Special thanks to aislingkiley  for helping me with this.  And there were also some people on FamFic who helped me as well. Something to remember while reading this, is that this takes place roughly a year after The Past Comes Back. Hope you enjoy

───── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ─────

Modern AU 

"What kind of sicko sets the alarm clocks to go off at three freakin' a.m.!" Race yelled as he walked out of the bedroom and into the hallway. He walked over to the light switch and flipped it on just as everyone else walked out of their rooms. Except Romeo, who walked out of the bathroom.

"What kind of sicko yells bloody murder three in the mornin'?!" Jack yelled in a British accent over the noise of the alarm clocks as he threw his hands in the air while Crutchie rested his shoulder on the doorframe looking half asleep and half awake.

"Who let Jack watch Harry Potter again," Finch asked deadpanned as he rubbed his eyes so they could adjust to the bright lights. Since it was three a.m. the boys, and Feister all had a rude awakening with the alarm clocks going off. Which meant not only were they all half tired, but also in their pj's. Or in a few boys' cases, just pj pants and messy bed head. Feister was used to seeing the boys shirtless, so it didn't phase her in the slightest. Plus if it even did she was too tired to notice.

"Actually he was watchin' Britain's got Talent," Henry replied before yawning. With it being so early in the morning it took for a few moments for everyone to process what Henry had just said.

"How did this conversation go from waking' up at three am on a Saturday from Jack and his weird obsession with British accents?" Albert asked very loudly. It was shocking that Kloppman hadn't woken up from all the noise that was going on at the moment. Usually he would've come up by now and tell everyone to go to bed.

"The real question is why are we all talkin' instead of sleepin'!" Feister yelled as she glared at the boys. Just then the sound of quiet and low pitched chucking went into the air. They all looked to where it was coming from, and what they saw was Tommy boy was leaning on the door frame to one of the bedrooms.

A smile was spread across his face as he said, "I dunno why you're all sayin', but your faces are priceless." the boys, and Feister all had looks that could literally kill as Tommy continued to laugh. The reason he couldn't hear what the others were saying was because of the earplugs he was wearing. "Well, night suckers, and April Fools!" with that being said Tommy went back to his bed for a good night's rest. This caused the newsies to complain while the alarm clocks still buzzed.

It was that time of the year again. April Fools, a day for pranks, jokes, and other good natured fun. While the 1st of April is usually just another day for most people, to the Newsies of Lower Manhattan it is taken very seriously. In fact, Kloppman calls it Death Day because there's always at least one trip to the doctors.

───── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ─────

The following morning was fairly calm. Tommy boy was still laughing about the whole alarm clock thing, which only put everyone else in a worse mood than they already were. When newsies don't get enough sleep it would just be one long day.

Anyways, as I said before, the morning was fairly calm. That is until someone yelled, "Who put dye in the toothpaste and mouthwash?!" this caused everyone to stop what they were doing to see a very angry looking Jojo storm out of the bathroom with a dark blue color staining his teeth, and lips. This caused everyone to quietly snicker at the sight while Jojo continued to glare them down. "April Fools sucker!" Race yelled very loudly. In a matter of seconds Jojo went after Race, who sprinted down the stairs.

"Mike watch where you're goin'," Sniper said as 'Mike' ran past him.

"Actually I'm Ike," he replied. "He's Mike," he added while pointing his thumb to 'Mike'. Everyone stopped what they were doing to look at the twins and groaned.

"You do this, every, single, year," Buttons said slowly.

"Do what?" the twins asked innocently.

"Switch!" everyone replied loudly.

"You can't prove that!" another round of groans filled the air, and even a few face slaps were done. It was true what Buttons had said. Every, single, year (especially on) April Fools Ike and Mike pull the old fashion twin switch. Even though the other newsies have trouble telling the twins apart (except for Feister) on April Fools they all know the twins pulled the switch.

After the interesting morning the newsies all headed down for breakfast, it was pretty hectic since it's every man, or woman for themselves. When Romeo went to turn on the sink the little hose went off and squirted him in the face, which made everyone stop what they were doing and laugh.

Needless to say Romeo was very angry and he had to go change into some dry clothes. When breakfast was made they all sat down at the dining room table and ate while making jokes at one another, or laughing about the pranks that were pulled that morning. During all the laughter as Henry was about to put just a little salt on his eggs the cap came loose and it spilled all over the place. "Who did this?" he asked while standing up to clean off the salt that had fallen onto his lap. "Ha, April Fools!" Elmer yelled before taking a bite out of an apple. Only to find out it was the plastic kind. He spit the plastic out onto a napkin before taking a big gulp of his orange juice to wash away the taste.

