Requested?: Nope

Title: Extra

Davey's POV

I figured it wouldn't be too hard a day of selling, so I let Les go and sell with Crutchie today, leaving me on my own. Now, you may be thinking "David, Les is the only way you manage to sell enough papes to eat!" And with that, you're wrong, because I'd recently learned a bit from Jack, including a couple techniques he used regularly.

One of those techniques happened to be flirting with younger, seemingly single women. Though it was horribly awkward, I decided to give it a try on someone, but who would it be.

I continued my yelling of fake headlines that I knew would catch someone's attention, and a few stopped to buy papes, until my breath was taken away by an absolutely stunning girl that was walking in my direction.

She was amazing, with soft looking (h/c) hair that lay in loose curls, framing her pretty (s/c) face. She wore a pale pink button up shirt with flowy sleeves, a black vest, and a long black skirt that nearly covered her shoes, accented by a simple leather purse. I felt heat rush to my face as I realized she saw me, and swallowed my awkwardness. I just had to be like Jack, easy peasy.

"Hello, beautiful. Care to buy a pape?" I asked her, grabbing her attention. She stopped right in front of me with wide eyes that I quickly noticed were a lovely shade of (e/c).

"That's untrue, but sure. And what's your name?" She agreed with a shy smile, digging in her purse for a presumably a penny. She found what she was looking for and held out a nickel.

"I'm David, miss, and I couldn't take your nickel," I tried to push her hand back towards her, noticing how soft her hand was, but she pushed back.

"No, I want you to. I know your friends, if you happen to know all the Manhattan newsies," She insisted.

"You do?" I tilted my head to the side, perplexed.

"Yeah! Tell Jack Kelly hi for me, after you get back to the lodging house. I'll take my pape and be off now, I don't want to be late for work," She told me, and I realized with a jolt that I hadn't given her a paper yet. I gave an apologetic smile, pocketing the nickel and holding out a paper that she gratefully took.

"I will, you have a good day miss..." I trailed off, realizing I didn't have her name.

"(y/n), (y/n) (l/n). Have a good day, David," She nodded her head and then was off on her merry way, wandering down the street to wherever she worked.

I didn't notice I was smiling so wide until my cheeks ached, but I couldn't stop. She was a sweetheart, most definitely, and not just a pretty face. I shook it off, since I'd likely never see her again. I lived in the Big Apple, where dreams come true but chance meetings with a specific person don't happen twice

But still, as I continued hawking headlines and flirting meaninglessly (which scared me because it felt like I was turning into Jack, or worse, Race) the day passed by, and soon enough I only had three papers left. I then saw my little bother sprinting at me at full speed, and I spread my arms to catch him in a hug, going to crouch at his level after he released me.

"How was your day, bud?" I asked, taking off his cap that was far too big for his head and ruffling his hair, which he pouted at.

"It was great! We got all our papahs sold early, so Crutchie took me on a walk around the city! It was so big, and we saw some Brooklyn boys and my girl Sally!" He rambled excitedly, making me chuckle at him.

"It's papers, Les. And that sounds fun, are you planning on selling with him tomorrow?" I corrected, feeling a tinge of hope. Maybe I'd see (y/n) tomorrow, and I didn't want my little brother watching us, he'd catch on to me flirting before anyone else.

"Yeah, we got done so quick! How many do you got left?" He asked.

"I still have three left, so overall not that bad. Now, I ought to get back to selling, buddy."

"Can we go to the lodgin' house after sellin'? Just until dinner! Pleeaaasseee!" Les whined, making me roll my eyes.

"What about, we ask Mom tonight and if she says yes, we can stay tomorrow?" I decided, making him nod crazily, already bouncing off the walls with joy.

"Okay! Give 'em here, I'll sell 'em real quick!" Les demanded while already grabbing the papers out of my hands.

"Manners, Les! And watch your grammar, you know mom doesn't like when we don't talk properly," I scolded, letting him take the papers. I knew from experience that they'd be gone in a jiffy, so I dusted myself off and got ready to walk Les home.

(A/N: Davey would unironically use the words "jiffy" and you can pry this from my cold, dead hands)

In a couple of minutes, he was running back to me empty handed, grabbing my hand to run home. He liked to run, it got all his energy out, so I always just let him drag me.

