Hi! You’re such a fantastic writer!! I was wondering if you could maybe write a story where Riff survives the rumble, but needs medical attention and the reader is there to comfort him. (If it’s not too much to ask) Thank you!
thank you! i appreciate it so much ❤️ i love writing for my boy riff
warnings: injury, talk of wanting to die/death, weapons
“happy rumble day, Y/N,” riff said excitedly as he came out of Y/N’s small bedroom and into the kitchen where Y/N was preparing breakfast in the middle of the afternoon.
“you know i’m not a fan of this, riff.”
she kept her back to him, and he came up behind her and wrapped his arms around the tops of her shoulders.
Y/N was the complete opposite of riff. she wasn’t even sure how she fell in love with him in the first place. they had opposing views, as she was constantly promoting peace between the two gangs in the city. but, they did have something in common. Y/N was outspoken, and brave, and stood up for herself. she was a good girl who liked bad guys, because bad guys brought out a fiery personality in her. and riff fit that definition perfectly.
riff squeezed Y/N’s body a little tighter. “come on girly, you know me. i’m going to be safe. those sharks can’t lay a finger on me,” he said quietly, kissing the back of her head before stepping away.
“i know you, you can hold your own. that’s not what i’m against. i don’t like the idea of this rumble in general,” she stated.
riff’s calm demeanor was growing into an impatient one. “it’s necessary. this is our turf, and no one gets to come into this city and steal what we worked so hard to build.”
Y/N noticed a complete switch in his tone. he went from being sweet to being sharp all in a matter of seconds. she turned around to find riff’s cold eyes fixated on her own.
she walked closer to him, and he looked down at her. “the sharks can’t steal land that was already previously stolen.”
riff frowned, his accent getting thicker with every word. “we were here first.”
“were you?” Y/N replied sassily.
riff’s playful side smile came back once more. “why are we arguing? i love you, and you love me, and you’re making me breakfast,” he said, wrapping his arms around her waist. Y/N couldn’t help but fall into his trance. “we can agree to disagree.”
she rolled her eyes. “fine. that’s not going to stop me from trying to prevent this though.”
Y/N went back to her spot at the stove and continued to cook the meal. she finished it up, and split it into two for both her and riff. they sat down together at the small table, awkward silence thick between them.
“what time do you have to go tonight?” she asked, breaking the silence.
“it starts at midnight in the salt shed,” he replied.
“are you worried?” Y/N questioned quietly.
riff shook his head. “no. the sharks can’t do anything to me and my boys. we have the upper hand.”
she knew it was better to stay quiet than fight riff again, so she silently nodded her head and continued to eat. eventually, they finished eating and they cleaned up their messes.
“i’m going to go out, gotta see my boys before the big night,” riff said, smiling to himself. he stepped closer to her. “i’ll see you tonight, right?”
Y/N nodded. “yeah, i’ll meet you before you go to the shed,” she said back, her voice almost monotone.
riff rested his hands on her hips. “good,” he replied before placing a loving kiss on her lips. “see you later.”
he excitedly ran out the door, and Y/N watched as her one love walked out of her apartment to go make the most stupid decision he’s made yet. which, considering the amount of dumb decisions he’s made, truly says something.
she didn’t have the greatest feeling about tonight. maybe that was just because she was prone to excessive worrying. regardless, something didn’t feel right about what riff was doing. she tried her hardest to ignore the gut feeling that was making it’s presence known.
Y/N tried to keep herself occupied for the rest of the afternoon. her anxious thoughts kept her from going anywhere, so she decided to release her crowded thoughts into deep cleaning the entire apartment. it was long overdue, and she figured keeping busy would help calm her racing mind. by the time she had completed her task, it was nearing six o’clock. she decided to go out and meet riff at his jets group spot in the city.
she took a walk in the cool summer air as the sun began to fall behind the skyline. she arrived at the spot, and her quiet footsteps alerted baby john.
“riff, you’ve got a visitor,” he stated, causing the rest of the jets to flick their eyes to whoever it may be.
riff rounded a corner, and Y/N took notice of his appearance. he looked like he was ready for war in his vest covering his cream colored shirt, and his icy eyes widened when he saw her. she wondered why riff was so surprised, until she glanced down and saw a gun in his hand. he quickly slid his hand behind his back to hide it.
“Y/N, what are you doing here?” he asked almost frantically, stepping closer to her. every few steps he made, she would take a step back.
“riff, why the hell do you have a gun?” she asked, her voice cracking. “what do you think you’re going to do with it?”
“it’s just a precaution, darling,” he reassured, trying to calm her down. she shook her head. “the sharks are bringing heat, so i gotta bring heat.”
“oh yeah? and what happens if you get hurt? you and your boys are going to shoot them? what if they take your gun and shoot you?”
“that’s not going to happen, Y/N, i know what i’m doing,” riff said back, dropping the gun and finally approaching Y/N. he held her shoulders tightly.
