Chapter Five has arrived. I hope you enjoy it.

Emily woke up a few hours later feeling incredibly guilty. She lay in bed her mind racing. She'd kissed Riff, multiple times and she felt excited and happy and that made her feel guilty. She had been in love with Aiden and while he'd been gone for two years, she just felt like it was yesterday. Was she dishonouring his memory? Feeling confused and angry at herself she got up and went about her morning routine before heading over to the bookstore to work her shift. It was a nice shift, ten until two so she had time to come home afterwards and get ready for dinner at the Krupke home. Something else she was feeling nervous about, especially after last night.

She decided in the time she had to make one of her apple pies to take over for dessert and left that cooling while she changed into a simple green dress that fell to her knees, it was perfect for dinner and then her evening shift at McCreedy's pub. Luckily keeping busy today was distracting her from dealing with the emotions swirling inside of her. Emily had her way across town and up the steps to the familiar home knocking on the door.

The door swung open to reveal a beaming Nancy who flung her arms around Emily.

"Oh wow." Emily hugged her back. "It's good to see you too Nance."

Nancy smiled at her stepping back. "I've missed you so much. You look far too thin. Come in, come in." She pulled her into the house.

Emily walked into the house and handed over the pie. "Dessert as promised."

Nancy accepted the pie. "You shouldn't have."

"Hey, gave me an excuse to bake again." Emily waved her off when she felt something bump into her legs. She looked down to see a little girl hugging onto her legs with a mop of curly black hair and big green eyes. "Hey, this is never little Harriet, look at you." Emily knelt and looked at the little girl. "I bet you don't remember me?"

"Arnie Em." Harriet hugged her tightly.

"Oh, I'll take that as a yes." Emily chuckled looking up to see John grinning at her from the doorway. "And hey what is this behind your ear." She reached up and pulled a quarter from behind little Harriet's ear causing the little girl to gasp and squeal in delight as she get the shiny coin to her.

"Thank you." Harriet gasped.

Emily grinned. "You're welcome beautiful."

"Better go put it in your piggy bank kid." John told his daughter.

Harriet nodded and rushed up the stairs to her bedroom.

John walked over and hugged Emily. "Glad to see you here in one piece." He looked at her with concern. "Last night..."

"I know." Emily cut him off. "I'm sorry."

John nodded. "It's okay."

"So, Harriet remembers me?" Emily asked him.

"Of course, we showed the kids your picture, you and Aiden." John showed her the photographs on the fireplace and sure enough there they were. It was college graduation, and they were smiling at the camera, arms slung around each other. Six months before their lives completely changed. She'd just been accepted into medical school, Aiden was following in his big brother's footsteps and joining the police force. "Oh, look at me." Emily wiped at her eyes.

John placed his hand on her shoulder. "I know it was never made official, but you will always be my sister-in-law." He told her.

Emily smiled at him. "You'll always be my big brother-in-law."

"Well as your big brother-in-law it's my job to tell you, that it's okay." John told her softly.

"What do you mean?" Emily frowned.

John sighed. "Aiden would want you to be happy." He replied. "I'm not exactly thrilled about the guy who's making you happy but... I've known Riff since he was a kid and boy hasn't got the good sense god gave a pigeon, then again neither did Aiden once upon a time." He shook his head, smiling fondly at memories of his little brother.

Emily nodded; she didn't quite realise how much she needed to hear those words, but they soothed the boiling guilt inside her. "Thank you. But how did you?"

"I saw the way he was looking at you at the dance." John nodded his head. "I'll say this, that boy ain't got a clue what he's getting himself in for."

Nancy walked back into the room with a tray of drinks handing them out. "Oh, I love that picture of you two." She noticed what they were looking at.

Emily nodded. "Me too."

They sat down to dinner, chatting about old times and what was going on now. After Dinner John walked into the living room with a box and set it down, along with an old acoustic guitar. "We thought you might like these. I kept them safe."

Emily accepted the guitar and the box not ready to look inside yet. "Thank you. Well, I should get going." She stood up from the couch and hugged the two of them in turn. "Thank you for dinner and for... everything."

John smiled at her. "Anytime. Look after yourself."

