A New Way of Living

Chapter Eleven

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

Later that evening, Vivienne stood over her kitchen sink, watching the droplets of water trickle down into the drain.

Despite having got home after all, she couldn't keep her mind in her books. Instead, it constantly wondered back to the day's events. Her argument with Riff, his quick reaction to defend her, and Lieutenant Shrank's words of advice - or warning - as he tried to get her on his side. She knew as well as he did that she hadn't fooled anyone. They knew that she was involved with the Jets in some capacity. Now it was just a matter of how the rest of this game played out.

Her thoughts were only disrupted by the sound of a gentle knock on the other end of her door.

"Come in," she called.

When the door opened she turned around to see Riff entering the room and shutting it behind him, his face still bloodied from earlier.

"You wanna sit down?" she asked, gesturing to one of the chairs.

Riff looked thoughtful. "Hey, don't do me no favours, doc. I know you hate me."

"I don't hate you," she replied, sounding more sincere than she had intended.

"But you sure as hell don't like me."

"I guess not. But you said you didn't like me either. So I'm confused as to why you would bother to jump in today at the station and wail on that nobody."

"That's part of the deal, y'know," he replied with a shrug. "You help us out, we help you out."

When she had nothing to say to that, she gestured again to the chair. This time, he followed her lead and sat down by the table, and she could feel his eyes on him as she went to fetch a bowl of warm water and a clean rag to clean him up with.

She then stood beside him, and began to dab at his face.

"I know you were pissed today," he said as she tried to awkwardly reach over to part of his face. "About gettin' dragged to the station and all that."

"About as pissed as anybody would be."

He glanced at her, angling his face in such a way that made her task more difficult. She let out an exasperated sigh.

"But..." she began to admit. "You were right. I said what you told me to and they let me leave."

She chose not to include her conversation with Shrank. Even though she wasn't planning on taking up his offer, she didn't intend to give Riff any reason not to trust her.

"See," Riff replied, quirking his brow in a teasing way. "I told you I'd figure it out."

"Maybe you need to act less up your own ass."

"Maybe you need to trust me more."

When he continued to move his head around out of her reach, she grew annoyed. Deciding to take charge, she nudged his legs together with her knee and stepped over until she was over him now.

She found herself sitting on his lap, her legs either side pressed against his. She didn't miss the expression flicker quickly on his face from to something more bashful, before quickly reverting back to it's previous cool state. She noticed him swallow, perhaps out of some hidden nervousness. 

Smirking to herself, she realised that perhaps this was the first time she'd really had the upper hand. Men were, after all, so easy to figure out in some ways. Leaning forward, she began to dab at his face.

"You seem a little on edge," she muttered, bringing her face down towards his. "Nervous?"

"No," he replied quickly. "You?"