Thunder boomed over New York City rattling Katherine's apartment, hard rain was pouring out side. She sat at her typewriter writing an article when there was a impatient knock on her door, confused as to why someone would be out in this weather she got up to answer the door.

"Race?" She asked surprised looking at just one soaking wet Newsie.

"Heya Plumber! Mind if we'd come in...?" He asked chewing a wet cigar.

"Yes! Of course." She moved out of their way and three more boys followed him in. Romeo, Specs, and Crutchie all soaked to the bone and shivering.

"Thanks Katherine, we was selling and this ole storm hit and we didn't know where else ta go." Crutchie explained.

"No problem you boys are always welcome here. Sit down and I'll get you guys a towel or something." She told them gesturing to her couch.

Fresh towels and a fresh cup of coffee in each boys hand she felt satisfied with her work.

"So, where's Jack?" She asked leaning against the counter.

"Hopefully back at the Logging House." Specs said blowing on his cup of coffee. Katherine hopped they were right and he wasn't stuck somewhere outside in the middle of the night while it rained cats and dogs.

"Well boys, I got to go finish an article yell if you need me." She told them.

"Okay thanks Plumber." Race said as she walked back into her room. She really did hope Jack was okay but she needed to finish her article now or she would never do it. She could hear tid bits of the boys conversation it was mostly about how they sold their papers or how many girls they got to smile at them. She wasn't particularly interested until something they said caught her attention.

"Now if it had been Jack sellin' to her, he would of had her right then and there."

"Ya if it had been Jack a year ago, then he would of had her. Jacks changed a lot over the year, he doesn't do stuff like that any more." She herd someone say, Crutchie maybe?

"Yea, but i'se still wish I knew how he got em' ta come to the bed, that's the hardest part." Race said. A jolt went through Katherine as she relished what they were saying.

"He didn't lead em' straight to the bed." She herd someone say.

"Ya right Specs, he'd get em' drunk first." Romeos voice said.

"I'm fairly sure Jacks never been completely drunk before, he told me once he never got drunk because it made it harder ta sneak out in the morning if youse was feeling a bit tipsy." Race said with a laugh, Katherine's heart sank and she wasn't sure why. Was she feeling sorry for all those girls that had been used then tossed to the curb? She was, she felt sick to her stomach at the though of what Jack had done to who knows how many girls. How could he do that? When they had first got together Jack had explained to her that he'd slept with more girls than he could count, and at the time Katherine had understood. That was how he was raised, she understood, but she never thought he would use them like that.

"Where was that place he used to take them? Wasn't it in that room in the cellar?" She herd Romeo ask.

"Yea, under the stairs, he always beat me to it." Race said somberly. Katherine's uneasy stomach turned to anger at the thought, how could he do that to someone? The Jack she knew would never do something like that. So why had he done it? She felt her fingers curl around her pen angrily at the thought. Lightning flashed in the distance and she herd her door creek open.

"Eh! Boys whatcha doing here?" It was Jack who spoke, thunder rumbled in the distance as he shut the door.

"Caught in the storm Jackie boy, Plumber let us in." Crutchie said. "Am I right Katherine?"

"R-right!" She called back her voice cracking. Her anger grew at the sound of his voice, she wished he wasn't here right now.

"Well you boys better of been good." Jack told them, the boys laughed and Katherine herd them getting to their feet.

"We best be off. Thanks again Katherine." Crutchie said hobbling into the door way.

"Your welcome" she said forcing a smile. The rest of the boys bid farewell and left out into the now light rain. Katherine held her breath knowing Jack would come into her room to say hi, she didn't want to talk to him right now.

"Hey Kath guess what?" He called his footsteps growing louder as he reached her door frame.

"What?" She asked coldly not looking up at him, he seemed oblivious to her tone and continued.

"Ya know Buttons and how he said he'd lost his family years ago? Well he's found em' they's said they'd been lookin' for him for a while. I'se thinks the rest of the boys are a little jealous but I'm happy for the fella." Jack said and air of excitement glowing around him. Katherine didn't answer, she was happy for Buttons but she really couldn't think about anything at the moment. "You okay?" Jack asked finally picking up on her mood.

"I'm fine." She snapped at him, his eyebrows nit together at her tone.

"You don't seem yourself, are you sick? Is there anything I can do for ya?" He asked worriedly. Katherine clenched her jaw and forced herself to look at him.

"How about you just take me to the cellar under the stairs!" She snapped at him and edge of bitter sarcasm to her voice.

"What do y-" he started to say but she cut him off.

"I heard the boys taking about you." She said coldly her hand gripping her pen so hard she thought it would break.

"The cellar under the... Oh." He said realization washing over his features. "Ace listen-"

"No! Don't Ace me Jack Kelly! I herd what they said! I'm I just another one of your girls, Jack?!?" She asked her voice raising.

"No Katherine of course not! Your much more than that!" He said raising his hands in defense as she rose from her chair her pen shaking violently in her hand.

"What am I hear for? Are you just keeping me around until I finally let you under my skirts? Are you gonna leave and forget about me just like you did to those other girls?!?" She shouted rage filling her chest.

"No! I-"

"I can't believe you Jack Kelly!"

"Katherine stop!" Jack shouted and took a step toward her. She narrowed her eyes at him and chucked her pen at his head, he ducked and it impaled itself to her wall behind him. "Geeze Kath! Will you let me talk?"

"No!" She shouted grabbing her hair bush from her desk and flinging it at him. It glanced off his shoulder as he tried to duck.

"Let me talk!"

"I... don't... want you... to... talk!" She said in between things she threw at him. From crumpled paper to her shoes she threw at him which didn't seem to hurt him. That made her even more angry.

"I thought we already talked about this! I told you before we started dating! I thought you understood." He said trying to get closer to her.

"I thought I did understand! I never knew you left them, how could you do that? How could you leave a girl robbed of her self esteem and dignity? How could you?" She was crying by now and she felt anger like never before toward him. He finally got close enough to touch her his eyes locking with hers.

"I am not proud of what I did. I wasn't proud then." He said gently grabbing her arms.

"Don't touch me!" She hissed at him jerking away from him. He dropped hands but stayed close to her.

"Just let me explain, please." He said softly. When she didn't say anything he took it as an incentive to go on. "Back then... it was ruff, f-for all of us. The boys were barely eatin' and I couldn't think about anything besides Santa Fe. Those girls... they were just distractions, I never liked doin' it but they helped keep my mind off the day ta come." Katherine kept quiet her eyes down, starring at a frayed edge on his shirt as his words ran through her head. She sniffed and wiped her eyes on her sleeve.

"So why did you leave them there? W-why didn't you stay with them? If they were just distractions why couldn't you have at least said good bye?" She asked still not looking up at him.

"Because I was a coward, I couldn't stand the sight of their expressions when they learned they'd been tricked into sleeping with a Newsie." He said almost bitterly. Katherine closed her eyes and could almost imagine herself waking up in a tangle of blankets In strange bed with no memories of the night except one face. The thought made her shutter and she had to sit down. "The thing is Katherine, once I met you I didn't need any more distractions, I didn't want any more. I had you and that was more than enough, you filled the gap so many other girls could barely even substitute." He said kneeling down in front of her. His words made her anger splutter to a stop, had she really done that to him?

"Do you mean that?" She asked finally lifting her eyes to his his.

"I sure do."

Authors note- REMEMBER all suggestions are welcome! I own nothing. Thank you