|
|
Post by Hope Dawson on Oct 3, 2009 16:19:45 GMT -5
Hope ran down the street, looking behind her. Every now and then she would lift up the right side of her skirt so she wouldn't trip over it. She looked behind her again, whoever had been chasing her were either very slow, or she lost them. She hoped that she lost them. Hope leaned against the brick wall panting, trying to catch her breath. The wall was cool and damp, since it was raining earlier. She leaned her head back, closed her eyes and sighed. After a few moments Hope opened her blue eyes and looked down the street, no one appeared to be following her. She really hoped she lost them, if they found her it wouldn't be a pretty sight.
The reason why she had been running was that there were a couple of young men who had been taunting her earlier. They made a couple of crude and smart comments, and she let them have it. Now, Hope didn't appear to be the type who would be violent. Usually she wasn't, but when she was provoked she could be a real nightmare. However, she never made the first move. She saw it as her opponent's privilege.
But, Hope wasn't exactly the wisest person there was. The man who she punched was at least two times bigger than her, and could hit at least five times harder. Now she had a nice black eye, bruises that were beginning to form on her arms and legs, a throbbing fist, and cuts on her face that were bleeding. Thankfully Hope was smaller and faster than the young them, so she could outrun them. But, she jumped off something and landed wrong, which was causing her ankle to hurt.
She tried to wipe some of the blood off of her face with her shirt sleeve, but it hurt to touch. She hissed in pain, and ran her hand through her hair. She needed to get back to the lodging house and fix herself up. Hope felt water on her head and looked up, it was beginning to rain. She took a deep breath and pushed herself off the brick wall, cringing in pain. Hope glanced up to see where she was at, she saw the pub, and breathed a sigh of relief. She knew where she was at, so she didn't have to worry about being lost. Hope began to limp toward the direction of the lodging house, she looked back again to assure herself that no one was following her, but when she turned back around she ran right into someone.
|
|
|
|
Post by Hawkeye on Jan 2, 2010 22:34:32 GMT -5
Hawk exited the pub, head bent against the rain, and walked in the direction of the LH. He pulled a cigarette out of his pocket and shielded it from getting wet as his other hand searched for a match. Stopping mid-step, he realized he’d left his matchbook back in the pub. The Harlem leader let out a snort of frustration and turned back around. So intent was he on keeping the rain out of his eyes, that Hawk didn’t even see the girl coming toward him and ran straight into her.
He swore aloud and looked up. Though it wasn’t normally in him to apologize, Hawk recognized Hope immediately and felt bad. “Sorry, wasn’t watchin’ where I was-…” Noticing the blood on her face and hands, his brow furrowed and his blood started to boil. What was it with newsgirls and getting attacked lately? “Hope…What happened to ya, kid?”
|
|
|
|
Post by Hope Dawson on Jan 2, 2010 23:05:46 GMT -5
“Sorry, wasn’t watchin’ where I was-…”
As soon as Hope walked into Hawkeye, she stepped back to apologize, not realizing it was him yet. "I'm so sorry.." She stammered as she cringed. She had been having bad luck all day, it wouldn't surprise her if the person decided to give her another black eye or something. She looked up and almost sighed audibly when she saw him. Hope was relieved that it was Hawkeye, and not some stranger. At least he wouldn't hit her.
“Hope…What happened to ya, kid?”
She touched her stinging cuts, and wished she could play it off as nothing. It was quite obvious she was a mess at the moment. She looked down at her beat up boots, "I ran into these guys." She mumbled, "They were making some crude comments toward me, and I wasn't going to let them talk to me like that. So I let one of them have it." She glanced back up to look at him, "It wasn't the smartest move, because he was at least twice my size. After he hit me a few times, I got away and ran. Then I jumped off something and landed wrong. I guess I did something to my ankle." She shrugged, "And that's what happened."
|
|
|
|
Post by Hawkeye on Jan 5, 2010 22:59:44 GMT -5
“Yeah, that wasn’t the best thing ta do,” Hawkeye chuckled at her embarrassed re-telling. He glanced down at her ankle to see if it was swollen, but her pants were in the way so he looked up again. The nasty cuts that marred her beautiful face made him even angrier and he touched them gently with his thumb. The movement was so absent-minded that as soon as he realized what he was doing Hawk dropped his hand and scratched the back of his neck.
