Chapter Text
You twirled around the gym's floor, smiling wildly as you switched constantly from dancing with your date, that Alberto boy your cousin Bernardo had gotten you for that night, to spinning on your own surrounded by the girls you had either met that very morning or knew already from when you all were in the same neighborhood back in Puerto Rico. The lights, the colors, the music… Everything seemed brighter, jollier. If that was New York, if that was what America truly was, you wanted to stay forever and never leave.
Astonished didn't even bring justice to how you were after walking through your new neighborhood for the very first time. It was all so beautiful, even better than in your dreams! You got to live next to your two cousins, Maria and Bernardo, and you were meeting kind and fun people, surrounded by a pretty view if you ignored those buildings that were being demolished.
Anita had noticed how excited you truly were, the kind of excitement she had suffered back when she had come there for the first time. The kind of excitement she had lost because of the gangs, the violence, the hate, but still the one she, from time to time, had again so she could fight against Bernardo's cruel pessimism against America and americans.
That's why Anita had tried to warn you. Lightly, so it would scare you off because that would be the last thing she would want to do, but Anita had quickly told you about the Sharks and the Jets. She had told you to stay away from the americanos, because they only cause harm, mi niña, and so you did, because you were no one to disobey the friend who was just trying to keep you safe. You were still determined to make sure nothing would ruin New York for you, even though the little fight the Jets had against the Sharks right when you had entered the gym almost made you wonder if something was really going to ruin it. But as the fight evolved into an inoffensive dance off, you relaxed… until now.
The sound of Bernardo's shouting didn't trigger any alarms in your senses, you knew your cousin well enough to know he was keen on raising his voice too often about the littlest things. But as the noise grew bigger and bigger, and some friends of yours stopped dancing, you did as well and approached Anita, who was watching carefully what was happening.
"Ya, tranquilo," was saying Anita to Bernardo, resting her hand on his shoulder and making him step away from a boy you recognized as a gringo, one of those Jets. Bernardo looked mad ", que no pasó nada"
You grabbed Luz's arm next to you, leaning closely to her so you could whisper "¿Qué pasó?"
"Maria," Luz said softly, her eyes glancing at your cousin ", Maria was behind the bleachers with that Jet…"
"And why is that a problem?" you asked as softly as you could, brows frowning, but Luz never got to answer.
A blond boy, tall and slim, another Jet boy, rushed to walk to the other Jet and pat him on the chest to keep him from making a mess. Another blond someone, this time this girl that looked really mad, followed the blond boy.
You shot a glance at Maria, next to Chino but staring at the brunette Jet boy who Bernardo was killing with his glance. You felt Alberto behind you, his hand on your waist, and you shifted uncomfortably. He never took his hand off of you, though.
"I wanna dance, goddamit!" said the blonde girl, directly talking to the blond boy, who looked at her with a raised brow, somewhat between amused and thinking she was going feral for a little thing. You saw a police officer getting closer to where all of you were "Goddamit, Riff! You swore to me you wasn't startin' nothin', you promised we could dance first and then you was only gonna challenge 'em peaceable to a…"
"I'm here to dance, girly girl," interrupted that Riff boy, lazy smile on his lips, hands all over the girl to convince her to calm down ", ain't that what we been do—"
"Challenge who to what?" The police cut him off, hands on his own waist and brows raised suspiciously, staring at the girl, who noticed she had talked too much.
The girl scoffed, rolling her eyes. You decided to keep your attention in the Jets rather than in Maria, Chino and the other boy "Like I know? Like he tells me anything? Like I give a…"
Your attention then switched to the boy and Maria. He was the one talking "Sure, I mean, thank you for the dance and for…"
From the corner of your eye, you saw Bernardo ready to jump onto the boy again. Using your good reflexes, you put an arm on his chest when he tried to go past you. You were surprised the blonde, handsome Jet boy had reacted as fast as you, standing in front of the other boy to protect him from Bernardo. The other girl was working wonders with the officer, distracting him from the boys.
"Bernardo, Jesús, stop this" you asked, unable to keep your eyes off of Riff, who grinned at you, noticing.
"Yeah, Bernardo, Jesús listen to the señorita" mocked Riff, making you narrow your eyes at him. Then he looked at Bernardo, forgetting you even existed "What say… what say we visit the head? A little pow-pow, friendly-like? You, me, and…" his eyes went up and down your body as he paused, his arm sliding behind the other boy's shoulders. Bernardo tensed at the look he gave you "... my trouble-making friend?"
Your arm fell from your cousin's chest, once you were sure he wouldn't bite them. Bernardo nodded to the Jets and then looked around for Quique and Braulio. As they all dissolved like nothing had happened, Anita forcing Maria to walk away from there, you decided to again approach Luz with the confusion written in your face, also taking advantage of the situation for escaping Alberto, who was nice but you did not like as much as he liked you. Last thing you needed right now, after coming to New York, was men.
