New Wings

Chapter 7

"It's okay now Thorne. We beat him. You beat him."

"Well of course Darling. This dashing rapscallion never loses a fight." Thorne pulled away just far enough to grin widely at her, his teeth gleaming a beautiful white in the darkness. He really was quite handsome, and she blushed at the betraying thought.

His gaze drifted down from her eyes and she realized he was staring at her scarlet cheeks, causing her to flush even more. His eyes darkened, and slowly, ever so slowly, the back of his hand brushed across her face. Her lips parted and eyes fell closed. He was leaning in. Oh sweet mercy, he was so close to her. So, so close. His hand fell from her cheek to her neck, tilting her head and dragging her gently towards his lips. She fought back a shuddering breath.

It all happened so quickly. One second their mouths were a breath apart, the next he was slumped sideways, blood rushing through his jacket. The crack of the gunshot echoed through her ears, her screams dulled by the sight of her mother cackling.

With a gut wrenching sob, she ignored the witch and crumbled down next to Thorne's broken body, her vision tunneling before going completely, utterly--

Black.

Hands covering Cress's trembling pair was the first thing that registered in her aching mind. Her senses sharpened and defined, vision arriving in time to see Ben's concerned little frown hovering over her.

"Foist of all, what is youse doin heah? Secondly, whys was youse screaming?" She plastered a smile on her face before sitting up on the creaky mattress. It was still dark out, but she could hear the sound of newsies getting ready all around her. She'd never gotten up this early.

Ben was waiting expectantly for an answer.

"I...well, it's a bit of a long story, Ben."

His frown was replaced by a grin. "'Ey, youse remembered my name!"

She let out a little laugh at that.

"Of course, I could never forget you!" That seemed to be exactly the right thing to say, and with a beaming smile, Ben forgot all about his somewhat vital question and scampered off to boast about her to his friends. Cress giggled at his sweetness before stretching out of bed, yawning as she pushed the remnants of memory from the dream out of her mind. They only seemed to be getting worse, almost as if her subconscious knew something she didn't...(If that isn't obvious foreshadowing I don't know what is.)

The second she stood, the memories of what had actually happened last night came flooding back, and she gasped a little at the surge of disappointment that hit her. Thorne wasn't the man from her dream, he was the man who'd slammed her friend against the wall, the man who'd walked away without an explanation, the man who'd left her. She didn't need to be worrying about him when he wasn't worrying about her, right?

Something was just off about him that night, he wasn't himself, she tried reassuring herself.

But the uneasy pounding didn't cease as she combed through her hair with dirt-smudged fingers. Everyone else seemed to be awake and gone, so with a fast tug of her boots, she was off, skipping down the rickety steps and heading to the front entrance.

Coin and Bat stood waiting for her, their matching hats shadowing their expressions. She warily waited at the threshold, unsure of what to do.

Their arms were full of fresh newspaper, and Cress could see the bright ink already smearing onto their clothes.

"Is youse coming? Peony and Ben al'edy explained it, and we's needs to be hoppin if we don't wanna eat our papes."

"You would EAT your papers!?!" She exclaimed, already feeling anxious. Coin guffawed, adjusting the papes on his back before turning away from her.