“please riff, don’t do this,” she said in response, her eyes brimming with tears.
riff sighed. he considered it, but eventually removed his hands. “i’m going to bring it, but i won’t use it. okay?”
Y/N wasn’t happy with that either, but she nodded nonetheless. she felt a little bit better knowing riff wouldn’t be using it.
riff kissed her forehead. “the boys and i are goin’ out soon. i’ll see you when the rumble is over, yeah?”
“yeah. i love you,” she said quietly, resting her head on riff’s chest. his calm heartbeat immediately relaxed her. he wrapped his arms around her shoulders.
“i love you too, girly. it’ll be over before we know it.”
Y/N left, not sure what to do with herself in the meantime. she decided that since she wanted to be awake when riff came home, she would take a short nap back at her apartment. she walked home without a sound, and immediately went to her bedroom and went to sleep.
before she knew it, her body shot up out of bed and she checked the clock on the wall, which read 11:30. she paced around the room a little bit, and came to the conclusion that she couldn’t wait at the apartment for riff to come home; she had to see him.
Y/N threw on a sweater and hurriedly walked out the door, running down the streets to the salt shed. she kept a close eye on her watch, knowing that the rumble would start at midnight.
as she approached the shed, she heard the familiar sounds of footsteps down the pavement, and she spun around a building to hide from the jets. she held her breath as she watched the boys prepare for war and wait outside the shed. riff didn’t look like the sweet boy she knew and loved, he seemed almost animalistic.
then, right as her watch showed her that it was midnight, the boys walked in, and she knew the sharks had arrived. Y/N made her way closer to the shed when she knew the coast was clear, but on her way, a figure ran past her vision.
she tilted her head, and ran closer. that’s when she saw anybodys trying to get into the shed.
“anybodys!” she whisper yelled, catching their attention.
“Y/N, what are you doin’ here?” anybodys asked, catching the closing shed door.
Y/N ran up to the door. “i’m here for riff.”
Y/N always liked anybodys. she knew riff and the rest of the jets wouldn’t let anybodys in the gang, and quite frankly, they treated him like garbage. if Y/N caught this behavior, she would try her best to put a stop to it. anybodys was a great friend to her.
“it ain’t safe for you here!” anybodys whisper yelled back.
“i gotta be here, i wouldn’t be able to live with myself if i wasn’t.”
anybodys finally gave in, and together they slid under the door and gently closed it, hiding together behind a pile of salt. not long later, the door began to make noises from the outside, as if someone was trying to get in.
Y/N and anybodys sunk further down, until tony and chino slid their way under the door as well. she knew tony didn’t want the rumble to happen just as much as she did.
her eyes then stayed fixated on riff. Y/N could see from a mile away the reckless abandonment that was ever present in riff’s demeanor. he was prepared for anything.
“why are they talking so much?” Y/N asked to herself quietly. then, she watched as riff slid tony his gun. at least he was keeping his word.
they all talked more and more, and tony shared some words with bernardo. she couldn’t make out what was being said.
then, bernardo sent a punch to tony. Y/N gasped, and covered her mouth. tony didn’t fight back. bernardo flung his fists repeatedly at tony as the sharks and jets simultaneously yelled.
tony quietly said something to bernardo, and a full out brawl started between the boys.
“i can’t watch,” Y/N whispered, not being able to pry her eyes off the sight in front of her.
tony pinned bernardo and sent punches as the boys roared. then, as bernardo was nearing a blackout, he stopped. Y/N knew tony didn’t want to fight. he stood up and saw the outcome of what he was doing.
Y/N looked away for a split second, and when she turned around, bernardo and riff had knives in their hands and were eyeing each other.
“oh dear god,” she whispered. her face went pale as she watched riff.
she could tell riff didn’t want to do this anymore. there was fear in his eyes that wasn’t there before. bernardo and riff were afraid of each other.
they swung around the knives like it was choreographed. tony caught riff, leaving his back open for attack from bernardo. Y/N felt like yelling to tony to let him go. riff struggled to get out of his grasp.
then, he freed himself and turned around right into bernardo’s knife, which impaled him in his upper leg.
Y/N screamed. she didn’t care if she was caught at this point. she heard anybodys exclaim her name, but her world went silent. she came out behind the salt pile when she saw riff fall to the ground. tony took the knife and in return stabbed bernardo.
Y/N gasped again and took a step back. the room froze, confused as to what had happened. in a matter of seconds, two rival gang leaders lay injured on the ground, one being sprawled out dead.
Y/N ran into the action, and her footsteps alerted the group. their shock didn’t last long, for red and blue lights began to shine in through the windows.
the boys scattered, and tony backed away slowly, realizing what he had done.
“Y/N! tony! we have to go, now!” anybodys yelled trying to stop Y/N.
she ran to riff’s side and bent down next to him. he was still alive, but losing a lot of blood.
