Author's Note: I originally posted this as three separate, but interconnected pieces on my Tumblr, but I wanted to share it here as one cohesive unit. In this chapter, the Jets share a few moments with their girls before the rumble.
Chapter 1: Parting Words
Sorella cried when Skink came to see her before the rumble with the Sharks. She usually did, always afraid that something was going to happen to him during a fight.
"Don't cry, Ella," Skink said softly, using his private nickname for her as he brushed her tears away. "It's all gonna be okay."
"Just stay safe," Sorella whimpered, holding him tightly as she pressed a kiss to his lips. "Please."
"I'll be back soon," he promised her, leaving her alone with her tears.
"Don't do anythin' stupid, A-Rab," Dot warned, sitting beside him on her fire escape, the two of them sharing a cigarette.
A-Rab smirked and was about to make a dumb comment in reply, but Dot cut him off.
"I mean it." He could hear the worry in her voice and it sobered him. "Promise me, A-Rab. Don't do anythin' stupid."
"I won't," he assured her, leaning over to kiss her deeply.
"Good. I love ya, ya idiot," Dot told him, committing his smile to memory as he climbed down the fire escape.
"Please be careful," Tat begged, her arms wrapped tightly around Balkan as she straddled his lap, the two of them perched on the end of her bed. "Please."
"I will. Ya know I will," Balkan promised her, brushing a lock of her dark hair behind her ear. He hated how worried she always looked before a rumble, but he had to see her before he went.
"I love you," Tat whispered, nuzzling her nose against his.
"I love you, too, baby," Balkan told her, pressing a kiss to her forehead before reluctantly slipping away.
"If anythin' happens ta ya, I swear I'll kill ya," Gussie warned, arching an eyebrow pointedly as she gazed up at Snowboy.
He laughed, kissing her softly. She was the only one who could manage to make him laugh before a rumble. "I know ya will. That's why I ain't gonna let anythin' happen ta me."
"Baby…" Gussie began, holding his face in her hands.
"Snowboy! We gotta go," Balkan called out, already out on the fire escape.
"I'll see ya soon, Gus," Snowboy said, pressing one more hurried kiss to her lips before scrambling out after his fellow Jet.
Gussie wordlessly found Tat, holding onto her sister in silence.
"There ain't gonna be no knives, right?" Karen asked, sitting on Ice's bed and watching as he finished getting dressed.
"No knives," Ice confirmed, slipping his jacket over his shoulders and bending down to press a kiss to the top of Karen's head. He figured it would be better not to mention the gun that Riff had acquired earlier that afternoon.
"Alright, well, it'll be fine then. Yous are used ta everythin' else," Karen said, her voice calm despite the anxiety that was knotting her stomach.
Ice stopped what he was doing, sitting beside her on the bed and taking her hand in his. "It will be fine, Karen. I promise," he said, lifting her hand and kissing the back of it.
"Just take care o' yer self, okay? An' come back in one piece," Karen told him, resting her head on his shoulder.
"I always do," Ice murmured, giving her one last kiss goodbye.
"Do ya have ta go?" Sweden asked, knowing the answer even as the question slipped past her lips.
"Ya know I do. I gotta show the Jets that I'm a fighter, that I deserve ta be one of 'em," Little Moly asserted, brushing his girlfriend's blonde hair off her shoulder.
"But they know that already, babe! Ya've already proven yer self," Sweden insisted, her hands fisting the front of his shirt. "Please…I'm scared," she admitted, lowering her gaze. She hadn't wanted to tell him, but she was.
"Ain't nothin' ta be scared of," Little Moly said comfortingly, holding her close. "The Jets always come out on top."
"Ya'll come back straight after, right?" Sweden asked, still holding onto him tightly.
"As soon as it's over," he nodded, kissing her with the confidence of a boy whose gang had never known defeat.
"Where were yous earlier?" Maxie demanded, leaning out her bedroom window to talk to Numbers, who was perched on her fire escape.
"I'm sorry, sweetheart," Numbers said, feeling guilty for having stood her up for their lunch date earlier today. He'd been intending to meet her when he and Riff and the others had gotten caught up in the argument with Tony. "We just had ta deal with some stuff for the rumble tonight."
"This damn rumble! I'll be happy when it's over," Maxie scowled, crossing her arms over her chest.
"You an' me both, baby. But don't be mad at me before I go. Please," Numbers begged, giving her his best puppy dog expression.
Rolling her eyes, Maxie leaned forward and gave him a kiss. "Fine. I'll be mad at ya after ya come back," she teased, stroking his cheek lightly. Then her expression got serious. "Come back, baby."
Nodding, Numbers blew her one more kiss before disappearing down the fire escape.
"I wish yous didn't have ta do this," Velma said, adjusting Mouthpiece's cap with nervous hands.
"I know, but we gotta," Mouthpiece replied, wrapping his arms around her waist and holding her close to him. He breathed in the scent of her perfume, wanting to have some piece of her to hold onto while he was gone. "It's about territory, baby. An' pride."
"Yous and yer pride. It'll be the death of ya," Velma frowned, wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing him lightly. When Mouthpiece tried to deepen the kiss, she pulled back teasingly. "Uh-uh. Ya'll have ta come back for more," she smirked playfully.
"Oh, don't you worry. I'll be back," Mouthpiece grinned, stealing one more peck before slipping out her bedroom window.