"April Fools," Henry said with a smirk on his face. While that had been going on, Feister had slipped under the table and managed to tie at least three of the boys shoelaces together before sitting back in her chair without anyone noticing.

"Not to intrude or anything," Kloppman said as he walked into the dining room. "But Feister, there's someone here to see you." Feister's heart was beating out of her chest as a woman with blue eyes, blonde hair that was in a bun, and was wearing a pencil skirt and a nice blouse walked up next to Kloppman. Feister was afraid that it was something about her moving to a girl's group home, or worse.

"This is Miss Beverly," Kloppman explained as Miss Beverly looked around the room with a disgusted face before walking up to her and said, "Stand." not knowing what else to do Feister slowly stood up as the woman looked her over. "A little on the short side, but that's nothing high heels and a bun can't fix. Long dark hair which will go perfectly with any shades of blues, purples, and a few different color pinks. Skin tone is a soft and warm color, but has a light tan from being in the sun all the time. On the bright side there is no signs of acne or blemish. Clothes are a bit oversized, probably hand me downs from these...ragamuffins. Don't worry Claire-"

"Claire?" the boys all asked at the same time. Yes, the boys know Feister's real name, but it was always a shock when it was said out loud. In fact, it even made Feister cringe on the inside. But, there was one person in the room that could say her real name and she wouldn't mind that much. But that was beside the point. "Once we're done you'll sure to win first prize."

"What are you talkin' bout lady?!" Feister asked as she took a step back from Miss Beverly. Mush quickly stood up and pulled Feister closer by her shoulders to keep her calm. He knew better than anyone that Feister has a temper shorter than she is. But Feister just swatted Mush's hands off of her shoulders. She heard a small, "ok then," come from behind, but that was the least of her problems.

"You signed up for the Miss Manhattan Beauty Pageant, and you were late to rehearsals so I came by to see what was keeping you."

"WHaT?!" Feister yelled in shock. "I never signed up for some beauty pageant full of girls who only care bout what they look like." just then she heard snickering in the background. Feister then turned around to see what was going on. "Racetrack Higgins and Albert Dasilva what did you do?!" she snapped at the older boys.

"Nothin'!" both boys replied with the most innocent look possible. But she could see right through those innocent eyes of theirs.

"It was Crutchie's idea," Albert said just as Crutchie came back from the bathroom.

"What?" Crutchie asked in confusion while looking at Albert.

"Don't worry Crutch," Race reassured as he walked up to said boy. "It wasn't your fault, I'm sure it was just a honest mistake." Race patted Crutchie on the back, who still looked completely lost, and Feister was fuming with so much anger that the other boys swore they could see smoke coming out of the top of her head.

"Let's go Claire, there's lots of work to be done." with that being said Miss Beverly took Feister by the hand and walked out of the Lodge.

"Hey, wait a minute lady!" Mush exclaimed. But after taking one step forward he fell flat on his face with a loud thud. As the boys started to laugh Mush slowly lifted his head and when he looked back he saw that his shoe laces were tied together. Grumbling to himself Mush quickly took off his sneakers and went out to get Feister, only to realize that she was nowhere in sight.

Back inside the Lodge the boys stopped laughing and started to wonder what just happened. They all knew Feister was nowhere near the girly-girl type, she's without a doubt on the tomboy side. Heck, never once in their lives have the boys seen Feister with her hair down, much less in anything pink. "What did I do?!" Crutchie asked worriedly breaking the silence.

When Mush walked back inside he looked right at Race and Albert before saying, 'You two are so dead when she gets back." both Race and Albert brushed it off thinking it was nothing, plus this would be good for Feister. She'll get to explore the girly side of things. Which only backed up Mush's previous statement. He knew this would all crash and burn in the end, but maybe it - oh who was he kidding, Feister would probably want to die before she would go into a dress.

Anyways, the pranks once again began, but most of the boys' minds were on Feister and the beauty pageant thing she was dragged into. They couldn't really imagine Feister Johnson in a beauty pageant. She was one of the boys through and through.

The other boys were pretty mad at Race and Albert for signing Feister up for a beauty pageant. But the two of them said it would be good for Feister. After all she is getting to that age where she'll become less of a tomboy and act more like a girl. Mush wasn't sure how he felt about the sound of Feister becoming a girly girl. She was one of the guys, and that's probably one of the reasons why he has a crush on her for. Feister isn't like other girls, she's one of a kind. She doesn't care about looks and boys having crushes on her.

