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It had been a few months since they won the strike. The celebrations between the newsies had ended a while back. They had never been particularly big, despite their victory they still didn’t have much money, but they were high in spirits. Davey couldn’t help but be affected by the energy. He hadn’t been a newsie for very long, yet despite that, the strike meant a lot to him.
However, now it was back to old business. Selling papers till they hopefully ran out. Not like they had to worry about it if they didn’t, they had a guarantee of them being bought back.
Jack, Davey, and Les had been out selling in the hot sun for almost the whole day. Jack wasn’t lying when he said the sun could be brutal when you're out selling.
To counteract that, they had been taking breaks in the shade all day. Davey had unbuttoned the top few of his shirt buttons. To be honest he had considered taking the whole thing off. Davey had also been checking up on his baby brother constantly, no matter how many times Jack told him to stop worrying. He didn’t want him or Les to be badly burnt when they went back to school.
Jack had been like that all day. Telling him not to worry or making comments on him not having to worry about the sun tomorrow. The stuff he usually did when he was frustrated or angry but didn’t want to show it. Davey, in the time he’s spent around Jack, seemed to notice he never exactly was upfront with his more negative feelings to the other newsies. He preferred to hold it in and not worry others with it.
Deep down Davey knew it had to do with this being his last day before going back to school. He had broken the news to Jack earlier that week, that his father found a new job finally and they could go back. At first he seemed excited for Davey, yet the more that deadline approached, the more he got like this. To be honest, Davey didn’t fully understand why he would be so upset over him leaving. Him and Jack were close, it had been like that ever since the strike, but to the point it made Jack this upset? It was so bad even Les started looking at him funny whenever Jack made another comment.
As the sun started to set lower into the sky, and the stack of papers got smaller, Davey felt like he needed to talk with Jack about this. He didn’t want him to bottle up his negative emotions, even if he didn’t get why he was so upset over it.
“OVER HERE, FOLKS, FOUR KILLED IN A DEVASTATING ACCIDENT!” Jack yelled, grabbing the attention of a woman nearby. Davey watched as Jack sold his last paper and stuffed the coin into his bag. As soon as the woman walked away, Jack turned and started walking towards where he and Les were sitting.
“You’s ready to head out?” Jack asked as Davey got up and grabbed Les’ hand.
“You’re going to have to wait a second, I have to take Les home first.” Davey responded, looking down at a very disappointed and pouty looking Les.
“How come I don’t get to go too?” Les complained, bouncing up and down on his heel.
“You know our folks don’t like you being out too late,” Davey explained. He did want to take Les, he deserved a send off gift as well, but their parents wouldn’t appreciate him being out past his curfew.
“I’ll see you in a bit then!” Jack shouted as they began to walk away. Jack gave him a bittersweet smile as he waved towards him.
Davey decided that he’d get his answers after dinner. He really didn’t like seeing Jack like this.
——————————-
The dinner had been pretty good all things considered. There had been something off about Jack the entire time, but it’d been like that the entire day. Most of the dinner, besides eating, had been Davey trying to pay. He didn’t want to burden Jack when he doesn’t make much as it is. He lost that fight in the end but regardless it was still a good experience.
Now there they were, standing in front of Jacobi’s, chatting away. Jack had started up a conversation and they had gotten carried away. Davey always found it easy to talk like this with Jack. This time, however, it seemed like Jack didn’t want the conversation to end. It was like he wanted to sit and talk forever.
“Earth to Davey?” Jack’s voice cut through his thinking. He hadn’t even meant to zone out, he was just trying to put the pieces together in his mind, to little success. “You’s was staring up into space there,” He added.
“I’m fine, don’t worry about me.” Davey replied, chuckling to himself. Davey then paused for a second, looking at Jack before he added, “I actually need to ask you about something.”
Jack looked surprised, and a little nervous, for a second before going back to his usual cocky expression. “And what might that be?”
Davey took a second before he asked all at once, “you’ve been acting weird all day. I know it’s my last day as a newsie but why are you this upset? I’m a little worried”
Jack’s expression then molded into something he hadn’t seen since the strike. Fear, Jack looked scared. He looked like he really needed to say something but couldn’t.
Jack looked around for a second, scanning the area around them before pulling them into an alley between Jacobi’s and another business. It knocked the wind out of Davey how hard he grabbed his wrist and pulled him away.
“WHAT WAS THAT FOR?” Davey whisper-shouted, looking at Jack with pure confusion clear on his face.
“I just… I can’t talk about this out there.” Jack responded, it was clear he needed to talk about this but Davey was so confused on what.
“Why? Does this have to do with me leaving?” Davey asked, hoping this would get to the bottom of Jack’s extreme reaction.
“Before I tell you this, promise me you won't tell anyone.” Jack said firmly, looking Davey straight in the eyes.
All Davey could do was shake his head. In the back of his mind he is glad he took Les home, Jack clearly wouldn’t tell him if he was with them.
Jack looked down at the ground, that’s when he began to shake. He looked truly terrified. Jack then whispered something he couldn’t quite make out.
“What was that?” Davey asked softly, trying to get Jack to say it again. Jack looked up, still shaking, and this time said more clearly
“I like’s you, more than a friend, Davey.”
Oh.
That made a lot more sense. It clicked in that moment, the reason he didn’t want to see Davey go was cause he liked him. He didn’t wanna lose somebody he cared so deeply about. That’s also why he pulled him out of the street, Jack clearly couldn’t talk about being queer out in the open.
That's when Davey started to question himself. Did he like Jack like that? I mean he certainly liked Jack. He didn’t want to see him upset, he noticed little things about him, and now the idea of him being with Jack didn’t sound too bad.
Well, that answered that. I guess he did like Jack like that. It would explain a lot of his and Jack’s relationship honestly.
Wait he should really say something to Jack before he really freaked out.
Davey cleared his throat and squeezed Jack’s wrists. “I might’ve not realized it but, me too,” Davey said awkwardly, not too sure how he was supposed to respond.
Jack didn’t say anything in return, he just pulled Davey in and kissed him. It was weird and new, but it was nice. It was clear Davey had little to no kissing experience, he just followed whatever Jack did.
It ended all too soon, with Jack pulling back. For the first time in what seemed like forever, Jack met his gaze. He looked happy, sure, but also somber.
Jack opened his mouth to say something but Davey cut him off, “Jack, you know I’m not leaving for good, right?”
“What about your schooling? Don’t tell me you’s is gonna give that up.” Jack expressed his concerns with what Davey said.
“No, I’m still going to school but I don’t want to give this up. You and the rest of the newsies are my family as much as Les and Sarah are,” Davey reassured him.
Jack looked at him confused, like he didn’t understand what he was getting at, “then what are you planning on doing if you're gonna do both?”
“I’m gonna spend my time, after school hours, still working as a newsie,” Davey explained.
“Dave, that’s great!” Jack exclaimed, clearly excited at the idea.
This was not at all what he expected his final full day as a newsie to go, but he was not complaining. He really needed to get home and prepare for his first real day back at school, but a little extra time with Jack never hurt anybody.