Emily nodded her head. "Always do." She waved to Nancy and left the house, making her way home.

Riff sat with Tony on the fire escape of their apartment, sharing a joint and beer. Tony eyed his best friend taking a hit off the joint. "So, come you and Emily?"

"What about me and Emily?" Riff asked.

"You like her." Tony stated.

Riff shrugged.

Tony shook his head. "Don't do that."

"What?"

"That thing where you pretend not to care." Tony told him.

Riff took the joint and took another hit. "I don't know man, one minute she's acting like she's not interested and the next she's pushing me up against an alley wall and kissing me." He shook his head. "She drives me crazy."

Tony chuckled. "Well, it's about time you met someone to drive you crazy for a change."

Riff rolled his eyes and playfully kicked Tony. "There's something about her Tony, I can't explain it but she just..." He sighed. "I don't know."

"Well, you're seeing her tomorrow, right?" Tony asked him.

"Yeah."

"So, take her out, get to know her, if you can, that girl is a closed book." Tony chuckled.

Riff nodded, looking out over the city, the weed kicking in and thought about Emily. He did like her, but she was confusing. Girls had always been easy, compliment them, take em somewhere nice, show them a good time, flirt but none of that seemed to appeal to Emily.

The next day Riff walked into Emily's apartment building and climbed stairs until he reached number 11. He paused and took a deep breath before knocking on the door. The door opened to reveal Emily looked pale and tired, but she was smiling. "Hey." She greeted him.

"Hi." Riff greeted her. She was wearing the blue dress she'd been wearing the other night, her hair twisted up in a bun on top of her head, a few curls framing her face. "You look lovely." He told her.

Emily blushed. "Thank you. Here you're going to need these." She held up a pair of roller skates to him.

Riff frowned taking the skates. "Why?"

Emily grinned. "You'll see." She swung her roller skates over her shoulder and closed the door behind her. "Come on daddy-o." She grabbed his hand and led him out of the building.

They walked for a while in comfortable silence until Emily led him into an old warehouse manned by a guy in a khaki green vest and brown slacks. He smiled seeing Emily. "Em, good to see you again girl. Who is your friend?"

Emily smiled. "Hey Carl, this is Riff." She took out ten cents and handed it to him.

Carl took the money with a grin. "Enjoy."

Riff followed Emily into the warehouse in confusion and his jaw dropped, the large floor of the warehouse had been cleared and there were various ramps. People on skateboards, bikes and roller skates were moving around the large space doing jumps and flips. Emily sat down on a chair and started lacing up her skates. Riff sat down next to her and put on his on skates, he had never actually done this before and as soon as he stood up, he was falling on his ass.

Emily held out her hand to him and he pulled himself up. "Okay keep your feet shoulder width apart and bend your knees." She instructed him.

Riff did as she said feeling completely ridiculous as she held onto his hand.

"Great now push off with one foot and glide with the other until you lose momentum, then switch your gliding foot. While you're gliding on one foot, keep the other one above the floor so that it doesn't impede your gliding. Like this." Emily began to skate backwards pulling him along with her.

Riff watched her feet for a moment and then tried to mimic her and lost his foot staggering into her, but Emily caught him with a light laugh. He frowned at her. "Is this your cruel way of wounding my ego?"

Emily shook her head. "Nope. Come on, try again."

It took him a while, but Riff was able to skate beside her in a circle around the edge of the floor. It was kind of nice, gliding along, holding her hand but he could tell Emily was getting a bit bored of just skating in circles. So, he faked being tired and sat down in the chair while she started skating up and down the ramps, doing various flips and tricks, it was impressive, he wondered how she could be so graceful on wheels but terrible on the dance floor. Emily rolled over to him and held out her hand. "Ready for another try?"

Riff smiled and took her hand. He got more confident this time and he watched Emily move her feet and started mimicking her as she did a few tricks, and he did fall on his ass and his face a fair amount, but he did manage a few things after a while. It was fun, he'd never done anything like this before. But it was better being here with Emily.

They changed their skates for their shoes again and Riff found it was strange being on solid ground again. He wrapped his arm around Emily as they walked down the street. "That was fun." He smiled at her.

