Welcome back to another randomness update because my brain said to do it. The title is self-explanatory, but to anyone who's coming in blindly this DOES contain spoilers for pretty much everything Alblyn. So if you've got no clue or were planning to read that and don't want to have anything be given away, go do that. If you have read those then ignore that and carry on. I just like to make sure people know what they're walking into before hand/won't blame me for not giving away anything. Ummm...so yeah. Let's get into that.

Weird side note.....I NEVER noticed this until now but.....Albert, Brooklyn, Colton....A, B, C...Like ok. I knew about Al and Brooklyn cause I write about that a lot, but COLTON?! That was all subconscious I didn't MEAN to do that, NOW you guys can sit and think about how ironic this is too. Has anyone not noticed that or is it just me? Aka the author.

Ok so, we first see Colton in the second chapter of Brooklyn's Bridges. And ya know, he's trying to make small talk with her and such. He invites her to the baseball game at Prospect Park. At first he seems sweet, which is what really draws Brooklyn in. Plus it's sort of implied she has sort of liked him from before these events, but she would never make any sort of moves. Think of it as real life, when your crush starts talking to you and you're just in pure shock that it's happening. That's how she feels.

The first signs Colton shows of not being a great person is during the baseball game when the newsies show up. Yeah I know most people in that time didn't like newsies, but I've heard that in this day and age to know if a guy is a good one, is how he treats the waiter at a restaurant. Brooklyn isn't on that level, she actually likes them and finds them interesting. Sometimes she would wonder what it would be like to be that free from the world. But I'm sidetracking.

Taking a part from that chapter, Colton says, "I'm glad you decided to come. I was starting to think you weren't." he admitted. "I know the game didn't go as planned, but hopefully another one will happen, without any interruptions, and you can watch a real game commence."

I gotta say, Aisling made this next connection on this exact line and it made me SO happy she was able to catch it. Adding more context to this, he wanted to show off the fact that he's the best player there is. (and umm...random modern AU headcanon, Colton is considered the strongest player on the Bobcats. But compared to Albert he's average.) It's was always in his nature to make himself look good in front of her. So yeah that was a mini butt moment. A hint he was never going to be a good guy (even though it's already known he is thanks to one shots, I'm not sure how well that stuck with people's mind). Then at the ending, when he kisses her cheek, it's sort of playing into that "oh yeah maybe he is a nice guy". So see...subtle hints. I know most of you hated his guts before he did anything bad. I'm not sure if some people may have taken that bait I threw in there. But yeah.

At the next chapter, they have a little conversation, he makes little comments about Brooklyn liking poetry and saying "she's such a girl". then invites her out dancing. Random plot stuff he comes to pick her up but her dad sends him away and he ends up sneaking up the fire escape and tapping on the window asking her to sneak out and take a risk for once in her life.

Fun fact, I was considering having a chapter where Albert does the same thing. Sneak up to her window and ask if she wants to go to Medda's with everyone else. Not in a date sort of way, but just to show her around the city since she's still new to kind of.....mirror what happened with Colton. The only difference would be that Brooklyn would say inside, make up some excuse that she couldn't go then avoid him afterwards and then he finally confronts her, asking what's up with her lately, but she blows him off again and that's as far as I got. I wanted to do this so badly, but the slump I got was the worst....like it was we're talking about above I'm Fine level (and we all know how I felt about that book in the beginning). So yeah, that along with the direction everything else was going didn't line up, and sadly it ended up being scrapped. But at the end of the road, I'm happy with the outcome. Maybe a one shot will come out of it. No promsies...my track record is a wonky one.

We all know she goes out, it's a bit awkward and a little flirty. They kiss at the end of the night and she's unsure of how it felt. And then we skip to what shouldn't be one of my favorite chapters because of what happens in it, but I love the way it came out in the end. Think of it like the truing point in their relationship. It shows that they're on again off again basically every other day, they're not officially dating but it's just close enough for Brooklyn to end up getting sucked back in. She makes a tea pun, he's unimpressed, then Annie, Howard, and Opal come in. It's strongly hinted that Colton likes Opal, mostly because he agrees with her opinions on the newsies right away and ends up walking her home when he already has a thing going on with Brooklyn. Here's something else I don't think anybody noticed.....when they go into the coffee shop Colton sits down right away. In that time period, men would pull out a chair for a lady to sit in.