*Time Skip to the next day brought to you by 🙂💄🐾*

It was the morning and I was tired, after another night of not very much sleep. But at least now I'd see my friends, and maybe (y/n) if I was lucky. And, my mother said Les and I could go to the Lodging House to see the guys tonight.

I waved goodbye to my little brother as he and Crutchie walked to the selling spot they sold at yesterday, since there were prosperous sales.

After he turned to make his way, I started walking to my usual spot and saw Jack along the way. I waved with a light smile, and he walked over.

"What's up with youse today, Davey? You been all daydreamy and distant buying the papes and right now," he demanded once close enough. I weighed the pros and cons of telling the truth, or just the partial truth of me just being tired. I decided that, after all, he was my best friend since the strike, so I might as well confide in him.

"I met this girl yesterday, and she's a real sweetheart. I just hope I see her again," I told him reluctantly. I saw his face light up and he punched my chest relatively softly, before removing my hat to ruffle my hair. I gave him a look, but he ignored it.

"Davey, that's great! What's she like, do ya like her? Ya gonna marry her someday?" He teased, pushing me with his shoulder.

"I'm far too young to think of marrying her, Jack. But her name's (y/n), she's this pretty girl with (h/c) hair and the loveliest voice, and she's a workin' lady too." I gushed.

"Oh! Seems nice, hey you ought to get to ya spot so ya don't miss her if she comes by. See ya Dave!" His face changed somehow, and he ran off leaving me quizzical and confused. I shrugged and decided I might as well go, it's no use losing part of a day's pay because Jack was acting weird like usual.

I kicked a stone as I walked, extremely thankful that my selling spot wasn't too far from everything. The papers weighed heavily on my side and I got lost in thought about the girl from yesterday. I found myself wondering if we had anything in common. Did she like reading? Or was she more of a moving pictures type gal? Did she already have someone she was seeing, and decided to humor me with flirting back? What job did she work?

I wondered and wondered until I got to my spot, where I waved the paper in the air to catch attention.

"Extra, extra! Tenants in Richmond completely flooded! You heard it here first, folks!" I called, gathering a couple of customers. I continued with my yelling until a familiar girl came into my sight.

"Did you tell your pals I said hello?" She asked lightly as she came into hearing range. She was awfully beautiful again today, with a lilac colored shirt, covered in small light gray polka dots and a cute white collar, a fluffy dark gray skirt, a black jacket that looked a bit too big adorning her. But what was most alluring was her soft smile, some look I didn't understand dancing in those big (e/c) eyes.

"I completely forgot, since I don't live with them in the Lodging House. Care to buy a paper, though?" I asked lamely. Good job, super smooth David.

"Oh, so you have folks? Or do you live on your own?" She carried on the conversation, ignoring why she was here. In a weird way, it made butterflies come alive in my stomach and a smile pull at my face.

"I've got folks. Now, this time you will be paying no extra for your paper, correct?" I tried to bring it back to business talk. She nodded, smiling mischievously. I raised an eyebrow, but she didn't bother to answer me, fishing out another nickel and trying to hand it to me.

"I really couldn't take your nickel, miss."

"I want you to, David. Now, I best be on my way." She took a paper from my bag and pressed the nickel into my hand, and before I could try to convince her to keep the extra money she was already on her way, strutting down the streets of New York like she owned it, waving to people occasionally as she disappeared into the crowd.

She was so gosh darn entrancing that I almost forgot that I needed to continue selling papers if my family wanted to eat, but I eventually got back to hawking headlines. I made up some stories, since the headline was awful, and apparently I wasn't an awful liar, since people were buying.

I was good enough at selling that in a few hours, I was down to my last paper. I waved it around in the air, switching the arm that held it up after it got tired. I asked a wealthy older woman to buy it, saying that my little brother was sick and would die if I couldn't pay his medical bills. She gave a sympathetic look and took the paper off my hands sweetly. I gave a winning smile as thanks.

I always hated lying, but it came with the job. My folks weren't starving on my watch, and it was nice to think that one day I could afford to go back to school if I worked hard enough out on these rotten streets in the city.

