Chapter Text
Nancy wasn’t sure where she was, all she knew was that she was running. Quickly, she banged on the closest residential door she could find as she heard her dad nearing. It was strange, her dad never usually left the house. He was too scared of ruining his image. Though, there was no way the neighbours didn’t near him.
The door slammed opened and there stood…her dad? He reached out and grabbed her by the throat, the familiar smell of beer lingered on him.
“Nancy, you didn’t think you could get away, did you?”
She gasped, shooting up in bed. She looked around - home. She was home. With Riff. She was safe, and she had gotten away.
“Nance,” she heard Riff mumble behind her, slowly waking up. “C’mere, doll.”
She looked behind her to see one of Riff’s blue eyes barely opened, as his arms extended for a hug.
She complied, leaning into his chest and taking deep breaths to try and calm her racing heart. She felt his hands run comfortingly up and down her back, placing a little kiss on her forehead.
“Another nightmare?” He asked. It was one of the first nights he’d willingly slept in bed next to her after the attack, and she was eternally grateful for it. It felt like his arms were a barrier between her and the world, and as long as he was there, she’d always be safe.
“Yeah.” She whispered. She still hadn’t fully gotten her voice back, and instinctively she reached up to press against her neck. She winced - the pain in her wrist, her tender throat. She had made significant progress, but there was still a lot of healing to be done.
“I’m sorry I wasn’t there sooner. I’d do anything to go back.” Nancy didn’t have the strength to argue with him right now about his guilt, but she reached down to squeeze his hand in support. It still hurt to speak.
“You’re safe now, okay?”
She nodded, and even though they were both far too warm in that position, she let her eyes flutter shut, sinking into the feeling of safety Riff brought her.
“I know, doll, I’m sorry.” It was Riff’s turn to look after her injuries, and he was surprisingly good at it. Though, she supposed she shouldn’t be too surprised. How many times had he patched his own boys up? Himself, even.
He was unwrapping her wrist so he could replace the bandage. It had gotten dirty through the rain, and he didn’t want to risk an infection or anything along those lines.
Her wrist was purple and swollen. It looked a little bit funny, but Nancy didn’t really feel like laughing. Her pain had subsided significantly, but every sharp pain or dull ache had reminded her what had happened.
“Here, let me just…” Riff had a bowl of warm water and a cloth, giving her wrist gentle dabs to try and clean it. It wasn’t perfect, but it was better. The warmth felt quite nice, as he wrapped the cloth around the offending joint.
Getting up, he gave her cheek a kiss as he moved to the kitchen to grab some paper towels. When he returned, the cloth had just about lost its warmth and he dabbed the area dry.
Riff set about replacing her bandage, trying his best to remember what Valentina’s friends had taught him. It was hard to keep the tension and be as gentle as he would’ve liked, but he was managing it.
“Thanks, Riff.” Nancy still hated speaking. She wondered if she’d ever get her voice back. Sometimes she found herself annoying - too high pitched, too abrasive, but she would’ve done anything to get that back now.
She supposed there were things she didn’t even know she was grateful for. He gave her wrist a small kiss after he was done.
“We don’t gotta go, Nance. I just think it’d be good for you to get out is all. And we can leave if you’re not enjoying yourself.” Riff had uncharacteristically bought two movie tickets for them, knowing Nancy wouldn’t be in the mood for any of his shenanigans at this point. Even though it’d pained him to spend money he didn’t have, he knew he had to do something for her. She hadn’t left the house in over a week and it was starting to worry him. She had never been one to venture out of the house too often, she loved to just cuddle into the sofa. He couldn’t have been more different - he was constantly itching just to leave the house and scurry about town. He supposed they balanced each other out, but now, Nancy had gone full hermit mode and whilst Riff had never been a wellness guru, he knew it wasn’t good for you to stay cooped up at home for over a week at a time.
“What’s the movie?” Her voice was starting to get back to normal again, and the bruising on her throat was fading. She could hide it with a scarf, and she supposed nobody could see it in the theatre anyway with how dark it would be.
“The new superman movie. It’ll be fun, even if it’s shit we can just make fun of it. Doubt anyone else is going to a midnight showing of superman but us, doll.”
He really had thought this through. It was the perfect plan for Nancy to leave the house for the first time. She was still nervous about running into her dad, but she supposed he couldn’t do anything if Riff was by her side. She trusted him - possibly a little bit too much. But she did, and that’s what mattered.
“Okay.” She whispered, nodding.
The smile on his face was worth it. She felt a little guilty seeing the relief on his face - she hadn’t been easy to be around for the last week. She spent most of it moping or sleeping.
