He sat on the side of the bridge, gazing out over the water when I found him. I would have completely passed him by if he hadn't lit up his cigarette then. The flash of fire caught my attention. There was no moonlight that night, but that was okay, because if it was that much darker, then it was that much better an atmosphere for what I had to say.

I adjusted my cap and moved forward to the orange flash in the distance. Had to talk. Had to talk to him. No escaping it, not since what I'd heard the night before.

(The Previous Night)

"I's gonna hafta say no tonight, Blink."

I frowned. "Why, Mush?"

"'Cause I doan love ya no moah."

I wasn't surprised to hear him say it; I'd suspected it for a month now, since Davey came. What did surprise me was the fact that I wasn't hurt to hear him say it.

"It's Dave, ain't it?" I asked.

Mush nodded. "Yeh. Youse ain't mad, is ya?" He asked hesitantly.

I shook my head. "No. No, I ain't mad."

Mush smiled. "Our boithday boy…he would have a happy boithday if youse woul' spend it widdem."

That did surprise me. I stared at the sleeping figure in the bed across and down from mine, the boy that would be seventeen within 27 hours. "No lyin'?"

Mush shook his head. "No lyin'. He sits on da docks some nights, and he t'inks about ya."

"How do ya know he t'inks about me?"

Mush smiled. "I jus' does."

"Heya." I said.

He looked up at me, surprised. "Oh! Blink! Heya!"

"Whatcha doin' our heah, boithday boy?" I asked, sitting down beside him.

He laughed, smoke emerging from his mouth and nostrils as he did so. "Countin' down de hours 'till I's seventeen."

"Do youse really know when yer boithday is?" I asked him.

"No. No, I doan. All I knows is I was born in late spring, so's I jus' picked a day and said 'dis is me boithday'."

I laughed. "Got anudda cigarette?"

He nodded and gave it to me, as well as a match to light it with. I lit it, and found my heartbeat quickened when I was able to see his soft hazel eyes in the match light.

He smiled at me. "So's whattaya doin' down heah, Blink?"

I dragged on my cigarette. "Gots ta talk to ya, Snitchy-boy."

He shook his head, and I heard him laugh in the dark. "Doan call me dat, Blink. I ain't a baby."

I resisted the urge to bring up his thumbsucking habits. "Nope, I guess youse not. But I gots ta talk to ya, and Mush said I could find ya heah."

Snitch breathed out smoke. "So. Talk."

"Mush 'n' I ain't togedda no moah."

There was a short silence. "Yeah?"

"Yeah. Mush loves Dave. I knew dat right away, a course, but I'm glad Mush tol' me befoah he did somethin' 'bout it."

Snitch nodded, and dragged on his cigarette. "Unlike youse, right?"

I stiffened. "Whaddaya mean?"

Smoke drifted on the humid air. "I mean dat night last week."

"How'd youse know 'bout dat?"

He laughed again, and more smoke danced against the midnight sky. "Dat was me."

"Youse?"

"Me."

(The Previous Week)

I didn't recognize his smell, but all the Newsies smelled the same on top; smoke, alcohol and newspaper ink. I couldn't recognize his breathing patterns either, nor his body shape, but I knew I liked his smell, the way he breathed with the rhythm of my hand movements, and his thin waist and shoulders. I knew he was good, better than Mush ever was, and I knew I wouldn't mind if he came sneaking his hand between my legs the next night the way he had done then. I prayed no one would wake up and catch us, because that would mean ridicule, but it would also mean the end of the mystery, and I think that was the greatest turn-on in that one sweet, passionate night; that he knew my name, but I didn't know his.

He and I fell asleep clutching each other, but when I woke the next morning, he was gone.

I stared at the ocean. "Snitch…I's…"

Snitch exhaled more smoke, then tossed his cigarette into the ocean. "Did youse enjoy yerself dat night, Blink?"

I nodded. "Yeh. I enjoyed meself."

"Good."

"Why?"

I could see the flush light up on his face, and I recognized the quick breathing immediately. "I's was wondrin' if maybe…since you ain't wit' Mush no moah…I's was wondrin' if maybe you wouldn' like ta do it again sometime."

I smiled. "Youse too young fer me, Snitch."

In the city, I heard a clock strike midnight.

Snitch looked back at the city, then at me. "I's seventeen now. Is I old enough?"

I pretended to consider it. "Yeh. Yeh, I t'ink so."

Snitch's smile lit up his entire face. "Really?"

"Really." I stood up and tossed my cigarette into the ocean. "Le's go back to da Lodgin' House. It'll be moah comfertable dat way."

Snitch's smile never left his face as I took his hand and led him to the Lodging House, for his sweet-seventeen birthday gift.

***AUTHOR'S NOTE***

Another odd pairing featuring Snitch. **giggles** 'Cause I love my Snitchy-boy. ^^ He's so great. ^^ And I love Blink too, so I had to pair them together. ^^ Um that's all, time for band practice, chow!