- Chapter 44 - I Love Those Crazy People -
Warnings: Flufffffffffff
Modern AU
Third Person POV

A/N, you know the deal; favorite face in the picture above lol.

Spot and Albert open the door of Spot's house to find Race and Finch standing outside.

They both had backpacks on, their flannels tied around their waists, and undershirts on that didn't actually have sleeves.

Finch wore shorts, but Race wore pants that went down to the middle of his shin and met his socks there. They both also wore sneakers and their regular Newsie hats.

This time, however, they both had one that had their Newsie names sewn into the front of them.

Race's was a mix of navy blue and gray, and his Newsie name was in bright blue.

His undershirt was a lighter blue, a Royal blue, and navy blue stripped shirt. His flannel was his usual blue, green, and white plaid flannel, as were his socks and sneakers. His pants were darker brownish-gray. His backpack was blue, green, and white as well.

Finch's hat was a brown-gray color and his Newsie name was in orange.

He wore his usual brown and orangey undershirt, and orange-yellowish plaid flannel. His pants was the same color as his hat, and his socks were a mix of orange and yellow. His sneakers were black and white. His backpack was white, black, and yellow.

Spot and Albert couldn't seem to take their eyes off of Race, but Race couldn't seem to meet their eyes.

Finch chuckles when he sees Albert and Spot staring, before he looks at Race.

He got a little concerned about that part.

"We're all going to Jack and Crutchie's house to hang out." Race informs Albert and Spot, his eyes only seeming to look above their heads. "We all wanted to know if you guys wanted to come." He explains.

Albert and Spot had been hanging with the group of boys for a few weeks.

They had gotten pretty close.

Albert and Spot share a look.

"Sure." Albert agrees, turning back to the two boys. "Just let us grab our things."

Finch nods.

They close the door.

Finch and Race lean against the fence.

"Why won't you look them in the eye?" Finch asks Race, a bit concerned. "We can all tell."

Race shrugs a bit, playing with the fidget cube in his flannel pocket. "Dunno." He mutters.

"Race..." the older boy starts slowly, lifting his chin up to look him in the eye. "I can't help you unless you talk to me." He tells him softly.

Race looks at the door, seeing Spot and Albert coming out.

Finch notices as well, letting go of Race's chin.

He shoots Race a look, silently telling him that they weren't done.

Race nods softly.

They start heading to the Larkin household.

Later

Albert and Spot sat watching Race and most of the other boys.

They were playing soccer.

Race was the middle offense player for his team.

Romeo was to his left on offense and Mike was to his right on offense.

Elmer was left defense.

Tommy boy was their right defense.

Blink was their middle defense.

Boots was their goalie.

On the other team, Henry was their middle offense across from Race.

Mush was their left offense.

Ike was their right offense, across from his twin.

Specs was their left defense.

JoJo was their right defense.

Buttons was their middle defense.

Finch was their goalie.

Race stares at Henry, his foot on the ball.

He smirks, quickly passing the ball to Romeo.

They take off running, Mike with them.

Jack and Davey sit next to Albert, Spot, and Crutchie.

"He's good, isn't he?" Crutchie asks Albert and Spot, a small smile on his face.

Spot nods slightly, both of their eyes still fixated on Race as he ran his hand through his curly hair and tightened the flannel that was around his waist.

"You should see him shirtless." Crutchie comments, leaning his back against the fence behind him.

The boys look at him, their eyes wide.

"What?" Crutchie asks. "I'm only helping their relationship move along." He states.

Jack chuckles.

Davey facepalms, mumbling something about the boys corrupting the innocent Crutchie.

Albert's face was bright red and Spot looked really lost because of Crutchie's comment.

"Race doesn't take both of his shirts off, especially not in front of us." Jack states quietly. "He hates his scars." He mumbles.

Albert and Spot shares looks.

"Race," Ike starts, rubbing the temples of his forehead.

Race looks up at him, wiping the sweat off of his forehead.

"You're going to overheat." Ike tells him, a bit concerned.

Race goes to speak up, but he was cut off.

Elmer pulls Race's flannel off from around his waist, dumping water on his head, before handing the flannel back to him.

Race brushes his slightly damp curls out of his face. "Thanks, El." He grumbles, tying his flannel around his waist again.

The boys laugh.

Ike kicks the ball backwards to JoJo.

Race was quickly on guard again.

Jack looks at Albert and Spot, who were still watching Race.

Jack chuckles. "He's played sports for years. Soccer is his favorite." He informs Albert and Spot, looking back at Race. "Second is probably dance or lacrosse."

Spot smiles. He and Albert both dance.

Later

"Davey..." Race pulls out his puppy eyes.

Oh God.

Davey tries to look away from him.

They knew perfectly well that he couldn't say no to puppy eyes.

( Addie_your_Queen told me about a wonderful headcanon that she has that Davey can't say no to any of the boys' (especially Jack's) puppy eyes and they found out and use it again him. Credit goes to her.)

JoJo appeared next to him, also using puppy eyes.

"Guys!" Davey exclaims, trying to cover his eyes.

