#but Race says that he ate in brooklyn when he's in manhattan and that he ate in manhattan when he's in brooklyn

[joeythefrog]

Race gives up food for other newsies constantly to the point where he was on a totally not date with Spot and they got bread, which as soon as he ate he instantly voimited up, then after continued to vomit bile because his body had so little food that his stomach had started to eat itself and to survive the acids that were supposed to break down food that were instead breaking down his stomach needed to be out of him before he actually died.

Plus bonus distressed Spot playing with his hair and patting his back as Race vomits into the brooklyn river and very confused comforting attempts because he has no clue what's happening but Race is vomiting and crying

[lokis-army-77]

If You Please

Chapter ten

Bucky Barnes x Reader

Word Count: 5700

This is technically a reader insert but without the (y/n) and all that. She also has no name mentioned so feel free to imagine as you please.

Follow the reader through the events of the Captain America movies and experience her love for Bucky Barnes.

Warnings: canon typical violence

<< Previous Next>>

Masterlist

The next morning, after a late flight to the Austrian Alps the night before, we readied ourselves for the attack on HYDRA’s head base. I made sure my two guns were loaded and secured in their holsters. I did the same for my bo staff. Everyone had been keeping their distance from me since I had entered the meeting room yesterday. The only one who never really left my side was Steve. He didn’t hover around me like I was incapable, I was grateful for that, but he was always within an arm's reach. Right now he stood a few feet away putting things into the saddlebags of his bike. I walked over to him and leaned up against the bike without saying a word. He looked up and patted me on the shoulder then went back to what he was doing.

I reached my hand up to a small golden heart locket that was clasped around my neck. I fiddled with it mindlessly for a minute or two before I took it and pried it open. A small picture of Bucky in uniform was staring back at me from the right half and on the left was a picture of him with his eyes scrunched up as I gave him a small peck on his cheek, we were both drenched in water. I let out a small laugh, remembering the events of that day.

It was a very sunny October day in 1941, which had started like any other. Breakfast had been eaten and I had gotten ready for the day ahead. Steve had gone off doing God knows what. He never tells me where he’s going. Bucky was coming by after a while for a quote “ Very special date” he had planned. While I waited for him I cleaned the house a bit and read a few chapters of a book Bucky had given me to read called ‘The Hobbit. I had only agreed to read it if he read ‘Pride and Prejudice’, which was my favorite book, but this book was very interesting. I had just gotten to chapter 7 when a heavy knock rattled the front door. I sprung up and raced to the door. I swung it open and there stood Bucky in a pair of dark khaki slacks and a white button-up collared shirt. His hair was slicked back and he held out a single red tulip.

“Well, aren’t you all dressed up. I feel underdressed now.” I said grabbing at the fabric of the light blue pinafore dress.

“You look beautiful as always, Doll. Here, I picked this on the way here, it made me think of you.” He stepped up and gave me a kiss then handed me the flower.

“Thank you, Buck. Let me put this in a vase and then we can head out.” I turned to walk into the kitchen, Bucky right on my heels. There was a small vase already on the counter sitting by the sink, so I reached out for it, filled it with water, and gently placed the stem into it. I placed it on in the sunlight that hit the window sill. I turned around and reached over to my purse on the dining room table.

“Are you ready?” He asked, grabbing the apartment keys from the hook by the door.

“Let's go, I’m starving.” I grabbed his hand as we went out the door and waited for him to lock up. We walked down several blocks and finally came to a stop at my favorite small community Italian restaurant. We had been coming here since we were kids before mom had died. It held a special place in my heart, like everything that held her memory.

We ate and talked for an hour or two before leaving and just walking down the street. We came to one of the small parks scattered around close to the Brooklyn Bridge and stopped to take a seat on a bench.

“I know I tell you this all the time, but I love you so much,” Bucky let out.

“I love you too, Sweetheart.” I looked over at him. He was bouncing his left leg vigorously up and down, and he bit at his bottom lip nervously. “Is everything okay Buck?”

“Yeah, everything’s fine, it’s more than fine actually, I just have to figure out how to say this.” He said then took a deep breath. I watched him curiously as he slipped off of the bench and onto one knee. When he started to reach into his pants pocket was when I realized what he was doing. “Doll, from the day Steve brought me home from school to meet you and your mom I knew I liked you, then that like grew into admiration, and quickly after that, it turned into love. The strongest love I have ever felt. I hope that you will allow me to experience this love for the rest of my life, and give me the greatest honor you could ever give by becoming my wife.” When he had finished he pulled a small golden heart locket attached to a tiny delicate chain from his closed hand. I let my hands snap up to my face before he could see me cry. All I could do was nod furiously, in fear that if I spoke now nothing would come out. He carefully pulled my hands from my face and peered into my eyes. He was giving me the biggest smile I had ever seen.

“Yes,” I croaked out finally. “I’ll marry you.” I wiped my tears off with the back of my hands and then held my hair up so he could fasten the necklace around my neck. When he had it secured his hands clasped around the back of my neck and head and I was pulled into the most heated yet loving kiss I had ever experienced.

That's when I felt a drop of something wet hit my forehead. Pulling away from the kiss, we both looked up into the sky. It had gotten cloudy suddenly and sprinkles of rain had started falling down steadily. I let out a hushed giggle before pitching myself up off the bench and helping Bucky back onto his feet.

“Come on, we need to find somewhere dry before it really starts pouring,” Bucky said, not even a second afterward, the bottom fell out and the rain came down in hard sheats.

“You were saying” I called out over the loud rain. He made a gesture to the sky to say ‘why now of all times, then he started running and pulling me along.

It didn’t take long for us to find shelter in a small photo booth. I was surprised to see one here, they were still so rare outside of Manhattan. We both stood in the small booth sopping wet and catching our breath.

“Bucky, do you have twenty-five cents?” I looked up at him.

“I think so, why do you need twenty-five cents?”

“Don’t you see where we are? I want to preserve one of the happiest moments of my life.” I put out my hand, palm up, he shook his head and reached into his pocket for his loose change. Once he found the two dimes and nickel he dropped them into my open palm. I gave him a quiet “Thank you,” in a sing-song voice before turning around to dispense them into the coin slot. “Now when the light in that square comes on you have to be still and look into it okay,” I instructed him while pointing to the large square in the center of the panel in front of us.

The light came on a second after and we both stood smiling. When the light went out Bucky let out a breath. “You do know you can breathe while taking these pictures right?” I asked, laughing.

“I know,” He gave me a dirty look. The light came back on for a second time and caught the moment. “Look now it's going to be messed up because you were moving”

I ignored him and leaned up close to his ear, “Smile big,” I said then pressed my lips to his cheek for the third picture. When I backed away he looked at me lovingly. He turned slightly and leaned down to my height to press his lips to my cheek. I smile the biggest smile I could for the camera. When the fourth light finally went off, we waited a minute for the photos to develop. When they were tossed out of the slot I grabbed them quickly to look at them. Bucky peered over my shoulder at them as well.

“I’m taking those two,'' he said, pointing at the one where I was laughing at him and the one where he was kissing my cheek.

“Good because I’m putting this one in the locket.”

I came from my daydream when Steve shook my shoulders. “Hey, kid, you okay?” I shrugged in response. “We’re fixing to head out, so I will get everything situated.” I turned from him and closed the locket then stuffed it back under the collar of my suit.

“I’m ready to go,” I said quietly as I straddled the back of Steve’s bike and waited for him to do the same.

The closer to the HYDRA base we got, the more my heart pounded. I could hear the rising of my blood in my ears over the loud hum of the bike and the wind. I was itching for a fight, and I knew I would get one very soon.

The vast woods kept us concealed for a while until we came upon an outpost a few miles away from the main entrance to the base. Steve drove the bike as close as he could to the building, hoping to attract as much attention as possible. It must have worked because not even a minute later a group of six men on high-tech bikes came speeding after us.

“Step on the gas Steve, they're on our tail,” I shouted out. Steve didn’t respond, he just hit the throttle harder. In order for me to sit on the back of the bike comfortably, I had his shield strapped to my back, and I was thankful for it when the HYDRA men started shooting at us. Several shots ricocheted off the shield before Steve maneuvered us out of their sights.

Looking back at the group of men, Steve pressed a button on the handlebar, allowing a long cable to shoot out and attach itself to two trees. When the line pulled taught, two of the men hit it and were thrown from their bikes. Soon after, Steve ignited a flame thrower from the back of the bike, which took two more men off our trail.

Speeding down the dirt road I watched as the last two men sped through a separate trail and came out in front of us. Steve hit the gas and we raced in between them. I took one of the unscrewed sections of my staff and gave the guard to my right a good hit to the head, knocking him off the bike. Steve reached over to the left guard’s bike and pulled out the pin to a grenade that was attached to the man's bike. We bolted forward to get out of range from the blast. I looked back to watch. Looking back in front of us, the entrance was there, tucked into the bottom of a mountain. A tank sat between the two ramped gunman stations.

“Hand me the shield.” Steve held out his hand and I unclasped the shield from around myself and gave it to him. He placed it on the front of the bike. The tank started shooting at us but missed us by several feet. As the bike carried us closer, Steve pressed another button and sent out two small missiles, which decimated the tank. Swerving around the debris, we headed up the left ramp. When the bike launched from the top into the air, I swiftly jumped off, doing a sort of backflip in the air before landing on slightly bent knees. I took out both sides of my staff and quickly joined them together.

I watched closely as I was flanked by three guards. I waited patiently, staring them down until a man on my right made the first move. I swung out the staff, striking him in the neck. Before he fell to the ground two more men with guns came at me from behind. Taking the staff I swung it around my neck, catching it with my opposite hand, and used the momentum to hit one of them in the chest. He stumbled backward into one of the trucks that surrounded us and hit his head, knocking him out. The second guard grabbed onto the outstretched part of my staff and yanked. I went with it, just enough to latch my other hand onto the end so I was holding it with both and then stood firmly. When he pulled again I let myself be moved. I followed the motion and continued going forward into him. He stumbled in surprise, which gave me the time to pull my arms back and swing them back again, hitting him in the side of the head.

I brushed the loose hairs out of my eyes before running to meet up with Steve. He had thrown his shield to hit a guard and it bounced off in my direction. I caught it and held it in front of myself to take oncoming fire. I backed my way up to Steve and I noticed the firing stopped. Handing him his shield back I noticed why. Two large men were standing on either side of us, encircling us with jets of fire. They let off the triggers and a whole unit of men closed in on us.

Two men came up and took my staff, guns, and Steve's shield. Then four more men came to hold each of our arms down. They began to walk us through the giant doors that Steve had managed to blow open with the bike, and up into the base. We ascended several flights of stairs before we were forced into a large open room with a desk in it. I could only assume it was Schmidt’s office.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him. His bright red skull was hard to miss. He was saying something that I couldn't hear, I was so angry seeing him that I couldn't hear anything but a loud ringing. The ringing was made worse when I watched him strike Steve across the face and forced him to the floor by punching him in the stomach. If I wanted to I could have easily forced my way out of the grasp the two guards had on my arms, but even though all the anger I knew now wanting the time. We had a plan and I was going to stick to it if I was going to see this whole organization burn to the ground. As Schmidt pulled a gun from his belt, everyone suddenly looked to the large window at the other end of the room. Several small figures were ziplining towards us. I smiled, it was time. Schmidt was frozen in shock as Falsworth, Dugan, and Gabe came flashing in through the window.

Using the distraction I effortlessly ripped away from the two guards and tackled Schmidt. Even to his surprise, he was able to hit me hard in the nose with the grip of the gun. I flew backward, landing on a guard. I tried scrambling to my feet but the guard I landed on had a hold of my left leg. I started kicking at his hands with my free leg in hopes to loosen his hold. He quickly let go after I bent one of his fingers so far backward that it broke. I crawled up to where his head was and started punching until he was unconscious.

Coincidentally he was the guard that had taken both my staff and guns, so I reached around his back and grabbed the staff he had somehow attached to himself and retrieved my pistols from his belt. Standing up, I looked around to try and find Schmidt in the chaos.

“Where’d he go?” I shouted at Falsworth. He looked over to me and pointed down the hallway.

“That way, Steve already went after him.”

I started running, faster than I ever had before. I followed the sounds of gunshots through the twists and turns of the gray halls.

“Steve!” I yelled out, hoping he could hear me calling for him.

“I’m here!” I heard him loud and clear, he must be in the next corridor over. I kept my pace as I rounded two more corners then stopped as I saw Steve trapped in a corner by another one of those men with flamethrowers.

The flames were so big that the man hadn’t seen me sneak around him. I pounced on his back but he threw me off. I landed on the ground across from Steve, before I could get back up to try and take the man out again, he was shot down. Steve and I both turned around to see Peggy standing in the middle of the hallway. I picked myself up and jogged over to the door where the shield was stuck. I yanked it out and the doors slid open. Steve wasn’t far behind me. We ran down the hallway with several other soldiers into a large air hanger. The only aircraft in the place was whirring to life and starting to move.

“Steve, he’s in there. We have to stop him from getting away.” I started running through the chaos of the battle, no caring if anyone was in my way. I pushed them back and swung out my staff at a few before finally making it into the clear. I was running fast but the aircraft was faster. I slowed to a stop and a few seconds later Steve stopped beside me. We looked to one another in worry, but before we could think of another plan, Colonel Phillips and Peggy drove up beside us in a fancy car.

“Get in, we don’t have much time.” The Colonel orders. We both hopped in quickly, Steve in the front and me in the back with Peggy. I unscrewed the two ends of my staff and places them in their holsters so I could have my hands free to jump.

“We’re not gonna make it!” I said worriedly as the aircraft kept getting closer to the hangar door.

“Like hell we are,” Philips stated as he pressed a button next to the steering wheel. The car jolted and was propelled forward. We were gaining on the aircraft now. Steve started to stand up in his seat as we got closer and I did the same.

“Keep it steady,” Steve instructed.

“Wait.” Came Peggy’s voice. I watched as Steve turned to look and she grabbed onto one of the straps around his suit and pulled him in for a kiss. I smiled, happy for him. He turned shocked at me and I just shook my head.

“Don’t look at me, I'm not kissing you” Philips said as Steve gave him a look. I let out a laugh.

We were inching closer to the underside of the aircraft and Steve was slowly maneuvering his way to the front of the vehicle. I let out a gasp as one of the propellers scratched the shield on his back. Philips maneuvered the back end of the car between the propellers, allowing me to crouch up onto the trunk without being hit. We were nearing the end of the hanger when Steve jumped as the aircraft left the ground. When Philips drifted around in order to not fall off the side of the mountain, I jumped, using the force of the sharp turn to propel me forward and grab onto the tire right under Steve. I held on for dear life as Steve struggled to reach down and pull me up. When I was finally righted up on my feet atop the wheel, they started to be pulled back up into the hull of the aircraft. I carefully made my way off the wheels and onto the sturdy floor without any help and waited for Steve. Looking around I noticed we had a big problem.

“Steve, you’re gonna want to see this.”

“What is it?”

“Bombs. Labeled for different large cities in America. We have to stop him and fast.”

Just then a door slammed open and four men in gas masks ran in. Steve and I hurried to hide. They came jogging down the catwalk. When they got close to us Steve knocked one done by swinging into him. I stayed where I was, waiting for a moment to attack. Steve fought the men in unison before one of them ran off to get into one of the bombs. I quickly made my way over to the control panel, before he could get inside, I opened the shoot and both he and the bombing plane fell into the abyss. Steve threw another one of the men out the hole as well. I noticed another one going on one of the other planes, but before I could do anything I was tackled to the ground. I hit my head against a rail and blacked out for a moment. When I came to moments later, Steve, the guards, and the bombing plane were nowhere to be seen.

I looked out of the shoot to see if I could spot anything and I did. The plane was flying under me, but I saw Steve dangling onto the wings. Thankfully he hadn’t fallen to the ground. I left the railing and made my way to the door. There was no time to wait for Steve to make his way back inside the larger aircraft, I had to go.

It didn’t take me long to reach the cockpit. The inside of the plane was simple, the cargo hold and the cockpit were connected by just two doors. Before I entered the second door I reached for one of my guns and checked the ammo just in case. I took a deep breath and kicked the door in.

“It’s over Schmidt, I’m here to kill you.” I heard laughter coming from a dark corner to my left.

“Do you truly think you can beat me? You’re just a child, what could you possibly do to me?” HE walked out of the shadows holding a large gun. “If you know what's good for you, you’ll throw your gun down.”

“No, I won't.” I made a start to turn to him, but he shot the gun right from my hands and stalked towards me. He grabbed the back of my neck and shook me hard.

“You forget, I also have a version of your super-soldier serum running through my veins. I’m stronger than you think. If you struggle it will only end worse for you, now be quiet and stay still.” He commanded as he took his hand from my neck and wrapped it around my head to cover my mouth. He drug me with him back into the shadows.

I kept trying to wiggle out of his grasp, but he was right, he was strong, probably stronger than I was. Every time I moved his hand clamped down harder and he shook me more roughly. That was until Steve came through the door. I was walked back out of the shadows and watched as Schmidt raised the gun to shoot at Steve. Steve whirled around and when he caught sight of me he went wide-eyed.

“You don’t give up, do you?” asked Schmidt.

“No, I don’t. Now let her go” Steve replied.

“I don't think I will. She’s my leverage in this situation.”

I looked at Steve, hoping he could see what I was planning in my eyes. All I needed him to do was walk to Schmidt and I could use that to break free without being hurt. HE gave me a short nod before he started at us. Schmidt started shooting, but Steve blocked him with his shield. I used the distraction to grab Schmidt's hand with both of mine, I ducked under and twisted myself around, still holding his hand. I felt the bones in his arm fracture, this made him drop his gun in pain.

I backed off, gaining my breath back, and watched as Steve took over the fight. They were all over the place and before I knew it they had fallen into the control panel and the aircraft started to descend rapidly. I held on tightly to one of the beams closest to me. I looked over and Schmidt had gotten away from Steve and was fixing the flight path. I landed back down on the solid ground after that.

“You both could have so much power if you joined me. You are fighting for a flag, in what you think is a war of nations. Well, I have seen the future and there are no flags!” Schmidt walked around the platform, waving his gun around. He gave off two shots in Steve's direction. I hurriedly grabbed for my second gun, still in its holster. I held the gun up in my hands and pointed at his chest. I let my finger pull the trigger and the bullet missed his heart and hit his shoulder, thanks to Steve hitting him with his shield. Schmidt flew backward into some type of power converter directly in the center of the room. Blue wisps of light started to flow out from where he had crashed.

“What have you done!” he cried holding his bleeding shoulder with one hand and reaching from a glowing blue cube with the other. When he held it up in front of himself an image of the galaxy appeared out of thin air. All I could do was stare as the light of the cube started to consume Schmidt. As it reached his face, he started to scream until he was wholly encased in light. That same light was sent beaming into the space image and then quickly dissipated into nothing. All that was left behind was the cube, tumbling to the ground. It started belting through the floor before I could get a good look at it.

I looked to Steve, “What the hell was that?”

“I have no idea, but we have to stop this plane.” I followed him to the control panel, he sat down and looked at all the buttons and switches. “We’re headed straight to New York.”

“This plane is more advanced than anything I’ve ever seen, we may have to contact Stark, he might know what to do,” I said studying the panel. Steve took out his radio and brought it close to his mouth.

“This is Captain and Agent Rogers, do you read?” The line was quiet for a moment before Peggy’s voice came through.

“Steve? Is that you? Are you both alright?”

“We’re fine, Schmidt is dead.”

“What about the plane?”

“That one is a little harder to explain. It’s so advanced, neither of us knows how to safely land this thing.”

“Well, I can send you some coordinates for a safe place to crash land. We can bring in Stark to try and talk you through the landing.” Her voice sounded a little shaky.

“Peggy there isn’t going to be any safe landings, we don’t have the time. We have to put it in the water, that's the only way.” I looked wide-eyed in his direction.

“Steve, we have time to figure this out.” Peggy pleaded.

“We are in the middle of nowhere right now, but if we wait any longer a whole lot of people are gonna die.”

I butted in then, “If you’re going to do this, you need to put her down now. We have about twenty-five minutes before we make it to the States.

“Peggy this is my decision” He stated and she never gave a reply. He looked over his shoulder at me. I moved closer to him and placed my hands on his shoulders. “I’m sorry you got dragged into this.”

“Don’t be sorry, this was my choice as well. I’d rather go down with you than live by myself without you and Bucky.” I felt him place his left hand on my right and squeeze before placing it back into the control column. I braced myself as the aircraft descended rapidly. The icy ground was getting closer every second, I couldn’t look away. The only thing that kept me calm was my grip on the locket around my neck. Memories flooded my mind as we descended farther and farther.

As the aircraft made contact with the ice, I was thrown back into the far wall behind me and then everything suddenly went black.

I woke up to the sound of a radio in the distance. My eyes fluttered open but I instantly shut them again because of the bright sun beaming in through the window. I brought my hands up to rub the sleep from around my eyes and tried to open them again, this time I kept them open. The room I was in was small, Steve was in the cot to my right and there was a window looking out at some buildings.

