A.N. This is one of a many Crutchie one-shots with each of the other characters in Newsies. Any suggestions on a character, just PM me. First up is Jack and 14 years old.

Most of the boys are either out finishing selling there papes or sitting down stairs in the Lodging house, but Crutchie is not. As much as he loves the boys, doing anything that requires silence around them is impossible. Now, being 12 years old he was one of the smartest Newsies, often finding a quite spot to read, borrowing books from Kloppman, accidently staying up half the night to finish. He lay on his bed curled up into a ball tears rolling onto the final pages of the book as he closed it shut. He threw it across the room and it landed with a loud bang next to the door. He turned into his pillow and wept.

Crutchie flashed his eyes to the door as it creaked open and a head popped in.

"Hey, Crutchie, is youse okay we heard something downstairs?" Jack began to walk over to his best friend when his boot hit something. He bent down and picked it up.

"The Hunchback of Notre Dame? Where didya get dis?"

"Borrowed it from Kloppman", Crutchie sniffled turning his face away. Jack furrowed his eyebrows.

"Den why is youse crying?"

"Ise don't wants ta talk about it."

"Come on, Crutch-"

"No, leave me alone!" Crutchie burrowed himself under the covers and hid his head. Jack pulled away the sheet and flopped down on the bed next to Crutchie.

"Youse really tink a sheet is gonna stop me. Now, come on, spill da beans. Why is youse crying? I won't tell da boys, I promise."

"Really", Crutchie sniffled again but this time laid his head on Jack's shoulder.

"Yeah."

"Well, it's just dat in da book dis guy, da hunchback, named Quasimodo, falls in love wid dis goil, named Esmeralda, but she is killed because people say she killed someone when she didn't. Den when Quasimodo finds out, he finds her tomb and he lays dere and dies. Books is supposed ta have happy endings, not one dat makes youse cry." Crutchie leaned further into Jack's shoulder and shuttered a sob. Jack began to rub his back.

"Oh, Crutchie. Look, at least he got ta be wid her."

"Yeah, but she's dead and he died and…"

"Shhh. You know what da nuns told us about God and Heaven and all dat. Dis Kasimado guy and da goil are both in Heaven tagetha. Deys got no more problems and dey can live happy up dere."

"Really?"

"Eh, would I eva lie."

"Well, ya do kinda make up headlines and stuff."

"Ise just improving da truth a liddle, dat's all."

"So den it is a happy ending cause dey is both tagetha in Heaven and dey can be tagetha foreva." Crutchie began to smile a liddle.

"Yeah, a happy ending." Jack wiped away the leftover tears off of Crutchie's cheeks.

"Come on, Kloppman's got dinna downstairs."

"Oh, dinna!" Crutchie bolted up, grabbed his crutch and hopped out the door. Jack smirked as he put the book down on the crate next to the bed and ran after the child.

To this day, The Hunchback of Notre Dame remains Crutchie's favorite book, the ending always makes him smile.