We were just so close, it's tragic...
If there was one thing Amy knew how to do, it was catching up on all the latest gossip. It was similar to the way the newsies sold the papers; you had to keep it interesting. And, as far as the past few days had gone, there'd been plenty of interesting news, alright.
She just wished it didn't all have to do with Lane.
Lane, Lane, Lane. Amy couldn't count the amount of times she had heard the girl's name from common pass-byers. From claiming that she had been part of some murder crime, to whispers about how the short redhead had secretly been giving information to different theft organizations, the list was endless, as well as unbelievable.
As for the girl herself, well, no one had seen her around much. She did come out sometimes, but more often than not, even after her work, she was nowhere to be found. Amy could tell Finch was getting antsy about her lack of presence.
As for her and Romeo, things were great. Well, great in the sense that he was still treating her like a good friend. And Amy knew that she had to be grateful for what she had- after all, she had finally overcome her fear of sneaking out of her house, but she couldn't help but wish there was something more to what they had.
It was hard to watch Romeo flirt with her sister, and it never got any easier. But Amy knew better than to expect anything differently. After all, that's what being a hopeless romantic was all about. Getting into hopeless situations.
She was shocked out of her thoughts when she noticed Romeo's face mere inches away from her own, lips tilted up in a lopsided grin, causing her to jump at the sudden proximity. "Wha- Romeo!"
The grin didn't go away, even as he drew back some. Amy mourned his retreat, wishing he'd just kiss her. Just one kiss, and she'd be alright. "Gotcha."
Amy blinked, dumbfounded, as he stared at her expectantly. "What?"
They were currently on Main Street, Amy watching as Romeo sold his papers, keeping him company. She had tried to sell a few of her own, to no avail, of course, as Romeo snickered and told her that she'd have better luck striking a conversation with an animal, only to remark that that was probably what she did in her free time.
"I asked if ya would come ta Jacobi's wit me ta-night," Romeo explained, "but you was zoned out. I wanted ta see how close I could get 'fore ya noticed." He then guffawed, pointing at her and her beat red cheeks. "Ya shoulda seen yer face! Oh, it was gold, Princess. Absolutely gold."
Amy scowled at him. "Why aren't you asking Laura if she wanted to go with you? Aren't you courting her?"
Romeo's grin froze on his face, laughter quickly fading away. "No. She's, uh, busy. She's busy."
"Oh." Amy wasn't sure how much she believed that, but if it meant that Romeo wanted to hang out with her even more than with Laura, well, she wouldn't be the first to complain. "Well, you can take me, but I think you may have to fight it out with the other guys."
It was Romeo's turn to blink at her, confused. "Oth-ah guys?"
Amy shrugged. "Well, yeah. There's Fred, then there's George, of course, and Nick, and I'm quite certain Racetrack told me he wanted to-"
"Okay, I get it," Romeo said quickly, successfully cutting her off. Amy raised an eyebrow in amusement. She didn't miss how he turned his head slightly to the side, as if trying to seek out some of the boys she had mentioned. "But I owe ya fa what happened. Think 'a it like an apology."
"The sun's already setting," Amy pointed out. From just a glance, she could tell that they had been out selling for well over five hours.
"Well, we've still gotta eat."
No matter how hard she tried, Amy just couldn't say no to those less-than-innocent pleading eyes. "Alright, alright. I'll go with you. But may I go home to change my clothes before?"
Romeo gave her a quick once over. "What's wrong wit what ya got on?"
Amy shrugged, gazing at him silently, waiting for his answer.
"Fine," Romeo grumbled at last. "But make it quick. Ise hungry."
When she made it to her house, she saw Laura in the window, who quickly turned around when Amy waved. Normally, Amy would've been worried, but things had been so out of sorts lately that she simply couldn't bring herself to care.
That didn't stop her from pausing in front of the living room, staring wordlessly at her sister for a brief moment. "Could you help me find a dress?"
Laura scoffed, looking down at her nails. "I'm busy, Amy."
"Oh? With what?"
Laura clenched her jaw impressively tight, before a smug smile made its way to her lips, and she crossed her arms, listing her head to the side. "I'm going out with Romeo tonight. That's what. I wouldn't imagine you know what that's like."
"With Romeo?" Amy questioned. "Really?"
"That's what I said," Laura snapped. But Amy caught the way her eyes darted briefly to the right. Her tell for lying. "Is there a problem with that?"
"No," Amy replied simply. "Have fun."
Romeo was playing with his cap when she came back out, spinning it around with a hand, but stopped abruptly when he saw her. The cap fell to the ground, landing embarrassingly anticlimactic-like. "Ya look... nice."