"Ya know I love ya, right?" Natalie whispered against Big Deal's lips, his hands buried in her hair as they held each other close.
"O' course I do," Big Deal nodded, resting his forehead against hers. They were both quiet for a minute, Natalie just gazing at him with a look of worry etched onto her face. "Why are ya lookin' at me like I'm about ta ship off ta war?" he asked her with a chuckle, trying to lighten the mood.
"I just…ya know I worry," Natalie said softly, burying her face in his chest.
"Don't worry, baby. We're gonna handle these Sharks the same way we did the Egyptian Kings an' the Bishops an' the Emeralds an' everyone else. I'll be back before ya even know I'm gone," Big Deal told her, slipping a finger under her chin and lifting her face so that she was looking at him again. "Ya believe me?"
"I believe ya," Natalie nodded, hugging him tightly before he was gone.
Rhonda was quiet as she slipped Action's leather jacket over his shoulders with trembling hands. She'd already tried to beg him not to go earlier today, though she had known her request would fall on deaf ears. There was no point in asking him again, no matter how impossible it was for her to shake the bad feeling in the pit of her stomach.
"Don't be mad at me," Action pleaded, wrapping his arms around her and burying his face in her neck. "Ya know I gotta go."
"I ain't mad at ya," Rhonda assured him, gently caressing the nape of his neck as she held him close. "I just…I just want ya ta be careful," she whispered, pressing a kiss to the side of his face.
"I love you, baby," Action told her, kissing her shoulder and then reaching up to cup her cheek. "I'm comin' home ta ya as soon as I can."
"I love you, too," Rhonda said, resting her hand over his. "I'll see ya soon."
"Yer gonna be careful, right?" Mack asked, chewing on her lower lip as Tiger gently brushed her hair back from her face.
Nodding, he smiled at her. "O' course I am, babe. An' the Jets've got my back," he added confidently, not looking worried at all about the impending rumble. "Ya got nothin' ta worry about."
"I know," Mack replied with a smile, though deep down she was worried. "Just watch yer back, okay?"
Tiger didn't tell Mack about the gun. She'd just get upset and he didn't want that right before he had to leave her. So instead, he kissed her one last time, flashed her a wink, and then hurried off to meet up with Riff and the others.
"Here, honey," Mamie said softly, grabbing the leather jacket that Diesel always wore whenever he and the Jets were rumbling. It was the leather jacket that he'd given her when they first started going steady, the jacket that had signified to everybody that she was his girl. She always gave it back to him for a rumble, as a kind of good luck charm.
Diesel gazed down at her as she slipped it over his shoulders, drinking in every detail of her beautiful face. He loved her so much. Leaving her was always the hardest part about going to fight with the Jets. He ran his fingers through her soft brown waves of hair as she rested her hands against his chest.
"Remember, this is for good luck," Mamie told him, tugging on the jacket. "So ya come back ta me," she added, cradling his face in her hands as she kissed him tenderly.
"Always, baby," Diesel said, cupping her cheek and brushing his thumb across her soft skin. "I'll be back soon," he vowed, kissing her deeply.
"I'll be waitin'," Mamie promised, watching him hurry away with tears burning the backs of her eyes.
Tessie sat on the swing nervously, twisting her hands in her lap. She and Baby John had gone to the playground to avoid being overheard by her father or his mother.
"Are ya scared?" she asked quietly, reaching out to take one of his hands in her own. He'd been in fights before, but nothing quite like this.
Had anyone else asked him that, Baby John would have lied and said no. But Tessie had always been able to see right through him. "Yeah," he admitted, running his free hand down the leg of his jeans. His palms felt clammy with sweat.
"It's gonna be okay. Riff an' Ice an' the others will be lookin' out for ya," Tessie said reassuringly, squeezing his hand gently.
Baby John nodded, smiling over at her. "I should probably get goin'. I don't wanna be late," he told her, reluctantly rising from his swing.
Tessie immediately rose as well and reached out to stop him. "Johnny," she said, waiting until he had turned to look at her. "I love you." She had never said it out loud before, but there it was. And she meant it. She'd loved him her whole life.
Baby John gaped at her for a minute before finally coming to his senses and taking her in his arms. "I love you, too, Tessie," he told her with a smile, kissing her sweetly.
"Stay safe," Tessie whispered, waving to him as he hurried off, a new spring in his step.
Words weren't often needed between Riff and Graziella. They knew one another so well. Each of them could tell what the other was thinking without either having to say anything. She knew he was nervous from the way he twisted his mother's bracelet around his wrist. He knew she was worried about him from the way she kissed him just a little bit too hard.
Before the rumble, they got lost in each other's arms one last time, wordlessly conveying all that needed to be said.
When it was time for him to go, he touched her blonde hair lightly, twisting his finger around one of her curls. "I'll see ya later, Grazi," he murmured, looking deeply into her eyes.
She wanted to tell him. She wanted to open her mouth and say the words. She didn't know why she couldn't. Maybe it was because "I love you" didn't even come close to encompassing what they had. Maybe it was because "I love you" didn't even scratch the surface of her need for him, the way he filled her heart and was the very air she breathed. She didn't know how to say it, so she didn't.
"See ya, Grazi," he chuckled, kissing her one last time before ducking out her bedroom window.
She didn't say it. And she would regret it for the rest of her days.
Next Up: The Jets face the consequences of their actions in the aftermath of the rumble.
