- Chapter 65 - Back at Home in 'Hattan (Even if it's only for a Day) -
Warnings: Chaos? It's Manhattan, it's gonna be chaotic. That's why we love them lol
Third Person POV
Smalls knocks on the door to the Manhattan Lodge.
They could clearly hear the chaos in said Lodge.
It all stopped when she knocked, someone shouting a 'what?!'
"It's only two of your favorite Newsies ever!" Smalls shouts back, grinning at Race.
Ace and Rags roll their eyes.
Race pats their shoulders, standing in the middle of them. "Don't worry, boys." He tells them, faking sympathy. "She didn't mean you."
Both boys roll their eyes again, glaring at Race.
"Sniper and Smalls?!" Someone from inside the Lodge shouts.
Smalls laughs as she pushes the door open.
Race scoffs, crossing his arms as he walks inside. "I'm offended your first guess wasn't me." He grumbles.
JoJo squeals, literally shooting up. "Race!" He exclaims, grabbing him in a hug.
Race was trampled by many other hugs as well.
Within thirty seconds, Race was piled under the majority of the Manhattan Newsies and they could only see his head.
Lucky gasps, jumping off of Specs' lap and running and sitting down next to Race. He hugs Race's head, aka the only part of his body that didn't already have a Newsie on top of it. "I missed you!" He exclaims.
Race smiles. "I missed you too." He responds. "All of you." He adds.
"AWW! Thanks!" The other Manhattan Newsies on top of him chorus.
Race laughs a bit to himself, before he heard sniffles.
Tears stream down Lucky's face.
Concerned, Race quickly tried pushing people off of him. "Get off." He grumbles, quickly getting up and pulling Lucky into his arms.
Lucky wraps his arms around Race's neck, nuzzling his head into the crook of Race's neck.
"Hey, hey," Race runs his hand through Lucky's hair. "What's up, bud?" He whispers.
Some boys share concerned looks.
Specs, Knobs, and Davey looked like they knew something everyone else didn't.
Lucky sniffles. "I missed-" he hiccups, cutting himself off. "-you."
Slightly relieved that it wasn't anything horrible, Race smiles a bit. "I missed you too, bud. Mean Spot isn't letting me leave Brooklyn or sell without someone so I can be safe." He tells him.
Ace scoffs. "We're right here, Race." He states, looking annoyed.
Race ignores him.
Lucky plays with one of Race's curls that hung in front of his forehead. "That's mean..." he whispers.
Just as Race was about to respond, Lucky spoke again. "...but we want you be safe." He adds quietly.
Race sighs softly. "Yeah, I guess." He admits quietly.
"Isn't that what Specsie- and Jacky- and Davey tell you?" Lucky asks Race, his blue eyes meeting Race's blue eyes. "Stay safe?"
Race nods. "They want people to be safe." He responds.
Lucky nods, hugging Race again. "I want you to be safe." He whispers.
Race smiles, hugging him back. "I want you to be safe, too." He whispers, closing his eyes.
"AWW!!" Race was suddenly very aware of the close to twenty pairs of eyes on him and Lucky.
Race rolls his eyes, pulling out of the hug. He turns around, letting Lucky sit in his lap again as he looks at the Manhattan Newsies. "How are all of you idiots?" He asks.
Bush turns to face Rags. "They're like you." He points out.
Rags and Ace burst out laughing.
Some of the other Newsies in the room share confused looks.
Amused, Ace looks at them. "We recently had a talk with Bush about the fact that we- Brooklyn Newsies- use terms like 'idiot' and 'butts' endearingly." He explains. "Because we love each other." He adds, laughing a bit.
Some of the others in the room start laughing.
Race chuckles, looking down at Lucky.
Lucky giggles. "Albert's a butt." He tells Race.
An offended gasp comes from said redhead.
Race chuckles as he stares into his eyes. "True..." he responds slowly. "But I'd like to know your reasoning for why he's one." He states.
Lucky glares slightly at Albert, but it didn't look like a glare. "He likes to tickle me." He grumbles, crossing his arms.
"Does he?" Race asks.
Lucky nods, his bottom lip out in a pout.
