For The Love of a Greaser
Chapter 5
Running After Abigail
Ponyboy was seated outside on the porch, staring out at the rain. Darry was inside reading his newspaper and relaxing in his armchair like he normally did after a long day, Sodapop was up in his room trying to get some rest after being sick earlier that day, and their friend Two-Bit was lounging on their couch watching Mickey Mouse with a beer in his hand.
As Ponyboy sat there though, he watched as someone ran by their house. Sitting up, he saw that it had been Abigail. She slipping from time to time and it looked like she was upset. He also noticed that she didn't have a jacket on.
"Miss Abigail!" he called, but she didn't turn around, she just kept running.
"Darry," Ponyboy called, running back inside.
Darry looked up at him as he called his name, forgetting about his newspaper for a moment.
"What is it Ponyboy?" he asked, his brow furrowing as he caught the worry in his brothers tone.
"It's Miss Abigail, something's wrong," he said, causing Darry to stand up and drop his newspaper. "I just saw her run by. Darry, something's wrong, she didn't even have a jacket on."
Darry knew what he had to do from there and it didn't take much thought.
"Two-Bit, I'm taking your jacket," Darry said, grabbing it from the couch and running out the door.
"Hey, what are ya doin'?" Two-Bit cried as Darry snatched up his leather jacket.
Darry didn't hear him though as he ran outside. He could just barely make out Abigail's form as she ran through the rain, the thick downpour blurring her figure.
"Abigail!" he yelled, running down the street as fast as he could, lightning striking through the night sky above them.
Ponyboy was right, something was definitely wrong. Even though Darry hadn't known Abigail for very long, he knew that she wouldn't just run out in the rain without a jacket like that, not this late at night.
"Abigail!" he called again, continuing to run after her, water splashing under his feet.
Playing football in high school was definitely coming in handy. Darry was able to run longer and harder than most others had on his team. In fact, he practically rivaled Paul, the Socs head honcho. Then again, Darry was still big enough to be a football player.
Damn, she can sure as hell run, Darry thought to himself, finally catching up to her once they reached the park, only because she fell and didn't get back up.
"Abigail!" he called once more, slowing down a bit as he panted.
T
"Abigail!" I heard my name being called as I ran, but I didn't stop, I didn't even turn around to face who it was.
All I wanted to do was run away from everything and never stop. If I stopped, then it would catch up to me. If I stopped, the pain would get me, it would swallow me whole. I couldn't stop, I just couldn't.
"Abigail!" they called again over the sound of the thunder.
I nearly slipped again as I ran, tears running down my face, mixing with the rain. The voice sounded so familiar and I was so tempted to just stop right there, but I didn't. I continued to run, the lightning lighting my way as I ran. I didn't stop until I was in the park, finally slipping on the wet grass. I didn't bother to get back up that time though. Instead, curling into a ball and crying, the rain pelting down on my body.
"Abigail!" they called one more time, falling beside me a moment later. "Abigail," they panted, placing a hand on my shoulder.
"Darry?" I whispered, trying to wipe away the tears.
"Abigail, what happened?" Darry asked, worry evident in his voice as he peeled wet locks of hair away from my face.
I looked up at him, unable to stop my tears. He was soaking wet just like me, his bangs hanging in his face, dripping wet. His clothes clung to him just as mine did from the dreaded downpour.
"I can't…I can't d-do it anymore D-Darry, I-I just c-can't," I choked out, falling against him.
I felt him pull me into his arms as we sat there, holding me and giving me warmth from the cold rain. I had never felt so weak. I felt terrible having Darry see me like this. This was the last thing I wanted anyone, especially Darry of all people to see. I hated crying in front of people, I don't know why, I just did.
"Is this because of Eden?" he asked, going out on a limb to find out his answers.
All I could do was nod though, trying to avoid speaking if at all possible.
"Abigail, you're soaking wet," he said, feeling part of my shirt.
"So are you," I whispered, my forehead resting against his chest.
I already didn't feel good to begin with, now I was wet and stuck out in the rain. I was just now starting to realize how sore my legs were as well, that, and how cold it truly was outside. I realized that in my quick attempt to flee, I had neglected to grab my jacket, and now I was shiver.
"Abigail?"
Darry…
T
"Abigail?" he tried, trying to get her attention.
