Aaaaaaa this is it!!!!

Long chapter titles/weird chapter titles?? Or just weird titles in general?? Couldn't be me haha.

Are you ready for this? The last chapter? I don't think I am.

Hmmm how long will this chapter be? Probably long haha.

March 20th = 20th chapter. This story was started on February 20th, and the 20th chapter is on March 20th.

Get ready for one last roller coaster of a chapter.

Enjoy! :)

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Everyone gravitates toward Jack and David as they come outside. Everyone crowds around, anxious to hear what they have to say.

Jack bends down and whispers into Les's ear. Sarah and David exchange glances, both with a grin on their face. Jack puts Les on his shoulders. Then, both of them having both their fists raised high, Jack shouts for everyone to hear, "WE BEAT 'EM!"

The crowd errupts with eardrum shattering cheering and shouting.

So maybe there are more details involved. He can get to those later.

Besides, now is the time for celebration.

And wow is this a sight.

All around them there are happy faces. There's triumph, and happy incredulous disbelief, and relief, and too many other emotions to describe.

Blink and Mush cheer, and kiss quickly, both beaming.

Spot and Race dance around, then upon realizing how silly they must look, they stop, blushing. But they still can't stop smiling at each other, and burst out laughing.

David hugs Jack and suddenly Jack is whole again.

Everywhere you look, people are celebrating in their own ways.

The sheer power of this crowd is amazing.

They've never felt anything like this ever before.

Race looks back to the entrance to The World, and his eyes widen. He taps Jack's shoulder. "Dear me!" he says loudly in Jack's ear. "What have we here!" He points at what he sees.

All of the World's employees, including Weasel and the Delanceys, are leaving, all looking humiliated and trying to stay as dignified as possible. That gets Jack to crack a smile.

The newsies have won. That's getting more obvious by the moment. And it feels amazing. 

But suddenly, Les cries out, concern in his voice. "It's the bulls!" He pats Jack's shoulder frantically. "You gotta run!"

Jack puts Les down and swivels to try to figure out what is happening. When he spots the police, his face once again goes to the one emotion David never wanted to see on Jack's face again: genuine fear.

"You gotta go! Now!" everyone frantically starts trying to help Jack get away.

Denton comes over to them. "Wait! Jack, it's over."

Not understanding what he meant, all the newsies shout things at Denton indignantly and keep tugging Jack to go the other way.

Denton grabs Jack's arm. "No, that's not what I meant. I meant you no longer have to run." He waits for them to stop moving and actually listen to what he's saying. "Not from the likes of him."

So they look.

They see Snyder being led away with his hands behind his back.

They see the carriage from the Refuge come, and all the kids get out as fast as they can.

One takes slightly longer than the others.

Crutchy.

They all get over to him as fast as they can.

"Crutchy!" everyone exclaims.

Crutchy grins. "Didya miss me, fellas?" 

"Hiya, Crutchy," Jack chuckles with a smile.

"Hiya, Jack!"

Once Crutchy makes it to the ground, Snyder is led inside. The door is about to close on him, until...

"Uh, officer?" Crutchy asks the man politely. "Can I?"

The officer moves aside. With the smuggest grin on his face that any of the newsies have ever seen on him, Crutchy closes the door, locking Snyder away for good.

All the newsies cheer.

"Say 'goodbye, warden,'" Denton tells all of them as they watch Snyder being taken away.

"BYE WARDEN!" they all echo gleefully.

David sees the relief in Jack's eyes. Sure, this is a moment of triumph, but it's also a moment of securing Jack's safety. He squeezes Jack's hand reassuringly, as a reminder that he's still here, and that nothing bad can happen to him now. Jack squeezes back gratefully.

Suddenly, Crutchy brightens more, having just remembered something. His eyebrows shoot up and he starts talking fast and excited. "Aw Jack you shoulda seen it! 'E comes stormin' into the Refuge, walkin' stick waved above his head like a sword, and-"

"Who comes walkin' in?" Jack asks, amused at Crutchy's excitement getting ahead of him.

"Well, ya know!" Crutchy answers. "Your friend!" He points to another carriage not too far away. "Him! Teddy Roosevelt!"

No one can believe their eyes. Because there he is, right there. Teddy Roosevelt himself.

To say they're all awestruck is an understatement.

"The governor was very moved by your guys' story," Denton tells Jack, smiling. 

Race and Spot are stuck behind Jack and Denton, trying to get a better view, whispering things like Is that really Roosevelt? and That's really him and a little wow.

"He says he'll take you anywhere you want to go," Denton tells Jack.

Jack swallows. "Can he ... can he maybe drop me off at the train yards?"

Everyone's heart drops.

His nickname is Cowboy.

They all knew that he's wanted to go to Santa Fe forever. 

But now the unobtainable has become obtainable.

And even as Denton says sure, no one is ready for that reality.

