It's Over, An Outsiders One-shot
Sodapop woke with a start, cold sweat pouring down his unusually pale face. For a few minutes he listened to the calm, even breathing of his younger brother.
He tried to relax. He tried to laugh it off like he'd always done with bad dreams in the past.
But he couldn't.
He'd never wished more that his brother was awake. He loved Darry, but Pony was the one he could really talk to.
He wished Ponyboy was awake so that they could laugh about how it was usually the youngest Curtis brother who awoke from nightmares. Then they could talk aimlessly about nothing in particular until they both fell back asleep.
He wished for this, but wishing was as far as he was about to go. Soda wasn't about to go waking up his little brother just so he could ramble on about a bunch of problems no fourteen-year-old kid should ever have to worry about. He was grateful that Pony could never remember just what had happened in his nightmares.
He shuddered as his own nightmare replayed through his head. It had been more of a memory actually.
The day after Pony and Johnny had disappeared Soda had wanted to do nothing but mope around the house after work, no matter how unproductive he knew it was.
Steve wouldn't have it. He'd suggested they go do something with Sandy and Evie. They'd gone to get Sandy first. It was then that they'd found out that Sandy was gone.
Sandy's father stood on the porch with his arms crossed over his chest. He had a murderous look on his face. Soda was used to him being protective about his daughter, but never like this.
"Is Sandy home, sir?"
"She's gone, boy." his tone was dangerously low.
"Gone?" Soda had croaked out.
"With her grandmother in Florida."
Sandy's father could've spat at him and Soda probably wouldn't have felt worse.
Stricken, he'd gone back to Steve. The ride home had been just the beginning of the tears.
Soda shifted over to his other side. He was sifting through his memories. He found the one he was searching for fairly quickly.
It had been the day before they'd gotten the call that Pony was in the hospital. Soda had been sitting on the porch, staring up at the sky like his brother so often did, when Steve's old truck pulled into the driveway.
It hadn't made sense at first. Steve was working late at the DX that day. It had been Evie who stepped out and slammed the door. "Hey," she said.
"Hi."
"Can we talk?"
"If you want to."
She'd sat down next to him, but they'd stayed silent for quite a while.
Finally Evie blurted out, "She really did love you, Sodapop. I know you probably feel betrayed and all... but Sandy really did love you."
They had double-dated enough for Sandy and Evie to become pretty close. Her tone that day had confirmed that Soda was not the only one hurting.
"She could've at least told her parents the truth."
Steve's harsh words ran through his mind. He knew the baby was not his child. But if Sandy had stayed he would've been able to love the child like it was his own. However, even through his irrational daydreams Soda could see the complications that would've brought.
Suppose the true father wasn't the heartless bastard that Soda always envisioned him to be?
The memory of their last date flickered, unwelcome, into his mind.
He'd brought her back to her house, on time of course. The prospect of marriage had been on his mind, as it always was these days. "Do you love me, Sandy?" he blurted out.
Her blue eyes had sparkled playfully. "What's not to love?"
Then the playfulness had been replaced with a look for Sodapop and Sodapop alone. She'd wrapped her arms around his waist and, like a reflex, his arms were around her in seconds.
"What a question," she'd sighed. "Of course I love you, Sodapop. More than anything in the world."
Sandy hadn't been seen in Tulsa since.
In the beginning he'd considered going after her in Florida... somehow.
Also in the beginning he'd truly considered taking his own life. Only in his worst moments, but it was a serious consideration all the same. It was hard to explain how wrong everything had been going at the time. The younger brother he loved so much and the boy he'd always viewed as a younger brother had disappeared. Gone with the wind, no pun intended. The girl he loved had taken off, shattering a dream he'd built for the two of them. Ponyboy rolled over, his slumber undisturbed, bringing Soda back to the present and somewhat happier times.
He smiled down fondly at his younger brother. Images of Darry and his friends flashed through Soda's mind.
He no longer had a life involving Sandy in his future.
But that didn't mean he should stop living. That idea was unthinkable.
Sodapop had too much to live for.
My first Outsiders one-shot.
I'm putting this down at Family/Friendship, but I guess could be slight angst, slight romance too... I wouldn't know, I'm not so good with sappy.
I own nothing!
(Huzzah! I've used the word slumber in a sentence!)