A lone newsie

Epilogue

The next night

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"What do you think?" (Y/N) asked Crutchie, who was standing at her bedroom door, mouth agape. The two were supposed to go to Medda's party, but (Y/N) wanted Crutchie to see how she looked before he escorted her over there.

"Y-you.." He stared, taking in the sight of (Y/N) in a dress - and a fancy one, too. She had borrowed it from Katherine. It was a long, dark green dress with small pearls embedded every so often into the collar - meant for fancy parties, such as this one. It certainly matched Crutchie's attire, which was from Kloppmann - a nice, navy blue suit similar to the other newsie's.

"Well?" She arched an eyebrow, crossing her arms. Crutchie snapped out of his daze to respond to her.

"Youse look great!" He exclaimed, hobbling towards her and wrapping his spare arm around her waist. She got on her tiptoes and kissed his nose gently, making him giggle like a little child.

"(Y/N), Crutchie! We're going now!" Davey yelled from downstairs. The two hurried downstairs, where four people were waiting.

There was Anais, wearing a borrowed dress from Medda that was pale pink and went down to her ankles in ruffles and satin. She had her long black hair braided, and was at the arm of Davey - he had somehow worked up the courage to ask her out.

Les was there too, in a nice little suit made by his sister Sarah. Next to him stood a little girl named Sally, who had pale skin, blue eyes, and gentle blonde curls. She was wearing a frilly light blue dress that accentuates her pretty features well.

"(Y/N), you look 'hot!'" Les squealed, unaware of what it mean to call a women hot. (Y/N) simply laughed and Davey smacked the back of his head.

"Les, you can't say that to (Y/N), she has a boyfriend!" He scolded, Anais chuckling gently at his arm.

"Oh, right!" Les realized, turning to Sally. "Sally, you look hot!"

Sally turned bright red and the teenagers in the room laughed hysterically.

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"You are an idiot." (Y/N) chuckled, intertwining her hand with Crutchie's as they walked down the street to Medda's. She was getting used to the feeling of wearing a dress (from Kathrine) - it was terribly uncomfortable, and she didn't plan on wearing it again anytime soon.

"But i'm your idiot." Crutchie reasoned, (Y/N) scoffing and rolling her eyes. Crutchie gently kissed her cheek, turning her a light shade of pink as she smiled.

The duo kept walking, hand in hand. They were around halfway there when suddenly, something mentally hit (Y/N) like a truck.

She was walking, in a dress, holding the hand of her boyfriend - who also happened to be a cripple whom she was teaching to read and write. They were going to a party, where she would see all her best friends and spend the night socializing. They would then watch a show and eat a nice dinner provided by Medda.

(Y/N) a few months ago probably wouldn't have even thought what she had just realized was true, but instead a crazy fantasy. She had always thought she would always be alone.. but now..

"(Y/N)? You okay?" Crutchie inquired in response to her not responding when he spoke. She nodded her head, a smile on her face.

Because dear god, she had realized it! She had been taught by Crutchie the most important truth that no amount of reading or writing could teach her.

That truth, my friends, was obvious to her the more she thought about it.

The truth was that she was no longer a lone newsie.