New Kid, New Century • A Newsies Fanfic

chapter four.

chapter four.

Crutchie leaned against the ladder to the rooftop. His mouth and nose were covered up by his right hand, his other arm being used to support himself and his crutch.

Crutchie had remained in this position for a while. He didn't know how long "a while" was, exactly, but it had been at least a few hours. He was stuck on the ground, cursing at himself. He hated his limp. He hated it because all it ever did was make people pity him. All Crutchie wanted was for people to see him as independent, and not as a pitiful young boy who needed constant attention. But, thanks to his bad leg, he was prevented from being the freewheeling boy he had always wanted to be, and was stuck with a ton of sympathizers surrounding him.

That wasn't the only reason why he thought of his leg as an abomination.

He despised his limp because it caused him from doing simple tasks such as getting up the ladder to him and Jack's penthouse. And that left him grounded. He was trapped. He had no place else to cry without anyone seeing him. And that was why people pitied him. Because without a crutch, he wouldn't even be able to walk. He might as well be made out of stone.

Crutchie wiped the tears on his face using his sleeve, and looked up at the ladder. This needed to end. Everything that everyone said about him needed to end.

He grabbed onto his crutch before placing both of his hands on the ladder. He was going to climb it, no matter what. He used his left hand to pull himself up, then placed his right hand on the rung above. He managed to hoist himself up, rung by rung. It took a while, but he didn't care. He had all the time in the world.

"What the hell ya doin'?" Someone below him shouted.

Crutchie's right hand slipped as he heard the person, and a scream escaped his mouth. His crutch, arm, and leg dangled from the ladder.

Crutchie had never felt more terrified in his life.

When he looked down, he quickly looked back up. He was so high up that he was starting to feel dizzy, his head aching.

"Crutchie!" The voice yelled out.

"Get away, Jack!" Crutchie called back. He looked back at the ladder, his left hand beginning to ache.

His hand began to slide further down the rung, and he let out another cry.

"Crutchie, I'm coming!" Jack said.

"NO! GET AWAY!" Crutchie screamed. He knew that he needed Jack to help him before he slipped, but he didn't want Jack's help.

He had tried to stand on his own, and he had failed.

He let out a gasp as he looked at the fall he'd have to endure before he collapsed onto the ground, most likely to die.

Crutchie took in fast, shallow breaths as he glanced back at the ladder.

He tried to put more of his weight on his right side, and swung back and forth, trying to get a grip on the rung.

He reached up for it, and swung again.

The ladder began to rattle, and Crutchie looked down to see Jack climbing up.

"GET AWAY, JACK! I CAN DO THIS ON MY OWN!" He yelled, but he knew that every word in that sentence was a lie.

"Crutchie, we both know that's a lie." There was a moment of silence between the two as Crutchie let the words sink in.

Jack's words stung. A lot.

He sighed and looked down at Jack before biting his lip and looking back up.

Biting down on his lip was a habit he did often. His lips used to be smooth and pink before he had decorated them in scabs. And he was currently forming another scab as he felt the pain of Jack's words.