Chapter 2

8.1K 130 170
                                    


The next day,

Y/n was sitting in Tibby's reading her book (again), sewing kit in hand, when she hears the door open. She looks over and see Crutchie standing there. She waves him over, setting her book down.

"Heya y/n! How ya doing?" He says smiling brightly as he takes a seat next to her, leaning his crutch against the table.

"I'm good! Thank you so much for meeting me here!" She smiles, getting the materials out so she can start on his shirt. "Its no trouble at all. Thanks for fixin me shirt." He says taking off his vest (He is wearing the shirt) and sticking out his shoulder (the rip is on the seam on the shoulder if that makes sense). "Of course! Anytime." She replies smiling.

She threads the needle and grabs hold of his thin arm.

"So you sell papers?" The young girl asks the boy. "Yeah, it ain't the worst job ta have" he says looking down at her. The h/c haired girl was in deep concentration, sticking her tongue out slightly. He smiled to himself.

"Yeah it sounds nice." She says after a minute.

Crutchie enjoyed watching her work. It intrigued him seeing her so focused. Her fingers working diligently to mend the tear.

He didn't mind the hole, but when he saw how desperate she was to make it up to him, after knocking him over, he couldn't resist. Plus it gave him an excuse to get to know her better.

He decided to break the silence (not that it was uncomfortable, he just wanted to make conversation).

"Do you live around here?"

Y/n tensed up.

"I- uh- you could say that" she said suddenly getting uncomfortable. She continued sewing.

Crutchie was confused. "Did I say something wrong?" He asked to girl, concerned.

"No no it's not that it's just-" y/n set the needle down for a second looking up at him. Could she trust him? I mean he is a complete stranger.

She looked him in the eyes and saw genuine concern and then she knew. She knew that he was there for her.

So she began to tell him her story.

Flashback (within the flashback woah)

It was late. Y/n knew her mother should be home by now.

Y/n's mother is a seamstress. She works at a factory a few blocks away. She always returns before sunset ready for dinner, which y/n prepared every night. This was the routine every day since her father had died, which was when y/n was 5. She is now 10.

Y/n was starting to worry now. The soup was getting cold. She didn't know what to do.

It had just been her and her mother for a long time. Her mother had been the one to teach her to read and sew, and cook and clean. Her mother was all she had.

Y/n hadn't grown up rich. But she was okay with that. Her mother made enough money at the factory to provide for them. And she just used stolen scrap fabric from her work to make clothes. It was more than enough for
y/n.

It didn't take long to realize her mother wasn't going to come home. After a few days of waiting, she decided that she would have to pack up what little money she had and leave. She wouldn't be able to pay rent anyways, and leaving was better than being sent to the orphanage.

Y/n gathered one dress, all the money she could find around the house (about $3.25), a book (her favorite book Frankenstein. It always interested her. And it reminded her of when her mother used to read it to her), the last of the bread from dinner, and a picture of her mother and father. She put this all in a small suit case she found under her mother's bed. She grabbed her mother's necklace off the bedside table and took one more look around her small apartment, her home.

Time skip 1 year

Y/n had made a living off of stealing food and pickpocketing. It wasn't an ideal lifestyle but it was the best she had.

Here and there she found small jobs like wiping tables or sweeping floors, but nothing permanent, that she could make a living on.

Every night she would sleep in alleyways, hidden from any passing people.

Still she never complained.

Time skip to 1899

Y/n is 15 now. Life has not gotten any easier for her.

Currently she is running from the bulls. She got caught stealing a pocket watch from a wealthy fellow.

She takes a sharp turn into an alley and ducks behind a stack of crates.

She sighs. I think I lost them. She thinks to herself.

Y/n sits down and catches her breath.

That's when she noticed a piece of paper.

She reaches over and grabs it.

A newspaper?

Newsies Banner

A gathering in newsies square? That sounds interesting.

Time skip back to Tibby's

"Woah" Crutchie says just below a whisper.
Y/n looks down avoiding eye contact. After a minute he asks "So youse ain't got no where to stay?" The e/c eyed girl looks up at him and then back down, shaking her head. She was immensely embarrassed.

"Well we'se gotta do somethin bout that" he says smiling. She looks up at him shocked. Somewhere to stay? After so many years on the streets. She smiled.

"Oh!" Y/n says suddenly. She realized she hadn't finished his shirt. She grabbed the needle and continued his shirt. He laughed slightly causing her to blush again.

"Annnd done!" She says and smiles looking at the work she did. "Good as new." He looks at it and smiles at her. "Thank you so much" he says. "It's the least I could do, really." She says smiling back at him.

"Hey! How bout I take ya to da lodging house and youse can meet da boys! Maybe you'se could even stay dere. If you're wants to of course." He says, proud of his idea. Her face lit up. She smiles brightly. "Really? Can I?" She says excited. "Yeah of course!" He says as he starts to stand.

Y/n stands as well collecting all her sewing materials and her book. She follows Crutchie out the door and they walk side by side through the streets of 'hattan together.

Time skip

Y/n and Crutchie were walking underneath the beautiful night sky. It being dark, and y/n being paranoid, she grabs hold of Crutchie's arm. After a few minutes, they arrive at the lodging house. Y/n, being very nervous. They walk in to a room full of newsboys, laughing and talking. Some were playing poker, some were smoking.

Then they noticed her.

The room went dead silent.

All eyes were now on her.

She held Crutchie's arm a little tighter.

"Boys," Crutchie announces, "this is y/n."

•My Goil•  ||newsies x reader||Where stories live. Discover now