She had chosen a tan top with a sunset orange skirt, finishing the look with a red tie around her neck and her hair quickly pinned up. She wanted to look at least decently presentable if they were going out to Jacobi's. The warm colours seemed fitting, considering the falling sun at that time.
Yet she still hadn't taken off her bright yellow gloves.
"It's too much, isn't it?" Amy questioned. "I didn't want to seem too dressed up, but-"
"No, Yellow," Romeo cut her off. "It's fine. Ya look nice."
Amy nodded, lowering her gaze, cheeks burning red. "Thank you. That's very kind."
Romeo huffed, turning away. "Yeah, sure, whatev-ah. We should be goin' real soon, before he closes."
"Yeah," Amy mumbled back in reply.
A little while later, after getting side-tracked once too many times, Romeo and Amy finally made it to Jacobi's, only to see that he was, in fact, closed.
"Oh well," Amy sighed, looking up at the darkened sky. "Looks like we're too late."
Romeo didn't seem to have heard her, instead moving towards the building and kneeling in front of the door.
"We shouldn't be here," Amy pressed, sterner, drawing closer to the boy cautiously. "Romeo. C'mon, let's go."
"Calm down," Romeo ordered. "I know how ta pick locks."
My life is over, Amy thought, heart rate picking up. Oh my gosh, my life is over.
"Stop overthinkin' dis," he grumbled. "Have a bit 'a faith, won't ya?"
"It's kind of hard to have faith when you're quite literally breaking into a building!" Amy stage-whispered, pointing towards the restaurant for emphasis.
"Diner."
"Shut up."
Romeo chuckled, before an audible click was heard. He turned back to look at her with a mischievous glint in his eyes. "Ready?"
"Not really, to be frank."
Romeo frowned up at her, as he was still crouched down, neck craned upwards. "I thought you was Yellow."
Amy had trouble containing a snort. "It's Frank now, I've decided."
Romeo shrugged, going back to the door. "Alright. Don't make a noise, 'n we should be fine."
"Romeo," Amy insisted. "I could just go get some food from my house. We really shouldn't be doing this. Mr. Jacobi is a kind man; we don't want to lose his trust."
Romeo chuckled, pulling open the door. "Jacobi'll be fine. We'll jus grab some quick chow, leave some money, 'n skedattle right outta dere. Easy-peasy lemon squeezy."
Amy groaned, walking in after the boy. "Do I need to remind you of what happened the last time you said that?"
"No," Romeo grumbled, "I rememb-ah."
The Diner was dark. That was the first thing Amy noticed about the place, the second being that it was empty, and terribly quiet. She couldn't help but run her hands over her arms, trying to dispel the goosebumps that had raised up on her skin.
She hesitantly followed Romeo through the tables and the booths, forcing herself not to grab onto his arm. She was sure that it wouldn't help with anything between them.
But that didn't stop her from taking his hand when he reached out behind him.
They made it to the kitchen without getting caught. Although they could hardly see a foot in front of them, they slowly maneuvered their way to the cabinets. Romeo opened the doors of one and silently passed Amy some food, before slowly closing them and leaving some money on a table in the room, staying true to his word.
Amy shuddered when they exited the room, overwhelmed with anxiety. Never in her life had she done something so risky, not even when sneaking into Medda's. They were almost to the door, when they heard a creak coming from up the stairs. Romeo momentarily froze, before he grabbed her arm, pulling her down into one of the booths.
"Are you crazy?" Amy hissed.
"Shh!" Romeo hissed back.
Amy practically shook as the steps came closer, a lantern - she presumed - casting a warm glow across the floor boards. "I know you're in here. Come out to where I can see you!"
Romeo shook his head, and she almost cried.
After a few more moments, the footsteps receded, leaving the room in darkness once more. Amy made to get up, but Romeo held her down. "Jus wait a few minutes. Leavin' now will get us caught fa sure."
Amy huffed, but obeyed.
A few more moments of silence passed, before Romeo sent her a grin, one that only served to set her heart alight. "Well, dat was close."
"Dat was close," Amy mocked. "Yeah, that was close! You almost got us killed!"
"Hey, keep it down, Princess," Romeo told her. "We ain't safe yet."
So Amy sat there silently. Scowling at him, but in silence. It didn't help that Romeo was still grinning. "So, should we eat?"
"I suppose we should," Amy gave in, sighing. "It would be a waste at this point not to."
So that's how they ended up sitting on the ground, underneath a table, cracking jokes and munching on whatever Romeo had grabbed.
"Remember when we first went on that date?" Amy questioned quietly. They had taken great care to keep their voices lowered in case Jacobi heard them again. "It was my first time coming here."
