I do not own Newsies, just some Newsies tickets to see it in 7 days!

Jack walked out onto the roof and slowly sat down next to Crutchie. He reached his arm over and reassuringly squeezed Crutchie's shoulders.

"Hey, buddy. How are you?" Jack asked.

Crutchie took a moment to answer. "Um, I'm not good. It's just, Johnny..."

Jack nodded having expected this answer. He had just come from comforting the rest of the boys. "Do you wanna talk about it?"

"I just I don't understand. Why him? Twelve years old and he'll never see his thirteenth birthday. Just for some stupid gang initiation. What kind of crazy world do we live in?"

Jack pulled Crutchie in tighter. "A pretty screwed up one."

Crutchie nodded in agreement. "I didn't even know him that well. I mean he only came here a week ago. I think maybe I'm just scared," Crutchie concluded.

"Well, I think it would be foolish not to be. We do live in New York after all, but I promise I won't let anything happen to you."

"It's not me I'm worried about," Crutchie admitted.

"Don't worry, I'll make sure none of the boys get hurt. We're a family, and a family looks out for each other."

"What about you Jack?"

"What about me?" Jack said, a confused look on his face.

"I can't help thinking about how that could have been any one of us; it could have been you. And what would I do if I wake up tomorrow and my best friend in the world is just not in this world anymore?"

Jack pulled Crutchie into a hug. "I promise it's not gonna happen."

Crutchie leaned back and squeezed his hands together. "But what if it does? You said it yourself. We live in a corrupt city in a messed up world. What am I supposed to do if I wake up tomorrow and my brother is dead. I love you more than anything else in this world. That gang could've targeted any of us. We're orphans! Who's going to care about us except for us? What am I supposed to do if the only person that cares about me, that loves me is just gone? What am I supposed to do if my everything is taken from me forever?" Crutchie sobbed into Jack's chest. Jack rubbed Crutchie's back as tears ran down his face.

"Hey, I'm here. Right now, I'm still here. Even if I'm not here tomorrow, or the day after that...I am right here, right now. And we're brothers. Nothing can change that. Even one day more with you, even one night...that would be enough."

So slight Hamilton reference in there. I know I've been gone for a while, I've been working a lot on some random non-fanfiction stories. I know this was sad, so in GREAT news, I got accepted into Northern Arizona University! Um sorry this was really short I just needed to get some stuff off my chest. A video to watch on YouTube look up John Burroughs High School-Powerhouse winning Nationals competition. Literally the coolest costume change in my entire life. Song would be In from Carrie the Musical. Alright it is 10:27 PM in Tel Aviv(my bff is there for vacation; might give you a hint as to where this story came from), so goodnight, good morning, and good everything in between