A/N: Hey y'all! So this chapter is gonna be in Soda's POV and to answer a request I got in reviews, it is not the last chapter in Soda's POV. The first paragraph or so is the ending of the last chapter just to kinda refresh what happened. IT's kind short, but I can only do so much with Soda right now. The song is Tell Her by Jesse McCartney
If you see my girl
Just tell her I miss her smile
Tell her I'm counting the minutes
Soda's POV
Too many thoughts and emotions swirled through my head as I watched Andrea walk away from me. I thought about chasing after her, but could tell that's not what she wanted me to do. "Andrea." I called after her, having to say one last thing to her. She stopped briefly and turned her head to the side, indicating she was listening. "What, Soda?" It came out almost hostile, but I could tell she wasn't still mad at me.
I swallowed the lump in my throat and continued. "Just know I'll always be here for you if you ever need someone to talk to or anything. Forever and always. I mean that; always have." I told her. I'd always be there for her. I mean, how could I not be? She helped heal all the pieces of me that were broken or missing and I loved her with everything I had. I understood where she was coming from, but I didn't wan't this to be happening.
She nodded and I knew it was time for me to go, so, with my head hung low I started back towards the house, wondering if I'd ever get over her.
All the guys were sitting on the couch when I got home. "Hey, Sodiepop!" Two-bit exclaimed when he saw me. "Hey." Was all I could muster as I leaned against the doorframe. He gave me an odd look but left it alone for now. Can't say the same for everyone, though.
"Is everythin' alright, Little Buddy?" Darry asked from his armchair by the door. "Yeah, Dar, everything is fine, it's just been a long day and I'm tired." I lied.
"Too much action with Andrea, more like it." Dally smarted off. I put a half-hearted smile on my face. "Yeah, somethin' like that." I couldn't help but think through everything that had happened as I excused myself to the porch. Sitting on the steps, I lit up a cigarette to calm my mind. Everything just happened so fast. Not even an hour ago her and I were laughing and in love and now I was sitting on my steps alone, left to wonder what I could have done better.
I wasn't sure how long I had been out here when I heard the door behind me and someone come to sit next to me. "So where's your beautiful girl right about now?" My best friend asked me, but something in his voice let me know he knew something was wrong. I briefly looked over to him. "She ain't my girl anymore, Steve."
"How in the world did that happen? You two were all goo-goo over each other at the drive in earlier. What happened?" He was completely caught off guard, and I didn't blame him. He wasn't the only one.
I took a drag on my smoke before explaining. My breath coming out like a cloud. "I don't know, man. We were just joking and messin' around when Sandy came up and asked if we would walk her home. Right from the start I knew that it was gonna be rough, but I didn't want to see anything happen to Sandy so I agreed, and Andrea was upset about it which I'm not surprised about. But just the way she handled it bothered me so I took the lead and left them behind me, not really wanting to talk to either of them while they were together. And then something happened between them and I heard Sandy scream and Andrea was yelling something at her about how she didn't know anything about her and stuff. Turns out that Andie had decked her straight in the face, left a mark and everything. And, I don't know I guess I just kinda lost it and I yelled at her and she left. After I cooled down I went to her house to apologize and she just kinda said that we needed a break for her to figure out some things and she said she couldn't deal with everything that I brought with me essentially." I tried to keep the emotion out of my voice, but even with that I knew he could see right through me; he'd seen me like this far too many times.
"She thinks that now, but it won't last. 'Sides, what girl could honestly stay away from the legendary Sodapop Curtis. I've yet to meet her." He tried to cheer me up, but my thoughts just went to Sandy. Clearly I wasn't enough to keep her from fooling around with some other guy.
He seemed to catch his mistake and his face got serious again. "Look, I know it seems right now that there isn't anything you can do, but I saw how she was looking at you earlier. She loves you, man, and you can't just stop loving someone that fast. With everything that's happened to her lately, she's probably just overwhelmed and needs some time. You remember when you're parents died how you would hardly smile and you didn't take Sandy out or even mention her name for the longest time? That's what she's going through right now and she just needs some space. She'll come around, Soda, I know she will." He said.
