Newsies oneshots

Henry // Torn

(Some wholesome Platonic Henry and Jojo at the end)

It was the start of the strike. And Henry was casually making his bed at the lodging house to get ready to go to his part-time job at Jacobis in 20 minutes or so. "Henry, can you come here a second?" Jojo called him over from his bunk, where he and Tommy were sitting. Henry smiled and came over, "Yeh, what's up?"
"Tommy wants to try and write a letter for Barney, but we aren't too sure what to put in it," Jojo said.
Henry sat down, thinking, "How about a simple, 'I miss you' letter?"
Tommy shook his head, "That's too negative, and it will make it seem like a guilt-tripping him."
Henry shrugged, "Then I'm not sure."
"You write letters to Billie all the time, surely you'd be the letter expert." Jojo joked. Henry sadly smiled, his heart breaking a little, he took a deep breath and admitted "Actually, me and Cybill broke up."
Jojo and Tommy were shocked.
"What?" Jojo gasped,
"When did that happen?"
Henry knew it was time to come clean about everything, "A couple of weeks ago, just before Barney left. It was at the same time you and Barney broke up so I didn't want to say anything because it wasn't fair to make it about me."
Tommy looked at Henry, "Is that why you got so frustrated with Barney?"
Henry thought about it, "I didn't like the way he was treating you but I guess it was more sympathy since I knew what you were feeling Tommy. We are still friends but she hasn't spoken to me since."
Jojo hugged his friend's shoulders, "She broke up with you?"
Henry shook his head, "I broke up with her."
"You mind telling me why?"
"I'll tell you some other time," Henry smiled and hugged his best friend back, "it was pretty painful at the time, but I'm over it."
Tommy asked, "Over Cybill or the break-up?"
Henry felt sad thinking about the answer so he just shook his head and let Tommy into the group hug, grateful he had such great friends to support and love him unconditionally.

Henry broke up with Billie and it was not a pretty break-up.
"I've been hearing rumours that you and that library friend of yours are dating..." Henry mumbled, hurt and unable to look at his girlfriend.
Billie shrugged not looking up from her book, "Yeh, since my grandma doesn't approve of you and his parents don't approve of his girlfriend we decided to fake date, it's no big deal."
"And why didn't you tell me or ask for my permission?" Henry looked at her.
"What do you mean, 'ask for your permission' we aren't dating?"
"But you've been kissing him."
"Yeh, to make it look real- why don't you believe me?"
"I do believe you but I don't think it's ok to kiss him or fake date someone without telling your actual boyfriend," Henry said calmly.
"Stop acting jealous, please, I don't want to argue." Cybill sighed.
They sat in silence for a couple of seconds before Henry finally said, "Billie, I'm not going to ignore it, I know it was harmless to you but it really hurt my feelings and you know that and you don't even care... I'm done."
From there on, it was over. Henry was heartbroken because he never thought Billie could hurt his feeling, she's sweet and super smart, and after he broke up with her he wondered if he overreacted but he's always been a man of his word and never taken her back, even when she was crying and apologising deeply.

Henry went on with his day like normal. He was wiping the table at Jacobis when he overheard the people upstairs screaming. Now he knew that the apartment upstairs was a laundromat that was owned by a family, and the parents weren't that great of people, how did he know? Their son that everyone called Sniper works as a newsie, and that boy has it rough. Henry has befriended Sniper, they work in the same building and Sniper sometimes comes down to Jacobis for some peace from his parents, and just buys a coffee and writes in his journal. He doesn't stay at the lodging house so Henry doesn't see him as often as the other newsies.
That day, Sniper comes downstairs to Jacobis, his blue journal and pen in hand and he heads for the door.
Henry sees him, "Hey, Sniper, where are you off to?"
Sniper turned to see Henry, "Oh, my parents are in a bad mood again, I was just going to go to the library for some peace."
"Why don't you stay here? I'll make you some coffee, on me." Henry smiled, trying to be friendly knowing Sniper's situation.
"No I'm good," Sniper got closer to the door, "I should go, if my father comes downstairs and sees me here then your going to see all hell break loose, thank you though."
"Ok, no problem."
Sniper left and Henry went back to finishing his work.

Later, that same night, Henry was getting ready for bed when he saw Sniper walk in, Sniper occasionally sleeps in the lodging house and it usually means something bad happened at home. Sniper got a blanket and pillow and set up a spare top bunk, the same one he usually gets. Henry decided to check if he was OK, as he got closer, he noticed a harsh bruise under Sniper's eye. "Hey, you staying here tonight?" Henry asked.
Sniper, in all honestly, understood Henry was trying to be nice, so he smiled and said, "Yeh."
"God, is your eye OK? Do you want a cold compress or something?"
"No, Henry, I'm fine," Sniper said lightly. But Henry insisted, "Let me have a look." Sniper sighed and got down from the ladder and let Henry check on him. He flinched when he felt Henry's hand gently touch his injury, "Are you hurt anywhere else?"
Sniper shook his head, "No, I just got home from the library and I thought my dad was asleep. Turns out he was waiting for me." He nervously laughed, but Henry just shared a concerned look, "Well, you know you're always free to stay here, I'll make sure there's always a bed free for you."
"You're the best." Sniper sighed happily. He climbed back into his bed and instantly took out his journal and continued to write in it.

Henry went back to his bed, to have Jojo join him not long after.
"Henry, are you close with Sniper by any chance?" Jojo asked, sitting beside his friend.
Henry shrugged, "Maybe not close, but I like to look out for him, why?"
Jojo grinned, "Nothing."
Henry then realised what it was about, "Jojo, no."
Jojo snickered and lay his head on his friend's shoulder, he sighed, "I'm just teasing... though, it wouldn't hurt for you to move on from Billie... I know you loved her..."
"I did, she was my everything and all I could think about is her, day and night." Henry looked at Jojo, "I think I made a mistake..." He tearfully said. Jojo stopped and hugged him tightly, letting Henry cry softly in his arms. "I know you miss her, but I also know that you are really smart, and if you felt like you had a reason to break up with her, you made the right decision."
"But now I lost her, and we said we could stay friends but she isn't speaking to me, what if she found someone else?" Henry sobbed.
"Well, that's her loss." Jojo smiled and wiped Henry's tears with his thumb. "I love you." Henry smiled sadly.
"I love you too," Jojo said back, "now... About Sniper-"
"Nothing going on with me and Sniper Jojo," Henry whispered, laughing.
"You two would be cute together though-"
"How?"
Jojo shrugged, "You're both huge nerds."
Henry laughed, "You are the biggest nerd I know, so you can't even talk-"
They laugh together. Even after a harsh breakup, Jojo found a way to cheer Henry up, they may not have been dating, but the two are surely soulmates.