“Alright, get dressed and let’s go, sweetheart.” Riff gave her a gentle push towards their bedroom and she complied.
Now that Nancy was alone, she began to get nervous again. What if someone saw? What if they thought Riff did that? What if she ran into her dad? What if?
She took a deep breath, popping a mint to try and distract her from her thoughts.
She got out of her pyjamas that she had been rotting in and put on one of Riff’s t-shirts and her jeans, throwing a jumper over top. She was already a little bit warm in this but had to grab a scarf anyway. She couldn’t take the risk.
“Very cute, doll.” Riff commented as she made her way into the living room. Everything was a little bit too big on her, but it suited her. He thought she looked, as he said, cute.
“Let’s go.” Nancy rolled her eyes, unable to deny the small smile that forced its way on her face.
The pair walked the few blocks to the movie theatre, hand in hand. She never understood how Riff often just went out in a tank top and a vest, she was feeling the chill through her three layers and scarf.
The movie theatre staff looked at Riff suspiciously when he entered, clearly used to his antics. They eyed Nancy, before eyeing Riff once more.
“A fella can’t take a respectable girl on a date? C’mon. I paid.” He raised his hands in mock surrender before passing over the tickets. The staff once again, eyed them suspiciously, before tearing off the stub and handing it over.
Riff winked, taking Nancy’s hand and leading them through the cinema. Nancy really didn’t understand how, even with the whole world thinking the way they did about him, he still exuded such confidence and charisma. It was like he didn’t care? But how could he not? She didn’t understand. She was feeling nerves from the way they eyed her, and she wasn’t even the one they were suspicious of.
“Relax, you know nothing’s gonna happen to you long as I’m around.” It always did amaze Nancy how well he could read her.
The two got settled in their seats at the back of the theatre. Riff was right, it was just them in there which put Nancy at ease.
The movie wasn’t too bad. Action movies weren’t particularly her thing, but it was the only thing on at that time and she knew that Riff knew that she wouldn’t have been willing to leave the house if it was busy. She mostly spent the time with her head on his shoulder, fingers linked as they shared some snacks Riff had snuck in.
What did cheer her up the most, though, was the way Riff seemed to be entranced by the movie. She knew the boys loved comic books and often traded what they had. Balkan in particular was big into them and it was the only thing he was willing to pay for. He didn’t want to risk getting banned from the store. She felt him tense at the more dramatic scenes, heard his breathing change with the tempo, the hand around her shoulder squeezing when he was nervous.
She smiled at his dramatic reactions. She wonder how he saw himself - whether he wanted to be the superman after all. She supposed they weren’t all that different, ignoring the magical powers. He did spend his life saving those around him, but they had to earn his loyalty. That was where they differed the most, with Riff’s command, he might as well have had super powers.
Riff was, as usual, right. This trip had made her feel better. And it was nice for her to be out. He might have been a smart ass but he didn’t survive as long as he did without picking up a few things.
They sat until the end of the credits, until the lights came back on and they were ushered out of the cinema.
“I know action movies ain’t your thing, but you gotta admit, that was awesome, don’t ya think?” Riff was practically skipping, buzzing with the excitement of a good movie.
“It was great.” Nancy smiled, holding back a laugh at how Riff was acting borderline like a child. In these rare moments, he seemed so innocent and youthful. He was still so young even if he didn’t seem so - being the leader of the West Side’s biggest gang forces you to grow up. But he was only in his mid twenties, and he had a whole life ahead of him.
“I saw your little smile, Nance. You don’t gotta lie to me. You loved it.” Riff jumped on a bench, jumping off the other side. Sometimes she wondered how he had so much energy all the time.
“I was smiling at you, dumbass.” Riff’s eyebrows shot up in confusion.
“What about me?”
“It’s cute when you get like that. I don’t know. I like watching you like stuff.”
“I like plenty o’ things, doll.” Nancy saw the gentlest shade of pink on his cheeks, but decided to let it go. He was clearly already embarrassed enough.
“Yeah, fighting and bats. I mean something like…more normal.” He knew exactly what she meant, but was too shy to admit it.
“What? You’re telling me normal people don’t got a switchblade collection?”
“Oh yeah, right, I’m the silly one here.” Nancy grabbed his hand to stop him from going too far, giving his cheek a kiss. “You’re cute.”
“Well chucks, you’re gonna make a fella blush.” He was always so cheeky, so charming. And for the first time since her attack, Nancy felt fully at ease, even at night, even outside. She couldn’t believe it had only taken a week to feel this way again, and she was sure the nightmares would return as soon as her head hit the pillow. For now, though, she tried to lean into this feeling as much as she could and tried to live in the moment. She could learn a thing or two from him.