Time Truly Divides || Newsies Time Travel AU

Chapter 9

Race woke Jack up at seven in the morning on the dot. On a Saturday. When they had nothing to do.

"Go away, Racer," he mumbled as Race shook his shoulder. They'd become used to living together quickly.

"No," Race replied, still shaking Jack's shoulder.

Jack opened his eyes and rolled onto his back to look up at Race. "What?" he groaned in annoyance.

"You've got a therapy meeting today and you're meeting the gang." Race stuck his hip out and threw his hands in the air. Jack just deadpanned.

"Get out and I'll be up in a bit," Jack offered, not leaving room for argument. The same way he would when the younger Newsies would beg to stay up late or sell on their own. Barely anyone had ever tried defy that tone of voice.

"Fine." Race threw his hands up in the air and left the room.

A few moments later Jack heard the quiet creak of the door as it opened. Medda had offered to get it fixed but he Jack liked it. It reminded him of the Lodging House.

Of home.

"Go away Race," he groaned, pulling the duvet over his head.

"I'm not Race," Medda stated.

"Oh, sorry, Miss Medda."

"Was Toni in here earlier?"

Jack rolled over so he was facing Medda but didn't sit up. That required more energy than he had.

"He was trying to get me up," Jack explained. "Said something about a gang."

"You have a therapy meeting today, remember I told you about that the other day? I think Toni wants you to meet his and Charlie's friends after."

"Are his friends nice?"

"I think they're a good group of kids," Medda offered. "They can be a bit loud sometimes but I think you'll like them. Albert will be there too so you'll have someone you know there."

Jack sat up and ran a hand through his hair in an attempt to flatten it. "Will they like me?" he asked, almost timidly.

"I think they will. And if you find them too loud, Charlie will be there and sometimes he goes someplace quieter with a couple of the less-" Medda searched for the right word for a moment. "-chaotic boys so if you need to do that, just let him know."

There was a beat of silence before Jack asked, "What's the therapy thing for?"

"The hospital suggested it might be good for you. To help you get your memories back or talk about everything," Medda explained.

Jack nodded and sighed. "Do you think I've made everything up?"

"I don't know, honey. If you think it's real then I'll support you. No matter what."

~~~

Jack rubbed his hands together as he sat on the soft chair. It was comfy but nowhere near as comfy as the chairs in Medda's. And Hannah, the therapist lady Medda brought him to, was nice enough but not as nice as Medda.

"Jack, I spoke with your foster mother and the doctors in the hospital and they filled me in on everything that has happened in the past few weeks. I understand you were only placed with Miss Larkin two weeks ago."

"Yeah," Jack stated, not sure why she was telling him what he already knew.

"What was your previous placement like?"

Jack shrugged and avoided eye contact with the lady. In doing so, he noticed a beanbag off to the side. It looked really fluffy and Jack wanted to feel it so much.

"Would you rather sit on the beanbags?" Hannah asked.

"I guess," Jack mumbled.

Hannah stood first and moved to sit in the beanbag beside the one Jack had been eyeing. It didn't look as comfy as the other one but it still looked somewhat comfy. Slowly, he moved to the fluffy beanbag and sat down in it, sighing in content as he sank into the softness.

The rest of the session went boringly, in Jack's opinion. Hannah didn't make him talk about anything he didn't want to and instead they mostly just talked about how he was adjusting to the school and living with Medda.

Afterwards, Medda was waiting in the waiting room with Race and Crutchie on either side of her, Race looked like he was about to fall asleep on Medda's shoulder.

As Jack approached them, Medda gently shook Race's shoulder before smiling at Jack. "How'd it go, sweetie?"

Jack shrugged. "Fine."

"That's good. Toni wants to go meet with his friends straight from this. If you'd rather meet them later, that's fine. Whatever you feel up to doing."

"I'll go with Race. Is Crutchie going too?"

Medda smiled knowingly and nodded. "They're both going now."

"I'll go with them," Jack decided. "If Crutchie's there then I'll have someone to talk to."

Medda smiled sadly but patted Jack gently on the arm.

"I'm sure you'll get on great with everyone," she promised. "They're all very nice and accepting."

"Okay," Jack slowly.

Race stood up and shook out his legs. "Is Jack ready to go?"

Medda looked at Jack. "I don't know. You'll have to ask him."

"Oh yeah, sorry." Race turned to Jack as he rubbed his hands together awkwardly. "Are you ready to go?"

"Yeah. I think so."

"Okay. Cool. Let's go."

"Wait, now?"

Race looked at Jack blankly and nodded. "Yeah," he stated. "They're literally, like, two minutes away."

Crutchie made his way to Jack and placed a hand on his shoulder gently. Jack turned his head so he was no longer making eye contact with Race and instead with Crutchie.

"If you're not feeling up to meeting them, that's totally fine. They'll understand. I promise you."

Jack shook his head.

"I'm fine. Let's go meet them," he announced.

The trio left the therapists' office and made their way to meet up with everyone. Race led them, Jack and Crutchie walking side-by-side a few steps behind him. True to Race's statement, they arrived no more than two minutes later where a large group of boys were sitting on park benches and messing on the grass around them.

Race walked up to them first and shouted, "Boys. Meet Jack. Jack is our new brother so if you have a problem with him, you've got a problem with me and Crutchie."

Albert climbed down from the bench he'd been on and hooked an arm around Race's shoulders. "None of us are going to have a problem with him, Racer," he whispered. "Don't worry."

Race nodded and forced his shoulders to lose their tension. Albert led him over to the bench and made Race sit in between him and another boy who held Race close to them.

"Why don't you guys introduce yourselves first?" Crutchie suggested. "Just so we don't overwhelm Jack or anything."

Jack smiled at Crutchie. He didn't think he was getting overwhelmed but he was not enjoying all the eyes on him.

For a while, all the boys introduced themselves. He could clearly tell that some were closer that others. Some were almost sitting on each other's laps though, which confused Jack a little bit.

Jack wouldn't judge them for being so close, it reminded him of how the Newsies would huddle together during cold winter nights for some heat.

When they were all finished Jack started his introduction. "I'm Jack," he said. "I'm Crutchie and Race's broth-"

"Sorry, I'm late." Jack looked over at the boy who had interrupted him.

Jack's heart stopped working.

~~~
1243 words