Yes, I have too many ongoing stories already. Yes, I'm starting a new one. You got a problem with that?

If you're a normal person, you've probably watched a comedy show. Whether it be Parks & Recreation, The Office, or as this story is inspired by, Modern Family, you've probably watched a comedy show at least once in your life. While watching the last few episodes of Modern Family, I got the idea of:
"What if I did something like this, but with the newsies in their early 20s, living together in apartments, and figuring out their lives?"

And here's the result of that.

As most of my stories, this is set in my modern AU time line (strike happens in 2005), and it's canonical with The Next Edition.

So now I, Vil Potter from Newsies Square, present to you:

Manhattan Newsies.


Saturday, November 10th, 2012, 6:45 AM

Specs carefully picked the cake off the kitchen counter. The cake itself matched the counter in terms of fanciness. Both were seriously lacking it. Specs and Albert had made the cake themselves. It felt more genuine that way. The only store-bought things on it were the two candles. One '2' and one '1', both big, white, and covered in glitter. A minute before lifting the tray off the table, Specs had carefully lit them. He would have had Albert, Mike or Ike do it, but he didn't trust any of them to not burn the house down in the process. Neither did he trust them to carry the cake without dropping it, so the situation had to be what it was. Instead he had the other three boys carry the bread, butter, cheese and sliced cucumber. Romeo was very particular about having a sandwich every morning. Specs couldn't have his 21st birthday be the day where he didn't get one.

"R'ya ready?" he whispered to Albert, Mike and Ike once they were outside the door to one of the small apartment's bedrooms.

"Aye aye, captain," Albert whispered back, prepping himself for the surprise they were about to perform.

It might've been a bit childish, but waking Romeo up with singing and a cake on his birthday felt right. Turning 21 was a big deal. It was basically letting go of the last childhood innocence. Today, the last person in the Manhattan newsie gang (minus Les) was turning the magical two one. That was even bigger deal.

Specs gave the slightly open door a little push with his hip, and it slowly opened. The four boys outside walked in.

"Happy birthday to you," Specs started carefully singing. The twins, who weren't morning people, were pretty much just mouthing the words. Albert though, was making this the biggest, most dramatic singing of happy birthday imaginable.

"Happy birthday to you!" he belted.

Romeo, who had obviously woken up by then, slowly sat up in his bed, chuckling lightly at the sight.

"Happy birthday, dear Romeo!" Specs sang louder.

"Happy birthday to you!" they finished it off.

"Happy 21st, Ro!" Albert shouted.

"Yeah, happy day!" one of the twins said. Specs still had trouble telling them apart, especially when they were both wrapped into their morning robes.

"Aaaah!" Romeo squealed a bit, taking the cake from Specs. "Thank you!"

With an exuberant smile, he began inspecting the cake.

"Officially an adult," Specs declared, sitting down at the end of his best friend's bed.

"Officially allowed ta drink alcohol," Albert nodded informatively.

"Not 'til this evenin'," Specs reminded him.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Albert passed it off. "We know, we know, everyone's gotta be there."

"It's a big moment!" Specs defended. "Ya don't remember how you demanded ta be da centa' of attention when you drank your "first" glass?" He put the word first in quotation marks. Everyone knew Albert's 21st birthday glass definitely hadn't been his first.

"Yeah, a' course," Albert huffed.

Specs rolled his eyes, returning to Romeo.

"Anyway, Ro, happy birthday!"

"Thank you!" Romeo beamed. "Again!"

"Well, what're ya waitin' for? Cut the cake!"

"Uhm," Romeo looked down at the cake placed on his lap. "How... exactly?"

"Ah, fuck, I'll get a knife," Albert said, jumping off Specs' bed and running out of the room.

"Knew we forgot somethin'," Specs muttered.

It was always the details. Always. Not once in the year and a half the five boys had lived in their shared apartment had they remembered absolutely everything for an occassion. It kind of made Specs wish he had ended up with some more sensible people as apartment mates. But there he was. Sharing with his best friend, and also Albert and the twins. And he loved it. Not one quiet moment.

Constant chaos. That's where he thrived.


Saturday, November 10th, 2012, 10:25 AM

Smalls and Sniper hurried down the busy street. They had already been in five clothing stores, but hadn't found the right type of shirt Specs had told them Romeo wanted. They had found striped ones, and they had found polo shirts, but no striped polo shirts.

"They's gotta have 'em here," Smalls said, pulling Sniper into another store.

"They betta'," he responded.

"Okay, men's section... ya see it anywhere?"

Sniper scanned what he could see of the store. His eyes quickly found big letters on the wall, pointing the customers in different directions.

"Second floor," he said, pointing towards the escalator.

Smalls began leading the two towards it.

"Comin' through! In a hurry here!"

Under his breath, Sniper laughed at her determination to get them to their destination so quickly. They weren't really in a hurry at all. Heck, the party didn't start until 3 PM. Smalls' ability to force her way through a clothing store was simply entertaining, and in Sniper's eyes, quite adorable.

"We're comin' for ya, striped polo shirt," Smalls said, a determined smirk on her lips.

"An' if they don't have it-"

"Well, then fuck them," Smalls giggled.

