a change of heart | e.k

Chapter Fourteen

Quick mention of a time when Domino had contemplated suicide, because of her OCD. See book four, chapter seven.)

Specs had waited far too long to make sure he was alone before finally opening up the note.

He stood outside, under an oak tree that smelled crisp in the late autumn air. He rubbed his cold nose and adjusted his glasses, wiping his one free nervously on his pants.

What was it she wanted him to know? He wondered. Why write it, and not just get Lane to tell him straight out?

He was worried it was something to do with her sleeping patterns. From what he knew, they were getting better, but she would still sometimes wake up due to nightmares that never left her. Memories of her attempting to end it all still plagued her, haunted her constantly, twisting themselves into her dreams. He knew, because she'd admitted to it once.

What if she was getting them worse than ever now? With her being in a new environment every night — most likely — she probably hadn't gotten a healthy amount of sleep in days. And he couldn't do anything about it.

He sighed deeply, staring down at the folded note. He thought about the words that could be scrawled along the page. It's been a while... I don't know what to do, or how this will end... Don't worry, I'll be fine...

He could almost hear her voice in his head.

He finally decided to end his suffering, pulling the piece of paper open gingerly, like it were his most prized possession. At the moment, it kind of was.

He didn't know what he expected to see when he scanned the page, but a sudden laugh was forced out of him when he saw that none of his guesses had been correct. And yet, it was still so obviously Domino.

Wait for me.

She'd never received so much attention in her life.

The newsies all flocked around her, prepared to hang on to her every word like she was some sort of prophet. The reason being that she'd had direct contact with the leader of The Unknowns, and now everyone wanted to hear every single detail about it. It'd been an hour or two before she could bring herself to open up about all that had really happened, and even then, she felt herself trembling.

They were all about to know the full story of her family. Of her father. Of her mother. Of her brothers.

And... of her.

Finch had had the brilliant idea of proposing she go up on one of the top bunks, so she could see everyone and everyone could see her, but she wasn't sure it really helped her nerves. She could see them all now, waiting, watching, wanting to know it all.

She'd never been very good at public speaking.

"You might wanna make sure Amy's around," Lane said casually, hoping they wouldn't notice her jittery state. "She'll spread it around ta everyone who ain't he-ah."

As if on cue, the door opened, and in walked Romeo and Juliet themselves. The two love birds stopped as they noticed everyone's attention on them, before their gaze landed on Lane and they realized that this had something to do with her.

"Ask, 'n te ye shall receive," she muttered. Finch put his hand over hers, squeezing comfortingly. She was slightly taller than him, sitting on the bunk, making things seem even more uncanny. She took a deep breath, bowing her head. "I didn't know my faddah was their leader until now. He nev-ah let anythin' slip when we was kids."

She'd been right. The newsies seemed to lean forward, hungry for information.

She licked her lips. "Me 'n the Delancey's became distant aft-ah my muddah died. My muddah, who Kyle Delancey killed." She met a few of their gazes. They seemed shocked. "He told me himself."