#i love my little vague space poland. that place sucks

[must-be-brooklyn]

A Future Together

Paring: Javid 

Words: 1.6k

Their time together was comprised of stolen moments and filled with forbidden kisses. That did not mean that it felt any less draining to pull away and pretend to be friends until their next rendezvous. 

- o -

In which Jack and David share a moment and discuss their future.

“You should leave.”

Jack looked at David, his eyes reflecting the flickering of the candle that sat in the window frame. The tiny flame was the only light on the fire escape. Even the stars and moon had disappeared behind clouds of city smog.

David’s stomach flopped like it always did when Jack gave him that look. “I mean it. Crutchie’ll get worried. You said you’d be back early today. It’s already gone eleven.”

Grinning, Jack just settled himself more comfortably against the railings of the stairwell. “Well, it’s my duty to make sure selling partners get home safe now, ain’t it?”

“We stopped selling together over a year ago,” David reminded him fondly. “Besides, as much as I love your company, won’t the lodging house shut at midnight?” He, too, leant back against the window frame and shifted the candle a little further across so he did not bump it. “As much as I’d love to offer you a place here, the floor is about the only place where there’s still any space.”

Jack laughed softly. “Naw, it’s ‘right. I can just take the fire escape up. Everyone knows ta keep the window open.”

They sat there in contented silence for a while. Slowly, Jack inched his hand closer to David’s until he could tangle their fingers together. David looked and smiled, squeezing Jack’s hand with care.

A sudden gust of wind blew past them, extinguishing the candle.

“Oh, damn.” David pulled his hand out of Jack’s and leant his body into the bedroom to find the matches again. “Not again.”

Jack pulled him back. “Don’t worry ‘bout it, Dave. It’s not that dark out.” That was a clear lie – David could barely make out the other side of the street – but he obliged and set the candle inside so the wax would harden without the risk of anyone knocking it over. As trivial as it was, they were always careful to conserve the kerosene and wax as much as possible. It was expensive to replace too often.

“Besides,” Jack said, lowering his voice and shifting closer to David, “It means I can do this.” He took David’s hand and bought it softly to his mouth to kiss it.

David could feel his cheeks burning red. “Don’t, someone might see!”

Jack looked around and laughed under his breath. “In this light? Naw. This escape don’t even lead to a main road. Ain’t no one gonna know.”

“My family’s only a room away and Les is asleep in here!” David gestured towards the room on the other side of the window. “They can’t know, Jack, they can’t.”

Jack gave David’s hand another, lingering kiss. He did not look up as he spoke. “They don’t have ta know, Dave. They ain’t gonna know if youse don’t want ‘em to.” Finally, he raised his head and gazed into David’s eyes. “But, I think they’s lovin’ you too much to get angry.”

David sighed and averted his eyes from Jack’s. His chest felt vaguely sore as if someone had winded him. He stared out at the street, despite being unable to see anything out there. “Do you ever think there could be a time when people like us are accepted?”

“One day?” Jack paused for a moment and ran his thumb over David’s knuckles. “Yeah, I think so. One day we’se gonna be able to live like all the other folks ‘round here. Have our own flat, no funny questions, police won’t care. The whole works.”

That made David smile. It was hard to imagine such a world sometimes. “Maybe, one day, people like us could even get married,” David sighed. It was rare that he even though of marriage; he was only seventeen and it was never something that had appealed to him as a child except for out of a sense of duty to his family. His parents had married when they were just eighteen, though, and that had terrified David when he was younger.

“Can you imagine that?” Jack laughed. “Mr and Mr Jacobs. Or Mr and Mr Kelly, I suppose.”

“Kelly,” David said quickly, “Jack Jacbos just sounds silly.”

Jack exhaled and pressed his shoulder to David’s. “It’ll happen one day,” he said with a smile.

“One day,” David agreed. He rested his head on Jack’s shoulder and let his mind drift from there. It was a content silence that David had come to treasure over the year and a half he had known Jack. The time they got alone together was rare, so David always treasured it, even if it was just them sitting in silence.

It had been over a year since they had started their bizarre version of a courtship. David occasionally tried to remember exactly what had led up to it, but more often than not, he came up blank. The day that Pulitzer had agreed to the new terms had been enough of a whirlwind of emotions as it was. Adding Jack into the occasion just made everything even more blurry.

David remembered a dark alleyway, lots of laughter, hands everywhere, and the most brilliant kiss he had ever had in his life. (Which, admittedly, was not saying much. He had only ever kissed one other boy when he was seven and they thought they were being very clever copying their parents.) A whispered confession and too many secret meetings to count later, and here they were. David did not know if this was love, but he prayed that it was.

