Chapter Twelve: Make You Feel My Love
Pairing: Riff x Latina!Reader (West Side Story 2021)
As I leave the apartment in a hurry, I nearly forget that I still have about five hours until I actually get to meet up with Riff. Checking my wristwatch, I purse my lips and sigh.
"What am I supposed to do with five free hours?" I mutter to myself, walking out of the apartment complex and down the street. I feel grateful, noting that the heat isn't as sweltering today and it finally feels nice out for once.
As I pass by the park, I notice a crowd has gathered around the mural. My brows pinch anxiously, hoping the Jets hadn't done something worse to it than before. I weave through the numerous people and finally see why they are all standing here.
There stood Riff with his toned back to the crowd, a broom in his hands and an old tin bucket filled with sudsy water on the pavement next to him. He's cleaning up the mural, scrubbing the black and orange smudges off with the soapy bristles of his broom. And he's shirtless.
Though that isn't the most essential bit of the scene before me, it's all my mind can seem to focus on. As he raises the broom higher up to scrub at a particularly large splatter of paint, the soap bubbles spray back at him, making his skin glisten beneath the bright summer sun. Riff glances over his shoulder and his eyes immediately lock on mine, as if he could sense I was there, watching him. The corner of his lips quirks up slightly and I can't help the little smile that creeps onto my face. Though I don't say it, I know he knows that I appreciate the fact that he's doing this. It makes me feel a little less guilty about liking him so much and it relieves me to know that he is trying to be better. For a while, our eyes stay on each other before he gets back to work. If we had stared at each other for much longer, people might've noticed.
"¡Y/N!" I hear a familiar voice call from behind me, making my smile quickly fade. I turn to see Rosalía and Francisca making their way through the crowd, their eyes fixed on Riff skeptically as he continues scrubbing at the paint splotches.
"¿Qué está haciendo el gringo?" Rosalía huffs, her arms crossed over her chest as she watches Riff, as if she were anticipating that he would do something awful.
I shrug in response, trying to seem as casual about the whole situation as possible, "No sé. Iba a Doc's y vi a todos parados aquí, así que me paré para ver qué estaba pasando. I thought it would be something bad, but he's just cleaning it..."
Francisca quirks a brow at Riff, who had spared the three of us a few curious glances as we whispered about him, "¿Por qué haría esto? Es muy raro... I thought los Jets were supposed to hate us, no?" She remarks quietly, a thoughtful look in her eyes.
Rosalía clicks her tongue disapprovingly, clearly not moved by Riff's gesture, "¡Sí nos odian! This is just to get us off our guard, make us think they won't bother us anymore. Sebas told me how tricky they can be. We can't trust them, we'd be stupid to do so." She huffs firmly.
I wearily glance over at Riff again, and doubt comes in. Does he really want to change his ways and try to make amends with Puerto Ricans or is he only doing this to make himself look better and get me to trust him? I shake away the thought.
"Oye, Y/N," Francisca says suddenly, excitement in her voice, "Rosalía and I were going to go shopping, ¿quieres ir con nosotras?"
I glance back at Riff momentarily, then back to Rosalía and Francisca, "Claro que sí." I say with a smile. I figure that Riff will have his hands full with cleaning the mural for the next few hours, so I may as well keep myself busy before it's time for us to meet up, especially since Anita advised me to spend more time with our friends.
Francisca, Rosalía, and I end up at a jewelry stall at the market, browsing the shining pieces on display. As my two friends fawn over a golden bracelet, my eyes are caught by a sterling silver ring with a small heart pendant welded to the front of it. I step closer to it and pick the ring up to examine the details engraved onto it. The front of the heart has a small four leaf clover in the center surrounded by swirly types of designs, and on the inside of the ring's band there are the initials V.L. in a beautiful cursive font with a tiny heart shaped gem that could possibly be opal. I'm in awe of the ring's beauty, and though I don't know what the initials actually could stand for, my mind can't help but connect them to my and Riff's surnames, Vasquez and Lorton, making me beam.
"Y/N, ¿qué tienes?" I hear Francisca ask curiously from behind me. I quickly put the ring back, and I can feel that my cheeks have warmed up ever so slightly after having been caught.
"Nada, no más es un anillo." I hum, trying to seem indifferent about it, hoping they wouldn't be interested in looking.
Rosalía quirks a brow at me and steps closer, "Ah, déjame verlo." She gently pushes me aside and leans down to get a closer look at the ring. "Está bien bonito, Y/N." She says with a fond smile, "¿Lo quieres?"
My eyes widen at this, it was way too much for her to buy it for me, "¡No, Rosalía-!"
