Note: I do not own Newsies they belong to Disney, the characters and idea are mine though

Supposed to Be

By Em

"Whoa," Blink turned just in time to see a girl trip and fall down the end of the fire escape. He held out his arms just in time to steady her.

"Sorry," she looked about to cry. Blink looked at her, brown hair drawn up into a ponytail and green eyes, shorter than most girls, but not by much. She was kinda an average girl. He tried to calm her but she insisted that it wasn’t him she was upset about. With a little prodding she started to explain but it all fell out in a tumble of words and choked up emotion. "Well, um… my mama… she…" Pretty soon Blink got the point. As they sat down on a nearby bench he put his arm around her comfortingly, not caring that the shoulder of his shirt was getting wet with her tears. Slowly she raised her head. "Thanks for letting me cry it all out, I’m sorry to bother you." She stood to go.

"It was no problem, if ya eveh need anudder shoulder ta cry on, my name’s Kid Blink."

She smiled, "Ok Kid, my name’s Katie."

"Blink come ‘ere" Blink grabbed his papers and walked over to were Jack was standing with an unfamiliar newsie. "Blink could ya sell wid James?" Blink was without a partner since his best friend Mush had stopped selling. He nodded and looked at the newsie, green eyes and shorter than him, the hair he could see from beneath the cap was brown.

"James ‘eh, sounds like a rich persons name, I’m gonna call you Jimmy."

"I won’t answer to it unless you ask." Blink was surprised but he asked and got a yes back. They started off hollerin’ the headlines, Jimmy was good at coming up with catchy calls and knew just what to say.

"Hey Jimmy you gotta pretty good mind to come up with all those headlines."

"It just comes outta my mouth and I don’t even think ‘bout it."

"Right, Mouth" Blink smiled and laughed out loud. The boys went to Tibby’s for lunch and Jimmy met the others.

"How’s the sellin’ been?" No immediate answer came to Jack’s question, then Blink answered.

"Jimmy ‘ere ‘es a natural seller, ‘es got a mouth full of good headlines," and of smart remarks, he silently added. Jimmy had a reply to everything. Jimmy sold the afternoon edition with Kid Blink again.

That night while all the other boys were busy with their dates or their card games, Blink wandered the streets, thinking of anything and everything. "Kid!" He looked up to see a familiar face. He tried to conceal his pleasure of seeing Katie again. She joined him on his leisurely walk.

"Oh no" Katie looked at her watch again, they’d been walking for hours. At the end of her street Katie reached up and hugged him. She turned and bounced away. As Blink watched her go he realized that though she may look pretty average, her personality was definitely not. He sighed and turned back to the lodging house.

"Where were ya Blink? Ya left hours ago." Blink didn’t answer at first, just leaned back on his bunk, but knowing that the questions wouldn’t stop he slowly and quietly answered.

"Just walkin’"

"Just walkin’ for three and a half hours? Yea right." Racetrack was skeptical.

"Walkin’ wid Kate." The boys rolled their eyes and returned to what they were doing. Blink just smiled.

The next few days Kid Blink didn’t see Katie and after selling Jimmy would always leave with a regretful look. They had taken to calling him Mouth, because of his remarks, not that he was rude, just very straightforward, always voicing his opinion.

Blink looked up as a figured approached. It was Katie all right, her light bouncy walk, her dancing eyes and big smile. He stood up. As soon as she saw him she burst out laughing, Blink frowned. "Sorry, it’s just that I was waiting for you on the steps of the lodging house, none of the boys knew where you were and it was getting late so I gave up and left." She laughed again.

"I wasn’t about to give up."

Then it was probably good that I did or we would have both been waiting for a long time, ya know what?" Without even an answer she continued, "I feel like dancing, will you dance with me?"

"Right here, right now?"

"Yea Kid," Blink took her hands and started softly to hum a familiar song. As her voice joined his he looked at her again, she didn’t seem so average now, in just a little time his whole view of her had changed. ‘She really is somthin’ what a girl.’

Her voice interrupted his thoughts, "What ya thinkin’ ‘bout?" He looked at her and she repeated it, "What are you thinking about?"

"Just you, Kate, only you."

"What a good thing to think about." She moved closer to him. Inside her building a baby began to cry. Katie turned to go, but Blink stopped her.