Getting up out of the small bed I stepped closer to the window to look down at the street below but found no street. The buildings just stopped at the floor. I looked side to side and the image stopped after a few feet. I held my breath as I turned and ran to Steve. I placed my hands on his upper body and shook violently.

“Steve, wake up,” I whisper yelled. He jumped slightly before springing into an upright position.

“What is it. Is everything okay?”

“I have no clue what is going on, but something isn’t right. Those buildings,” I pointed to the windows, “Those buildings aren't real, they’re being projected somehow onto a screen that ends just out of view.”

He took a second to think before looking over at the radio. “That game, isn’t that the one we went to in forty-one?”

I listened intently to the broadcaster calling the score; the Dodgers and Phillies were tied four to four. The whole thing sounded like I had heard it before. Suddenly the doorknob turned and a woman came in. Even if I hadn't seen the screen out the window or recognized the game on the radio, with one look at her outfit, I would have known something was up. Her skirt was too tight, too straight, and the look of her bra under her blouse was not something you should have been able to see. She was also wearing black tights in her uniform, we were only ever allowed light or dark tan. Any woman from the forties would have known she looked a little strange.

“Good afternoon you too. Glad to see you’re both awake.” She stepped further into the room.

“Where are we?” Steve and I said in unison.

“You’re in a recovery room in New York City.” Steve and I gave one another a skeptical look as she said this.

“Where are we really,” Steve interrogated further.

“I'm not sure I understand what you’re asking.”

“The game is from May of 1941. I know, because we were both there that day.” Steve informed me, standing up from the cot.

“Those buildings you have out the window aren't real either, so tell us where we are,” I added in. I watched as her face went into complete shock.

“Who are you?” Steve almost shouted at her. She backed away and immediately two large guards came through the door. One came at me and the other went for Steve. I barely had time to think before I was grabbing hold of the man's arm and throwing him through the wall to the left. I started running, leaping through the hole the man had created in the wall, I stopped in shock looking around me. We were in a large room, void from anything other than the screens and the room we had escaped from. Steve was beside me now, pulling my arm as we ran through the nearest doorway and into a crowded lobby. I spotted the front door and moved for it. We ran, barely escaping all the men that came running at us.

Outside the building, I was overwhelmed with noise. Steve pulled me out into the road where we were almost run over by what I could only assume was a weird model of a car I had never seen before. Sprinting further down the street, we made it to a larger area with more people. The buildings were tall and had lots of flashing and moving pictures all around. We stopped running, confused about where to go next. That’s when we were surrounded by more of the strange model cars.

“At ease Soldier, Agent.”

We turned sharply, looking to who had called out to us. A tall dark-skinned man with an eye patch covering his left eye stood a couple of feet away. He came strutting towards us at a fast pace.

“I'm sorry about that little show we put on, we thought it would be best to break this to you both slowly,” he said in a straight tone.

“Break what slowly?” I demanded.

“You both have been asleep for the past seventy years.” My eyes went wide at that, my breath caught in my throat. This couldn't be real. That was impossible, no one could sleep for that long. Steve looked like he had not aged a day. I assumed that was the same case for me as well. “Are you two gonna be okay?”

I nodded, looking all around me at whatever this future New York was. This was going to take a lot of getting used to.

Tag list: @ginger-swag-rapunzel @underc0vercryptid-reads @geek-and-proud @intothesoul @leyannrae

[starbuckie]

All You Knead is Love Chapter Four: A Bit Untraditional

Challenge: The CBC 1k Writing Challenge by @captainscanadian

Prompt: Bakery AU

Pairing: Baker!Bucky x CEO!Reader

Warnings: Loads and loads of fluff, angst, mentions of PTSD and violence, pining, language as always, and slow burn

*TW: PANIC ATTACK*

Description: After being cut off by her family, Y/N L/N started up her own business. With her business finally rising to the top after three years, her family invites her back on two conditions: that she finds a man and gets married. Once she accomplishes that, then she’ll be able to access her family’s fortune again, which could help her business immensely. While that didn’t sound horrible to her, Y/N had never let herself have the time to meet other people, and has no time now. Running on a deadline for the company, she picks the closest person she can find: which happens to be the sweet, shy, yet hot baker who occasionally caters at her galas.

Words: 2,064 words

A/N: Hey guys! It’s been a solid two months, but I am back and hopefully kicking it with this series. I actually decided to rewrite the ending of the story from what I originally had planned, so I’m very very excited to write it. The holidays are coming up which has me excited, and if you haven’t already sen in a request for the Twelve Days of Fluffmas, you most definitely should. Again, this is for @captainscanadian​‘s writing challenge(which you should go join do it do it do it) and hope you enjoy :))

Thursday approached menacingly and rapidly. In the few days they had to prepare, Y/N had managed to move all of her belongings from her pretty empty apartment on the Lower West Side, and into the house that they had bought. She couldn’t be any more grateful for her real estate agent for being so snappy with the process of buying the house. The apartment she left behind had barely been decorated, so the process wasn’t too difficult for her to move in. Bucky on the other hand had started to bring boxes over, at Y/N’s slight insistence that her parents may ask to come over, but his house held so many memories that he knew it would take much longer. It was difficult for him to leave the home he had known for so long, full of cherished memories and the only stable home he had after Iraq. But he was ready to let it go.

The evening of the big engagement dinner Y/N and Bucky were frantic, rushing around the house after work to shower and look presentable, making sure they could pull the stunt off. Bucky’s nerves had been on edge all day, slipping out of the house at two am, hours earlier than normal to start his day. As he talked to customers and served coffee, the words he’d rehearsed with Y/N echoed in his brain, taking over every nook and cranny of his thoughts that he messed up several orders. This time he wouldn’t get nervous. It took him long months to feel the slightest bit comfortable in his own skin and around his neighbors, so if he ran his own bakery he could propose, right?

“So,” Mrs. L/N tried to conceal her disgusted face, “James, what kind of, er, delicacies do you make?”

So the conversation was less than great, even Bucky could admit that. Although Y/n had warned him ahead of time that her parents were not the most amazing conversationalists, he expected something better than this awkward discussion about his job. He loved his job. It brought back cinnamon flavored memories of baking at Christmas with his ma, his dad and younger sister yelling over Scrabble in the living room. Barnes Brooklyn Bakery was his pride and joy, yet he couldn’t help but feel self-conscious when both of Y/N’s parents looked down on it. 

“I make lots of things. It requires an earlier or later start time based off of what I’m making, because I want everything to be fresh. But my ma’s croissants are a big seller, and I know that Y/N loves my cinnamon rolls.” He sent her a soft smile, one that the woman in question couldn’t help but return.

“They’re amazing, mom, you have to try them. I swear those hands are absolutely magic and anything that’s made from them is as well.” She intertwined her pinky with Bucky’s on the table, admiring the way the candlelight illuminated the slope of his nose and the hollow of his cheekbones. God, this man has no right being this beautiful. “Bucky’s a hard worker and it shows.”

Y/N’s praise breezed through Bucky like a breath of fresh air, and suddenly his head was clear again, cheeks flushing. “Thanks, doll.” 

“And what about your pay, James? How much do you make annually? I have to make sure you’ll be able to support both you and Y/N. After all, her pay from her… makeup brand and her funds can’t be enough.” Fury raged through Y/N, Bucky could probably see it in her eyes as she opened her mouth, prepared to make her argument.

“I make well enough at Orion, dad, but that’s not the point.” Meeting Bucky’s stare from her peripheral vision, she almost panicked. The reason they were sitting there in the first place was so Bucky could get more money for his bakery. “Must you really bring up business at the table? I’m simply trying to have a nice dinner with my boyfriend and my parents, is it really that difficult to ignore money matters for once?”

Her parents eyed each other, as if they were speaking in their own silent, separate language and reluctantly quieted down. The rest of dinner was... tense, to say the very least, stiff questions about childhood and answers being reciprocated as well. Sitting in the presence of her parents, their food tasted bland, but that could’ve been from the anxiety of waiting for the proposal. They’d decided that Bucky was to pop the question while they ate dessert, just a simple small speech and a few tears. 

Bucky’s eyes kept trailing back to Y/N as they shared a matcha tiramisu, repeating the words “will you marry me” a million differents ways in his head. The small restaurant he felt comfortable with suddenly felt too small, Bucky not knowing when the proper time to get down on one knee. They hadn’t discussed this. Y/N had just said “whenever you feel is right”, but when was right? The whole idea just felt so wrong to him. Marriage was supposed to be loving, a holy union and commitment for the rest of their lives. He and Y/n didn’t love each other. The whole sham of being husband and wife, for money suddenly felt so sickening to him. The room was closing in on him and all he wanted to do was bolt out and never turn back. He was going back out, he was going to, he felt it, and-

“Marry me, Y/N.” Dead silence. Eyes from all the customers sitting were baring through the couple, seeing his innermost secrets and every one of them felt like a beam of light, boring straight through his soul. Bucky hadn’t even realized how he had practically yelled it at her until the restaurant had gone quiet and he was absolutely mortified. Y/N’s eyes were wide in shock, as this was not how she imagined it going. Yet, the show had to go on.

He instinctively dropped onto one knee, eyes trained at the ground because he was scared of what he would see in her eyes. Short puffs of breath left his mouth and he all of Manhattan could hear his heart pounding. “When we met, I knew you were the one for me. I knew you were beautiful, hell, y-you were gorgeous that day you walked into the bakery, but every time you came in after I got to know the beautiful woman that wasn’t just on the outside, but on the inside too.” His eyes started tearing up, from both his kind of true confession and the pressure that was being put on him. “I-I promise to love you with all my heart. You’re my best friend, my confidante, my soulmate, and I want to be walking by my side for the rest of our lives, doll. I want to be yours forever. What do you say?” 

Bucky lifted his gaze up to meet hers, hands covering her mouth as a soft sigh left her lips. Y/N couldn’t believe the beautiful sight. Shaking hands held a small cut diamond nestled in between two simple silver bands. Bucky’s hair was fluffy, newly so from his haircut the other day, clean shaven jaw showcasing the highlights of his cheekbones, and his eyes. She could go on forever about those pretty, blue eyes of his, but in the two years of knowing him, they had never been as pretty as they were in that moment, pretty blue eyes peering up at her.

Here he was, the man that she considered one of her closest friends in the city, literally giving his solitary life up to spend it with her. She wasn’t in love with him, not now at least, but those lingering feelings of hers tried to once again force their way back into her heart.

And this time, at the worst time possible, she let them. 

With a small but giddy grin, she nodded and placed her hand on his cheek. “Yes, Bucky, I’ll marry you.” 

He let out a long sigh at her approval, but the applause and cheers directed at him continued to make his heart race. Bucky slipped the ring onto her finger clumsily, his breath starting to become more labored as the cheers of “kiss” got louder. Y/N noticed his harsh breathing, and as she pulled him into an enveloping embrace she could feel the rapid beating of his heart the thin dress shirt he wore. “Can we go, Y/N?”

His whispered voice quivered, as if he were to break at any moment. “Of course, Bucky, I’ll go say goodbye and you can start heading to the car.” Grip on her waist tightened as she heard him grind his teeth. 

“Please stay with me.”

Of course I’ll stay with you. “Always.” The cheers had not stopped, their voices still ringing strong throughout the restaurant. With no hesitation, Y/N planted a kiss on his cheek, hopefully ridding themselves of the large crowd they had garnered. Her parents looked confused, both of their eyebrows raised at the couple who still had yet to do anything besides hug at their engagement. “Mom, dad, Bucky and I are gonna go home to… celebrate by ourselves.” 

Both of them heated up. “Just leave, we’ll take care of the bill. Your father will send you information for the fund over the weekend.” Mrs. L/N eyed both of them skeptically before saying, “Congratulations, Y/N.”

As soon as they got outside Bucky’s knees buckled, Y/N rubbing his back to try and console his breathing. His mind had grown hazy with wild thoughts, the crowd, the proposal, Y/N’s fucking perfume, it was all too much. 

It was crawling underneath a truck in the boiling sun, Sam screaming for him, the first blossom of pain and staring down at his left arm, bloodied and detached from his body. It was screaming at his little sister to leave when she brought him groceries, ripping up Steve’s letters from Iraq. It was hours upon hours sitting in medical beds, sitting on couches, staring at the ceiling while doctors attempted to get him to open up. It was panicking at the bakery when someone eyed his prosthetic for too long and women leaving dates with him at the diner on 5th street after he failed to tell them all the gory details about how he lost his arm when they persistently asked. It was every moment he had looked at Y/N, all smiles and kind eyes, and wishing for once that he could not be a fucking coward and ask her out. 

“I’m sorry.” The woman whispered. She now kneeled next to him, her right arm tracing shapes on his back, the light scrape of her nails bringing him to somewhat of a peace. 

“I don’t need your pity, Y/N.” The second it left his lips he regretted it, waiting for her to leave him alone. They all did eventually. But Y/N sat there, patiently, with a small tilt to her red-painted lips. 

“I’m not pitying you, Bucky. You’re one of the strongest and bravest people I know, and I’m sorry I made you feel that way.”

“I just can’t believe I relapsed.” He let out a humorless laugh, his chin coming to rest in his palm. “I thought I was doing well, I always feel okay at the bakery, but I guess that the restaurant was too much. Haven’t been to one in at least a year.”

“It’s completely okay to have panic attacks and to relapse, okay, Bucky? Don’t beat yourself up about it, honey.” Kicking her high heels off, she brought herself down to his level, both of them sitting on the sidewalk as people passed them by. Though they were in New York, the city that never sleeps, she strangely felt calm. People didn’t even turn their heads at the two well-dressed people sitting on the ground. “I would’ve proposed to you, you know.”

“You propose to me? That’ isn't very traditional,” Bucky said with a breathy chuckle.

“To be fair, is any of this?” His grin was starting to grow back, and he squeezed her hand and looked out into the crowded street of the night.

“No, I suppose it isn’t.”

TAGLIST

@aiofheavenandhell​ @barnesjamcs​ @kitkatd7​ @adorkably​ @marvelnaturalock​

AKYIL TAGLIST

@aiofheavenandhell​ @barnesjamcs​ @kitkatd7​ @captainscanadian​ @93generation​ @drunkbucky @thebadassbitchqueen​ @asonofpeter​ @cosmicbreathe​ @adorkably​ @awesomeannanumber1​ @blubberingmess @every-marveler-ever​ @supraveng​ @delicatecapnerd​ @bitchwhytho​ @peace-love-hobbitness​ @learisa @marvelnaturalock​

[fangirlovestuff]

Cycle - Steve Rogers x reader ch.4

Previously:  ch.1 ch.2 ch.3

Summary: Steve and you get closer, but it’s in order not to get too close. you both believe you know what you want, but... do you?

Word count: ~2,600

Warnings: SMUT, explicit language. 

a/n- hey lovely people! another weekend, another Cycle chapter😌 i’m so glad i managed to get this out today:) as always, italics are for thoughts. awesome divider is by @whimsicalrogers​. Enjoy! and well, thank me for the gif later;)

The morning after you went out, you got to work with your spirits lifted. Having gotten to know some more of your colleagues, you entered into the lab with a spring in your step, greeting everyone good morning.

Kate came up to you, asking how as last night. She was invited, but couldn't come, so she wanted to hear from you.

"It was great," you told her sincerely, "I wish you could've joined us, but I actually ended up having a really nice conversation with Steve," you smiled, expecting it to be the end of it.

Kate frowned. "Steve?" she asked, confused.

"You know," you looked at her incredulously, "Steve Rogers, Captain America, pretty tough guy to miss," you gestured with your hands to symbol a tall, wide frame. "He was really nice," you concluded.

"Oh, that Steve," Kate laughed, "sorry, I'm just not used to anyone calling him by his first name and not, you know, Cap," she giggled a tad awkwardly. "You know there are a lot of rumors going around him though, right?"

"I mean, I would expect there to be, since he's a superhero."

"They say he has a secret girlfriend he's keeping from the world. Or boyfriend, opinions are divided on that one," she laughed.

"Well, I'm pretty sure he doesn't," you chuckled, remembering last night's conversation.

"It’s just office gossip anyway, and we should probably get to work," Kate said and you nodded in agreement, starting to work on your current project.

"And you didn't even ask for her number?" Bucky asked. "You're even more of a lost cause than I thought."

"What?" Steve asked defensively, "It never came up," he shrugged. He made another move at Bucky, who dodged him expertly and caught his wrist, flipping him onto the training room mattress.

"Steve, let me ask you something, and please be honest with me. I'm your best friend, you can tell me anything. Do you even like women?"

"Yes!" Steve said, not particularly amused at Bucky's antics. He got up and got into position again.

"Then why, for the love of god, are you so adamant to never ever sleep with one?"

"That's not-" Steve sighed. "Look, I don't think she was actually interested, okay? She was giving me advice on how to get other girls, I mean, why would she—"

"Oh my god, Steve! She just told you how she'd like to be treated and you think she's not interested?"

"Well, when you put it that way…" Steve grumbled.

"Tell you what, there's only one way to find out. Ask her out, worst thing she could say is no," Bucky suggested.

"Whatever," Steve said, grabbing his jacket and leaving the training room, leaving a smirking Bucky in his wake.

You were just in your office close up for the day when there was a knock at the door.

"Come in," you said, not knowing who it could be, since you told the others to go ahead without you.

In enters one Steve Rogers, looking slightly disheveled, and yet just as handsome as ever. You shook that thought right out of your head. "Hi Steve," you greeted, "what can I help you with?"

"I was just coming by to ask if you might be hungry," Steve smiled timidly.

"After a whole day of lab work, I'd say the answer to that is a definite yes," you smiled back at him.

"Great, well, I just wondered if you'd like to grab dinner… with me," he chuckled. "I know a good spot down the street if you want."

"I'd love to!" you exclaimed. "Let's go," you said, grabbing your jacket from the chair and following him out into the chilly New York air.

"So, you've come to collect those flirting lessons I offered yesterday?" you chuckled as you were walking side by side.

"Something like that," Steve smiled.

You got to the restaurant and ordered. "So, humor me here," you said, "but how does the great Captain America not know how to flirt?"

He chuckled. "Well, for starters, because he's a righteous symbol of justice and liberty, flirting is more Bucky's thing," he admitted with a smile, "and I'm just Steve, not Captain America," he added.

"Wait, so it wasn't you who saved the world from these aliens a few years ago? Shame, you look just like him," you laughed and so did he. "But I get what you mean," you said, more serious this time, "I guess the entire world seeing you as a… how did you put it? Righteous symbol of justice and liberty?" you chuckled. "That can probably be a little intimidating."

Steve hummed in agreement. "Sometimes it is," he admitted. "Truth is, it makes you wonder how can the world buy this image so easily when I don't see myself that way at all. Not even close," Steve chuckled.

You felt a warmth blossoming in you at his open, honest demeanor. "Well, that doesn't disprove the fact that you're a hero, Steve," you said.

"I know it doesn't but… okay, you know when I grew up I was small and sickly, right?"

"It’s public knowledge," you agreed.

"I still feel like that guy, the guy who lived in Bucky's shadow, literally, and couldn't get what he wanted," Steve said with a far-off look.

"Steve," you said, reaching across the table and covering his hand with yours. His look returned here, locking eyes with you and words evaded you at his clear blue eyes meeting yours. You quickly regained your senses, "You don't need to live in anyone's shadow anymore, and for what it's worth you can have anything you want. I'm sure a baby would hand you his candy willingly," you said, and he chuckled.

"Hey, did I just Steve Rogers you?" you smirked.

"Oh no, we can't let that happen. Quick, tell me something about yourself before the sky falls down on our heads!" Steve exclaimed and you laughed.

"Okay, okay, let me think…" you furrowed your brows exaggeratedly. "In the future, I would really like to get married." You looked around suspiciously, "phew, I think we're in the clear," you joked. Shit, why would you say that? Congrats, you just managed to scare him away.

"Why?" Steve asked, his gaze resting intently on you.

"Because… sharing your life with another person is something I want to experience," you explained. "Being there for someone who loves me, heart and soul, no matter what, is very appealing," you chuckled. "And well, I guess there's still some little girl in me that wants a fairytale romance. Someone to sweep her off her feet and be her one true love. After all I've been through, it’s bizarre I still believe that, but I do," you concluded with a smile.

"Glad to know I'm not the only one who still believes that," Steve said with a reassuring look. "But… why do you think it's bizarre to believe that?"

"Besides the obvious reason that fairytales aren't real?" you asked, and he just smiled, nodding at you to continue. "Well, I guess every man I've been with has disproven that theory. People who I thought would actually be there for me, who wouldn’t only want me, but also love me, ended up walking away. And at a certain point, you just have to go with the flow. I did one-night-stands for a long while. But lately I decided I can't keep ignoring what I want any longer. So, I have to keep believing, even though it doesn't seem achievable," you smiled sadly.

"For all it's worth, I think you'll succeed," Steve smiled back at you, squeezing your hand.