“Dawid,” a quiet voice said. David sprung apart from Jack like he had been stung. His mother’s face appeared at the window, completely oblivious to what David and Jack had been talking about just minutes before. “Już czas przyjść do środka.”

“Daj mi chwilę, Mama,” David replied. She nodded and walked back out of the room, smoothing down the covers on the bed and kissing Les’s forehead as she went.

The door closed and David turned back to Jack. “She said I had to go inside now.”

Jack nodded and released his tight hold on David’s hand so that their hands were only brushing. “I should go back to the lodgin’ house then, I guess.” 

David swallowed and forced himself to agree. Their time together was comprised of stolen moments and filled with forbidden kisses. They had to end each meeting while they were ahead. That did not mean that it felt any less draining to pull away and pretend to be friends until their next rendezvous.

Leaning forwards, they fell into a gentle kiss. It was like always: warm, chaste and breathtaking. David’s insides felt like they were melting, and he reached one hand to cup Jack’s chin.

It had to end all too soon, though. Jack pulled away and, giving David a smile, stood up. “See you tomorrow?”

David nodded quickly. “Les and I’ll be there for the evening paper.” He stood up as well and his hands

Skimmed over Jack’s. He pressed a final kiss to Jack’s lips and stepped back.

Jack grinned at him. Then, he turned and disappeared down the fire escape. It was dark enough that David soon lost track of where he was, so he clambered back through the window and closed it except for a tiny crack so that people could find him if they needed him.

Absentmindedly, David walked into the main room to wish his parents good night, allowing Sarah to get herself ready for bed, before changing his own clothes and climbing into the bunk next to Les. Mumbling sleepily, Les simply rolled over and allowed David to pull some of the blanket over himself.

Sarah’s breaths soon evened out, but David lay there staring at the ceiling. His mind was still buzzing. He turned restlessly, only to find Les blearily watching at him.

“Go to sleep, Les,” David whispered as quietly as possible.

Les kept looking at him. “You’re thinking too loudly.” David opened his mouth to defend himself, but Les cut him off before he could. “I heard you tonight. Talking with Jack.”

David’s heart stopped beating as his mouth fell open in horror. “Don’t tell anyone what you heard,” he hissed, cheeks burning. “Please, Les, we’ll get in so much trouble.”

“Would you really want to get married to him?” Les completely ignored David’s words. “Like, really really? When you’re older.”

David sighed, but gave up protesting. The damage was done, and it would be easier for everyone if he just let Les cycle through his questions. “I don’t know, maybe,” David hesitated, “I’m only seventeen, Les. That’s pretty young to think about getting married.”

“Mama and Aba got married when they were eighteen,” Les said with no hesitation. “I think you and Jack should get married. Because you’re smart, so you can get a fancy job, and Jack’s really good at art, so he can get a fancy job, too, and then you can get a nice apartment, like you said, and then all the newsies can live with you and so they never have to sleep on the streets again. Don’t you think that’d be good?”

It was so obviously ten-year-old logic that it almost made David want to cry. “Sure, Les. But you know that you can’t tell anyone this, right? We’d get in a lot of trouble.” His body felt tingly and he could not pin down exactly why. Swallowing felt oddly thick.

“I know,” Les murmured, “but it’d still be nice.” He yawned and struggled to keep his eyes open.

David swallowed the lump that had grown in his throat. “Go to sleep, Les.”

Les needed no more encouragement to turn over and fall asleep again. David watched him for a few minutes before screwing his eyes tightly shut. For now, they were trapped on all sides by society, but maybe Les was right. Maybe one day they could have a future.

Update from the author: I still suck at naming fics and I haven’t properly proofread this yet bc I actually need to be writing an IA on the Hungarian Revolution that I haven’t started yet ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Dawid - The Polish version of David

Już czas przyjść do środka - It’s time to come inside

Daj mi chwilę, Mama - Give me a minute, Mama

(If you’ve read any of the other stuff I wrote, you might’ve picked up that I hc the Jacobs were originally from NE Poland and moved to NY in the late 1880s, which -  in all seriousness - was historically just after a famine and during a period economic difficulty, persecution of Judaism and a systematic oppression where the Kingdom of Prussia (later the German Empire) and the Russian Empire attempted to systematically eradicate the Polish language during the Partitions of Poland. For that reason, I also imagine that David and Sarah would probably be able to speak a small amount of Russian (which they probably would have stopped using as soon as they left Poland), Polish and Yiddish from growing up in Poland and bc their parents speak both of those languages and enough Hebrew to know and understand traditional prayers, etc., which Les - who I imagine as being born in NY - would speak no Russian, little Hebrew, be self-conscious about his Yiddish/Polish and  more comfortable speaking in English). 

Idk - if anyone’s interested, maybe I could do a post on the Jacobs family? Let me know if you do want to see one haha