Hello. I know I said I was done with this story but apparently not. I don't own Newsies. If I did ... 3 words ... Newsies Christmas Album.

Crutchie squeezed Romeo's hand tighter as a round of coughing racked his body.

"Crutchie, do you need…anything?" Jack asked cautiously.

"A new set of lungs if you can find a pair!" Crutchie joked, attempting to lighten the mood. Nobody laughed.

Romeo looked around the room at all the familiar faces that he hadn't seen in months: Jack, Specs, Race, everybody was here. Tears were already streaming down the boys' faces, the idea of losing their crutch completely unbearable.

"Fellas," Crutchie started. "I'll be fine. Rememba what da nuns are always sayin'. I'm gonna go to heaven and I'll be waiting there for you."

Romeo smiled remembering all the times Crutchie had comforted the boys in lodging house with the same sentence.

"Crutchie, please don't leave. This world is too hard to go through alone. I've already lost my wife. I can't lose my brother too."

"Jack I will never leave you, remember?" Crutchie reached out and placed his hand on Jack's chest. "Right here. I'll be in your heart, now and forever."

Jack nodded and bit his lip, unsuccessfully trying to keep his tears at bay.

"Romeo?"

"Ya, Crutchie?"

"I need you to do something for me."

"Anything."

"Look after my brudda. I need to know that he'll be okay."

Romeo started crying again, absolutely positive that those had been his brother's last words. "I promise I'll look after him, Charlie."

Crutchie nodded and closed his eyes, finally at peace.

"Say Hi to Mark for me."

I'm literally so sorry, but I cried writing this if that makes you feel any better. I promise I will at some point write all those other stories I said I would write. It is 2:47 AM MST on Christmas Eve morning so Merry Christmas, good night, good morning, and good everything in-between.