His Blood Colored Hair | Albert DaSilva x Reader

The Cruel Discovery

Y/n/n = your nickname

Your POV, February 2nd, 1900

"Extrae extrae, Y/n sleeps in on this fine day!" A voice mocks me, making me roll over in bed as to not face him. "Come on, Y/n/n, we gotta sell the papes."

I sigh at his sadly real comment and sit up, rubbing the sleep out of my eyes with the palm of my hand before looking up at the redheaded boy in beside me. Albert.

"Whatever you say, ginger," I say, using the nickname I gave Albert when we first became friends. He groans and shoves my shoulder.

"Hey! My hair ain't gingah!" Albert retorts. I glare at him for a moment before he speaks again, "It's auburn."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever you say. Anyways, let's head out," I say with a tired smile. He nods before pulling me up to help me stand. I can't help but feel my heart jump at just the contact between our hands, and even though I shouldn't, I can't stop myself from blushing.

All the other boys are ready to go, so I just grab my newsie cap and put it on before joining them. In the crowd of boys, I see my brother, Race, who looks excited to head out and sell. I finagle my way through the mob of teenagers to talk with Race.

"Hey, bro, how much do you bet that Kathrine's gonna stop by?" I ask Race, teasing him because of his love of gambling. He looks down at me and smiles.

"I bet me whole soul dat she shows up," Race says. I nod in agreement, as she almost always shows up to wish the boys, mainly Jack, good luck with selling.

Once the door opens, everyone begins running out through the door and down the stairs. It's almost always a competition to see who makes it to the front of the line for papes, even though Jack's always first.

We happily run down the streets until we find the Circulation gate, where we all wait for the Delancey brothers to open. 

Out of the corner of my eyes, I see the two brothers begin walking up, using a key to unlock the gate for us. Oscar, the oldest of the two, has had it out for me since day one, saying that: "Girls shouldn't be newsies." And luckily, I have tons of boys to make sure I'll stay a newsie.

The gate swings open, and the boys leap to their spots in line. I manage to get in between Race and Albert near the front. Race walks up to Weasel and smirks playfully, leading me to believe that he's going to try and be annoying.

"Heya, Weasel, did ya hear 'bout da man who got trampled by a horse down at Sheepshead?" Race asks. I mentally facepalm, knowing that he's going to make a pun.

"No, Raceah, I didn't," Weasel says, and I can practically hear his pain.

"Well, his condition's stable now," Race finishes his joke. For some reason, at least 60% of the Newsboys laugh at his dumb joke. Weasel rolls his eyes as Race, while laughing, hands over some coins. "I'll take seventy."

Weasel nods and turns back to Oscar, repeating Race's order before turning to me, who's next in line. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Kathrine talking to Jack. 'Knew it,' I think to myself.

"Hey, Wease, I'll take the usual," I say, attempting to be calmer than my brother when in reality I can be a hell of a lot worse. Weasel nods and yells my order to Oscar, who angerly hands me my 70 papers as I hand Weasel my money. "Thanks."

I place my papers in my bag and wait for Albert, who joins me by my side. Albert looks down at me and smiles, flashing his perfectly perfect smile that I always get to see.

"You ready tah head out?" He asks. I nod before looking forward in order to hide my blush. 

Albert and I have been selling partners for about a year now, so I guess one could say that we're really good friends. Others might say that I've had a crush on him for a year. And both would be correct. I wish I could tell him how I feel, but Race would literally kill me if he ever found out about my not so little crush.