Hello everyone! I haven't updated because I've been having a lot of shitty situations come up, but I'm back now! I want to thank Yehhhok, , G, and two guests for reviewing the previous chapter. On a side note, if you're reviewing anonymously please leave a nickname or something other than anonymous so I can give you full credit for your review :) I'm not gonna go and stalk you or something, but I understand if you're wary about releasing private information like that. Enjoy and PPLLEEAASSEE review!
My hair was plastered to my face in thick strands as the rain continued to pour down but I couldn't move, lost in my own thoughts. I am completely sure that my crush has NOT gone away because all I want is for Tim to come back and kiss me again. The memory of his strong, lean body pressed up against me made my face flush. The sound of a car zooming by makes me jump and I look around, noticing how dark it was startin' to get, before hightailing it home. As I'm walking up the steps the door is yanked open and Pony is standing with a towel and a frown.
"Outta all the days there was no one to drive you back and forth work, it had to be today," he mumbles as I step past him and into the warm living room. I peel off my old jacket and Pony takes it, making a beeline for the laundry room. I roll my eyes at his worry of it getting moldy and stinkin' up the house. When I take my shoes off a small puddle of water rushes out making me grimace and set them outside on the porch where the rain couldn't get to them. I dry myself off the best I can with the towel so I'm not drippin' water through the house before going to get clothes for a nice hot shower.
"Pony, I'm gettin' in the shower! Can you start dinner and I'll finish it when I get out?" I yell and I hear him grunt in response as the sound of pots banging around fills the air. As soon as the water is steaming I jump in and let the water relax my tense muscles. As the water runs down my body and through my long, thick hair I close my eyes with a sigh. The fact that Tim Shepard showed any emotion at all makes me think that this won't just blow over. I hear the screen door slam and open my eyes, quickly washing my hair and body before dryin' off and running to my room. After slipping on a pair of Soda's old sweats and a long sleeved shirt I head for the living room, running my fingers through my wet hair.
"Rosebud, come quick and drink this. I don't wantcha gettin' sick," Darry says holding up a steaming mug of what looks like hot chocolate. I take my time sipping it, slouching next to Soda and wrapped in a blanket. Slowly the rest of the gang files in, soaked to the bone and complaining loudly. A few hours go by and it's now midnight so I shuffle off to bed, climbin' over some of the gang that have crashed on the floor. As soon as my head hits the pillow I fall asleep, the memory of Tim Shepard's lips on mine flashing behind my lids.
Time Jump - - Time Jump - - Time Jump
The second I opened my eyes the next morning I groaned, stretchin' my aching limbs. It felt like there was cotton in my mouth and if I didn't know any better I'd say someone had hit me in the head with a hammer. My blankets were damp with sweat so I pushed them off, huggin' my pillow and drifting back to sleep. The next time I woke up everything was blurry and my arms felt like they weighed a hundred pounds. Tim's face flashed through my mind and I smiled a little, lettin' his name slip from my lips in a whisper. The few seconds before I fell back asleep I could have sworn I saw Darry's face lookin' down at me with a worried look but I let my eyes slide shut and welcomed the black abyss. These few seconds of consciousness occurred many times over the next three days, a new member of the gang appearing each time.
I was finally able to see clearly and sit up three days later, at least that's how long Soda told me I'd been sick for. It was confusing to open my eyes and see Steve sitting in a chair next to my bed asleep and he jumped when I nudged him awake. As soon as our gazes locked he jumped up and ran to the doorway, hollerin' so loud I had to cover my ears.
"She's awake!" he screeched before running back and putting a hand to my forehead. What sounds like a herd of elephants begins in the living room and comes toward my bedroom, makin' me raise my eyebrows. Darry is the first one in the room with bags under his eyes but lookin' relieved. The rest of the gang piles into the room after him, Dally being the last with a huge smirk on his face and smoking a fag.
"Put it out, Dally," I say and frown when my voice comes out as a croak. He rolls his eyes but stubs it out on his Christopher medal anyways, leanin' up against the wall and crossing his legs.
"How ya feelin', Rosebud? You had us all pretty worried," Darry says, putting his hand on my cheek then movin' it up to my forehead.
"My head hurts, but I feel okay," I say and Pony mutters something about Tylenol and slips from the room.
