I've been completely paranoid ever since my run in with Carter's little brother last week. My nightmares have gotten increasingly worse. I'm back to having four or five a night whereas a couple months ago I was only having one or two. My brothers have told me that something about my nightmares is different though. I've actually started sleep walking during them, well actually sleep running as my brothers put it. They say that when I have a really bad one I shoot out of bed and run out of the house. I don't remembering doing anything like that. Heck, I'm having a hard time remembering what my nightmares have been about recently. The only thing I remember about them is that they have something to do with Carter. Darry has been wrapping my feet in gauze every night and he makes me wear socks to bed now because he never knows when I'm going to sleep run. He's been getting better at catching it though he says. Apparently I show cues to when I'm going to run and when he sees one of them he has Soda or Pony shut the door before I can run and he wraps me in his arms so that I can't move. Like I said I don't remember any of this but I'm glad that my brothers are keeping me safe.
"Sky!" I hear someone shout at me.
"What!?" I shout startled from where I sit in the tree on my platform.
"Are you okay? You've been up there for awhile." Steve asks looking up at me from where he stands at the base of the tree.
"Yeah, I'm fine. What are you doing here anyways? I thought I was home alone." I ask him confused.
"I just stopped in." he says simply while starting to climb up the tree.
"Why?" I ask him. I mean he never just stops in unless my brothers are home too.
"What, am I not allowed to come see you anymore?" he asks with an eyebrow raised as he sits down across from me on the platform.
"You're worried about me too. Aren't you?" I ask him.
"No, I'm-"
"Don't lie to me." I tell him sternly while cutting him off.
"Fine. Yes, I'm worried about you too Sky, we all are." he sighs.
"You guys all need to stop worrying about me so much. I'm fine." I tell him. I hate how much everyone has been worrying about me when there is no reason to.
"Sky, you're clearly not. I've seen you have one of your nightmares recently. I've seen you run out of this house and into the night. I've helped your brothers search for you in the middle of the night. So forgive me for worrying about you and your well being." he says giving me a knowing look.
"I know and I'm sorry. I just wish everything would go back to how it was before I had that run in with Carter's brother. Back to when you guys weren't constantly worrying about me 24/7." I sigh while running a hand through my hair in frustration.
"I know Sky. To be honest though we all worried about you 24/7 even before that. I don't think any of us stopped worrying about you after what happened last year." he says.
"I know. I just feel so guilty though." I tell him.
"Why?" he asks confused.
"Have you seen Darry, Pony, or Soda lately? Especially Soda?" I ask him.
"Yeah, I mean Sky I see them pretty much everyday." he says.
"I know, but have you taken a really good look at them. They're all exhausted and it's all because of me." I sigh.
"Sky, your brothers work hard, it's not surprising that they look exhausted from time to time." he says.
"I know but they've been exhausted constantly. I mean Pony's grades are slipping because he hasn't had the time to study for his tests because he's been too busy worrying about me or following me around when I go somewhere. Darry then gets mad at him for it and stressed out over it because he doesn't want the state to stop in for a visit and ask about why his grades are slipping. Darry also rarely gets a good nights sleep because he's too busy staying up and watching me sleep to make sure that I don't 'sleep run' when I have a nightmare. Soda is the worst though. I mean I'm pretty sure that he hasn't slept at all for the past few nights because he wants to keep an eye on me while I sleep. Even though Darry keeps an eye on me he still stays awake. Soda's constantly looking me over when I come home from school or from a walk to make sure that there are no new bruises on me or anything like that. I just want everything to go back to normal." I rant.
"Sky, I know it's hard to accept the fact that your brothers are always going to worry about you but you have to. Even if all of that stuff didn't happen to you last year they would still worry about you and so would all of us. I mean you still had nightmares and panic attacks before that. I can't even describe how bad it scared and freaked Soda out the first time you ever had a panic attack. I think he thought that you were dying or something. He wasn't the only one terrified though, we all were because we had no idea what was happening to you until you finally told us that you'd been having those attacks for months now just never in front of us. Sky, we're a family and family worries about each other. I'll talk to Darry and Soda. Maybe Dally or I can stay over some nights and keep an eye on you so that your brothers can get a good nights sleep." he suggests.
"You'd really do that for me?" I ask him shocked.
"Of course I would, I'd do anything for you Sky and you know that." he says.
"Thank you." I thank him while wrapping my arms around his waist and hugging him tight.
"No problem Sky." he says while hugging me back.
Pony's POV
I just got home from track practice. I noticed Steve's car parked in front of the house so he must be here hanging out with Sky like Soda asked him to do when she got home from school. After taking my shoes off I head into the bedroom to try and finish my homework before Darry and Soda get home from work. My grades have been slipping a bit so I'm trying my hardest to get them back up. When I sit down at the desk that I share with Sky I notice a notebook on it that I've never seen before. On the cover it says 'Sky's Diary'. Huh, I didn't know that she actually kept a diary. I mean she always makes fun of the girls that do so I didn't think that she'd have one. I know that I shouldn't look at it because that would be invading Sky's privacy but I let my curiosity of what she has written in here get the best of me and I decide to open it, completely forgetting about my homework. I open the cover and start reading the first page. As I continue to read page after page I can't help but think to myself that I never should've opened this because everything I'm reading is just making me extremely angry. I can't get myself to stop though because I need to know what else happened.
I know you guys probably hate me for leaving it at a cliff hanger but I haven't done one in awhile and I just couldn't help myself. What do you guys think Sky wrote about in her diary? Also one of you asked in a review how old Dally is because you think that Dally and Sky would be good together. Dally is a year younger then Darry so he's 20. As always please review!