Okay. I am absolutely horrible for leaving you all for so long. I was in Michigan for a performance camp (which was AMAZING by the way) and once I got home I had to start working on my summer assignments for my two AP courses I'm taking next year. I swear I have 5 assignments for only one of those courses. What happened to the good ol' days where we had the summers to do nothing and just relax? Ugh. I'm done with high school. I'm done with all of it.

Anyways, I understand if you guys hate me for being MIA for so long and you're probably gonna hate me even more when I say this is the final chapter! :( I'm so glad you guys stuck with me throughout this entire crazy ride of my first Newsies story and I'm hoping you all read my other Newsies stories as well! But either way, I hope you enjoy the final chapter of Ripped Apart!

"It's better than having a sick, twisted, abusive gold digger be with her!" Jack yelled, eyes flaring with anger. Katherine placed her hand on his chest, calming him a small bit. Jack took the hand in his, squeezing gently. He turned to Joe despite Katherine shaking her head to convince him to stay silent. "Mr. Pulitzer, there's something you need to know about the 'perfect' Matthew Walters."

As soon as the words left his mouth, Katherine spun around to stand in front of him, her skirt swirling around her legs at the action. She clutched fistfuls of his vest with a pleading look in her eyes. "Jack please." She said, "Who knows what he'll do to you if you say anything. Please."

Jack gently grasped her wrists and pulled them off his vest. "I'm willin' to take whatever he can dish out if it means he gets what he deserves." He quickly kissed her cheek and whispered, "No one is gonna hurt you while I'm still breathing." Katherine cracked a small smile at this before he turned to Race and Davey. "If this turns bad, I want you two to keep her away. This is between Matthew an' me. She don't need to get hurt anymore." The boys nodded obediently while Katherine started shaking her head in protest. Jack pushed her to the side and strode up to Joe.

Matthew grabbed him by the elbow, eyes set in a glare. "Think about what you're doing." He hissed.

Jack jerked his arm back with an equal glare. "I am." He said through clenched teeth. "Mr. Pulitzer, your 'perfect' suitor Matthew has been usin' Katherine to get to your money an' not only that but he's been abusin' her. This bastard doesn't deserve to walk on the same side of the street as Katherine let alone be her future husband."

"You can't possibly believe this street rat sir." Matthew defended. "He's been known to lie to everyone he meets."

Jack clenched his fists at his sides. "Not about somethin' as important as Katherine." He still knew in the back of his mind that it was his word against that of the esteemed Matthew Walters. What possibility was there that Joe believed Jack over Matthew? Jack figured it was slim to none. Matthew clenched his fists to mirror Jack and a glint on his right hand caught Jack's eyes. They darted down and saw the Walter's family ring nestled on his ring finger. A ruby flashed in the sunlight surrounded by elevated designs all around the ring. Suddenly an idea sparked in Jack's mind. He smirked and crossed his arms over his chest. "Nice ring ya got there, Walters. Ya wear it every day?"

Matthew looked down at the ring as everyone in the room looked at Jack in confusion. "Yeah I do." He answered smoothly, "What's it to you?" He held it up as if to tease Jack that he would never have something as nice. When he saw the elevated MW on the side of his palm, his smirk grew.

Jack gave him the one minute sign and walked over to Katherine. He brushed a few stray locks of hair off her shoulder and found the faint scars of Matthew's attempted strangling. Looking at the scars, he found exactly what he was looking for. Katherine raised an eyebrow at him and he gave her a secret smile before turning back to Joe and Matthew. "If I really was lyin' an' I abused Katherine," He cringed to himself. Even the words tasted bitter in his mouth. "Then how could she have gotten this scar?" He pointed to a faint white mark on Katherine's neck in the shape of the initials MW.

Joe came over and looked at the scar. His eyes turned stony. "Matthew," He said in a tight voice, "let me see that family ring of yours." Matthew stiffened but slipped the ring off his finger all the same. Joe turned it over to see the initials and set it next to Katherine's neck. "An exact match."

Jack turned and strode confidently up to Matthew, "See, Matthew I realized somethin' while we was starin' each other down a few moments ago." Matthew's fists clenched but Jack didn't even flinch. Katherine made a move towards Jack but Davey grasped her arm to keep her back, intent on keeping his promise to Jack. "If you wear that pretty little ring every day, then you were wearin' it the day I found out what you've been doin' to Katherine. An' I been in enough fights to know that if you're wearin' a ring while hurtin' someone, it's gonna leave a mark."