Jack's face lights up.

They all sigh. They can't deny him the one thing he's always wanted.

"Wait."

Jack stops moving forward and turns around at the sound of Race's voice.

"Do you actually have to ... are you really gonna...?" Race swallows. Then he recomposes himself and starts over. "We're just gonna really miss ya, ya know?"

Jack hugs him. "I ain't ever forgettin' you. Ya hear?"

"Can't believe this is actually happenin', though," Race murmurs.

Jack pulls away. "If you don't think it's a good idea-"

"No," Race cuts him off. "Go live your dreams, Cowboy."

The start of a grin begins on Jack's face. He turns to Spot. "I hope all stays well in Brooklyn."

"That's all the goodbye I get, Jackie Boy?" Spot asks him wryly, but his voice is humorous.

Jack chuckles. "Guess not." He spits in his hand. Spot does the same. They shake.

"We're gonna miss you, Jack!" Kid Blink and Mush clamor, Crutchy nodding along empathetically.

"You're all really gonna miss me, aren't ya?" Jack asks, trying to make it a joke, but he can't succeed at concealing the fact that he's going to miss them too.

This is the charismatic Jack that Jack parades around for everyone else to see. So David stays back.

But then Jack turns to David and it all dissolves. Before David knows what's happening, Jack hugs him tightly. "I'm gonna miss ya, Davey."

David hugs him tighter. "Just don't forget me, okay?"

Jack pulls away. "I could never."

Jack turns back to look at the carriage, Teddy Roosevelt right there. This time he gets to ride in the carriage, instead of just on the back of it.

He looks at Denton, questioning if he should go. Denton gives a small nod of encouragement.

Jack inhales deeply and looks back at the carriage. This is it.

And so he starts walking toward the carriage, all his friends crowding around him. David, however, is rooted in place.

It all becomes a blur for him as Jack gets in and the newsies help push the carriage along, Jack waving at the city he's leaving behind, at the friends he's leaving behind...

...and the lover he's leaving behind.

David doesn't even know if he can call them lovers anymore.

They didn't actually fully get back together, did they?

That doesn't matter now.

Because Jack is leaving, and David doesn't know if he'll ever see him again.

He blinks back tears. No. He's not crying over Jack. He's just ... forlornly watching Jack disappear into the distance, siblings at his side. All three are sad to see him go.

It's when Jack can't see any of the newsies any more that the gravity of the situation finally hits him.

He's going to Santa Fe.

This is something he's always wanted.

He's finally going to Santa Fe.

So why does the pull of the city still tug at him?

He knows why.

Davey.

Jack doesn't even know if David still wants him anymore, if he still likes him, still cares about him.

Jack knows that he never stopped loving David.

But ... if he leaves now, how will he ever find out if his feelings are returned?

That's the thing: if he goes to Santa Fe, he'll never find out.

In Santa Fe, he'll have adventures, and freedom ... but he won't know anyone.

If he goes back, he won't have the same freedom. But the city is the only home he's ever known.

It's also where his only form of family is.

Although his heart is beating fast, nervous, at the idea, Jack knows what he has to do: he has to know if still does have a chance of happiness with David.

"Mr. Roosevelt?" Jack asks timidly. "Thank you for everything you're doing, everything you've done, for us, for me, but..." he looks back at the city. "I can't go to the train yards. Not now."

Because he's finally found someone worth staying for.

He says goodbye to Santa Fe. It was a great dream while it lasted.

He's now ready to go back to the one person who can make him stay.

Now what? The newsies don't have an answer.

And so, they do the only thing they can do.

"Try Bottle Alley, or the Harbor," Mush says, trying to get things lighter again.

"Try Central Park, it's guaranteed," Race continues on.

"Try any bank or bum or barber," Crutchy adds.

"They almost all knows how to read," Blink finishes.

They start heading back to the circulation center.

Others follow close behind.

"Summer stinks-" Tumbler starts.

"And winter's waiting," Skittery puts a hand on Tumbler's shoulder.

"Welcome to New York."

Others join them.

"Boy ain't nature fascinatin', when you'se got to walk?"

Upon reaching the counter, David puts the coins down. "Hundred papes."

Wow. He's definitely no longer the boy who takes twenty papes. The newsies closest to him nod in approval.

Race glances over to the distance. His eyes go wide. Surely he's just imagining things. "It's Jack!"

Mush and David look over immediately. Mush grabs David's shoulders. "He's back!"

They all rush for him.

David stays where he is, watching the crowd move around him, amused. This always seems to happen to him, doesn't it? Getting caught in the middle of a newsie crowd frenzy?

He knows he'll reach Jack eventually.

"Thanks for everything, governor," Jack tells Roosevelt honestly. "But I still have things to do here." He glances up at David, smiling. "Besides, I have family here."

David smiles too.

