I hope this post makes up for the cliffhanger from the last chapter. Thank you for reading, reviewing and for sticking with this story.
"Get the hell away from my brother!"
My eyes snapped open at the booming voice. Before Roger could even react Darry was there sending his fist straight into his face. Roger hit the ground hard enough to knock the switch out of his hand and it skidded a few feet away.
Darry grabbed the soc on my left side and threw him off me with a roar. The other one who had been holding me let go abruptly, making me lose my balance and fall back. He approached Darry who swayed a little. I growled as I reached out to grab the soc's ankle and pulled back on it hard. He was sent face first into the pavement and Darry kicked him in the side for good measure.
Darry shot me a searching look before the other lackey had made it back to his feet and pulled his attention away. He approached Darry and I pulled myself to my feet, my side groaning in protest.
I needed to help Darry. I wasn't even sure how he had made it here since he'd hobbled from the bathroom to his recliner just this morning. How he'd make it halfway down the street was too crazy to think about right now.
As the lackey threw himself at Darry I moved forward to jump on his back when I felt something hit my back and the force took me back down to the dirt. The wind was knocked out of me, but I turned to see Roger a second before his fist made contact with my face. I tilted my head back and he only grazed my chin.
Shaking off the blow I pushed him off of me and returned the favour, my punch landed squarely. He staggered back for a moment and I saw his eyes focus on something on the ground. I followed his gaze and we both realized what we were seeing at the same time.
The switchblade. Just out of reach.
My feet slipped out from under me as I tried to get enough traction to reach the blade first. Roger dived forward and I sent my elbow into his side as I tried to scramble past him. He kicked back and hit me in the shoulder.
His hand clasped the handle of the blade and I fell back onto my hands as he wheeled around his arm extended.
My heart thudded loudly and he sneered at me.
There was a deathly stillness as each of us waited to see if the other was going to make the first move.
Darry made the decision for us.
He grabbed Roger by the back of his shirt and slammed his cast into his face. I winced, thinking that it must have hurt Darry or at the very least busted up his cast.
Darry hadn't let go of Roger's shirt and pulled him up to meet his icy glare. Roger paled as Darry glowered at him, his eyes flashing with so much hatred.
"I wasn't going to cut him… I was just going to scare him a….a little." Roger stammered and if I wasn't aching so much I'd have laughed at how Darry had the soc quivering with just a look.
"If I ever see you near my brother again, I will kill you." Darry's voice was quiet so I had to really listen to hear him but the steel edge in it made it clear just how serious he was. Roger obviously thought so too because his head bobbed up and down.
Darry's eyes narrowed then he pushed Roger away making him stumble backwards. That soc couldn't run away fast enough and I suddenly realized that the other two socs were nowhere to be seen either.
From my place on the ground, Darry towered over me and his cold eyes followed Roger as he ran away from sight.
Despite the cast on his arm and the angry cut on his forehead standing out against his pale face, Darry had never looked stronger. In that moment, I realized that Superman had nothing on Darry. It was easy to save people if you were invincible, it was something else if you did it when you yourself were already broken.
Certain that the socs had left, Darry turned his attention back to me and his frigid gaze melted.
"You okay, Pone?" His voice was unusually soft and before I could answer him, his eyes rolled back in his head and he became boneless.
I dived forward and barely was able to get myself under him to stop his head from hitting the pavement. His weight forced all the air out of my lungs again and for a moment I just lay there.
I wriggled out from under him, sitting up so that his head was in my lap. I tapped his cheek with my hand, if it was possible he was even paler. How much had it cost him to come here to save me?
"Darry?"
I held my breath as he didn't react. Then he moaned and he moved his head back and forward as if he was trying to clear the fog away.
"Darry?" I tried again and this time his eyes opened. It took a few seconds but gradually he focused on my face.
"Ponyboy, you alright?"
I choked out a laugh. He was never going to change.
"I'm not the one who passed out." I answered dryly.
Darry smirked guiltily in return and he started to pull himself up. I reached out and took his arm as he struggled to get to his feet.
"Then what were you thinkin' walking home alone?" The bite in his words was kind of lost when he wobbled and I had to brace his side to stop him from tumbling over again.
"I didn't mean to," I started and Darry shot me a look from the corner of his eye. "No really, Darry! I was talking to you when they found me, I had to run!" I pleaded. I felt my heart clench in my chest and I held onto him tighter as we slowly shuffled towards our house.
"Okay, Okay Pone. I believe you." Darry soothed and he squeezed my shoulder with his arm that was slung over me.
I looked down at his other arm, trying to see if there was any damage to his cast. At the time it had been pretty great watching him use it to bash Roger in the face but now that the adrenaline was leaving me I wondered if it had hurt him.
"Your arm okay?"
He lifted it up and inspected it as well as he could. "Don't see any cracks. I think it's fine." He grinned at me. "It don't feel no worse than before."
I let out a breath and grinned back, shaking my head. "Hitting him in the face with your cast, you'd think you want to go back to the hospital."
"Guess I should have used my head, huh?" He chuckled and I hugged his side harder, trying to pass it off as helping him get to the door. "It would have been worth it though." He continued, smiling wryly.
He looked so pleased with himself that I had to suppress the urge to push him over. If this was how exasperated I made him feel all the time, no wonder he hollered at me.
Who'd have thought that a little over a week ago we'd been going at each other about me being grounded. I'd never taken the time to talk to Darry about that. Too much had happened and I never knew how to start. I'd been too afraid at first, thinking that we'd lost Darry, then too busy trying to find a way to help him. Still, if this week had shown me anything it was that there was never a good enough reason to wait to make things right.
"Hey Darry?"
The muscles in his jaw jumped and I could see how much the fight and the feat of even making it to my side had taken out of him. "Hmm..?"
"I'm sorry." He looked over at me sharply, his eyes questioning. I tried to organize my thoughts. "I'm sorry I said those things to you. I know that's not what you think. It's just…"
He was watching me carefully, his eyes so warm. They helped me continue. "It's just that I've always wondered if you ever regretted giving up everything for Soda and me."
"Never," he said simply, without even a pause. Tears welled up in my eyes and I choked them back.
"After you were hit, I'd thought you'd died, Darry." My voice was so soft that Darry had to lean in closer to hear me. I looked away trying not to picture his body bouncing off the bumper. "I didn't know what to do. How could I even live with that? I was so lost."
I grimaced as I lost the battle and I felt a warm tear trickle down my cheek. I looked up and we'd made it to the edge of our front steps. Darry sat down heavily on the bottom step and he tugged me down beside him. He curled his arm around me. Always the protector.
I leaned into his shoulder. He still hadn't said anything, just waited for me to get it all out. "If I made you guys feel even a little like that when I ran off with Johnny..." I shook my head to clear the memories. "Then I go and throw it back in your face…I'm sorry."
The tears were dripping down my face now and I shuttered to pull in a deep breath.
Darry hooked his arm behind my head and pulled me forward so that his forehead rested against mine. His eyes were bright with tears that didn't fall. I was brought back to that day in the hospital, how they'd pleaded with me to understand, to forgive. Funny how the roles were now reversed. My eyes pleading and his cleansing my guilt.
He brushed back my hair and I felt myself lean into him. He held me tightly and I held him back just as hard. We didn't say anything else, I guess we didn't need to. Somehow we'd found a way to reach each other after all.
He smiled softly and I returned it, my heart feeling lighter than it had all week.
Nothing can heal wounds of the heart better than to see and to be seen.