In the second half of Wonder, we see Brooklyn talking with Hailey and Jenny *insert eye roll*. She's telling them about the "date" and they're saying that hey, maybe Colton doesn't like the way she looks *cough* her freckles *cough* oh man this one really had people rolling. Blah, blah, blah, Brooklyn ends up getting some lemons and a rag so she could scrub her freckles away. But it goes deeper than that, Hailey and Jenny were only a part of the reason. She was fed up with herself that she ended up doing something impulsive. Think when the leading lady in a movie cuts her hair in a blind rage of emotions. There you go. Of course, Colton comes back like the rat he is and knocks on the window, another conversation goes down and he's like "don't be like this" then she slams the window in his face.

Next chapter was a fun one....I had a lot of people thinking that was happening in real time when it was secretly a flashback. But it shows he doesn't like that she read a lot of books. He sort of lead her on in this false sense of romance. Oh and he has no idea what the word "boundary" means. He didn't care at all...like that's what I was going for, but it hurt and I wanted to have a horse accidentally run into him.

Now, into some other important stuff before we move onto Albert. Or better yet, slowly bleed into it. Colton calls Brooklyn "Princess" a lot as some of you may have noticed. In Highway Heart that's the first time Albert calls her that, if you look closely, she becomes uncomfortable, and even asks if that's something Colton used to call her, and if so, he won't say it to her.

Yeah so, this boy was head over heels for her the moment he saw her. It's obvious he was just lovestruck by her, and already starts with the nicknames. The conversation was a sort and sweet one, then she left and he's still thinking about her. The next time they see each other is when she's buying a paper and Race is sort of flirting with her and then drags both of them to Jacobi's and shoves them toward a table. (in Race's mind, he thinks he's helping his bud snag a cute girl. Which isn't wrong).

Some other plot stuff happens in between but the most important one is when they do see each other again. When it's revealed that Brooklyn is actually Mush's twin. Now at this point, the night before if you guys remember Mystery Girl, Feister kind of spys on what Mush is up too because she doesn't know a thing about Brooklyn, just knows he's being secretive again and she doesn't like her obviously. Albert ends up getting dragged along by accident and they both think the worst. And after everything is cleared up, cute Meister moment and he finds out that Brooklyn and Mush are related, his exact words are, "Ya mean I have a chance with Brooklyn?" Mush punches Albert in the eye. C'mon, it's his friend asking if he has a chance with his sister.

Yeah so....she gets the nickname "Freckles" from Albert of course. In his words "It's the first thing you notice about her." AND she is in pure shock that someone actually likes the dots across her face. Now she's never hated them, it was more like she learned to live with it. In her mind, it wasn't something that made her look pretty. She doesn't think she's pretty period. She sees herself (as the modern times say) the Walmart version. Off brand if you will.

But the real deep stuff is how he treats her in modern AU time.

And that's where our first from nutcracker645 question comes in. Now some of the major differences. Though fairly obvious in its own sense asked about the boundaries. Always remember I am several steps ahead of what you're reading. When writing Better Than a Home run, I knew that's where I wanted them to sail, where a bit of Brooklyn's past comes into play and hints why she is the way she is. Stand-offish. I KNEW I wanted Colton to be this jerk who didn't respect her, but ALSO is similar to Albert in a few ways so the real differences would shine through.

Some of those things they have in common are they're both blunt, love baseball, is the number one player for their team. They're both charming and good looking. Ya know stuff like that. And I hope you guys know how much I hated myself for doing this. Now onto boundaries. Colton is very assertive, and can get aggressive at times. But it's well hidden underneath his charm. He sort of plays little mind tricks on Brooklyn to get her to do stuff. Like when he asked her to go dancing and gets her to sneak out of her bedroom window. A few times he kissed Brooklyn when she didn't want too be. Even held her in place until she pushed him away. Then started blaming her for the reason why they have so many problems. Obviously he thinks she reads too much, and makes it known that he thinks she shouldn't do it. Just you're all around average jerk of a guy.

