don't leave me this way

s i x

It was at least an hour later before Lisa made her way home, skipping along the street happily, still humming along to the songs she had been dancing to all night. When she gets to the apartment building she sees Riff stood waiting with his jacket on and a dying cigarette held between his lips. She makes her way over and goes to open the main door when he turns to her.
"Where have you been? I've been waiting out here for twenty minutes" he scolds.
"I was out dancing which if I remember correctly was your idea in the first place" she sighs as the pair make their way up the stairs.
"Who did you have to dance with?" He asks confused as to how she stayed out so late when she didn't have a date.
"The jets, John asked me to dance once you left me on the dance floor and then we all ended up dancing together" she replies as they get to her door and she opens it up letting them both inside.
The boy dumps his jacket down on a chair in the kitchen as she locks the door and dumps the keys on the side surface.
"I hope you didn't cause too much trouble when you left" she calls through to him as she leaves him in the kitchen and she goes to her room.
"I didn't fight nobody if that's what you're asking"
"It's not, trouble can relate to anything when it comes to you" she yells to him as she changes out of her dress into one of his shirts that she'll sleep in.
She opens the door and makes her way to the sofa with him. He sits down first with one leg on the couch and the other on the floor as she sits with her back to his torso.
"I'm sorry I snapped at you earlier, I know you're just trying to look out for me but I'm fine, just claiming territory is all"
"Oh Riff come on, why can't you just share the area, we're all in the same boat, we'll all be kicked out in a matter of time" she sighs turning to face him.
They both see the look of worry on the others face. There's a few moments of silence between them, both feeling their chests well up with sadness over the idea of leaving their home behind.
"What would you do if you had to leave?" He asks quietly.
"Go back to my parents I suppose"
"Would you forget about me?" He whispers.
Her shoulders fall in sadness as she shakes her head, reaching over and pulling him into a hug. He wraps his arms round her back tightly whilst she wraps hers around his neck and shoulder.
"I could never forget about you Riff, I care about you too much" she whispers to him and he nods into her shoulder as they hold each other tighter.
They stay like that for a few minutes more before there's a knock on the door and an angry sounding yell for her.
She rolls her eyes and stands up to go and check who's outside. She's not surprised when she sees the familiar blonde glaring at her on the other side. She sighs and opens the door slightly as to make sure Riff has a chance to either hide or prepare himself for another fight with his girlfriend.
"Hey Grazie, what can I do for you?" She asks sarcastically.
"I know he's in there Johnson, Riff!!" She yells.
The brunette lets out a deep breath as he comes up behind her and opens the door wider to reveal himself.
"Can i help you?"
"We need to talk, right now" she says grabbing and pulling him into the corridor leaving the girl to shut the door behind them and sit down in the kitchen awaiting his return.
It was only a second later when they started raising their voices louder and she could hear the whole argument.
"You said you would walk me home tonight!" The blonde starts.
"Yeah well I had some jet business to deal with, you know how it is"
"No i don't, cause you don't let me in, the boys don't like me as much as her and you're always here"
"Lis is my best friend"
"Oh really? That's all it is? Cause it always seems like more Riff"
"And what's that supposed to mean?"
"You know exactly what I mean, you're always sleeping here or eating here, you practically live with her, you know the jets have bets on the two of you hooking up right? I walked in on one of their discussions and no one even thought to lower their voice"
"Well I don't know what you expect me to do Grazie" he yells at her angrily.
"Tell me you don't love her"
There's a blissful drop of silence. A silence that's so loud that Lisa is sure the whole building can hear her heart beating above it all.
"That's what I thought, this, we're done Riff" she shouts at him before the brunette hears loud footsteps going down the staircase.
She waits for a few seconds before she opens the door and sees the boy stood with his shoulders slightly dropped staring at the entrance to her home, their home.
"Are you okay?" she asks quietly.
"I know you heard it all, let's just go to bed" he sighs and walks back in, closing the door behind him before he made his way over to the bedroom, his hand gripping hers.
They turn the lights off before he gets into bed and pulls her in beside him.
"Riff?"
"Mhm" he mumbles.
She pauses momentarily before continuing the conversation.
"Why don't you leave all that Jet Business behind and run away with me?"
"You know I can't leave my boys behind, not even for the people I care about most"
"But you'd be safe, we would be okay"
"Lis, if i could, I would've taken your hand and ran away with you a long time ago, but I can't and I'm sorry"
"It's okay, I'm sorry that you've trapped yourself" she sighs before pulling him closer and closing her eyes, falling into a deep but peaceful slumber with the boy she loved the most doing the same next to her, her words ringing in his head, making him wonder if she's right.