Chapter Twenty-Six

I paused before stepping inside. Maybe Dally went out. Maybe he wasn't even there. I doubt it though. I took a breath and stepped in. Sure enough, he was right there, and just as mad as he had been when I left two days ago.

"JENNY! I WASN'T DONE..." he trailed off as he looked at me. "What happened?" he asked, but his tone still wasn't friendly.

"You don't got to worry about Tim and me no more. We're done." I told him, trying to walk past. I knew he was going to rub it in that he told me so, and I didn't want to hear it.

"What? Who did this Jenny?" he asked, stopping me before I could go upstairs. Had I not made myself clear enough? I rolled my eyes at him.

"Tim." I said casually, knowing he would flip out.

"WHAT! THAT BASTERD! I'M GOING TO KILL HIM! THAT..." he went on to curse as he turned and ran out the door. I stood and debated weather I should go watch or not. If I went, well, I would get to see Tim get his head kicked in. That would be great to see. Then again, I would have to see him. I would have to be back in that place, see that house again, see his face again. Even if he was getting his ass kicked, I didn't really want to see him again. Ever. So I decided to stay home, eat something and relax.

It was dark when Dally got back. He stormed up to my room as soon as he got in the door. I was sitting in front of my mirror trying to see if I had any make-up that could cover the bruises without making me look like a clown when he threw open my door. He was dirty and angry and he had a black eye coming on. I just looked at him.

"Knock much?" I said sarcastically. He didn't laugh, he glared at me. "How bad you give it to him?" I asked casually.

"He had to go to the hospital," he said through his teeth, no matter how mad he is, he still had to brag a little. I raised my eyebrows at him then smiled as if to say 'atta boy.' He still glared at me. "Jenny! I told you he was no good for you! Are you stupid! Why? Why Tim? Just to upset me? Dammit! You had to have known it would end up like this!" he started lecturing me, but I stood up and stopped him.

"NO! No I didn't know Dal! Do you think 'I told you so' is what I want to hear right now? I don't want to hear any of this! You're acting like this is MY fault!" I screamed at him, fuming with rage. So I didn't see this coming. So what? That doesn't mean I'm stupid!

Surprisingly enough, he didn't yell back at me. His eyebrows furrowed together and he shut his mouth, for once. I stared him down for a minute to make sure he wasn't going to snap at me, then plopped down on my bed. I rubbed the side of my face gently, where one of the bruises were. I felt Dally sit down beside me, but didn't look over at him. After a little while I felt his arm on my shoulders, and tensed a little. Then his hand hesitantly started patting my hair. I sighed and slowly put my head on his shoulder and it was his turn to tense up. He relaxed after a couple seconds though and we sat like that for a while.

"You think the cop's are going to come around looking for you?" I asked him quietly.

"No. Tim won't squeal on me, he never has before. I never beat him that bad before though either. But I still don't think he'll go to the cops. We both hate the fuzz more than each other. It's like we're the lesser of two evils," he told me, then sighed "although I'm not too sure about that anymore. The cops never beat up my little sister," he added miserably. I smiled and pulled away from him then stood up.

"You should ice that," I told him, gesturing to his eye. "I'm going to get some sleep."

"Okay," he said and stood up. I called out to him before he closed my door behind him and he peeked his head back in.

"Uh... thank you," I told him akwardly. He grinned a little and gave me a nod, then left. I sighed and crawled into bed.

The next day, Two-Bit came over to ask how I was. I told him I was alright and he convinced me to go out and get something to eat with him. I didn't want to go out looking the way I did. I didn't want people to see the bruises. But Two-Bit managed to get me to go with him anyways. He's really perswasive. We walked into the little diner and I sat down in one of the booths.

"I'll be right back," Two-Bit told me and wandered off. I just shrugged and read through the menu. After a little while, I saw out of the corner of my eye Two-Bit sit down across from me. I looked up smiling, ready to make a corky comment to him, but when I saw him my face fell. It wasn't Two-Bit. It was Sodapop.

I felt my emotions rush through me. I wanted to hug him because I missed him. I wanted to scream at him for what I've been through because of him. I wanted to run out of there. I didn't know what to do. So I swallowed all my feelings and settled for a simple, "hi."

"Hi," he said back, staring at me. I blushed under my bruises. He had a worried look on his face, "how are you?"

"Uh... I'm alright. How you been?" I asked dumbly.

"Good," he said, smiling a little, but I could tell he was still worried, "I heard what happened." I looked around for Two-Bit. I would bet any money he had ran and told Soda as soon as I left then set us up like this. I sighed at him.

"Yeah, I've had better days," I said, biting my lip nervously. Just being near Soda was making me nervous. He reached and grabbed my hand, which surprised me. "Why are you here?" I asked suddenly.

"Listen, Jenny, I'm real sorry. I feel awful about this. If I would've just forgiven you before... This wouldn't have happened. This shouldn't have happened! I'm so sorry," he was rambling and I shushed him.

"Soda, don't blame yourself. It's not your fault, so don't worry about it. I'm okay now, really. And don't worry 'bout Tim either, Dally already gave him what he deserved," I told him, and smiled a little to support my words.

"But it wouldn't have happened if I weren't so stubborn! I'm sorry, Jenny," he paused then looked me in the eyes, I looked back questionally, "I love you, Jenny." He said. My jaw dropped. He still loved me? After everything that happened, he still loved me? I quickly closed my mouth so he wouldn't get the wrong idea about my reaction. My palms got sweaty and my heart felt like it was beating so fast it would pop. He loved me. It had been so long since I heard him say that. So long since I felt this unbelievable joy that made me feel so good and warm. It had been so long since I had even seen him. When I didn't say anything he continued.

"Jenny, I love you so much. I never stopped loving you. I know you won't say it back. I know you won't. But I love you anyways," each time he said it I felt my heart flutter and I wanted to kiss him and hug him and never let him go. But for some reason, I just sat there staring at him a he poured his heart out. "Jenny, I think we should get back together," he told me, smiling. He squeezed my hand and waited for me to talk. I waited for me to talk. Why wouldn't I say anything? I wanted him. I wanted to scream 'yes' at the top of my lungs.

"No." I said.

Soda's face dropped. I felt like I had just crushed his heart in my hands, along with my own. I couldn't say yes though. If I said yes, it would only end badly. I made a mistake going out with him the first time. I wasn't going to make that mistake again, no matter how badly I wanted to. I would only get hurt again, and so would he. I got to learn from my mistakes. I can't go through that pain again. I can't be as attached to him as I am. I can't love him because I'll just get hurt. If I ever want to be the strong, confident, unbreakable girl I am again, I have to break away from him. I had to end it right there. Looking at his face made me want to kick myself. He looked so sad, it hurt to see him like that.

"Soda, I can't..." I didn't know how to explain it to him, "I just can't... I..." I sighed, "I'm sorry," I whispered. I pulled my hand away from his and quickly slid out of the booth. I fast-walked out the doors and didn't look back, but not before I saw a tear slide down his cheek. That tear almost made me break down right there and kiss him and tell him I didn't mean it. But I couldn't do that. So I ran off. It was better for both of us this way. It was better for us to be apart. It had to be.