Fearless~Hardzello

eight

joe's pov

ben and i run to the ticket stall at grand central. our feet slamming down on the hard tile floor. crowds surround us and almost envelope us whole. i stop at the ticket booth, panting. the seller looks at me wearily.
"how can i help you?" a small, old man with glasses says.
"two tickets to Boston please. the soonest train as possible" i say. he glances up at me.
"that'll be $5" the man says. i look at ben. we don't have much money but ben fishes through his pockets and shoebox filled of change and we eventually come up with $5. the man smiles softly and takes the money. he produces 2 tickets and sends us off to the train. the underground platform is sweltering and every part of me is sweating. ben wipes his forehead with the back of his hand every few minutes just to get the sweat out of his eyes. i squeeze his forearm.
"it'll be okay" i mouth at him. he nods and smiles at the floor. the train eventually comes and we take our seats. soon after the conductor checks our tickets, the train starts off. as the landscape passes by and we mentally say goodbye to the city we love, ben grips my hand. our bag covering it so no one can see. i lean my head on his shoulder. if anyone asks, i can say we're brothers. we can come up with whole new identities for ourselves. not can, we should.
"ben.." i whisper. he looks at me.
"yeah?"
"we need new names" i say. he furrows his brows in confusion. "i mean.. just in case we get in the news.. we have to have different names. no one in Boston will know the real us anyway." ben thinks for a moment.
"what name do you think suits for you?" ben asks. i stare out the window, thinking for a name.
"henry?"
"no, i'd be a good henry"
"fine. you be henry then" i say at ben with crossed arms and a pouted lip.
"you'd be a good edward" ben says, his smile forming with dimples. i stare at him. i guess i'd be a good edward.
"edward it is then" i say with a smile. he smirks at me.
"good old henry and edward!" ben sighs. we laugh. it feels good to laugh now that we're safe. thank god for rami. i don't know what we would have done without him. i close my eyes and lean back on ben's shoulder, slowly drifting off to sleep. i awake to ben nudging my shoulder.
"hey sleeping beauty, we're here" ben says, a bright smile on his face. i jump up and look out the window. Boston. our new home. we get our things and leave the train. we walk until we find a newsboy, he's passing out papers at a very good spot. how come i never thought of going to a train station?
"hey" i say. he notices my newsboy cap.
"hey, you're uh.. from new york?" the guy asks. ben and i nod simultaneously.
"we're from the East Side division. we had to leave for uh.. family reasons and are looking for a place to stay" i say. he looks at us, passing a paper to a young woman.
"if you go down to longwood avenue there's some newsboys that can get you some posts. we're used to this sort of thing. new yorkers coming here. mostly because of the weather and factory work" he says. we nod. "there's a newsboy house down the road, they can give you a place to sleep and eat, they're real nice here. if you ever have any questions, my name's hugh" hugh says. i shake his hand.
"pleasure to meet you, hugh. i'm... edward and that's henry" i say.
"hey" ben replies. hugh shakes ben's hand.
"good luck, you two. it's a tough world for a newsboy out there" hugh says. we nod and head for the newsboy house. after a bit of walking and taking in the scenery and people, we get to a large house which hugh described as the newsie house. we could also tell due to the vast number of newspaper clippings floating in the wind. ben looks at me and back at the house curiously.
"what if we regret this?" ben asks. i shrug.
"what have we got to lose?" we walk to the door and ben plants a few hard knocks on the door. an old woman dressed in a long dark brown dress opens the door. she looks at us curiously.
"can i help you?" she asks, pushing her small eyeglasses up her nose.
"uh.. yes. hi, i'm edward and this is henry. we came from new york due to some troubles and we're looking for a place to stay at least for the time being. do you have any room?" i ask as politely as i can manage. a warm smile fills her face.
"of course! you boys come in.. you must be starving!" she exclaims, taking our bags. ben and i look at each other. now that she mentions it, we are really hungry. she rushes around the kitchen and produces some chicken leg and potatoes which ben and i gladly eat. she smiles contently at us, much like the way my momma looks at me when i happily eat her soup. ben and i thank her for her meal and she takes us up to see the rooms. they're tiny but have beds nonetheless. one twin bed is on either side of the room and a dresser drawer faces the window. the closet is next to the entrance door and a grey carpeted rug covers the wooden floor below. ben and i drop our bags onto our beds.
"for now you won't have to pay me to stay here but once you get started up, you owe me a quarter a day you hear me?" she asks. ben and i nod.
"thank you so much, madam" i say.
"of course, dear. if you ever need anything, i'm around" she says with a warm smile and closes the door. ben and i are alone. i didn't think we'd have to share a room but that's a plus. ben smiles and wraps his arms around me. we hug and hold each other close for what feels like forever. we just enjoy the feeling of being in each other's arms. that night i sleep with ben. it's the first time we sleep in a bed together but it feels so right. my head rests on his chest, listening to his heartbeat with my legs tangled with his. he breathes softly.
"goodnight, joe.. or should i say.. edward" he says with a smirk. i hit him lightly.
"goodnight, ben.. or should i say.. henry" i reply. he laughs quietly.
"i love you" he says. i hold him tighter.
"i love you too" i say as i slowly fall asleep listening to ben's heartbeat.