Chapter 12

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Specs ran into the alleyway they heard Romeo shouting from as quick as he physically could.

They had tried the previous evening to find him and yet again at lunchtime but their time on both occasions was limited and they never got as far as his selling spot.

It was only then, after the next day's selling that they made their way there in their searches.

"Romeo. Hey, it's me. I need you to stay awake," Specs said quickly while he was looking him over to see the extent of his injuries.

Romeo looked up at Specs and a small smile tugged at his lips.

"Specs. It's you. I missed you and your perfect face," Romeo whispered, trying to lift his hand up but stopping when it hurts.

"It's me and Jack is here too, see. We're going to bring you back to the lodging house but you need to stay awake," Specs explained, making sure to speak slowly so Romeo could process what he was saying.

Romeo turned his head to the side as much and as he comfortably could. "Jacky," he sighed with a small smile.

Jack walked over to them quickly and kneeled down beside Romeo.

"I'm going to pick you up, is that okay?" Romeo nodded and giggled slightly when he was lifted up. "Try and stay awake until we get back and get you all fixed up, okay?"

Romeo nodded and giggled again. He thought he was flying like a bird. Sometimes when he was tired or delirious he could come up with some of the strangest ideas in his head.

After a while of walking and trying to keep a straight conversation with a very not straight Romeo, they finally arrived at the lodging house.

"Okay, we're home. We're just going to put you on Specs' bunk since his is the bottom one," Jack explained once they got through the front door.

Romeo nodded lightly and curled himself into Jack's side. He felt himself being lowered and he panicked for a second until he saw the familiar faces and knew that he wasn't falling.

Once he was lying down on the bed he saw Davey and some of the other Newsies all around the bed as well.

"Can I sleep now?" he asked no one in particular, as he tried to hide back a yawn.

"Not yet, give us twenty minutes to fix you up and then you can sleep. We promise," Davey said as he was picking up some of the bandages they'd put out in case he came back like he was. "I just need you to take off your shirt. Do you think you can do that for us?"

Romeo nodded slightly and went to pull his shirt over his head. He barely managed to lift his hand to the collar before he cried out in pain.

Specs held his hand and brought them down to where Romeo held them comfortably.

Once they were down he started unbuttoning Romeo's shirt and pulled it off of him as gently as he could.

No matter how gentle he tried to be it was mostly in vain and still caused him a great amount of pain.

Romeo started crying again from the pain and held out his hands for someone, he didn't even care who it was, he just wanted someone to comfort him.

Jack was going to hold Romeo while Davey cleaned his injuries but when he saw the look in Specs' eyes he knew who would be best.

"Specs," Jack whispered to him. "I think you'd be best to hold him. You are both really close."

Specs nodded and sat down on the bunk beside Romeo and pulled him into his chest.

Romeo buried his head into the crook of Specs' neck as he sobbed.

Specs felt his heart break for the boy he was hopelessly in love with.

"It'll be okay. I promise."

~~~
654 words

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