I'm Fine

It's a Start

The sun was slowly rising, casting rays of light over New York City. Sunlight slowly moved into the window before spilling onto the bed.. The soft light had woken Mush up a few moments later. He squinted his eyes as he looked out the window, and before he could groan in annoyance that it would be time to get up soon, Mush felt something stir and heard a little noise come from somewhere.

When Mush looked down he saw Feister was curled up right beside him. Her left arm was laying over his torso, and her tiny hand was in his, while her right arm was squished between their bodies. Some loose ends of hair was covering Feister's face, so naturally Mush carefully brushed her hair away with his left hand to reveal a peaceful face. Feister wasn't known for being a peaceful looking kind of girl. She was a tough, and didn't back down for nothing, and while Mush loves that about Feister, he also loves the sweet little moments like these.

The sunlight got caught in Feister's dark hair making it glow, her warm breath tickled Mush's neck, and he wished they could stay like that forever. Feister's body always felt warm, soft and was just a little fragile thing that he wanted to protect. In fact, all Mush ever wanted was to protect Feister from the harsh world. Even though he knew she could take care of herself, he wanted to make sure she felt safe at all times. After a few moments Feister started to stir awake, and soon enough she made a little noise before opening her eyes. "Mornin'," Mush whispered while turning on his side and wrapped both arms around Feister to keep her close.

"Mornin'," Feister replied before yawning. "I's don't wanna get up."

Mush just laughed. "You'se never wanna get up."

"Yer not a mornin' person either ya know," Feister replied as she snuggled in closer. All she wanted to do right now, was to enjoy being in his arms. Feister laid her head down in the nook of Mush's neck. She could hear the soothing sound of his heart beating as he pressed a soft kiss to the top of her head. Even though her nightmares seemed to be getting worse each night, Feister knew she would always have Mush there to help her through it. Feister always loved that no matter what kind of stuff happens to her, Mush will be there right next to her. "Mush," she whispered while looking up at him.

"Yeah?" He asked with the softest smile possible.

"Thanks for always bein' there for me." Feister didn't know why, but she always felt safer with him. But, that was when she was a confused little girl who didn't know about anything. She now knew the reason why she felt so safe with him. It was because at some point in her life, she would fall in love with her best friend.

Which was kind of weird to think because a few years ago, the other boys kept on teasing Feister about getting a crush on a certain blue eyed newsie; she always ignored all the teasing and pushed it a side. But that all quickly changed on the night everything became complicated. Friendships were questioned, things were said, and feelings changed, but, Feister wouldn't change a thing. Because if anything was changed, this wouldn't be happening right now.

Mush smiled and then kissed the top of her head. "Anytime," he whispered quietly. Feister looked at him with wide eyes before settling herself back into his arms and closed her eyes. It was hard to believe that after all the teasing he got for "having a crush on little Feisty", when (at the time) Mush only ever saw Feister as a little sister. But, the day she had a, shall we say, family reunion, everything changed.

Some bad things happened, stuff was said, but in the end, all it took was some rain and a song to make him realize that the perfect girl he's been looking for was right under his nose. Literally. Feister is so short that even Spot Conlon has a few inches on her. But, Mush wouldn't want anything to change. Because Feister was perfect in every way possible.

The two lovebirds laid there for awhile before Jack was banging on the door like a crazy person. After a few minutes they got out of bed and got ready for the day. When they left the little room, they were met with endless teasing. "An' you'se two said ya wouldn't fall in love," little Romeo teased. And at that moment, Feister was at her breaking point, and Mush noticed this right away. He quickly hugged her from behind to keep the feisty news girl from doing anything rash.

"Is this really necessary?" Feister asked as she looked over her shoulder so she could give Mush the death glare, "I'm so done with you", look and let's not forget the all time favorite, "you're dead Meyers", all rolled up into one, which Mush didn't think was possible, but with Feister, it wasn't that big of a surprise.

"Aww...you'se love it, ya know ya do," Mush replied with a wide smile.

"I also love gettin' ta soak yer sorry butt," Feister said with a smirk. Which made Mush quickly let go and raise up his hands with a scared look on his face. "Alright, the next person ta say somethin' bout "the lovebirds", is gettin' soaked." this caused the boys to all scatter away in fear that Feister was actually going to soak them. Even if it was just an empty threat, you could never be too safe with this girl. The rest of the morning went about without another word to Mush and Feister about being lovebirds (even though they were, it was still annoying to hear) before heading off to the Distribution Center, (or what is now called Newsies Square) to get their papers and head off to their selling spots

Mush and Feister had walked hand in hand throughout the whole morning. As they were walking to their selling spot, Mush noticed the Feister didn't look as tense as she usually would be, which was a great sign that she was starting to go back to her old self. And though Mush wouldn't say it out loud, he missed Feister yelling at the top of her lungs, if he's being honest with himself, Feister's actually kinda cute when she gets mad.

The morning slowly went by seeing as the headline stunk, and there weren't many people out. After awhile Feister sat down on the curb for a quick break. Mush joined her and saw she had about half her papers left just like he did. "Tired?" Mush asked as he wrapped his arm around Feister to pull her closer. When Feister shook her head Mush only smiled as he said, "Sooner we's finish sellin', sooner we's can go ta lunch."

"Always thinkin' bout yer stomach I's see," Feister said with a small laugh. "But I gotta admit that the stale bread an' old coffee ain't holdin' too good." she slapped the back of his head with a paper before getting up and yelling out a pretty outrageous headline.

Mush got up and went back to work while sneaking glances at Feister from time to time. He noticed that Feister seemed to be more like her old self when yelling out the headlines and cheating people out of their money for news that wasn't even that good. But at least he got to see a small glimpse of his girlfriend's usual behavior. "Goilfriend, never thought I's get ta call 'er that." Mush thought with a smiled. When Feister noticed Mush's staring she said, "Quit gawkin' like some love sick idiot an' just sell yer papes." she then laughed at the stupid look on his face.

Mush could have sworn he saw a little spark of fire in Feister's eyes light up again. This was a good - actually it was a great sign. That's when he realized just how much he missed Feister's teasing, her laugh, and that look in her eyes. "Keep ya shirt on, I's almost done," he shot back, making her roll her eyes. "That's more like it," he thought.

After that they both went back to work, and, surprisingly they both finished at the same time and soon enough it was off to Jacobi's. As they were walking Mush gently took Feister's hand into his, he kept a firm, yet soft grip on her small, and soft hand. Feister looked up and smiled at Mush before resting her head on his upper arm. She felt him kiss the top of her head and she only smiled more because this, this made everything feel right again.