"Yer kiddin'," Romeo said. "Was yer family so high up dat dey didn't wanna risk their reputation by comin' he-ah?"
"I wasn't allowed to go anywhere past Main Street," Amy confessed. "My father forbids me to leave. I'm not even allowed to be here right now. Well, to be fair neither are you, but-"
"Why don't he let ya go out?" Romeo inquired.
"I don't know," Amy told him, tugging at a lock of her hair frustratedly. "All I know is that my mother died somehow, and I've been stuck in that mansion ever since. I've never really bothered to question it until recently."
"Oh," Romeo said. "Sorry 'bout yer muddah. Musta been hard."
"It's hard not having one," Amy said, leaning on the wall next to her and wrapping her arms around her knees, "but it's even harder not remembering her. I guess she died when I was young. My family has been broken ever since. I had to take over being the mother for everyone, and the father, in a sense. My father positively hates me, and doesn't care much for Laura, I suppose. Oh, but he's really attached to my brother."
"Ise sorry," Romeo whispered. "I don't really rememb-ah me parents, either. Dey died when I was young."
"That's horrible," Amy said, reaching out and putting her hand on his arm. "I'm so sorry."
Romeo looked down at the hand still on his arm, and she went to retract it, but stopped when he asked, "Why d'ya always have those on? Tha real reason."
Amy instantly knew he was talking about her gloves. She swallowed thickly. "You'd never look at me the same."
And not only that, but he'd never look at Laura the same, either. No matter what, Laura was her sister, and she didn't want anything bad to happen to her if she could've prevented it.
"Dis is a newsie yer talkin' ta," Romeo reminded her softly, but there was also something stern in his voice. "Yellow, I've seen a lotta stuff in me life. I think I can handle whatev-ah's und-ah those gloves."
Amy bit her lip, before slowly slipping off the one on her left hand. She didn't know how Romeo would react, even though he said that he wouldn't freak out. Romeo made her want to be absolutely perfect, so that maybe, just maybe, he could someday like her back, and she was sure bent fingers weren't on the list of things that could've been considered perfect.
She knew she'd been so, so incredibly wrong though, when Romeo stared at her uncovered hand, eyes bright, instantly reaching for it. "Princess, t-that's so cool! We gotta show tha rest 'a tha guys! Oh man, dey'll be so jealous! Was ya born wit 'em like dat, or did somethin' happen?"
Amy blinked at his enthusiasm. "Um... born like this. Laura has them, too."
"Really?" Romeo looked up, frowning. "I don't rememb-ah ev-ah seein' her hands."
"Why not?" Amy scoffed. "Don't you guys, like, hold hands all the time?"
"No, not really," Romeo admitted. "She don't usually wanna hold hands."
"Oh." Amy pondered this for a moment. "Maybe she was scared of what you guys would think of her as well."
"Yeah, maybe," Romeo agreed.
"I've never met someone who liked them as much as you do," Amy admitted after a beat of silence. "It seems like every guy near where I live wants to take me out, but my fingers are always the deal breaker. They all compliment me on how beautiful I am, that I'm the type of girl who they see in the moving pictures, and then they see my fingers, and leave as fast as they came. It's alright, though. I never liked those guys, anyway. They just see me as a pathway to my father's good graces. I don't want that kind of life."
She refrained herself from saying that she also hadn't liked any of them because she'd always had her sights set on one boy in particular.
Romeo smiled at her solemnly. "Yer in a body dat don't fit yer heart, Yellow."
From there, they continued to talk and laugh about everything under the sun, and Amy was convinced it was the best night she'd ever lived. She forgot about all of her worries, and by the time they had finished talking, it was well into the night. She knew it was wrong. He was with Laura, and it was so, so wrong, but she just couldn't bring herself to care. Not when it was him. Not when it was Romeo. She didn't know how she'd ever be able to get over him.
For every step she took forward, she knew the boy would come along and force her two steps back.
It was simply hopeless.
"Lane, where's we goin'?"
"Nowhere interestin'," Lane told him flatly. "Jus wait- you'll see."
Finch sighed. He'd been trying to pry information out of her since she'd gotten back from everything with Frisks, but she was unwilling to crack. Of course she was; she wasn't about to risk Finch's death by letting anything slip.
She had drawn away from the newsies after she'd woken up on the side of the street, presumably where her brothers and the blue eyed witch had left her. As much as she didn't want to admit it, she was afraid of putting them all in danger. It was like she'd told Frisks; she didn't make connections for a reason. And yet, like a fool, she had gone and made several connections with most of the newsies despite all the alarm bells blaring in her mind.
Well, look where that had gotten her.
"Is there somethin' I should know?" Finch asked tentatively. "I mean... anythin'? Ise always he-ah ta listen. Ya know dat."