Luz almost laughed at you when she saw your confused expression, and she took your hands as she twirled you around her, making your red dress's skirt make beautiful circles. You forced her to stop dancing, glancing at the door where Bernardo and Riff had left. Your heart pounded against your chest.
"¿A dónde se fueron?" You asked, squeezing her hands.
Luz shrugged "To the bathroom, creo. They'll be back soon, no te preocupes, boba"
"But," again glancing at the door, you licked your lips ", what are they going to do?"
"No te metas, Y/N" warned you Luz, catching where you were going with those questions, knowing you too well for you to act like you were just curious.
"Luz, answer"
She sighed "I don't know for sure, but that rubia tonta implied they will plan a rumble" she muttered, giving in. Worry washed her face slowly.
You frowned "A rumble?"
"A pelea, niña"
"That's dangerous"
"That's the point" Luz watched alarmed how you let go of her hands, a serious shadow on your face "Y/N, ¡ni se te ocurra!"
"I'll be right back, Luz, I promise" you said, too worried to look at her so she could make sure you were telling the truth "You just distract Alberto, okay?"
"Fine! But if Bernardo gets mad don't tell him I helped you"
Nodding, you headed to the doors. You knew how those rumbles were and overall, you knew how Bernardo was. Wild, angry, furious… Eager to find someone to blame, someone who he could use as a way of letting his anger against the world come out. You knew how that rumble was going to go. Probably, your kin will get harmed. And the Sharks were the closest thing to family you had now, you couldn't lose any of them, especially not Bernardo. Your bright future in New York wasn't going to be ruined, not if you could stop it. You had to stop that. It was almost an anxious obligation.
Without thinking it twice, you opened the boys' bathroom door and stepped inside, making the six boys—Riff and another two Jets more, Bernardo, Quique and Braulio—interrupt their conversation in a blunt way.
All of them stared at you and you felt tiny under their glances, but you still straightened your back and moved slightly, to avoid the Jets and join the Sharks.
"Get out, ahora mismo, Y/N" ordered Bernardo, rage through his body, as soon as he was able to react. None of them expected a girl, a Shark girl, to walk on them planning the rumble.
"No, you all listen to me, pendejos," you snapped back, your chin going up in dignity, your index finger pointing first at the Sharks and then at the surprised Jets. The Jets raised their brows at how stupid you were for not being like the others and just stay out of it. Riff, though, did not think you were stupid. Reckless? Yeah, maybe. But stupid? Not at all ", ustedes son idiotas si piensan que van a arreglar algo con peleas estúpidas"
Riff scoffed contemptuously, directly at you, putting his hands on his hips "Hey, muchacha? I don't speak fucking cucaracha, so yer better—"
"Stupid fights won't solve things if you don't see the stupid problem" you cut him off, practically barking back at him, crossing your arms. In the end, you weren't as fearless as Riff thought you were, but he didn't have to know that. You did feel kind of intimidated by all of them, even the ones that were your friends. But what it mattered was how confident you looked "And none of you pendejos know the fucking problem, now, do you?"
"Y/N," Bernardo's fingers wrapped tightly against the skin of your arm. If it had been tighter, it would have led to a mark ", leave. No voy a repetírtelo, no tienes ni idea de lo que te estás metiendo…"
"No, Nardo! You're so short-sighted, por Dios, there are other ways of fixing this!" you moved away from him, to keep his fingers off of you, accidentally getting closer to the Jets, so close your shoulder brushed Riff. He smiled at you, dangerously, and you then got away from him, feeling like an idiot. You were losing confidence, and their attention "You listen now. Why can't you see you're fighting for something stupid? Streets aren't property of no one—"
"This street is ours!" exclaimed one of the Jet boys, almost jumping.
Riff snapped his fingers, his smile growing bigger "Action's right, señorita"
"Let me finish, you gringo," you scoffed, rolling your eyes at him. Both Action and Ice were surprised he didn't slap you for talking back to him ", what I mean is that is pointless. This street is being sold to richer people. The problem isn't us— or you. It's the rich people. They are taking our homes away from us"
"Last time I checked your ugly island wasn't fucking here" bickered Ice, making you sigh.
"Tu madre sí que es ugly" said Braulio, a shit-eating grin on his face.
You shook your head "You don't get it! You're all so dumb you don't see how they are trying to make us kill each other so they don't have to kill us"
"They?" muttered Bernardo, his attention to you talking growing bigger. Little did he know Riff was feeling the same way. He was even watching you with shiny eyes.
"Sí, them, Nardo" you relaxed when you realized someone was actually listening to you "The rich people. The cops. That cop out there, the one who stopped me today on my way to work—"
"Lieutenant Schrank" spat Quique, and you nodded.