I started making my way back to the lodging house, seeing friends that I waved to on the way. It was mid-afternoon, judging by where the sun was in the sky, so I was done way earlier than normal. This was surprisingly pleasant, a normal spring afternoon with decently warm weather and a good feeling hanging in the air.

I looked around, arriving at the destination I was headed to. It was a nice enough day that I'd have thought Les and Crutchie would be done by now. I figured that maybe they stopped at Jacobi's for a rare piece of bread besides lunch, or maybe Les got side-tracked.

Who I did see heading this way, though, was Jack.

"Whatcha doin' here, Davey?" He asked with an incredulous smile, like he couldn't believe his eyes.

"Les wanted us to hang out at the lodging house today after selling, but I don't think he's done yet," I explained, earning an understanding nod from my friend.

"Well, youse welcome to come 'n sit down! We got someone comin' later, you may know her since she works at a bakery nearby. Don't be too alarmed at the boys bein' all rowdy, you could ready some'a the books we got in a corner. It ain't much, but we's happy ta have ya for a couple hours," Jack told me, holding the door open for me as we went in.

I was hit by a smell of dust once I came in, causing me to nearly sneeze. He smiled, gesturing to the old wooden building. I saw cobwebs hanging from the ceiling, and a stairway right in front of my face. On one side there was some door that had a "Do Not Disturb" sign, and on the other it was open, a sitting area with beat up couches and crooked tables.

There was also a rickety bookshelf, with no more than ten books stacked on it.

I walked over to the old shelf and picked up a random book with a worn down leather cover, reading "Love of a Monster". I figured it would be decent enough for a single afternoon, and settled on the old couch, opening it.

I got lost reading, and only got pulled out of my trance by a small hand waving in front of the pages. I looked up to see Les, with as big and dopey a grin as ever.

"David, isn't this so cool!? There's cobwebs everywhere! Our apartment don't got that!"

"Doesn't have it, Les. You know how Mom feels about good grammar. And I know, Les. Are you going to play with the other newsies or sit here and read over my shoulder?" I patted the seat next to me, careful not to let the book close. He shook his head quickly, running over to where Albert and Henry were lounged on a different couch, chatting about their day. I rolled my eyes fondly, guessing that they all knew the drill as to why we were here by now.

I went back to my book, but after a couple minutes I was interrupted by loud cheering. Brushing it off as someone doing something stupid or doing a ridiculous dare, I ignored it.

That was, until I heard the name they were saying, and Jack's voice.

"(y/n)! So nice to see you!" He greeted, and my eyes shot straight up. That was the (y/n) I sold a paper to yesterday and today. She carried a woven basket, filled with stale looking bread. My eyes widened in shock. So that's why she said she knew them. She probably brought them bread when what they couldn't sell went stale. She was probably a baker down the street from where I sold. That made a lot of sense.

"It's great to see you too, Jack. Make sure the littles get enough this time, would you? I see Laces on my way to work every day and her cheeks are lookin' kinda hollow." She said, handing him the basket. He gratefully took it with a big smile, and then glanced at me.

"I'll keep that in mind, doll. Aye, youse free to stay a while? It's been a good minute since the boys seen you, and we all knows you make good company." He stated with his ever charming grin. I wanted to look away, but just like anything having to do with that girl, I was hooked, and my gaze wouldn't budge.

"Well, sure. I did just get off work, and my parents don't normally expect me for a while," She said lightly, before I managed to look away and pretend to read again.

"Oh, David! I didn't know you lived here!" She gasped, and I glanced up and acted as if I hadn't noticed her before.

"I don't, my little brother just wanted to hang out with the guys for the afternoon, and my parents want me around him. But it's nice to see ya, (y/n)," I said, feeling the heat rise in my ears.

"Oh, that makes sense. My little brother's practically the exact same way." She laughed, sitting down next to me. I subconsciously leaned closer, our shoulders and knees brushing. I was proud of the light pink that bloomed on her cheeks in response.

"Little brothers are like that," I gave a smile, and conversation flowed from there. From our brothers, to our parents, to our jobs, to the guys, even to Miss Medda's shows at the Bowery. (y/n) was easy to talk to, and we had a lot in common. And it was then I realized, that I wanted to marry her someday.

(2732 words)