"Careful," Sniper whispered to her. "There's a staff member right there."

Smalls' eyes followed where his finger was pointing. Once she'd seen the woman rearranging a clothing rack right above the escalator, she turned back to Sniper, silently giggling again.

"Don't wanna get us kicked out," Sniper sarcastically said. A second later he fell victim of the contagious laugh.

"Alright, I see the men's section," Smalls said, pointing to the right corner of the store.

"Mission Find a Striped Polo Shirt is, for the sixth time, a go!"

"Sixth time's the charm, baby!"

The two split up to make the process quicker. Sniper looked through clothing rack after clothing rack, shelf after shelf. Dammit, why did Romeo have to be so picky about clothing? Why specifically a striped polo shirt? When Sniper found the shelf of polo shirts, he was immediately struck by disappointment. There were no stripes visible. Just plain colors.

"Hey Smalls!" he shouted.

"You found it?!" Her head appeared behind a round rack.

Sniper pinched his lips, and gave her the bad news by shaking his head. "I found a bunch a' other polos, so I'm guessin' they don't have more!"

"Damn it!"

The couple quickly joined each other again, and immediately grabbed each other's hands.

"You think Finch is tryin' ta find it?" Smalls asked.

"If I know Finch right, he ain't even left the apartment."

"Godammit."

"Ma'am, could you please mind your language?" a woman approached Smalls and Sniper saying. "I have my kids here, and they can hear you very well."

"Sucks to be-" Smalls began. Sniper quickly squeezed her hand a bit tighter, in a non-romantic way. That seemed to do the trick. "Sucks ta be unable ta find what ya want, doesn't it?" Smalls did some kind of passing-this-off gesture. "I mean, they seriously have none of the thing we want."

The woman looked Smalls up and down with a mixed puzzled and quite disgusted face. Without a second word, she left. As soon as she was out of their view, Smalls raised her middle finger. Sniper leaned his head down, and whispered in her ear:

"I'm proud of you for holdin' that one back."

Smalls instantly snorted, and proceeded to respond by slapping Sniper's hair, and giving him a quick kiss on the cheek.

Many things had changed in the eight year since the strike. Smalls' personality was not one of them.


Saturday, November 10th, 2012, 2 PM

"Sorry we's so early!" JoJo cried out as soon as Katherine opened the door to the apartment she shared with Jack and Crutchie.

"We had nothin' to do back at home, so we figured ya wouldn't mind," Buttons explained.

"Oh no, not at all!" Katherine said, stepping aside to welcome the quartet into her home.

"Hi Kath!" Elmer exclaimed as he entered.

JoJo left Katherine and the rest of their friend group to greet each other while they headed straight to the apartment kitchen. They were the one carrying the cake Henry had made for the party. Carrying it had gotten very tiring.

First when they had put the cake down on the counter did they spot Crutchie on the couch in the living room.

"Ay! Crutchie!"

Crutchie's head instantly turned.

"JoJo!"

"How're ya doin', buddy?" JoJo aksed.

"I'm good! You?"

"Fantastic! We just got the water leak in the bathroom fixed, so we's all doin' great now!"

"You had a water leak?"

"Sure did. It was not fun."

"I can imagine." Crutchie chuckled. "Is it three already?"

"Oh. No, we're just early. We had already wrapped the presents, and Henry was done with the cake, so we 'ad no reason ta just wait around."

"Well, I'm glad youse are here!" Crutchie smiled. He grabbed his crutches, and got off the couch.

"Hen!" JoJo shouted into the hall while Crutchie slowly made his way to the kitchen.

"Comin'!"

"Ya gotta fix yer cake. I got no clue how ta put this onto the tray an' shit."

"So skillfull of ya," Henry snarkily remarked when he entered the kitchen.

The sound of the doorbell ringing stopped JoJo from shooting back. They leaned back a bit to see into the hall, where Katherine opened the door. Outside stood Davey, Sarah and Tommy Boy.

"Heeeey!" Buttons happily greeted. JoJo ran to join the group.

"Wow, youse're early," Tommy Boy commented. "Yer here before Davey."

"Yeah, yeah, we's explained it enough t'day," JoJo said, not considering the fact that they'd only explained twice, and neither of those times having been to Tommy Boy, Sarah and Davey.

"An' why you three so early?" Buttons placed his hands on his hips.

"Are you sure you don't know the answer already?" Sarah smirked. JoJo knew that at least they knew the answer. Davey was the epitome of a time pessimist.

"Classic Dave," Buttons said, patting the man in question on the back.

"How much do all of you want to bet about who's gonna arrive last?" Sarah said once she had hung her coat on a hanger.

"I put five dollars on Smalls, Snipes an' Finch!" Crutchie shouted, raising his hand.

"Nah, no way Race arrives before them," Tommy Boy said. "Race an' Spot arrive last."

"That's your final bet?" JoJo asked. They had to make sure to win this.

"Yeah."

"Okay. Then my bet is Race makes himself, Spot, and Blink an' Mush late," they proudly announced.