Without warning, Matthew's fist was swinging through the air and collided with Jack's jaw. His head snapped to the side and he stumbled a little bit as he heard Katherine yell out, "Jack!" She tried to run over to him but Race and Davey held her back, knowing where this was going.

And they were right. Matthew grabbed Jack by the collar and slammed him against the oak doors. "You think you can just waltz in here and ruin everything I had going?" He said through clenched teeth. "I can make your life a living hell."

At the words, all Jack could see was red. "You already have." He spat. Grabbing Matthew's wrists, he flipped them over so that Jack was holding Matthew against the doors. "For the past 3 months I have been living in hell knowin' that Katherine was with you." Jack swung a punch against Matthew's cheek. "Every night I had nightmares of the torture you put her through." Jack sent a punch into his stomach and took a small joy in the painful grunt that Matthew let out. "If you think you can put me through worse I say gimme your worse." Jack grabbed Matthew's collar and threw him to the ground. A collective gasp came from Clara, Elizabeth and Katherine. "Nothing is worse than seein' the girl you love hurt."

Jack stamped his foot into Matthew's stomach, hard. Matthew grabbed Jack's ankle and pulled. Jack fell to the ground on his back and felt the air leave his lungs. He grabbed Jack's collar and threw a punch. A dribble of blood flowed out of the corner of Jack's mouth. "You think this is some damn fairytale where you can come in and save the princess." He slammed his fist right into Jack's nose and smirked at the moan of pain Jack emitted and the flow of blood coming out of his nose. "Consider this your reality check."

"An' consider this yours!" A voice yelled from behind them. Matthew turned around just in time to see a crutch fly through the air. It collided right with the side of Matthew's head with enough force to knock him off Jack and onto the floor. Matthew groaned in pain before going limp. Jack looked to see Crutchie standing over him. "No one hurts my friends."

Jack smiled at Crutchie. "Nice shot, Crutch!" He cheered, "I've never been prouder of you!" He slowly got up and slapped the younger boy on his shoulder.

Race and Davey finally released their grip on Katherine and she rushed straight to Jack, gently cupping his face and examining his injuries. "Damn it, Jack." She cursed under her breath. "You're gonna get yourself killed one of these days."

"Anythin' for you, Ace." Jack smiled, leaning in to kiss her.

She stopped him before he could. "I'm not kissing you until you get cleaned up." She gestured to the steady stream of blood coming out of his nose. Jack rolled his eyes but they laughed either way. She turned to see Clara stooped down next to Matthew with Davey and Race standing over her. "Is he dead?"

"Nope." Clara sighed, genuinely disappointed. "Just knocked out. He should come to within the next few hours." She stood up and brushed the dirt off her skirt. "But that hit will give him one hell of a headache so… I consider that a success Crutchie." They all laughed and Crutchie smiled with pride.

A half an hour later, Katherine and Jack were sitting on the velvet couch in the parlor. Race and Davey had dragged the unconscious Matthew out to who knows where with Romeo, Crutchie, Les and Clara following. Elizabeth had complained of a headache from all the excitement and had gone up to bed. They had no idea where Joe was in the huge mansion, but they didn't care. For the first time in four months, they were completely alone without any threats hanging over their heads. Even at this moment, she had a wet washcloth in her hand and was cleaning his wounds as gently as she could. Just then they heard a door opening and turned to see Joe walk in.

"Why didn't you tell me this was happening, Katherine?" He asked directly.

"Because you would've thought I was making it up to get you to let me see Jack again." She explained, a slight edge to her voice. She was still angry with her father for taking this long to let her and Jack be together. "And don't act like you wouldn't have because everyone in this room knows you would've." Jack nodded but kept quiet. Joe opened his mouth to say something more, but Katherine cut him off, "I don't think we have any more to discuss tonight. I would like to be alone with Jack now."

He nodded stiffly and walked out of the room without a word. Katherine sighed and pushed a stray curl out of her face before turning back to Jack. She barely touched his bruised nose but he flinched and hissed in pain. "Careful, Ace." He chided jokingly.