"Couldn't stay away, could ya?" David asks him, eyes flashing.

Jack shakes his head, never taking his eyes off David. "Nope. So how's the headline today?"

David grins. "Headlines don't sell papes." He puts his cap on his head. "Newsies sell papes."

Jack brightens. "Come here."

David doesn't hesitate.

When he reaches Jack, he spits in his hand. Grinning, eyes wide in surprise, Jack spits in his hand too and they shake hands.

Before Jack knows what's happening, Les's arms are wrapped around Jack's waist. Jack continues grinning.

He knows he would have missed all of this too much to have actually left.

Sarah pushes her way through the crowd, trying to reach Jack.

He grins when he sees her.

Then he does the one thing that no one was expecting and kissed her.

David's heart stops. His mind stops working too.

He turns away as all the newsies start hollering at Jack and Sarah.

If he kept looking, he would have seen the little jolt of surprise from Sarah, he would have seen that it wasn't meant to be more than just a short kiss, but the newsies hollering at them didn't help.

David has to get out of here.

Charismatic Jack. People pleasing. A guy who never changes.

David should have seen this coming. Jack's fooled him until the very end. Again.

But Jack and Sarah break away and gesture for David to come with them.

Although he's now dying inside, very reluctantly, David relents and starts walking toward them.

Jack puts an arm around his shoulder. David tries not to brush him away coldly.

"Go back to Brooklyn!" they hear someone in the crowd shout.

They look around. What's going on?

And then they see it.

While they were talking, Spot and Race had gotten in Roosevelt's carriage, now both are smirking, waving goodbye at everyone. While waiting for Jack and David to finish negotiating with Pulitzer, they had a good amount of time to talk things out. They're on good terms now. And now they're going back to Brooklyn together, and Jack can't remember the last time he saw either of them this happy.

"Have fun!" Jack yells after them. He's just glad that they were able to work things out in the end.

He turns back to his friends beside him, grinning. "Come on, let's go!"

And so Jack, David, Sarah, Les, and Crutchy start walking onward, away from the circulation center, all the newsies they're leaving behind dancing in the streets.

And it's a fine life! Carrying the banner!

It's a fine life! Carrying the banner!

It's a fine life! Carrying the banner!

Blink and Mush head off to their regular selling spot to sell together. Boots makes his way out into the streets, a little extra spring in his step. Skittery and Tumbler go off to sell papes hand in hand. And, slowly but surely, everyone goes in their own direction to start their day.

David tries not to stay in a bad mood. He wants to be happy. He should have seen this coming. He can't remember how many times Jack and Sarah have seen each other, but it must have been enough.

Suddenly, Jack tugs at David. "Can I have a word with you? Away from everyone else?"

"Sure," David mumbles. What more do you want from me?

"We'll just be a sec," Jack tells the others. "We'll catch up in a moment."

"Jack, where are we-"

Before David could finish, Jack started pulling him away from the group and into an alley with dim lighting.

"What's this about?" David asks, tired of this constant cycle of Jack looking like he changed, but didn't, of Jack improving, then letting him down again.

"That was an act," Jack tells him.

That gets David to stop. "What?"

"You said that we need to protect ourselves when there are others around," Jack tells him. "To keep us safe, 'cause ... well. You know. If I kissed you instead of your sister, things wouldn't be so good."

David takes it all in.

Jack did it for them, to protect them.

He has changed.

"I love you, Davey," Jack murmurs softly, genuinely. "Always have, always will."

"I love you too," David says.

Jack kisses him.

David kisses back.

When they pull apart, they bring their foreheads together.

"Good thing I kept it, then."

"...Kept what?"

David pulls away and gets out the red canary trinket from his pocket, the one Jack gave him two years ago. "This."

Jack's eyes widen. "I remember that. I thought ... I thought for sure that you wouldn't've kept it."

"I thought about throwing it out the window more than a couple times," David admits. "But I couldn't bring myself to do it. I actually forgot I had this, but I was going through my stuff a couple days ago, and found this. The plan yesterday was to finally throw it away. But then everything happened, and now I've decided I want to keep it."

Jack smiles.

David smiles too.

This time, David starts the kiss. Jack kisses back.

They're together again.

It took a long time to get here.

They don't know all that the future holds, but they know that they want a future together.

Their story isn't perfect. But no one's ever is.

It doesn't matter. All that matters is what's happening right here and right now, when they're happy.

As long as they're together, they'll live happily ever after.

THE END

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OH MY GOSH THAT JUST HAPPENED

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Okay, okay, calm ... calm ...

I can't do calm right now. 

I spent a good month writing this book. Literally--first draft was started February 20th, and now I'm publishing the last chapter March 20th.

There's just something about the 20th of a month, and I'm like "alright, it's time to write fanfiction!" Haha

My brain at 1:00 am writing the line Now is the time for celebration early on in the chapter: *in the tune of Seize the Day* Now is the time to celebrate haha.

