So.... Davey Jacobs is the love of my life... especially Ben Fankhauser's Davey. Just putting that out there.
I glanced in the cracked plane of glass that constituted our mirror at the lodge. The strike had been going for a couple days now and made the front page. However, Jack had disappeared so Davey planned a rally. Davey. Just the thought of him put a smile on my face. I'd only known him for a couple days but I'd fallen head over heels for him. Who would have thought? We'd spent a good deal of time together, selling papes, striking against Pulitzer, the usual. He was quiet—but when he spoke it was always thought through...well most of the time. Hanging around with Jack seemed to have rubbed off on him and he was loosening up.
I leaned closer to the mirror and scrubbed at the stubborn patch of dirt on my chin. It didn't matter that he was loosening up. He would never notice me. He had a home, a family, an education. Things I would never have....not anymore. After awhile I leaned back and looked at my scrubbed clean face. Brown hair fell over my shoulders and tired hazel eyes stared back at me. The only reason I stood out among newsies is that I was the only girl. Well, the only girl in our section anyway. I'm sure there are other girls elsewhere, but none that I know. Pounding on the door distracted me from my self-reflection.
"Y/n, 'urry up in there. We's need to leave for the rally." I opened the door to the owner of the high pitched voice: Race. Cigar dangling from between his smug lips, I was tempted to yank it out and throw it out the window. I don't know why. I pushed past him.
"Let's go," I muttered. Most of the boys had already left, Race had hung behind to escort me. I was capable of taking care of myself on the streets during the day, but New York at night was not so safe. We ducked into Medda's theater and found it filled to the brim with dirty, grinning newsies.
In the middle of the stage stood Spot Conlon—and Davey. Spot was having fun with the crowd while Davey glanced around. Race had disappeared from my side and now appeared down on stage next to Davey. Race said something and Davey shook his head. He glanced up and our eyes caught together. My hands smoothed out my tattered skirt and I bit my lip. What would he think of me, actually looking like a girl?
Our moment was broken when Medda joined their little group with a frown and a few words to Davey. He seemed nervous as a rallying cry for Jack sprang up from the gathered boys. Davey took the cleared out center stage. "Newsies of New York!" He cried. His voice shook a little, and the newsies were confused, but I leaned forward with confidence. He looked back up at me and I sent him a smile. "Look at what we have done," He continued more confidence. He was beginning to pick up steam when Jack burst on stage yelling about acting like adults. Davey gave him the floor and ran to the side stage. I'm still unsure of what went down next. All I know is that Jack went from being our strong leader, to telling us that all that we had done was worthless. The knife dug deeper when one of Pulitzer's goons met Jack at the edge of stage with a handful of cash. My gaze swept to Davey and my heart clenched. He stood, frozen in shock, his jaw hanging open in sheer betrayal. Out of the corner of my eye I could see Jack try to mouth an apology to Davey, but Davey ran off stage and into the dark.
In the chaos that followed, I made my way down to the stage area, but could not find Davey. I did find his brother Les and his girl. Both seemed quite glum. I squatted down to look them in the eyes. "Les, where is your brother?"
"Don' know, he just ran out the door. He was supposed to walk Sally and I home, on account of I can't do it by myself, accordin' to her parents." Sally nodded along to Les's statement, a frown gracing her pretty face.
I sighed. "What if I got one of the boys to walk you home? Would that be okay?"
Les glanced at Sally and she shrugged, "Sure, but you know, choose one like Davey. Just so's we don' get in trouble."
I looked around at the hundreds off newsboys. Sure out of the dozens I knew personally, there were some I trusted completely, but one like Davey? No one was like Davey. The closest I could get was Specs. I grabbed his arm as he passed and explained the situation. He gave me a grin and motioned for the two kids to follow him out of the theater.
Now I was free to actually go look for Davey. I headed out into the warm night air and glanced around. Where would Davey have gone? In the little I knew of him, I knew that he enjoyed reading and quiet places. But, at this time of night, all the public libraries would be closed, so where else would he go? Not home, not after this disaster. I found myself walking in the direction of Central Park with no real idea of where I would find Davey when I quite literally stumbled upon him. He was leaned against the wall of a building, arms crossed across his chest, hat clenched in his fist and hair a wreck. It was the most undone I'd ever seen him. Pity, it had to happen this way.
"Hey," I whispered. I leaned next to him. "That was something wasn't it..."
"I can't believe he would do that to us..." Davey swiped a hand across his face, "and after everything we've been through." I swallowed. I wanted to hug him and tell him it was going to be okay, but at this point, I didn't know if it would be. So instead I stood there while he cried. In the back of my mind, I added his raw emotion to the list of things I was growing to love about him. He turned to me, "Thank you." he laid a hand on my arm.
"For what?" I tilted my head and stared up into his hazel eyes.
He shook his head, "Everything. You've been great these past few days...the only person who hasn't stopped believing in the cause at some point."
"It's a worthy cause," I shrugged. For a moment we stood in silence looking at each other, his hand resting on my arm.
He cleared his throat, "Y/n, Can.... can..can I, um, "
I laughed, "Can you what?"
His answer left me breathless. "Can I kiss you?"
All I could do was nod. He pulled me close to him and lowered his lips to mine. The hand on my arm slipped around my waist and his other hand tenderly cradled the back of my head. I let my own rest on his shoulders. It was sweet and over far too quick. I couldn't help but smile when he pulled away. We didn't even have to say anything to each other; he grinned and hugged me close. As I wrapped my arms around his waist the only thing I could think was that whatever happened tomorrow, at least this moment was ours. Ours, and ours alone.
