"Wow, I never saw that one coming." Karen's eyes are wide as she stares at the ring Dally usually wears. It sits comfortably on my pointer finger, as big as it could be.
"Yeah." I just shake my head, it hasn't really sunk in yet what I did last night.
"You told Tim yet?" she frowns as though his name alone disgust her thoroughly.
"No, and don't you go tellin' Curly." I give her the sharpest look that I can muster and my mood falls when she doesn't even have it in her to joke back at me.
"Curly won't be knowing anytime soon." She fiddles with the bars of her swing. We've been sitting in the old park for what must be an hour by now, Karen didn't want to be going anywhere else, and I agreed.
"What do you mean?" I look over at her, her brown eyes are cast towards the ground, and I know if I wasn't around she would be crying.
"We ain't seeing each other at the moment." She sniffs, finally looking up and out to nowhere at the rows of houses in front of us.
"What? Karen I'm sorry, I hadn't a clue."
"No, it's alright," she pauses, putting a hand on her stomach like something is making her feel real ill "we're okay." Her eyes meet mine, and I'm sure I look like a deer caught in the headlights.
"Glory." Is all I can muster as I stare at her stomach.
"I found out Saturday, I've been late for a month." She looks right ashamed, and I put my hand on hers.
"How can I make this better?" I ask slowly, still unsure of how exactly to proceed, getting the birds and the bees from Danny and my father didn't exactly prepare me for anything.
She doesn't respond, just keeps swinging and looking longingly into the air, so I sit next to her, trying to do the same thing and cursing Danny for not preparing me well enough for situations like this.
We swing, and swing, and I feel more and more awkward sitting next to her, because what can I do? We rock until the sky starts to darken, and I decide it's time for us to get going. Karen is still comatose.
"Karen, it's time to go home, it's getting dark, and cold." I stand, stretching out my hands to grab her off of the swing.
Instead she collapses to the ground, a loud cry escaping her lips and sending chills down my spine.
"They'll hate me Sylvia." She cries, her breath ragged, and I fall to the ground next to her, rubbing her back as she continues to let out screams and sobs like a stuck animal, waiting to be slaughtered, only Karen will be slaughtered by the world.
"He hates me." She stutters "Oh God, what have I done, what have I done?" her sobs disappear and turn to screams altogether.
I try everything to get her to stop, even screaming at her myself, everything about the spectacle is chilling.
"I can't do this." she rips at her hair "Get it out, I don't want it, get it out."
Her fists start to beat at her own stomach, and I panic, she doesn't stop, and her screams become incoherent, just jumbles of words thrown wildly into the chilly air. I can't get her to stop, so finally I just tackle her, tapping into every bit of courage I have, and I stay there, holding her to the ground, and taking her hands in my own.
I don't know how long we sit there, but by the time her screams turn to hiccups, the sky is dark, and I know I'll be getting in trouble with Danny for not making dinner.
"Come on, Karen, we need to get you somewhere warm."
She nods, clearly embarrassed I had to see her break. Her eyes are downright puffy, and her cheeks are red with streaks of tears.
I slowly get up off of her, pulling her up with me.
"Why don't you just stay at mine tonight?" I ask, and she agrees with a nod, following slowly behind me.
We walk in silence through the cool night, and I fiddle with the ring on my finger, and I take it off as we near my house, tucking it safely in my pocket.
"Stay here." I command Karen, sitting her down on the porch steps as I walk into the house, immediately drawing the attention of Charlie who rushes to me, hiding behind my back. My eyes grow wide at his behavior until I see both Danny and Tim swaying on their feet as they stand from the kitchen table and walk towards me.
I squeeze my eyes shut, wishing that today could just be a dream, but when I open them, it's not. I'm just lucky Danny is usually a jovial drunk.
"Hi Dan." I smile, and he laughs loudly.
"Just in time, we were starving here Sylv, think you can make us some dinner?" he stumbles to me, planting a kiss on my forehead.
"Of course, can I just get Charlie and Karen upstairs first?" I ask politely, looking up at my big brother.
"As long as you hurry." He laughs like he's said the funniest joke in the world, and then trips over thin air.
"You've had enough." I laugh with him, snatching the bottle out of his hand.
He complies, and just crashes onto the couch instead.
Charlie is still clinging to the back of my skirt, probably scared that Tim will get him, so I pry his hands from me, and take his little hand into my own, sighing a sigh of relief when I see Karen still outside.
"Come on then, hurry." I huff, grabbing a begging Charlie and putting him on my hip.
We hustle up the stairs before Tim or Danny have time to say anything, and I put them both in Charlies room, making Karen in charge of his bed time routine. She promises to take care of him, and not come out until I come back upstairs.
