cavities - a countryhumans one-shot book

crutches (romantic rusame)

Warning;
contains spoilers for "newsies," as well as rusame/amerus.

russia's (first) pov

"oi! russ, ya gotta letter from the refuge!" what? that's odd, i haven't seen half those kids in ages. unless- "hand it over, would ya? we have work in the morning" mexico handed over the letter and walked away, pulling his vest back on. i fumbled with my suspenders while gazing at the letter. how'd this smartass manage to get his hands on a paper and pencil? after reaching the roof, i leaned on the metal gate and unfolded the letter.
'my dearest, russ-

greetings from the refuge!

how are you? i am fine. i guess i wasn't really much help the other day.. while the fellas were running i got beat with my crutch. oh yeah, this is crutchie, by the way. i'll be honest, the guards is rude. they say "jump, boy! jump or you's screwed!" but the food ain't so bad so far, cus' so far we ain't got no food.
ha ha.
i miss our rooftop, i miss our sky. i miss them new york lights shining through the darkest of nights.

anyway, so guess what? i've got a plan, a plan to escape this hell on land. tie a sheet to bed, toss the end out the window climb down and take off like a shot! maybe though, not tonight. cus' my leg is beat up and i feel like i haven't sleep in years. but, hey! this plan'll work! we'll show 'em all how we've got rights too!

then i was thinking, maybe, we could go through with our plan. where the air is clean, the grass is green, and your friends are more like a fam'ly. but until then-'

the writing trailed off for a moment, as if interrupted. i rubbed my hand on the paper, noticing small circles of thinner paper. tears. who hurt him? i swear i'll- i took a deep breath before continuing to read.

'damn this place. i'll be fine, i'm good as new! but please, there's one thing i ask for you to do for me. you said, that night on our rooftop, that fam'ly looks out for one another. so for me, tell the fellas to protect each other.

the end.'

i squinted, attempting to make out what the crossed out words said.

'your friend-
your best friend-
your lover,
-america.'

i felt myself smile uncontrollably as tears rolled down my face. i reread the letter again and again, tracing my hands on the now worn paper. gently, i folded the letter up and put it in my pocket. if anyone found out about this, i'm in jail for sure. happily, i curl up into a ball. i'll get you out of there, meri, just you wait.

-

hanging from the bars of the staircase leading to his room, i knock. "crutchie?" i hear a loud wince of pain and open the window. meri was rocking back and forth on his bed. not really thinking about my actions, i crawl into his room and curl up around him. "you.. you look awful." he beamed "what a thing to say after not seein' your best friend for a week." he pecked a kiss onto my neck. "it's been weird without you 'round." he chuckled quietly and squeezed my hand. "thas' strange. i didn't know a cripple could hav' such an effect on people." without controlling my volume, i blurt out. "you're not just a-" before he slapped a hand on my mouth and laid me down on the bed flat. he winced after throwing himself on his side, but quickly masked it as the door opened. the person there lingered for a few moments before scoffing and walking away. i listened carefully as the footsteps got more and more distant, and as meri sighed in relief. i got up, and he laughed slightly. "that was close-" i grabbed him by the collar and smashed our lips together, earning a surprised squeak. we separated after a few seconds, and i lingered close to his panting face for a while longer. "guess ya' really missed me, huh?" i smiled, and pecked him again on the lips. "the guys have been more glum since you left. they miss you, too." america snorted, covering his mouth and nose. "how flattering." his gaze saddened. "you can't get me out, you know that, right?" my eyes widened. "what? why not!? we can get your stuff and-" he put a finger to my lips. "my leg- it- it ain't good, okay?" he explained in a hushed voice. "i'll carry you out, then!" fear etched my voice. no no no no no i am not leaving you here to suffer and starve no way in hell- "i'll only slow you down. i'm sorry, russ, it's just not happening." unwillingly, a tear rolled down my cheek. a gave him one last ginger kiss to the lips, before hugging him like i'd never see him again. you might not. "don't you dare try an' get away from me, okay?" he smiled. "how do you suppos' i'd do that?" i squeezed his hand before climbing out the window. "i love you.." america smiled so lightly that i guessed a feather was heavier. "i love you too. now get out, moron." i climbed down from the staircase, and wiped the tears pouring from my eyes.