“I’ll help ya back to the LH, just lemme run back inside an’ grab somethin’.” His voice and leader-like countenance were back to normal, but inside he was still a little mystified as to what had gotten into him. Hawkeye guided Hope gently under an over hang out of the rain and then walked quickly back into the pub.
|
|
|
|
Post by Hope Dawson on Jan 5, 2010 23:48:13 GMT -5
“Yeah, that wasn’t the best thing ta do,”
Hope opened her mouth to say something, but closed it and smiled sheepishly instead. After a brief moment, she crossed her arms and kept the sheepish smile on her face, "Obviously not." Her cuts were stinging because of the rain, and she felt stupid for her brash actions earlier that day.
As he reached out to touch her face, she could've sworn her heart leapt into her throat. She looked into his hazel eyes, and smiled slightly. She had never realized how handsome he was. Of course she had noticed it before, his looks were obvious, you would have to be blind to say that he wasn't a handsome guy. But at that moment it was then that she truly noticed his handsomeness. Her smile grew, she liked seeing this side of Hawkeye. She tried not to flinch as he touched one of her cuts, but she did. He drew his hand away, and she felt embarrassed again. It was nothing, she told herself. He's probably just examining a cut. That's it.
“I’ll help ya back to the LH, just lemme run back inside an’ grab somethin’.”
"O-okay." She stammered. Her heart was still pounding. She leaned against the wall as he walked inside so she didn't have to put weight on her ankle. Hope played with the ends of her damp hair as she waited for him to come out. Her mind was going crazy at the moment; it was replaying the earlier events, trying to keep her feelings for Hawkeye out, and trying to concentrate on the pain instead. She crossed her arms and shivered as she waited.
|
|
|
|
Post by Hawkeye on Jan 6, 2010 1:30:29 GMT -5
He stalked over to the bar stool he’d occupied earlier and grabbed his book of matches off the floor. Lighting up the cig he’d gotten out earlier, Hawk took a drag and exhaled deeply, trying to calm himself. He desperately wanted another drink, but knew he didn’t have time. The longer he spent in here, the colder Hope was getting. Glancing to the right he saw a skinny little man with a half-full glass of some amber-colored liquid in front of him. The man in question was quite occupied in an argument he was having with someone on the other side of him, so Hawk just picked up the glass and drained it in one gulp. The glass' previous owner realized what had happened and, turning around, stood up, ready to fight. One look at Hawkeye and his dark expression made the man gulp and sit back down. Though obviously the older of the two, he would have been no match for the Harlem leader and he knew it. Hawk smirked and left the pub, his mind calmed and his confidence back full-swing. As he stepped out into the rain once more, Hawk scanned for Hope and saw that she was right where he’d left her: huddled up against a brick wall, shivering against the cold. Hurrying over to her, he took off his coat, thin as it was, and helped her into it. Then he gently scooped her up, one arm under her knees and the other behind her back. Hope was so light, that carrying her was hardly a burden and he began walking toward the lodging house. “You okay?” He asked quietly, trying to block out the part of his mind that was enjoying the feeling of her so close to him. |
|
|
|
Post by Hope Dawson on Jan 6, 2010 2:05:44 GMT -5
Hope leaned her head against the brick wall, and shivered again. Her head was now throbbing, and she was feeling everything from what had happened earlier in the day. The adrenaline from being chased, and from getting into a fight was gone now. That now left Hope feeling every ounce of pain. She closed her eyes, and wished that the pain would go away. What had happened to her was her own fault, she didn't want to admit it. She hated admitting she was wrong or at fault.
She opened her eyes again when Hawkeye was next to her, helping her into his coat. "Thank you." She whispered hoarsely, as he picked her up. She leaned her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes again.
“You okay?”
Hope faintly nodded, "I'll be fine." She said, "It's nothing at all, honestly. I'll be back out selling tomorrow." She opened her eyes and grinned. She was happy that she was in his arms, another thing she didn't want to admit. But she couldn't fight the thought, even though she tried, she just couldn't.
|
|
|
|
Post by Hawkeye on Jan 17, 2010 21:59:33 GMT -5
“Oh, no you won’t. You’re stayin’ in bed till I say you can get out.” He looked down at her seriously to let her know he wasn’t kidding. Hawk took the health of his newsies very seriously and he wasn’t about to let Hope hurt herself any further than she already was. All street kids however, had a strong sense of pride and he knew it usually took a lot of convincing to get them to listen. Hope, on the other hand, would…hopefully listen to him. Hawkeye grinned to himself at the pun and looked around them, scanning through the rain for any sign of a threat. “We’ll all chip in until you get back on your feet, ‘kay kid?” He said, softening his voice. “‘An don’t bother arguing with me ‘cause you know it won’t work.”
