Morris woke up, wining slightly in pain and rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. He smiled softly as his eyes fell on Oscar, who had curled up by his side in the night and fallen asleep. His face was buried in Morris' shoulder, but the older Delancey could still hear his faint snores. Morris laid back, moving as little as possible so he didn't wake up his brother. He rested his head on Oscar's and sighed softly, massaging his hair gently with his left hand.

"Morning, Sleeping Beauty." Morris jumped slightly and quickly removed his hand from his brother's hair, hoping that whoever had spoken hadn't seen the rare affectionate display. He looked up to see Specs smiling at him in amusement, his head tilted slightly as he observed. Morris blushed and sat up carefully, pressing a hand to his stomach and trying not to jostle Oscar.

"Mornin'. How early is it?" Morris asked, yawning. "It's about one in the afternoon. How long has it been since you and Oscar got a decent amount of sleep?" Specs replied, and Morris tried to ignore the concern that heavily laced the other boy's voice. Instead, he was panicked. Their Uncle would kill them when he found out they hadn't been to work that day! Morris tried to get up and gasped as he was hit by a wave of pain.

"Whoa, settle down! You aren't going anywhere!" Specs said, jumping to his feet and gently pushing Morris back onto the bed. Morris glared up at Specs, but he wrapped a protective arm around Oscar settled back down. Specs pulled up a stool next to the bed and sat down, giving his sworn enemy the nicest smile he could muster. Both boys sat in silence, Specs not knowing what to say and Morris not wanting to answer his question from before. Specs' gaze flickered to Oscar and his eyes softened.

"You care about him a lot, don't you?" Specs asked. Morris hesitated before nodding, looking down at Oscar's sleeping face and sighing. "We's been through a lot togetha. I can count on 'im, and he can count on me. Don' know if he loves me or anythin', but he cares. That's good enough fa me," Morris said. Specs shook his head, noting how Morris' eyes flickered briefly with sadness.

"No it's not. You want him to love you. And don't worry, he does," Specs said in a matter-of-fact tone. Morris blinked and gazed at Specs questioningly, but he didn't say anything. "He was scared half to death last night, you should have seen him. He was a sobbing mess," Specs said with a humorless chuckle. Morris looked down at his younger brother in surprise.

"Yeah, it was pretty bad. He explained about your ma and pa. I tried to tell him I knew what you two were going through, but he wouldn't hear it. I guess... in the end, he had a point. He said that you're the only thing he's got in the world, and I have the newsies, other friends, a roof over my head..." Specs voice trailed off and he looked to Morris to see if he was saying anything out of turn, but the other newsie looked at him with slight interest and- dare he say it -grief.

"He really said all that?" Morris whispered. Specs nodded and smiled, patting Morris on the shoulder. "You're really lucky, Morris. Oscar loves you a lot, even if he doesn't ever say it. He looks up to you," Specs said confidently. Morris' grip on his brother tightened subconsciously and he felt his eyes starting to sting. Did Oscar really feel that way? He sure had a funny way of showing it. Fighting with him, taking his anger out on him, forcing him to stay with Weisel during the strike...

Morris would do anything for Oscar, but he never realized it was the other way around too. He found himself blinking to keep the tears from falling. He did agree that after it happened, the two of them became closer. Morris supposed it made a bit of sense. Morris sniffed and nuzzled into Oscar's hair, sighing softly. The younger smiled a bit in his sleep and buried his face deeper in Morris' shoulder, making the other smile. Specs shifted slightly, wanting to say something but reluctant to interrupt the moment between the brothers.

"Uh... The boys'll be back soon for lunch. If you two want, you can join us," Specs offered with an awkward smile. Morris was about to shake his head when his stomach grumbled loudly, making both him and Specs laugh a little. "Yeah... Yeah, let me just wake 'im up, alright?" Morris said, and Specs left without another word. Morris looked down at Oscar and shook his shoulder lightly.

"Oscar. Oscar, get up you lazy bum," Morris whispered into his brother's ear. Oscar whined and swatted at Morris' face, narrowly missing. Morris winced as he twisted over onto his side and smirked at Oscar. "Get up or I'll tickle ya." Oscar's eyes shot open and he sat up so fast he fell off the bed. Morris laughed, clutching his stomach and doubling over with laughter as Oscar glared up at him from the floor, rubbing his forehead where he'd hit it on the edge of the bunk.

"It ain't funny, Mors!" Oscar grumbled, but his faint smile and the use of an old nickname showed he wasn't really all that ticked off. Morris grinned and went to get out of bed, but Oscar gasped and held him down. "You ain't goin' anywhere, pal. You's stayin' right here," Oscar said firmly, as if he was the older brother and Morris was a little kid. Morris huffed and folded his arms across his chest.

"You's is just as bad as that Specs kid," Morris complained, and Oscar flicked his forehead playfully. "Don't want'cha dyin', that's all. I'll bring you somethin', okay?" Oscar said, giving Morris one of his rare affectionate smiles before turning to the door. A lump formed in Morris' throat and he sat up, trying to find his words.

"H-Hey, Oscar?" Oscar blinked and turned at the sound of his brother's voice. Morris shifted awkwardly on the bed, cleared his throat, and looked up at his younger brother shyly.

"You know I love ya, right? Right, Oscar?" Morris muttered, blushing darkly at the odd confession. Oscar's mouth fell open in surprise, but he quickly smiled and nodded. His brother was such a dork. "Course I do. I love you too," Oscar replied. Morris' head snapped up and he beamed at the younger Delancey. Oscar returned his gleeful smile before waving slightly and leaving the room to grab a bite.