Race smirks. "Like this?" He pokes Lucky's side.
Lucky squeals, squirming in his lap.
"Or this?" Race tickles Lucky's stomach.
Lucky giggles, squirming.
Race chuckles, stopping.
Albert looks at Lucky. "Is Race a butt now?" He asks.
Lucky shakes his head.
Race smirks.
Albert stares at them. "Why not?!" He whines.
Lucky throws his arms around Race's neck. "Because he's my second favorite!" He exclaims.
Race smiles, hugging him back.
A burst of offended exclamations comes from the other Manhattan Newsies.
"Lucky! I'm hurt!" Romeo exclaims, clutching his chest dramatically.
Giggling, Lucky shrugs.
"Me too!" Finch exclaims.
"Sorry, Finch." Race smirks. "I know who's favorite you are though." He states.
Confused, Finch looks at him for an explanation.
"Albert." Race points to the redheaded boy.
Finch blushes.
Albert blushes a bit as well, but he was also smirking.
"Hey, Lucky," Race starts, making eye contact with him again. "Who's your favorite?" He asks, knowing full well who it was.
Specs and Knobs smile knowingly.
Lucky giggles. "Specs." He answers.
Specs bites back a grin.
Race smiles.
The other Newsies in the room smile.
This wasn't a surprise. Specs took care of Lucky like he was his little brother. He and Race were the closest things Lucky had to brothers since they were closer to him than all of the other Newsies.
"I'm not gonna argue with that." Henry speaks up, nodding.
Boots nods in agreement, his arms crossed. "Yeah, Specs deserves it." He states, looking at Lucky.
"Specs is great." Mush adds, sitting on his boyfriend's lap.
Blink smiles, nodding as he hugs Mush from behind, pulling him against his chest.
Specs couldn't stop the grin from making its way onto his face.
Lucky jumps up, running over to Specs and hugging his legs. "I love you! Hugs!" He giggles.
Specs grins, picking him up and resting him on his hip. "I love your hugs." He tells him, booping his nose. "And I love you." He adds.
Lucky giggles, pushing his hand away. "And I love you too!"
Specs smiles.
"Alright," Race gets up off of the floor, dusting himself off. "Anyone up for a game of Poker?" He asks.
A bunch of groans rang around the room.
"Come on!" Race pouts. "You missed me!" He exclaims.
"Fine." Albert grumbles, standing next to Race. He holds his hand out. "Cards."
Race grins, pulling the cards Albert knew he had in his pocket out and placing them in his hand.
Albert rolls his eyes, chuckling softly.
Before Albert could walk away, Race pulled him into a hug.
Slightly shocked, Albert hugs him back.
Race's grip on him tightens slightly. "I missed you, Al." He whispers. "Even though I saw you two days ago. It was much too long to go without you." He laughs softly.
Albert's mouth gaped slightly as Race pulled away and walked over to the table.
Finch chuckles, standing next to him. "And who was right?" He asks.
Albert bites his lip to hold back a smile.
Finch wraps his arms around his waist, pressing a soft kiss to his forehead.
Albert blushes a bit, smiling.
"Hey, lovebirds!" Blink exclaims, sharing a grin with Race. "We need the cards to play!" He tells them.
Albert and Finch blush, Finch chuckling at the blush on his boyfriend's face.
Race looks over at Jack and Davey. "You two sure got comfortable together." He comments, looking them up and down.
Davey sat on Jack's lap.
Both boys blush, Jack noticeably less than Davey.
Jack rolls his eyes. "You couldn't have said 'I miss you' before teasing me?" He asks.
Race grins cheekily at him. "I missed you." He responds, his voice higher pitched than usual.
With an amused smile on his face, Jack rolls his eyes again. "I missed you too." He responds softly, nuzzling his head into Davey's shoulder.
Davey blushes.
"Alright," Race claps his hands together. "I call dealing." He says.
Specs sits down with Lucky on his lap as the other Newsies sit down too.
Even Smalls, Ace, and Rags were joining in, and those who weren't playing were sitting on their boyfriends lap and watching.
Race smiles, feeling at home again.
1404 Words