newsies fics

rosie - albert dasilva

You and Albert were walking hand in hand back to your selling spot after a small lunch at Jacobi's. You had about ten more papers to sell and your boyfriend had a little less, maybe seven or so.

Albert stopped abruptly, tugging on your arm slightly. He led you down an alleyway, a light blush spreading across your cheeks. "Albert, not now. We gotta finish selling."

Your boyfriend sent you an exasperated look. "Get ya mind outta the gutter, (Y/N). I'se hearin' somethin' down here."

You clamped your mouth shut, embarrassed that you thought the reason he was taking you in an alley was to make out. Albert continued walking, biting his lip slightly, something he did when he was nervous. And that's when you heard it: it was a small whimper, something that you really had to strain to hear.

Albert had good hearing, you knew that. But the fact that he was able to pinpoint where the noise was coming from astounded you. He dropped your hand, and took off in a bolt, leaving you huffing and running to catch up with him.

When you found him, Albert was crouched in front of a little girl with matted blonde hair and grease covering her face. Her clothes were much too small for her, you could see her stomach while she was sitting down and she had a black and blue bruise along the side of her ribs. "I ain't gonna hurt ya," Albert was whispering softly to this little girl. She was looking up at him with wide, nervous blue eyes. "What's your name sweetie?" The girl shook her head, eyes starting to water and when you stepped closer, she launched herself into Albert's arms, hiding her face in his neck. "It's okay, that's (Y/N). They're really nice. They won't hurt ya either."

You crouched down next to Albert, lightly resting your hand on his shoulder that the girl wasn't resting on. "Are you hungry?"

She peeked out at you, slightly nodding her head before burying her face back into Albert's neck. You and Albert exchanged a look, a silent agreement of sorts and started heading back towards Jacobi's.

-

After getting some food in the small girl's stomach, she seemed much brighter and you could see a light pink start to tinge her cheeks. She had taken a liking to Albert, wearing his hat and playing with his hair.

Albert seemed to like her as well, his arms wrapped around her, tickling her just to see her smile. "What do ya say, darlin'? Should we take ya back to the lodge and get ya cleaned up?"

The girl just looked at him and smiled brightly. Neither of you have gotten her to talk yet but she seems a lot more comfortable around both of you than she was before. Albert scooped her up in one arm, extending his other hand to you. You grabbed his hand gratefully, excited to go back to the housing lodge and get this little girl cleaned up and in some nicer fitting clothes.

The walk back to the lodge was quiet, the blonde girl snoring softly on Albert's shoulder was the only sounds besides your shoes hitting the pavement. Walking into the lodge, you found Jack pacing. He whipped his head towards you when the door opened and he opened his mouth to yell at you for being late but stopped when he saw you motioning to be quiet and pointing at the little girl.

Albert took her upstairs to the bathroom to find some cloth to get her cleaned up while you filled the rest of the newsies about what was going on. With the help of Jack, you were able to switch bunks with a few newises to get a small corner of the room for you, Albert, and the girl.

"That's a good girl, Rosie." You heard Albert croon from the bathroom and you giggled at the voice he used with her. "Yeah, let me just clean this real quick."

The girl, Rosie, shrieked and you poked your head in, noticing where he was trying to clean: the bruises on her ribs. "Might be a broken rib." You murmured, leaning your head on Albert's shoulder, him trying to calm Rosie still.