The Date

[Stagey]

For some reason, this notion slapped her in the face. Sure, she certainly ran the risk of disappointing the most notorious newsie in Manhattan, but that he'd disappoint her? "Impossible," she assured him, pressing his arm gingerly. "You can't disappoint a girl who isn't even sure what to expect."

[jackkelly]

"Yea but...you have all these great notions of what love is and sometimes it just ain't...it ain't like that." He sighed heavily.

[Stagey]

Stagey was sheltered, she knew this. And for all the dreaming she'd done leading up to this date, there must have been formed expectations that were out of human reach, hoops way too high for even Jack to jump through. "Wish I knew what it was like," she hoped aloud. For a half-instant, tears stung her eyes, but she blinked them back.

[jackkelly]

Jack sighed and held her hand as they walked. "It's kind of messy actually because all your insides are all twisted when you're around that person, all the time. Everybody wants it to be beautiful I think, but I've never found it to be like that..." He looked down at her, his heart was pounding.

[Stagey]

"Like you can't breathe as well as you should and like your palms are shaking?" She held out one of her own hands, visibly trembling with nerves. Jack was right, it did feel more like she was sick than being in love.

[jackkelly]

"Exactly," He looked down at her with a smirk. "Sometimes it weighs heavy on you and you don't wanna mess it up...but sometimes you do." Jack sighed heavily.

[Stagey]

"I don't think you've messed anything up," she replied earnestly. There was a long pause. Then, "Do you think it'd be better if we just kind of forgot this ever happened? I don't want to ruin what we had before I started baking that ridiculous cake."

[jackkelly]

Jack stopped walking and turned to face her. "No!" He said a little quickly. "No I don't, this is gonna be a good thing Stagey, there's just a lot of shit goin on right now."

[Stagey]

She spied a park bench near Greeley Square and tugged his hand to follow her, sitting down on the vacant bench, facing him. "What's going on?" she pressed gently. Maybe Jack wasn't one to confide in Stagey too much, but sometimes she could get it out of him.

[jackkelly]

"Just...bad stuff, Spots girl, Rae she got hurt real bad the night of the poker game, so she's staying at Duane Street for awhil. Brooklyns fighting with Sammy and god knows what else,"

[Stagey]

She drew in a deep sigh. Jack always carried a burden on his shoulders that was so much bigger than her inconsequential world. She frowned somewhat, unsure of what to say as she shifted a little. All of this was going on - sickness, war, and he still wanted to go on a stupid date?

"You could've told me earlier," she whispered. "I would've wanted you to focus on those things first. Not me." Certainly not her.

[jackkelly]

"Sometimes you need to focus on something else otherwise you go nuts. I was gonna do nuts," Jack said pointedly, he looped his arm across her shoulder. "Basically I'm waiting for Spot to march his ass across the bridge and cause a scene. Should be fun for everyone huh?"

[Stagey]

It couldn't be helped that Jack was in high demand. Stagey decided then and there that she needed to find a way into his world, to know what it meant to be in charge of boroughs and keeping the peace and keeping everyone safe. "Loads of fun."

[jackkelly]

"See you're getting it!" Jack said with a laugh.

[Stagey]

"Trying to," she allowed, letting herself giggle. "You live in an entirely different world," she reminded him. "It'll take some practice before I can really be a part of it."