Eliza Hamilton Meets Newsies || Fanfiction

Chapter 5 - Nightmares

Warnings: Mentions of nightmares
Third Person POV

Eliza laid on her bed in the Manhattan Newsboy Lodging House.

She was honestly exhausted, but with her mind buzzing at the day's events, she couldn't sleep.

I traveled forward in time- to 1899, and met a bunch of Newsies(?) who happen to be really nice and helped me?

Totally logical, Eliza.

Eliza rolls her eyes at herself.

Eliza sat up a bit, looking over at the desk.

Davey had gotten his mother to give her a few books for when she was bored.

Eliza smiles a bit. He was a good kid.

Eliza slowly and carefully got up, grabbing one of the books, and sitting back down on her bed, lighting a candle for light.

After about thirty minutes of reading whatever book she picked up, Eliza heard movement from the upstairs.

More specifically, two of the bunk rooms and the hallway in between.

Eliza silently got up, a bit confused at why anyone was up at this hour.

She left the room, checking the clock in the living room.

1:27 am...

Eliza's eyebrows furrowed. Why is someone up right now?

She slowly went up the stairs, and there, she found Race, slowly closing the door to one of the bunk rooms, trying to keep it silent.

She watched as he cringed at the creaking.

Race looked up, almost jumping when he saw her. "Uh- good morning, Miss Schuyler." He stutters a bit.

"You can call me Eliza, Race." She reminds him, smiling warmly.

He nods, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Why are you up this late- or early?" Eliza questions. "It's about 1:30am, Race. Are you alright?" She asks him.

Race nods, slowly, diverting his gaze to the floor. "Yeah, uh- one of our younger boys, Lucky, he had a nightmare." Race takes a deep breath. "I was already up and decided to help him calm down and help him fall back asleep." He explains.

Eliza nods.

"Jack's been stressing and tired, because Lucky keeps having nightmares and he keeps staying up late." Race explains. "I just thought I'd help him out a bit, and I am his brother."

Eliza nods. "That's nice. Why were you up?" She inquires.

Race looked like he hadn't gotten sleep in a few days as well.

Race shrugs a bit. "I know how Lucky feels nightmare wise." He chuckles weakly. "No one who's a Newsie really has a good past." He fiddles with his shirt sleeve. "I'm no different." He sighs softly.

Eliza quickly picked up on him fiddling with his shirt sleeve. "You don't have to be nervous around me, Race." She tells him. "And if you don't want to talk about your past, you don't have to."

Race smiles at her. "Thank you, uh- Eliza." Eliza smiles a bit. "Pasts are a big rough. It's no big deal, others have bigger problems."

Eliza pats his shoulder lightly. "Just because someone has harder problems, doesn't mean that yours aren't valid or hard for you. You've probably been through a lot for your age." She reminds him.

Race nods a bit.

"Do you want me to go get Albert?" Eliza questions, gesturing to the room that he slept in.

Race slept in a bunk room with Albert, Jack, Crutchie (when he and Jack, and sometimes Race, didn't sleep on the roof), JoJo, Blink, Mush, and Finch.

The second bunk room housed Specs, Romeo, Lucky, Buttons, Elmer, Henry, and two empty bunks.

The third one housed Boots, Tommy boy, Mike, Ike, and four empty bunks, two of which were Tumbler and Skittery's bunks before they went to Brooklyn and the other two were usually used by Sniper and Smalls when they slept in Manhattan.

Some boys switched rooms on certain nights, but not always.

Race's eyes shot up in shock. "Uh- no thanks. I love him, but I don't want to worry him and he probably needs sleep." Race answers, brushing it off.

Eliza frowns a bit. "Okay..." she trails off. "But you'll tell him soon or if it gets worse, right?"

Race pouts at her a bit. "But then they'll baby me."

Eliza chuckles, he'd like Peggy. "Sometimes, even if your babied, it's nice to know that they care." She tells him.

That was something she told Peggy a good bit.

Race nods.

"How about this," Eliza starts. "Come downstairs, I'll get us tea, and we can talk till you fall asleep."

"Eliza-" Race starts.

"I'm not taking 'no' for an answer." Eliza smiles at him. "I want to get to know you better, and this is better than laying in bed with your thoughts." She states.

"I mean..." Race thinks for a moment, pursing his lips slightly. "I guess it is better than being stuck with your thoughts." He looks up at her.

Eliza smiles at him.

The next morning

The next morning, Jack walked downstairs as he didn't see Race getting ready before everyone like usual.

Race usually got ready first, woke Jack up, and then woke everyone else up.

He walked into the living room to find Race asleep on the couch, looking peaceful, and Eliza asleep in what the boys called 'the comfy chair'.

Their tea, because it wasn't fully finished, was cold and there was still a candle burning.

Small smiles were present on both of their faces.

Jack smiles a bit, going to wake up the boys quietly as to give Race and Eliza a bit more peace.

The other boys though this was really cute as well.

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