"Alright, everybody out we need to let the sick one get some more rest," Darry says and everyone shuffles over to give me hugs before heading back out to the living room. As I fall back into my pillow and sigh I realize Dally is still in the room smirking at me. He's wearin' his usual blue jeans, boots, and white t-shirt but his black leather jacket is missing. The Christopher medal that hangs around his neck glints as it catches the light coming in from the window.
"Dally? Did you need something?" I ask and he pushes off the wall to sit in the seat Steve left empty by my bedside when he left.
"Pony said you were home twenty minutes after your shift ended," is all he says and I move my eyes from him to the ceiling, the events of that night flashin' through my mind. I tense up and roll over on my side, showing Dally my back and hoping he would get the hint to leave. I hear him get up and the bed dips as he leans over me, restin' his arms by the wall. I roll my eyes and look at him, sighing in irritation at his smirk.
"I waited in the diner to see if the rain would stop but gave up after ten minutes. So what?" I say, lyin' through my teeth and shrugging as best as I can with Dally layin' partially over me.
"You know, Tim came into Bucks the same night lookin' like a drowned rat around the same time Pony said you showed up at home," Dally says with an ever-widening smirk and I huff, pushing him off me and shovin' the covers off my legs. As I stand up all the blood rushes from my head and I sway, black spots dotting my vision. I feel Dally's hands grip my waist as he stands up and I lean into him unsteadily.
"It doesn't just rain in one place Dal, he was probably just out with his gang and got caught in the rain," I say, closin' my eyes to stop the spinning. Dally picks me up and puts me back in bed, pausing in the doorway and looking back at me.
"You know you freaked Darry out when you kept whispering Tim's name while you were knocked out," he says, a smirk evident in his voice and my eyes snap open to stare at the ceiling. I look over and see Dally's already gone so I just groan and roll onto my stomach, buryin' my face into the pillow. I have to stop thinking about him.
Time Jump - - Time Jump - - Time Jump
I was about ready to pull the hair out of my head. It was now Wednesday night, two days since I had woken up from being sick, and the gang was being especially rowdy. Two-Bit was drunk off his ass, Steve and Soda were wrestling in the living room over a game of poker one of them supposedly cheated on, Darry and Pony were arguing about homework, and Dally was smoking like a chimney. The only person not causing trouble was Johnny, and thank God for that because I feel like I'm going insane. The two of us are currently in the kitchen makin' dinner, Johnny stirring the spaghetti and sauce as I make the garlic bread. When I got up this morning I threw my hair up in a messy bun, my bangs hanging out, before tuggin' on a pair of skinny jeans and a red tank top. It's misting rain outside as I peer out the window that sits over the kitchen window and I sigh, wiping some sweat off my forehead.
"I'm sure they'll settle down, Lily," Johnny says and I smile over at him before directing my attention to the phone that just started ringing. I grab it off the wall and sit in a chair at the kitchen table.
"Curtis residence," I say and furrow my brows when Angel's squeaky voice comes through the speaker.
"Lilyrose, it's Angel! Some of the girls and I are headed to the DeMarcus house for a party! Come with!" she says, laughing loudly at the the mumbled voices I can hear in the background. I was about to respond when I realized Johnny was still in the kitchen, standin' at the stove, and I switched over to our 'code' words we used when any of the guys were around.
"Sure, I bet Darry would let me sleep over. I'll ask him and be over in a half hour!" I say with fake happiness and the curious look that was on Johnny's face is replaced with a blush. It's so easy to fluster Johnny, I mean I was only talkin' about a sleepover and he turns beet red!
"Alright, see you at eleven-thirty at the old fairgrounds and we'll walk there together. Don't bother bringin' your sleepin' bag, we'll crash on Annie's bed," she says, slipping into code as well so I can only assume that one of the Shepard gang appeared. She means we'll be out all night without gettin' a wink of sleep and I roll my eyes. After hangin' up, Johnny and I finish dinner and call the boys to the table.
"Hey Darry, is it okay if I spend the night at Angel's? She's seein' this new guy and wants me over so she can brag about him," I ask before giving what I hope is a good excuse. I force an eyeroll, hating that I have to lie to Darry, but feelin' the need to let loose for a night and have some fun.