Jack pins his hands on the ground, looking Davey  with puppy eyes.

I can't give in...

"Fine." Davey sighs after a minute. "You can go climb the tree." He mutters.

The boys grin, cheering.

Davey looks at his boyfriend, before rolling his eyes.

Jack chuckles, wrapping his arms around Davey's waist.

Davey just rolls his eyes again.

Finch and Henry help Crutchie onto the lowest branch, sitting on either side of him.

Crutchie looked so happy.

Mike, Romeo, Buttons, and Boots sat at the trunk of the tree with each other.

Mike and Buttons hated heights and Boots and Romeo decided to sit with them since they're nice.

The other reason totally wasn't because they were too lazy to climb the tree.

Totally not.

Specs stood under Finch, Henry, and Crutchie with Blink, holding Crutchie's crutch as the five of them talked.

JoJo, Elmer, and Tommy boy sat on the second lowest branch, just talking and laughing with each other.

Race, Albert, Mush, and JoJo climbed to the top of the tree.

Race looks over the view, grinning as he looked at New York and his brothers.

"At the top of the world!" He shouts, laughing.

The other three boys laugh with him.

"Okay, okay," Albert guides Race to sit down. "Sit down, hotshot. You're going to fall off." He tells him.

Race blushes the slightest bit.

"Did you fall?" JoJo starts.

"Or did you let go?" Mush recites.

Albert looks at them, a bit confused and concerned.

"You fell from a tree?" Race asks, swinging his feet over the edge. "What are you?"

"An acorn?" The three boys finish in unison.

They laugh.

Race looks at Albert, noticing the confused look on his face.

"We're very much Theatre kids." Race tells him, laughing a bit. "Don't mind our references."

Albert nods.

He looks over the backyard, smiling softly.

I love his laugh.

A bit later
(And you bet Jack got a picture of the boys in the tree (and the ones on the ground under it) so he could paint it)

The boys all laid on the grass under the stars.

"I don't want this to end." Mike breaks the comfortable silence that had fallen upon the group.

"I never do either." Jack agrees, sighing softly.

"Oh!" Elmer shoots up, now sitting up in the grass.

The boys look at him, some sitting up as well and others just staying laying down.

"I know what hasn't happened today that usually does!" He exclaims.

JoJo turns over, onto his stomach. "Go on then!" He exclaims, excited.

"Star facts!" Elmer exclaims, grinning.

A good amount of the boys look at Race.

"Oh." Realization dawns on Race. "My star facts?" He asks softly.

"Who else's?" Mush asks with a small chuckle.

Race shrugs, turning over and looking at the stars. "I don't know. I just never really realized you like my rambles about stars that I seem to get lost in." He tells them.

"We love them!" Buttons pipes up.

"Yeah!" Crutchie exclaims.

Albert and Spot share small smiles.

I love this group, Spot thinks to himself, lacing Albert's hand in his.

I'm so glad I found this group, Albert thinks with a soft smile.

"Knock yourself out, Race." Finch tells him, pulling Tommy boy's head into his lap.

Tommy boy smiles softly.

"But don't actually." Henry cuts in with a chuckle. "We don't want you getting hurt and I doubt Miss Hannah would want it." He tells him.

The boys laugh.

Finch chuckles, playing with Tommy boy's hair.

Romeo leans over to him. "You're going to make him fall asleep." He whispers, gesturing to Tommy boy.

Finch chuckles. "He can stay at my house tonight." He tells Romeo softly. "My house is only a few houses down and I can text his mom."

Romeo nods.

Race stays silent for a minute, trying to think of star facts. "How many do we want?" He asks.

"One!" JoJo pipes up.

"Two!" Elmer chirps, grinning.

"Three please." Tommy boy adds softly, his head still resting in Finch's lap.

He sounded like he was about to fall asleep, and he was.

Race nods.

"Fact one; there is actually no dark side of the moon." Race informs them.

Specs and Davey share a small smile, knowing this.

Some of the other boys, including Jack, Spot, and Albert, looked confused.

"Both sides of the moon sees the same amount of sunlight," Race explains. "However, because the moon is tidally locked with the Earth, we only see one side of it. That's because the moon rotates on its axis in the same amount of time it takes to rotate around the Earth, so the side we see from the Earth is reflected from the sunlight, making the other side look dark."

(A/N, That made no sense lol. Sorry.)

"Wow." Race heard awes from some of his brothers, causing him to chuckle softly.

Boots sits down next to Ike.

The older Guzman twin was watching his younger twin with his boyfriend (JoJo) and silently missing his boyfriend.

"I-" Boots didn't say this often, but he needed to. "I miss my boyfriend and I need a hug." He says softly. "I was wondering if, because you miss your boyfriend too, you'd hug me for a few." He whispers.

Ike smiles at him, opening his arms. "Sure." He tells him softly.

Boots smiles, hugging the slightly older boy.

For someone who didn't like touch very much, the hug was nice and Ike didn't try to play with his hair because he knew Boots hated it.

Boots appreciated that.

"Fact two;" Race starts softly. He just stared up at the sky. "Our sun is a "Green star," or more like a "
green-blue star." He informs them.