"You think I'll succeed with anyone in particular or…?" you trailed off, and he blushed.

"Whatever you choose to," he answered.

"Well, I think the universe is definitely repaired since I shared all of that and our food hasn't even arrived yet," you chuckled, changing the subject.

You kept the chatter light until your food came and ate in relative silence, but it wasn't an unwelcome one. Every once in a while your eyes would meet and you'd simply smile at each other, gladly eating the delicious food. At the end of the meal Steve insisted on paying, and after a lot of convincing you managed to get him to split the check.  You left the restaurant as you entered it, side by side.

"My apartment is actually a couple of blocks from here, so if it's in your way you can come up for a coffee maybe?" Steve suggested.

"Yeah, sure thing," you agreed, surprised at how easy it was to be around him.

You went up to his apartment, chattering about work and life the whole way. Steve matched his pace to yours, so you were casually strolling through the streets of New York with Captain America by your side.

"Manhattan's probably a shock after living in Brooklyn, isn't it?" you inquired.

"You get used to it," Steve shrugged, unlocking his apartment door.

You let your eyes wander around his apartment, taking in the orderly state of it, the warm, simple environment that seemed to surround Steve wherever he goes, and his house reflected that. There was a canvas right in the middle of the living room, propped up against an easel. There were paints strewn around on the coffee table, but for now all the canvas held was a pencil sketch of the New York skyline. You let out a small chuckle about how… Steve this all was. This is when you truly understood what he meant before – how different Steve was from Captain America, because this is when you started to truly understand Steve.

"I'm so sorry about the mess," Steve said, starting to pick up the paintbrushes and paints.

"It's okay," you smiled, tracing the pencil lines with your fingers. "It's beautiful," you looked at Steve.

"Hopefully it'll look even better when it's colored," Steve said. "Here, I wanna use this color for that building and…" Steve started describing his plans for the painting, but all you could see were his lips moving, his eyes shining with excitement.

"That's great," you said, your heartbeat racing.

"Here, I can show you how to do it," Steve suggested.

"Sure," you agreed.

Once Steve showed you how to hold the brush, you started painting a bit of the background like he told you and he let out a chuckle. "You're doing it wrong," he said, and before you had the chance to be irritated his hand was covering yours, his tall frame against your back as he started showing you the right brush movements, the right amount of pressure to apply on the canvas.

"There you go, see? It's easy," Steve said, and you could hear the smile in his voice. You turned around to see it too, and your breath hitched. He was smiling, but you hadn’t realized how close you got. His face was just within reach, and if you just tilt your head upwards a little…

Steve made the first move, bending down to capture your lips with his, his tongue seeking permission into your mouth, which you granted readily. Your tongues explored each other's mouths and you wrapped your arms around his shoulders, while he wrapped his around your waist, pulling you close.

Suddenly he broke away from you and you chased his mouth with yours but he put a hand on your shoulder. "I… we work together," he said, "and I don't wanna be another shitty dude," he added, smiling a little.

"Well, you raise good points. But, we don't actually work together that closely, and it's not shitty if we're both on the same page. Besides, if we don't do this right now we're gonna regret not doing it and that will just create more tension," you reasoned.

"You're probably right," Steve panted a little.

"Thank you, I watch a lot of rom-coms. Now, are we on the same page? We get it out of our system and that's it?" you knew it sounded a little harsh, but that's what needed to be done so no one got hurt.

"Deal," he said, and in an instance his lips were back on yours, more feverishly this time, his hands traveling down your waist, your ass, your hips, which he grabbed onto and lifted you up, and fuck, super-strength came very much in handy.

He led your way to the bedroom, one am supporting you up and one sneaking into your shirt to unhook your bra while your hands tangled in his hair, pulling a little, just enough to hear Steve groan into your mouth.

He pretty much tossed you onto the bed and you got rid of your shirt and bra while he threw away his shirt as well, revealing his toned chest and abdomen. You stared, practically drooling before he climbed on top of you and you started kissing his neck, his jaw, nipping gently on his sweet spot.

His hands found your breasts, teasing your nipples and you arched your chest against him at the touch. You started working his belt, and he looked at you one more time. When he saw the wanting look in your eyes it was all the confirmation he needed to take off your pants and your underwear, and kick his away too. He started trailing kisses on your collarbone, down the valley of your breasts and your stomach, every nerve in your body lighting up at his touch.

He finally reached between your thighs and looked up at you before licking a long stripe between your wet folds. You threw your head beck and moaned, because who knew America's golden boy can eat pussy like a fucking god.

He continued licking and sucking swirling his tongue around your clit and around your entrance, lapping at your folds, driving you crazy with every flick on his tongue, and it didn't take long before you fell apart at his touch, waves of pleasure coursing through your body as Steve continued his assault until you came down from your high.

He made his way back up your body and you pushed your hips up against his, feeling his hard length against you. "Steve," you looked at him in a silent plea.

"You sure you-"

"Yes, yes, yes please, I'm so fucking sure," you cut him off and he smirked a little before climbing off you, and you were about to whine when you saw him reach for a condom, and well, he's not America's golden boy for nothing I guess.

He put it on and climbed back on top of you, capturing your mouth in a breathtaking kiss, so much so that you didn't notice him lining up with your entrance until he pushed his tip into you, and started driving deeper and deeper inside your sensitive walls. The stretch was a lot at first, and you gasped, but then it turned into a moan when Steve started really moving, driving into you in slow, deep thrusts that caused you to claw at his back.

"Feel so good around me," Steve groaned, and you could only moan in response, clenching around him. He pushed your leg up a little, and the new angle had him hitting that sweet spot inside you with every thrust, and in no time the coil in your stomach snapped again, and you milked him through his orgasm too.

You were both panting as you laid down next to one another. You were silent for a moment before Steve spoke. "Think it worked? We got it out of our systems?"

"I mean," you smirked as you straddled his hips, "we can't be too thorough…"

Bucky is slowly but surely slipping away from me and becoming quite OOC, but it’s cool we love him anyways. please tell me what you thought and thank you so much for reading! <3

Taglist:  @horny-nd-bored​ @shannon124 @perfectlyharolds​ @wintersoldierslut​ @iceebabies​  @sleepingpapermouse @steverogerswasalwaysworthy @holtzkinnon @angelicl-y @stydia-4-ever @thatoneperson5000 @fangirlfree​ @kaitcordx25 @bequeening​ @steve-barry-damon-logan​ @itscrazycherryblossomcollection​ @hollandxmarvel​ @stargazingfangirl18 @readsreblogsfics @onetwo3000 @beritmetal @harrystylesholland@jazbot2000

Cycle Taglist: @dee-vn @alex747

if you wanna join / be removed from these taglists, comment/message me! much love <3

[ihatecoconut]

Finding You

Cross Posted to AO3

The Conlons moved from Ireland to New York when Spot was ten and he ran away a little under a year later. If you asked him about it, he would tell you that nothing particularly dramatic happened to push him to make that final leap, he would tell you that he had just decided that he had had enough of the fighting, the violence and the judgement and there, in New York, he found that he knew the streets in a way that he had never known his way around in Ireland.

To him, it was as if he had been there before and spent a lifetime learning how to get around in the easiest, quickest, safest way possible. This was, of course completely true. Spot didn’t know that though- unlike the Jacobs siblings, still several hundred miles away, he had repressed the memories of before and wasn’t aware that he had actually been in New York before.

Regardless of what he remembered, he ran away from the little home his father had bought and navigated the streets of Brooklyn, into Manhattan, with no conscious idea of where he was going. 

When the evening came, he found himself a back alley outside a small bakery to sleep in and dug through the trash until he found an oversized winter jacket- it was missing most of its fasteners, and there were a few rips in it, but it was warm and it covered Spot enough to keep him hidden. He slept there that night, fitfully and woken by every odd noise, flinching every time he heard footsteps or a door slamming. He was exhausted when morning came and the bakery’s workers began setting up for the day, and he was also starving. The bread oven was on and he could smell it baking; he hadn’t eaten in over 12 hours, despite being used to having three meals a day and it was beginning to hurt.

He curled up further into the coat and refused to cry.

“I think it’s a kid…” he heard a voice whisper, “we don’t know what to do,”

He sat up at that, noticing that the door he had been curled up opposite was open now, and he had obviously been asleep because the sun was much higher in the sky- he couldn’t run away, he would be noticed almost immediately.

“Hey.” A voice said, from the doorway and Spot looked up into the eyes of a concerned man. A concerned man that part of him recognised, that part of him was convinced he could trust.

“Hi.”

“Are you hungry?” The man continued, holding out a paper bag, “I brough some food.”

Spot uncurled enough to lean forwards and take the bag, inside was a medium sized roll of bread and a croissant. “Thank you.” He said, stuffing the food into his mouth.

“Hey, hey not so fast,” the man said, leaning forwards to stop him shoving the whole roll in at once, “you’ll make yourself sick.”

Obediently, Spot slowed his chewing down, cursing himself for being so afraid of people that he would just follow orders without question. The man broke off bits of the roll and handed them to him, apparently not trusting that he wouldn’t just eat it at once.

“I’m Denton.” The man said, “Bryan Denton, I’m a teacher at the local high school.”

Spot knew that the man wanted his name, but if he gave Denton his name then he would be able to find his parents and send him back,

“Hey, hey.” The man said, for the second time, “I’m not gonna hurt you, and I’m not gonna send you back to wherever you ran away from.”

“What makes you think I ran away from anywhere?” Spot demanded, ripping the bit of roll that he had into smaller pieces.

“I foster three children,” Denton told him, “Niamh, Sophia, and Tommy. They’re all with me because they ran away from bad lives.”

“Oh.” The names were familiar to him in the same way that Denton himself had been, and now that Spot thought about it they were all familiar in the same way the streets of New York had been.

“I have a spare room.” Denton continued casually, as if they were discussing the weather rather than the fact that Spot had run away. “It’s yours if you want it.”

“You won’t send me back?” Spot asked, hating how small he sounded, “Even if they come looking?”

“I would never send you back somewhere you hated so much that you ran away.”

“Ok.”

Denton was true to his word with a vigour that Spot had not expected, he dealt with the police, he dealt with his parents’ lawyers and he fought tooth and nail to keep Spot with him. Niamh- Hotshot as she had introduced herself- said that he had done the same for all three of them, and then she had looked at him as if she was expecting that to mean something. It didn’t, but Spot was pretty certain that somewhere deep inside of him it did, and he just had to uncover that part.

*

Race, on the other hand, had lived in New York his entire life. His parents had emigrated from Italy when his mother was pregnant, and he had been born in Manhattan. He spoke Italian at home and English at school, and his memories came to him as he was introduced to the people he had known before.

He met Jack when they were both five, had called him Cowboy immediately, and both of them had remembered another time when they were both five and Jack had introduced himself as Cowboy. After that, the memories kind of grew as he aged, or sometimes if a major event happened, and he found himself with a group of friends who knew him better than he knew himself and a nickname that his parents hated. Not that it really mattered what his parents thought because they were both killed in a car crash when he was eight.

Jack took him to Kloppman’s, Kloppman took him in, the state approved it and Racetrack found himself with friends that were more like family. An easy move from orphaned to in a home, much easier than some of the other boys’, even if he did sometimes find himself waking up, the memory of the crunch of the car and the screams of his mother at the front of his mind.

*

Race and Spot met when they were eleven, two weeks after Spot had moved into Denton’s alongside Hotshot, Smalls, and Tommy Boy, and that was the catalyst for Spot’s repressed memories to make their way back into the forefront of his mind.

“I’m Racetrack.” The curly-haired blond boy who was missing three teeth had said, sticking his hand out for Spot to shake, “But you can call me Race or Racer because everyone does.”

“I’m Racetrack,” The other newsie had said, “But folks mostly call me Race or Racer, on account of I sell at the races.”

“I’m Spot.” He said, shaking the hand carefully, and wondering why it had felt like something was missing.

“Thanks for letting me stay then, your majesty,” Racer had said, grinning, and he spat into his hand and held it out to seal their business deal.

They had been inseparable for the rest of the day, since Spot had decided to stick by Race until he worked out why he could remember another version of Race, and Spot remembered that Denton had seen the two of them together and smiled like something made perfect sense.

“It’s time to go home, Spot,”

“Sure,” Denton laughed, “you ask the governor to give you a ride home in his carriage.”

“Alright, I’ll see you tomorrow, Race.”

“And the rest of us!” Jack yelled, “We’ll see you too,”

“You know, Spot, sometimes I feel you only come over here to see Racer.”

“I do, Cowboy, shut up.”

“Bye!”

They had left then, and Spot had turned around to glance at the entrance as Smalls and Tommy Boy ran ahead, fighting with sticks, and he was struck by the idea that it said the wrong thing.

“You’ll sort it out,” Denton told him, quietly, “It’s confusing at first, but you’ll sort it out.”

*

Two years later, Denton had proven to be correct, while sometimes one person would say something that remined him of one specific memory, he no longer felt utterly confused by them, and after Katherine joined, he had someone who actually wanted to talk about why they had those memories rather than just accepting them like everyone else did.

“I don’t know,” she said, taking a sip of her overpriced coffee, “I mean when I first met Jack, I looked at him and remembered the penthouse, and the ‘Hattan newsies in detail, and I remembered more about them the more of them I met- and same for you.”

“When I met Racer for the first time, I remembered meeting him for the first time last time.”

She nodded and pushed her hair back from her face- it was shorter this time round, shoulder length rather than long, but she still kept it pinned back at the front in the 1890s style. Spot had asked her why once and she had admitted that some old habits remained.

“It’s odd, though, I mean why only us, and everyone connected to us? Do other people remember past lives?”

“What are you gonna do, ask them?”

She laughed and shook her head, “Somehow I don’t think that would go down great.”

Talking with Katherine was nice; they hadn’t had any real friendship in the early 20th Century, so he was able to talk to her without the strong memories that he had connected to the others intervening, and she was logical when discussing the idea of reincarnation rather than jokey like the others.

“Mouth would know what to do,” he said, staring down at his now-cold hot chocolate.

Katherine nodded, mournfully, “Sometimes I find myself looking round for Sarah, but she’s not there.”

“I’m glad Racer is here.”

*

Remembering a past romantic relationship that they had had with each other hadn’t happened immediately, rather it had slowly slipped in alongside all other memories while Spot found himself more comfortable with physical contact with Racer until Race just sat in his lap sometimes without asking, and then he had kissed Race goodbye without thinking about it, and the memories had flooded in on his walk home.

Sheepshead. The stables. A little alcove where they ate lunch.

The docks. The water where they would both strip down. Kissing under the dock after dark.

The lodging house. Spot’s private room. Holding him to his chest until they fell asleep. Waking up with him still there.

They never really addressed it, Race had just come up to him the next day, asked if he remembered and kissed him again when Spot said he did. It was natural. It was good. It was a little weird to be so public about it, and more than once he found himself stepping back whenever someone came into the room, but Race did the same. They grew more comfortable.

They didn’t go to Sheepshead anymore, nor did they go to the docks, but they had Kloppman’s like they had had the Manhattan lodging house, and they had Denton’s like they had had Spot’s private room.

“I love you.” Race told him, eyes fixed on the TV screen, “I did last time as well, but I couldn’t say it.”

“I love you too.”

Whispering it into Race’s hair after he had fallen asleep, wishing that things could be different.

Saying it aloud whenever he wanted to because things were different.

[massivedrickhead]

Beca wasn’t ready for a relationship. Her and Chloe have gone separate ways but bump into each other on vacation a couple years later.

Thank you for the prompt! This was longer than I intended but I hope you like it.

“Hi! Can I get a small vanilla cone and… Oooh, a mint chocolate chip please?”

An achingly familiar voice sounded behind Beca, and she felt her stomach twist.

She turned around to see Chloe Beale, her ex-girlfriend, the girl who was once her best friend, leaning against the ice cream counter, a small girl clutching onto the leg of her pants.

“Mama, ice cream?” The little girl said, tugging at Chloe’s pants again.

“The man’s making it now sweetie,” Chloe said. “Hey, I’ve told you about tugging at my pants, haven’t I? Remember that time you did it in the mall and they fell down?”

The little girl giggled.

“Yikes, flashing people at the mall? Still an exhibitionist, Beale?” Beca said, trying to sound confident and not at all terrified to be talking to Chloe again.

Chloe’s head whipped around and she stared at Beca with wide eyes. 

“I’m still pretty confident about all this,” Chloe said.

“You should be,” Beca responded. Her eyes dropped down to the scared red-headed child still clinging to Chloe. “So, this is…”

“Millie,” Chloe said, her hand coming to rest on her daughter’s head. “She’s four.”

“She’s adorable,” Beca said. “She looks just like you.” Four, Beca thought. Has it really been five years since we broke up?

“Ma’am, your ice cream?” The woman behind the ice cream counter said.

“Oh, shoot, sorry,” Chloe said, turning away from Beca and rummaging in her purse for money.

“Here, I got it,” Beca said, handing over some cash. 

“Beca, you don’t have to-”

“I know,” Beca said. “And I also know how unorganised your purse is. The ice creams will have melted by the time you find your money.”

“Thanks,” Chloe said. She handed Millie the vanilla cone, and took the mint chocolate one for herself. “Um, listen, what are you doing right now? Are you free?”

Beca checked her watch.”Uh, yeah I’ve got a couple of hours.”

“Do you wanna get a coffee and catch up?” Chloe said, looking uncharacteristically nervous.

“Sure,” Beca said. “Listen, I’ve been meaning to get in touch but, you know…”

“Yeah, I know.” 

They walked to a near-by cafe, Millie glancing suspiciously up at Beca as she ate her ice cream. 

“So…” Beca said, not really sure what to say.

“So…” Chloe replied, feeling equally awkward. “How come you’re here? Vacation?”

“Sort of,” Beca said. “I have a gig here tonight so I came out a few days early to have a bit of down time. Everything has been crazy since the album dropped.”

“Right, of course, Emily mentioned you were going on tour,” Chloe said, shaking her head. “The album is awesome by the way.”

“Thanks,” Beca said. “So you’re on like a family vacation or something?”

“Yeah, just me and Millie. She starts school next month so I wanted us to have some fun together,” Chloe said. She picked up her coffee cup for a drink, and Beca noticed she wasn’t wearing a ring.

“Just the two of you?” Beca asked, trying not to ask the one question she wanted to ask.

“Just the two of us,” Chloe said. “Chicago and I… We um…” Chloe glanced down at Millie who seemed absorbed in her colouring book. “When we found out about our little… surprise… he got cold feet pretty quickly. He isn’t really involved. He pays child support and stuff but isn’t really interested beyond that.”

“Wow,” Beca said, sitting back in her chair. “That’s heavy dude. I’m really sorry. So you’ve just been doing this all on your own?”

“My Mom and dad help out a lot, but yeah, kinda,” Chloe said. 

“He sounds like a real… a-s-s hat,” Beca said. 

“Oh yeah, he’s a real winner,” Chloe said. 

They talked for a little while longer, Beca telling Chloe about her album and tour, and Chloe telling Beca about life as a single Mom, and the longer they talked, the more Beca felt a pull in her chest. An ache.

She had never really stopped loving Chloe Beale, and seeing her again just pulled all those repressed feelings right to the surface.

She even enjoyed talking to Millie, who once she’d gotten past the shyness, was funny and seemed well behaved.

Once Millie started getting bored, Chloe paid the bill and the three of them left the cafe.

“I should head back,” Chloe said, glancing at her watch. “It’s almost nap time.”

“Oh, sure, you can’t beat an afternoon nap,” Beca said. 

“Millie is the one napping,” Chloe said, smirking.

“Right, I knew that,” Beca said. “Listen, I’m gonna be back in Brooklyn next week. Can we meet up?”

“Sure,” Chloe said. “Here, give me your phone and I’ll give you my number.”

Beca handed over her phone and Chloe typed it in. She used Beca’s phone to call her own before handing it back. 

“It was nice meeting you Millie,” Beca said.

Millie held out her hand solemnly, and Beca shook it, trying not to laugh.

“Bye Beca,” she said.

“Call me later?” Beca said to Chloe. “I go on stage at 9:30, so I’m free until then.”

“Okay,” Chloe said, feeling another flutter of nervousness.

They parted with a slightly awkward hug and Beca went back to her hotel room, where she paced nervously waiting for Chloe to call. She didn’t even get this nervous before performing. 

She got such a fright when her phone started ringing she almost threw it at the wall.

“Hey,” she said with forced calm. 

“Hi,” Chloe said. “Millie just went down for a nap.”

“Cool,” Beca said. Her heart was racing, she felt like she was waiting to jump out of plane.

“So, what’s up?”

“What do you mean?”

“You asked me to call you,” Chloe said. “You asked for a reason, right?”

“Not necessarily,” Beca said. “Maybe I just wanted some more light and casual chit chat.”

Chloe laughed, and Beca got butterflies. “I love casual chit chat. Tell me about your hotel room. Are you in some fancy five-star suite?”