Which reminded Mush, he would have to be ready to scare off any boys who tries to make a move on his girl...Mush then mentally slapped himself, he couldn't call Feister "his girl" cause they were nowhere near that kind of relationship, it was a just simple run of the mill brother, sister relationship. Nothing more, nothing less. Which makes it all that more painful. Sure, Mush could tell Feister how he really feels, but there's a whole list of reasons why that would be a bad idea.

───── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ─────

It was night time when Feister came back to the Lodge, she was tired, had sores on her feet, shoulders and back. It also didn't help that there was some weird perfume with glitter that was sprayed on her body, and her hair was stiff and probably tangled from that weird stuff that was put in her hair to keep it stiff. As Feister was laying in her bed on her stomach, there was a knock on the door. She groaned as she said, "Go away!"

But the door opened anyway, the hallway light spilled into the dark room and then the room light was turned on. Feister groaned some more as she turned on her side and pulled the covers up and over her head. She felt the bed sink down and a soft voice say, "It's just Chinese take out, but it's better than the pizza we had last week."

"I'm not hungry," Feister mumbled from under the covers. She then felt the covers being pulled down, and she was met with soft blue eyes and a warm smile. Feister slowly sat up since it was no use hiding under the covers. "What's that funny smell?" Mush asked after sniffing the air a few times. "I'm not complaining cause it smells nice," he quickly added once he realized it was probably perfume and not body odor.

"That would be channel 5," Feister replied as she slumped back into her bed. Mush raised an eyebrow, he thought that sounded wrong, but he wasn't about to pick a fight with Feister.

"Ok I think you need to get some energy in the tank," Mush said as he handed Feister the plate of food. She took it and set it down on her lap before grabbing an egg roll and started spilling her entire day filled with prissy pink princesses, drama queens, and pretty much the whole pack of your typical mean girls. Plus there was the fact she missed out on pranking the boys without getting in trouble. Mush just sat and listened as Feister spilled out her problems and aggressively ate her food. "I'm never gonna be one of those typical teenage girls," Feister said as she took a bite out of the beef on a stick. After taking a few moments to chew and swallowed she said, "I'm almost fifteen, and still don't know what's what."

"And that's what makes you different," Mush replied as he put his hand on top of hers. "You're you, and that's all there is too it. You don't need to be one of those typical teenage girls. You're pretty just the way you are." as soon as the words left his mouth Mush swore the room started to get hotter.

"Shut up," Feister said as she looked down to not only hide her growing smile, but pink color spreading across her cheeks. When she looked down Feister realized that Mush had his hand on top of hers. Without even thinking Feister moved her hand away and tucked some hair behind her ear. An awkwardness soon filled the air, the two teens stayed quiet, trying to find something to say, but nothing came to mind. So they just sat there in silence.

It was awkward to say the least seeing as they both had a huge crush on the other. Usually both love struck teens could talk for hours on end, but now that feelings were growing (and fast I might add) that all went out the door. Feister was mentally kicking herself for spilling out all her problems, sure she's ranted to Mush before. But never has she ranted about something like that. And Mush, well...he just wanted to tell Feister how she's the prettiest girl in the world, but he knew she'd probably play it off, or laugh at him for saying that. So, that's how the two of them just sat in silence, wondering if they had even the smallest chance with each other.

───── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ─────

"I can't believe I'm doin' this," Feister grumbled to herself. While the other girl's were busy getting ready for the pageant she was busy slumping in her chair. She still couldn't believe there was no way out of the stupid pageant, oh, was Race and Albert going to pay for this big time.

"Hey Feisty," a familiar voice said. Feister turned around and as soon as she saw her best friend a smile broke out onto her face. "What're you doin' here?" she asked as she went up to hug Mush tightly.

"Came to give you these," Mush replied shyly while handing her a small bouquet of daisies, which are her favorite flowers. "We all pitched in to get it, and the boys said I should be the one to give it to ya."

"Thanks for the flowers, and tell the other's I said thanks too," Feister said with a big smile on her face. Mush nodded with a smile on his face before saying, "Well, I should probably go back before I get ya in trouble. But just so you know, you're beautiful no matter what." Feister couldn't help but smile even wider as a pink shade spread across her face.

With that being said Mush went back to where the other boys were, and Feister went to get ready for the pageant that she didn't want to do. She tried getting out of it, but apparently that wasn't possible. Feister looked around the room full of girls that were her age, and she knew she could never measure up to how they look. She would never be one of those girls that are perfectly perfect in every way.