"The star likes Race's colors." Buttons mumbles groggily.

Some of the boys chuckle.

"It's actual color borders blue and green." Race explains. "It just looks yellow or white to us when we look at it from Earth because it is influenced by its surroundings." He continues.

"That's interesting." Specs comments softly. "I'd have never guessed it was anything other than yellow." He states.

Some boys nod in agreement.

"Same here." Race responds.

Race stops for a moment to think of a third fact that he hadn't told the boys.

Not that he didn't have anymore, he definitely had a tone more, but he had told his brothers so many that he probably should've kept a list to keep track.

"There are actually earthquakes on the moon." Race chuckles a bit to himself. "But they call them moonquakes."

"They happen because of the gravitational pull of Earth, which causes every problem so we should just blame it for everything," he laughs softly with some of the boys.

"How dare you make Snyder my teacher, stupid gravitational pull!" Jack exclaims jokingly.

The boys laugh more.

"Anyway," Race gets back on track. "The gravitational pull of Earth causes small moonquakes a few several kilometers under the moon's surface, which is what causes the ruptures and cracks on the moon." He explains.

A bit later

"You sure you don't want to stay, Race?" Jack asks him softly. "We'd be happy to have you, all of you." He adds for Spot and Albert.

Race shakes his head. "I have to go home to see Miss Hannah." He tells the older boy. "I'll be back tomorrow morning before school."

Jack nods, sighing softly.

They say their goodbyes, and start leaving.

"Take care of him while you walk back." Jack tells Albert and Spot. "I don't want him hurt, none of us do." He states.

Albert and Spot nod.

"We don't want him hurt either." Albert responds. "We'll take care of him and watch over him to make sure he gets home safely." He assures Jack.

Jack nods, leaning against the door. "Thanks, guys." He smiles at them. "Have a good night."

Albert and Spot smile, leaving the house.

The three boys start walking, the first bit of the walk being in silence.

"You guys seem like such an amazing group." Albert speaks up.

Race looks at him, slowly down slightly so he was walking with Spot and Albert. "What do you mean?" He asks curiously.

"You guys seem like family." Albert answers. "And you're all so nice, and funny, and unique." He explains.

Race smiles as he looks ahead. "I love those crazy people." He responds. "But I think you failed to mention that you two have joined our group."

Albert and Spot look up at him. "What?" They ask in unison.

Race looks between the two boys. "Come on, guys." He laughs softly. "You can't tell me that you don't feel like a part of the group. Why would we invite you guys to hang with us if you weren't?" He asks.

Albert and Spot shrug.

They stay silent for a few more minutes.

"Why do you seem nervous when talking to us?" Spot asks softly. "Why won't you look us in the eyes, Antonio? Did we do something wrong?" He questions.

Race stays silent for a moment, his hands tugging on his backpack straps.

He sighs. "No, no, you didn't." He whispers. "Jack explained what Polyamory is," he starts.

Albert and Spot share a look.

"And you get what we're applying?" Albert asks, almost carefully like he was scared of getting hurt.

Race's face went a bit red as he nodded softly.

"And your response?" Albert asks quietly, biting his lips out of nerves.

Race exhales slowly. "I don't know," he whispers. "I have always been the single wingman one." He tells them softly. "And love isn't exactly my strong suit."

"Can you give us the basics on your past?" Spot asks softly. "And we can give you ours?" He suggests.

"I live with my grandmother." Albert explains softly. "My mom neglected me, and my father killed her after she cheated. He's in jail now." He sighs softly.

"Mine too." Race whispers, shocking both Albert and Spot.

They share looks.

"My mother died when I was six." Race informs them quietly. "The basic thing you need to know; my father was abusive, and so was some other foster parents, until I came to Miss Hannah two years ago. Been here ever since," he explains.

"My parents are never home." Spot explains. "I wouldn't call it neglect, just-" he stops, trying to find a word.

"Always being busy?" Race asks.

Spot nods.

"We can help you." Albert tells Race, stopping and taking his hands.

Race looks up at him, his face a bit red and a bit skeptical.

"We wouldn't ever hurt you." Albert tells him softly. "We can help you figure out love. We can be together, the three of us." He whispers.

Race looks up at him. "Okay," he whispers, a smile finding its way on his face.

Albert and Spot grin.

Albert cups Race's face, looking into his eyes.

Race nods.

Albert pulls Race into a kiss.

Race swore he almost melted.

The fact that Spot kissed him after didn't help that.

Spot and Albert kissed after that, before looking back at Race as he touched his lips softly.

They chuckle.

"I'm too tired to process this," Race whispers, his eyes filled with awe, excitement, and tiredness.

"Let's get you home, love." Albert tells him softly, chuckling a bit.

Race blushes at the pet name.

Albert and Spot share a small smirk. That'll be fun to tease him about.

They keep walking home, smiles on their faces for the rest of the night.

2920 Words
I'm seriously debating turning this set of One-Shots into a book. I love it lol.
I failed at writing this chapter well though lol, but I can always re-write it.