It's not 1:00 am now, just clarifying. I'm actually getting better at not posting super late at night or spending too much time at night writing. But now I'm burning the candle at both ends, as the expression I recently learned says, but let's not worry about that right now haha.

So. In this story ... a lot happened.

Even though I've written the story of the strike several times before, I can honestly say I've never written anything like this.

Even though I'm not entirely sure what made me want to write this story, I have a couple ideas. In the past couple/few months, everyone around me has started dating. Dating, or breaking up. A lot of happy couples and a lot of couples with relationship problems. And meanwhile I'm still trying to figure out how everyone is able to do that. How can everyone just get in a relationship like that? And I'm still trying to figure out how to deal with unrequited feelings and possible unrequited feelings. I think all that turmoil was the fuel for this story.

I'm probably going to be rereading this story some time from now, especially the beginning chapters and chapters 15-17, and be like are you okay there? but I don't wanna unpack that just yet haha.

So. This was ... kinda like the ending of 92sies?

I bet I surprised you all with that ending, yeah?

Because it was a real possibility that Jack couldn't have changed.

But. Kissing in the alley.

The canary.

Some of those I planned, some of those I didn't. I hope I kept you surprised the whole time.

I didn't even know I wanted to write that closing line until I was writing it haha.

Blush was there and happy and healthy <3

Sprace is back together <3

Okay but in the end of 92sies when Spot is in the carriage the moment KILLS ME especially because you can hear someone in the background shout, "Bye Spot!" and another one yell "Go back to Brooklyn!" and it's always so funny.

Edit: I have learned that Sarah is who says "Bye, Spot!" and Jack is the one who yells "GO BACK TO BROOKLYN" which I think makes it better. Also "GO BACK TO BROOKLYN" has become one of my stim phrases haha.

I also love it when Spot and Race is standing behind Jack when Jack and Denton are talking about Roosevelt and Spot slowly gets cut out of the camera haha, and keeps looking right at Race while Race stares right ahead at the carriage.

And, most importantly ... Javid is back together <3

Okay, but ... when Jack says, "besides, I have family here," smiling, and the camera cuts to David, and David comes over, smiling fondly, and the camera cuts back to Jack with fondness in his eyes, and then they talk about headlines/newsies selling papes ... who watches that and doesn't think that there's some form of love there?

That was one of my favorite Javid moments throughout all versions of Newsies. It's that single moment that melts my heart every single time.

Don't get me started on all the other little details of 92sies haha.

The funny thing is, Jack was originally supposed to make it to Santa Fe. But then they changed it. Even Christian Bale was confused over why Jack stayed, totally on board with the Jack makes it to Santa Fe and gets his happy ending idea.

He also didn't exactly know what to think of the Jack/Sarah kiss, and neither did Ele Keats.

In one of the earlier scripts, Race would actually have more lines at the part where Jack leaves. I forget exactly what it was, but it was something that would have strengthened the canon Jack and Race brotherly bond, so I wish they kept that in.

Also, Christian Bale has literally said about the movie, "The main story is about the strike, against Pulitzer, but also about, you know, the relationship with David and Jack..." he goes on to talk about Santa Fe's importance to Jack, but he still acknowledges that Jack and David's relationship (however you choose to read it) is a big part of the story.  

I'm really glad that they had Jack come back instead of going to Santa Fe. Because he changed. and he did have family in New York.

I think I've said everything I needed to say.

(Edit: alright, it's been a year, and I honestly think this was one of my stories that was the most fun to write, since it was so different from everything else I've written. It's not always wholesome, and I don't get to give every character justice, but it has its good moments. Has my relationship status changed in a year? No it has not haha. The only time I've ever been asked out was in a dream I had like a week ago by someone I didn't know. My friends are getting into relationships, and I'm stuck. Some of their relationships are better than others. And no, I cannot answer the question are you okay? nor the question of what exactly was going on in my head here. Still, regardless, even a year later, I hope you enjoyed this story <3)

(Edit: adssgdg two years wow I'm getting old. And what hasn't changed? My relationship status. My sibling's though? They've been in a relationship for like a month now. They are four years younger than me. And...I honestly still don't know if I want a relationship or not. I do think I am demiromantic, and I know I'm asexual (and neurodivergent haha) so that impacts things too. Anywho, I'm trying to work up the courage to tell my current crush I like them. We'll see how that goes. Anyway, that's enough about me. I hope y'all still reading this two years after I published are enjoying it <3)

Thank you all for reading until here.

All 3000+ words of this chapter too haha.

So ... what did you think of this story??

Love you all <3

Please, no homophobia, profanities, hate etc in the comment section.

Best,

~Your Beloved Author (who really loved writing this story, and can't believe that it's over now)