Trapped In Your Bleeding Heart (Riff x Reader)

Chapter Thirty - To Work We Go

"I think I'm going to marry Tony."

The loud ruffling of covers in my bed went silent when I heard her. After a moment of staring at the bottom of Maria's mattress, I spoke. "Did I fall asleep?"

"Stop that!" I heard movement from her bunk, and seconds later saw her head popping over the side of her bed. "I really love him! And he loves me!"

In impressive, fluid movements, she climbed down into my bed. "What else is there to think about?" She asked.

"Your brother." I squirmed out from under her small body. "Anita might be okay with it, but Bernardo would never let you marry Tony."

    "So we'll elope!"

    "Now that's an idea."

    Maria heaved a sigh. "Rose, I'm serious!"

I knew she was. But love at first sight didn't exist. And that wasn't me being cynical, it was the truth. How exactly did she know that Little Tony was in love the way she was? She barely knew him for a week. "Alright, cool your jets, bird." I stood, and walked to the window.

For some reason, I had hoped to see more than an empty alleyway. "When would this wedding happen? In a few months? Years?"

"As soon as possible." There was a frightening sincerity in her voice. "I want to grow up with him– and then grow old with him. I want to spend forever by his side."

The sweet sentiment felt chilling through my ears. When I was younger, I avoided men like the plague. I didn't want to risk being kicked out of nursing school for being married, or pregnant. "The storm is tomorrow. Let's just take it easy." 

Maria diminished, clearly disheartened. She climbed back to her bunk, and allowed silence to fill the room. Soon I returned to my bed as well, and wrestled with the covers once more. It was always too cold in that apartment.

"Could you do something for me?" Maria's voice came out uneasy.

"What is it?"

"Tonight I talked to Tony. I begged him not to fight. I told him that Bernardo would kill him– kill them all."

There was a pause, as if she wanted me to respond. I didn't.

"He wouldn't listen." She choked out. "He's going to get himself hurt. And I wasn't enough to prevent it."
"Is this why you want to get married to him?" I asked.

"No! Of course not!"

"Then why are you telling me this?"

"Because you're like my sister." Her voice came out barely more than a whisper. "And because– because I need your help."

In a sudden clarity, I knew exactly where this was going. "You want me to talk to Riff." I said.

Any movement from Maria's bunk halted. "Do you think he would listen to you?" She asked.

"Maybe. We haven't really talked about the rumble before." I thought back to the night at Doc's. "He was pretty serious about having it."

Another gap of silence settled in the room. "But I'll try." I said. "If I happen to see him again."

"Thank you."

After time passed, I wondered if Maria had fallen asleep. "Work isn't as fun without you." I whispered.

"You get to work with Clarice. I have to work with those sour old people."

I smiled. "Clarice talks too much. And I have to deal with gross rich people."

Maria let out a small breath. "Rich people are gross..." She agreed.

A muted laugh escaped my lips, but I didn't say more.