She didn't respond though. Instead, she slumped against him a bit further, letting out a faint groan. When he took a closer look, he found that her eyes were closed and her cheeks were a bit red. Her face was pale and her breathing was shallow.
He brought his hand up to her face, brushing the back of his fingers against her cheek. Her skin felt warm to the touch, the same when he placed his hand to her forehead. She was sick and from what he could tell, she'd likely been that way all day long, perhaps without even noticing it.
"Abigail…" he breathed, feeling a tug at his heart.
She looked so fragile in his arms. Then again, Darry was a big guy, and Abigail was small compared to him. What was worst, was the fact that she was sick and in the rain no less.
Darry had so many things going through his mind as he sat there, the rain never yielding as it continued to pour, soaking his clothes and hair. His normally slick combed hair was now limp, his bangs clinging to his forehead, blinding his vision slightly. His shirt clung to his chest just like Abigail's, but instead of white like his, hers was black. He was grateful for that, whereas Steve, Dally or Two-Bit would have been disappointed. That's when he remembered Two-Bit's jacket, quickly picking it up and wrapping it around Abigail's shoulders. She didn't make much noise as he did this or even when he picked her up, one arm under her legs, the other behind her back.
I have to get her out of the rain, he thought, turning back toward his house.
As he walked, he took in the fact of how light she was in his arms. She couldn't be more than 115-120 max. Then again, he never saw her eat much of anything. He figured that it probably had to do with the stress of work and home. She probably just tried to sleep whenever she got the chance.
T
"Ponyboy, open the door," Darry called as he walked up onto the porch, easily keeping a good hold of the woman in his arms.
Ponyboy came running to the door a moment later, opening it up and stepping to the side to let Darry inside the house.
"Off the couch Two-Bit," Darry ordered, getting ready to knock him off if he didn't get up.
"Why do I…" Two-Bit stopped himself from going any further when he saw Abigail in Darry's arms, quickly getting up off the couch and placing his beer on the table. "What in tar nation happened ta her?" he asked, slightly shocked as Darry laid her out on the couch, tossing Two-Bit's jacket back at him.
"Ponyboy, go upstairs and get that blanket off my bed," Darry instructed, placing Abigail's head down on the couch cushion. "Two-Bit, watch her," Darry said, walking into the bathroom and turning on the water and running it cold.
Darry ran the water cold as he stood there, grabbing a clean wash cloth from the counter and soaking it. He came back into the living room to find Two-Bit hovering over Abigail, poking and prodding her.
"Two-Bit!" Darry said in annoyance as he stepped forward causing Two-Bit to jump.
"What?" Two-Bit laughed, taking a sip of his beer.
"Leave her be," Darry said firmly, pushing his friend out of the way.
Darry crouch down next to her as Ponyboy came running down the stairs, blanket in hand.
"Here Dar," Ponyboy said, holding the blanket out to his brother.
Darry took it with a nod, placing it over Abigail's shivering form. She looked even worse in the light now that Darry thought about it, then again, so did Soda. The poor kid got sick earlier and his face look almost green. Abigail didn't look that great either, but at least she wasn't green. No, she was just flushed and hot from fever.
"Is she going to be alright Dar?" Ponyboy asked as he stood near his brother.
"Yeah, she'll be fine Pony. She just needs to get dry and sleep," Darry told him, not taking his eye off of Abigail.
"So, who is she?" Two-Bit asked, combing his hair, trying to make himself look pretty incase she woke up.
"Her name is Abigail Winters. I've been working on her roof all week," Darry said, placing the cloth on her forehead. "She's also the one that helped keep Ponyboy outta the boy's home," he said deliberately, reminding his little brother.
"Wait, she's the one you've been talkin' 'bout Ponyboy?" Two-Bit asked in disbelief.
"Ponyboy, what have you been tellin' Two-Bit?" Darry asked tiredly.
"Nothin', just that she's real nice is all," he assured him.
"Yeah, but ya never told ol' Two-Bit how gorgeous she was," Two-Bit said as though he were hurt that Ponyboy would keep such an important detail from him.
"Hey now, it wasn't even relevant," Ponyboy argued.
"Enough, both of you," Darry warned as he went back to tending to Abigail, already feeling a headache coming on.
After a few minutes of sitting there though, a thought came to mind that he couldn't let go of, a question that he had to ask.
