Papes and Pens

Chapter 4

A/N: Thank you all so so much for the reviews! Keep them coming, it keeps me motivated :) I don't really have much of a schedule, just when I feel like I have a solid chapter I'll post it!

"Is now a good time to talk about our pasts?" Jack asks the next day as he and Katherine sit on a rock in central park during her lunch break.

"Well, yes we should probably talk before I go and have dinner with my father tonight. I think he'll be cooled off by now after we used his printing press against him. He hasn't been the best since the strike. I know he means well, but I've always been a daddy's girl. If I ever disobey him, it takes some time, but he eventually comes around. The only think I am worried about is our relationship. Your name will definitely come up tonight and I know he won't like what I have to say about you." Katherine answers.

"What will you say?"

"That I love you and that I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Even though we're only 18. My parents got married when they were 20 so I don't see why my father wouldn't accept you after a little pushing on my end. We're the same age my parents met!" Katherine says matter of factly.

"For sure?"

"For sure."

"So I can hold your hand in public now that your father will know about us?" Jack asks, taking her hand in his.

"You already do that!" She says, nudging his shoulder. "Now that you know about my parents, can you tell be about yours?"

Jack holds Katherine's hand in his, playing with her fingers as he thinks. "As with pretty much all the newsboys, my parents weren't the best. They loved each other, they just didn't love me. To them, I was a mere object. They never beat me, but they never showed love towards me. When I was seven I found them both dead at our house. I guess you could say New York sucked the life right out of them. I had no other family besides them, so that's when I found my way over to the lodge to work with the newsboys. Ever since I've been trying my best to help out around there. Most of the kids who were there with me at the beginning are grown up and moved on. As you already know, it was hard. It still is hard. We have to fight for everything, even if that means stealing in order to help out when one of us is sick or when there's no food to go around. That's why I got sent to the refuge. And why I'll keep going back if it means keeping the boys safe." Jack finishes with a shudder. "It was the worst experience but I don't mind hurting if in the end the boys are better off. They're my family now."

"Wow Jack," Katherine says, leaning her head on Jack's shoulder. "It must be terrible not having your parents around. Even though I only have my father now, he's the only family I've got and I don't know what I'd do without him."

"That's what Crutch and the guys are for me. Without them, I don't think I'd be living today. They've gotten me out of the pits of hell my life has been, and I know with out them and Sante Fe and now you, I'd be hopeless." Jack says with a sigh. "I wish we could talk more, but I've got some papes to sell and you've got some news to write."

As Katherine starts to leave, she asks, "Will I see you tonight? After dinner? We've both been busy with work all week so I feel like I never see you anymore."

"Meet me up at the rooftop at around 10:00. Is that okay? Do you think you'll be done bickering with your father?" Jack winks, hopping down from the rock and standing in front of Katherine. "If I'm allowed to hold your hand in public does that mean I am allowed to kiss you in public as well Ace?" Jack asks, tucking her hair behind her ear and tracing the outline of her jaw.

Before Katherine can answer, his lips are on hers, a short and sweet goodbye.

"Well, I better go now. I need to write two more stories before seeing my Father! If you want to see me tonight, you should probably let me go." Katherine says, laughing as Jack tries to steal another kiss.

Before they start another conversation, or worse, Jack kisses Katherine again, she runs off. Katherine can still feel Jack's kiss on her lips. "That boy will kill me one day." Katherine thinks. "He is all I ever think about and it's severely hindering my ability to think clearly!"

Soon it is 5:00 and Katherine starts making her way to her father's estate, wondering what to expect. Ever since she moved out over a year ago, her monthly dinners with him have just consisted of small talk. But now that the strike has come and past, she has a feeling she'll know exactly what this dinner will be about. Plus, she'll finally have an answer to the "Who you seeing now?" question. One that she's been regretting all month.

Just before Katherine rings the doorbell, my father's maid opens door. "Come in sweetie we are just about to start eating. We are having your favorite–Chicken parmesan."

"Yummy! She smiles as she hugs Mary, a longtime friend and maid of the Pulitzer family. Katherine steps inside to see her father seated at his usual spot at the dining room table.

"Are you hungry?" He asks as Katherine sit down across from him.

"I'm starved! I had a busy week at work. My boss is finally letting me write about things other than flower shows and ballets!" She answers as she starts eating her salad.

"Oh really? Even after what you did to them during the strike? You know I would have had you writing your own news stories if you worked under me before all of this business with the strike." Katherine's father says.

"Well if I worked under you, people would automatically know that I'm your daughter and I don't want that. The reason why I want to work someone else is so I learn to fight for myself. I have a byline so that people don't assume that I am rich and instead see me as a reporter wanting in on the scoop, or even better, think that I understand what they're going through and usually I do! If I worked for you I would not have enough experience and people wouldn't trust me. Plus, I would not get opportunities I deserved. Like the strike. If it weren't for me, those poor boys could have starved to death! I am not saying it is your fault, but I made a difference. A difference I couldn't have made if I worked under you." Katherine counters.

"I know sweetie, I just want to make sure you know that you will always have a job waiting for you if you lose your other one. Do you at least make good money?" Mr. Pulitzer sighs.

"I make enough money to support myself and then some." Katherine answers.

Pulitzer asks, "Speaking of the strike, how is that boy Jack Kelly doing? Does he like his job now that he's got his union?"

"We actually had a big fight after he found me in your office. It was so bad that I told him that if I were a boy he would be looking at me through one swollen eye." I say, chuckling to myself.

"What happened next?" Mary says as she clears our plates for the main course.

"I kissed him." Katherine blushes, knowing that they are about to get into uncharted territory.

"You did WHAT?!" Katherine's Father bellows.