"Glad you enjoyed it." Emily smiled at him. "You can keep the skates as well; you need the practice." She nudged him with her hip.

Riff chuckled and looked down at the skates in his hand. "Thanks. And hey I think I did pretty good for a first timer, we can't all be a roadrunner like you."

"Meep, meep." Emily laughed.

"How is it you can do all that with four wheels on each foot but are terrible on the dancefloor?" Riff asked her.

Emily shrugged. "Your guess is as good as mine."

They stopped by the café that they had crashed into each other the other day and sat inside ordering coffee and a couple of pastries. Emily watched in horror as Riff poured sugar into his coffee. "You want some coffee with that sugar?"

"I like it sweet." Riff shrugged.

"Heathen." Emily sipped her coffee.

Riff picked up the cream and laughed as Emily gasped. "Oh, I can't watch." She shook her head, covering her eyes. Riff finished with the cream and drank down half of his coffee. "Okay, you can look." He pulled her hands away.

Emily shook her head smiling him. "You're a child."

Riff chuckled. "So, you keep telling me." He pressed his lips together. "Can I ask you something and get a straight answer?"

"Depends on the question." Emily answered.

"How do you know Krupke?" Riff asked her. "I saw you talking at the dance, you were laughing and talking like you knew each other and then in the alleyway..."

Emily sighed. "I was hoping you hadn't seen that." She sipped her coffee. "I used to date John's brother." She answered him.

"Krupke has a brother?" Riff frowned.

"Had, he died." Emily explained to him.

"Oh." Riff looked down at his coffee not sure what to do with that information. "When did he..."

"Two years ago."

Riff nodded. "I'm sorry."

Emily gave him a small smile. "It's okay."

"Does you knowing him effect whatever this is between us?" Riff asked her.

Emily shook her head. "Not for me."

Riff cocked an eyebrow. "Really? Even though I'm a juvenile delinquent?"

Emily chuckled and then her face fell serious. "Riff, I've known some pretty bad people in my short life, I know a bad person when I see one and you're not a bad person."

Riff didn't know what to say to that. No one had ever said that to him. He rubbed the back of his neck and glanced out of the window. He felt Emily reach out and place her hand over his and looked back at her. There was nothing that needed to be said but a silent understanding passed through them. Riff had been with girls before but most often they wanted to change him, to make him something else, but Emily, she accepted him as he was. They finished their coffees, Riff paid for them as Emily had paid for the roller-skating and they made their way back to Emily's place.

They walked back to Emily's apartment hand in hand and Riff longed to ask her more questions, but he didn't want to push because he'd noticed when he pushed is when Emily began to back off and he really doesn't want her to back off. They walk in comfortable silence when a loud bang of a car backfiring echoed in the street and before Riff can even register what is happening, Emily is pulling him down behind a car her eyes wide with panic. He grins at her. "It was just a car backfiring." He tried to reassure her, but Emily didn't appear to be listening. Her eyes are moving around frantically in every direction looking for the source of the bang. "Em?" He reached out and touched her cheek causing her head to snap at him. "It was just a car beautiful."

Emily blinked at him her breathing slowing and he saw the flash of embarrassment cross her face. "Right." She let out a breathy laugh. "Sorry." She ran her hand through her hair and got to her feet. Riff could see she was shaking, and he wrapped his arm around her. More questions piled on top of all the other questions, and he forced himself not to ask.

They arrived back at her apartment, and she invited him in for coffee. Noticing how she was still so shaky and jumpy he nodded. "But I think you should switch to decaf." He joked following her into the building.

Emily laughed and nodded her head. "Probably." She unlocked the door and stepped into the apartment.

