December 19th, 1900

_____

Jack smirked at his friend's response.

"Atta' boy." He said as he ruffled the shorter boy's hair.

Crutchie's face was white as snow for a few moments, then turned bright red as it dawned on him again that he liked (Y/N).

Jack noticed and laughed, squeezing him close to his side with glee - he finally had found a girl he was interested in.

"I'es has to apologize." Crutchie blurted out. "Jack, wheres my crutch?"

Jack gestured to literally right next to Crutchie. Seriously, was he blind?

Crutchie grabbed the crutch and pulled himself up at lightning speed, hoping (Y/N) would be in her room.

He did his best to run up the stairs, which, believe me, was hard with a crutch. Alas, he made do the best he could.

As he was running up those stairs, he smiled ear to ear, his face red. Just the thought of (Y/N) made him blush now - how had he been so blind before?

Once he was finally outside her door, he took a breath and straightened his posture. He dusted off his vest gently with his hand and took it upon himself to spit in his hand and rub it on his face to get any dirt off.

He knocked gently, once. When she didn't answer, he knocked again and spoke up.

"(Y/N)? Is yous in there?" He asked, leaning towards the door.

He heard a rustling sound from behind the door.

"(Y/N)?" He inquired once again, an eyebrow raised.

No noise for a solid ten seconds.

"(Y/N), are yous okay? I'es hear yous in there." Crutchie said again, to no noise.

He sighed.

"I'es coming in (Y/N), be ready!" He piped up, slowly opening the door. To his shock, all there was was Lilac, curled up on (Y/N)'s cot.

What was especially strange was the cold air coming from above him and the fact the cot was pushed to the middle of the room.

Then it hit him.

The vent was open!

He groaned, his eyes falling on the vent cover on the floor in front of him. How had he not noticed it beforehand?

That aside, it didn't take Crutchie long to realize that (Y/N) must've climbed onto the roof - you could get anywhere from the roof. Hell, she could be halfway across the city by now!

No, no negative thoughts. She was probably just sitting on the roof to get some fresh air like Jack did from time to time with Kathrine.

Never-mind that - he was forgetting his goal! He had come up here to apologize, and he would apologize - even if he had to go halfway across New York to do so.

You see, Crutchie couldn't stand guilt. It would eat him up inside, chewing away at his very soul. Just, the fact that you knew you hurt somebody was enough for him - but the longer he held it in, it got worse.

He had to apologize.

______

(Y/N) looked up at the sky above her, yawning. It was a nice night, no doubt. The moon was full and bright, and stars could be seen anywhere you looked. She could name all the constellations above her that night - Perseus, Gemini, Cancer, you name it.

A cold breeze blew, prompting her to wrap her coat closer around her. She constantly kept forgetting that it was winter time, and much too cold to be out at night.

(Y/N) sighed and sat up, ready to leave the roof when she heard a grunt and a rustle from the vent a few feet to her left.

Her head snapped to the vent, and she was suddenly alert and awake. Another grunt and a newsie cap popped up from the vent, then a face.

Crutchie.

(Y/N) cringed and turned her face back to the sky.

This was going to be awkward, more or less. I mean, she had been ignoring him for gods sake!

At first (Y/N) didn't mean to ignore him. She just.. distanced herself. She was not a fan of public displays of affection - or any affection, for that matter. That hug triggered most possibly the worst memories for her.

Yet, her ignoring Crutchie made her mad at herself. He didn't know this, so why ignore him? She should've just said she didn't like being touched and the two could move on with their friendship - simple!

Instead, she had chose to ignore him. What a foolish move!

"(Y/N)?" He said, barely audible.

A few moments of silence while (Y/N) calculated her response. She could not mess this up further then she had already.

"That's me." She retorted, pained with more guilt then before.

She noticed Crutchie scoot himself next to her, gently propping his Crutch next to him so it didn't fall off the roof and onto some poor civilian.

The two entered an awkward silence as Crutchie tried to come up with something to say to her. Why had he not thought this through?

Forty five seconds of silence, (Y/N) counted. She dug into her pocked and pulled out a nickle, tossing it down to the street.

"W-what'd yous do that for?" Crutchie wearily asked, nervous she was still mad at him.

"That's for the kids shining shoes on the street - especially the ones with no shoes on their feet." (Y/N) replied, monotone.

"Well, um, in that case," Crutchie said, digging a nickel out of his pocket and tossing it onto the street. "This is for guys sweating blood in the shops, while the bosses an' cops look away."

(Y/N) smiled to herself and the two once again went into awkward silence for a good two minutes.

"I-i'm sorry." Crutchie blurted out, causing (Y/N) to whip her head around to look at him.

"For what?" She asked, genuinely confused. If anything, she had to apologize to him!

"For, uh, da' hug. I'es didn't know it'd upset yous." He mumbled, twiddling his thumbs.

(Y/N) let out a dry laugh, causing Crutchie's anxiety around the whole situation increase.

"(Y/N)?" He squeaked.

"Crutchie, don't be sorry." she looked him dead in the eye. "If anything, its me who should be apologizing."

Crutchie was baffled. Why would she have to apologize? He had been the one who hugged her and violated her space!

"W-what for?" He inquired.

"I totally flipped on you for hugging me.. and, for that, I'm genuinely sorry. I hope you can forgive me." She murmured.

Now it was Crutchie's turn to laugh.

"(Y/N), I'es invaded your space, I'es the one who should be apologizin' to ya!" He clapped back, making (Y/N) smirk wearily.

"I'm too exhausted to to argue over the fact that I should be apologizing, so lets just accept one another apology and move on with life." She said, getting to the point, knowing the two would banter and whatnot if she didn't nip it in the bud now.

Crutchie shrugged and mimicked (Y/N), leaning back on the roof so his eyes were facing directly towards the sky.

A comfortable silence filled the space around them.

"Hey, Crutchie?"

"Mm?"

"I just want you to know, you re probably the only friend I've ever had," She took a breath. "Besides, you know, my dog. You're so patient with me too, yous-"

(Y/N) realized her mistake too late.

"(Y/N)! Yous said it!" Crutchie enthusiastically blurted out, loud enough that someone on the street told them to quiet down.

(Y/N)'s face went beet red - boy, was she lucky it was too dark to see!

"W-what do you mean?"

"Yous said 'yous!' (Y/N), we's been rubbin' off on ya!" He chirped.

(Y/N) rolled her eyes and playfully punched Crutchie's shoulder.

"And if you tell anyone, your days are numbered."

The two laughed, and for that moment, everything seemed as if it would be okay.

A/N

Uhhhh

the next chapter is gonna make you cat lovers p happy