“Uh, it’s kinda fancy,” Beca said, feeling embarrassed. “The label knows how much I don’t like touring so they try and make it as nice for me as they can.”

“You don’t like touring?”

“I mean it’s fine, I just hate being away from home. It makes my anxiety go crazy,” Beca said with an awkward laugh. 

“How come you’re back in Brooklyn next week then? Are you playing a show?” Chloe asked, sounding concerned.

“Yeah I’ve got a couple of shows in Brooklyn and New York. But I’m staying on for a few days because I’m looking for an apartment. I don’t like living in L.A. too much. The label have an office in Manhattan so they’ve said I can work from there,” Beca said. 

“Oh, that’s really cool Becs. It’ll be nice being able to hang out more,” Chloe said.

“Yeah,” Beca said. “Listen, Chlo’… I miss you. I really miss you.”

Chloe didn’t say anything, but Beca heard the sound of rustling bed sheets and Chloe clearing her throat. “I miss you too,” she said quietly. 

“I never…” Beca swallowed hard, trying to keep her voice steady, “I never stopped loving you.”

“Beca,” Chloe said, sighing. 

“I know,” Beca said. “I know it’s probably too late. I know we broke up because I wasn’t ready to be in a relationship. But even if you don’t say it back, even if you never say it back, I had to tell you. I never stopped thinking about you. I never stopped loving you.”

“God, Beca,” Chloe huffed, sounding annoyed. “What am I meant to do with that? You can’t just… We haven’t spoken in five years, and now you’re telling me you’re still in love with me?” She let out a frustrated groan.

“I’m sorry,” Beca said, sounding like she was about to cry. She was pacing her hotel room, desperate for a drink. She knew she’d be raiding the mini bar as soon as her show was done. “I didn’t plan on doing this. I get that you don’t feel the same.”

“Dammit, Beca,” Chloe sighed. “Of course I’m still in love with you.”

“You are?”

“Beca you were the fucking love of my life. And I’ve spent all this time trying to forget about you and then suddenly you were here and all those feelings came back,” Chloe said.

“Well… Okay… So we both still love each other. That’s good, right?” 

“We’re not kids anymore though,” Chloe said. “I have Millie now. She has to come first in everything, and I can’t date someone who’s gonna break up with me months down the line because she’s scared of commitment.”

“I get it,” Beca said. “But I’m not that person anymore. The only thing that scares me is not getting to be with you. Just… Give me a chance.”

“I want to,” Chloe said. “I really do.”

“So do it,” Beca said. 

“You know that you wouldn’t just be dating me, right? You know you’d be taking on Millie too.”

“I know that,” Beca said.

Chloe was silent for what felt like ten minutes but was probably only ten seconds. 

“Okay,” Chloe said.

“Okay?” 

“Okay. Let’s do this.”

[broadwaycantdie]

Soulmate AU - Newsies (Pride) Month . Day 6

( race ) + ( modern-era ) + ( senses )

a/n: i love this concept so here is my version of it :)

warnings: minimal cussing, mentions of suicide

background: When you’re born you have 4 senses. Everyone has touch, but the rest interchange per person. Some people have sight, taste, and smell but not hearing. Some people have hearing, sight, and taste but not smell. And etc. When you touch the skin of your soulmate you regain that sense. Race was born without sight. He’s never seen the world. He’s now 19 and a lot of his friends have already found their soulmate, while he’s stuck waiting for his true love.

( i like the concept of them staying in the lodging house even in modern-au’s, it’s just nicer and they have more things, like a group home, if you will )

——————————————————————————

“It’s never going to happen. I should just give up on love!”

“Stop being so dramatic.”

“Yeah! Nothing’s impossible Racer.”

Race sat in the windowsill, resting his head against the glass.

He’s been low ever since Albert started hearing.

See, Race always thought Albert was the one but it just hadn’t “sunk in” yet. Which is entirely not how it works. Race was just so in love with Albert he was hoping the rules would change.

After Albert met Elmer everything was different. Albert exclaimed that he heard Elmer introduce himself and the rest was history.

Now all Race could do was hope someone just as perfect would walk right in and touch his heart.

But he’s had 19 years of bad luck.

“You’re never gonna find anyone just sitting around here, waiting.”

“You have to go out and find what you want.”

“You two have absolutely no right to talk. You guys met when you were 8! And now I’m stuck here, 11 years later still waiting.”

It was true.

Mush and Kid Blink met when they were both 8 years old. They ran into each other while playing in the park. Mush gained the sense of smell and Kid Blink was granted hearing. After playing, they went back to their families and explained what happened. They were too young to know but their parents decided it be best if they stay together. They were sent to the lodging house a little bit later and have been together ever since.

The lodging house was a great way for soulmates to stay together. It was full of unbreakable couples. Lots of families sent their children there after finding their partners.

But not everyone there had found their soulmate yet. Some people moved in because they had no where else to go. People like Race.

“Why don’t we go out for a walk?” Mush suggested.

“Yeah! It’ll be good to at least get out of the house, and who knows, maybe you’ll find your soulmate. They could be anywhere you know”, Kid Blink added.

Race didn’t move.

Mush and Kid Blink looked at each other.

“And...if you go out, we’ll buy you lunch.”

Race smiled. Everyone knew the way to get Race out of the house was bribery.

“I’ll go for lunch, but I’m not gonna find my soulmate. I’ve met every person in Manhattan and I still can’t see!”

“Okay, give us some time to get ready and we’ll go out”, Mush said.

They walked out of the room, leaving Race to wallow in his own self-pity for just a bit longer.

The boys devised a plan. If Race had no luck in Manhattan, they’d try every borough, city, state, a country in the world. But they were going to start with boroughs first.

“Okay, so where first?” Kid Blink asked.

“Why not Brooklyn? Mike found Hotshot there. It could be worth a first try. Plus we can take him to Oasis.”

“Babe, do you just wanna go to Oasis?”

“Well yeah, but the rest of what I said is still true.”

The boys went back to Race’s room and finally got him out the door—without saying where they were going.

“This is a long walk, where is this place?” Race asked.

Neither Mush nor Kid Blink answered and just changed the subject. Talking about how the weather feels, how good the food is going to be, how a soulmate could be anywhere. All little hints suggesting they might not be in Manhattan anymore.

After what felt like the longest walk in history, the boys made it to the restaurant.

They sat down at the table and Race needed to know what was up. He questioned the boys left and right and they finally gave up.

“Brooklyn!? What were you guys thinking?”

“Well you said you met everyone in Manhattan, so why not branch out?” Mush replied.

“Well, we made it all the way here and I still can’t see. Looks like your little plan didn’t work”, Race retorted back, annoyed.

“You’re not actually mad at us?” Kid Blink responded.

“I’ll answer that after food.”

They ate and talked for a while with a strong feeling of hope from one side of the table and hopelessness from the other.

Mush and Kid Blink went back and forth trying to get though to Race but he didn’t reply.

He just sat there. Head down, sunglasses on, beanie pulled over most of his curls, and doing anything to drown out their constant disappointment and dissatisfaction in him.

“They could be anywhere, Race! But you’re not letting yourself try! You just sit in your room all day waiting!”

“Stop feeling bad for yourself and start putting yourself out there!”

“The first step towards love is an attempt.”

“It’s like you don’t even care.”

“Do you even want to find this person?”

Race couldn’t take it anymore. He snapped.

“Yes! Okay! I do! I want nothing more than to walk out of here and bump into my soulmate on the street! I would do anything to fill this whole in my chest! Don’t you guys understand that? No, of course you don’t. Cause you two didn’t grow up thinking ‘gee, I wonder when someone will finally love me?’ or ‘why am I so unloveable that even my soulmate avoids me?’ or ‘maybe my soulmate doesn’t want to be found’. You guys never went through what I had to. I can’t stand your guys’ help cause all you do is yell at me for not trying but what about the other person? Huh? I don’t see them coming and looking for me! I’ve done my trying, okay? Nineteen long fucking years of it. I’m done, okay? I would do anything to find this person, but right now...I’m just done.”

He didn’t know what else to do. He had to clear his head. Even if he couldn’t see them, Race couldn’t bare to stay in the restaurant with his friends. Hearing what they would say, feeling the energy shift in the room, it was all too much for him.

Race walked out the front door and sat on the curb outside the restaurant. He sat with his face buried in his knees and his arms wrapped around them. He was crying. He cried mixed tears of sadness and anger. His body wouldn’t do anything else.

Back in the restaurant, Mush and Kid Blink didn’t know what to do. They were in shock. They never knew Race felt like this. He use to be fun and easygoing but his downhill spiral had finally reached rock bottom.

They were so disappointed. But for once, not in Race. In themselves. They never realized how easy they actually had it and how hard it was for other people to spend so much time looking for something they couldn’t understand.

The boys looked at Race out the window, making sure he didn’t leave. They decided to give him some time to cool off. He was better alone these days.

They turned towards each other and talked. Discussing what would happen after this and what they could do to make it right.

They took their eyes off Race.

Outside, Race stood up. He put his hands in his pockets and listened to what was around him. Since he couldn’t see, hearing what his best friend.

He heard the footsteps of people in a hurry. He heard the birds singing their afternoon songs in the treetops. He heard sounds of car engines as they sped by, certainly going faster than they should’ve.

Race decided he wanted to go home.

Or at least somewhere.

He wasn’t stupid. He knew where he was going and what was going to happen, but he didn’t care. He was emotional, delusional, and lost. He had a pain in his chest he thought would never be filled.

He wanted to go home.

So he started walking. Stepping right towards the busy street he heard so well. He was going to cross it whether he made it to the other side or not.

He took a few more steps—hearing cars honking—until he heard the forbidden sound. A car coming his way. He could walk faster, or let fate decide. Was the person driving going to pay attention? That wasn’t up to him.

As the driver got closer and closer, Race couldn’t hear the breaks.

Guess they weren’t.

Closer and closer it got until he finally felt something.

But it wasn’t the car.

The back of his shirt was grabbed and he was ripped backwards onto the concrete he was sitting in previously.

“Woah, hey, are you okay?”

“Yeah, yeah, I guess.”

Race didn’t recognize the voice that asked him. It certainly wasn’t his friends.

“Do you always go walking into busy streets?” The boy asked lightheartedly.

“Well not really.”

Race was still on the ground talking to this stranger. He seemed friendly enough, but he was still a stranger so short and simple answers would do just fine.

“Mind if I help you up?” The stranger asked.

“Sure, but I’m gonna need a lot of it. I can’t see—hence the sunglasses.”

“It’s not problem, I got a lot of friends who can’t see.”

The boy told Race to put his arm out and he would grab onto it.

They locked hands and Race felt his heartbeat change. He heart felt warm and his chest fuller.

He got up with the help of the boy and felt even more strange.

He took his sunglasses off and—for the first time in his life—opened his eyes fully.

The first thing he saw was this boy.

They locked eyes and Race started to tear up.

It finally happened.

The boy across from him lifted his hands to his ears and held his face softly.

“Please say something”, he mumbled.

“Hi, my name’s Antonio ‘Racetrack’ Higgins, and I believe we’re soulmates.”

The boy’s face formed into a huge smile. So wide his eyes crinkled and his skin turned pink.

He reached up and hugged Race so tightly. Race gladly returned the favor.

They pulled away and the boy finally introduced himself.

“My name’s Sean ‘Spot’ Conlon, and you’re my soulmate.”

The air around them felt warm and happy.

Race was overwhelmed by seeing everything for the first time. He wanted to explore the world and see everything, but in this moment he couldn’t take his eyes off Spot.

He didn’t want to ruin the moment, but he had to know.

“How did you know what I was saying if you couldn’t hear me?”

Spot smiled shyly.

“I read your lips...I couldn’t keep my eyes off them.”

Race’s eyes moved from Spot’s eyes to his lips and back up again, slowly. And Spot’s eyes did the same thing.

They leaned in close, sharing a kiss. It was passionate and soft. It felt like the kiss of a new life. The happiest kiss Race has ever felt. The only happy thing he’s felt in a long time.

They pulled away and rested their foreheads together.

“I’m so glad I found you, Spot Conlon. I don’t know what I wouldn’t done if you hadn’t come.

“Got hit by a car is what you would’ve done.”

Race could tell why they were paired up and he could tell the rest of his life was going to be fun with Spot around.

For once, he finally felt like he had plans for the future. Plans he wanted to see follow through.

And for once, he could see what everyone meant when they said it would be worth the wait.

[tabloidtoc]

National Examiner, March 15

You can buy a copy of this issue for your very own at my eBay store: https://www.ebay.com/str/bradentonbooks

Cover: Arnold Schwarzenegger and his secret son Joseph Baena

Page 2: Cars of the Stars -- what they drove before they became famous -- Johnny Depp, Brad Pitt, Barack Obama, Tom Cruise, Vin Diesel

Page 3: Cameron Diaz, Katy Perry, Leonardo DiCaprio, Jon Stewart, Mila Kunis

Page 4: John Travolta's roles and costumes

Page 6: Charlie's Angels' star Jaclyn Smith reveals her secret recipe for her favorite green smoothie for staying young

Page 7: Treasure Chest -- meet the hairy hunks of Hollywood who aren't afraid to show off their chest hair -- Hugh Jackman, Antonio Banderas, Lee Majors, Nicolas Cage, Robert Redford, Steve Carell, Tom Selleck, Sam Elliott, Steve Guttenberg, Stanley Tucci, Alec Baldwin

Page 8: When a tiny one-year-old desperately needed a liver transplant , his uncle fearlessly stepped up to the plate and it ended up saving two lives

Page 9: Physical activity is one of the cornerstones of good health; in the U.S., only 19 percent of women and 26 percent of men currently meet the CDC's Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans, which recommended that adults get at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic physical activity, or an equivalent combination, each week

* Peppermint is a minty herb native to Europe and Asia and for hundreds of years, people have used peppermint both as a flavoring and for its medicinal properties and they all come together with a cup of tasty tea

Page 10: Joseph Valadez recently received his college diploma at age 62, after spending half his life in prison

Page 11: Your Health -- being the strong, silent type is dangerous -- men must speak up when health issues appear

Page 12: George Clooney's rock bottom -- George barely survived a terrifying motor scooter accident and the brush with death brought him face-to-face with the worst moment of his life -- in July 2018 he was working in Italy on Catch-22 which he directed and also starred in and George was riding a scooter on the island of Sardinia when a Mercedes cut across his path and sparked the horrific crash where George catapulted over the bike's handlebars -- George says he'll never forget that instead of trying to help him, people were trying to snap pictures of the horrendous collision -- George has given up riding scooters since the accident on the orders of his wife, Amal Clooney

Page 14: Dear Tony, America's Top Psychic Healer -- however unhappy your life, change is always the answer

Page 15: Mariachi bands make everybody smile and that's why the neighbors of one family band got together to help them stay afloat in hard times

Page 16: Royal Ensemble -- what the stars wore to meet Queen Elizabeth -- Madonna, Jayne Mansfield, Joan Collins and Anthony Newley, Marilyn Monroe, Elton John, Angelina Jolie

Page 17: Yoko Ono, Barbra Streisand, Sally Field, Meryl Streep, Kirk Douglas, Halle Berry

Page 18: Fading eyesight is a common symptom of old age, but you can help keep your vision sharp just by eating the right foods -- Australian dietician Susie Burrell says these superfoods fight age-related eye problems, including macular degeneration and cataracts: kiwi, Brazil nuts, kale, chia, red pepper

Page 19: It was a race against time for a crocodile that ate a shoe and there was nothing in the medical literature to help surgeons figure out how to remove the offending footwear from the croc's stomach -- Anuket had gobbled up a sneaker that fell from someone ziplining above her pen at a St. Augustine alligator farm in Jacksonville, Florida. It threatened to cause a painful and possibly fatal blockage but docs at the University of Florida Veterinary Hospital put their best foot forward until they finally managed to extract the slime-coated sneaker

Page 20: Cover Story -- Arnold Schwarzenegger's secret son Joseph Baena -- it's complicated -- Arnold gushes with pride over his 23-year-old secret son Joseph and they're super close -- Joseph adores his dad and he wants to be just like him and he's doing just that by landing a part in the upcoming sci-fi flick The Chariot

Page 22: A kidnapped little girl is safe today thanks to two hero sanitation workers who acted on a hunch -- an Amber Alert went out after the ten-year-old child was abducted from a family member's Louisiana home, but no one had reported any sightings of the vehicle that took her until Dion Merrick and Brandon Antoine of Pelican Waste & Debris spotted a silver sedan and had a bad feeling about it so they called 911 and pulled their garbage truck over on the wrong side of the highway to block the car from escaping

* A brave firefighter who was quarantined in the hospital with a bad case of COVID-19 missed his buddies and they missed him back, so they found a clever workaround to visit him -- the Phoenix fire crew used a ladder truck so they could climb up and wave through the window to Dan Volcko, a 20-year veteran of the department

Page 24: After a storm dumped a foot of snow in Seattle, 90-year-old Fran Goldman was so determined to get her COVID-19 vaccine she walked six miles to get it -- Fran had spent weeks on the computer and phone desperately trying to get an appointment on the jab, but once she scored it, Seattle residents were told to stay off the dangerously icy roads so Fran bundled herself up in fleece pants and lots of layers, but wore a short-sleeved shirt underneath to make it easy for the nurse to give her the shot

Page 26: You're in Luck -- charms to help you heal, hope and fall in love -- horseshoes, dice, number seven, pennies, dreamcatchers, shooting star, elephants, ladybugs

Page 28: Keeping Pets Happy and Healthy -- Paws for Concern -- how dogs tell you they need help

* Vet time for kitty -- 8 warning signs your cat needs a checkup

Page 32: Mystical power of wind -- the breeze affects us all spiritually because air is made up of positive and negative energy -- ancient Greeks believed in the magical qualities of air pressure, speed and direction

Page 34: Leader of the Pack -- Elizabeth Starck has fostered nearly 500 pups, and she has no intention of stopping -- bighearted Elizabeth works with Southern Indiana Animal Rescue, a dedicated group that pairs up dogs with foster homes -- after the pooches come through her portal, Elizabeth feeds them, rubs their bellies and gives them their meds, sometimes administering up to 30 pills to different dogs twice a day -- eventually she sends them off to forever homes, even though it's so hard to say goodbye

Page 40: Don't turn up your nose at garlic -- every day, medical experts around the world are discovering new uses for the amazing herb -- toothache, hives, infection, fatigue, asthma and bronchitis, diabetes, arthritis, blood clots, heart disease, cancer, back pain, acne

Page 42: 20 things you didn't know about Sarah Jessica Parker

Page 44: Eyes on the Stars -- Mariska Hargitay snaps a pic in Manhattan on the set of Law & Order: Organized Crime (picture), Blue Bloods stars Donnie Wahlberg and Marisa Ramirez get goofy in Brooklyn (picture), John Legend strikes a pose in Hollywood (picture), Bette Midler and Martin Von Haselberg got hitched in 1984 but she recently revealed she only saw photos of their Las Vegas wedding just five years ago, Ricki Lake is hoping the third time's the charm as she's engaged to filmmaker Ross Burningham, Emma Roberts and Garrett Hedlund welcomed son Robert Rhodes but they aren't the only superstars in the little guy's life -- Garrett's Country Song co-star Tim McGraw is Rhodes' godfather

Page 45: Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank cuddle their infant son August (picture), Steve Martin bumps into an extra on the NYC set of an upcoming comedy series called Only Murders in the Building (picture), Kim Kardashian and Kanye West's divorce will be straightforward, Tim Allen and Richard Karn have reunited for a History Channel show called Assembly Required, Jaime King filed for divorce from Kyle Newman nearly nine months ago after 13 years of marriage but while they've been duking it out in court over custody of their two sons Kyle has gotten a jump on starting a new family with Cyn who is a singer also known as Cynthia Nabozny revealed the new couple had a baby boy

Page 46: The send-off party for a beloved healer was all set at Rose Medical Center in Denver and the one everyone had gathered to celebrate came in on all fours -- Wynn the service-dog trainee wagged her tail and rolled over for belly rubs as the emotional emergency-room staff thanked her for keeping them sane during the most difficult of their COVID-19 pandemic days

Page 47: The best celebrities to pick on Hollywood Squares -- here's a few of the favorite stars and their most hilarious quips -- Charo, Marty Allen, Nanette Fabray, Joan Rivers, Paul Lynde, Rose Marie, Charlie Weaver, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Vincent Price

[blackcoffeeandblankpagess]

NYC Marathon 2017 Recap

Woke up at 4:45 and walked over to penn station to take the subway to the staten island ferry, the walk was a lil sketch but once I got to the platform there were a few marathoners and we all traveled together, one dude on the subway looked at me and was like “you look fast” I hope so buddy

While waiting for the (6:15) ferry I talked to a man from israel who had run 8 marathons in his home country, a few in europe, and this was his first in the states, so cool

The ferry ride goes right past the statue of liberty which is also cool

On the bus the man who sat next to me was AWESOME. This was his 28th time running nyc, 107th marathon, and he was 70 years old. Goals??? He was telling me about the races he has run all over the world and it makes me so excited to think that today was the first of a lifetime of marathoning 

Got to the start village around 7:30, my wave wasn’t until 10:15 so plenty of time but it didn’t feel slow. I ate some oatmeal for breakfast and drank a shit ton of water and gave myself about 2.5 hours for the food to digest 1.5 hours for the water (these are the things that you learn to prioritize when your gi tract is out to kill you)

We could see the bridge from the starting village but couldn’t actually see the runners on it, still it was super cool to hear the cannon go off for the elites even if we couldnt see them ALSO can we talk about how fucking badass shalane is??? wish I could have watched the race but from what I’ve seen/heard it was phenomenal #tarheels

When the cannon went off they played frank sinatra’s new york, new york and it was magical

I was being very careful with my pacing on the bridge because i was warned by many people who have run nyc that it’s easy to go out too fast and ignore the hill and screw yourself over and my strategy was supposed to be running the first half at ~9 minute pace. The first mile was exactly 9 but then….