-

"russ! there you are! we've been looking for you everywhere, why didn't you show up to the gates like we planned?" dammit. i put down my paintbrush, sighing. i didn't need to turn to recognize who it was, but that doesn't mean i didn't check anyway. there, standing in front of me, was spain, france, and germany. "what's a guy gotta' do to get away from people?" france was too young to understand the insult, but spain and germany definitely weren't. germany put her foot forward and pointed at me. "you're abandoning your job! we trusted you as our leader, and you-" anger boiled up in me so much i couldn't contain it anymore. my mouth lost it's filter and i spilled out the pressure that's been on me for the past day and a half. "listen i just- i need a break, ok? i just.. i went to see meri the other day-" france peaked from behind spain's leg curiously. "who's meri?" my faced flushed, and spain crossed his arms. "that's a good question, who is meri?" i scratched my neck and bit my thumb nail nervously. "i-i meant crutchie.." i mumbled, loud enough so they'd understand. germany immediately got excited. "that's great! where is he, you got him out of refuge, didn't you?" i looked to side grimly, and spain immediately understood. "you.. you didn't, huh?" i nodded slowly. this outraged france, apparently. he completely revealed himself from behind spain and started his scolding. "why not? we need him for support! he's great at cheering us all on!" he ranted, squeaking at every other word. "his leg was no good. he convinced himself that he'd only slow me down. he's as stubborn as a nail, there's no getting through to him at that point. and he.. was really, really beat up. they're not feeding him good, either. i'm just.. scared that i'll lose him." germany crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow. "you seem to care an awful lot about crutchie." my faced heated, and i was scared we'd been found out. shitshitshitshitshitshit- "well, duh. him and crutchie were practically brothers! he was russia's right hand man, it only makes sense he'd feel down about him being gone." spain explained, as if it were obvious. i sighed in relief. oh thank god, that's a bullet dodged. "don't worry, russ, we'll get him back. just you wait!" france exclaimed happily. i smiled a bit. "but until then, you need to stop mopin' about it and help us. doing nothin' won't get him back." germany criticized, fidgeting with her dress.

-

the fellas' were cheering. we'd done it, we weren't unpaid workers anymore. finally, we could afford a meal and not spend more than half our money on papes'. germany got closer to me putting her hand on my arm. i gave her a look, trying to express the 'what the fuck are you doing'ness i was feeling at the moment. she leaned in closer to me with half lidded eyes. recognizing this move, i immediately pushed her off. "what the hell, russia!?" i cringed hearing that. "i'm- i'm not-" we were interrupted by mexico sprinting over. "russ, russ! ya' gotta see this, ya' just gotta!" i raised an eyebrow. "what's it?" he beamed. "it's crutchie! they're bringin' 'im back!" i quickly moved to follow mexico, and sure enough, there was meri limping out of a refuge-owned carriage. he noticed me and smiled, limping over. i was frozen in place. i hadn't seen him in two weeks, this was so weird. "what, just gona stand there and not give the cripple a hand?" he joked, and i was brought back to my heaven on earth by his voice. i pulled him in gently for a hug, and held on way too long. "wanna go talk in private?" germany looked at me weirdly when he said that, but i didn't think of it. i just nodded. i missed you i missed you i missed you i- "russ, you can stop being an idiot now, we're alone." i pulled him in by his waist and kissed him. i, again, held onto this for far too long so that we were both panting and blushing messes by the time we separated. i tried to explain on how i missed him in words, but all that came out was "hi." he seemed to understand, and gave me the same light smile that make my head spin. "hi." he replied, pulling me in again. this time, i'm never going to let go.

- - -

my god, that came out a lot longer than intended. but yea, i watched the newsies musical today and i really liked it (crutchie is my favorite character). i don't know whether or not i ship jack and crutchie, but it seemed more fitting to make america russia's right hand man rather than a rich girl he met on the streets. hope it's ok :) ame's letter heavily references the song "letter from the refuge," and some of the things you way not understand unless you listen to it.

i'm so gay,
-aut

1642 words