When Bexley arrived home, Darry's truck was parked out front. She prayed that she wouldn't get reamed for being out for so long. She hoped that Ponyboy wouldn't rat her out.

She entered the house, keeping her head low. Darry was in the kitchen, getting dinner prepared for the evening. He heard the front door open and walked into the living room, a stern frown on his face. "Bexley Lynn Curtis, you want to tell me where you've been? It's almost seven o'clock, kiddo," he scolded in his parental voice.

Bexley closed her eyes and heaved a sigh. 'I knew this was coming,' she thought to herself. "Sorry, Darry. I was getting frustrated with my homework and I went for a walk. I... I fell asleep at the lake," she admitted, hugging her arms close to her. "Excuse me? You can't be going out on your own, Bexley! It's not safe to be out there at this time!" Darry shouted. "Didn't Ponyboy tell you where I was?" she asked.

"As a matter of fact, he did say something about you leaving the house. Said you'd be back in an hour. But, guess what, kiddo? It's been almost four hours!" Darry scolded more. Bexley knew that he was going to be mad about this, and Soda wasn't home yet to defuse the argument. "I'm sorry... I didn't mean to," she whimpered, hugging her arms to her chest.

Darry saw that she was getting scared; he didn't want her to be afraid of him. He walks over to her carefully, keeping an eye on her demeanor. He puts his calloused hands on both of her shoulders. "Bexley, look at me," he said more carefully, using the side of his right index finger to lift her head up so that their eyes met.

"I don't mean to shout at you. I was only worried, okay? You just had me worried, is all," he tells her, "Please be home on time the next time you go for a walk, okay?" "Yes, Darry," she replied, "Am... Am I in trouble?" The eldest Curtis wraps his muscular arms around her and hugged her. "No, I'm letting you off the hook this time. But only this time, you understand? The next time, there will be consequences," he answered softly yet sternly.

They pull apart and Darry heads back to the kitchen. "Dinner's fixing to be ready. Go let Pony know," he said. "Okay," Bexley said with a nod. She walked out of the living room, down the hallway to their bedroom. Walking in there, she saw that Ponyboy was laying on his and Soda's bed with a book. "Hey, Pony," she called out.

Ponyboy looked up from the book he was reading and drops it onto the floor. He gets off of the bed and goes over to his sister, wrapping her in a hug. "There you are. I was beginning to worry," he said. Bexley hugged him back. "Sorry, I fell asleep at the lake. Darry already reamed me for it," she sighed.

"I heard," he said, quickly pulling away after feeling her shiver, "Golly, you're freezing, Bex," "Yeah, I know. I'm gonna take a warm shower. And Darry said that dinners gonna be ready soon. He wanted me to let you know," she replied, walking around him to retrieve some extra clothes from the dresser. She grabbed a black sweatshirt, some blue flannel pants, and some socks.

"Okay. Soda oughta be home soon. I reckon we'll get to the food first," Ponyboy joked. Bexley cracked a smile when he said that. Soda was a bottomless pit when it comes to food. He almost eats all of it before anyone else could get their hands on it. "I reckon so too. If he gets here while I'm showering, please let him know that. Don't want him to worry," Bexley said, starting to leave the bedroom. Ponyboy nodded in agreement.

Bexley had taken a shower, the warm water running down her cold face. Her entire body ached from sleeping on that bench so the warm water was helping her relax a little bit. After her shower, she had gotten dressed in the clothes she retrieved before heading out to the kitchen for dinner.

She was looking a little paler than usual, which didn't go unnoticed. 'It's just from the cold. I'll be fine,' she thought, dismissing it. Tonight's dinner was meatloaf, green beans, and mashed potatoes with brown gravy. It was Bexley's favorite aside from baked chicken. She picked at it as opposed to eating the food.

She wasn't nauseous, she just didn't have much of an appetite that night, catching their eyes. "You feelin' alright, Bexley?" Soda asked her. She glanced up at her older brother, eyes a bit wide. "Huh?" she asked, obviously not hearing him. "I asked if you're feelin' okay. You look pale," he repeated.

"I'm fine. Just tired is all," she replied, "Darry, can I go to bed?" It wasn't entirely a lie, she did feel sleepy. "Bexley, try to eat a little for us. Then you can. You need to get that weight back," Darry said strictly yet softly. He didn't want to let his younger siblings off to bed without dinner. They had lost some weight during their stay at Windrixville, and he was going to make sure that they gained it back.

Bexley had eaten about half of her plate before her stomach became full. "That's better. You can head on to bed if you're not feeling well," Darry praised. Bexley didn't want to eat anymore so she got up from the table, disposed of what she had left on her plate before heading to bed. The time was only 7:40 in the evening, but she didn't care.

Soda and Ponyboy had gone to bed about a few hours later. They had found Bexley fast asleep in her own bed, covers pulled up to her shoulders. They were glad that she was getting some decent sleep without the accompany of a nightmare. The two brothers decided to give their sister some space and got into their own bed.

Soda pulled his little brother close to him and the two of them fell asleep not long after.

(2:46 AM)

Bexley woke up to the familiar feeling of the sick reflex in her stomach and throat. She felt her head starting to spin and throb. It only took a second to know that she was going to throw up, there was no denying it.

She threw the covers off of her and stumbled out of the bedroom, not bothering to turn the lights on so she could see where she was going. She kept swallowing the saliva that was coating the inside of her mouth, but it kept coming.

She stumbled to the bathroom, covering her mouth with her hand to stop the vomit from escaping. She collapsed in front of the toilet, heaving badly over the toilet. Soon enough, that night's dinner came back up, dirtying the clear water below her. She couldn't feel any more awful.

"Bexley? Are you okay?" Soda asked, coming into the bathroom. He knelt down next to her, rubbing circles into her back.

Bexley turned her head to look up at her brother, who looked at her with fret. "Soda..." she whimpered, pushing back from the toilet and up against Soda's chest. "Sshh... it's okay, baby girl. You're alright," he soothed her.

"I didn't mean to... to wake you..." she whimpered, closing her eyes. "Oh, don't worry about that. Let's get you back to bed, okay?" he soothed, flushing the toilet before picking his baby sister up bridal style. He took her back to their bedroom.

"Wanna sleep with Pony and me?" he whispered. She nodded against his chest, already dozing off. Soda helped her settle in between himself and Ponyboy.

He throws an arm around both Bexley and Ponyboy, holding them close to her. Surely, Bexley would be okay after this.