Fandom One-Shots

High Times - A Crutchie One-Shot

This one-shot was requested by my friend, Anna629. I'm sorry it took so long, but I hope you like it!

I walked from my apartment in Manhattan to the bookstore I went to every day. It was close to the newsies' lounge, which was one of the reasons why I loved it. I had always had an interest in the newsies. They could go wherever they wanted, do whatever they wanted- they had a mighty fine life.

Once I was close to the bookstore, I heard the familiar shouts from the newsies. It wasn't long before they started pouring out of their lodging house, running past me to get their "papes." I watched them run past me, and one of them stopped. He had curly brown hair and a green shirt.

"What're you doing?" he asked me curiously.

"What do you mean?"

"Every day, you come here and just watch us run by. Why?" he wondered.

"The newsies fascinate me," I replied honestly.

He smiled before saying, "Then do you want to come with us for a day? We can show you what we do every day."

"Really? I'd love that. Thank you," I said, gratefully.

"No problem. Name's Mush, by the way," he told me.

"That's an interesting name," I commented.

"Yeah, well, it's mine and I like it," he replied.

"Alright. Mine's Sabrina," I said.

"That's pretty," Mush said, making me blush slightly. "Now. Come on, I want you to meet the other newsies."

He grabbed my wrist and pulled me alongside him as we ran ahead to the other newsies.

"Hey Mush! Who's the goil?" a boy with a cigar asked.

"Her name's Sabrina," he said. He then proceed to tell me the names of all the newsies. I remembered a few, but Crutchie was the one that stood out in my mind. He was an awkward looking boy with a crutch under one arm. He gave me a bright smile when I looked over at him.

"So Sabrina. You wanna come with us while we sells our papes?" a boy named Jack asked.

"Sure," I said, abandoning the idea of going back to the bookstore. I walked beside Crutchie while he sold his papers.

"Why'd you wanna come hang out with the newsies?" he asked me as we were walking.

"You guys can do whatever you want. I'm barely even allowed to leave the house," I said. "You have so much freedom."

"You know, it ain't all that," he told me. "We're all broke and can barely get enough money to buy food."

"But you still have a positive attitude. How is that?" I asked him.

"I know that some people have it worse than me," Crutchie said, truthfully. I smiled at him. There was something about him that just made me smile. "Hey, uh, Sabrina?"

"Yeah, Crutchie?"

"A whole bunch of the newsies are going to Medda's tonight. Would you want to come with me?" he asked, timidly.

"I'd love to," I replied, smiling at him.

I curled my hair and put on one of my best dresses before leaving for Medda's. I strolled along the streets of Manhattan, excitement bubbling inside of me. I think I'm falling for Crutchie, I thought.

"Hey, you made it!" he said, smiling brightly at me as I walked over to his table. Some of the other newsies waved or said hi to me as I sat down.

"Thank you for inviting me, Crutchie. It's a lovely theatre," I told him. He smiled at me as the lights went down.

"High times, hard times, sometimes the living is sweet. And sometimes there's nothing to eat, but I always land on my feet," a woman, who I assumed was Medda, sang. Her voice was beautiful and she put on a fun show.

Afterwards, Crutchie offered to take me home. We talked about the newsies, my life, Medda, and anything else that we thought about. Much too soon for my liking, we had reached my apartment building.

"So, um, Sabrina?" he began, looking at his feet.

"What's wrong?" I asked him.

"Oh, uh, nothing's wrong, it's just... I... do you..." he stammered. "Would you, maybe want to be my goil?"

I blushed, smiling to myself. Leaning over I kissed his lips gently. "I'd love to, Crutchie."

"Really? Wow that's great! Thanks, Sabrina. Oh, wait until I tell the others," he said, smiling excitedly.

"Good night, Crutchie," I replied, giggling as I entered my building.

I'm actually pretty proud of this one. I hope you liked it!