“Y/N… w-why are you here?” riff asked quietly.
“don’t talk about me, i’m here to help you, okay? we’re going to get you out of here.” she rested her hand on his cheek, and riff gently held her wrist.
“i can’t walk. you can’t get me out of here yourself. besides…” he took a deep breath in. “you’ve got company coming. you need to go now, Y/N.”
she began to cry. “i’m not leaving you riff,” she looked up to see anybodys ushering tony out.
“anybodys, tony! help me get riff out of here!”
tony left, and anybodys hesitated before running to riff’s side to help Y/N.
“Y/N, don’t do this. you’ll be caught,” he said again.
“you’re an idiot if you think i’m going to leave you here to die,” she fired back. she took off her socks and quickly tied them into a makeshift tourniquet to wrap around his leg. the pair stood him up on his good leg and he wrapped his arms around Y/N and anybodys’ shoulders, and together they hobbled out of the shed just in the nick of time.
anybodys and Y/N guided him into an alley not far from the shed, but far enough to stay out of the eyes of the police. they laid him down against the wall as he faded in and out of consciousness. “stay with me riff, please!” Y/N said as anybodys sent her a look. “thank you anybodys, i owe you one. i can take it from here,” she said hurriedly. anybodys nodded before running off to find tony.
“i’m going to fix you up, okay?” she told him frantically. luckily, she brought her purse which contained gauze, alcohol, and tape.
“y-you’re not a nurse,” riff said quietly.
“i know i’m not, but i’m not going to leave you alone to die. i can’t.”
she used the tourniquet around his leg to dab up the blood after untying it, and then she took the alcohol out of her purse and poured it over the wound. riff grimaced and squeezed Y/N’s arm tight.
she finished it off by wrapping it in gauze tightly and taping it down. “this won’t last you long, you need stitches.”
“we gotta wait until the heat dies down, Y/N. they’ll know this is from the rumble,” he pleaded.
“riff, we can’t wait any longer. that gauze can only hold you off for so long. i know the people that work the emergency room, they know i don’t get involved with the rumbles. it wouldn’t make sense for me to even be at the rumble. trust me, i know what i’m doing. they won’t know a thing.”
riff rolled his eyes, complying with the plan. Y/N helped him stand, and they hobbled a few blocks away to the nearest emergency room.
they walked in, and immediately the nurses took action. they took riff back and got to work on fixing his wound. Y/N knew them, for her mom actually used to work with these ladies in the same emergency room.
“how did this happen?” one of them asked, writing on a clipboard. riff looked to Y/N for an answer.
“um…he was getting ready for the big rumble tonight. when him and one of his gang members were practicing, he accidentally jabbed him in the leg before the rumble even began,” Y/N said, hoping the excuse was good enough. “riff just now decided to tell me.”
“he wasn’t at the rumble?” the nurse asked. Y/N shook her head.
“looks like your buddy got you pretty deep there. Y/N did everything right though to take care of you,” one said to riff, peeling away the soaked gauze to unveil the wound.
“we’re going to go get the equipment we need to fix him up,” another said before all of them piled out of the room.
“i don’t want to get stitches,” riff said as Y/N pulled over a seat next to him.
“you would have died, riff. it’s kind of a miracle you’re still here. the stitches are going to save your life.”
“what if i didn’t want to be saved?” riff said loudly, causing Y/N to be taken aback.
riff avoided eye contact. “why do you think i wanted you to leave me there? my death wish was obvious to everyone but you, Y/N. i kept it from you because of this exact reason. i always knew the outcome of today, i was supposed to die.”
tears formed in Y/N’s eyes. “riff, i-”
“what do i have to live for? tony’s no longer a jet, i’m losin’ my territory, you deserve better than me, so what do i have?”
Y/N took riff’s hand. “you have me. i don’t need anything better.”
riff finally made eye contact with her. he squeezed her hand back, and tears formed in his eyes as well. “you’ve been there for me more than anyone else, and here i am treatin’ you like shit.”
“i don’t care, riff. i’ll always love you regardless of anything. i love you more than you’ll ever know. i couldn’t bear to lose you today.”
riff smiled and rested his hand on Y/N’s cheek. “i don’t deserve you.”
the nurses came back in and gave him pain medications while also numbing the area around and in his wound to prepare to stitch it up.
“i’m scared, Y/N,” he said quietly. she went to the free side of the bed and took his hand.
the nurses quickly stitched him up, and riff pressed his eyes closed the entire time. he held on to Y/N’s hand tightly.
“all done!” the nurse said, stepping away from the bed. “we’ll keep you here for a while longer to monitor you and make sure everything is okay, but you should be able to leave later tonight.”
they thanked the nurses and Y/N and riff were left alone again.
“thank you for not giving up on me,” riff said, admiration in his eyes.