A/N: There’s not much to say to introduce this oneshot; I suppose all I really can say is that this is an A-Rab/Anybodys ficlet, because I personally feel that there is just not enough of this pairing. Please let me know what you thought, because I am always, always eager to hear how I might or improve, or simply what you liked about it. Thanks!

Disclaimer: Nothing you see is mine.

It only takes one night for the world to go away. In one night, a Puerto Rican girl and an American boy found their soul mates in one another. In one night, the fates of many were determined. In one night, three boys were murdered by an unfounded hatred. In one night, a girl of sixteen was widowed. And in one night, just for a moment, the world went away for two people.

It took awhile for the Jets and the Sharks to coexist peacefully. A few tussles broke out, but the hate died down. Maria orchestrated it all, giving stern looks to those who fought and smiling at those who made an effort to create amity where there had been animosity. A few months later, the idea that a gang war had ever taken place between these two groups was almost unimaginable.

Five months after Riff, Bernardo, and Tony had died, Maria was hit by a truck.

Anita locked herself in her room and would not come out. Snowboy claimed that she had simply not looked when crossing the street and that the truck had come out of nowhere. Rosalia swore Maria meant to do it. Consuelo was so angry that she slapped her for saying such a thing. But many wondered if that was the case. Maria had stood firm when the world was crumbling—she had helped to piece it back together. Without her, there was no foundation for the shaking earth.

A-Rab wasn’t sure he could handle it. He had barely been able to function after Riff and Bernardo, and he had had a breakdown and punched a hole in his hall after Tony had died. But Maria? She was irreplaceable. He didn’t know whether to be angry as before or dejected as he felt now. He needed something, something to help him keep cool. But what? What could possibly soothe him now that Maria was gone?

Similarly, Anybodys was scampering around on the fire escapes, unable to hold still for even a moment. She wanted to cry, ached to release the tears, but she felt as if she would die if she sat still for a moment too long. She ran out of breath, could feel her blood rushing through her body and begging her to pause. She dropped down a final ladder and stumbled to a stoop, dropping down onto it and gasping, shuddering.

Their paths inevitably crossed.

A-Rab heard her before he saw her, heard her shuddering gasps before he noticed the huddled bundle of fear on the stoop a few feet ahead. He paused and then moved forward, standing before her. He expected her to glare up at him with her steely eyes and snap at him, but she didn’t. He almost wanted her to be angry, but his strength failed when he saw her dull eyes. He dropped onto the stoop beside her, staring at his tennis shoes, which glowed in the dark.

“I feel like I can’t breathe,” she whispered.

“Me too,” he agreed quietly. He tried to heave a shuddering sigh and found himself unable to gather enough air. “Everything’s gonna change again.”

“Good or bad?”

He wasn’t sure. He shrugged, his jacket rustling. “I don’t know. And I don’t wanna think about it.”

Anybodys was quiet for a minute. Then, “D’ya think…it was s’posed ta happen?”

A-Rab was still. “Whaddya mean?”

She took a trembling breath. “Maybe…maybe she was supposed ta die that night. She wanted to. Remember? Only…only she waited too long.”

“Stop it,” A-Rab said at once, his voice cracking. Somehow, he knew she was right—the circle had been completed with Maria’s death. It was like an ancient story that struck a long-forgotten chord in his memory.

They were quiet for a moment. Anybodys sensed that A-Rab was not angry with her and hesitantly spoke again.

“Why can’t we just go back to the way things were?” Anybodys whispered. “Remember the dance the night before it, before it happened? How everyone was so happy? We were just showing off…we didn’t know…the next night…they would be dead…”

A-Rab wasn’t sure why, but without thinking, his arm shot out and wrapped around her scrawny little shoulders. And for some reason, she didn’t pull away or shake him off or even flinch. She went still for a moment, and then, much to A-Rab’s surprise, scooted in closer. He tried to justify it by the fact that he was wearing a jacket and she was only in her ratty t-shirt, but somehow, he knew that wasn’t really the case. So he kept his arm right where it was, knowing that it wasn’t safe to move much closer to her.

But she was persistent. “Hold me tighter, A-Rab.”

He couldn’t reject her, not when she said it in that small little voice. So he pulled her closer until his hand could touch his chest, and she buried herself into his side. And it felt nice. He resisted the temptation to droop his head onto hers; it wasn’t right. He shouldn’t do it. It was just Maria’s death affecting him; he would feel differently later. He had to keep cool. But how the hell was he expected to keep cool when she made him feel as if he were on fire?

He winced and tried to put some space in between them, tried to keep himself from doing something he might regret later. His shift did absolutely nothing to help, for her fingers clutched at his shirt then, refusing to let go. And though he felt as if her fingers were burning into his chest, he had rarely felt so good. But he wanted, needed more. It was all he understood at that moment; his mind could tell him little else. And so he turned to her and pressed his lips to hers.

It wasn’t a kiss; not really. A-Rab dropped his face from hers before it had time to turn into a kiss, burning with shame and numb to the fingers that clutched tighter at his shirt.

“Don’t you do that ta me,” she breathed in a low voice.

He shook his head. He couldn’t find words. “I…I’m losin’ it, Anybodys.”

“Ya don’t have to hold it back,” she told him simply. Seeing the indecision on his face, she brushed her fingers across his face and tilted her head, her lips meeting his.

This time he let it happen, let his emotions take over. And he didn’t feel the remorse he expected—he felt a release. He leaned back against the concrete steps of the stoop, the arm that had been around her shoulders sliding down to her back, pulling her against him. His other hand rested on the curve where her shoulder met her neck. She shifted, wriggling until she sat sideways in his lap, her legs dangling over his. She brought her fingers up to either side of his face, bringing the fire he was so addicted to. While their lips touched, the world went away.

How long they sat like that, neither of them could tell. It was still dark when they pulled apart, the stars still dim with Maria’s death. Neither of them spoke, neither of them tried to say that Maria would have wanted it or anything to justify it. They had found peace in a moment where the world as they knew it had fallen apart, and it needn’t have been acknowledged by words.

Not long afterwards, he moved down the street, his hands in his jacket pockets and his mind turning over and over, and she scampered up the ladder and into the jungle of fire escapes. They didn’t know when they would see each other again and for some reason, it didn’t really seem to matter. They weren’t like Tony and Maria had been, needing to be around each other as much as possible. But a change had occurred that night, and not just in Maria’s permanent absence. They were joined by a bond now, a bond neither could explain or even fully understand. It made sense in its own way.

Maria’s death would not be the last. Others would follow—Diesel, Doc, Pepe, Chino, Clarice, Rosalia, Tiger, Mouthpiece...And each time, life would freeze. A-Rab would wander down the streets, his eyes searching each stoop, and Anybodys would scramble over fire escapes, her eyes searching each sidewalk. Their paths would cross and the world would go away for a moment.

It only takes one night for the world to go away.