"Can you meet me for lunch tomorrow?" She shook her head. Blink tried again, "well how about another time."

"I can’t, I’m sorry, I just can’t" He watched as she ran up the steps and he made his way home.

"Boy Blink, dat’s one strange girl you choose to fall for." Racetrack had just been told about the previous nights’ events.

Blink smiled, "I know, that’s what makes ‘her wonderful." He looked around, Mouth usually made it to the distribution office before all the other newsies, but he wasn’t anywhere to be seen. Blink waited until everyone left and gave up and sold alone.

The next morning Mouth approached Blink, "Kid, I can’t sell wid you no more, I’ll sell on my own." He turned and left Blink without giving time for a reply.

"What was that?" Jack walked up confused.

"Jimmy don’t wanna sell wid me no more, ya know Jack, I’m just being the same ol’ me I always been, but now it’s like I ‘ave a disease or somthin’ everyone’s actin’ like theys scared of me." Not knowing what to do or say, Jack promised to go talk to Katie.

Jack stood outside the apartment that the landlord had told him was Katie’s, a little old lady answered his knock. Just as he was about to ask for her Katie, with a baby in her arms, walked out from the other room. "Grandma have you…" Her voice trailed off as she spotted Jack. The old lady seemed to understand she took the child from Katie and shuffled to the back room. "What are you doing here?" She looked furious.

"Blink wanted me to come talk to ya."

"You tell Kid that he’d better leave me alone."

"Ok I can do that, but will you answer a few questions while I’m here?"

"Maybe, depends on the questions."

"Well first is that child yours?"

"Yea, here name’s Emily."

"Are ya married?"

"Not anymore, now go." He turned to go. She softened, "tell Kid that it’s not his problem, it’s my problem."

"Why couldn’t have she told me? And I don’t see how it’s not my problem , I’m so confused." Then he smiled, "Emily ‘eh, wow"

"Maybe tonight we should go see Mush and Meg." Mush wasn’t the first of the newsies to get married, but the only one who had stayed nearby. Mush regularly met them for lunch and they would come by the lodging house some evenings. Meg was often the newsies guide when it came to girls.

"The only I think you can do is to honor her request then do it, if it’s supposed to be then it will." If Meg didn’t know what else to do then there was nothing else to do. Even though the evenings didn’t get answers it was fun none the less. Mush and Kid Blink been selling partners before Mush got married, and they were still best friends.

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Jimmy didn’t sell anymore and Blink had honored Katie’s request to leave her alone though it was hard. The afternoon it felt like forever since Blink had seen the person that had just entered. "Kate," he said in disbelief. She held a girl who ha assumed to be Emily.

"Kid can we walk, I need a shoulder to cry on." As they sat on a familiar bench near her apartment, she started her story.

` About a young naive self who just before her seventeenth birthday foolishly married a man she thought she loved, just to find Bill a drinker who would hit her often. When she found out that she was pregnant she left for the sake of her baby. He agreed to divorce her believing that by giving her what she wanted that she would come back. She moved in with her mother and grandmother. When Bill figured out that she wasn’t coming back, he went looking for her. Kate and Emily did fine until the day her mother died, Kate had met Kid Blink that day. Bill had seen her with him and followed her as she left Blink. When she was on a quiet road he approached, "Katie dear, I saw you with that boy, come back to me please, drop him, come back." He tried to kiss her and she turned her head. As Bill raised his hand to hit her she pushed him back and ran. Kate and her grandma knew no one would hire an old woman so they decided that Kate would go. Still wary of Bill, Kate disguised as a boy and told people her name was James, which wasn’t a lie for Kathryn James. They called her Jimmy or Mouth. But her grandma got sick and Kate stayed home to take care of her and Emily. And today her grandmother had died.

Kid Blink was so filled with wonder, what this girl had gone through. "Thanks for telling me."

She looked up, "Thanks for catching me when I fell." She laid her head back on his shoulder. Blink sat there holding Emily in one arm, and the other arm around Kate. He knew that this was the way things were supposed to be.

Epilogue:

Kathryn James married Devyn Stolham, aka "Kid Blink" Devyn officially adopted Emily and they had two other kids Derek and Meg. Bill got a life sentence for prison after Kate went to court to testify against him.