One Step At A Time
Summary: When he was only two, a car accident took his leg, and his mother. Now, Ponyboy must learn to deal with life as a fourteen year old with only one leg. With the help six brothers and dad, he's just going to have to take it one step at a time. (Mr. Curtis is alive!)
Disclaimer: No, silly, I never have nor will I ever own The Outsiders. S.E. Hinton owns The Outsiders. *sighs* :( I simply borrow them for my own creative enjoyment purposes.
White collar black wolf: I'm glad, thank you so much!
HappierThanMost: I'm so glad that you liked it! I was really nervous about the argument with Soda and Pony, so I'm glad that you liked it. And as did Darrel's reasoning, I don't think I'm gonna go back to it to explore his decision in depth. I left it up to the readers to decide about Darrel's reasoning, instead focusing on Sodapop's thoughts. Thank you so much for reviewing! I love reading what you think of my stories because I admire your opinion so much! It means a lot that you always leave me reviews. :)
Amanda (Guest): Very true! I have Darry coming home for thanksgiving, and I have Sodapop's birthday planned out as well lol. But the idea about his prosthetic being messed up and the drag races are good ideas and have been written down. Thank you so much love!
Candymouse22: Thank you for taking the time to leave a review. And I hope it still seemed realistic that he did.
KT (Guest): I have that coming up, don't you worry! :) Thank you so much for your review love.
Outsiders-stories-forever: That's actually a really cool idea! Thank you so much! I started it off in this chapter, I hope that you enjoy it!
Chapter 6: Date Night and Nightmares
~ Friday, September 16, 1966 ~
"Darrel Shane Curtis, you are the most impatient man to ever walk the face of this earth. Shut your trap and sit down or you ain't getting any tonight," Rebecca drawled, pretending to be angry. A tube of red lipstick sat in her hand, unable to apply between answering her boyfriends impatient questions.
"Yes, ma'am," Darry laughed, plopping down on the couch to wait for his girlfriend to finish getting ready. He smiled to himself, wondering how he ever ended up with a girl like Rebecca. She was a brunette, standing only 5'2" and 110 pounds soaking wet. But her attitude was larger than life.
"I'm ready!" She called, suddenly appearing in the crack of the now open bathroom door. She never failed to take the wind from Darry's lungs, whether she was in an old T-shirt and jeans or a little black dress.
"You look stunning, Bec," Darry complimented, giving her a quick kiss on the cheek before the two walked towards Darry's truck.
"I love you, Rebecca. You know that?" Darry's voice held an edge of teasing with the last part, but his first four words vocalized seriously.
"I love you too, Darry," she replied, a smile breaking out across her face. Darry looked over at his girlfriend in the passenger seat, her head laid against the window contently, wondering how he ever got so lucky to find a girl like her.
~ Sunday, September 18, 1966 ~
The cold air began to pick up, swirling and blowing loose leaves into the air. Ponyboy's green eyes went wide, watching in amazement at it all. The cold air felt good, due to the sweat that was beginning to build around his neck from the thick, wool lion costume.
A light flashed in front of him, distracting the young boy. He reached a chubby hand out in front of him to try and catch the firefly, but it flew higher into the air, beyond the two year olds reach. He waved to it, a small but carefree giggle escaping from his lips.
His attention was still focused on the firefly when all of a sudden pain erupted all over his body. He felt himself fall over, the pressure of something sitting on top of him, but he couldn't see what. He started crying, searching everywhere for his mom.
"Momma?" Ponyboy called out softly as sobs began to escape his chapped lips. He couldn't move or see or do anything but cry. The pain was tremendous, but his leg hurt worse than any other body last.
All of a sudden brightness took over his vision and he looked down at his legs and hands, he realized with sudden comprehension that he was a teenager. The blinding lights dimmed to reveal his mother standing in front of him. He recognized her from the pictures he had seen over the years, but she didn't look anything like the beautiful, happy, kind woman he was used to seeing. The sheer maliciousness on her face made him tremble.
"You killed me!" She screamed, her voice an angry, high-pitched shrill, startling him.
"I-I didn't mean to," he cried, feeling two years old again as the tears ran down his face uncontrollably.
"You're a monster. And a terrible child. I wish I never even had you! You killed me and your brother!"
"Darry? Soda?" Ponyboy asked fearfully, his mind racing to recall the memories.
"You killed Sodapop! After everything we've both done for you, and you treat us like this?"
"Sodapop?" Ponyboy repeated in a small voice, begging, hoping that this isn't really happening, that Sodapop isn't really gone. "Soda?"
"I'm right here, Ponyboy," Sodapop assured his younger brother, giving him another hard shake in an effort to wake him up. It worked because all of a sudden Ponyboy shot up in bed, crying and shaking, gasping desperately to breathe like a fish out of water. He was covered in sweat, but Sodapop didn't care, he just wrapped his younger brother in a hug. He rubbed his back softly, reacting, "it's going to be okay, Pone. You're safe. I'm safe. It's okay," over and over again in an effort to calm the younger boy.
"I-I thought that I killed you, Soda," Ponyboy cried.
"I know. But you didn't. I'm right here."
After a few more deep breaths Ponyboy was able to slow down the tears, eventually calming himself down, but the whole event had exhausted him.
"W-Would you, uh, maybe stay with me, Soda? Just for tonight, please?" Ponyboy asked softly, looking down at his hands in embarrassment as he spoke.
"Sure thing. Scoot over," Sodapop replied, plopping down dramatically on the other side of the bed. He smiled as he threw an arm around Ponyboy.
"I love you, little brother," Sodapop whispered into the night as both brothers fell into a peaceful slumber.
A/N: Gahhhh, I'm terrible at romance. I hope this isn't as cringy as I think it is, but I've edited it to as good as it is going to get...I promise I won't make the whole story this bad.
Stay Gold,
~ Alee XxX