"Ponyboy, I've got a question for you kid," Darry started, turning his eyes toward his little brother that was now sitting in his chair. "Abigail's sister, Eden, you have classes with her don't you?" he asked.
"Yeah, I do, why?" he asked curiously, not understanding where his brother was going with this.
"How does she act at school?"
Darry was very careful with this question as he asked, almost hesitant to a degree.
"Fine, I guess. She gets picked on and made fun of a lot though," Ponyboy explained. "It's kind of sad actually. Apparently, her mom died when she was little and then her dad ran off a few years ago," he said quietly, remembering that his own parents were gone.
"And she takes it out on Abigail," Darry said with a sigh, putting the pieces together.
After that, he turned to his brother fully, standing up from his spot beside Abigail.
"I want you to do something for me Ponyboy," Darry said, walking over to him and placing a large hand on his shoulder. "Stand up for her, okay? She obviously needs a friend and I think you'd do perfect," he told him, before walking upstairs to his room to change.
He came back down a minute later in a pair of old sweat pants and a light gray beater, his wet clothes hanging from his arm. He simply went and placed them in the bathroom, hanging them over the shower curtain to dry.
"So, if she's on the couch, then where am I supposed to sleep?" Two-Bit asked, looking between Darry and Ponyboy.
They just stared at him for a moment, before Ponyboy turned to Darry for an answer.
"The floor," Darry said flatly, turning down the lights a bit.
T
Things kept going in and out of perspective. I kept seeing Mom and Dad. It was how things used to be, everyone laughing and smiling together. Things were happy and simple. My heart hurt as I remembered all of this, seeing it before my eyes again once more.
Mom was so beautiful with her long brown hair and light blue eyes. Her smile seemed to light up the world around her, her laugh a bell of joy.
"Mom…" I whispered, reaching out to her, but she just disappeared before my eyes in a cloud of dust.
I could hear the sound of Eden's cries and screaming for our mother, the sound of Father's pain, even the sound of my own sobbing. Eden was only five years old, I was eleven, all we had was each other.
"Dad…" I whispered, hesitantly reaching out, only to have him disappear too.
I turned to Eden, her figure far away. I was so afraid that she would disappear too. If something were to happen to her… I wouldn't be able to live with myself any longer.
"Eden…?" I choked out, reaching out to her.
I almost had a hold of her, and then she disappeared, vanishing before my eyes.
"It's your fault," a voice echoed around me.
T
I woke up to find myself crying, unable to stop myself. I couldn't help it. Those thoughts in my head, they tormented me to no end. What Eden had said, it brought back thoughts of Mom and Dad, thoughts of the way things used to be. It tore me apart.
"Abigail?" came the sound of a tired voice, sounds of footsteps reaching toward me.
I looked up through my tear filled eyes, confusion written on my face as I saw the person in front of me.
"Darry…?" I whispered, lost for words as he stood there. "What…" I did even know where to begin as I tried to push myself up, groaning a bit in the process.
I felt absolutely horrible at the moment, almost sick to my stomach. I soon found myself hunching over, and my arms hugging myself. Tears still fell from my eyes as I set there shaking, crying from my dreams.
"Abigail, what's wrong?" Darry asked, kneeling down in front of me. "Abigail," he whispered softly, boldly placing a hand on my cheek.
I looked up at him as he did this, not shrinking away from him like I would others. I just stared into those bright blue eyes of his, tears still falling.
"I feel like I'm losing her Darry," I choked out, shivering as I sat there.
I felt so cold. That's when I noticed that my clothes were still wet. I had been so stupid and just ran off without even thinking. The thought of that made me cry even more, causing me to try and hide myself.
T
Darry didn't know what to do. He had woken up to the sound of crying, only to find Abigail on the couch in tears. Now, he was right in front of her and she was still crying.
What would Mom and Dad do? he thought to himself, before sitting down on the couch and pulling her against him.
He remembered what his parents used to do when Ponyboy was little. If he had a bad dream, he would go to their mom or dad and they would hold him. Either that or they'd come into his room, sit down and ask what was wrong, rubbing his back gently in an attempt to calm him. They'd done the same thing for Darry and Sodapop when they were small too.
"It's alright, you're not going to lose her," Darry assured her, feeling her curl a hand around the material at the front of his shirt.