Albert however, is nowhere near this. I mean yeah sure he's blunt, very sarcastic, not the brightest in the bunch, and loud. But he's also underestimated. I like to think of him as observant, can sense peoples vibes. That sort of thing, like right off the bat he notices how skittish Brooklyn is. He never pushes her into doing stuff, he may bring something up, but waits for her to warm up. Like if you look through the one shots Homecoming through Magical Midnight, he inserts himself around her, and makes playful small talk with her. He doesn't touch her AT ALL. At the very least their fingers are laced. He doesn't downgrade (is that the right word) her like Colton did.

He may not show it, but he does get protective of her. It's only in Better than a Home Run that it comes out. Albert cuts in and saves Brooklyn from Colton, Hailey and Jenny's harassing. He walks her back to her seat despite being the next person up to bat. He knows it'll get him in trouble, but also doesn't care. Later on when the newsies are all at the fryo shop, they end up touching hands when going for the raspberry peach flavor, and hey, it turns out they both like topping it with gummy bears. Of course there's my favorite part where Albert tries to play it cool, but his voice ends up becoming deeper and he's just one little awkward mess. Secretly, Brooklyn finds it cute. It's not shown, but deep down she's sort of happy that someone as cool and chill as Albert does get flustered easily.

But here's something I highly doubt anyone has noticed. Or maybe they have and couldn't put the pieces together because of how scattered everything was, but I wouldn't have wanted it any other way. There's a recurring theme per say with Alblyn, and usually I keep these things to myself, but I'll give you the hints and see if you can figure it out. Here are some examples. Or in other words, a cute, but short collection of Alblyn fluff.

Better than a Home Run:

"Hey...um...c-can I kiss you?" Albert asked quietly as he rubbed the back of his neck.

Brooklyn couldn't help but giggle. She'd by lying if she said Albert didn't look completely cute when he asked her the question. "Sure. What's the harm?" she shrugged.

"Your hobbit brother would kill me," Albert replied without much thought. "But I'm willing to take that risk." he smirked.

Brooklyn smiled meekly as she glanced away for a moment while her cheeks flushed pinker than ever. Brooklyn glanced back up, took a deep breath and started to lean forward a bit. She met Albert half way. Her lips softly brushed against his. It didn't go any further than a meek little kiss. But that didn't stop the sparks Brooklyn suddenly felt flying around. And when she pulled away it was like she was floating on air. The littlest smile appeared on Brooklyn's face as her cheeks deepened in color.

Highway Heart:

"Did ya have a nice time?" Albert asked. "Such a nice time that you're willin' to go on a second date sometime in the near future? Then maybe a third, and fourth and so on?"

"I don't know. You'll just have to ask me and see what happens Red," Brooklyn replied with a soft smirk across her lips.

"You're a tease Freckles." he gently wrapped his hands around her waist, gently pulling her closer in the process.

"So are you, Dasilva."

"Is there anythin' you want to do about it?"

Brooklyn felt her stomach suddenly fill with a million butterflies at that very moment. The look in his eyes told her that he wanted this as much as she did....but was she really willing to put her heart out on the line again? Or was she already too far gone? All the way in the deepest end there is, with no hope of resurfacing? Was she ready for this...ready to take the risk again? Everything was happening so fast, it all blurred together. The time where he stood up for her when her so called friends and sorry excuse of an ex wouldn't leave her alone...that little kiss in the froyo shop, where literally the newsies and Feister could've caught them. The failed skateboarding lesson that resulted a little bruise on her bottom, causing her to go numb for days, all the way to now. But the longer she looked into his eyes, the more Brooklyn realized that she was already gone before it had even hit her.

Star Crossed Love

"You'll find out when we watch the next movie Sweetheart," he simply replied. There was a moment of silence between the two as they gazed into each other's eyes. Completely forgetting everything around them as the end credits rolled. Brooklyn glanced down for a moment as her stomach started to twist. She looked back up and quietly asked, "Is this the part where you kiss me, Red?"

Albert quietly chuckled. He bit his lips as he scooted closer to her. "Depends. You want me too?" he whispered in a low tone. There was a small pause before he used the hand that was tangled in her hair only moments ago to lift her cheek and slowly pull her closer as he leaned in.

Brooklyn also moved closer as her hand delicately found its way to the nook of Albert's neck. In the next second her lips met his. She held back a bit, but soon warmed up to the little moment. Her other hand eventually placed itself on his chest. When Brooklyn felt like she couldn't breathe anymore, she pulled away, and looked deeply into his eyes for what felt like forever. Then, she suddenly felt another kiss being pressed to her lips. She returned the kiss, of course, before pulling away once more and asked, "Are you gonna keep kissing me or are ya gonna switch the DVDs?"