Riff followed behind her and glanced around her home, it was small, and cosy and it felt like somewhere Emily would live. The living area had a small two-seater couch and an armchair, a coffee table, a bookcase sagging from being stuffed full of books that had spilled out onto the floor in neat little stacks, a piano has been pushed up against one wall. There's an actual fireplace that will hold a proper fire and Riff gets a sudden image of him and Emily curled up on the couch in winter with the fire lit. Above the fireplace is a row of framed photographs. Curious Riff walks over to look at them. There's a picture of a child who he assumes must have been Emily, her hair doubling the size of her head, grinning at the camera with one front tooth missing. The next picture is of child Emily sitting with a beautiful woman, he guessed must be her ma, they were sitting on the porch of an old farmhouse, the tail end of a chicken running out of shot in the left corner. The next picture was much later a teenage Emily in a cap and gown stood next to a handsome young man with a mop of dark curly hair and a mischievous grin as he made bunny ears behind her head. That had to be Aiden he guessed. There were a couple of other pictures of people he didn't recognise but none really of Emily past that photo.

Emily walked over handing him a mug of coffee and took a sip of her own looking over the pictures. "That's my ma." She pointed to the picture of her and the woman.

"You look like her." Riff observed.

Emily shook her head. "Nah she was far prettier than me."

Riff looked down at her. "I think you're both beautiful." He told her. "Where is she?"

"She died about a year after that picture was taken." Emily answered.

"And your dad?"

"Who knows I've not seen him since I left Oklahoma at 16." Emily sipped her coffee.

Riff frowned. "You're from Oklahoma?"

Emily nodded her head. "Yep." She turned and flopped into the armchair pulling her feet up to curl around her. "I came to New York for college. I graduated high school early and got the hell out of that small town." She explained to him.

"Guess you don't miss it?" Riff asked sitting down on the couch.

"Sometimes." Emily admitted. "I should go back one day but I dunno feels like that bridge is too badly burnt to try and cross over it again." She sighed.

"Why?" Riff asked.

Emily shook her head. "My pa had very specific ideas of what he wanted for his daughter and none of that involved college. So, I left that up to my sister."

"You have a sister?" Riff watched her closely waiting for a signal that it was time to stop asking questions.

"Well half-sister and a half-brother. My dad remarried when I was fourteen. I didn't really fit in the family portrait at that point." Emily sighed. "What about you? Your folks around? Siblings?" She asked him.

Riff shrugged. "My dad died a couple of years ago. Ma is around but we don't talk. I've got a younger brother; ma has been doing her best to keep him away from my bad influence." He made air quotations around the last two words and rubbed the back of his neck.

Emily watched him over the rim of her coffee cup. "That must suck."

"Yeah." Riff nodded his head. "But I got Tony and the Jets so can't complain too much."

"Sometimes family is what we make it." Emily smiled at him.

Riff grinned thinking of his guys, The Jets, who were just like him, and he had to agree, family was what you made it. He glanced around the small living room taking in the smaller details, the walls were painted a pale yellow or had just faded from white to yellow he wasn't sure. The piano was covered in bits of paper and books, he wondered if she really played it, the kitchen behind them was small with just enough space to move around the table and chairs in the middle. A door directly across from the front door was open and he caught sight of a bedroom. At a 90-degree angle from the door to the bedroom was another door which he assumed led to the bathroom. He glanced back at Emily who was watching him curiously. "What?" He asked her.

Emily smiled. "Nothing." She glanced away.

Riff jumped as something fell into his lap and looked down into big amber eyes. The cat looked up at him, it's tail flicking from side to side. "This yours?" Riff asked.

"Finally decided to come home, did you?" Emily said to the cat. "Old lady upstairs realise you weren't hers and stop feeding you I'm guessing." She got up and walked into the kitchen and filled up the water dish and food bowl.

Hearing the food, the cat leapt from Riff's lap and went straight for the food. Riff chuckled as he watched Emily cross her arms shaking her head.

"What's his name?" Riff asked as Emily sat back down in the armchair.

"Frankie." Emily answered.

Riff frowned. "Weird name for a cat."

Emily shrugged. "It suits him more than you know." She smiled to herself at her private joke. "He was a stray I kept him around because he was good at catching rats but since we moved here, he's been getting very friendly with the old lady two floors up and I got fed up going up there to find him. He usually finds his way back eventually."

"Sounds like my kind of cat." Riff grinned at her. "I always wanted a cat or a dog, but dad was allergic." He sighed feeling a pang in his chest thinking about his dad. "I remember when I was nine Tony, and I found this tiny puppy in a box in an alley and snuck it into my room would have been fine if it hadn't gotten out and chewed my dad's best shoes. Then my dad started sneezing the place up and we had to find him a new home." Riff told her.