There was an agreement all Harlem kids signed when they became newsies and it was one Hawk ensured they stick to: If one of your own is hurt or sick, to the point where they can not or should not work (according to the current leader), and it is not the result of their own stupidity (again, determined by the current leader), then it is the Harlem newsies’ obligation to ensure that they are taken care of.
Some leaders might say that because the man was twice Hope’s size, it was stupid of her to attack him and therefore she should not be “taken care of”. But Hawk disagreed. He always encouraged his kids to stand up for themselves and as all she’d done wrong was be born beautiful…he didn’t feel it had really been her fault.
|
|
|
|
Post by Hope Dawson on Jan 20, 2010 11:49:12 GMT -5
“Oh, no you won’t. You’re stayin’ in bed till I say you can get out.”
She groaned inwardly, Hope wasn't the type of person to stay in bed all day, she hated it. She liked being out and enjoying life. "But I..." She began to protest, but trailed off once she saw the serious look on his face. It was no use arguing with him, he would win no matter what.
“We’ll all chip in until you get back on your feet, ‘kay kid? ‘An don’t bother arguing with me ‘cause you know it won’t work.”
"But Hawk, that's not fair to everyone else." She said as she looked up, "The only reason why I'm hurt is because I'm stupid enough to hit some guy who was twice my size. This could've been easily avoided if I would've ignored the comments and went on with my day." She exhaled and moved her head slightly, trying to see if she could get it to stop hurting. After a brief pause she said, "Sorry for arguing." Hope glanced around before she looked back down at her hands. "I'm not complaining if you all want to help me out, I just don't think everyone else will see it as fair."
|
|
|
|
Post by Hawkeye on Jan 29, 2010 0:41:51 GMT -5
Hawk shook his head, "What'd I say Hope? No arguin'." His voice was stern, but he wasn't angry or even frustrated, just serious. "Ya only gotta stay in bed till your ankle heals up enough for you to walk on it without makin' it worse. Shouldn't take more than a couple days." He sighed quietly, hoping he was right, and went on to answer her other arguments. "'Sides, what do I always say when one of us comes back hurt? 'Good job stickin up for yaself, next time do it a little better.'"
The rain was lighter now, but it was still a great annoyance to them both and hawk shook his head quickly to get it out of his eyes. looking down, he saw that Hope's face was hidden against his chest and his lips turned up slightly in a smile. The longer they walked the harder it was getting for him to not enjoy this...
|
|
|
|
Post by Hope Dawson on Jan 29, 2010 15:32:46 GMT -5
"What'd I say Hope? No arguin'. Ya only gotta stay in bed till your ankle heals up enough for you to walk on it without makin' it worse. Shouldn't take more than a couple days."
"Sorry." She mumbled, adjusting her head against his chest. Hope glanced up at him, watching him as he spoke. Her eyes scanned his face, before she looked down at her knees. She smiled slightly as she felt the vibrations of him talking against her ear. Hearing the low rumble made her feel...something. She glanced back up at Hawk, was she falling for her leader?
"'Sides, what do I always say when one of us comes back hurt? 'Good job stickin up for yaself, next time do it a little better.'"
Hope smiled and chuckled, trying to push any feelings she had for him away. She couldn't fall for her leader, it wouldn't be right. Besides, there was no way that he would share her feelings. She had seen many women basically throwing themselves at him, and they were all beautiful. Hope considered herself to be nothing special, why would Hawkeye think differently?
"I'm not so sure if there'll be a next time. I feel awful." She said with a shiver.
|
|
|
|
Post by Hawkeye on Feb 2, 2010 23:07:53 GMT -5
He chuckled a little as she shivered, completely unaware of the thoughts going through her head. As the Harlem lodging house came into view, he wasn’t sure wither to be happy or sad. “We’re almost to the L.H., doll, hang in there…for me.” Hawk looked down quickly to see if she had caught the last part, only half of him hoping she hadn’t.
You can’t do this, Hawk, you can’t do this… The words kept running through his head; haunting him, teasing him, echoing through his brain like a ringing bell in an empty room. For a leader to be involved with a girl in anyway aside from a casual friendship (like the one he had with Ace) or quick romp in the sheets (like he had many girls all over New York), was extremely risky. And as much as he didn't want to put anyone in danger, he knew these feelings he had felt developing for Hope over the past few weeks were not going to be ignored...
((respond in a new thread in the LH))
|
|
©