The Allure of Her - Riff West Side Story -

t w e l v e

A/N: i'm back, dk if anyone will still be reading this but i got remotivated!

Cordelia tightened her lips and gripped her blanket. She wasn't going to open the window. The tapping reoccurred, but more gentle this time.

Tony should've come by now. Maybe he's hurt. Riff would know. Her heart thudded loudly in her chest; Cordelia gulped anxiously, trying to drown out the overwhelming noise of her heartbeat.

She felt her feet touch the cold wooden floor as she dragged them toward her bedroom door. Illustrated on her thin, drawn curtains was a silhouette of a man, the back of his head leaned against the window. He'd given up on tapping by now.

With her sofa's blanket still swaddled around her loosely she approached the window, tracing her finger on the carpet trying to calm her nerves. She slowly worked her way up to the bottom of the curtain, clutching the fabric and slowly moving it around in her hands.

She seized the middle of the curtain and pulled it back quickly, desperate to release the tightness in her chest.

Her eyes instinctively closed and she heard a shuffling on the fire escape, causing her to pry one eye open.

She immediately huffed a sigh of relief and unlatched the window.

"Tony! Do none of you jets know what a door is!" She exclaimed rushing him inside and closing the window behind him.

"What's the fun in that?" He remarked hugging her as he acknowledged her overwhelmed expression.

Cordelia marched over to her bed and collapsed on it, succumb to the exhaustion of her long waiting. Tony followed along and sat at the end of the bed, waiting for her expected interrogation.

Cordelia fell right into his suspicions and sat up eagerly with a burst of energy, her legs crossed and her body still swaddled in a thick blanket.

"What happened? Was that Riff at Doc's?!" She inquired, impatiently shaking her leg as she awaited an answer.

"What am I even saying of course it was him at Doc's, what did he say? How did he know I was there? Did you convince him to not go through with the 'rumble'?"

"Woah woah, take a breath inbetween your words Dee." He breathlessly chuckled, sitting back slightly to allow himself some room- Cordelia have gotten closer to his face in her excitement.

"He noticed you in the bush," he furrowed his eyebrows as he said it with a side smile on his face, "followed y' to Doc's and insisted on seeing you."

Cordelia watched as his smile began to drop and nudged him reassuringly to continue.

"He.. he still wants to rumble, says he can't let the Jets down, no matter what, but he insisted he wanted to talk to you about it."

Cordelia suppressed a scowl and sighed, her mind yearning for a new re-assurement, the safety of her brother. She gasped at her stupidity and she turned pale.

"John? Do you know where John is, I really need to talk to him." Her voice beginning to crack as she emphasised the desperate need to see John, and she felt her eyes sting.

"Dee," He whispered, gathering her hands in his and giving them a supportive squeeze, "I'm sensing it's something more then you worried about him being a jet.."

She glanced upwards, a tear already slipping down her cheek, her guard fully down around Tony. Her voice was broken and she was unable to form her mothers name but the mutter of a 'H' was enough for him to understand.

Finally, she relieved the suffocating strain she felt in her throat and choked out a gut-wrenching sob, clasping onto Tony's arms to hold herself upright. She felt her whole body shake as she weeped, the bottle imprisoning her emotions finally bursting.

He wrapped his arms around her, and stroked her hair, patiently awaiting for her to feel more at peace so she can speak her mind.

As minutes rolled by her weeping descended to small sobs then into sniffles until she repositioned her head onto Tony's shoulder, him hugging her with his free hand.

"An orphanage. Helen's gonna send Johnny off to some orphanage, abandon him, and, and you know why?" She breathed deeply to collect herself, allowing a tear to gather in her eye as she swiftly wiped it away with her hand.

"She saw a nail in Johnny's ear, 'cos of a fight he was in with the jets. Thought he was a 'pussy'." She repeated her mother's words coldly, holding back a flood of tears with a gulp and she quickly buried her face in his chest, seeking his warmth for comfort.

"I promise you I won't let that happen. Ever." He felt her face move and she looked back up at him with a small smile etched on her.

Her arms instantaneously encase him, as she mumbled a chain of thank you's at him, trusting his word.

Cordelia didn't realise how much she needed someone to just listen to her.

That other someone was watching as she looked into Tony's eyes with pure glee and wrapped her arms around him tightly.

Riff had just pulled himself up from the ladder as he watched the events occur, his jaw became tense and his eyes started to sting. He cursed under his breath and balled up his fists, his nails dug into his skin leaving red marks but he didn't notice.

Watching as the pair walked into the other room, just as he did with Cordelia, he exhaled heavily and quickly clambered down the fire escape, carelessly dropping down the levels, his legs colliding with the cold metal as they swung.

As he reached the street, he let out a long whistle, signalling to any nearby jets.

"Riff?" Ice called out, emerging from an alleyway, a girl with a big smile hiding behind him.

"What are y' doing round here?" Ice yelled, falling into a quick jog to catch up with Riff, wishing the girl farewell with a wink.

"We're stirring something up for tomorrow,"Riff remarked unequivocally, jets beginning to gather around him.

"Now."

A/N: i was originally gonna make tony's place be riff but where's the fun in that