Emily smiled. "You and your dad were close?"

Riff nodded. "Sort of, I was always a bit of a troublemaker, and he was Mr Respectable so we clashed but he was a decent dad, rare I know, but then he got sick and…" He shook his head. "I just know if I'm gonna die I ain't doing it in a hospital."

"Noted." Emily nodded her head. "Are you hungry?" She asked him.

"I could eat." Riff replied.

Emily got up and walked into the kitchen opening the fridge and looked inside. "I can make pasta." She glanced up at him.

Riff nodded. "Pasta sounds good. You need a hand?" He asked.

"Sure." Emily started pulling out vegetables and the meat from the fridge and laying it on the table. She turned around and grabbed a knife out of the block turning back to Riff. "How are your chopping skills?"

"Oh, I'm excellent at the slice and dice." Riff got up and walked over to the table.

Emily set him to work chopping up the mushrooms, peppers, tomatoes and onions while she began browning the meat and boiling water for the pasta. Riff watched Emily cook while he chopped making sure not to take off any of his fingers. He smiled when Emily started singing to herself, a tune he didn't know but she had a pretty voice, soft and lilting. He flinched when the cat climbed up his leg and curled up in his lap, but he let it slide. Suddenly it hit Riff that this is what life could be like, a future where he cooked with Emily after coming home from a day working some job he enjoyed. It swelled in his chest a feeling of hope crushed by overwhelming fear that this would be destroyed like everything else in his life had been.

Emily glanced over her shoulder at him and swept the chopped vegetables up adding them to the pot putting long strips of spaghetti into the boiling water. Riff watched her scratching behind the cats ears as he did, feeling like he should say something but not knowing what to say so instead stayed silent.

Finally, Emily placed a plate of pasta in front of him and he grinned at her thanking her. Emily sat down opposite him with her own smaller plate, and they tucked into the meal. It was one of the best things Riff had ever eaten and he would have licked the plate clean if that had been socially acceptable. Emily grinned at him and asked if he would like more, and he nodded accepting the second portion. "Where'd you learn to cook?" Riff asked her.

Emily smiled as the fond memories of time in Nanna Rose's kitchen came right back to her. "Her name was Nanna Rose not really my Nanna, but she made us all call her that. She sort of took me under her wing for a bit when she realised, I couldn't even make toast without causing a small fire." She chuckled shaking her head.

Riff smiled and nodded his head. "Well, I'm grateful for Nanna Rose." He joked. "This is probably the best thing I've ever tasted."

Emily blushed and shook her head. "It's only pasta."

"The best pasta." Riff shook his head and made a show of shoving another forkful into his mouth.

Emily laughed. "Okay well you're welcome to the leftovers to heat up I always make too much even when I'm cooking for just me."

Riff gaped at her but nodded his head. "Thanks." He finished his plate and looked over at her.

"No problem." Emily picked up the plates and put them in the sink.

Riff stood up momentarily forgetting the cat on his lap who slid to the floor with a thump and a hiss, but he ignored the cat walking around the table to come to stand in front of Emily and placed his hand on her hip. His other hand came up to brush hair from her face and lingered cupping her cheek. Riff leant down and brushed his lips against hers in a soft, tender kiss that turned her legs to jelly. Emily closed her eyes wrapping her arms around his neck for support more than anything and embraced the kiss that shattered her and then put her back together again. She pulled him closer deepening the kiss needing more, needing him to hold her tighter, kiss her harder, remind her she was human, that she was alive. Riff wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her tightly into his embrace. His broke his lips from hers and trailed kisses down her neck which made her giggle and he looked up at her in confusion. "Are you ticklish?"

Emily went as red as her hair. "No."

Riff traced a finger along the side of her neck, and she squeaked flinching from him. He chuckled and kissed her softly on the lips. "I think you're ticklish."

Emily playfully glared at him and smacked his chest. "My Achilles heel." She mumbled.

Riff kissed her again and she rolled her eyes. "I'm certainly learning more about you today Miss Emily."

