A/N: I'm glad you liked the last chapter. I was afraid I'd get flames! I'm glad I didn't.
Breaking All of The Rules.
Chapter 7
Steve woke up next to Valerie the next morning. It was nice to see her without all of that make-up on, to actually see her inner beauty shine through. Her beautiful red hair was sprawled across her pillow, her face looked like an angel. He brushed some of her hair away and she stirred, her eyes fluttering open. She smiled up at him.
"Hey," she said sleepily with a stretch.
"Hey," he smiled back down at her.
"They let you stay here?" she asked.
"Darry did," he replied. "I doubt Soda was cool with it."
"Did Soda hurt you?"
"I've been hit worse," he said with a smirk. "Besides, it's understandable. I dig it."
She laughed. "You dig it?"
He laughed too, "Yeah," he said.
A smile was still on her face as she stood up to get dressed. "Do you think Soda's still mad?"
"Probably," Steve said standing up. He pulled his jeans on.
"Here's your shirt," she said, pulling it over her head and offering it to him.
"Keep it," he said. "It looks good on you."
"It does?" She pulled a different t-shirt on and grabbed a pair of jeans.
"Yes, it does," he came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her. "And it shows everyone that you're mine," he added, nuzzling her ear.
She liked the way they looked together, in the mirror. Her red hair against his silky midnight colored hair, his tanned skin against her fair complexion. Somehow, they just looked right together. She was happy being in his arms, being his. It made her feel safe and protected.
He kept his arms around her as they went into the kitchen. They were both so happy that they couldn't stop smiling. Valeries eyes fell on Soda and her face fell.
Soda was pouring a glass of milk by the refrigerator. He turned to look at them, grimaced and then stared at the glass.
"Gimme a sec," she said to Steve, pulling away from him a little.
"Look, Soda..." she began, slowly walking toward him. "I know you're mad but..."
He glared at her. "You're disgusting," he said.
The words hurt Valerie. If he was this mad at her for sleeping with Steve, what would he do if he found out about all of the other guys? "Soda..."
"Didn't you hear me? You're disgusting," he shouted.
Valerie jumped back and tears brimmed her eyes.
"Hey," Steve said, his voice deep and loud, "you don't talk to her like that."
"Don't tell me how to talk to my own sister!" Soda turned, pointing a finger at him.
"She's my girlfriend and you're going to show her more respect than that."
Soda glared at him, and if looks could kill, Steve would be six feet under. "Like I said," he headed for the door. "You're both disgusting."
The screen door slammed and Valerie jumped at the harshness of the sound, the harshness of Soda's feelings toward her.
"Are you okay?" Steve asked, putting his arms around her.
She nodded, cleared her throat and said, "Yeah, I'm fine."
He kissed the top of her head. "I have to go to work," he gave her a tight hug and then stepped back. "You gonna be okay?"
"Yeah," she said. "Are you? Working with Soda, I mean."
"Yeah," he said to her. "I'll see you later."
"Okay," she said as she watched him leave.
"Soda didn't mean what he said," Darry told her as he walked into the kitchen.
"Sure he did," Valerie said as she sank down into the chair.
"Listen, I don't have to work today. I was thinking maybe we should switch rooms?" Darry said, grabbing a beer and sitting at the table.
"Why?" Valerie asked. She was surprised. Why was Darry being so cool about all of this?
"I just thought since you're a girl and all," he said, "you might like some privacy."
"But your bed wont fit in that room," she told him.
"I'll use that one," he said. "You can use mine. Couldn't have been all that comfortable with you and Steve both sharing that twin mattress."
"Is that why you're doing this? So Steve can stay with me?"
Darry only shrugged.
"You are the best," she threw her arms around him and he laughed. "Are you sure you don't mind?"
"I'm positive," he said.
Valerie, Darry and Pony spent most of the day exchanging the stuff from both rooms. It wasn't hard to do because Valerie hadn't been able to bring much stuff with her.
