A/N, this is a Spin-Off Type Chapter for Side-by-Side. I came up with this idea based on this book (: and because of it hitting 12k reads, I decided to actually write it lol
Warnings: slight manipulation, slight anxiety, slight anger
Third Person POV

Race pulls away from the kiss, slightly breathless and his face red. "Spot..." he starts slowly.

Spot's arms were on either side of his head, his eyes flicking from Race's lips to his blue eyes. "Yeah?" He asks.

"We can't do this..." Race whispers.

Spot frowns, cupping Race's cheek with his hand. He gently caresses his cheek. "Why not, love?" He asks softly.

Race looks down at the strap of his paper bag that ran across his chest. The words 'Queens' was in black and obvious on the white bag. "Because, Tesoro," he looks back into Spot's brown eyes. "I'm a Queens Newsie- never mind the third in command to my brothers. We're- literally- at war right now." He reminds him.

Spot cups Race's cheeks. "But we could change that." He responds. "Talk it out or whatever." He tells him. "Queens doesn't have to be all alone anymore."

"That's not my choice." Race responds softly. "I don't know how my brothers would respond to be dating the King of Brooklyn." He mumbles, looking down.

"Look at me, love," Spot gently lifts Race's chin. "I'm gonna figure this out, alright?" He tells him.

Race nods. A small smirk tugged at his lips. "The feared Spot Conlon is gonna talk this out?" He asks smugly, crossing his arms.

Spot rolls his eyes. "Only for you."

Race blushes.

Spot gently pulls Race into another kiss.

Race kisses back.

Spot's arms wrapped around his waist, pulling him closer to him.

Race pulls out of the kiss, looking slightly scared and worried. "Spade and Rock give me bad vibes." He whispers. "I don't like it. I don't like their ways of solving stuff or their intentions." He mumbles, his arms loosely around Spot's neck.

Spot frowns. "I'm sorry, love." He whispers. "I've told you, they're manipulative."

Race's mind flashed with memories of the first time he 'met' Spot.

Race stood next to Carson/Blade.

His brothers were both frowning as they stared ahead of them at the other Newsies, their arms crossed.

Race saw who he knew as Jack Kelly and some of his Newsies looking between the three of them.

Race was a few inches shorter than his brothers and he wore blue to match his blue eyes.

His brothers wore green to match their green eyes.

It was how their mother had dressed them.

"Why do your Newsies keep coming on our land?" Someone Race knew as Spot Conlon sneers, stepping forward.

Race's first thought was that he was hot, but he knew he couldn't think that.

He could feel Rock's eyes on him from slightly behind him.

Spade was next to Caleb/Bullet, though kinda behind him like Rock was slightly behind Race.

"Just wanted a little bit more land, that's all." Blade answers, a smirk planted on his face.

An identical smirk was planted on his twin's face, as well.

Race didn't like the smirks on their faces. He knew they were fake.

They weren't the joking smirks his brothers had around him.

"Well you ain't getting anymore." Scar- the leader of the Bronx- sneers.

"How can you be so sure?" Carson asks.

Carson gently takes Race's hand, squeezing it.

"Look, we've come to make peace." A Manhattan Newsie who Race thought was named Davey steps in. "Stop sending your Newsies on our land, and they'll stop coming back bruised." He tells them.

Jack puts a protective arm around Davey's waist, pulling him back towards him. He didn't want Davey to get hurt.

Davey smiles slightly.

"Oh, this is the 'mouth'. Impressive, I must say, that you ended up with Cowboy Kelly." Blade snickers.

"And, why would we want to make peace, when we could rule all of you?" Bullet continues, finishing his twin's thought.

Race sighs softly, keeping his grip on his cigar.

"That will never happen." Arrow- the leader of Harlem- states, stepping forward.

Sped whispers something to Bullet.

No, Race thinks to himself.

Caleb thought for a moment, before nodding and jumping forward.

He grabbed Arrow, sending them both rolling to the ground.

Caleb ended up on top of Arrow.