"Dere's nothin'," Lane pressed, picking up her pace. "Why would dere be?"
"It's jus... a lot 'a things have been happenin' lately..."
"Alright, well, how have you been?" She questioned, not turning around.
"Not bad."
"Good."
"Yeah."
In truth, Lane had been mentally running herself into the ground, blaming herself for every single thing that had happened. She scolded herself for coming back, potentially putting them all in danger. If anything happened to any of them, it would be her fault. Just like with Ticks, as Frisks had so generously pointed out.
She didn't want Finch to get caught in the middle of everything. She'd never forgive herself if he was.
She couldn't lie and say that she wasn't on edge since the trio kidnapping because of where it had taken place. Having been inside that monstrous Refuge once too many, it had awoken terrible memories she couldn't seem to shake. It was no surprise that Finch was suspicious- even she knew she'd been acting off the past few days.
"Is dis it?" Finch questioned when the dock came into view.
"Dis is it." Lane sighed, tying her red hair back with some string she found someplace, rolling back her shoulders.
Finch frowned, seeing this. "Lane..."
"Don't worry," she replied, walking closer to the edge of the dock, wondering how cold the water would be. Frisks had reminded her of something back in the Refuge, and she wasn't about to go without them anymore with everyone suddenly getting killed.
"Lane-"
"Watch out!" Lane called, before diving into the water, and ducking underneath the dock. She fumbled around for a second, looking for her prized possessions, before her hand caught on something with a handle and she smirked.
She quickly tugged it out and felt around for the two others, before heading back out, tossing the first knife up onto the dock. She then used the two others to pull herself up, and laughed when she saw Finch backing up, gazing at the knife she'd thrown up in bewilderment. "Maybe warn me next time?"
"I said 'watch out'." She heaved herself over the edge, letting out a heavy sigh. "It ain't me fault ya don't listen."
Finch frowned.
She took the string out from her hair, dropping it onto the ground and wringing all the water out of the now wavy strands, gazing up at the boy she was courting. It was what she liked to tell herself, anyway. "Sorry. I've jus been on edge lately."
"S'okay," Finch mumbled, looking down. "So, what d'ya need tha knives for?"
Lane shrugged. "Jus a precaution. Ya nev-ah know what will happen, right?"
"Yeah," Finch muttered, studying her warily. "Ya nev-ah know."
"C'mon," Lane ordered. She had caught him doubting, and something had hardened inside of her. She knew, she just knew, that her hold on him - on the whole relationship - was loosening. It was difficult not to ponder why he hadn't just left her already. She knew how she'd been acting wasn't fair, and she truly had no idea when things had gotten so complicated. "Let's go find a good tree."
After a good five minutes or so, they stood in front of a tree with a large truck, gazing at it analytically. Well, she was, at least.
Lane couldn't believe she had gotten those stupid knives back in the first place. She couldn't help but feel like she was going back to her roots, and that was the last place she wanted to be. Mostly, she cursed herself for letting Frisks get to her head.
You used to be real handy with those things.
Finch cleared his throat. "So, uh-"
"Watch," Lane told him sternly. She angled her arm back, splaying the knives out in her hand. Then, with deadly aim and precision, she swung her arm forward and watched as the knives spun in the air, spinning, spinning, spinning...
Take the knife, Brigid.
A loud thunk snapped her out of her thoughts and she flinched, seeing that all three of them had landed exactly where she'd planned for them to, each one hilt deep into the tree in the shape of a small circle.
"Nice shot," Finch murmured, staring at the tree.
Lane quickly went to retrieve the weapons so that he wouldn't see the way her hands shook. She wished it hadn't been so good. She wished she would've missed, would've been able to prove that she wasn't the cold, heartless monster she used to be.
But she was, and now she knew she'd never be able to escape her past. She was a fool, a fool, a fool for thinking she had overcome that part of her life. After all, the past had already had enough and caught up with her.
Now, she was nothing but a mere pawn in its sick, twisted game.
(3583 words)
POV: Your significant other just yeeted themselves into the ocean and hasn't come up for an alarming period of of time, so naturally you draw closer to the water out of concern, and suddenly a dagger comes flying out at you out of nowhere and almost impales you in the leg, with s/o coming up a second later, accusing you of not listening.
Okay Finch they get it
Finch: Fine, fine...
So as you've seen, Finch and I have finally officially met when I was stalking the boys after Lane was kidnapped!
Finch: AFTER LANE WAS WHAT?!
Uh... well... you heard nothing! *retreats into a dark, shadowed corner*
Finch: I can still see you?
... No you can't
*disappears*
~ nutcracker645