"Who was that boy?" a girl (who Feister refused to remember her name) asked.

"That was my best friend if you must know," Feister spat back in a very annoyed tone.

"Then you must know if he's single?" the annoying girl asked in a tone that made Feister sick to her stomach, just as she felt her heart drop. On one hand, she could lie and say that Mush was already taken, by her. After all, he did it to her for New Years Eve when Lacey wouldn't leave him alone, and she was perfectly fine with it. But could she really say the same? Feister doesn't have any annoying boys hitting on her, and if she did she knew Mush would without a doubt do something rash without her consent.

But this was a whole other story, so Feister's reply was, "Kinda. You see, he's in this...shall we say complicated spot with this other girl. And he really likes her, we're talkin' bout the biggest crush of crushes in the world. But the thing is he doesn't know if she likes him or not. So he's waiting for all the right signs to finally come clean. And has been for almost a year now. I'm tellin' ya, Mush was the kind of guy that would go from girl, to girl to girl. But this one has him stuck like a love sick puppy. He won't tell me who it is, but I have a small feelin' on who this mystery girl is. Oh and before you try anythin', quick reminder that he doesn't have a thing for blondes anymore. Used too, though, but they all up and left like that. I didn't do anythin', please. I'm not the kind of girl to be scarin'' away girls from my best friend, but I do make sure they know who they're dealin' with. Break his heart and I break their face, you know, that sorta thing."

Little did Feister know that Mush had heard her little ramble, and that everything she said about him having huge crush on a girl, but doesn't know what to do about it was true. "Maybe someday I'll tell ya how I really feel," he thought before going back to the other boys. "How she doin'?" Kid Blink asked as Mush walked up to the group that was standing in the back of the room. "It's Feisty we're talkin' bout." Blink thought for a moment before nodding.

"This is gonna be good," Albert said as he rubbed his hands together.

"You suckers do realize that Feisty's gonna get ya back once this is all over, right?" Specs asked. Once again Race and Albert brushed it off, making the rest of the boys think that Race and Albert had a death wish. They've all learned the hard way (some more than others) that you don't mess with Feister Johnson, because she can and will give you some payback times a thousand. Which makes some of the boys wonder if she and Spot are long lost siblings or something. After all, they're both short, dark haired, aggressive newsies who aren't afraid to throw a punch.

When the pageant had started the boys were all anxious to see what Feister would look like. They've only ever see her in jeans and a too large t-shirt with braids, but in the next few moments they would probably see her in a pretty dress, makeup and hair down in curly.

But when she came out they were all shocked to see she was wearing overalls, with a white shirt and a worn out baseball cap. She was wearing her favorite converse and her hair was in their usual braids. Needless to say Feister was a total tomboy for the entire pageant. For the talent part she belched the entire alphabet, which the boys cheered her on for. Instead of answering the question she was given she said something about how it's ok to get down and dirty every now and then. Which the boys were very happy about, Romeo was too distracted by all the pretty girls on stage and Mush was well...a love struck puppy. He couldn't take his eyes off the girl he's known his entire life.

Before they all knew it the pageant was over, and Feister obviously lost big time, but she could care less about it. A few minutes later Feister came up to the group of boys with her backpack in tow. She walked up to Race and Albert, and said, "Looks like your little plan backfired." after that she walked off, but not before she turned around and said, "Oh and next year, you better watch your backs cause you're gonna get the pay back of your lives."

"It's been nice knowin' you two," Mush said with a cheeky grin before following Feister out the door. The other boys soon followed, leaving Race and Albert standing there like idiots as they looked at each other with the same worried expression on their faces.

On the walk back to the Lodge Feister was so tired that she could barely keep up with the group. The only thing she knew was she felt a weight come off her back and someone wrap her arms around another person's neck. Feister felt her body being lifted up, and with a little bounce up she was settled on someone's back. She felt a pair of arms secure around her ankles before continuing to walk again.

After a few moments Feister had processed the fact that she was on one of the boys' backs, but she didn't know who it was. Until she rested her head in the nook of his neck, did she smell a familiar scent. A smile appeared on her face as she slowly fell asleep, and heard a quiet voice say, "She's cute as a button when she's asleep."

"That's the most cheesiest thing you could've said," a voice replied to the first one.

"Who knew the toughest girl could look so...peaceful when she's asleep," another voice added.

"I guess she's kinda cute." was the last thing Feister heard before falling asleep. And, it was amazing she didn't wake up from the teasing and taunting that they were making at a love struck boy.