Carrying the Banner || Newsies One-shots

Try

About two and a half weeks after initial contact, Jack was walking the halls during lunch, trying to find Crutchie. He'd just about given up looking when he passed a room with an open door and heard faint piano chords emanating from inside. A gentle voice accompanied them, and Jack paused so that he could hear the words being sung.

"Dim the lights and go back to bed...blow the candles out and then...drown the music out and sleep until the dawn..."

It took Jack about half a minute to realize that it was Crutchie was singing. That was Cruchie's voice. The music continued, and Jack could hear the passion and emotion in the boy's voice.

"You said you'd always be my friend...but every flame is bound to end...I struck the match, and you blew it out...now you're go-o-one..."

He slowly backed up, poking his head in the room. Crutchie's eyes were closed as his fingers danced effortlessly over the keys; the sound that they produced caused Jack's chest to tighten. He stood there for a few minutes until Crutchie ended the song with a sad chord, slowly opening his eyes.

"I- Jack?? You- what are you doing here??" he exclaimed,panicking. "Did you hear- how much of that did you hear??"

"'s beautiful, Crutchie," Jack mumbled, offering a small smile. "You're really good."

Crutchie relaxed slightly, and smiled back shyly. "Oh. Thank you. Do you sing...? Or play an instrument, or...?" He trailed off, face still burning.

Rubbing the back of his neck, Jack shrugged. "Ah, I tried guitar. Wasn't half bad, either. But I jus' sorta, fell outta it, y'know? I still got the guitar an' all."

"I'd love to hear you play sometime!" Crutchie cried enthusiastically, his previous embarrassment forgotten. "I bet you're amazing!"

"Eh, I don't know 'bout amazin', but..." He stopped talking as he noticed a card sticking out of Crutchie's backpack. "Hey, what's that?"

"Oh, it's just a birthday card," Crutchie said dismissively, shrugging. "From my mom."

"Woah woah woah. Hold ya horses. Its ya birthday today??" Jack said incredulously, frowning a bit. "How come ya didn't tell me? I woulda done somethin' for ya."

"I don't like it when people go out of their way to make me a birthday gift..."

"Well, now I'll feel bad. I promise it won't be extravagant or nothin', but I gotta do somethin'," Jack promised, knowing exactly what he was going to do. "Stop by my place afta school, yeah?" He grinned and started for the door.

"Wait-!" Crutchie started, but Jack was already gone.

That afternoon, after the last bell rang, Crutchie grabbed his stuff from his locker, and checked his phone one last time before heading for Jack's apartment. He got a text as he stood outside of Jack's door.

'you ready?'

Crutchie chuckled softly and called, "I'm ready! Can I come in now?"

There was a pause, and then Jack's muffled voice replied, "Yeah, come on in."

The door squealed as it was pushed open, and Crutchie scoffed, "You gotta fix that....oh..."

His voice disappeared into the still air as Jack grinned, shifting and causing the guitar in his arms to rattle softly.

"That's your guitar," Crutchie muttered numbly, realizing what was happening belatedly. "You're gonna play guitar."

"Happy birthday," Jack said awkwardly, grinning nervously. "Is this okay...?"

"Yes! Yes, I want to hear you play," the other boy said quickly. "Please..."

Jack nodded and strummed a chord tentatively. "Okay." He took a breath and started playing the guitar softly, wincing as his fingers hit the wrong notes. He started to get into the rhythm though, his playing evening out. Soon, he started singing as well.

"When I see you cry, what'd I give to hold you, but my hands are tied, so I watch you cry."

As the song progressed, Jack slowly slipped into a trance-like state, letting the music carry him. The notes felt more familiar now, and the song played more smoothly.

"So I try, yeah, I try...when I see you cry, what'd I'd give to hold you, but my hands are tied, so I watch you cry..."

A final chord ended the song and Jack slowly opened his eyes, not even realizing he'd closed them. He started panicking as the silence grew longer and longer, and blurted out, "I really like you, Charles."

Immediately he regretted saying that, and smacked himself internally as he figured he'd probably made the situation worse. "I'm sorry, that was really random, I just- it was real quiet, and that was the first thing that came to mind-" He quickly shut up as Crutchie, who had been staring at him, let out a soft sob. "Oh shit, oh shit..." Jack quickly stood up, dropping the guitar and moving to Crutchie's side, pulling him into a hug. A few more sobs escaped and drifted through the air, before Crutchie slowly pulled away, wiping his eyes and smacking Jack's arm.

"You dumbass," he said softly. "You absolute fucking dumbass." Jack couldn't tell if this was being said because he was pleasantly surprised or absolutely devastated.

"'m so sorry, I didn't mean to make ya cry," Jack rambled, wringing his hands and feeling despair start to overtake him. He'd originally thought this would be a good idea, but it was very quickly falling apart around him. "This was a terrible idea..."

Crutchie shook his head quickly. "No, no, its not. I didn't mean to cry. I just- that's literally the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me ever since my dad left and-" He broke off, seeing the pain in Jack's eyes and sighing softly. "Listen- that was beautiful. Your voice is beautiful. They were happy tears, okay?"

Jack, who still felt like shit, nodded a bit and let out a small groan. "Are you sure?" he replied in a strained voice.

"Here...just close your eyes for me, okay?" Crutchie requested in his soft voice, smiling slightly and causing Jack's heart to soar despite everything. "I think this will help."

He slowly closed his eyes, and almost fell back in shock as he felt a warm pair of lips on his own. Jack's eyes shot open, and an anxious Crutchie looked back at him. Crutchie was kissing him. He was being kissed by Crutchie. Holy motherfucking shit. He fumbled for words, his brain momentarily at a loss. A simple "damn" was all that he said for a while, and then Crutchie giggled.

"That was nice," he murmured, leaning against Jack's chest and closing his eyes. "That was the best birthday gift anyone's ever given me." Crutchie opened his eyes and stared up at Jack with a loving expression. "Thank you, Jack."

And all of a sudden, Jack was left standing in his apartment with the trace of a kiss on his lips, and the ghost of a figure in his arms.