I went out way too fast, I was dropping sub 8s in the early miles and even though I kept repeating myself that the race doesn’t start until the second half and doesn’t really start until mile 20, I continued to betray my plan

I think the main issue was that I felt good, it wasn’t like I was killing myself to get my splits so I was just like …this is fine, also I’ve only raced half marathons before in which case pushing the pace is okay because by the time it really gets to me the race is over

Needless to say, I fucked myself over real bad!!! (we’ll get to that in a minute)

I saw the wonderful @mountains–and–miles at mile 5.5 and one of my best friend’s (who is currently abroad) family at mile 8.5 so I had a lot to look forward to in the first half, also the crowds in brooklyn are AMAZING 

At mile 7 I just happened to pass fricken KATHRINE SWITZER!!!!! talk about strong women. I had no idea she was running and I was like HOLY SHIT!!!!!

Around mile 10.5 I started to realize my mistake of taking off too fast but the effects didn’t really hit until mile 16

Ironically I ran the first half in the exact time of my first half marathon (1:47) although my tracker prob said 1:49 or something because weaving in and out of people added distance

Miles 15-16ish are the queensboro bridge which I think could more accurately be named hell on earth. I was also wary of this area heading into the race after everything I had read. It’s really silent after leaving the crowds of brooklyn, a hill, and it was the part of the race where I really started to come apart

Miles 16-19 are first ave in manhattan which is wild but I was seriously breaking down at this point, threw my time goals out the window and decided to just focus on getting to the finish line, as the OG tumblr homies will appreciate my mantra was “it does not matter how slowly you go so long as you do not stop”

Basically miles 18-25 I did a run/walk pattern that I remembered someone I know using for an ultra and shockingly it didn’t cost me as much time as I expected

I saw my mom at mile 19 and again at mile 22 where she jumped in and ran with me for a few blocks which I desperately needed at that point

By some crazy turn of events at mile 24.5 I just happened to run into the other girl from the unc marathon club who was running the race…out of 51,000 runners, what are the odds??? 

According to my watch I ran 26.2 in 4:09, but my official time was 4:12. Because of a lot of weaving around in the beginning of the race I added about a quarter of a mile in distance

One of the toughest parts of nyc is actually the finish, once you cross the line you have either a half mile or mile walk to exit depending on if you checked a bag. During my walk towards the exit I ended up making a fun detour to the medical tent!!

My calves were hurting a LOT, not just the expected I just ran a marathon so obviously I’m sore hurting. I decided I would stop at the med tent since I still had probably about a mile total of walking left to meet my parents. On my way to the med tent I suddenly was having trouble breathing which is fucking terrifying. Every time I took a breath in my breathing was all shaky and I felt like I was gasping for air and couldn’t get any. Something which has never happened to me so that was bizarre.

The doctors were all wonderful and one of the guys joked that he couldn’t help me since I had on my UNC jersey and he was a duke alumn, fair

After a few mins my breathing was normal and my legs weren’t much better but I didn’t think sitting there was really gonna help so

I got a post race poncho and I was expecting it to be a shitty rain poncho but it was giant and fleece and fuzzy and I think I’ll probably build a home inside of it and live in it forever

When I finally reached my parents (who for the record are divorced so the fact that we were all together briefly made my heart happy) I burst into (happy) tears

Afterwards we went back to our friend’s apartment in manhattan and they had an ice bath and hot tea waiting for me, amen  

Took a train home and got back around 8 to some leftover homemade pizza and kombucha for dinner, nice

Those are all of the little details I think. I would definitely summarize it as a learning experience. Went out way too fast but also expected that to happen since it was my first marathon. In training and in racing I have a lot I plan to do differently the next time around (spring!!). Overall though i have no regrets, it was an absolutely incredible experience and as bart yasso said, “the nyc marathon is the closest thing a regular person can get to an olympic experience” so many runners from all over the globe. The announcements in the starting village were in all different languages it was amazing.

Also thank you so much to everyone who messaged/commented/texted me wishing me luck and giving me advice, it seriously means the world to me

Edit: Something else worth noting, I never once felt nervous for this race only pure excitement and that is how I know this is a lifetime sport for me, love love love

[denimwrites-archive]

Date Night

Prompt: Request by Anonymous - “Would you be willing to write a Spot Conlon x Racetrack Higgins x Reader fluffy fic? If not, I understand”

Fandom: Newsies (2017)

Pairing: Spot Conlon X Reader X Racetrack Higgins (Poly)

Summary: You get to spend an entire night with the partners you love. It’s full of fun, and plenty of prizes, one of which is a surprise worth waiting for.

Word Count: 1,783

Warnings: Food and eating, Race has a slight fear of heights?

