RUNAWAY ROMEO (Newsies! X Male! reader)

Chapter 4

I pick up Les. The poor boy looked so sick from all the candy. Jack and Davey were balancing on the trolley tracks. In the distance, we could hear the faint sound of shouting.

"It's late, my folks'll be worried... What about yours?" Davey looked at Jack.

"They're out west lookin' for a place for us to live," He pulled out a dime novel "Like this." I walked next to Jack so Les could see. On the cover was a perfect blue sky over a beautiful yellow desert with a red sun that shines down on a perfect adobe.

"Santa Fe..." I mumbled, the ghost of a smile appearing on my face.

"That's Santa Fe- Out in New Mexico? Soon's Pop finds us the right ranch, they're sendin' for me." Jack stares at the cover with a solemn expression.

"Then you'll be a real cowboy..." Les sleepily chimes in. Jack just nods quietly. David looks at Jack, not believing a word of what he's saying; seeing the longing look in his eyes.

"You going with him, Romeo?" David asks me, making eye contact.

"Oh.. Uh no... As much as I'd like to... I can't." I looked at Les who started falling asleep on my shoulder. I smile gently.

"Why not?"

"I take care of the boys from the Bronx.. If I leave, those boys are as good as dead." I stated, looking back at Davey. "Uh... We should get going." The shouting got louder.

Down the street, a trolley is in flames, surrounded by a mob of shouting men. David looks nervous. "Why don't we divvy up at my place...? You can meet my folks..." Davey's voice shakes. The mob runs towards us, chasing two men.

A conductor with a bloody head and terrified face runs past us- but a second conductor is caught and beaten. David pulls me behind him, protecting Les. "Jack, Romeo-- Lets get outta here!" We start walking, Les cuddle up to me and wrapped his arms tighter around my neck.

I looked back at the beating. "Maybe well get a good headline tomorrow..." I said quietly, trying not to wake up the boy. On the way to Davey's, Les was still cuddled up to me but his right arm was resting in his lap with his left arm still behind my neck. His legs were dangling with each step I took.

We entered his apartment. I saw his mother sitting at a table. My eyes went wide. His mother got up and rushed over to me. "My god...! What happened?" She said, taking Les from me. I was suddenly very cold.

"He's just sleeping, Momma." She looked at me and her jaw opened slightly. She was about to say something when her husband interrupted her. She went and placed Les on a bed.

"We've been waiting dinner- Where've you been?" David says nothing and crosses to the table and dumps the day's receipts on it. He looked at his father proudly.

"You made all this selling papers...?" He asked skeptically. I threw down the pouch that I had.

"Some of that too..." I mumbled, turning my head away from him.

"Half of it's Jack's," He points to the loose coins "They're our selling partners. And our friends. These are my parents." He smiles and gestures to the adults standing before us. I take my hat off and shove it in my back pocket.

Jack nods awkwardly. He starts to say something when a girl enters from another room carrying a piece of lacework. "That's my sister, Sarah." David says flatly. She smiles at Jack. Davey's father steps in, seeing Jacks awkwardness.

"Esther- maybe David's partners would like to stay for dinner. Add more water to the soup." He says, close to her ear.

"Mayer...!" The family laughs as she goes to add water to the soup.