"Sorry." She muttered with a smile. She slowly and carefully cleaned the rest of the now dried blood from under his nose. When she was done, she set the washcloth down on the coffee table next to the journal and sighed. "I feel like this is all a dream." Jack gently took her hand, lacing their fingers together. "I feel like I'm gonna blink and it's all gonna be gone and we're gonna be right back where we started." Tears started shinning in her eyes. Suddenly she felt a pinch on her arm and jumped. She turned to Jack who was holding back a laugh. "What was that for?"

He finally let out the laugh. "Now you now it ain't a dream." He told her. She swatted him on the arm playfully. She pulled her legs up underneath her and leaned into Jack against the back of the couch. Jack draped an arm around her, running his fingers up and down her arm while she played with the threads on his vest.

They sat for a few moments in comfortable silence before Katherine broke it. "I've missed you so much, Jack." She whispered.

He kissed the top of her head with a smile. "I've missed you too, Ace." He said into her hair, "More than you'll ever know." Katherine smiled and snuggled deeper into his side. "I never got to tell you but you look absolutely beautiful in that dress. Like a complete angel."

"Thank you." She said quietly, trying to hide her blush. She glanced up and saw the bruise blossoming on his jaw line. "Are you always gonna be protecting me, Jack?"

He tightened his grip on her slightly. "For sure."

She reluctantly pulled herself out of his warmth with a smile at their mantra. "For sure." She completed before pulling him into a kiss that held all the pent up passion of the last four months. He wrapped his arms around her waist, bringing her as close as humanly possible. She tangled her fingers in his brunette hair, keeping his lips against hers as she felt all the familiar sparks and heat.

All too soon air became necessary and they slowly pulled away. Jack snuck a look at the clock on the wall. "It's gettin' pretty late, Ace." He commented, "You should be gettin' up to bed." Katherine sighed and let her face fall. Jack smirked at her before scooping her up in his arms bridal style. She let out a squeal of surprise that turned into laughter as he spun her around. With her still in his arms, he picked up the journal and gave it back to her. She held it close in one arm while the other wrapped around Jack's neck. He climbed the grand staircase and carried her up to her room without ever taking his eyes away from hers. Once in the room, he gently laid her down on her bed. She let her hand trail down from his neck, over his shoulder and down to his hand. He turned to go but she pulled him back down for another kiss.

She separated with a smirk on her face. He laughed slightly and pecked her lips once more. He stood and turned to leave, not letting go of her hand until he was across the room at her window. He flung it open and stepped out onto the fire escape. "Jack," She called. He poked his head back into the room with an eyebrow raised. "Walk me to work tomorrow?"

He let out a laugh. "There's nowhere else I'd rather be." He commented.

She smiled. "I love you, Jack." She blew him a kiss.

He swiftly caught it in the air. "I love you too, Katherine." He responded before putting the kiss in his pocket. "Goodnight." She gave him a small wave before lying back down on the mattress, journal clutched closely to her chest.

Jack took one last glance at his angel. The moonlight spilled into the room, enveloping her in a soft blue glow. Her features relaxed and he knew she had fallen asleep. She looked so perfect in that moment that he rushed back home to sketch her before he forgot it. That night, for the first time in four months, 3 days and 2 hours (yes, Jack was still counting) they both slept easy knowing that they would see each other again once the sun rose. Neither one of them could wait for the dawn to break just so they could wake up and remember that it wasn't a dream and Jack could finally walk Katherine to work again. Matthew said to Jack that this wasn't a fairytale but to them, it sure as hell felt like it. This was their own personal fairytale… and they finally got their happily ever after.

And that's the end! I am so glad you all stuck with me through my crazy schedule and my procrastination but I think it was all worth it! I almost have 100 reviews! AH! You guys are the best! Thanks so much for all your support! This is literally the longest story I have ever written! I am very proud of myself because of this. Please tell me if you liked this story and answer the poll on my bio asking if you like the idea I have for the next multi-chapter Newsies story. Anyways, I will hopefully see you all with my next story! Thanks so much again and please R&R!

Quote of the Day: True love with triumph in the end – which may or may not be a lie, but if it is a lie, it's the most beautiful lie we have –John Green

Song Suggestion: The Search Is Over –Constantine Maroulis & Amy Spanger, Rock of Ages Original Broadway Cast Recording