cancer

chapter 14
how far we've come

"Freedom!" Two-Bit whooped as he steered the car down the street. The wind whipped through our hair as he dangerously swerved a stop sign.

"Two-Bit!" I exclaimed, gripping the arm of my seat. "You're gonna kill us!"

"That's the fun part," he grinned and nearly tipped us over as the tires squelched.

We had been driving for two hours already and Two-Bit still hadn't cooled down. All the while, I had been thinking of Dally's face as he walked in on Johnny and me.

"The car's set," he said, his eyes narrowed. I awkwardly pulled away from Johnny. "You two together or something?"

I felt my heart race and I glanced over at Johnny. He was staring at the floor. "No," I answered for the both of us. "Johnny and I are best buds."

"Whatever you say." He sounded as if he didn't believe me.

And for some very strange reason, I wanted to prove him wrong.

It was beginning to get dark and Two-Bit pulled into the parking lot of shady motel. I eyed it distrustfully. "I am beginning to fear for my life," I joked as he jumped out of the car and opened the trunk.

"No need to fear when I'm here, doll," he flirted, taking time to waggle his eyebrows at me. I wanted to blush but steeled myself and only rolled my eyes. Two-Bit always had a way of making me feel better.

He handed me my luggage, took his own, and then surprised me by intertwining our fingers. "For protection," he clarified when he saw me staring. He then pulled me behind him as he walked through the shabby doors. "Howdy," he greeted.

The old man sitting at the desk grunted. "You need a room?" he asked, glancing at our hands.

"Sure do," Two-Bit said with a friendly smile. "Me and my girlfriend here need a room."

I opened my mouth to protest, outraged that he would blatantly lie to the innocent old man, but Two-Bit gave me a fierce look that shut me up. The man handed Two-Bit a set of keys and smiled, revealing his yellow and grimy teeth. "You two have a nice night." Suddenly, I realized why Two-Bit had done what he had done.

I scrambled behind my "boyfriend" as we nearly raced to the stairs. "What a creep," I heaved as I sprinted.

He laughed and unlocked the door. It revealed one crummy looking bed and a broken lamp. "How romantic," Two-Bit said, turning to look at me. He spread his arms wide. "Isn't it what you've always imagined, darling?"

I played along with his game. "Oh honey," I murmured sweetly, "It's even better!" I held up the unclean sheets with one hand and cooed. "These dirty sheets give the room such a rustic feel!"

Two-Bit let out a long chortle. "You want to shower?"

"I think you need it more," I said, playfully grimacing.

He grinned and pulled his shirt off, immediately making my throat go dry. Unlike Dally's finely sculpted muscles, Two-Bit had a very subtle, lean beauty about him. I immediately stared at the magazines sitting by the phone.

It was silent and suddenly Two-Bit was next to me, tipping my head up. "Thanks for doing this," he whispered.

"I, um, could say the same to you," I stuttered, his body heat making me uneasy.

He smiled and then continued his trip to the bathroom.

I was half asleep when Two-Bit slid into bed next to me. "The water smelled weird," he muttered into my ear. "Like dog piss."

"Ew," I said sleepily, pulling away from him.

"Just kidding," he said and dragged me back to him. I snuggled into his side. I heard his chest rumble as he sighed.

"You're warm," I mused before falling back to sleep.

"How much you want to bet this Sandy gal lives with some prissy old grandma?" Two-Bit questioned, glancing at the map before returning his attention to the road. "She's gonna probably take one look at us and slam the door right in our face."

"Maybe I should go on without you, then?" I jested and Two-Bit gave me one of his infamous smiles.

"But baby, you wouldn't do that to your snookums, would you?" he pouted.

"I would," I said solemnly.

There was a moment of silence before we both began to laugh. He nearly hit a car coming in the other direction before I breathed out a, "Holy shit!" and frantically pointed. He inhaled and then exhaled and tried to control his laughter.

"You always get me," he smiled. "Where does she live again?"

I repeated the address and he furrowed his eyebrows. He stopped the car and set it on park. "I guess we're here then," he said. We both looked up to see a rundown house.

"Maybe you were wrong," I said slowly.

We gathered our things and made our way up the weedy pathway. Two-Bit knocked on the front door. An older woman opened the door, but unlike Two-Bit's predictions, she hesitantly spoke. "How may I help you two?"

"We're looking for Sandy," I said.

Her curious look faded into something resigned. "Come on in. She'll be done in a moment."

The interior, unlike the exterior, was better kept. Pictures lined the walls and I recognized a couple of them as Sandy. Two-Bit slouched into one of the chairs while I continued to look around. It was a homey, in a sense, but something about it didn't seem right.

"Hi," a demure voice said.

I turned and saw Sandy there. Her stomach was round and practically bulged out of her yellow sundress. "Hi," I said shakily.

I didn't understand why I felt so nervous. But then Two-Bit was behind me, pressing a soothing hand under my elbow and calming me. "Hiya Sandy," he said.

"Who's your friend, Two-Bit?" Sandy said. She smiled at me and at that moment, I knew exactly why Soda was head over heels. She was completely gorgeous.

"Oh this old thing?" Two-Bit said, looking down at me with a little smile. "She's my girlfriend."

Oh boy.