Ace and Blink were quick to jump forward, but Rock and Carson stopped them from getting to Bullet and Arrow.

Arrow was trying desperately to get Caleb off of him.

Race watched another Brooklyn Newsie jump forward.

Race quickly jumped forward to stop him.

Blink and Smokes pried Caleb off of Arrow, them dragging Arrow away and to his Newsies.

Race was dealing with Ace.

Ace quickly kicked Race in the stomach/ribs, sending him flying to the ground.

Carson's eyes widened. "No!" He shouts.

Race's head hit the ground, hard, causing him to cry out in pain as it started bleeding.

"Antonio!" The twins shouted.

The twins kicked the Newsies off of them, rushing over to their youngest brother.

Rock and Spade were scowling a bit.

Jack and Spot's eyes were locked on the brothers.

Race held his head in his hand, laying on his back on the cement. He cringes in pain, his eyes squeezed closed and his teeth gritted in pain.

"Hey, hey, we got you." Carson whispers to his brother, gently taking his hand.

"Space, Rock!" Caleb looks over at them. "Go get Patch!" He commands them.

Rock- who knew not to deal with the twins when Race was hurt- quickly rushes inside.

"In and out, Toni." Carson whispers, gently lifting his head up.

Race shakes himself out of his memory.

He had gotten a scolding from Spade later that day, but his brothers had defended him by saying that Spade put him in that place by having Caleb attack Arrow and Race had just been trying to help.

"You alright?" Spot asks softly.

Race looks up, noticing the concern in his eyes. Lying, he nods.

Spot didn't look like he believed him, but didn't question it. "Why don't you come to Brooklyn for the night?" He asks softly.

Race's eyes widen. "No, no! I definitely can't!" He responds, panicked. "Your Newsies hate me and if anyone found out, I'd be in so much trouble!" He reminds Spot.

Spot sighs deeply. "But they wouldn't hate you if they got to know you." He responds quietly, looking slightly defeated.

"I'm so sorry..." Race whispers, tears filling his blue eyes. "I'm stressed and I've barely been out of Queens without my brothers." He informs him.

"I know." Spot pulls him into a hug. "You haven't really left their sides in your fifteen years of life, have you?" He asks.

Race shakes his head. "I need space." He whispers. "But I don't want to leave them."

(And I need Sprace. All works.)

Spot nods. "I understand."

Spot felt Race's grip on him tighten a little, the smaller boy digging his head into his chest.

Race pulls away after a few minutes. "I best be getting back to Queens." He mutters.

Spot nods.

He presses a soft kiss to Race's forehead.

Race blushes a bit, smiling as he starts walking away.

Spot watches him.

Spot sighs to himself, looking at the ground.

He noticed Race's hat was on the ground, so he picked it up.

When he looked up to call out to Race, the blonde-haired boy was gone.

Spot sighs deeply, holding Race's hat in his hands. He gently runs his thumb over the stitching on the hat, some of the stitching coming out because it was such an old and used hat.

Spot rubs the fabric against his fingers softly, smiling slightly.

Maybe you'll be with me in a way after all.

Spot looks back in the direction Race had gone in. Until I can hold you and you can stay with me when this is figured out.

"Spot!" A voice called out to him.

Spot turned around to find Jack Kelly running up to him.

"What are you doing?" Jack asks, breathing hard.

Spot shrugs.

"Come on," Jack looks at him. "We have a meeting with our allies." He tells him.

Spot sighs deeply, looking back down at the hat. "How crazy would I be if I didn't want to end this Borough war in violence?" He asks quietly. "What if I wanted to solve it in peace?" He questions.

"You'd be crazy, especially for being Spot Conlon." Jack answers.

"But I'd do it for someone so they and their loved ones wouldn't get hurt."

Confused, Jack looks at him and the hat, almost immediately recognizing. "You fell for Racetrack Higgins?!" He asks, his eyes wide.

Spot smiles slightly, his cheeks a bit redder than usual. "Wait-" his eyes widen as he looks at Jack. "How'd you figure that out?" He asks.

Jack shrugs. "I pay attention to details." He answers.

