My Brother's Best Friend

Chapter 12

Ze FEELINGS!!! ☝

(No one's POV cause once again I'm still lazy)

It had been about a month since Crutchie had agreed to get back together with Gwen. Life carried on for the Newsies, except that didn't mean it wasn't changing.

Summer had gone back to selling, but she wasn't the same. She hardly ate, or even slept. Her nightmares had gotten worse, of course she had Jack there to comfort her, but he wasn't Crutchie. She still wasn't speaking, much to the Newsie's dismay. Losing Crutchie had had a real impact on her. He still came around every once in a while but whenever he did Gwen would tag a long, preventing Summer from even considering coming out of her room.

It's not that Crutchie didn't want to see Summer or the other Newsies, he just couldn't. Gwen wouldn't let him out of her sight. He was extremely grateful for the extra food, and an actual bed, but without Summer, it just felt wrong.

"There has to be a way..."  He thought. That's when an idea popped into his head. (Cue lightbulb).

The next day, Crutchie decided to put his plan into action. He quickly made his way into the loft where Gwen was sitting looking through one of her many magazines.

"Hey Gwen, I'm gonna head into town for a little while. I'll be back soon." He said.

"Oh Crutch-Crutch, let me go get my shoes and I'll come with you." She replied, batting her eyelashes.

"Actually, I need to go on my own."

"And why is that?" She asked, trying hard to keep her voice from rising.

"Well, I gotta go pick up a surprise for you." He quickly lied.

"Oh? Well, I wouldn't want to ruin the surprise." She said with a smirk, coming closer. She slipped her hands around his neck and pulled him towards her, until she was practically almost on top of him.

She kissed him, hungrily. It almost made Crutchie lose his lunch. He wanted to pull away, but he knew this was the only way to keep Summer safe.

Eventually she pulled away. She squeezed him tightly and smirked once more.

"Promise me you'll be back soooon...." She said with a pout. Crutchie tried hard not to show his disgust.

"I promise." He said, forcing a smile. He gave her a quick peck on the lips, trying hard not to gag, and then limped out the door.

He hobbled as quickly as possible to the lodging house, his smile growing wider the closer he got. Finally, he made it. He knocked, waiting patiently. He couldn't wait to see Summer again.

Eventually the door opened, revealing a very sad looking Race. Crutchie's smile immediately fell.

"Race, what's wrong?" He asked, concern lacing his voice. Race just shook his head and motioned for Crutchie to come inside. He led him into the "living room" where many grief stricken Newsies sat. Katherine was sitting beside Jack, who had his face buried in his hands.

"J-Jack? W-What happened?" Crutchie asked softly. Jack lifted his face out of his hands, revealing something Crutchie didn't see very often.

Jack had tears streaming down his face. His eyes were red and puffy and his hair was was an even bigger mess than usual.

"Sh-She's g-gone. They t-took her..." He stuttered.

"W-Who Jack?" Crutchie asked, praying it wasn't who he thought.

"T-They took her. T-They took, they t-took-"

"Who Jack?"

"Summer..."

Author's Note:

HA!!! I'M NOT DEAD!!! THOUGHT YOU COULD GET RID OF ME?! WELL YOU THOUGHT WRONG, YOU DING DANG MOTHER CRUTCHERS!!!!(Pun completely intended)

Monkey 🐒💛