A/N: Not as angsty as I thought it was going to be, and I’m really glad for that. This takes place in the spring, so even though I’m posting it in my lead up to Christmas, it’s not cold and it’s safe to stay outside. Also, I’ve never been to Coney Island in 1899, so although I tried to keep it historically accurate, I can only do so much. Here is a website that I found with a list of some attractions through the years that I used as a reference (because I’m a nerd and some of the stuff is weird so this is where I got that info). And here is another site that I used to learn more about some more of the rides and activities. 

~~~

You were so excited to spend the night with your boys. Sure you got to see Race and Spot quite a bit, and the boys got to see each other too, but it was rare that you got to spend the whole night all together. It was something that you had all been planning for weeks, wanting to make it special and ensure that you could make the most of the time you had together, as well as saving money just for the occasion.

Spot met you and Race at the Brooklyn bridge, throwing his arms around each of your shoulders, pulling you close to him as you made your way through the streets without interruption. Everyone knew not to mess with the King of Brooklyn, especially when he was with his partners. You talked and joked and soon enough you were at your date night destination: Coney Island.

As soon as you were through the gate, your eyes lit up with all of the activities you could do. There were plenty of games and rides, as well as a few animal attractions. You started pointing out all of the coolest things closest to you, Race’s jaw still open from the sight of it, when Spot gave you a squeeze and said, “Relax, we got all night, alright? I promise we’ll see everything you want to. You too, Mr. Hoi-Polloi,” he says, giving Race’s shoulders a squeeze and drawing him out of his trance, he snapped his mouth shut as he gave Spot a nudge.

You giggle and take the lead, pulling the boys to the first booth you see, a ball toss. Spot rolls his eyes, but takes the lead, slapping a coin on the counter. He gets three chances, knocks one bottle with the first attempt, misses the second. Before he throws the third ball, he grabs your hand and kisses the back of it, “For luck,” he says. Then he knocks over the last two bottles with the third ball.

The man running the game hands him a stuffed bear, which he gives to you, and you hug it tightly after giving him a kiss on the cheek. Race gives a scoff, “C’mon Conlon, you call that an arm? I betcha the next game I could win a bigger prize.”

“You’re on!” Spot says, extending a hand to shake. You shake your head at them, already knowing this would be a pattern for the night. They shake and Race turns to you with a cheesy smile.

“How bout a kiss for luck, sugar?” Wiggling his eyebrows, you roll your eyes but give him a kiss on the cheek. He over exaggerates becoming buffer and now Spot is rolling his eyes, pulling you closer to him.

“Just get on with it already, we have a lot to explore.” Race sticks his tongue out teasingly, before turning to the task at hand. He pays the man behind the counter and then winds up a few times, getting a feel for the balls and also just upping the tension. “Are you going to throw the ball or not?” Spot asks after a minute. Race gives him a glare and finally takes his shot, knocking over two bottles on his first try.

He gives a smug look to Spot, but he just shakes his head at Race once more. You give him a thumbs up and he takes aim again, knocking over the third bottle with his second throw. With his last ball, he winds up at a new set of bottles and two more targets fall. At that, Race raises a triumphant fist, taking the larger stuffed animal from the man behind the counter. He hands it to Spot, ruffling his head before taking your hand and pulling you towards the next game. “Next game’s on Spot, I betcha I can win an even bigger prize.”

And that was just the beginning of your night. Race and Spot competing over who could be the best. You even tried a couple games, but for fun rather than sport. You still won some prizes though, and gave them to your boyfriends, receiving plenty of kisses in return. Soon enough everyone’s arms were filled with plushies of varying animals in different sizes. You couldn’t help but laugh at Spot carrying a particularly large plush on his back.

You all had played most of the games by then, and Race was saying he was hungry, so you stopped at a cart and got a couple corndogs. Sitting on a bench while you ate, you just watched the other people walking around the park. You leaned your head on Race’s shoulder, and grabbed Spot’s hand when you were done and let out a contented sigh, happy to be with your boys.

But that wasn’t the end of your night. Arms still full of animals, you made your way down to where some of the rides were. Your eyes widened at the sight of some of them, the ferris wheel rising high above the ground, and one of the roller coasters went around in a circle! Spot gave your hand a squeeze as he led you and Race to the line for the ferris wheel. You didn’t have to wait too long, and soon enough were in a box with all your stuffed friends, being moved higher and higher over the park.

You marvelled over the lights and the magnificent view it had, but you could tell that Race wasn’t as amazed by his pale face. Inching closer to him, you took his hand and gave it a squeeze. “It’s okay, we’re safe. Nothing bad is going to happen.” He gave you a weak smile, and just held your hand tighter. Spot got closer on Race’s other side and distracted him with a story, and by the time he was done you were back on the ground.

“Sorry guys, I didn’t mean to ruin it for yous. It just kinda hit me that we were high up, didn’t think it would be that bad when we was on the ground.” Race rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, a plush gripped tightly his other hand. You and Spot shared a look before surrounding him and giving each of his cheeks a kiss. Race’s face was bright red when you pulled away, and you couldn’t help but giggle.

Spot ruffles his hair before saying, “Hey, it’s nothing to be ashamed of. And to be honest with ya, the view from there isn’t even that great. I got a surprise for yous later tonight that will be even better!” You and Race furrow your eyebrows, but he just waves you off, grabbing your hands once more and leading you around to the attractions. You give away a few of your many plushes to some of the kids you see, since you know that keeping all of them would be pretty hard.

And then you’re near the water, and you pay for tickets to an aquatic show. There were sea lions doing plenty of tricks and you were all smiling and talking about their amazing feats after the show. By then it was starting to get kind of late, and so after grabbing a quick bite of dessert, Spot started to lead you back to the heart of Brooklyn. “I really wish tonight didn’t have to end…” you said with a longing glance between the boys.

“Who says it has to?” Spot asked with a smirk. He pulls you down a few side streets that get you a little turned around, but you can’t help but feel excited for what Spot has in store. He slows down to a stop at the end of an alley, in front of a fire escape. “Ready for the surprise?” he asks. You can see the excitement in his eyes and eagerly nod your head, Race doing the same beside you. “Then come on up!” he calls, easily climbing up the ladder onto the first landing, then continuing up after a glance at you.

Sharing a look with Race, you just smile and shake your head before grabbing onto the ladder and following Spot. Race starts muttering to himself, but follows along too, his grip a little tighter than it probably should be. As he climbs higher, you decide to wait with him, letting Race go ahead of you so he knows you’re right there.

And then you’re at the top. You gasp as you take in the view. Spot was right about the it, it was even better than the ferris wheel, and you weren’t even as high up! You could see the lights of Coney Island, but also see the harbor and even a few lights from Manhattan. Your smile grew as you felt Race wrap an arm around your waist, and saw that he did the same for Spot. Giving him a questioning glance, he just smiled, pulling you two closer.

He gave each of you a kiss on the head before saying, “This height I can handle, especially since I got my two partners with me, and this dazzling view.” You nuzzle closer to him, and his grip tightens slightly as he glances down, Spot notices this and turns you all towards the inside of the landing, facing the building.

That’s when you notice the pile of blankets and pillows in the corner. “Does that mean what I think it means?” you ask hopefully, looking at Spot.

“You bet! I haven’t got a good night’s sleep in a while and I figured, who better to help than my gorgeous partners? It might not be Kelly’s Penthouse, but I think it’s the best spot in all of Brooklyn.” He left Race’s arms to go and set up some of the blankets, throwing one side of one over the railing and tying the other side to another piece of metal across from it. He was building a fort.

Grabbing Race’s hand you pull him over and help Spot make the perfect nest to settle in on, but of course while moving some pillows you may have hit Race, sending you all into a flurry of motion. Pillows and squeals are let loose, but Spot and Race gang up on you and the pillow fight ends with some tickles in return for your surrender. Out of breath, and tired from your exciting night, you get settled in. Your head rests on Spot’s chest, with Race curled up next to you, an arm around your waist. “I love you guys,” you mumble, already almost asleep.

You feel a pressure on your head and Race gives you a small squeeze. “Goodnight, (Y/N), we love you too.”

Tag List: @helplesshansen

[ihavetoomanyocs]

Babies- Albert DaSilva, Sprace

Modern AU with surrogacy.

 Spot and Race got married right out of college. Spot had gotten a bachelor’s degree in history as an educator, and got a job teaching high school. Race, ever the impatient one, got his bachelor’s in three years in physics and then got his master’s two years later. He decided to take a few years off, so that he and Spot could enjoy newlywed life for a while, before going for his doctorate. He, too, got a job as a teacher, but at a college, while Spot worked at the same high school Albert and Skye worked at.  The two of them were still only dating, not yet engaged, but it was getting around that Albert was looking for a ring.

 After only a few months of marriage, Spot and Race decided that they wanted a baby. It came as a surprise to Race, who thought that Spot hadn’t wanted kids. His father hadn’t been the best father figure, sinking so low as to even put cigarettes out on his son’s shoulders and back. Spot had been terrified of being a father because of this, but then Race’s older sister had a baby.

 The two of them went to visit her in the hospital. Spot graciously denied the offer to hold the little girl, but Race had happily taken her into his arms. Spot was immediately hooked.

 Spot thought about it the entire car ride back to their apartment. Race’s sister had given birth in Manhattan, but they lived in Brooklyn; a little too far to walk. Spot finally broached the topic once they got home.

 “We should have a baby.”

 “What?” Race paused in taking his jacket off, and stared at Spot wide-eyed. “I thought you didn’t want kids.” The fact had hurt Race for a while; he had grown up with four siblings, the youngest of whom was eleven years younger than him. He loved kids.

 “I didn’t,” Spot admitted, “But then I saw you holding Annabelle’s daughter, and… I don’t know. She and Mark just looked so happy. I want that for us; for you.”

 Race frowned and draped his arms around Spot’s neck. Spot’s hands came up to rest on Race’s hips. “Spot, we don’t need kids to be happy,” the blonde reminded his husband.

 “I know we don’t,” Spot said, “But I want to have kids with you.”

 “You do?” Race asked, a smile pulling his lips up and his cheeks turning red.

 Spot nodded, “I do,” he repeated.

 Race’s smile widened, and he kissed Spot briefly before pulling away. “Okay, obviously, neither of us can actually have children; but we could adopt. Or try surrogacy?” Race said.

 “Surrogacy?” Spot asked, head tipped to the side.

 “We both donate sperm, it gets implanted into someone, and then, as long as it takes, we get a baby nine months later,” Race explained.

 “Let’s do that,” Spot said. “Then the baby is ours, and no adoption agency can try and take it from us, or, or keep us from adopting.”

 “You sure? The baby’ll also be half whoever carries it,” Race reminded him.

 “Then let’s choose someone we know.”

 “Smalls?” Race suggested.

 After a moment, both boys broke into laughter. There was no way Smalls would carry a baby for them.

 “Sniper?”

 That got the same reaction as Smalls.

 “Katherine?” Race suggested with a tip of his head.

 “Oh, you didn’t hear? Katherine’s pregnant with her and Jack’s first baby,” Spot said.

 “Really? Huh, guess I’ll have to send them a congrats card later,” Race said. “Skye?”

 Spot opened his mouth to reject the idea, but then closed it and sat back, thinking. Skye would actually be a great surrogate, now that he thought about it. She was still doing pole, but she also did other things to stay healthy, like yoga. She ate healthy foods, and took care of herself.

 “That’s not a bad idea, actually,” Spot said.

 “Skye’s probably the best candidate we have, to be honest,” Race said. “But let’s not decide right now. Remember, we’re asking her to carry a baby in her body for nine months for us. We’re asking her to put her body through a lot. Let’s really think about this before we ask her,” he said.

 Spot nodded, and then he smiled fondly at his husband, “Since when are you the smart one in this relationship?”

 “I’m the one with the Master’s in physics,” Race reminded him. “And going to get a doctorate in a couple of years!”

 “Yeah, but I thought I was the one with the common sense,” Spot said.

 Race rolled his eyes, gave his husband an affectionate look, and kissed him.

 Five months later, Race and Spot finally made their decision. They wanted their own baby, and they wanted Skye to carry it.

 Inviting her over seemed to be the easiest part of the process. They found a night where Albert was busy (he’d asked for JoJo’s help in finding a ring because he hadn’t yet found the perfect one) and invited Skye over to their apartment for dinner.

 “Thanks for inviting me,” Skye said as Race led her into the apartment, a glass of Race’s family’s home-made wine in her hand. “Albert’s been spacey lately, I don’t know what’s up with him.”

 “Ah, you know Al,” Spot said. He was standing in the kitchen, stirring a pot of sauce. Race was the one cooking, but Spot liked to try and help. Once Race took over again, Spot went over to hug his sister. Well, the woman he considered to be his sister. “He’s just weird!”

 Skye let out a single laugh, “Thanks, Spot,” she said.

 After a wonderful dinner of Race’s mother’s homemade pasta and sauce, and the dishes were all cleaned (Skye insisted she help, which further cemented that she was the perfect person) Spot and Race pushed Skye over to the couch. They sat together on one, while Skye took residence on one corner of the other, where she always sat.

 “So, you two have looked nervous all night. What’s up?” Skye finally asked. She was only on her second glass, having nursed that first glass for forty-five minutes.  

 Spot and Race glanced at each other, and then finally looked at Skye. “We… have some pretty big news,” Race finally said.

 “We’re going to try and… well…” Spot broke off, before finishing, “We’re going to try and have a baby through surrogacy.”

 “Oh my god, you guys!” Skye exclaimed, setting her wine glass aside before pulling both friends into a hug. “That’s amazing! Congratulations!”

 Race and Spot gratefully accepted her hug, glad that the person they hoped would carry their baby seemed excited for them.

 “There’s more,” Spot said once they sat down again.

 “More?” Skye questioned.

 “Well, we were thinking about it, and decided to see if someone we knew would carry the baby,” Race explained, “You know, so we could be there for her while she’s pregnant.”

 “We researched what it’s like to be pregnant, and we know what we’re asking someone to put their body through for us,” Spot said.

 The couple looked at each other, and then back at Skye. Meeting her blue eyes, Race finally asked the question.

 “We were wondering… Will you be our surrogate?”

 Skye’s eyes widened, and she almost dropped her wine glass. “Me? You want me to carry your baby?”

 “We completely understand if you don’t want to!” Spot was quick was exclaim, “We just thought, that you’re our best friend, and we couldn’t think of anyone better to carry our baby.”

 “You guys, I- I’m honored. You had to have been thinking about this for weeks,” Skye said.

 “Months,” Race corrected.

 Skye’s jaw dropped open for a moment. “I’m honored that you guys want me to carry your baby,” she finally said. “But this is a huge decision; like you said, you’re asking me to put my body through a lot. I can’t just make this decision on my own, on the fly. Can I have a few days to think this through?”

 Spot and Race were instantly nodding their heads, “Of course!” they both exclaimed.

 “We’d be worried if you didn’t want a few days to think about this!” Spot said. He stood up with her, Race following, as he led her to their front door. “Just get back to us when you’ve thought about it; if you’re not comfortable with it, then we’ll find someone else, or we’ll adopt,” he said.

 “Yeah, seriously, Skye, don’t worry about it too much,” Race said. “We love you, okay?”

 “I love you guys, too,” Skye said. Giving both men a hug, Skye left the apartment. Spot turned to Race.

 “I think that’s one of the scariest things I’ve ever had to do,” Spot said.

 “Agreed,” was Race’s only reply before wrapping his arms around his husband, “We’ll get a baby, Spot. Even if Skye decides that she doesn’t want to do this, we can still find someone, or we can adopt. We’ll get a child.”

 Spot just held his husband close.

 A full week later, Skye finally came back to their apartment, once again alone. She’d discussed the topic with Albert for hours that week. She knew that marriage was going to happen with them. They’d been saying “once we’re married” for months now, and Albert had fully admitted to be looking for a ring. Skye knew the proposal was coming; she just didn’t know when. That had been a factor in whether or not she would carry Spot and Race’s baby. She didn’t want to be a pregnant bride.

 However, she and Albert discussed that, too. They decided that when they do get engaged, it would be for at least a year, maybe longer, to make sure that they had time to plan and get everything ready. They’ve been dating for three years; they could wait a little longer.

 So, Skye knocked on Spot and Race’s door, nervously twisting her hands together. Race seemed a little subdued as he let her in, and led her to their kitchen table.

 The two men held hands tightly as they looked at Skye. They’d tried so hard to not get their hopes up, but it was so hard not to when the idea of having a baby was involved.

 “I am beyond honored that you guys want me to carry your baby,” Skye began. Race and Spot looked at each other, scared of the inevitable ‘but’ that was likely attached, but Skye went the complete other way, “And I would love to be your surrogate.”

 “You would?”

 “I would,” Skye answered.

 Spot and Race looked at each other, and then surged towards Skye, enveloping her in a huge hug that wasn’t released for at least a couple minutes.

 “We’re going to have a baby!” Race screeched. Skye only laughed.

 A month later, Spot, Race, and Skye sat in the doctor’s office. Skye had a gown on, and the donated sperm of both men sat in a petri dish, ready to be put into Skye.

 “Now, remember, there’s no guarantee that this’ll work, right away,” Skye said. She was nervously eyeing the petri dish; what if it didn’t work? It cost a lot of money to do this, and they only had enough for one try.

 “We know,” Spot said. He gripped Skye’s hand tightly, “But we still need to try.”

 “Even if it doesn’t take, we’ll know that at least we tried,” Race added.

 “We can never thank you enough for doing this, Skye,” Spot finished.

 “I told you guys; you’re my best friends, I’m honored that you even asked me,” Skye said just as the doctor walked in.

 “Alright, Miss Kloppman, are you ready?” the doctor asked, smiling kindly at the trio.

 Skye glanced at Spot and Race, and then nodded. “Ready as I’ll ever be,” she responded.

 “Then let’s get started.”

 It only took a few minutes. Spot and Race watched, mostly out of curiosity, but also because they wanted to be there for Skye.

 Two weeks later, Skye took not one, not two, not three, but four pregnancy tests. All four came out positive. Spot and Race were so excited that they jumped up and down, and Race squealed.

 It seemed like Spot and Race doted on Skye for the entirety of her pregnancy. And when they weren’t, Albert was. He was the one who took care of her at home, hardly even letting her cook her own meals. This irritated the crap out of Skye, but she loved him. And they found out the big news.

 “Alright, miss Kloppman, Mr. Conlon-Higgins, are you ready?” the doctor asked.

 Skye’s stomach was big. It was almost abnormally big. Previous scans had shown a healthy baby boy, and this was another one to just prove that the baby was coming along healthily with ten fingers and ten toes.

 “Ready,” Skye said, glancing up at Race next to her. Either Spot or Race came with her for each scan. They had both come to the first few, including when they discovered the gender. This was just an ordinary scan.

 Skye flinched slightly at the cold gel, and then looked up at the screen as the doctor placed the little wand on her stomach.

 “Alright, there’s your little boy,” the doctor said. She moved the wand around a little more, as if searching for something. “Oh!”

 “Oh?” Race asked, “What’s ‘oh’?” he shared a worried glance with Skye.

 The doctor swallowed slightly, and then pointed to something on the screen. “Well, I think I’ve found the reason why you’re a little larger than normal. See this, here? That appears to be a second baby.”

 Race’s jaw dropped open, “Another baby? As in, twins?”

 The doctor nodded, “It would appear so. This happens sometimes with two donors; sometimes the woman releases two eggs instead of one, and the sperm from both you and your husband each fertilized an egg.”

 “Can you tell what gender it is?” Skye asked.

 “I can try,” the doctor moved the wand around, finally coming almost down to Skye’s back with it before she gave out a victorious sound, “See here? Looks like baby number two is a little girl; she was hiding behind her brother.”

 “A girl?” Race asked, “I’m going to have a daughter?”

 The doctor nodded, “Looks like. Congratulations,” she said.

 The two told Spot later that night. While the concept of two babies instead of just one was scary, it was also exciting. Plus, now they would have one of each, and that was perfect. Of course, this also meant that they became even more protective over her, Albert included. She wasn’t just carrying one life inside of her, she was carrying two.

 Skye’s water broke two days early. She was sitting on Spot and Race’s couch, Race sitting next to her, when she got up to go the bathroom. Once she was in the last couple weeks of the pregnancy, Spot and Race decided that at least one of them would be with her at all times so that when her water broke, she wouldn’t be alone.

 Getting up, Skye stretched her arms above her head, and then placed a hand on her stomach. “Race, I’m telling you, these two are going to be a handful,” she said. “Ohh, kicking!”

 Race smiled, “One of them’s a soccer player,” he said, placing his own hand over her stomach. Sure enough, one of the babies kicked against his palm.

 “Maybe,” Skye said. And then she felt liquid on her legs. Looking down, her eyes widened at the wet spot on the floor. “Uh, Race? I think my water just broke.”

 “What?!” Race exclaimed, shooting up. “We need to get you to the hospital!”

 Race was quick to grab the bag that he and Spot had packed, and called an Uber to take them to the hospital. On the way, he called Spot and Albert, who met them in the hospital.  

 All three men were in the room with Skye as she went through her labor. She also gave out some really colorful insults due to the pain.

 “Spot, Race, I am NEVER doing this for you again! I swear to God!” she exclaimed, squeezing their hands hard through a contraction.

 “We’re not asking you to,” Spot replied, grimacing as she cut off the circulation in his hand. When the contraction finally passed, she eased on the pressure, and Spot gladly switched places with Albert, taking Race’s free hand instead.

 “I’m not allowed to knock you up, am I?” Albert joked, not withering under Skye’s glair.

 “Not until they figure out how to make this process painless!” Skye responded. “Ah!” another contraction rolled through her.

 “Well, it looks like you’re finally ready to push,” the doctor said.

 Pushing was… well, it was painful. Skye had thought the contractions had hurt, well, pushing had hurt even worse.

 Finally, after what seemed like forever, crying that belonged to a baby filled the room. Skye collapsed against the bed, Race’s and Albert’s hands clenched into her own.

 “It’s a boy,” the doctor announced, handing the baby off to a nurse to clean off.

 “A boy?” Skye asked, breathless, “Is he okay?”

 “He’s fine,” the doctor assured, “rest for a moment. You’ll have to start pushing again in a few minutes.”

 Skye nodded and relaxed slightly. Albert leaned over, pressing a kiss against her sweaty forehead as Race and Spot joined the nurse who had their son. The tiny baby was finally placed into Race’s arms, wrapped in a blue blanket, and the two men stared down at their son with wide eyes. He stared up at them with equally large blue eyes.

 “Do you guys have a name?” Skye asked. The two looked over at her to find that Albert had climbed into the bed with her, allowing her to rest against his chest.

 Spot and Race nodded.

 “Skye, Albert, this is Ethan Mitchel Conlon-Higgins,” Race said. Skye started to smile, only to let out a yelp when another contraction rushed through her.

 “Looks like your little girl is ready to come out, now,” the doctor said, “Ready to push again?”

 Skye took a deep breath, but she nodded.

 The second baby came faster than the first, a little smaller, and so easier to push out. When the crying started, the doctor happily announced, “It’s a girl.”

 “Is she alright?” Spot asked. He had gone back to Skye’s side when she had to push again.

 Race nodded, “She’s beautiful,” he replied. He still had little Ethan in his arms, held close to his chest.

 The little girl was handed to Spot, a purple blanket wrapped around her tiny body.

 “She’s so much smaller than her brother,” Spot said, almost worriedly.

 “That’s normal,” the doctor said, “Girl babies tend to be smaller than boy babies. Do you have a name for the birth certificate?”

 Spot and Race looked at each other again and nodded.

 “Annie Elise Conlon-Higgins,” Spot said.

 “You… You named her after me?” Skye asked, a touched look over-coming her features.

 Spot sat in the chair next to her bed, his little girl in his arms, “Skye, you carried two babies inside of you for us. We decided a long time ago that if one of them ended up a girl, we’d name her after you,” he said. “It was the least we could do; lord knows we’ll never be able to repay you for this.”

 Skye smiled up at him, tiredly, “Don’t worry about it; you guys are my best friends, I’d do anything for you two. Can I…?”

 Spot smiled, and gently handed his daughter to her. Race followed suit, setting his son into her lap, as well. Skye let out a laugh.

 “They inherited my eyes; both of them,” she said.

 “Annie’s is a little lighter,” Albert said, peering at the two babies. “Ethan’s gonna be a little heartbreaker; dark hair and blue eyes.”

 “At least Annie’s a blond,” Race said.

 Skye rolled her eyes and looked back at the two little babies. “Hey, you guys. I’m the one who carried you carried you for nine whole months,” she said. “Your daddies are going to take good care of you two; because if they don’t, then they’ll have to answer to me. But I have faith in them. You two are going to grow up to be amazing people, I can tell.” The three men didn’t dare interrupt her as she talked to the babies. They had grown inside of her for nine months, Skye could do whatever she wanted.

 “I love you guys, okay? Just because you belong to Spot and Race won’t change that.” Skye kissed both babies on their tiny foreheads, and then leaned back, allowing Spot and Race to take the babies back. This time, Race had the little girl and Spot had the boy. Skye curled up against Albert, exhaustion finally hitting her.  

 Spot and Race were able to take their babies home that same day. Skye had to stay for a few extra days, to make sure her body was okay after the ordeal of pushing two human beings out of it.

 When Skye finally woke up after a few hours, she found Albert still sitting behind her, her head resting against his chest. He was playing with something, a black box.

 “What’s that?” she asked tiredly, reaching out to try and grab it.

 Albert’s long fingers closed around the box, which he’d been tossing from hand to hand.

 Albert took a deep breath, “I was hoping you’d be asleep for a little while longer,” he said.

 “Why?” Skye asked. She pushed herself up, turning slightly to look at her boyfriend.

 “So I could have more time to think about how to do this,” he admitted. He brought the little box closer to Skye, and popped it open. Sitting inside the box, was a ring.