A smirk spread across my face. "Wow, Steve. Didn't know you could get so deep." I changed the topic, not wanting to let on that I didn't really believe him.
"Yeah, I do, and I swear if you tell anyone, I'll pound your face in and you won't have any girls looking at you anymore." He played along.
"Ehh, they don't matter to me anyway." I said, before I could stop myself. His smile faded and he gave me a desperate look. "It'll be alright, Bud, don't worry. I'll come drag her butt back here if she don't show up soon." He was trying to make me feel better but it really wasn't working.
I just nodded and took a long drag off my cigarette. He got the hint and left me alone with my thoughts. I stayed out there until Darry told me I had to come in. I went straight to bed so I didn't have to talk to anybody. I had no doubt that Steve had told them all what had happened.
"Hey, Little Buddy. Time to get up or you'll be late for work." Someone was ruffling my hair. I groaned and rolled over, not really in the mood to face people right now. I was just trying to figure this out. All the time we spent together kept replaying in my head and I was just trying to figure out what I could've done better so she would want to stay.
"C'mon, Soda." The person pleaded. "I'm up, Darry, I'm up." I snapped. I hadn't meant for it to come out so hostile, but he walked away before I could apologize.
Ponyboy was already out in the kitchen when I rolled out of bed and pulled on my jeans, searching the floor for my shirt. The pink scar on my stomach stared at me when I saw it in the mirror, reminding me of her. That I got that scar defending her. I pushed the thought out of my mind and went out into the kitchen to see my brothers eating at the table, a plate already full for me.
Without a word I sat and started eating. Ponyboy and Darry shared a questioning look across the table. "Soda, what happened?" Ponyboy asked timidly.
I knew it was coming, but it didn't make it any better. I ran my hand over my face. "She just said she needed time and called it off." I said and brought my plate over to the sink.
"That's good isn't it though. If she just needs time it means she might come back, right?" I loved how happy optimistic he could be, but I just couldn't bring myself to believe him.
"I hope you're right, Ponyboy, I really do." I downed the rest of my chocolate milk as the two of them started talking about Pony's track schedule. Just then, the rest of the gang came barreling in.
Steve came and immediately grabbed me in a headlock. "You ready to stare at shelves for the next six hours, eh, Sodapop?" He said cheerily.
At this point I was ready for anything that would distract me. "As long as I ain't staring at your face for those six, I'm good." I smarted off, putting up the illusion of being alright, though I knew they could all see through me. I pushed my way out of his grasp and headed towards the door. "C'mon, we're gonna be late if we don't go now." We hopped into Steve's jacked up Road Runner and zoomed to the DX.
Business was slow at work. That was hardly anything news, though. As soon as the school let out, there'd be kids flooding the DX.
I couldn't help myself from hoping that it would be Andrea walking through that door every time it opened, but I knew it was just wishful thinking.
I was counting down the minutes when the door when a tawny-haired girl walked in. My spirits were lifted, and then she looked up. It wasn't Andie. She caught the face I gave her, though. One full of hope and love and quite frankly: desperation. She quickly grabbed a soda from the coolers and came to the counter.
"Hey, Sodapop." She nearly chanted through her strawberry lips. She was a pretty enough girl, I suppose. Her tawny air framed her short, round face. Her pretty brown eyes blinked flirtatiously at me. Normally I'd have flirted back, but I really just wasn't in the mood to deal with people, especially girls.
"Will this be all?" I asked blandly. Her eyes looked injured as she nodded. I quickly rang her up and she left without so much as looking me in the eye again.
I was about to clock out for the day when Evie walked in. She gave me a sad smile and I knew she knew what happened. "You talked to her?" I asked her while we waited for Steve.
