The Boy Who Loved Cigars

10

"Y/N! Y/N look!" Race cried, hurrying into the room with Davey and Les. "We made the front page!"

"We what?" I gasped, trying not to sit up too fast. The three boys hurried to my side, and Davey thrust the paper into my hands.

"Look! There's you!" He beamed, and sure enough, there I was, standing in between my brother and Race, grinning ear to ear.

"Oh my God! This is amazing!" I exclaimed, unable to hold in my glee. Race leaned down and hugged me tightly, and I could feel him smiling into my neck. I think the hug lingered a little too long for Davey's taste, because he cleared his throat uncomfortably.

"Hey, uh, Les? Come with me for a minute."

"But I wanna stay here with Quick!" Les begged, and he looked at me. "Please, Quick, please can I stay?"

"Of course, Les. Youse always welcome with me. C'mon Davey, why don't the two of youse stay?" I pleaded, but Davey just shook his head.

"No, no, really. I don't wanna, um... impose. Besides, we should probably go find Jack, Les. Would you maybe know where to find him?" Davey asked me.

"I dunno. He was here when I fell asleep last night, and gone when I waked up this mornin'." I admitted.

"Okay, well, uh... see you later then. Feel better." Davey nodded curtly, and dragged Les out of the room.

"Bye Quick!" Les called, "Feel better!" And with that, they were gone. I scooted over, and Race sat next to me on the bed.

"Youse is sure it's okay for me to be in the same bed as you? Jack was pretty mad yesterday..." Race pointed out skeptically.

"Jack ain't the boss'a me." I told him with a scoff. We both got quiet, and I finally leaned into Race with a sigh. "What'a we gonna do, Racer?" He leaned his head on mine.

"How do you mean?" He asked me.

"Sure, we made the front page today, but tomorrow what's next? We get our heads busted in again? Snyder got Crutchie, and somethin' tells me that next time, he ain't gonna settle for someone who ain't a Kelly."

"Y/N-"

"Race, I got hurt yesterday. Bad. What if somethin' happens to somebody else? Somethin' worse? What if it's you, Race, I-"

"Y/N! I'll be fine. We'll all be fine. Youse gonna heal up real soon, and then we's gonna win." He told me softly. "We'll be okay." I looked up at Race, his gentle eyes reaching down into my heart. He leaned in slowly, kissing me in a way I hadn't been kissed before. I'd messed around in the past, but not like this. None of it was genuine. This time? It was.

"Wait, Racetrack." I interrupted, pulling away. His concerned eyes met mine, and I asked a question that scared me. "What is this to you? What am I?"

"I... I dunno." He whispered. "What's it to you?"

"I dunno yet, but I don't want this to be just some little fling that we just ignore later. I like you a lot, Racer, and that's not somethin' I'm tryn'a throw out the window." We sat in silence for another moment, and Race finally broke it.

"Heya Quick?"

"Yeah?"

"I'd really like for you to be my girl." Race didn't look at me, and from the position I was leaning in, I could feel his heart pounding at about a mile a minute. I was quiet for a moment, then:

"I'd like that, too, Racer."