You turned to face the other boys, the ones that weren't convinced by what you were saying "I don't know you, and I'm not sure I want to know any of you," you said sincerely, which made Ice straighten his back and take a step closer. Riff made him stop ", but it's obvious we are more similar than what we can see at first"
"How's that, girly?" asked Riff, his mocking voice still on.
"Isn't this street the only home you have? Isn't it the place where you have all the people you love? Don't you want it to stop from being sold to richer people, from becoming a luxury complex for super rich people?"
The silence allowed you to take a deep breath, trying to remain calm. You were doing good. They were thinking, they were all thinking about what you were saying. Bernardo was looking at you like he had never imagined you could talk like that, Riff was staring at you like he wanted to figure you out.
"They are not our enemy," you continued after that short break, turning your head to look at your friends. You then turned to Riff ", and we are not your enemy"
"Oh, yeah?" said Riff, that smile sliding into his lips, one corner of his lips raising more than the other. Danger. He took a step closer to you, but you didn't move, even though you were intimidated by how tall he was compared to you "And who is our enemy then, bonita?"
Bernatdo tried to get closer to protect you, to make him back down, but you stopped him with a gesture of your hand. The weird thing is he obliged, and only then you realized the power you had over both men in that very moment. That's what made your head lift up, facing Riff like you weren't doubting about taking a step back or not, the tiniest smile sliding into your own lips.
Riff was, to put it bluntly, impressed. Even though you didn't know him or what he had done, you weren't scared of him, and if you were you were hiding it pretty well. You were fearless, and that was worthy of his admiral. After all, you were just some girl, some girl who had had the balls to talk to all of them like that, to try to open their eyes.
"The same ours is," you said, taking your time to reply. Bernardo was impressed as well ", them. The cops and the rich people. Those should be our objectives"
Action scoffed, taking a step closer to you. Riff didn't stop him "You're just some dumb broad! Why should we listen to you?"
"You already are. And because you know I'm right, cariño" you glanced at Action and then at Riff "Am I right? You both know they are who fomented your hate against us, and they are who forced us into hard ways of living, and then hating y'all back for what you do to us"
Braulio grabbed your arm and pulled you closer to them, not liking the way Action was getting close to you "So what, you think we're all gonna be amigos just because you say so?"
"There's no need to fight" you insisted, a shot of hopelessness sliding in your tongue and your eyes. Nobody noticed, except for Bernardo a Riff "Nardo— don't fight. Piensa en mí y en Maria, y por Dios, en Anita. Fighting is unnecessary, the alliance, or at least peace, is necessary"
Bernardo crossed his arms. He glanced at Riff, finding he was already looking at him "Y/N…"
"If you were real men you will solve this the right way, Nardo. Not with stupid fights"
Braulio let go of your arm and Quique shook his head, sighing. Quique would be lying if he said he didn't agree with you "I think you should leave, Y/N. Now we have to talk"
You desperately looked at Bernardo, asking him with your eyes to stop that. To make him think about everything you had said. You looked for the last time at Riff, longer than what you had expected. You couldn't quite figure out what was going through his head at that very moment, and his eyes were so cold it got hard to breathe for you. And then, in silence, you left the bathroom, praying in all the languages you knew for the rumble to not be a thing and for the gangs to stop doing all those awful things to each other so you could all live in peace.
"Some wildflower, uh?" chuckled Riff as soon as the door closed behind you "Maybe you should teach your girlfriends to mind their business. We americans don't like people messing with our things, our deals… you Sharks make like the rats and skedaddle, no wonder why—"
"You wouldn't stop running your mouth even if they paid you, would you, pendejo?" snapped Bernardo, still with his arms crossed. His muscles's bulges were visible through his jacket "My cousin is right"
"What?" said Ice, breathlessly.
"Don't you know English now, gringo?" laughed Braulio, a grin on his face.
"Well, I'm sorry, your mouth is just so full of shit that your stupid, ugly accent is practically little understandable"
Quique stopped Braulio from trying to lunge into Ice, and so did Action with his friend. Meanwhile, Riff and Bernardo were holding a staring contest, or that's what it looked like.
For Bernardo, it was evident Riff was conflicted. He understood it, what were they both supposed to do now? They had been so busy fighting and hating and throwing punches they had never tried to see beyond them, to see what Y/N had been able to see in her first day there. And now they had the solution, right there.
"So no rumble?" insisted Bernardo, knowing Riff wouldn't say anything first, and deciding to take that matter into his own hands.
Riff felt how Ice's and Action's eyes burned a hole to the back of his neck, waiting for an answer "Really?"
"It's not worth my time chase stupid Jets around," Bernardo clicked his tongue, impatiently ", and my boys don't have the time either. We have jobs, you know. And a future. No rumble?" Bernardo held his hand out for Riff to shake. He stared at his hand, standing still "Yes alliance?"
And then, Riff decided "Fine"