She put her small hand on my arm. "Yeah, Soda, I talked to her; she stayed with me last night. She's pretty torn up about it all, but she really just needs some time. The whole thing with her parents and Rodney; it's just messing with her head and she's confused. You understand that, Soda, so just give her some space. She'll come around. I really think she will." She said, with a reassuring smile. It made me feel a little better coming from someone who had talked to her.
Steve came out, then, and I didn't get a chance to respond before I left for home. Nobody was home yet, so I just stayed out on the porch and smoked like it was going out of style, trying not to think about Andrea.
The next few days went about the same, just going through the motions. I was trying to get better, I really was, but she was just so hard to get over. This was almost worse than getting over Sandy. The love I had for Sandy was nothing compared to what I felt for Andrea.
Steve decided he was tired of seeing me so sad and decided that we had to go out, so that's exactly what we did. After our shift was over at four, we headed over to the Dingo, but we never could have guess who would be there. Andrea. She had gotten a job here, I guess, as a waitress.
We chose a booth as Steve cursed quietly under his breath while I couldn't help but look at her. She was just as stunning as she'd always been, but she wasn't radiating joy like normal and it crushed me. She saw me and instantly looked anywhere else. She went to talk to a tall brunette and they both slyly glanced over at us. The brunette nodded and headed towards us.
She introduced herself and took our orders, but I couldn't help but to sneak glances in Andrea's direction, all of which she avoided. Steve and I made small talk about cars and such until our food was delivered. "Soda, would you stop looking at her." Steve reprimanded me.
I snapped back to reality. "Yeah, Steve, I just can't help it. But, I'm gonna stop. I am." I said firmly, but all that resolve diminished when I heard her voice behind me, taking orders from the table behind us. She was less than three feet from me but I knew I couldn't turn around. I saw Steve give a small smile in her direction.
Soon she was gone. "I need to talk to her, Steve." I couldn't hardly take being in the same place as her and not even be able to look at her. It was killing me inside. He sighed from across the table and glanced at her. "I guess there's no way I can talk you out of it?" I just shook my head. "Maybe talking to her will give me some closure or something, I don't know, but it's killing me." He nodded.
We finished our meal and left the money on the table. Steve headed outside to wait for me as I headed towards the counter. She glanced up and saw me coming, knowing I intended to talk. She pretended to be really invested in whatever she was doing, but I knew her better than to believe that. "Andrea, can we talk? Please?" I was practically begging her.
She looked up at me and I swear I saw the beginning of tears in her eyes. "Soda, please don't ask me to come back right now, because I know I won't be able to say no and I just really think it's best for me to be alone right now to sort everything out." I felt sorry for her. I understood the grief she was going through, but I also knew that it wasn't good to face it alone.
"Andrea, I just can't stand to see you so hurt. I can help you through this if you let me, I swear to you. I think us being apart is just hurting ourselves more than we need to. I love you, Andrea, with all my heart and I can't stand to have you missing from my side. Please." I pleaded in absolute honesty. I could tell she loved me and that she missed me.
She looked torn and the pain and confusion in her eyes was unbearable. "Soda..." She sounded as though she might come back, but then someone behind her cleared their throat in a very obvious way. We both looked back to see a woman about mid-forties glaring. Andie looked back at me. "I have work to do, Soda." And she was gone.
I looked back at the lady, who was still very intently looking at me, even though Andrea had left with orders in her hand. "Sorry, just had some family business to take care of." Whether or not we were together, Andrea would always be part of the gang, and the gang was a family, so it wasn't all a lie.
She just scoffed and trudged into the back of the diner. Slowly, I made my way back out to Steve. I just shook my head at him and he understood. The entire drive back to my house was silent.
Oh 'cause I know when she holds onto me
She's the one thing that I could never live without
Just tell her I love her
A/N: I hope you liked it! Not my best chapter I know, but I wasn't exactly sure what to do the next day but I needed to include his talk with Steve! LEt me know what you think! Love you guys!