Newsies One-Shots

Chapter 122 - Jack and Race

Date Nights and Sleepovers
Ship - Jack and Race (brotherly)
Era - Modern
Triggers - Mentions of mental health struggles and running away.

Race smiled as his date went on and on. Honestly, he didn't understand how there could be so many red flags in one person.

"I'm gonna go to the bathroom," he said when there was a moment of silence. "I'll be back in a minute."

He went to the bathroom and pulled out his phone. Medda had made them all download Life360 a few years before when they were all in high school and prone to forgetting to tell her where they went.

Nobody ever said it but they all had a suspicion that it had to do with Jack going for walks and not coming home hours later, particularly when he was struggling, and causing the whole household to go into a major panic.

Race scrolled through his phone before pulling the app up, Jack had said that he was meeting up with a friend and Race was just hoping that it wasn't too far from him.

It was like his prayers were answering him when he saw that Jack was at a restaurant, a fancy one all the same, just a few blocks away. Letting out a breath, he walked out of the bathroom and back to the booth his date had insisted on sitting at.

"I'm so sorry, something came up with my mom. I've got to go home."

"Oh, do you want me to walk you home? Or at least half the way?"

Race was a theatre kid in his day, more often referred to as less than a year prior in high school, and he had got some techniques in that time. He'd learned that he was great at crying on command.

And that skill was coming in handy now.

"No thank you. I'm sorry but it's my mom and I just want to get home as quick as I can-" Queue the tears. "-and I'm sorry."

"No, it's okay. Go," she said quickly.

Race nodded and shoved his phone into his pocket. "Thank you. I'm so sorry." He started to walk out of the cafe, nodding ever so slightly when his date shouted 'text me'.

After a block or so, he let out a deep sigh and rubbed a hand down his face. Lying mightn't have been the best way to leave in retrospect but he was out and Jack and Crutchie had always thought him that it was better to act on a red flag and be wrong then to ignore it and be in danger.

As he turned around the corner to see Jack, walking down the street with another boy's hand in his. Race didn't seem this fact to beat any importance as he shouted, "Jack!"

Jack dropped the other boy's hand and looked around quickly before his eyes settled on Race.

~~~

Jack was having a pleasant time with his boyfriend who none of his family knew about and thought was a girl called Dee. In his defence, he had panicked and gone with something that didn't necessarily let them know Dee was actually David and a boy or that Jack liked boys.

They'd gone to a fancy restaurant for their date. Usually they just went to a small diner near both their apartments and dorm for dates but it was their anniversary and David said he was taking Jack out somewhere nice.