"Lucy!"

Lucy grunted as she heaved herself out of the grungy bed, nearly hitting her head on the bottom of the top bunk.

Coughing could be heard from all around, everyone was sick. It was only July, but due to the close quarters, germs were spreading rapidly.

Lucy had took it upon herself to care of the younger children that couldn't care for themselves.

She rushed over to a little girl that was getting sick in a mop bucket. She then grabbed the girl's hair into a messy ponytail and cautiously patted her back.

When she finally stopped, Lucy let go of her hair and kneeled down beside her.

"I'm done, thank you." The girl forced a smile upon her pale face.

The dark purple bags under Lucy's eyes crinkled as she smiled back at the little girl.

When she ran off, Lucy reluctantly got up and walked over to the window. It was just starting to get dark out.

A cough rattled through her body as her reflection caught her eye. She was a ghostly white, her nose was red and her lips cracked.

A rock came soaring towards the window, startling Lucy. She quickly averted her eyes downward, opening the window to get a better view.

"Lucy!" A boy called from the dirt path. David.

"Dave!!" A tear sprung out of Lucy's left eye and traveled down her face. "I can't believe you're here!"

"Look Luce. Snyder has scabs out patrolling the streets. God, they almost spotted me. Be ready, the boys are coming down tonight."

"A-alright! Thank you Dave-" another cough made its way up her throat. David had a look of sympathy, which Lucy hated.

"Don't worry about me, I'll be fine for tonight."

Davey nodded, sparing her one more smile before running off into the shadows.

''Could tonight come any faster?'

**

"Lucy! Lucy!!" A few small children shouted at the sleeping girl.

Lucy sat up, ready to deal with some more sick kids.

"What? What's the matter?!" She asked frantically. All the kids were gathered around the window, waving her over.

Lucy pushed her way through the crowd, looking down and spotting the leader of the Brooklyn newsies himself. Along with Jack, Race, Mush, Blink, and Dave.

"Spot!" Lucy smiled breathlessly.

"What am I, chopped liver?" Race mumbled sarcastically.

"God Lucy! You look terrible!" Blink piped up, getting judged by Mush thereafter.

"Gee thanks ya bum."

"We're gonna get you outta there, don't worry." Jack called up.

"Yeah? And how exactly are you gonna do that, huh cowboy?"

Jack paused, cursing under his breath for not planning it out beforehand.

"Well, you're only on the second floor-" Dave started.

"So just jump." Blink shrugged.

Lucy's eyes widened as she frantically shook her head no.

"Don't leave Lucy!" A few kids whined. She quickly embraced them, not caring about the germs.

"I'll come back for you guys, all of you." She mumbled into their ears.

They all sniffles and nodded, backing away reluctantly.

"Look Lucy, it's alright." Spot said, looking right into her brown eyes.

"Alright, okay. Sure." She muttered under her breath as she went to stand on the window sill.

She was still in her regular newsies attire, she changed out of that ratty nightgown that they gave her to sleep in.

"I'll catch you." Spot said carefully.

Race tried to hold his tongue. "Unless you want me to catch you, yknow since I'm your brother and all-"

Lucy glared at her brother before taking a deep breath and loosening her grip on the wall.

The door slammed open, hitting the wall with such force that the whole building seemed to shake.

"Hey! Girl!"

She turned her head to see a guard, running towards her. And so Lucy jumped, seconds before the guard got to the window.

The few seconds that she was in the air seemed to last a lifetime. All the boys stared up in worry, except for Spot who seemed determined.

She knew he would come for her. She knew.

Time sped back up for the girl as she landed in spots arms. She quickly jumped away from him nervously.

They stared at eachother for a few seconds before embracing.

Race threw his arms up in mock frustration.

Lucy laughed into Spot's shoulders graciously.

The laugh quickly turned into a coughing fit. She unmatched herself from him and doubled over, her hands on her knees.

"..sorry.." she wheezed out between coughs.

All the boys looked on worriedly. Racetrack approached the girl cautiously, throwing his arm around her shoulder.

"Hey, don't sweat it. Come on back to the lodge."

Lucy smiled at her brother, but was quickly interrupted by shouting.

Snyder.

"Great, I forgot about him." Mush commented before pulling Blink to run. Jack and Davey behind them.

Race, Spot and Lucy trailing even further behind.

Lucy was wheezing, stopping every few steps to catch her breath.

"Come on Lucy, we gotta keep going." Race rushed her.

Lucy reluctantly pushed on. The group of kids continued running down alleyways and different streets until they made it to the lodging house.

Nobody else was awake. Just the group of six.

"Come on Lucy, I'll help you upstairs-" Mush offered.

"Guys, I'm fine. Really. It's just a cold." Lucy could tell the boys didn't believe her, but she pushed herself upstairs just to show them.

After about an hour of Lucy endlessly thanking the boys and telling them that she was fine, David had to go home.

Jack, Mush, and Blink went to bed. Race joining them soon after.

It was just Lucy and Spot.

Lucy laid down on the soft mattress as Spot sat by her legs. He held her hand tightly.

"I owe you one, Spot." Lucy chuckled.

"No you don't, Luce." Spot looked down at her seriously.

The smile on Lucy's face quickly disappeared. She sat up.

"What's the matter?"

"I'm just, confused." He turned away. Lucy grabbed his chin, turning his face back towards her direction.

"About what?"

"You." He paused. Trying to look anywhere but her.

This time she grabbed either side of his face, holding it in place. She chuckled quietly.

"Come on Spot! What's there to be confused about? I'm just...me. A dirty ol street rat." She whispered, careful not to wake any of the other boys.

"But you're not, not to me. You're so much more.I know we haven't known eachother for long but- I can't help but think about you." His eyes shifted from hers to her lips and back again. "You're talented, and - and funny, and you're really pretty." He whispered the last part.

Lucy held her breath, not sure how to respond, she held her blanketed knees to her chest as her back rested against the small headboard.

"Oh, uhm thank y-" the girl was cut off by a pair of lips meeting hers.

It caught her off guard at first, but she quickly melted into it. Bringing her hand up to the back of his neck.

They pulled away breathlessly. Spot bit his bottom lip, a smirk decorating his face.

Lucy looked down, her face now red. This time he held her chin, gently bringing her face up to look at his.

"Goodnight Spot." She smiled, laying back down. He chuckled, getting up and blowing out the candle.

"'Night Luce."

When she was sure she heard the front door close, she sat up, giggling uncontrollably. Her small hand was brought up to her lips in awe.

Meanwhile, Spot was smirking like an idiot. It never even occurred to him that he might get sick. But little did he know, he was already bitten by the love bug.

**

I'm soft for them omg. I just rlly wanted to give them a nice chapter bc I've been doing all of em dirty recently. Also ALSO I have officially had this book - published - for a year and three days. So thank you to all that have supported me this past year!! I love you all so much!!
Not yet proof read or edited.
Word Count - 1343