Spot squints his eyes at him for a moment, before exhaling slowly. "Yeah. We just met up." He explains.

Jack smiles. "Spot, that's great. He doesn't seem like that horrible of a person." He tells him, patting his shoulder.

"He's not a horrible person." Spot whispers, looking back in the direction of Queens.

With Race
Queens, New York City

Race walks into the room he shared with his brothers.

Carson immediately jumped up, grabbing him in a hug. "Where were you?!" He exclaims. "We were so worried!" He tells him, pulling away, his hands on Race's shoulders.

His green eyes stared into Race's blue eyes.

"I had a run-in with a-" Race bites his lip. "Newsie when I was coming back." He explains.

Carson cups his cheeks, looking over him. "Are you hurt? What did they do?" He asks quickly.

Race gently places his hands over Carson's, pulling them away. "I'm alright, Carse. I promise." He tells him softly.

Carson still looked a bit worried. "You'll tell us if you're hurt?" He asks.

Race nods.

"Ti prometti?" Carson holds his pinky out.

"Io prometto." Race answers, hooking his pinky with Carson's.

Carson smiles, going back to Caleb's bunk to sit next to him.

The twins shared a bunk; Carson on the top and Caleb on the bottom bunk, and Race had his own bunk, but he preferred sleeping on the top bunk.

Race noticed Spade and Rock in the room, their gazes hard as they stared at him.

Race returned the looks as he went to climb onto his bunk.

Spade stops him, grabbing his wrist tightly and forcing him to look him in the eyes. "May I talk to you, Racetrack?" He asks, his voice stern.

Race didn't like the way he said his name, his glare strengthening. "No, you may not. You may leave this room." He tells him, pulling his wrist out of his grip.

Spade looked like he was getting angry. "Racetrack-"

"You're not the leader, Spade." Race reminds him. "Leave."

Spade looks over at Caleb and Carson.

Caleb nods his head towards the door.

Spade scowls in annoyance, but leaves, Rock following him.

Race climbs up to his bunk, laying down with his head on his arms.

The twins share a look.

"You alright, Toni?" Carson asks softly, looking concerned.

Race nods, deciding not to say anything.

He hated Spade and Rock.

Caleb gets up, standing on the bottom bed of Race's bunk and poking his head over the guard rail. "Wanna play Poker?" He asks him.

Race smiles. "Sure." He answers.

"Come on, Cae!" Carson flops backwards on Caleb's bunk, laying on his back with his hands covering his eyes. "You know he wins every time!" He dramatizes. "We're just helping him get better!"

Race and Caleb laugh together.

Caleb looks back at his twin. "This will help him if he ever has to win a Poker game to save us or something." He states.

Carson rolls his eyes. "That's not likel-" he starts.

"Just grab the cards, Carse." Caleb chuckles as he climbs onto the bunk, sitting next to Race.

Carson grabs the cards.

Race laughs.

Carson sits across from Caleb on the bunk and next to Race.

Race shuffles the cards and passes them out.

"Alright," Caleb starts once they had their cards. "Time to lose again." He states.

Race and Carson start laughing, causing Caleb to chuckle.

The next day

Race couldn't find his hat.

It was a slight problem.

"Cae," Race starts, still looking for his hat.

Caleb looks over at him, pulling his suspenders over his shoulders.

Carson sat on Caleb's bunk, tying his boots.

"Where's my hat?" Race asks, scratching his head. "I lost it."

Caleb chuckles. "No clue," he answers.

Race rolls his eyes.

Caleb walks over to him, ruffling his identical-to-his-brothers curly, dirty blonde hair, before securing his (Caleb's) hat on his head. "But you can use mine." He states.

It pushed some of Race's curls in front of his eyes, but Race didn't really care.

Caleb and Carson chuckle.

Race just shrugs. "Thanks." He turns to grab his paper bag

Caleb chuckles again.

It wasn't that unusual for one of them to borrow an item of clothing from another.

2218 Words
Should I make a Spin-off book? I have a plot line and everything now lol