"Y/N, let me do this for you!" She insists, grabbing the ring off the display and walking over to the stall's vendor determinedly.
I sigh heavily, making Francisca laugh, "You, your brother, and Anita are all too proud. It's ok to let your friends do nice things for you sometimes, you know? It's not charity, it's love."
Her words make me smile despite myself, "Ya lo sé. You're right. This is a nice thing Rosalía is doing for me." And it's true. Raised in a home where money was something connected to pride and where we had so little money, it was hard for Nardo and I to accept anything we might consider a handout from friends or family. Though, I'm beginning to feel opposed to that idea.
Francisca nods in agreement, "Exactamente."
Rosalía walks back over with the ring put away safely in a small box and tucks it away into my purse, "Ahí está." She hums with a smile.
"Gracias, Rosalía." I chuckle, "You're a good friend."
She grins proudly, "I know. Now, let's go get something to eat, ¡tengo mucho hambre!"
Francisca and I laugh at her eagerness as the three of us begin walking to the nearest diner.
When Francisca, Rosalía and I finish our meal and pay the bill, I check my wristwatch and realize that it's nearly time for me to go meet Riff.
Rosalía sighs in satisfaction before pulling Francisca and I into a group hug, "Muchísimas gracias, chicas, this was a wonderful day." She giggles, "Ya tengo que irme por la casa a limpiar. Nos vemos." She bids us goodbye and begins walking away, Francisca and I wave as she gets further from us.
Once she's out of sight, Francisca then pulls me into another hug, "We need to do this more often, you rarely come out with us and Anita, you're always busy!"
I smile sheepishly, "Lo siento, I'll try to make time."
She pulls back and returns my smile, "Más te vale." She threatens teasingly, making us both laugh. "¡Hasta luego, Y/N!" She calls over her shoulder as she zips away.
"¡Hasta luego!" I call back, laughing softly.
As soon as Rosalía and Francisca are gone, I zip away toward the park to check if Riff is still there cleaning up the mural. When I get there, I see the mural is good as new with no sign of paint ever having been there. Then I see Riff sat on the pavement with his head resting against the wall and his right arm draped over his eyes. I smile softly at the sight of his exhaustion and approach him silently, "That's a good job you did." I hum, making him sit up straight abruptly, his arm falling to his side.
He chuckles softly, "You startled me there."
With my hands behind my back, I rock back and forth on my heels, "Lo siento." I say with a cheeky smile.
He quirks a brow at me, "What's that mean?"
I huff a laugh at his puzzled expression, "It means that I'm sorry."
"Oh." He grins, "Well, apology accepted." He stands from his seat on the ground, dusts off his jeans, and looks around, "We should probably head somewhere more private, Jets and Sharks alike hang around here."
I nod in agreement, "Where should we go then? The docks again?"
Riff shakes his head, tsking softly, "Nah, the guys'll be there now..." He suddenly grins, "There's somewhere else I could take you, but it's not exactly scenic."
I quirk a brow at him suspiciously, "What does that mean?"
Riff chuckles, "It's not a nice park or a fancy little restaurant, is what I mean. So don't make that scrunchy face of yours when we get there, alright?"
"Scrunchy face?" I repeat in confusion, my brows pinched.
He smirks softly, pointing at my face, "That right there. That's what I mean. But usually, your nose will scrunch up, too. It's the face you made when I took you to the docks." I smile back at him and the tips of his ears turn a light shade of pink. I didn't realize he noticed details like that about me. He clears his throat, "Well, follow me, then! It's a long walk."
I groan softly, knowing my feet were going to ache if I walked more than a few miles in my flats, "You can't take me somewhere nearby? I'm not really wearing the right shoes for a long walk."
"I would carry you, but we gotta keep our distance." He shrugs, already walking ahead of me. I roll my eyes and wait until Riff is a few feet ahead of me before I follow him to wherever he's taking me today.
After about half an hour, we finally arrive to Riff's surprise location, and to my displeasure, it's basically a dump. I quirk a brow at him as he turns to face me with a bright smile, "What is this place?" I frown.
He sighs at my disappointment, "Y/N, I told you not to make that scrunchy face."
"Well, what did you expect? This place is a dump!" I huff, my arms waving wildly at the debris surrounding us.
Riff pouts his lips slightly, "Hey, it's not a dump. This is a demolition site. Some buildings used to be here before they knocked 'em down. I brought you here because this is where I go to be alone." He then chuckles, "Plus none of the guys come by here too often because it's where I usually bring-" He stops himself, his cheeks flushing, "Uh... it's- never mind." He says quickly, walking toward what looks like an abandoned train car. I quickly follow after him.
"Where you bring what?" I hum expectantly, my arms crossed over my chest. "Or who?"
