A knock at the door makes you jump, pulling your attention from Daniel, your baby brother. You hand him the toy you were using to distract him and watch him rapidly shake it with a grin. He coos as you step away, now leaving him only in the presence of your younger sister Margaret.

Life since moving to West Side has been chaotic, to say the least. After your mother remarried, you and your brother Thomas were forced to move in with her new husband and start a fresh life almost four years ago. Things weren't necessarily easy at first, and they only became harder once your mother started to have more children.

Inside your family's small apartment, you weave through the cramped items to reach the door before the second attempt at a knock. There's hardly enough space for the six of you, let alone the belongings you need in order to survive.

You leave the deadbolt on as you open the door.

Familiar eyes peek at you through the small crack. "Delivery."

"Hi, Tony." You smile. You close the door again to remove the deadbolt quickly. You reopen it, now able to see his face fully. "Sorry. You caught me at a bad time." You say as you brush your hair out of your eyes.

"Siblings already givin' you hell this early in the morning?" He teases, stepping inside the apartment.

"Danny woke up on the wrong side of the bed. That was enough to sour Margaret's mood." You sigh, taking the package from his hands. "How are things at Doc's?" You ask, wanting to start a conversation. "Anything interesting since I last saw you?"

He shrugs, leaning against the doorframe. "Nothing interesting at Doc's." He says. A playful smile crosses his face. "However, there is a dance happening this Saturday."

You groan and roll your eyes. "I don't go to dances." You grumble as you turn away from him.

"You don't leave your apartment." He argues, following after you into the kitchen. You swat at him from over your shoulder, not wanting to listen to him any longer. "The only time I see you out is when you're running errands for your ma. And even then, you're not alone. You're taking care of your siblings."

"Because my mom and George are busy working at the market." You say, quickly becoming defensive. It's not that you want to be taking care of Margaret and Danny 24/7. It's that you have no choice in the matter.

"Thomas can't help out once in a while?"

"Thomas has been recruited to be George's personal delivery boy." You say, narrowing your eyes at Tony. You jab a finger against his chest. "If I recall correctly, you were the one who suggested the idea to him."

Tony becomes flustered, rubbing his hand on the back of his neck. George, your step-father, takes advice from very few people, especially boys who have just been released from prison. But at Tony's request and the growing presence of gangs in West Side, George allowed Thomas to begin working in the market and making trips around the neighborhood to get himself familiar with their new home.

"That doesn't matter." Tony counters, stepping towards you. "The dance is at night. The market will be closed, meaning you're free to come dancing."

You laugh. Your mother being home doesn't mean your job as babysitter and housekeeper suddenly comes to a close. You are supposed to do the cleaning and cooking and put Margaret and Danny to bed while your mother and George figure out the profits from the day and plan how they want to improve the market to bring in more customers.

Tony, however, doesn't need to know how extremely boring and depressing your life truly is. So instead, you search for another excuse as to why you can't join him.

"I don't have a date." You say as you open the package.

He grins, pointing to himself. "Me!"

You scoff, throwing him an unamused glare.

"Come on, I'm a great dancer." He says, opening his arms to you. He shuffles his feet as he scoots closer to you. "I'll jitterbug with ya 'til the sun comes up."

"You don't have to bribe me with your dancing skills." You say, playfully shoving him as you cross the room to place the items in their proper places in the cupboard above the sink. "I just refuse to believe that you want to go with me."

"What's wrong with you?" He asks, now leaning over your shoulder. "You got two left feet?"

"No." You say, refusing to look back at him. "It's just that there's plenty of prettier, smarter girls who would kill to go with you. Why don't you ask one of them?"

"Because none of them will tolerate me when I step on their feet." He chuckles, hoping to get a rise out of you. When you don't reply, he crumbles. "Because I want you to get a life outside of your family. If I don't take you to the dance, you'll never come and actually have some fun."

"I do have fun." You argue though it isn't true.

Tony narrows his eyes, ready to fight you on this, but Margaret comes running into the kitchen to save you. "A dance?" She asks, looking up at you and Tony. Though she's only turning three in a few weeks, she knows exactly how to change the conversation. "Are you going to a dance with Tony?"

"I don't think so." You answer, glancing between her and Tony.

"Why?"

Tony looks to you. "Yeah. Why?"

You purse your lips, growing irritated. "Because I don't have a clean dress."

"Oh," Margaret says. She nods her head in understanding as if she's lived a thousand lives. "Girls need clean dresses to dance, Tony." She chides him.

Tony's eyebrows rise and a smile grows on his face. "So if I get your sister a new, clean dress she'll come to the dance with me?"

Margaret grins, slightly jumping as she claps. "Yes! Yes! She'll come dancing!"

You cross your arms over your chest, glaring at Tony as he backs his way to the door. He knows exactly how far to push you before it's too much. Getting Margaret in on his schemes is as far as he'll go with this dance situation for today. "I'll see what I can do, Margie." He winks.

"Goodbye, Tony." You grumble, pushing him towards the door.

"Goodbye, Tony!" Margaret eagerly waves.

Before Tony has a chance to say goodbye, you shut the door in his face. Upset that he dragged your little sister into the mess, you groan and run your hands down your face as you lean against the front door.

"What's wrong?" Margaret asks with a head tilt, her blonde pigtails swaying. "Don't you like dancing?"

"Sometimes, Margaret." You sigh with closed eyes.

Her voice becomes small. "Don't you like Tony?"

Tony is a nice guy. And sure, he's attractive and fun, but what the two of you have is strictly platonic. The idea of him courting you makes you feel uncomfortable. You don't even like the idea of him holding your hand.

All the two of you will ever be is friends.

You pinch your eyes, frustrated with yourself and the situation.

You know your mother would like it if you went with a boy like Tony.

He might be a convict, but very few young men in West Side aren't. And he at least has a job and seems to be on a different track now that he's back in the real world. Of course, that doesn't mean he can't fall back into the destruction and chaos this place seems to be built upon.

Danny's cries stop you from thinking about Tony and the dance. You set the deadbolt over the front door again before heading back to the living room to tend to your baby brother. Margaret is just behind you, seemingly forgetting about her question and how you haven't answered her. 

Outside the apartment, you hear wild shouts of obnoxious boys running through the street. Loud clatterings and a few gasps make you pause as you place Danny on your hip. George's deep voice pierces through the snarky laughs, making you peek your head out the window.

Down below, in your family's market, you see toppled stands and scattered fruits. You watch the rambunctious boys hop and dodge through the wreck, attempting to escape George's wrath. Just when you're about to turn away, your eyes fall on one of the uncontrollable boys. 

Noticing your attention, he winks up at you with a cheeky grin.  

He noisily laughs as you turn up your nose at him and step away from the window.

Maybe you should reconsider your thoughts on Tony.

~~~~~~~~~~

So this is one of my first attempts at an actual character X reader story. There won't be any (y/n) writing because I find it to be obnoxious sometimes, so I'm going to try to find creative ways to imply when your name is being said, lol. Bear with me throughout this. My updates will probably be pretty sporadic and my knowledge about West Side Story is sort of limited as I'm a new fan. 

Anyway, please enjoy! Don't let my long, boring author's notes steer you away!