"That's fine. You stay at her house though, you hear me?" he asks after a few seconds and I nod my head in agreement. I quickly finish my dinner and wash my dishes before throwin' my party clothes is a bag and flying out the front door. The screen door bangs shut behind me as I step out into the warm night air, throwing a half-hearted goodbye behind me at the gang. It takes me about ten minutes to walk to the fairgrounds because I stop at Annie's house to change, leaving my bag in her room to pick up on my way home tomorrow morning. Annie is almost an exact copy of Angel, except that she's a few inches taller with red hair instead of brown. As we walk to the old fairgrounds together I shiver as the breeze rustles my long hair around my shoulders and wrap my jacket tighter around my body. I was wearing a black leather skirt with a flowy white top, completed by three inch nude heels. As we approach the large fence surrounding the empty grounds Angel is already there smokin' a fag.
"Hey bitches, let's get a move on," she says, stubbing out her fag with a well placed stomp of her heel-clad foot. We walk for about fifteen minutes before we could see a house surrounded by people with music pouring out the windows. The three of us split up at the front door; Annie heading for the dance floor, Angel goin' straight to a bunch of greasers who were smoking a joint, and I went for the makeshift drink table. Grabbing an unopened can of beer, I pop it open and take a sip before slitherin' onto the dance floor.
Sipping my drink while dancing, about a half hour passed so I decided to take a break. I down another beer quickly and started to feel like giggling at everything. About twenty minutes later I had chugged another two beers and was feelin' pretty unsteady on my feet. As I stumbled my way through the crowd towards the front door I run into a hard chest and would have fallen on my ass if two strong arms hadn't wrapped around my waist. I slowly look up into the eyes of a buzzed Tim Shepard and instantly feel my anger start to build. I try to shove my way out of his arms but he holds tight and just smirks at me.
"Who do we have here? If it isn't little Lilyrose Curtis at a party. You're gang know where you are?" he asks and I scowl at him, giving a nice backhanded slap to his chest.
"Fuck off Tim! Go be an ass to someone else!" I say and he frowns at me before sighing. Before I have time to think of a good insult he leans down and presses his lips to mine. After a few seconds my shoulders sag as the tension leaves my body and my arms wrap around Tim's neck. We stand there as the party rages on around us, lips parting and tongues wrestling. It seems like hours later that we finally separate and he leads me to the dance floor. We dance together for at least an hour, grinding against each other and I can feel the sweat drippin' down my neck.
Tim soon grabs me around the waist and hauls me through the crowd and out the front door, glaring at people who would occasionally bump into us. As we finally make it out into the fresh air, I lean against Tim as we start walking down the street. We're both pretty sober now and I can feel myself starting to get angry over our last 'encounter'. I push away from the sturdy body that had been holdin' me upright and stalk off towards home, not caring that the gang would know I'd been out drinking.
"Where the hell do you think you're goin'?" Tim yells out before grabbing my wrist and spinnin' me into his chest. I push against him but he holds me still, sighing.
"I'm fuckin' sorry, alright? For the yellin' the other night. I know bein' out in the rain got you sicker than a dog," he says and I stop struggling against him, shocked. Tim Shepard just apologized. To me. And he sounds guilty that I got sick. What the hell is this world coming too? It takes me a few seconds to process his words and I allow my head to fall against his chest, not willing to get into a deep discussion about what the hell that kiss meant. Oh, and the kiss back at the party but I think that one was the alcohol talkin'.
"Okay," is all I say and he shifts our position, slinging an arm around my shoulder and leadin' us back towards my house.
"Your brothers are gonna find out about the party anyways, Crawley's gang was there," Tim says and I groan. Crawley's gang has a lot of kids Ponyboy's age in it who are always lookin' to get on our good side. There's no doubt that one of them has already dropped by the house and told the gang where I was. Twenty minutes later Tim is headin' off down the sidewalk alone as I open the screen door slowly, wincing at the fact that the living room lights are on. As I slip off my heels I see that the entire gang except for Steve and Johnny are sprawled out around the living room, lookin' up at me with different expressions. Dally and Two-Bit are smirking while Soda looks relieved. Pony looks disappointed and Darry looks madder than a bull.
"You are no longer allowed to see Tim Shepard. Go to bed," Darry says lookin' me dead in the eye and I freeze mid-step. What the hell?
It's currently 12:16am the day after Christmas and I have been slaving away over this chapter. I am truly sorry for the delay but chapters should be popping up more often :) I know I could have made this chapter longer but I really wanted to give you guys something to read. I'll be working on the next chapter over break now, but I'm not sure when it'll be up! Please review!
LilCrafty6 :D