Later that night, Valerie was setting some stuff up around the room. She had taken the black shower curtain and placed on the window, because Darry hadn't had curtains up. She had washed the sheets and put them back on the bed. All of her clothes were put up, either in the closet or the dresser. She sat on the bed and looked around the room. Her own space. Her own space to share with Steve. She was thrilled.
"What the hell?" Soda's voice sounded angry.
She knew he had seen the room. She walked to the doorway and leaned against the frame.
"The social worker wouldn't like the idea of you guys sharing a room," Darry told him as he read over the newspaper.
"Bullshit," he said. "You did this so she can sleep with Steve. I can't believe you're letting this happen."
"I told you before, its better that she's here then gone with him all of the time, isn't it?"
"She shouldn't be with him at all," Soda began to yell. "She's going to end up alone and knocked up!"
"Then she'll be alone and knocked up here, not out on the streets," Darry shouted back at him. "Now you just need to shut your mouth and back off cuz this is my decision to make."
Soda was silent and walked into his room.
Valerie felt terrible. She didn't want him to hate her so much. She carefully walked into the room and stood in front of him.
"Soda..." she began.
He looked at her, a look of disgust, confusion, and guilt on his face. Was that a tear she saw in the corner of his eye? "How could you sleep with him?" he asked her.
She closed her eyes, blocking out the memory of the other men. They didn't matter now. She was with Steve. "I love him," she said.
He shook his head. "I can't even look at you right now."
With that, she turned and walked away. Would he ever understand? Would he really get over it? Had she ruined his friendship with Steve forever?
"Hey, Darry?" Pony asked as they sat in the living room?
"Yeah?" Darry didn't look up from the newspaper.
"Why are you doing this?"
He thought for a minute before he answered. "There we so many times I wasn't able to be there for her. Ya know? There's no telling what she went through at Anne's. I guess this is my way of making it up to her."
Valerie lay on her new bed, waiting for Steve to come back. She almost jumped up and ran in there to greet him when she heard the screen door open, but she didn't want to embarass herself.
"She's in there," she heard Pony say.
Steve walked into the room, a look of confusion on his face. "What's going on?"
"He let me have this room," she said. "So I can have 'privacy'."
She could almost hear him smile. "Good," he said, "because I am exhausted." He climbed into bed with her and snuggled up to her. He took in the smell of her hair, the warmth of her skin, and it all felt so right. Like home.
A/N: Sorry if this chapter was lame, but its four in the morning and I wanted to update because I love getting reviews. The Pony/Darry bit was short, but I needed a way to tell why he was doing all of it, you know? I didn't want Darry to be too cool about it, but he's just gotten his sister back and he wants her to be happy and Steve makes her happy. Soda may seem a little out of character, but put yourself in his shoes, your baby sister is sleeping with your best friend. Wouldn't you feel disgusted? Betrayed? Angry?
Anyway, I'm going to answer a few of the reviews I got today.
From: simplyDISASTER: wow. really, just wow. write more please :) poor soda. Aw, thanks! I know, I feel bad for Soda too. Maybe he needs girlfriend...
From: babygurl33 oh, Soda, grow up! or maybe he's right...i dunno, my older brother doesn't
give a damn about me...update soon:)(: I know, Soda is kind of being a jerk, but understandably so, aren't all greasers kind of protective?, I wish I had an older brother to protect me. ( Maybe that's why Soda's acting that way...hmm...pyschobabble, sorry. Anyway, I'm sure your brother cares about you! I think...well just pretend Soda is your brother, okay? ;)
Where would you guys, my lovely readers who I love so much, like to see this story go? I have a pretty good idea, but I'm very open to suggestions. Thanks so much for reading, and remember I love reviews! Oh and I've lost my copy of the book, and the movie mainly focuses on Pony, so if there's anything you can tell me about Steve I would really appreciate it!
XoXo-writingiswhatiam