 It was a silver band with a good-sized diamond set into the middle of it. On either side of the diamond, sat two amethyst stones.

 “Is… Is that?” Skye asked, not looking away from the ring.

 “It is,” Albert confirmed, “I looked for months for the perfect ring, and I finally found this one a few weeks ago.”

 “Albert…” Skye broke off, looking up at the attractive redhead.

 “I know you just had two babies, but I love you. And we’ve been talking about this for a year now, and I know you hate clichés, so I’m just going to ask. Elise Kloppman, will you marry me?”

 “Yes,” Skye said, before the reality of the situation finally hit her and she grew excited, “yes, yes, yes!” she threw her arms around him in an excited hug. Albert let out a laugh and hugged her back before pulling away.

 Popping the ring out of the box, Albert grabbed Skye’s left hand and slid the ring onto her fourth finger. As Skye admired the ring on her finger, Albert smiled and kissed the top of her head.

 “And maybe we’ll have our own kids, one day,” Albert said.

 Skye snorted and slapped his chest with the back of her hand. “Let’s worry about getting married, first, and then maybe we’ll think about kids,” she said.

 Albert smiled, “Alright,” he agreed, before leaning down and capturing her lips with his. Yeah, they’d be fine.

 Ahhh I worked on this for so long. It was mostly a Spot/Race story, but I needed to add a little Albert/Skye. What do you guys think their ship name should be? Skalbert is a favorite of mine, or Alskye. Yeah, should probably stick with Skalbert. Either way, I hope you guys enjoyed this! I have a prompt/request up next!

[ostrich-on-a-rampage-blog]

Sprace-- • Character B bleeding heavily while Character A tries to staunch the blood but Character B is more concerned about the fact that stoic Character A is sobbing and panicking

So, I’m finishing up that Spot and Crutchie as brothers fic, but until I posted that, I figured I should at least put something else out there. Sorry I haven’t been posting as much. College started back up and that Spot and Crutchie thing has gotten hella long and in-depth and has been taking most of my time. Anyway, without further ado, some Sprace.

TW: Blood, stab wounds.

He wasn’t supposed to have had a knife.

It wasn’t as if Race had been doing anything wrong. Not this time, at least. There were countless times that he had deserved to be beat up, where he deserved the black eye or the split lip that the rest of the newsboys would mock him for–though, Race could always hear the concern in their jabs. If he had actually been fooling around, swindling someone, then maybe it would have made the attack moderately okay. But, Race hadn’t been in the wrong this time.

However, it only took one time for the past, the future, to be carved into cold, unyielding stone. One millisecond, one split-second of hesitation, and suddenly–change. There are innumerable moments, indiscernible from their harmless counterparts, when the entirety of history rests, uneasy, on an apex. Only the slightest breeze, the softest breath will alter the course.

October 15th, 1899.

The sky thrummed with tension, with expectancy. Events brewed together, smoking and scalding. Danger, inescapable. Fate turned her head and held her breath.

It would not be her that stirred the future forward.

He wasn’t supposed to have had a knife.

Race glanced up at the gathering storm clouds, before hurrying forward. He had just sold his last pape, but it was still early afternoon. The headline had been a sure sell–something about a murder near the edge of the Bronx–but Race hadn’t purchased as many papes as he knew he could sell. He wanted to be off early. Free. Besides, he had a meeting–as they were apt to call it.

For almost a month, Race had been meeting up with Spot. It had started with a bet, like most experiences in Race’s life. Race had taken the bet confidently; very rarely did he lose bets made on the races. And this one was a sure thing. Or, rather, it was supposed to be a sure thing. He recalled the complete disbelief that had nearly dropped the cigar from lax lips. His horse had lost. His horse had lost and… And Spot’s had won.

“Pay up, Higgins,” Spot had said, his voice triumphant. “I think you owe me a dollar.”

Race had turned to Spot, quickly recovering from the shock. “I don’t think so. I don’t even have a dollar!”

“Then, why’d you make a bet for a dollar?”

“Cuz I was planning on making one,” Race had explained, rolling his eyes in exasperation.

Spot had crossed his arms against his chest. “Yeah? Well, maybe I was planning on making one. Pay up.”

“I ain’t gonna pay you no dollar,” Race had said.

“Fine,” Spot had said, pressing his pointer finger into Race’s chest. “But, you owe me one.”

Race had felt the warm pressure of Spot’s finger against his sternum throughout the next couple days, firm and familiar. And, it hadn’t faded until Spot showed up at the Manhattan Lodging House one afternoon. Race had paused, his chest tightening with some indescribable feeling at the sight of Spot, leaning leisurely against the Lodging House. Although he had appeared to be relaxed–posture somewhat slumped, a deck of cards flicking between nimble fingers, a smile tightening his lips–Race had recognized the tension that could spring the leader of Brooklyn into action. “You’re with me, Higgins,” he had said, motioning for Race to follow him.

And, he had. There had been hesitation, of course. Race hadn’t exactly known what to expect from the Brooklyn leader. But, there was something calming, something reassuring and constant about Spot, that Race didn’t want to risk by not following the shorter, stockier boy. That first night, they had stopped at a deli, ate cold-cut meat and sharp pickles, sat on a curb and talked until the flickering lights of apartments faded into darkness. Race had left him, reluctantly admitting that he needed to get back to the Lodging House and catch, at least, a couple hours of sleep. Spot’s mouth had twitched, as if he were holding something back. He had grunted a farewell and they had parted ways.

But, two days later, Spot had shown up at the Manhattan Lodging House once again. It became a habit of theirs. Sell papes, head out to Brooklyn, grab a cheap meal, and talk long into the night. There had been one night, only a week later, when Race had stood up to return home and Spot had spoken up. “Oh, come on, Race,” he had said, his voice gruff–an effort to hide some sort of emotion, “why don’t you just stay at the Brooklyn House? It’s closer and it ain’t like we don’t got the room.”

Race had regarded Spot carefully, trying to read into Spot’s actual intentions behind the offer. “Okay, maybe I will,” Race had accepted, still watching the Brooklyn leader for some sort of indication.

Spot had smiled, the motion as relaxed as Race had ever seen it. Once they had reached the Brooklyn Lodging House, Spot had offered his own bed for Race, choosing to take the ground. It had been a surprisingly kind gesture, and the thought of it had warmed Race throughout the entire night.

The next night had been the same, and the night after that.

And, then, Spot had completely upended the entire game. They had been walking to the Brooklyn Lodging House. Race had noticed that Spot had watched him all afternoon, his eyes lit with something that Race still couldn’t place. Then, Spot’s jaw had tightened with what Race recognized to be resolve. Spot had grabbed Race’s wrist and dragged him into a nearby alley. Before Race had even been able to ask what was going on, Spot had grabbed Race’s head, his fingers threading through Race’s sweaty curls, as he kissed the other boy with a desperation that shocked Race. It took a moment, before Race had shaken off the immobilizing surprise. “What… the hell,” he had hissed, once he had backed out of Spot’s grasp.

Spot had glared at him, as if Race were in the wrong. He had swiped at his mouth angrily, before backing up. “Never mind. Maybe you should go back to Manhattan, Higgins.” Spot had reverted back to using Race’s last name, and that offended Race more than he cared to admit.

“Whoa,” Race had said, holding his hands up in defense. “Let’s slow down a bit. What was that? You just kissed me, Spot.”

“Yeah, I did. And if you go around telling, I’m gonna make you wish you hadn’t been born.”

Race had rolled his eyes, suddenly able to see past the hardened exterior that Spot wore as a shield. “Calm down, Conlon. You just took me by surprise is all.”

“So?” Spot had asked, and if Race had not known the other boy as well as he did, he would have been unable to detect the soft fear underlying the word.

“So,” Race had repeated, before surging forward and grabbing Spot, pressing him up against the alley wall. That night, they had shared Spot’s bed.

Everything else had fallen in place easily afterwards. There had been more rendevous in Brooklyn, more in Manhattan. More secret trysts in darkened alleyways, more insistent, frantic kisses. More intertwining fingers, more soft whispers, more tender kisses. More, more.

There had never been enough.

Race grinned at the memories. It had only been a short month, but it still felt as if he had always had Spot in his life like this. Race couldn’t imagine not having Spot around, couldn’t imagine a life without Spot’s lips against his.

“Hey, Race!”

The call interrupted Race’s thoughts and the smile slipped. “Jack, what’s up?” Race asked, turning to face the leader of the Manhattan newsboys. “A great headline today, wouldn’t ya say?”

Jack smiled briefly. “Yeah, it really was. Where you off to in such a hurry?”

Race jerked his thumb in the direction of Brooklyn. “I got a meeting.”

“A meeting,” Jack said, his voice flat, as if he didn’t quite believe Race.

“Yeah, a meeting. You got a problem with that?” Race watched Jack carefully for his reaction, searching for any suspicion on the true nature of his constant “meetings” over in Brooklyn. Jack’s eyes narrowed only slightly at Race’s carefree question, but the Manhattan leader didn’t rise to the bait Race had flung out. There were some mornings, when Race would meet up with the rest of the Manhattan boys at the Square, and Jack would stare at Race, his eyes dark with what Race could only categorize as suspicion. Race couldn’t be sure whether Jack actually knew what occupied his time in Brooklyn.

“No, but, Race, you seem to spend an awful lot of time over in Brooklyn.”

Race shrugged. “Yeah. Spot and I’se good friends.” He grinned cockily. “Besides, I’m making sure the Manhattan-Brooklyn relations stay good. Ain’t that a good thing?”

Jack nodded slowly. “I guess. Just wanted to make sure you was doing okay. And that you was being careful, too.”

“I’m fine, Jack. Anyway, I’ll see ya later tonight. Or tomorrow. Depending how late the,” he snorted softly, before continuing, “meeting goes.”

With that, Race continued to Brooklyn, a grin on his lips and a bounce in his step. The sky was thickening, electricity thrumming through the whirling, portentous clouds. Race figured that he wouldn’t be returning to Manhattan that night, no matter how long their “meeting” would last; Race didn’t exactly want to be walking home in the rain. Which meant, Jack would probably even expect him to stay in Brooklyn. Especially, if the storm raged harder than expected. Race glanced back, trying to determine if Jack was still watching him, or if the older boy had headed back to the Manhattan Lodging House.

He didn’t see Jack, but Race did notice a group of boys trailing behind him. They were big, burly, sneers splitting their faces. Race slowed to a stop, turning to face the boys head on. He raised a brow in their direction. “What brings you fellows over here. Aren’t you Richmond boys?” Race asked, crossing his arms against his chest in an apparently casual manner. Beneath the relaxed stance, however, Race was coiled tightly, preparing for what he expected would turn into a fight.

“Yeah, and what of it?” the first boy asked. He had blonde hair that stuck to his forehead in sweaty clumps, his cheeks flushed.

“Nothing,” Race replied nonchalantly, discreetly checking for ways out if the situation got hairy. “Just trying to make some friendly conversation.” There was an alley just to the right of him and he was pretty sure that, from there, he could edge his way behind buildings and out to a side street down the way. Or, if he bolted, he could probably make it, either to Brooklyn, or the Manhattan Lodging House. Race was nearly at the halfway point between both places.

The bigger boys moved closer and Race instinctively took a step back. “You’re Higgins, right?”

“What’s it to you?” Race shot back. Four on one weren’t entirely hopeful odds. Race figured he could probably take two down relatively easy, and then he would be able to focus on the other two. Hopefully. Race took a second step back, maintaining the distance between himself and the boys.

“We’ve got some debts to settle,” the blonde boy said, and Race took him to be the leader of the gang.

Race scoffed, “I don’t gamble with Richmond boys. You got the wrong guy.”

“Maybe you don’t,” the blonde conceded, “but Conlon does. And we heard the two of you was close. Real close,” he said, drawing out the “s” as his mouth twisted into a grim smile.

“Oh, I see,” Race said, lightly, wondering just what the hell Spot had done to send this gang after him. “Well, seeing as I’m not Spot, I still stand by the idea that you’ve got the wrong guy.” He forced out a chuckle, before backing up even further. “Now, if you’d excuse me, I’ve got to get going and–”

Race cut himself off as the gang surged forward, towards him. He ducked out of the path of the first punch, sidestepping out of the reach of brass knuckles that Race hadn’t even seen the boys slip on. However, his retreat landed him in the path of the fourth boy, a short, robust red-head with a scar splitting his chin. The first punch to his jaw had Race stumbling backwards, but he quickly shoved the throbbing pain to the back of his head as he maneuvered away from the brass knuckles that glinted in the afternoon sun.

This wasn’t going to end well, Race already recognized this. While he had plenty of faith in his abilities to hold his own in a fight, Race wasn’t stupid enough to miss just how pissed the gang of Richmond boys were. And anger could be fatally dangerous, Race knew all too well.

The boys weren’t letting up, though Race glared at them, mentally daring them to continue the fight. They took the unspoken challenge to heart, and Race found himself narrowly avoiding a pair of brass knuckles. Race stepped in quickly, dodging the redhead’s fist’s range, punching him soundly in the nose. He followed the punch with a knee to the boy’s groin, grinning when the redhead fell to the ground.

Without pausing for even a momentary relieve, Race spun on his heel, landing a harsh left hook against one of the boy’s cheek. The boy stumbled backwards, pressing a hand against his cheek and glaring at Race. Race didn’t bother to relish in the small victory, already focusing on his next assailant.

Despite his focus on the fight, Race still couldn’t completely hold his own against the four boys, especially with the other two returning into the fray. The punch to his gut winded him, and Race edged back, realizing that he had to get out of there, damn his pride. A kick to the back of his knee–and when had they managed to circle around him?–and Race collapsed to the ground, instantly pushing himself up to continue the ever-hopeless fight. One of the Richmond boys kicked him in the ribs and Race barked out a hoarse cry of pain, fighting the instinctual urge to curl up around his bruised ribs and wait for the pain to abate. Instead, he pushed himself to unsteady feet, throwing himself at the nearest boy, who nearly tossed him to the side, hurling him into the arms of another waiting Richmond boy. This one, the blonde leader of the gang, grabbed Race’s arms, pinning him.

Race tugged against the leader’s grip, trying to maneuver his arms in order to elbow the Richmond boy in the stomach. “Not so strong now, eh?” the boy asked, chortling. Before Race could come up with a suitably witty response, the leader continued, “We’re gonna show Conlon not to mess with Richmond.” He nodded to one of his lackeys, tightening his grip around Race’s arms.

The gleeful leer was what first alerted Race to his danger. The sharp spike of pain confirmed it. He gasped at the sudden searing across his stomach, bending forward reflexively. The leader laughed cruelly, shoving Race to the ground. He couldn’t manage to catch himself, his jaw taking the brunt of the impact. Race grunted, twisting to face his attacker. Whatever retort he’d been preparing died on his tongue at the sight of the knife the Richmond boy held. The bloody knife. Realization flooded him and he couldn’t think past a constant stream of knife, blood, pain, knife, blood, pain, knife, blood, pain. It grew to a roar, and Race choked out a sob, grabbing at his stomach, trying to stem the blood.

“Don’t really know what Conlon sees in you,” the leader spat. “Give him a message for us, will ya? Tell him he ain’t welcome ‘round Richmond no more.” The leader kicked Race in the stomach, before waving his boys off.

Race gasped around choking sobs, working to even out his breathing, but he couldn’t manage to completely fill his frantically pumping lungs. He arched his back, groaning at the pain that suddenly lanced through his abdomen. Fingers pressed desperately at the wound, which only spiked the pain further. It hurt, it hurt so badly, but Race couldn’t just lay there on the grimy, blood-soaked street, just waiting for Death to take him. He couldn’t give up this easily.

Gritting his teeth, Race pushed himself up to a sitting position. Harsh breaths tore from his mouth, but he refused to be cowed so easily. Race stood, immediately finding support against the brick wall to his right. His legs trembled, but Race was determined to not give up. He glanced back, in the direction of the Manhattan Lodging House. Race could return and Jack would help him, would take care of him. With a snort, Race turned away, beginning the long walk to Brooklyn.

He was no fool. Race didn’t know how much longer he would be able to fight the darkness edging at his sight. But, he did know that, at this time, it wasn’t Jack’s comfort that he yearned for. With a firm resolve, Race started towards Brooklyn, ignoring the way each step jostled his wound further, ignoring how warm blood spilled between his fingers, dripping, dripping–

Dripping. There had been one night, a couple weeks ago, when it had started storming, thunder and thick clouds swirling around the darkened sky. Rain had dripped off the rooftop, endless and momentarily eternal. Spot and Race had sat there, watching the growing storm, listening to the dripping rain. And, if Race closed his eyes, he could hear the constant dripping, sonorous in the deep silence; he could feel the familiar pressure of Spot’s shoulder against his own, could feel the soft warmth that radiated from the boy that only exuded cold hardness around everyone else.

Race stumbled over the uneven sidewalk, his hand inadvertently digging deeper into the stab wound. He cursed at the sudden pain, but continued doggedly forward. It couldn’t be that much farther now; Race felt as if he had already walked miles upon miles. Early on in their relationship, Spot and Race had decided to rendezvous at a small deli, nearly exactly halfway between the two Lodging Houses. The walks there had always seemed brief, but as Race stumbled slowly forward, he realized just how long and tortuous the distance was. It couldn’t be much longer, it couldn’t be much longer. It was a mantra, an anchor. The only repetition that kept Race moving.

That, and Spot.

Race could clearly picture the shorter boy, a soft smirk twisting his lips; his skin dark, his hair darker; eyes that smoldered with humor and strength. He could hear Spot’s laugh: the way it started out soft and gravelly, before growing, rolling, like thunder in a summer storm. He could feel Spot’s hand, pressing insistently into his own, their fingers intertwining roughly.

Only a few steps more, and Spot would be there.

The air seemed thick, muggy, and Race’s breath came in sharp gasps that punctuated each jolting step. Sweat slicked his forehead, itched at his underarms. There had been a summer day, only the week before. The sun had beaten down relentlessly, a cloudless sky offering no relief. They had crept beneath the dappled shade of a tree, and laid there, swimming in sweat, dreaming of fall. Race wanted to be back under that tree, when the future seemed filled with endless opportunities and nothing could harm them.

How much farther could the deli actually be?

“Race?”

With a soft sigh, Race smiled weakly. He had made it. He had found Spot. Race had a couple of witty retorts planned out, either “This is why I’m the gambler in this relationship” or “Boy, those Richmond boys aren’t afraid to bring a knife to a fistfight”. Instead, Race only managed to groan, “Spot,” as he stumbled and fell to the ground.

Spot’s hands were immediately on Race’s shoulders, helping him into a sitting position. “What the hell, Higgins,” Spot hissed. “What did you get yourself into?”

Only because he had known the shorter boy for so long, Race could recognize the worry thrumming beneath the words. “It’s–” Race cut himself off, coughing. He grimaced at the blood that now spattered the pavement. “It’s…” he considered his words. Race wouldn’t be able to convince Spot that he was fine. Hell, he couldn’t even convince himself he was fine. “It’s pretty bad,” Race explained.

“No shit,” Spot muttered, studying the bloody pavement. “Where are you hurt?” he demanded, tearing his focus from the ground.

“Mostly just my stomach,” Race explained.

Spot was silent, as he gently pushed Race’s vest aside. However, upon seeing the blood-soaked shirt, Spot could no longer keep his peace. “Race,” he said, and his voice wavered only slightly. “Race, you gotta tell me what happened.” His hands hovered for a moment, above the injury, before pressing down–hard–to staunch the blood. “You gotta tell me.”

Race groaned at the sudden pressure, trying to push Spot’s hands away. Spot remained insistent, and Race gave up, recognizing that he was too weak to win a fight against Spot’s stubborn nature. “What do you think?” he asked sarcastically, grinning. His teeth were stained with blood and Race wondered if he would ever manage to get the sickly iron taste out of his mouth. “Got stabbed.”

“Who?” Spot ground out.

Race attempted half of a shrug, before giving up when the movement tore at his stab-wound. “A buncha idiots.” Spot continued to glare at him, silently demanding him to provide the information. “Just a buncha Richmond boys. Thought they were all high an’ mighty.” Race snorted. “Boy, did they show me.”

Spot shook his head, anger tightening his features. “They’se gonna pay.” His eyes shot up, dark and vicious, as if he were searching for the aggressors. “Trust me, they’se gonna pay.”

“Mm,” Race agreed. His body was beginning to feel leaden. Already, Race struggled to move his arms, didn’t even bother to attempt moving his legs. Sluggishly, he blinked at Spot, watching the Brooklyn boy’s eyes flicker with an emotion that Race was, simply, too exhausted to interpret.

A sharp slap to his cheek had Race’s eyes jerking open, even before he had recognized that they had slid shut. “Stay awake,” Spot commanded, his voice strained.

“M’s’rry,” Race apologized, slurring the words into two weak syllables. “D’n’t mean ta.” He watched Spot, long, languid blinks interrupting his vision. Something odd struck him about Spot’s eyes. Something… different. Weakly, Race lifted his hand up to Spot’s cheek, brushing at a couple of the freckles there, streaking blood across his cheek. “Are ya… are ya cryin’?” he asked, ashamed at the effort that the small sentence cost him.

“I ain’t crying,” Spot immediately shot back. The words were gruff, as was his entire demeanor. The shorter boy seemed to bristle with an energy that Race didn’t initially recognize. “I ain’t crying. You’se just… not seeing right. It’s probably ‘cuz you ain’t even able to keep your eyes open, huh?”

“Oh,” Race said softly. He brushed limp fingers against Spot’s cheek, before allowing his arm to fall, motionless to his side. “Ya know… I’se real glad ‘at you’se here… with me. D’n’t want’a go… ‘lone,” he said. His slur was growing even more prominent with each word, vowels swallowed in tangled consonants.

Spot jolted at those words. Race groaned as Spot accidentally pressed even harder into the stab wound, but Spot ignored the pained sound. “Listen here, Higgins. You ain’t dyin’. Not on my watch.”

Race smiled weakly, the corners of his lips barely lifting. “You may… be stub’rn, but, Spot,” Race clearly enunciated Spot’s name, but paused to catch his breath before continuing, “Spot, ya ain’t… ya ain’t stupid.” He coughed again, frowning at the seemingly ever-present taste of iron in his mouth. It coated his cheeks, caked his tongue, stained his teeth. “It’s… gonna hap’n. Whether we want’a or… or not.”

“No, Race. You can’t think like that. You can’t just… just quit. Not now, not ever. ‘Kay? Promise me you’se going to pull through this,” Spot demanded.

“I ain’t gonna just… lie ta you… like that.”

Spot’s face twisted and his breath rushed out in a tight gasp. “Race, no,” he managed, finally removing his hands from the stab wound to pull Race into half of a hug onto his lap.

Race leaned into the touch, allowing his eyes to slip shut. Spot rarely initiated contact, and Race had grown accustomed to bridging the gap. But this afternoon… This afternoon, he was far too exhausted and couldn’t reach out, could only hope that Spot would reach for him. Spot’s body shook, and, though Race felt as if he should recognize the motion, he couldn’t place it. Instead, he wrapped numb fingers around the hem of Spot’s shirt and allowed the only boy who had ever truly mattered rock him into oblivion.

He wasn’t supposed to have had a knife.

[fnnwlfhard]

hey so i wrote this sprace thing with a hint of javid also titles??? idk her

—

race loved hanging out with his friends, especially at parties. so when davey's parents and brother went out of town for the weekend, race had something to say about it. "c'mon dave your parents won't find out we'll clean everything up, no i personally will clean everything up afterwards" "race how many times do i have to tell you, we cannot have a party at my house!" "why davey?? you never wants to do anything fun. c'mon break some rules, live a little" "hey i break the rules every now and then!" "oh yeah like when" "well, there was that one time,, i, uh, that one time weasel accidentally gave me one extra pape and i didn't say nothing about it, so technically i stole something" "ooohhhh look out world here comes trouble-maker jacobs!" race sarcastically replied "race why are you so set on having a party at davey's house" jack interrupted "because the guy doesn't do anything bad! he needs to toughen up a bit!" "race we all know yous just lookin for an excuse to get trashed" jack retorted "i-no, uh, whaaat, yous guys are insane,,, ok maybe i likes to booze a little what's so wrong with that? all i'm sayin is a little party never killed nobody so why not cmon dave" race immediately started giving the cheesiest puppy dog face "pwease davey, pwease" "oh alright fine just please stop bugging me!" "now that's what i'm talkin bout fellas we's throwing a party!" race exclaimed to his friends friday night came sooner than expected and race couldn't be more excited. he had began stockpiling any alcohol he could get his hands on since davey agreed to having a party. race showed up at davey's house with his arms full of various assortments of drinks. "jeez race i didn't realize yous was an alcoholic" "hey i'm not an alcoholic,, i just likes to collect things," "yeah collect a failing liver, how much stuff did you bring?" "not sure, stole most of it from delivery trucks" "race come on" "hey yous want a good time right? well here it is" race replied smugly. davey had only invited everyone in their friend group, jack, race, katherine, crutchie, albert, specs, romeo, and his sister sarah (obviously), so he wasn't expecting a huge mess. "oh dave by the way i hopes you don't mind but i invited a couple of my buddies from brooklyn, they let me sell on theys turf sometimes so i just wanted to thank them by inviting them to a party" "race you didn't," just then another knock came on the door. davey gave race a stern glare and race just smiled sheepishly. davey opened the door for a group of boys and they let themselves in. "hey spot!" race came over and greeted his friends from the neighboring borough. "fellas come here and meet my friends from brooklyn! this is jojo, mush, blink, elmer, finch and yous all know spot" "ah yes, king of brooklyn himself, how are ya spot?" jack asked "i'll be great if i gets something to drink soon!"