They sat there like that for a while, Darry holding her and rubbing her back, her sitting in his arms and crying into his chest. There was a feeling of closeness in it, a feeling of trust, a feeling of comfort on both sides. It was something good and genuine.
Sure, Darry had had a girlfriend or two in high school. He'd held a girl in his arms before, but this felt a bit different. He didn't really know where to place the feeling that he felt while holding Abigail. Although, it did feel nice to comfort someone for once, since he never had been very good at it. The nice thing about it was that she accepted it. She accepted his help, his attempt at comfort, his holding her.
Too wrapped up in helping Abigail, Darry hadn't even noticed that Two-Bit had woken up and was watching them, a smirk on his face.
"Well, lookie here," Two-Bit said with a laugh, causing both Darry and Abigail to look over at him.
Abigail just hid her face against Darry, not wanting to look at his friend. Darry on the other hand sent a glare his way.
"Knock it off Two-Bit or I swear I'll kick you right outta this house and into the rain," Darry threatened, holding Abigail just a bit closer to him.
He didn't appreciate that Two-Bit was trying to get his kicks in at Abigail's expense. In fact, he'd be damned if he let Two-Bit even try it. Having someone like Two-Bit laughing at them for sitting there together was the last thing that Abigail needed, even if it wasn't directed toward her, but instead toward Darry. None of the gang had ever seen Darry the way that Two-Bit saw him right now, that's why Two-Bit was laughing because it was so strange, but it wasn't to Abigail.
"I mean it Two-Bit," Darry warned as Two-Bit tried to stop laughing.
"Fine, fine, I'll just go upstairs to Pony's room then," Two-Bit said with a stupid grin on his face.
"You better keep quiet then and don't even think about waking Soda up," Darry said, turning his attention back to Abigail, feeling her breathing even out just a bit as she calmed down a bit more.
Darry could hear the sound of Two-Bit's footsteps as he went upstairs. Darry just kept his eyes on Abigail, hearing her sniffle and hiccup as her tears slowed. She had also turned her face back around away from the couch now that Two-Bit was gone, her eyes closed as she tried to regain control of her breathing.
"How about I turn on the radio?" Darry asked, his hand resting on her back still.
He felt her nod her head in response, not trusting her voice at the moment. With that, he leaned over a bit, turning the on the radio on the table, the sound of Elvis Presley streaming through and into the air around them. Elvis Presley's song, "Devil In Disguise," came belting out smoothly, along with the sound of Abigail's laugh.
T
Darry gave me a funny look when he heard me laugh, but I couldn't help it, "Devil In Disguise," was one of my favorite songs. Also, I found it funny that that song was the one that came out at that moment.
"I'm sorry," I smiled a bit, turning my head tiredly to look up at him as I laid there. "It's one of my favorite songs," I told him, watching a small smile start to form on his own face.
"There's nothing wrong with that, it's just nice to hear you laugh," he said softly, glancing back over at the radio for a moment, listening to the sound of the music.
I closed my eyes, laying there as I listened to the sound of Elvis Presley's music. It felt so good to hear that sound. What I found even better, strangely enough, was the fact that Darry was there with me to hear it.
The next song that came on was, "Jailhouse Rock," another one of my favorites. I couldn't help, but to smile as I heard it. It was a little bit more upbeat, but I didn't care, I still loved it all the same. I could tell that Darry did too as he laid there with his back against the couch, his face nice and relaxed. It was nice that he could appreciate the sound that music gave.
"Thank you Darry," I said quietly, my eyes half open as I yawned, staring over at the radio.
I felt him move slightly before speaking, turning his head toward me.
"What for?" he asked.
"For coming after me," I told him, enjoying the feeling of my chest against his chest, the warmth radiating off of him.
Darry gave me a kind smile as I said this, pulling the blanket up around, before letting his arm rest around me once more.
"You're welcome Miss Abigail," he said, a small smirk on his face when I looked up at him, shoving him in the chest playfully with my hand.
Okay everyone, that was chapter 5. I hope you all enjoyed Abigail and Darry's moment together? It was an interesting write for me personally, so I hope you all enjoyed it like I did. Also, don't forget to REVIEW and MESSAGE me with your thoughts and opinions on this story/chapter. Thanks everyone!