"Who says I can't do both?" Albert asked with a smirk. He gave Brooklyn one more kiss before quickly getting up to change the DVDs. For the rest of the week the two of them could be found seated on the couch with an assortment of snacks with something Star Wars playing on the TV. It ended up turning into "their thing". And, if you were to ask any of the boys, (besides Mush of course), or Feister, they'd say it was cute watching them bond over Star Wars. Though the kisses here and there were up for debate.

So....anyone put two and two together?

Of course PineapplesAndPapes mentioned something about how Colton doesn't like her interests and Albert does. Now, here's where it gets kinda tricky. Colton did ask about what Brooklyn likes to do in her free time, which leads to him asking her to go to one of the dance halls. So in a way he does pay attention in that sense. But when it comes to her reading he dislikes it so much, where Albert (though doesn't like books) still makes some small effort, which is letting her ramble about it.

While staying on the same note this is an explanation I had for myself when it didn't make any sense. Class wise, they couldn't be further apart on that scale. Colton is your typical run of the mill "good boy". He has a family, goes to school and hangs out with his friends. Picture perfect if you will. Albert is a newsie, he's rough around the edges, always has a dirt smudge somewhere and ok sure, he can lose his cool every now and again when pushed too far. He doesn't really like little kids, but little kids love him. And he secretly loves the youngers. Albert is one giant softie (I STAND THAT HEADCANON!) Now when it comes to manners here's something interesting, in the chapter Wonder, Colton did not pull out a chair for Brooklyn. Not very gentlemen like, right? And though it's not shown Albert does that for her anywhere....I can promise you he does and it takes her aback a bit since no one has ever done that for her.

Newsies have a not so good reputation from what we've seen in movie and musica. But, when reading upon the real strike, I read that yes, the boys did soak any scabs BUT any girls who had a news stand, they left them alone. In 92sies when after the boys get their papes, we see this young lady scurry past the boys, and though their wonder stuck for a moment, some of them still take off their caps. That's one of the small things I threw in when making Colton, that he doesn't follow the typical pattern of young men who were interested in a girl. Yes, Albert can be a bit of a flirt, but he doesn't really care(?) I dunno, I always took him as so laid back and go with the flow he doesn't care if he ever gets into a relationship or not. That's one of the key factors why it worked out well with Brooklyn. He didn't mind waiting in that sense, but he did wait for the perfect time to kiss her and ask her out on a date. Ya know just letting her test out the waters slowly.

I guess the real "mirror" moment is the entire last chapter of Brooklyn's Bridges, where Albert shows some interest in Brooklyn's poetry book. After everything that happened with Colton, she brushes it off, even goes as far to repeat some of the stuff he said to her. But one thing led to another and she ends up reading a few passages to him. Now, we all know Albert isn't the book kind of guy, much less for something like poetry, but he tries because he wants to get to know her better. At that point, he isn't looking for a relationship with her, he just want to form that friendship. Get to know her on a deeper level so he can understand her more.

Mini side note-ish. When making Brooklyn I really wanted her to be someone who sort of contrast Albert, and unlimitedly bring out the softer side no one sees. While he's the one who sort of pulls her out of her shell and gives her confidence back. We all know Colton broke what little confidence Brooklyn did have and made her doubt herself. It's another reason why she fell for Albert so quickly. I will say at first Brooklyn did think she was rebounding, which just adds on why she's so stand-offish with Albert. But we all know how that turned out.

At the end of the day, my main goal was complete. That it's no where near what Meister is like. And I was afraid it was going to happen too since I did so much with them. Here we are now, Alblyn and Meister are complete opposites. It works cause they're both fun ships with their own way of going about things. Meister is the classic best friends to lovers slow burn, and Alblyn has a dash of love at first sight mixed with the aspects off.....a fast pace relationship that may not be the best idea but hey, they still find a way to make it work.

So I guess that brings us to the end of it. If there's anything I happened to have missed and you want to know something feel free to comment a question and I'll come up with the best reply I can. Thanks for reading and I'll see ya in the next random rant.