~ Twenty Two ~

The boys and I sat inside Tibby's, waiting for Jack to come and take us to Katherine's summer home. We didn't take all of the boys, only a few of them–Race and Finch. The rest stayed at the lodging house preparing for the delivery of the Children's Crusade papers, working on the plan for each location.

I held the book of Jack's drawings tightly while I sit in the booth. My fingers flip through the pages, remembering the days when we didn't have to worry about anything but selling papers. A few of the boys look over my shoulder while I turn each page carefully. I can't take my eyes off of the stained and wrinkled pieces of art. That is until a certain someone walks in the door.

Davey.

Suddenly, all of the commotion happening in the little café stood still. We all looked up from what we were doing to see the teenage boy standing in the doorway, holding his little brother's hand. The sun shines behind his tall, slim frame and his laugh turns into realization when he sees us all staring at him.

Of course, the boys knew about our break–up. Heck, it's all they talked about for the past three days.

Les comes running through the door to join the other Newsies in the little café. "Hey, Cory!" He exclaims although I don't look at him. I stare at Davey and he stares right back at me.

The tension in the room begins to grow, we all can feel it. Everything is still, except for Les, who is bouncing off the walls, unaware of what's happening. Davey begins walking into the little café. He sits at a table all alone across the room from where I sit. He takes a newspaper, from the Sun, and he reads it quietly.

The boys continued their doings but I still watched Davey. Every time he looked up, I quickly brought my gaze back to Jack's drawings.

I don't like this at all. I want to be friends with him, not staring at him across the room, avoiding him at all costs. He looks so content with his newspaper and coffee, but something tells me he isn't. I can't bring myself to walk up to him, no matter how much I want to.

"Where's Jack?" Les hops on the booth where I sit and asks.

"He'll be here soon," I reply nonchalantly.

"I wish he'd hurry up!"

You have no idea. I think to myself. The awkward tension in this room is beginning to be too much to bear. I tap my foot nervously, waiting for Davey's next move. He simply sips his coffee and turns the page of his newspaper.

I drop Jack's book and stand up, barely knowing what I'm doing. My feet are too fast for my brain. I stroll over to where Davey sits, immediately regretting it.

"Hi," I quickly say. Davey looks up at me and gives me a fake smile without even showing his teeth.

"Hey," he replies and sips his coffee once again.

"You, uh... Looked lonely..." I awkwardly trail off.

"Huh?"

"I–I came over because you looked lonely, " I explain.

"Oh," Davey shrugs it off.

How can he be so calm? I'm a complete wreck.

"What's the headline?" I try to make small talk.

"Oh, uh... 'Governor of New York to attend this weekend's parade.'" Davey reads off of the front page of this morning's newspaper.

"So, Teddy Rosevelt is coming to town? He sure picked the right time, huh?" I laugh, but he stays quiet. "Y'know... He won't get any news... We're fighting..."

Nothing... I'm getting nothing from him.

Much to my relief, the bell above the door rings and the door swings open as Jack enters the scene with his beloved Katherine Plumber. The Newsies cheer and almost tackle him to the ground. Katherine makes her way to where I awkwardly sit with Davey and pulls up a chair next to me.

"Good morning!" She exclaims and takes a seat.

"Morning," Davey and I mutter at the same time. He stares intently at his article while I'm not at all enthused.

"Wow. Tough crowd," Katherine jokes and rests her chin on her hand.

"Tell me about it," I mumble to myself.

"Are you guys ready for today?" Katherine asks.

"I'm ready to end the strike, that's for sure."

"I'm a little nervous, but I'll be fine," Davey doesn't look up from his paper when he answers. We sit in silence while he reads an article on Roosevelt.

"Okay then!" Katherine's high–pitched voice rings and she stands up. "I'm gonna go sit with Jack now."

I don't know who I'd rather sit with... My best friend's girlfriend, or my ex–boyfriend. I decide neither one will be very pleasant company so I huff and stomp out the door to sit on the bench outside the window by myself.

"Wait!" I hear Davey say and he runs outside after me. The boys inside all lean in, except for Jack, who's ordering something to eat. I shoot them a look and they quickly avert their eyes.

Davey sits on the bench with me and I stare at my angrily tapping foot. "Oh, was the newspaper finally getting boring?" I ask sarcastically.

"Cory, I'm sorry. I was being really rude," he apologizes.

"It's okay," I reply simply.

"Listen, Cory. I don't want it to be like this. I don't want to hide behind a newspaper and ignore you for the rest of my life. I still want to be one of your best friends."

"I do, too!" I turn to face him.

"Then why are we acting this way?"

"I don't know."

"There's no reason we should be completely avoiding each other like we're enemies!" Davey exclaims.

"Exactly!" He and I suddenly begin replying to each other very quickly.

"We can be friends." 

"Yeah, we already are friends, right?"

"Of course, we are!" He says quite loudly.

"We're friends," I repeat.

"Friends."

"Friends."

"Yup!" He says, popping the P.

"Just... Friends..." We slowly turn to look at each other. We're both still for a few seconds, but I know what he's thinking. I can tell he knows what I'm thinking, too.

We crash our lips together. We kiss for a long time, never breaking the moment for air. But it came to an end, as all things do. We sit on the bench in silence, catching our breath. He holds my face so gently as if I were about to break. I close my eyes and smile.

"Friends," I laugh.

"Yeah... That's us," he sighs with a smile.

For the first time in a while, I feel happy again. It's a great feeling. Finally, something good has happened within the past two weeks.

Race pokes his head outside, "we're getting ready to go to the summer house soon."

"I'm ready!" Davey smiles and stands up. I head inside to get my things. The boys start going out the door as I put Jack's drawings in my bag.

I step outside, take a deep breath, and step into the coach with Jack, Katherine, Davey, and the other boys. We're ready to go to Katherine's old summer house, but most importantly...

We're ready to kick Pulitzer's butt and finish this strike once and for all.

📰 ❤️ 🎵 📰 ❤️ 🎵 📰 ❤️ 🎵 📰 ❤️ 🎵 📰 ❤️ 🎵

-hi! i haven't been here in awhile, huh? well, i hope you enjoyed this chapter! i'm getting really excited for the next few chapters.

-sad to announce... this book will be ending soon... :( but not to fret!! i have a few other stories i'm hoping to publish by the fall! so stay tuned, i have a lot of surprises coming for you!

-qotd: a crapton of cast albums just came out before the Tony's, so... what show have you been listening to on repeat??

-aotd: BRIGHT STAR OH MY WORD IT'S AMAZING WHY DID IT CLOSE IT IS GENIUS PUT IT BACK ON BROADWAY OR SO HELP ME

-let me know what you thought of this chapter of qony, i'd love to hear from you! did you like this one, my davey/cory shippers? (also, ship name ideas? leave them in the comments!!)

-I LOVE YOU ALL!!! 

hayden beth <3