•On A Cloudy Day• ||sequel to My Goil||

Chapter 3

"Hello boys, it's been a while."

~

Every boy in the room stares at the girl in the doorway.

Y/n notices quite a few new faces, along with the familiar faces she missed so much.

Her smile drops as she realizes many of the newsies aren't their.

She looks around some more and notices that none of them are even sitting together; they are all doing their own thing; which is extremely unlikely for the newsies. They always have games going on after selling.

"Y/n, what are you doing back?" Finch asks walking up to her.

He definitely grew into his looks, y/n had to stop herself from blushing.

"A-are you not happy to see me?" She asks, very confused at this point.

"What? No of course we are!" He exclaims pulling her into a hug.

She smiles a little and hugs the, now, tall boy.

"It's just...." oh no. "So much has changed since you left." He says, his voice cracking.

They pull apart.

"It can't be that different, I was only gone for two years..." she nervously chuckles and then looks around. "Where's Crutch? I need to see my best friend." She puts on a smile at the thought of seeing him again.

The room tenses.

The boys look at each other and then back at the girl.

Their faces solemn.

Her smile drops.

Her eyes brim with tears.

"W-what happened to Crutchie?" She stutters. Her voice low and serious.

"He's uh, he's upstairs n/n." Boots says, looking down.

She races upstairs to the bunk room, almost tripping on the stairs and running into the wall.

She stops dead in her tracks as she reaches the room.

A sickly cough can be heard from within.

She looks over to Crutchie's bunk to see him laying there, almost motionless.

She walks over to him and crouches down.

"C-Crutchie? It's me y/n, I'm back." She tries to smile. She doesn't want to cry in front of him, but to no avail.

Tears slip out of her eyes and stream down her face.

Crutchie opens his eyes and looks at the girl.

"Y/n? What are youse doin here! I can't believe it—" he exclaims but is cut off by the start of a coughing fit.

Y/n takes his hand in hers.

"I told you I'd be back." She whispers rubbing circles on his hand with her thumb.

He smiles brightly.

"It's been so long, so much has changed... you look amazing!" He changes the subject mid sentence. He looks her up and down and smiles softly at her.

"My little girl is a little lady now." He coughs again but the smile still remains on his face.

Y/n smiles.

"You look great too Crutch." She says.

She examines his face.

His jawline is sharper and his features are more defined. His hair is still fluffy but a bit longer. If not for the obvious illness he would look amazing. His eyes are sunken in and he is pale. He has dark bags under his eyes and his nose is red. His cheeks look caved in and his lips are dry and cracked. He was sweaty but she could see him shiver.

He looks sick.

This fact causes y/n's stomach to knot, because it just makes all this a reality.

She wanted to know what he had, but at the same time, she didn't think she could handle it.

It would be too hard.

"Where are the others?" She asks, not wanting to face it right now.

His eyes widen and he tenses.

"Some of them left. Some of them... they ain't doin so good." He says awkwardly, looking away.

"Where's Race."

Crutchie's breath hitches.

He bursts out into another coughing fit.

"I uh— I don't want to be the one to tell youse that. I think he should be the one to tell ya. He should be home soon." He stammers, finally looking at the girl.

Why won't anyone just give me a straight answer.

"Well you should get some rest." She says, sighing.

He nods.

She stands up and presses a kiss to his forehead.

"I missed you Crutchie. More than words can describe." She smiles, another tear falling from her eye.

"I missed you too n/n. I'se glad I got to see ya before..." he trails off. "Ise glad I got to see ya again." He puts on a fake smile.

She nods and walks out of the room.

She doesn't go downstairs though.

Instead she leans against the wall at the top of the stairs and slides down it.

She puts her head in her hands and cries.

"Why!" She sobs.

She runs her fingers through her hair as she tries to steady her breathing.

It can't possibly get any worse than this.

She thinks to herself as she wipes away the tears that just keep flowing.

Suddenly she hears the door open from downstairs.

She hears the boys go silent.

Footsteps make their way to the stairs and each step creams under the weight.

She tries to calm her breathing and stop herself from crying but to no avail.

The mysterious footsteps stop as they reach the corner.

She buries her face in her hands, hoping it's not who she thinks it is.

Another sob escapes her lips.

"Miss?"