in less than hour everyone had something to drink and the effects were underway. the jacobs had a gramophone and everyone was dancing to the music. race opted to drink whiskey straight from the bottle and he was all over the place. once davey had a few drinks, he even found race's antics hysterical. spot couldn't stop watching race dance around the living room floor while spilling his drink everywhere. he couldn't help but think about how cute race looked laughing and smiling. spot could tell they had some sort of connection since he met race at sheepshead two months ago. everyday since then, after they're done selling they meet up and just talk about things like their day or their friends but that's all that happened. and god forbid anyone who found out about their meetings, no one could know that the king of brooklyn was close friends with an arrogant, loud, manhattan newsie. race's friends hadn't said anything when he started coming home late in a strangely good mood. race couldn't let his friends know he talked to spot conlon every day, they'd think he was a traitor or worse, dating him. but the thing is, race thought about dating spot all the time. he's thought about grabbing his hand on their walks under the bridge, or kissing him while he was in the middle of ranting about the brooklyn newsies. but race never did anything because he didn't want to ruin their friendship and he didn't even know if spot felt the same way. race's mind was buzzing and he felt on top of the world. granted, it was the large consumption of alcohol that gave him this wonderful feeling. he felt like he could do anything. anything, including telling spot about his feelings for him. race made his way over to where spot was standing in the kitchen with jojo, trying his best not to bump into anything or fall over. "HEY SPOT" race shouted even though there's wasn't much noise in the kitchen. "race you's don't need t' yell i can hear ya fine" spot replied with a chuckle. "oh, yeah i forgot. it's waaaay too loud out there my ears just haven't adjusted to the quiet ya know?" race was trying to stall as best as he could even though he really wasn't thinking clearly at all. "race is there a reason you came over here?" "oh yeah there was actually! jojo do ya mind ah goin t' the other room? just for a second i's promise ya" race asked as jojo just walked away with his hands thrown up in the air as a sign of annoyance. spot found race's slurred words a bubbly personality adorable and he was thankful that race approached him.

"finally! i's been wantin t' talk t' ya spot, spotty, spot-o, spoot" spot laughed at the dumb nicknames race had made up for him right then and there "what do ya's want racer" race gasped and his eyes lit up as spot gave him a nickname he hadn't heard before. "racer! i like it! anyways,,, i was wondering if you's wanted to take a walk?" "but all of our friends are here why do you's want to leave" "why won't you just trust me for once! pwease spotty i wanna get outta here" race began leaning on spot, his arms finding their way around spots neck as race started to slump to the ground. "alright alright fine we can take a walk, if you can, what the hell did you drink higgins?" "enough to do what i want to do" "and what's that?" "you'll find out soon enough!" race grabbed spots hand and dragged him through the living room to the front door. as they were leaving race noticed two people furiously making out in the corner. barely making out the figures, he could tell it was jack and davey. i knew it would happen sooner or later, didn't realize all it took was some booze for them to realize their feelings for each other race thought. spot and race had successfully snuck out of the party, everyone was probably too drunk to realize they had left. race had his arm around spots neck, leaning on him for support because standing alone was hard enough.

"race do you's know where we's going" "yeah yeah it's not that far from here" race mumbled. he was taking spot to an alley. but not just any alley, race like to sneak out at night and come to the alley behind the deli to smoke since the other guys couldn't stand the smell they banned him from smoking at the lodging house. the alley smelled like meat and there wasn't any light but race liked it because it was so secluded from the rest of the city, and he's become great friends with the owner, mr. jacobi. they finally reached the alley and race wasn't feeling too hot. as soon as he reached the dumpster he began to hurl into it. "hey hey are you good race? maybe you shouldn't've drank so much" spot said warily while rubbing his friend's back. moments passed until race was able to speak "you need to stop ya worrying about me alright i'm fine i can do things on my own" contradictory to what he said, race's slurred speech suggested that he was not fine. "i know i just don't want t' see ya get hurt or anything" there was a pause and they sat in silence listening to the noise of the busy city. "spot, there's something i's been wantin t' tell ya" spot lowered race on to a nearby crate, he sat on the one adjacent to race. "this might just be the alcohol talking but i thinks i got feelins for ya" spot's heart stopped for a moment. race liked him. suddenly it hit him like a truck and he realized he liked race back. all it took was race's drunken confession for spot's true emotions to come out. "now i'm not sayin we's got t' date or anything i just thought you deserved t' know" "race, i-" "ya don't like me, ya only like me as a friend i get it. i gets my hopes up all for nothing, i do it all the time, it's a habit i need to break" "race i was gonna say that i like you too" "really?" "really." there was a comforting silence that filled the air, spot gingerly grabbed onto race's hand and lightly stroked the back of his hand with his thumb. "well if ya like me i hope ya don't mind if i do this" race leaned over and kissed spot right on the lips. it took spot a moment to realize the reality of the situation but he soon settled even though race's breath reeked of alcohol and whatever he ate that day. race pulled away and looked into spots eyes. "we need to get you a mint, god race your breath stinks!" spots remark sent both of them into a fit of laughter. when they had settled down spot was the first to get up. "why don't we get back to the party t' get ya some water yer gonna be pretty hungover in the morning" "you think i'm pretty?!" race's eyes lit up and he giggled. spot sighed and just told the boy what he wanted to hear "the prettiest boy in all of manhattan" "why not all of new york?" "because that's me!" race giggled, he couldn't deny the fact that spot was most beautiful person he's laid eyes on. "c'mon let's get goin racer" spot reached out his hand for race. "racer, i like it. spotty and racer the kings of new york!" "we'll talk about spotty later, let's get you back to davey's"

race walked nuzzling up to spot the entire way back to the party. spot didn't mind he found it comforting that race needed him at that moment. spot could only pray that race remembered their talk in the morning. sadly they reached davey's apartment soon enough. spot opened the door to find everyone gone. had they really been out that long? he heard some mumbling coming from the couch. "who is that and why are you in my house?" davey, half asleep, whispered. spot looked over and could see davey lying on top of jack asleep, spot chuckled and shook his head. "it's me, spot, and a very drunken racetrack. i don't think it's such a good idea for race to go back to the lodging house like this, could he crash here?" "go ahead, take les's room, just try not to make a mess and be quiet please" davey said, lying back down on the other boy. spot led race into the bedroom and began to undress him, he wasn't letting him sleep in his smelly clothes. race mumbled, "spot stay with me please, i can't sleep without you, you have to protect me" "there's nothing you have to worry about i'm right here" spot hadn't planned on staying but since race asked, how could he say no. he climbed into the bed putting his arm around the taller boy's waist. race tilted his head down so he was touching the smaller boy's head, and for once in his hectic life, race finally felt at peace.

[moonlit--wonders]

Listen Up, Brooklyn

Pairing: Spot Conlon/Racetrack Higgins

Summary: Race writes a letter to Spot

A/N: Based on this post! 

Conlon,   

Fuck you. We asked for your help, and you let us get our asses kicked, knowing full well that we needed you. Now it’s your fault I’m stuck in this god forsaken place. If I die in here, it’s on you.

Alright, maybe it’s not entirely your fault. But I’m still pissed at you.

And, just so we’re clear, I’m not here because I’m weak. Far from it. I certainly didn’t need your help, ‘cause I’m a self-sufficient kind of guy. But maybe some of the other guys could have used you.

I saw them going after Crutch, and I wasn’t about to let that happen. He doesn’t deserve any of this, and I know nobody is going to go easy on him, even with a bum leg. I can handle it. And Jack doesn’t need me as much as he needs Crutch or Dave. I can handle it here.

Don’t worry about me or anything. I’m doing just fine. Although I gotta say, they’re lacking a sense of humor around here. They made it crystal clear right away that they ain’t a fan of my mouth. It only took a few minutes before they were taking the cigar from me and burning holes into the skin. They don’t care about the sound of screaming and the begging them to stop. They don’t care that they already beat the crap outta all us newsies. They just care about proving they’re better than we are.

Oh, and to add insult to injury? They took them away. All of my cigars. You know how much they cost? I didn’t even steal these ones, I was an honest man and bought them with my own money! And now I have no cards, no smokes, no bets, no nothing. They really have no manners here. They haven’t even fed us yet. You know when the last time I ate was? Cause I don’t. You’d think they were trying to kill us by the way we’re getting treated.

They probably are.

Listen up, Brooklyn. I’m not writing to whine at you about how much this place sucks, and I’m not even writing to yell at you for not backing us up in the first place. I’m calling in a favor. A personal favor, not a business one.  I know you ain’t involved in the strike, but you gotta watch out for Manhattan. Newsies are family, doesn’t matter what borough we’re from. If the strike has taught me anything, it’s that we need to stick together.

I need you to have their back, because I can’t right now. And I can’t have anyone else winding up here. Not everyone is cut out for this kinda treatment. I don’t know if I’m cut out for it.

Please, Spot. I need you to do this for me, alright? I don’t want to see any of those boys hurt.

You know you’re the most powerful newsie in New York. When you say the word, all of the city rallies behind you. This is the time to prove what Brooklyn can do. Manhattan needs you. I need you.

I suppose I should probably wrap up now. If Snyder catches me, I’m done for sure. I’m already not too sure I’ll make it.

So I’ll see you soon, yeah? I know you’re probably forming some plan now to bust me out of this place, but I’m sick of being here, so if you could do it sooner rather than later, that’d be much appreciated. I never thought I’d say this, but I kinda miss Brooklyn. But you’d better not tell anyone I said that- I ain’t weak.

Hey Spot? Stay safe, please.

Racetrack

[nycrunning]

I am so sorry this took so long. I really am. Life yada yada, all the excuses,but you know. I try really hard.

Most of you already know what happened, on broad strokes, though not all the details, I had a crazy and great race… The video is here, so you get a good idea of what the day looked like, but the details and behind the scenes are below, … and there are some juicy details…

I hadn’t run the NYC Marathon in 5 years. After running it SEVEN years in a row, I made a hard stop. I run one or two since (Boston and Hudson Mohawk) but it had been a while. I fell out of love with the distance and crushed hard on the half. And it was all fine, the half and I were so happy together… But then, New Balance reached out with the offer to put me in their team for the marathon and I couldn’t say no. It’d be such an honor to be a part of the team and they were taking care of everything so I barely thought about it, I jumped in with both feet and yelled I DO, I DO!

New Balance’s gift for race day, WHICH I LOVED

The truth is, I was pretty trained. I was doing all these halfs and training with my friends who are all doing marathons. My weekend run was always at least 14 miles, so it wasn’t a big change. That was taken care of.

The nerves… wow. I was excited about such a fun experience… but the MARATHON…uh. That distance… I am the opposite of most people: I love the marathon training, but I don’t enjoy the race itself, mostly because marathon pace is so excruciating… UGH. Always waiting and waiting to fly and then, when it’s time, you are in pain. GREAT. That’s why I stopped.

But here we went. I got ready. Physically ready.

RACE WEEK

came around and the nerves came back up a bit… it’s gonna hurt… will it all be worth it… why do I have to suffer… all those thoughts. It all makes no sense when you have no goals.

My fastest race is 3:27 in Berlin. My fastest NYC was in 2009: 3:42. It’s be good to get a course PR or even go sub 3:40, but I know NYC is a tricky course so I wasn’t sure I could do that. On the other hand, I never run over 4 hours and I didn’t want to go over 4… the nerves!

RACE DAY

The switch was on. I was hyped! I had never gone to the start with Juan so I was SO pumped for that…! We saw everyone in the tent!

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Got some coffee, water, ate a couple of bars and just chatted with one million people. Soon, I dropped my bag and walked about 200 meters to the Orange F corral. This is REAL. It’s been so long. Feeling all my feelings.

AT THE CORRAL/START

I found a few friends in the corral and soon we all walked into the bridge. OMG so many feelies. Can I start crying now?  It was a SCENE. The Orange wave starts a few meters ahead of the blue wave, where the male elite runners start at the same time. So I had a PRIME position to watch the elite runners start. It was awesome… And then, I get to chase them. How lucky are we that in this sport we play on the same venue as the best of the world, at the same time??? Beyond awesome.

We get the national anthem, the cannon, confetti, Frank Sinatra’s New York New York, helicopters and a all the yelling. It’s time to go.

STATEN ISLAND

What a thrill. The start is quite exciting. Pumped 97%, scared 3%.

I always tell everyone you can ruin your race on your first mile, and I know how hard it is to keep it all under control with such hoopla. Seeing the city so far away into the distance helps to sober you up. Marathons are such a huge enterprise that you need to respect the distance, no matter how many or how well you’ve done before. Respect.

Or FEAR. that also works sometimes. 😉

The first two miles are epic. I was on cloud nine thinking about all the people I love. And then I saw my husband on the other side of the bridge, we blew kisses at each other, touched hands and wished each other luck. Then I watched him get swallowed by the crowds ahead.

We were off the bridge in a hot second. It’s blowing past me too fast. And I am going too fast. But, am I? It looked too fast on my watch. On the other hand, who knows what will unfold in a few miles…

BROOKLYN

1- THIS IS WHY I LOVED THIS RACE SO MUCH

2- #$!&*#! I AM RUNNING TOO FAST. I AM GONNA PAY FOR THIS. IT’S GONNA HURT. THIS IS WHY I STOPPED RUNNING MARATHONS

Wow, this is LOUD and AWESOME, and I am letting these awesome spectators push me too fast… CRAP. I was so scared… These miles were FAST and way under that I had planned. FFFFFFFF. Can I hold this pace? Am I gonna die a slow death on Fifth Avenue? Whatever I don’t care this is soooo fun.…

Seriously, my poor brain was so overstimulated and trying to control my emotions and speed. I had to veer to the inside lanes and put the music on to calm down and shut it down a few times.

It was impossible.

Fuck it.

This is waaaay toooooo much fun. Life is too short. Let’s go in.

QUEENS

This was also wild… the Pulaski was amazing. YOU have to look left. I was really absorbing it all in. Really. Then I just run through the streets looking for QDR and NP. I missed QDR but NP was unmissable. You could have heard them from Staten Island. It was also a highlight.

Then the mighty Ed Koch brige, or Queensoboro, or the QuadKiller, or whatever you wanna call it.

MANHATTAN

Also, yey for the views. And, we were fine. We slowed up a bit up the incline, yey to level effort, but it was a happy place for me. Then the steep downhill. I have to say that is one of the points of the race that I look forward to the most -coming off the bridge into the loudest First Avenue. It was NOT SO this year. The block was blocked off spectators and it was eerily quiet. A bit sad even.

Luckily, we turned the corner into First, went over the overpass, after a block of fluids, aaaaaaand there was everybody FINALLY. A bit anticlimactic, but only if you were expecting it like me…!

First Avenue was great. I was looking for Martina, and later Susan at 100. I saw LOTS of people I wasn’t planning on and eventually Susan at 100. That always keeps me focused. Get to the next friend.

Then things got scary for a second:

Ah crap. I had overused my music and drained EVERYTHING. Even my spectacles died. That’s what happens when you don’t do marathons often and you don’t think about these things.

the BRONX

I tried to collect myself… I don’t need a watch… I was barely looking at it… So, I knew I was in ok shape, having passed the half-way point in 1:45 to come in sub 4… but now I had no idea what I was running… Am I running ok? Am I fading off? UGH. Let’s go, hey Bronx, here I am!

I really enjoyed the Bronx… there was no slump there. It helped that I had 1 million friend cheering and that I did 2 or 3 course practice runs. I knew every turn and every step, that makes a HUGE difference. Hey Bronx, not afraid of you anymore!

Back in MANHATTAN

One last time… this is it. This is when things get tough. You have 20 miles on you and no matter how your race is going, your body can not be happy. I was mentally pumped, not scared anymore, a bit of stiffness but READY TO FLY. This is why we look forward to the last miles, right?

Fifth Avenue was awesome. Harlem Run had an insanely loud cheer zone and I managed to get a high five from Alison! Around the park and then we are right there… where dreams die.

Luckily for me, I had my friend Andrea waiting at 100. I kept telling myself “100”, “100”, “100”, like a crazy person, sometimes out loud. Totally normal, right?

I got to Andrea quickly. She had her dog with her and I almost died. Thank you babe! Fifth Avenue was never this amazing before.

Now, I was really wondering how I was doing, and where was Juan. He had predicted for months that I would pass him around 5th Avenue, but no sight of my hubs… where is he?

Now up this killer long uphill, into Central Park for the last final 2 miles and I knew I had Carolina and Patricia waiting right there. Carolina is a pro cheerer so I was ready!

The park was SO CROWDED… literally, lots of people on the course, a bit dangerous and annoying but I’ll take it. Not going to slow down now… no thanks!

THERE THEY ARE! hey HIIII

If anyone can jump for 2 seconds to take a selfie and keep up with anyone, it’s her! She told me I was doing amazing, I kept asking where was Juan, “Juan is like two miles behind”, I was in shock, never registered that I was “doing amazing”, said good bye and kept at it.

Right around 3 minutes later, at 72nd, I saw Melissa! Everyone looks miserable but I am shouting and blowing kisses.

Is having so many friends an illegal advantage? Sue me!

Well, now off just for the last bit. Let’s go. I can do this. My legs felt like they were going to fall off I swear… but hey. Hiiiiiii Whitney!!!!!!

A couple of minutes later, I was done.

My friend Ali was at the Finish, how convenient… also he takes amazing pictures!

That is literally how I felt. I wasn’t posing. I was crying, laughing, hysterical. FEELING ALL MY OATS at the same time! WOW. What a ride. Hey, I get a medal too!!!

Thanks Janelle for this picture!

Happiness… Seriously, it’s been a month and I still feel the glitter in my soul!

I found some more friends…

Then Remi brought me a scone. I died. What a day… Then I found my husband in the VIP area where our bags where. I WAS SO HYPER THO. So much caffeine. I took just 4 uncaffeinated gels, water, and 3 caffeine pills (I love these), and they really get me moving…

Once I got my stuff, first thing I did is I put some Cure in my water, chugged it, got all the layers on, got my phone and OMG WHAT THE FUCK DID I JUST DO????

WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK?

I felt good but I wasn’t expecting a 3:3X at all. WHAT? I was yelling. My poor husband, I get so loud!!!!

Everyone would tell me that “of course” and “I knew you would do that”. I didn’t. I was shocked. That is NOT a PR for me but my fastest NY was a 3:42 from 2009. Literally 10 years ago. I am TEN YEARS OLDER, PEOPLE!!!! well, that happened.

This was awesome. We walked the 2 miles home (not so awesome) and then I was hyper for about 3 more weeks. Help.

I am sorry this was too long. I am just processing it all now. While I sign up for next year’s race. Again: HELP.

          2019 NYCM - EPIC CRAZY DAY I am so sorry this took so long. I really am. Life yada yada, all the excuses,but you know.

[broadwaycantdie]

Disneyland / Part 2...The Destination! - Newsies (Pride) Month . Day 9

( all ) + ( modern ) + ( hc story )

a/n: i wanna go to disneyland so bad // also ah disney has pride merch now that’s so cute ! // ps. i will not make a 3rd part of the ride home cause that’s already too much lmao i just had a lot of fun with the road trip part i wanted to split it up

( this is part two of them actually at disneyland, click here for the road trip and journey of them getting here...it’s a wild one )

warnings: none

background: Every year the newsies all get together and go on their annual Disneyland trip. They drive from Manhattan to Anaheim because it’s cheaper than buying 20+ plane tickets. They also have a collective jar in the lodging house that everyone puts money into to help pay. Davey plans the whole thing for months and somehow things still go wrong. It’s never not a wild ride with their family. But every year they still enjoy it.

——————————————————————————

before they left the hotel, Davey made them plan everything out

it wasn’t a strict plan, but he knew that total freedom meant total chaos

he made a set of rules

rule #1 : you cannot be alone, stay with your buddy or a group at all times

rule #2 : meet back at the entrance after the fireworks so everyone can be counted and we can find people who are lost or don’t make it back in time and we can go to the hotel together

rule #3 : have fun

of course Davey would add “have fun” as a rule

he’d forget if he didn’t

they could barely sleep, everyone was so excited

so they got to the parks bright and early at 8am

they grouped themselves off

they ended up with 6 main groups

Jack, Davey, Bill, Darcy, Katherine, Sarah, and Les

Crutchie, Buttons, Henry, and Kenny

Specs, Romeo, Jojo, and Tommy Boy

Smalls, Sniper, and Finch

Mush and Kid Blink

Spot, Race, Albert, Elmer, Mike, Ike, Hotshot, Bart, and Myron

sometimes people broke into smaller groups depending on who wanted to go on what rides, when someone wanted to eat or didn’t, or when some people just wanted to be alone together

the smaller groups stayed together the whole time—Smalls’ group, Crutchie’s group, and Mush’s group—but the bigger groups sometime split up

especially Spot’s group

they started together but by the 3rd ride they split up

they would periodically meet up throughout the day to eat or ride certain rides

mainly the couples split up and the single friends stayed together

Davey and Jack left their group for a little while unexpectedly and it was actually Albert who found them making out in a bathroom stall

“Oh! So it’s like that now, huh? Way to go guys! Didn’t know you had it in ya!”

“You’re not gonna tell anyone, right, Dasilva? You know we aren’t usually like this...it just kinda happened yanno, happiest place on Earth and, uh, we were feeling that.”

“Oh, I can tell! Might wanna pick some tighter pants next time, Jacobs!”

the cocky bastard walked out, finally having something on Davey

he’d never let them live that down

Smalls’ favorite ride is Peter Pan’s Flight

they love that ride with all their heart and their group didn’t mind waiting in like for 45 minutes just to ride it

everyone—and i mean everyone—played heads up while waiting in line

it was just a given—that’s what you do

Race, Spot, Albert, and Elmer all got in a teacup together

it was absolutely chaos

while everyone else spun along nicely and enjoyed the ride

these boys used all of their combined strength—which was a lot—and spun themselves as fast as possible the whole time

Ike almost got sick just watching them

Katherine is a rollercoaster junkie

she rides every coaster and can’t get enough

Sarah also liked rollercoasters!

just not as much

but she does ride every one with Katherine and boy do they have fun

“Wow, I haven’t screamed that much since we left”

Katherine almost choked

( they shared a “special” night together right before they left so they could get a fill and not be as tempted like some other people )

everyone bought ears

it was like an unspoken rule that you had to get a pair every year

this year was special though

this was the first year that disney released its pride collection

so of course everyone was on that

Race spent most of his money on pride merch

he got rainbow shirt, ears, sunglasses, socks, and a pin

he was so happy about the collection, Spot secretly bought a pair of earrings from it and put one in just to see the look of joy on his boyfriends face

it was worth the money

Crutchie ate so many churros

half of his money went to just churros

worth it tho

Bill and Darcy really liked The Little Mermaid ride

obviously

Bill’s love of fish and Darcy’s love of mythical creatures

what other ride would they like more?

they cuddled up close in the seashell and watched the ride play out with so much happiness in their eyes

Sarah and Katherine took the iconic photo of “let’s kiss in front of the castle” and it was the cutest goddamn thing of all time

Mush and Kid Blink made out on Rodger Rabbit’s Cartoon Spin ride

but what’s new

everyone at some point rode Splash Mountain

it’d be a sin if you didn’t

Spot and Race rode it together

Race made Spot sit up front cause his big body could block most of the water

also because Spot was wearing a white t-shirt

“Damn, babe! You haven’t been that wet since the car ride here!”

Specs, Romeo, Jojo, and Tommy Boy all rode the Matterhorn together

and Specs glasses flew off his face during one of the quick turns

after the ride everyone was panicking but he just calmly pulled out a second pair of glasses from his backpack and continued on with his day; unbothered

Crutchie would never admit if his leg hurt but about halfway through the day while walking to the next ride he fell

his leg just gave out and he just sat on the floor trying not to cry

everyone with him helped him up and Buttons got him a wheelchair

it wasn’t all bad though

Crutchie and Buttons got to go to the front of all the lines!

somehow everyone got the idea to meet in toontown at the same time

everyone decided to get embroidered hats

most people got their name or the date or something cute

like Mush and Kid Blink got matching ones that said “Blush”

or how Kenny got one that said “Ken-Ken” cause that’s his nickname of his nickname

and Jojo and Tommy Boy got each other’s pet names on theirs—Jojo’s says “Darling” and Tommy Boy’s says “Sweetheart”

while Jack and Davey got the date of when they first met because it was instantly love at first sight

but some of these dumbasses...are dumbasses

Hotshot would never stoop down to that level of stupidity

so he got together the Brooklyn Boys and got hats that said just that

Mike and Ike have been dumbasses since birth

so their hats got their full names on them

you know

Mike’s said “Michael and Ichael”

and Ike’s said “Isaac and Misaac”

“Those aren’t your real names!”

“And? How would you know my names not Michael Misaac Garcia? And his isn’t Isaac Ichael Garcia? Huh?”

“I—“

Albert and Elmer didn’t get anything too crazy

but they did get a something that just they would understand

they got the date of the day they lost their virginity to each other

and when people ask they just say it’s the first time they said “i love you” to each other

and now Spot and Race

do these boys have ANY chill? ever?

they literally got a sex joke on theirs

Spot’s said “Calvary’s Coming”

and Race’s said “I’m Calvary”

dumbasses

but to even it out, they also got cute ones

cause they are a couple who can do both

so they got “tu sei amore” and “you are love “ on their second pair—Race’s was in Italian because that’s how he always says it to Spot to make him swoon, and Spot’s is the same in English for when he repeats it back

everyone was so scared of getting lost or losing someone

not only because that’s completely terrifying

but because Davey would never let them hear the end of it

for extra caution, some people held hands to not be separated—Katherine and Sarah, Jojo and Tommy Boy, Mush and Kid Blink, Bill and Darcy—some just had a mutual understanding to not wonder off—Specs and Romeo, Jack and Davey, Hotshot and Mike, Albert and Elmer—and some...well not some...just Race

Race was on a fucking leash

like one of those monkey backpacks with the leash for children who wander off

cause every year Race gets lost so this year no one was gonna risk it

Spot holds on to the leash and everytime Race starts running towards another ride he yanks him back

he’s fallen a few times

and every time, mr. dramatic himself will pull the “woe is me” routine and wouldn’t get up until Spot lifted him up

he tried to get Spot to carry him and it only worked once when he actually cut his knee on the ground

it might’ve looked weird but hey, at least Race didn’t get lost this year

when it got dark they all went to the firework show and watched the magic

all the couples decided to be cute and take the “kissing my partner at the fireworks” pics

and they were all fucking adorable

some were soft and cute while others were a little saucier

but they all came out really good

they all met up where Davey told them to meet and they actually all made it there in one piece!

what a surprise! actually!

they all went back to the hotel full of joy, love, and happiness

and they couldn’t wait to go back next year <3