3rd Person

"What's your name?" her father asks, wanting to drive the new knowledge into her mind so she would not forget.

"Margaret Smith," she sighs, having gone over the information countless times already. "And my brother's name is Henry," already knowing what her father was going to ask. Her father nods in approval before leaving the room to run some more errands to help the family get used to living somewhere new again, yet they were already used to the feeling of a new surrounding every couple of months.

She sweeps the floor of the old and abandoned apartment as her mother unpacks the little supplies they had and her younger brother helps.

She had grown tired of the constant moving and identity change. She was tired of leaving everything behind because of a past she was not responsible for.

"I'm going to go pick up some bread from the market," she tells her family noticing how little food they actually had. After the usual warnings were given from her parents, she leaves the dusty building and onto the bustling streets of Manhattan, New York.

She makes her way through the crowded streets, cautious of her surroundings, but not cautious enough to not bump into someone sending her right to the ground.

"I'se so sorry. I'se should watch where I'm going," she heard someone say with a small chuckle, taking the incident lightly before she looked up, seeing a boy giving his hand for her to take. He looked around her age with a newsie cap and brown eyes she couldn't look away from.

"Thanks and it's fine," she takes his hand, giving him a small smile which he returned.

"I'm Mush," he introduced himself, wanting to know the name of the beautiful girl the universe has given him the luck to literally bump into.

"Margaret," she responds.

"Ah ya new 'round heah?" he wonders, hoping to start a conversation.

"Yeah. My family just moved here from Santa Fe," she tells him, remembering everything her father told her for their 'new life'. But this part was, surprisingly, the truth. She was born in Santa Fe and lived there for a bit before the accident, and now she's been all over the country ever since.

"A friend of mine's hopin' ta go dere one day. What's it like?" Mush asks out of curiosity, part of him just wanting to know more about her and the other wondering what was so grand about New Mexico.

"It's... different from here. It's warm and bright and dry yet very cool and dark at night. It can sometimes be dangerous, but it's still home, ya know," she explains, thinking back to a time she actually had a home.

"Sounds nice. Maybe I'll visit some time," he smiled at her as she returned the gesture.

"I should really get going, but it was nice meeting you, Mush," she tells him, starting to slowly back away once she realized how much time has passed.

"Maybe I'll see ya 'round," he responds, loving the way his name rolled off her tongue.

"Maybe," she turns away, tucking a strand of hair behind her ears as he watches her walk away with a soft smile playing on his lips.

....

"Where are you taking me?" she laughs as he leads her away from the city.

"It's a surprise," he answers as they approach a big fence. Mush looks around before grabbing hold and propping himself up and over.

"This is private property! We're gonna get caught," she warns him, but he pushed further.

"C'mon. Live a little," he tries to persuade her. She sighs before grabbing onto something and getting to the other side where he was. She looked up and around seeing a garden full of gorgeous flowers and trees with a fountain right in the middle. Hedges cut into different shapes decorated the yard along with different colored greenery.

"It's beautiful," she breathed out, awing at how pretty everything looked in the moonlight.

"It's one of the rich folks' gahdens," Mush informs her before taking her hand and leading her through the perfectly cut and trimmed yard.

They began talking about anything and everything. She talked as much as she could about her family without giving too much information as he told her of his lack of a biological family, and more of his best friends- the newsies- who were his family. Slowly but surely, they were falling for each other even though she knew full and well how dangerous it was for him and her family and how painful it will be to walk away from it all in a few short weeks.

"Hey. Who's there? This is private property!" a voice sounded through the garden causing them both to sprint towards the fence and quickly over it. They both ran as fast as they could, and luckily escaped. They both stopped running as they found themselves back within the tall buildings of Manhattan. They entered an alley to catch their breaths before both of them gave a few chuckles.

The smiles died down as the realization that they were only inches away from each other came to mind. His eyes searched hers for a clue to how she was feeling, and if he only knew he wouldn't have wasted so much time wondering about it.

She answered his question by inching closer before his hand reached up to put a strand of her hair behind her ear. His hand lingered on her cheek, cupping her face as he leaned in. Her back was pressed against a brick building as both of her hands reached up to his neck, pulling him closer to her. His lips touched hers as she immediately kissed back. He turned his head to the side as his hands fell to her waist, keeping her as close to him as possible.

Then she backed away. "Is somethin' wrong?" Mush's eyebrows furrowed together, hoping he didn't do anything to push her away.

"No, I jus- I have to go," she quickly told him before leaving the alley and further away from him.

She finally makes it home, attempting to quietly make it through the rickety apartment, but her father finds her. "Where have you been?" he demands with anger evident in his tone.

"Nowhere," she lies.

"Get to bed," her father sighs angrily, knowing it's too late to fight yet also knowing she was getting too attached to life here in Manhattan even though it's all a lie.

A-N- Disclaimer: this one-shot is actually based on a movie "Running on Empty" with River Pheonix. He is absolutely wonderful and beautiful so I suggest it all to you! This one-shot is also kinda long but hey, why the heck not? And this one will have a part 2 soon!

So please vote and comment what ya think! Thank you all! Love you all!