He laughs nervously, "Well, it's..." I eye him suspiciously making him sigh defeatedly, he then murmurs, "It's where I usually bring Graziella." I'm slightly caught off guard by his confession. I know he was seeing Graziella for a while, but I didn't realize they were that serious... Or maybe doing things like this with girls isn't serious for Riff.
"Why didn't you want to tell me that?" I ask softly. I figure he thought I'd be jealous, but it wasn't as if I hadn't been seeing Manuel during our brief time apart. Technically, I'm still with Manuel.
"Well..." He sighs, leading me into the train car, "because I figure you're this totally innocent girl who's never done nothing with a guy and I didn't want you to think that I was some kind of Tomcat or something..." He admits quietly, his cheeks tinged pink.
I smile and approach him gently, "Well, first of all, I wouldn't judge you for doing things with other girls. I didn't exactly expect you to be a virgin." This makes him chuckle, so I continue, "Also, I'm not exactly innocent. I was technically with Manuel during that time, so it's not like you were the only one who was 'dating' someone else."
He nods, sitting himself on a pile of old blankets in the corner of the train car, "Yeah, that's right... but, uh, I do got one more question."
I take a seat beside him, my head tilted curiously, "What is it?" I question, taking my purse off from my shoulder and placing it on the ground beside my feet.
"Should we dump Grazie and Manuel now? I mean, are we together?" He asks, seeming a bit shy now and it makes me laugh.
"Do you want to be together?" I ask, hoping he does, but also not expecting him to commit so soon.
A grin spreads across his face from ear to ear and he gently cups my face, "I've been wanting to be together since the first day I saw you."
His forwardness makes me laugh in surprise, "No exageres."
Riff's grin only broadens, "I really gotta learn some Spanish, I hate asking for a translation for what you're saying every time. It bugs you, doesn't it?"
I shake my head, smiling softly, "No, I like teaching you... 'No exageres' is don't exaggerate." I say quietly, leaning forward slightly.
He chuckles softly and hums, "Good to know..." Then he leans in and kisses me. I melt into him instantly and he slowly lays me down on the pile of blankets, our lips remaining attached. I feel his hands tenderly grasp my waist, so I slide mine up into his hair.
Riff pulls back slowly from my lips, a slight smirk on his face before he starts kissing my neck, making me shiver. He trails his lips down towards my chest and I sit up, "Wait, wait."
He looks up at me with wide eyes, clearly concerned, "What? Did I do something wrong?"
I smile lightly, my brows pinched, "No, no... I just, I want to take it a little slower now." He nods slowly, but I can tell he's a little confused. I mean, not too long ago I was enjoying our fast paced intimacy, "Now that we're kind of a couple, I want to take time before we do something serious... I'm a Catholic, I was raised to wait." I mutter nervously, unsure if he would be willing to wait for me.
His brows furrow, "Wait? You mean, like, 'til marriage?" I nod and he senses my worry. He takes my hand, "Hey, I got no problem with that. I mean, I'm not used to taking stuff slow, but I'll do it for you."
I can't help my bright smile, "Really?"
He chuckles softly and nods, "Really. This way, it's more special, ain't it?" He hums, playing with a strand of my hair.
Still smiling at him, I suddenly remember the ring Rosalía had bought me earlier. I turn away from Riff and grab my purse off the ground, "I have something to show you. I saw it earlier today and it reminded me of you." I pull the small box out of my purse and hand it to him.
Riff smirks, "What, you got me a present?"
"Just open it." I laugh, rolling my eyes at him. His fingers slowly pull the lid off and his eyes widen. He takes the ring out of the box with tenderness, something I hadn't really expected, "Where'd you get this?" He asks softly, still staring down at the ring in his palm.
I tilt my head to look at the ring with him, "I found it at the jewelry stall at the market. The inside of the band has the initials of our last names together, V and L." I watch his face, which is still in a stunned state, "You don't like it?"
He finally looks up at me, "No, I do! I just..." He smiles, "It's real nice that you thought of me like that. Is it for me or..?"
I hesitate, not sure if it was right for me to give Riff something that Rosalía had bought for me, especially when I know how she feels about the Jets... but seeing Riff's smile makes me cave.
"Yes, put it on." I nod with a smile, watching as he slides the ring onto his pinky finger.
He holds his hand up in a fist and chuckles, "Well, I look real tough now, don't I?"
I laugh with him, "Oh, sí. Te ves bien machote." At his confused expression, I laugh again, "I mean, you look very macho."
"Oh..." He smiles softly, "Got it." He stares into my eyes for a moment before whispering, "Can we please start kissing again?" I grin broadly and nod, letting him pull me close and kiss me.