"Ah, come on," Tommy Boy said. "Then let's bet even more. Either Race will just make himself and Spot late, or he makes all a' dem in that apartment late. How much you wanna bet, Jo?"

JoJo carefully considered the decision. "Ten dollars."

"Deal."

Tommy Boy and JoJo both spit into their hands, and determinedly shook them. Spit shakes would never get old.


Saturday, November 10th, 2012, 3:30 PM

"I can't believe we're lettin' them make us late."

"More like lettin' Race."

Mush and Blink both looked back at the other couple they shared their apartment with. The former couple had had to force the latter out into the street. Had they not, they would still have been in their apartment, frantically searching for Race's key chain. Apparently, that was incredibly important to bring. At least Race had thought it was until he remembered the other three also had keys. Then he just realized he had made them over half an hour late for no reason. Now the four of them were speedwalking towards Jack, Katherine and Crutchie's apartment building. They would have taken the bus, but Race had forgotten money for that.

"We gotta get enough money ta get our own place, Louis," Mush said, following the statement with a loud sigh.

"Agreed."

When they reached the right building, they hurried up the stairs, and Mush knocked on the door. He heard several voices and steps coming from indoors, and finally, JoJo and Tommy Boy opened the door.

"Hah!" Tommy Boy exclaimed the second he saw Blink and Mush. "Toldja!"

JoJo looked oddly defeated. But then Race and Spot caught up.

"No, I told you!" JoJo celebrated. "Boom!"

Not bothering to find out what just happened, Blink and Mush entered the apartment, closely followed by Race and Spot.

"Hey Romeo!" Mush shouted. A short fella popped out of the crowd in the living room. "Happy birthday!"

"Thanks, Mush!" Romeo said, running into a hug with his friend.

"Ah, great!" Albert's voice came from somewhere in the living room... or kitchen. Mush couldn't spot him, which was a rare thing to happen, considering the fiery hair. "Everyone's here! Romeo, are ya ready fer yer first drink?!"

"Yeah!"

Romeo flung himself out of the hug with Mush, and ran back into the living room. The two newly arrived couples followed him, getting launched directly into the party.

It turned out Albert's voice had been coming from the kitchen, because half a minute after Mush and Blink got seated in the corner of a couch, he walked into the living room through the kitchen doorway. A large tray rested on his hand, and on that tray stood a single glass of liquid - most definitely alcoholic. The tradition that happened every 21st birthday pursued. The guessing of the drink.

"Beer!" Race shouted.

"Cheap beer!" said Ike.

"I think it's champagne!" Henry said. "Really? Champagne in a beer glass?"

"You didn't find our expensive wine, did you?" Katherine said, sounding just a bit worried.

"Expensive wine? You don't gotta brag about affording that shit," Albert frowned at her. "Nah, this is cheap beer. Found it in the fridge."

"GOT IT!" Ike roared.

"Get it to Ro then!" Specs called out.

Albert hurried the last few steps to Romeo, who was proudly sitting in the biggest armchair - always reserved for the birthday newsie. He nervously grabbed the glass off the tray. Mush's, along with everyone else's, eyes fell on Romeo in anticipation.

"Hold up! One minute!" Jack shouted.

He stood up from his seat, and everyone understood: It was time for a classic Jack speech.

"Fellas," he began with a giant smile. "The last of our clan - minus Les, sorry buddy - is 'bout ta officially become an adult. Afta' this, we all's gotta be real grown ups. Well, minus Les, he'll always be the baby brother."

"Well spoken!" Sarah said, raising her glass.

"So whattaya say, Ro?" Jack ignored Sarah, and looked down at Romeo in the big armchair. "Are ya ready for adulthood?"

"Yes I am!" Romeo said, at the speed of light. Not hesitating one more second, he chugged the glass.

Several outbursts of celebration instantly came along with it. The noise even hurt some ears in the apartment. But it was worth it.

"Ooooh," Romeo put the glass down, his eyes widening. The room became silent as Romeo started fanning his throat. "It burns!"


Sunday, November 11th, 2012, 8:50

The call that arrived in the newsie group's group chat the next morning was one none of them had expected. Not only did Specs call early on a Sunday morning when many of them were hungover, but the actual point of the call was a bigger surprise than any of them ever could have expected.

"So first off, thank you for all the gifts!" Romeo was beaming; one of few people who were at the moment. He grabbed the phone from Specs, and turned to film his various presents. "Mush an' Blink, I love the hair products! Tried 'em today, an' they work great! Smalls an' Snipes, I love the checkered polo shirt, but I woulda preferred a striped one-"

"Ah, come on, we tried ta find one-"

"I loved all of yer gifts so damn much! But..." he took a break to excitedly squeal. There was some bustling as Romeo handed the phone to Specs. "Race an' Spot, you know how you two gave me some lottery tickets?"

"Yeah?" Race asked, sounding quite clueless.

"How much didja win? Hundred dollars?" Spot chuckled.

Specs filmed how Romeo bounced up and down on the spot.

"Well, actually..." Specs said, pausing for dramatic effect. "He won a million dollars."


There's the kinda cliffhanger end of chapter 1! Hope ya liked it! If you did, you wouldn't mind leaving a review, would you? It would make my day :D