I close my eyes one last time, preparing myself to see Tim, and then I head back downstairs, hugging myself to keep warm, Dad doesn't keep the heater on after January to save money, so our nights tend to be a touch cold.
"Dan, what sounds good?" I ask the sleepy boy on the couch, laughing when he mumbles something about an orange before falling back asleep.
Tim is still nowhere to be found, so I just get to work making some eggs and bacon, because I'm not sure what else to make.
The grease sizzles as I flip the massive amount of bacon on the stove, the heat radiating warms me just the slightest, and I wish I could stand here all night.
My mind wanders to Dally as I cook, wondering what he's doing right now, since we started going steady a few nights ago, he's been nothing short of proper, except for the time I came upstairs and found him sitting on my bed messing anything he could get his hands on. The thought of him sneaking in to see me puts a smile on my face, and remembering him falling out of the tree as he left almost makes me laugh out loud.
Arms wrapping around my waist startles me, and I jump, only slightly relaxing when I smell the alcohol. My heart beats faster than fast, and I take the bacon off of the heat. As soon as my hand is off the skillet, I'm whirled around to face Tim.
His eyes pierce my own, and I feel small in his grip. He drags me away from the stove only to push me up against another cabinet.
"Tim." I barely manage to get out before his lips hit smash onto me, almost like they're attacking me. I try everything to get him off of me, pushing, kicking, hitting, but he seems invincible. Finally I crash my foot down onto his, and it stuns him long enough for me to get away, and I rush up the stairs, he doesn't follow.
When I reach my door, I lock it swiftly, tears well in my eyes and I feel disgusting, I can smell the alcohol on me now, and all I want to do is scrub it away.
"Sylv?" I nearly jump out of my skin, my eyes dart around the room before finally landing on Dallas sitting on my bed with one of my crossword puzzles.
He puts it down and is by my side in an instant, wiping tears from my face obviously not sure how to comfort a crying girl.
"Shit." He mutters, handing me a towel.
"Thanks." I offer him a small smile through the tears. I still feel disgusting, but it's a little less with him next to me.
"You cry a lot." He mutters, watching as I fix myself in the small mirror above my vanity.
"Screw off." I mutter, glaring over at him.
He smirks, and sits back down on my bed.
"So why are you crying this time?" he asks, picking back up the crossword.
"Just something with Tim." I try to murmur so he won't hear, but he does, sitting straight up.
"Did he touch you?" he growls, tossing the paper back to the side.
My silence only makes him more upset, and he starts pacing heavily around my room.
"Did he, fuck, did he make a move?"
Silence once again confirms his thoughts and he storms towards the door, only to have me stop him.
"Please, Dal, don't go after him right now, can't we just forget it, for tonight?" I plead, and he nods, still visibly angry, but he still lets me lead him towards my bed.
"Woah now Miss Winters, I do believe you're trying to get me to bed with you." He jokes as I sit him down.
"Well maybe I am." I grin, tugging on his shirt so that I have something to sleep in.
"Damn, you may be the death of me." He groans, pulling the white shirt over his head and tossing it at me.
I move to get off of him, but he just pulls me back down, and into the sweetest kiss he can muster. When I pull away he smirks, looking real pleased with himself.
"I just wanted to remind you what a right kiss is like." He states looking as smug as he can.
"Glory." I mutter, quickly changing into his shirt, not even bothering to hide, because he always finds a way around.
When I move back to the bed, we sit looking at the crossword, to my surprise he actually has most of the words filled.
"Who knew you were smart." I joke, checking them over with keen eyes.
"Yeah, yeah." He mutters, rolling his eyes.
I watch him think, his eyes furrowed as he works, and I'm completely content.
"Hey, what's clear as mud that starts with an O and ends with an E?" he asks, nudging me a bit when he realizes I'm nearly asleep.
"White?" I mutter, and he laughs.
"Nah, man, it has to start with an O." He chuckles.
I think for a minute, running words through my tired brain as I search for the answer.
"Opaque?" I jump to exclaim, and he jumps startled at my outburst.
"Fits perfect." He smiles "who knew you were smart."
"Yeah, yeah." I mutter, mocking him as I try to get comfortable to sleep.
"Alright, I'll put the puzzle away, let's get some shut eye."
I nod sleepily, curling into his side, ready to forget about the day. Dallas kisses the top of my head, his arms warming me easily. In this moment, I feel okay, almost peaceful. Dallas whispers one last thing before my eyes shut for good.
"I'm still beating the tar out of Tim tomorrow."