Love Will Do What It Does

Chapter 31

Joey walked into the backstage area from the theater with a smile that quickly faded when he saw everyone's lonesome expressions.

"Fellas? What happened? Where's Katherine?" He asked quickly. There was a long moment before on of them finally spoke up.

"Pulitzer found out an' took her. He's sendin' her to England next month." Race croaked out on the verge of tears. They were going to lose their friend.

Joey's face turned to worry and distress. He ran to Jack's door and flung it open.

"Joey, what's wrong?" Alice asked when he hurried into the room.

"Jack, guys, Pulitzer found us. He took Kath away." He trembled.

Jack could barely process what he was hearing, seeing that his pain medication was finally kicking in.

"Kath... Have....to....find....her-" He groaned before passing out from the meds.

Davey turned from Jack to Joey. "How did he find out? There's no way that he could have!" He almost shouted.

"I don't know. I wasn't even backstage. Albert dragged me into the theater. When I got back the boys were upset."

Alice stood up and marched outside of the room and up to the group of boys.

"Alright, what happened?!" She yelled. Her voice was full of anger and rage.

"Pulitzer said dat he hear Kath's Ma on da phone." Specs started.

"Then he followed her here an' found Kathy wit us." Mush continued.

"An' now he's gonna send her to england next month for two years." Race finished. "He came in 'ere an' we jus' stood by while he took her." He went on, his voice laced with venom.

"How could we do that?! Kath's our family!" He shouted. The other boys became more enraged, agreeing with every word he spoke.

Alice understood their anger, but it wasn't going to help anyone, especially Katherine and Jack.

"Boys! Calm down! I know you're all angry, but this won't solve anything. We have to be smart about this. Right now, you all need to go back to the lodging house and get some rest. It is getting pretty late." She spoke with tranquility and reason.

"What about Jack?" Finch asked.

"He'll be fine. Crutchie and Joey are staying with him tonight. Now go on. Shoo!" She motioned with her hands, a smile crept onto her face as some of the boys chuckled and complied.

Les, of course, stayed behind to wait for Davey. Not long after the other Newsies left, the older Jacobs boy walked out of the dressing room.

He found Les had fallen asleep against Alice. He laughed quietly and gently picked up his brother.

He started for the doors, but not before asking if Alice wanted him to walk her home.

She shyly replied yes and waited for him to turn his back before letting a blush creep onto her face as she followed him out the door.

Back in Jack's room, Joey was making a bed on the floor while Crutchie was laying on another couch in the room.

"Hey Joey?"

"Yeah Crutchie?"

"You think Jack's gonna be okay?" He asked timidly.

Joey smiled. "I think he's gonna be perfectly fine. He's Jack. Nothing keeps him down for long." Joey replied.

Crutchie smiled before turning over and falling asleep, happy to know that his brother was safe.

*Location Skip*

It was anything but quiet in the Pulitzer household that night.

Joseph was arguing with Katherine and no one was winning.

"Katherine, I can't believe that you're defending that lowlife! He's nothing more than a con artist, trying to worm his way into our favor!" He bellowed.

"He is nothing of the sort! You have no idea what kind of person he is! He works so hard, harder than you ever have, and he never takes money or credit he thinks he didn't earn!" Katherine spat back.

"How dare you! Go to your room! You are confined to this house until you leave for England! You are never seeing Jack Kelly again!!!" He snapped, his face as red as his rage.

Katherine had no objections and ran straight up to her room.

Cecilia was forced to stand by and watch as her husband and daughter went at each others thoats, but this was the last straw.

"I can't believe you Joseph!" She began once Katherine was out of the room. "I haven't known the boy long, but I see the way Jack looks at Katherine when she's not paying attention." She paused momentarily.

"Like a wild animal looks at prey?" Joseph asked.

Cecilia's expression warped from anger to disgust. "No. Not at all. He looks at her like she's the most beautiful and precious girl in the world. Like she's a queen. I have seen nothing to suggest he's after her fortune nor that he has ill intentions."

"Do you even hear yourself Cecilia?! You sound just like Katherine! Why can't you women see sense?! He's using her!!!"

"And why can't you, a man whose life revolves around something people read, cease being blinder than a bat?!" Cecilia retorted, now furious with her husband.

Joseph was struck speechless by her comeback. He sputtered a few times before turning on his heel and storming off to his office.

Cecilia quickly walked up their stairs to Katherine's bedroom. She knocked softly on the door a few times before hearing soft breathing through the door.

She opened it slightly and found her daughter asleep on her bed, fully clothed on top her bedspread. It appeared that Katherine had been so worn out and upset that she cried herself to sleep.

Cecilia sighed and quietly trotted over to her. She carefully laid a blanket over Katherine.

As she was almost out of the room before she heard her daughter mutter something about Jack and the dance they had. She smiled at Katherine's dreaming and crept out of the room.

"Will she be alright ma'am?" A voice asked from behind Cecilia. She turned to see Martha standing near the top of the staircase.

"I believe she will, once this whole thing gets sorted out. Martha, do you still have the key to the Master bedroom." She asked suddenly.

"The one and only." The maid replied holding the key up to show.

Cecilia held out her hand and the key was placed in it.

"Please get the guest bedroom prepared for Joseph. Until he starts seeing reason, he won't be seeing me." She said firmly.

Martha nodded, a small smirk on her face, as she went off to make ready the room.

This was just the beginning of a long night in New York City.

(A.N. Hello my readers!!!! How are y'all?! I'm great! Been stuck with school. Oh, and I fell into the Writers Block Well. But I'm over it. I also just published a new story for any fellow DC Comic's Young Justice fans. Also, MORE THAN 5K VIEWS?! HOLY CANNOLI THIS IS NUTS!!! As usual, please vote and comment. Till next time, Panda 🐼!)