Racetrack Higgins was a normal Manhattan Newsie- more or less.
He was Gay, but so were all of his brothers.
He was Jack's Second in Command and had a rough past.
He was stubborn, has anxiety, and is a good bit chaotic.
Spot Conlon was not a normal Newsie.
He was the King of Brooklyn, the Borough feared by most.
Except for Race. (And a few others.)
Said Italian blonde boy was actually a half Brooklyn, half Manhattan Newsie, as he sold in Brooklyn.
Sure, Spot scared him sometimes, but not a lot.
They were very different.
Spot had brown hair, Race had dirty blonde.
Race had been to the Refuge, Spot hadn't.
Spot had brown eyes, Race had bright blue eyes.
Race was strong, but easily outnumbered, Spot was strong, but wasn't easily outnumbered.
One think they both agreed was that they cared for their boys more than anything and would do anything to keep them safe.
Oh, that and that the other was cute.
Or hot, depending on if you were Spot or Race.
~~ Excerpt from the Story ~~
"Hey, Race." Ace starts, picking up his cards every time Race passes one to him.
Race hums, passing a card to Sling, then himself, and then Ace.
"Do you have a crush on Spot?" Ace asks, still staring at his cards.
Sling hides his smile with his cards in front of his face, stifling a laugh.
"No." Race answers, his face reddening slightly as he passes out another card to each boy.
Ace looks up at him. "BS." He responds, smirking.
Race scowls at him, pulling his hat off of his head and smacking Ace with it, all while his face turns bright red.
Ace and Sling laugh.
~~ ~~
(I do not own Newsies.)
Started: May 31st, 2021
Finished: August 27th, 2023
"Race, what's goin' on? Where 'ave ya been?" Crutchie asked, eyeing the boy with worry. Race ignored him and continued limping to the stairs.
"Race, get back over here. Crutch and I stayed up waitin' for ya, the least you can do is tell us where youse been."
"I'm fine," Race mumbled, not stopping. Jack quickly stepped forward and grabbed the younger boy's arm, not missing the way he tensed up.
"C'mon Race, look at me. What's wrong?"
Race slowly turned around, keeping his eyes down with the brim of his hat casting a shadow across his face. "I just had a run-in with a couple of guys who were lookin' for a fight. I got a little beat up. Really, it's nothin'."
"It's not 'nothing' Race. You're walkin' worse than I do!" Crutchie exclaimed.
Jack grabbed Race's chin and tipped it up and Crutchie gasped. Jack's eyes widened too as he and Crutchie got a glimpse of their brother's face.
Crutchie's face turned red with anger, his hand clenching his crutch tightly. "Who did this to you?"
***
It's a month after the strike, and everything is going great... until it's not.
It starts with small arguments with newsies from the other boroughs, and only gets worse. None of the boys know whats going on, but they're trying to ignore it, until one day something happens that none of them can ignore.
A/N: Sorry about the sucky summary, I'm bad at writing those.