JackCrutchie Oneshots

Calm in the Storm

A/N: Jack is soft and pretends to be tough and you CAN NOT change my mind

Alternate Title: Jack hates rain and thunder; Crutchie calms him down and they talk about how in love they are.

It's raining.

And it's raining hard.

It had been coming down on and off for several days and Crutchie was loving it. The July season, complemented by rain and cool evening breezes, was something he looked forward to every year. Listening to the rain and letting it cool his face gave him a feeling he could hardly describe with words. Euphoric maybe? A joyful freedom that ended the harsh summer sunny day? Or, perhaps, was this rain healing against the heat that came with the boiling sun, bouncing off every tall building in New York City and burning every being that stood under it? Could the rain heal those burns?

Yes. He would describe it to be exactly that.

Jack, however, was on the other side of things; he hated the rain, totally, and absolutely despises the very idea that water could fall from the sky.

But, that did not stop him from selling, no, he wasn't weak. It could come pouring down, thunder and lightning screaming at him to get inside, and he would still be the last person in the lodge that night.

Jack Kelly was not weak. No one had to know how much he feared it, the way thunder shook him to his very core, and lightning made him stand under anything he could out of fear that it would get too close. How it reminded him so much of being alone in the refuge. Everyone in the lodge praised rain. Jack wouldn't be different.

Selling days didn't usually last that long when it rained, anyways. People were so desperate to get inside, Jack often thought of the people he watched his consciousness, running for anything that could cover them and save their nicest clothing. His nicest clothing was what he wore every day, not exactly a suit or a dress with the best fabric, but it was his.

This day was different in a way, this storm. The morning had caused many of the boys to get inside quickly, soaked to the skin and dripping. There hadn't been much thunder, lightning nonexistent, much to Jack's delight. Even so, they were all laughing, jumping in puddles and muddying the ankles of their pants. The rain had slowed by the time they all made it back to the lodge, the boys glad to get a small break before the evening paper would be out.

"Those puddles are sun fun to jump in!" Romeo was beaming proudly, as he had jumped in every single puddle that he came across on the way to the lodge.

Racetrack rose an eyebrow, pulling off his shirt and searching for a new one on his bed, "you got mad me at me when I jumped in one, but you could jump in all of them?" He sounded a bit hurt, slightly annoyed, "how's that fair?"

"No," Romeo shook his head, his arms crossed over his chest, "I got mad when you got me wet."

"It was raining, idiot," Racetrack hit him on the shoulder once he was changed, "you were already wet!"

"Even if it wasn't the rain," Specs butted in, "you jumping in every puddle would have gotten you more wet than Race jumping in one next to you."

Romeo groaned, "what is this, maths time?" He sat on his bed with a huff, pulling his blanket around himself.

"More like basic understanding of how things work," Henry teased, sitting close to Buttons, who looked extremely interested the laces on his boots.

"What is this, attack Romeo day?" He exclaimed, throwing a punch towards Henry, who stuck out his tongue.

The boys all sighed and wailed out complaints towards Romeo, several of them throwing their pillows in his direction, getting a whine from him every time one hit him in the face. This caused them all to laugh and their good-natured contentedness with the day once more gave smiles to their faces.