A New Way of Living

Chapter Thirteen

Author's Note: I do not own West Side Story or any elements of it.

The next day, Vivienne could hardly keep her mind on her studies for all her overthinking.

She had waited all day for Riff to make an appearance, but only found herself coming face-to-face with Diesel and Balkan with the latter's finger so swollen and unnaturally bent that she didn't need to look long at it to work out it was broken.

"Without an x-ray I can't be sure," she told him, wrapping it up in a makeshift splint. "But I'm pretty certain I know."

"How do you know?" Balkan asked, sitting on her couch. Over time, she'd become less strict about confining them to the kitchen.

"Does this hurt?" Diesel asked, before reaching over and flicking the finger in question.

"Ow, goddammit, yes!"

"Then it's broken, dumbass."

"Did you do this?" Vivienne asked Diesel, who looked much too amused for her liking.

"No."

"Damn right, he did."

"Well it was an accident, alright? We was throwin' bricks at each other and I caught him off-"

"What were you throwing bricks at each other for?" she asked.

"For fun," he replied blankly. Balkan looked at her and gave her an affirmative shrug.

But when she didn't hear from Riff, her curiosity got the better of her and she knew she had to find out what happened.

So with a promise to herself to return shortly to her books, she wrapped herself up in her coat and made the walk to where she remembered Riff lived.

About halfway up the stairs she suddenly wondered what on earth she was doing. But it was far too late to turn back now.

When she reached the door and knocked, it took a while for Riff to answer. When he did, she felt the chill of an open window from his apartment and a cigarette hung from his lips. Upon seeing her, he removed it and gave a knowing smile.

"You shouldn't be here," she suddenly said. But she still entered when he held open the door for her and began to remove her coat.

"Then 'why did you come' is the question to come to mind," he replied, shutting the door behind them.

She felt his eyes on her as she hung her coat on the back of a chair.

"I don't know," she shrugged. "My exam is the day after tomorrow."

"Pfft. What the point? You already know everythin'."

"Doesn't matter if it's not on paper."

"Big deal, huh?" he asked, walking back towards the open window in his bedroom. He blew a puff of smoke away into the night air.

"It's a big one, yeah. If I want any hope of actually being a registered nurse and not just your plaything."

At the words, he suddenly looked towards her. Flicking his cigarette outside he came back and walked up to her. With a sly smile growing on his face, he wrapped his arms around her waist, an unexpected gesture even after everything. He leaned down and kissed her, pressing them both up against the sink until the counter prodded into her lower back with such force that she let out a breath. He pulled back and they both smiled at each other.

"What happened at the dance?" she suddenly asked, unable to contain her curiosity for much longer.

"Nothin', really. No jazz or anythin' like that. We just had some words with the Sharks, is all," he replied nonchalantly. "Been a while since they've shown their faces. Especially Bernardo."