"I know I can't believe I'm losing my air mystery already." Emily sighed.

"Don't worry dear you'll always be a mystery to me." Riff played with a strand of her hair. "What about me? Do I have an air of mystery?"

Emily chuckled. "Oh, sweetie you're an open book but one I very much enjoy reading."

Riff leant down and kissed her again. God he never wanted to stop kissing her.

A sharp knock at the door broke them apart and Emily frowned at the door. There was a pause of silence and then more urgent knocking. Slipping out of Riff's arms Emily walked over to the door and opened it to see a woman holding her child. "Excuse me sorry to disturb." The woman apologised. "My son, he fell they said you could help."

Emily nodded her head seeing the cloth stained bloody around the child's arm. "Come in." She stepped aside and the woman walked into the apartment and stopped seeing Riff stood there. "Oh, forgive me I shouldn't…"

"It's all right." Emily said softly placing her hand on the woman's arm. "Sit him on the table for me." She walked over to a cabinet under the sink and took out her bag.

Riff watched Emily sit down at the table. "Now little man let's take a look at that arm huh?" She gently peeled the cloth away to reveal a three-inch gash. "Ooo that's a nasty one what happened there?"

"Fell off the swings." The boy mumbled.

"Well, I hope you taught those swings a lesson." Emily smiled at him and looked over at his mother. "It's not too deep so it won't need stitches but I'm going to clean and dress it and I'll give you supplies to do it. You should change the dressings once a day and he'll need to keep it clean and dry."

"Si, gracias, thank you." The woman nodded her head.

Riff watched Emily work on dressing the child's wound. Watching her joke and talk with the boy to distract him from what she was doing until she was done. She gave the boy's mother a bunch of dressings and a cream to help stop infection. The woman tried to give Emily money, but she refused.

"Really it was my pleasure." Emily waved her off kneeling down. "You watch out for those swings okay buddy?" She reached up and from behind his ear produced a lollipop. "For being such a good patient."

The boy looked like Emily had just turned into Santa Claus before his eyes and took the offered treat with a huge smile. "Thank you." He gasped. "Mama look."

The woman smiled and nodded her head. "That's wonderful Miha. Thank you, Miss, you are an angel." She told her.

Emily waved her off. "It was nothing. Get home safe." She waved to them before closing the door and turning to Riff with a fond smile. "Sorry about that."

Riff stared at her in shock. "That happen often?" He asked her.

Emily shrugged. "Sometimes. I helped a guy who had had a bad injury on a construction site who couldn't go to a hospital and word kinda spread. They try to pay but I don't accept money, don't feel right. Every so often I get food or a bottle of something left on my doorstep." She rubbed the back of her neck looking bashful.

Riff didn't understand it. Why would a girl this good to just help people because she could want anything to do with him? He was usually behind hurting people; he fought the world with two fists and believed in a it was them or him philosophy.

Emily frowned seeing the look on his face. "What?" She asked looking concerned.

"Nothing." Riff sighed. "I should get going. Can I see you again?"

"Do you want to?" Emily asked.

Riff nodded.

"You can see me again." Emily agreed.

Riff closed the distance between them and pulled her in for a passionate kiss. It wasn't just a kiss it was a promise, a promise he made in his heart, that he would try to do better for her, that he was in this for the long haul, that he wanted her to see herself as he saw her. He pulled back and looked down at her. "What are you doing tomorrow?" He asked her.

Emily had to take a second from the kiss to register his question and remember what her plans were for Sunday. She had the brunch shift at the diner and then she usually went to the churchyard to visit Aiden. "I have a shift at the diner ten until two and then I usually stop by the churchyard but I'm free after that at about four." She answered.

Riff nodded. "Can I come over around five. Take you to the movies?"

"I'd like that." Emily nodded. "Just not a sappy romance, please."

"You got yourself a deal." Riff leant down and kissed her softly.

Emily smiled. "Oh, don't forget your leftovers." She rushed around the kitchen putting the pasta into a container and gave it to him. She reached up and kissed him again. "Good night Riff."

"Good night Emily." Riff stepped out of the door and began the walk home his heart feeling lighter than it had in a very long time.