pushed her. "Anyways, it's not that hard to kiss. It's more of just how you go about it, do you understand? When I first kissed somebody, I just kind of let it go naturally. Just small steps. Don't overt-"

Katherine quickly connected her and Jack's lips, her hands on the sides of Jack's face. She pulled away as quickly as she connected them. Her lips were slightly parted, and a startled Jack Kelly stared back at her. "Like that?" She whispered.

Jack sat there for a minute, processing what just happened. His lips felt cold, the feeling of his friend's fading away. He could almost smell her chapstick. Jack Kelly was not the kind of person to fall head-over-heels for someone. Sure, he had dated a lot of people, but never really felt something with them. However, that split second where Katherine kissed him had changed his view on love entirely. He could barely stutter out a response. "Y-yeah, like that."

Katherine also sat there for a minute. She just kissed her best friend. Jack Kelly. The boy who protected her on the playground years ago on that fateful April afternoon. The boy who had the shoulder Katherine would constantly cry on. The boy who always stole her food. The boy who sent her memes in Chemistry class. She promised herself that nothing romantic would happen. But that simple kiss, that split second in time, changed the course of history between them. They just wouldn't admit it.

The silence was so loud, you could hear a pin drop. What are you supposed to do after you kiss your best friend of 10 years and randomly feel a spark in your stomach?

The pair sat in silence, staring directly at the other across from them. "I- Jack," Katherine started, "..I should go." She stood up from his bed, making her way towards the door.

"Wait, Kath!" Jack reached for her shoulder. Katherine whipped around to face him. "Can we pretend like this never happened?"

Katherine hesitated at first, but reluctantly replied, "Sure. See you later, Jackie."

And then she was gone.

Jack stood there in disbelief, his mouth slightly parted. That was.. odd, he thought. His fingers reached up to his lips, brushing them slightly before looking down at his fingers. Jack ran his fingers through his hair as he heard the front door close, signaling that Katherine already left.