For The Love of a Greaser
Chapter 14
Being A Brat
Unfortunately, I didn't have much time with Eden before the nurse came in, kicking us out of the room in an attempt to look her over and give her some medication. It irritated me greatly, but there wasn't really much that I could do in the current state that I was in. I was far too tired to put up much of a fight and it was painfully obvious to those around me. It's also why Darry took me back to his house to rest instead of staying there at the hospital. He was so good to me, so kind, even gentle.
"Darry?" I yawned, rolling over a bit on his bed as I rubbed my eyes with my hand tiredly.
"Yeah?" he asked, turning toward me as I lay there.
"What am I going to do?" I asked, looking over at him.
He stood there for a moment before walking over to me, sitting down next to me on the bed.
"You're going to stay here and keep living your daily routine," he said, placing a hand on my cheek.
"What?" I pushed myself up a bit as I looked at him, a curious look on my face.
He just gave me a small smile as he sat there, something lacing his eyes that I couldn't quite place.
"You heard me, you'll live here with us," he said, before ruffling my hair up a bit.
"Hey!" I laughed, grabbing hold of his hand and pulling it away, though I still held it in my own.
"Besides," he started, leaning forward slightly. "What kind of guy would I be if I let you stick it out in the streets?" he asked.
"A pretty poor one I'd say," I said, smiling slightly as I leaned forward, kissing him lightly on the lips. "You really are a good man Darrel, a little rough around the edges at times maybe, but you're still a good man," I said softly, before wrapping my arms around his neck and hugging him.
He returned the gesture, wrapping his large ones around my waist and holding me against his broad chest. I could practically feel his heart beat against my chest as I sat there with him, resting my head in the crock of his neck.
He was such a good man, much like the rest of the gang. Although, Winston's part still had yet to be seen in my eyes, but still. I just wish that Eden could see him the way that I do, as the true kind hearted person he truly was. He wasn't meant to be a replacement for my father as I knew Eden likely thought to a degree. No, he was merely a new addition that she'd have to get used to, just as I was to the rest of the gang. Although, they seemed to take it better than Eden was, but that was Eden. I was just glad that after my mother died, my father wasn't constantly bringing women home. I mean, he did a couple times when he was really drunk for painfully obvious reasons, but still. Either way, Eden never took it too well. Or perhaps it was the fact that she didn't want to get too attached to Darry and find out that one day he never comes back. I didn't really know.
"Hey Darry?" I yawned.
"Hm?"
"Promise me…that you won't give up on Eden?" I asked, keeping my eyes closes as I sat there in his arms.
"I promise," he nodded as he tangled his hand at the back of my head, rubbing my scalp with his thumb.
This only helped in putting me to sleep further, making me yawn and curl up against him. Who knows, perhaps that's what he wanted. If so, I didn't mind giving it to him, especially when it made me feel so comfortable and safe.
T
For the next week, Abigail found herself waking up in the same place. Occasionally, Darry would be there with her, waking up with her in his own bed. Half the time Darry would sleep on the couch, the other half he would wake up in his own bed. Regardless of the place, both Darry and Abigail were pretty much happy with the set up. After all, it allowed them more time together than what it had been before. To be honest, Darry was glad that Abigail was staying with him and his brothers because that allowed him to watch over her better, especially with the current issues at the moment.
Honestly, Abigail was still fighting with herself about what had happened. She was blaming herself, thinking that it was partially her fault that her sister had been put in danger. She had turned down Paul and in turn pushed his buddies' tempers. Not to mention, she had left her sister home alone while she was already sick just so that she could go out with Darry on a date, a night out. She felt that if she had only stayed, then perhaps things wouldn't have happened the way that they had.
In reality though, it wasn't Abigail's fault and that's what the gang kept trying to get through her head. Every time, she just shrugged it off and tried to ignore it, but the anger was still there. Even at work, it still wasn't much better. Joe was always keeping an eye on her, asking if she was okay, everything else. She just couldn't take it and it was really starting to get to her. She knew though that she still had to come to work and that's what she did. She came to work every single day, working longer hours than she had been originally before the fire had burned down her house. The only difference now was that Eden was allowed to return home. Even though to her, the Curtis residence wasn't exactly home.
The first couple of days were hard on Eden, but she was trying to adjust to things the best that she could. Given the fact that the house was only so big, Eden was stuck bunking in Soda and Ponyboy's room. That meant that Ponyboy and Sodapop were back to bunking in the same bed again like they used to. They didn't really mind though. In fact, Ponyboy was the one that offered to give up his bed so that Eden would have a place to sleep. It was basically the same concept with Darry and Abigail, except of course when they would occasionally share the bed, but they were boyfriend and girlfriend after all. Eden still didn't really like the thought of that, Darry and Abigail, but she was trying to get used to it. It wasn't exactly that she hated Darry or anything, she just felt like he was taking her sister away from her in a way. There was that and the fact she didn't exactly like the idea of someone new coming into their little family. Still, she knew that Darry had saved her life and because of that something changed to a degree.
As the days passed, Eden found herself glaring and narrowing her eyes at the oldest Curtis brother less and less, slowly becoming more tolerant of things in a way. Still though, it was only slight in her mind, but it was still noticeable at times to the others. She still had her moments of acting out though, but that was to be expected, especially at her age. Her main problem was the fact that she was ordered by doctors to stay home for about a week and a half to two weeks. She wasn't very happy at having to stay at the Curtis house by herself for so long without anything to do. In fact, a couple times while everyone was out, she would sneak out and walk down to the ice cream shop by herself. She knew full well though if anyone saw her that she'd be in real trouble, but to be honest, she really didn't care. Other times, she would be bored enough to the point where she would look around the house, digging through things and being nosey. Unfortunately, that was in her nature though, always such a curious person.
Even as a young child, that was always Eden's way of learning new things, discovering them by digging them up. That had been one of things that had annoyed her sister at times when she would go into her room and go through things that weren't her own. She didn't mean any harm by it though, she was merely curious and wanted to see what her sister had. She wanted to know what was in each drawer, on each shelf, in each box. She was a curious child. In fact, that's how Eden knew about Abigail's glass jar of money that had been kept underneath of her bed all of the time. Abigail had tried so hard to hide it from her sister, but it had done her little good. She always found every time that she would change where she hid it. In fact, Eden had known that it was under the bed merely days after it had been placed, which was also how she got a few coins ever now and then. She knew better than to take paper bill because Abigail always counting them after adding more. What she didn't always could was the large amount of change that she held in the jar. The last few times, she was left searching through the couch cushions of her new home, gathering lost and forgotten bits of change.
On this current day though, she was going through Ponyboy's books, looking through what he read. She found herself rather surprised though upon finding a portion of them to be poetry, something that her sister would read from time to time. They were books of poetry by various poets. One book in particular caught her attention though, being marked with a small bit of paper between one of the pages. She concluded which poem had been marked, since the one on the right had its title circled in pencil. The poem in particular was titled, "Nothing Gold Can Stay". It was written by Robert Frost. As she read over it though, she found herself becoming confused, not really understanding what the meaning of it was. She jumped though when she heard the sound of Darry's echo through the house, quickly closing the book and placing it back on the small shelf. She then walked out of the room and down the steps, hearing a bit of noise coming from the kitchen.
"You're early," Eden said quietly, poking her head into the kitchen, finding Darry pulling out a large pot.
"Got done with the job earlier than expected," Darry said, placing the pot on the stove and turning the burner on.
"What are you making?" she asked, her curiosity getting the better of her, causing Darry to smile slightly.
"I was thinking potato soup. You wanna help?" he asked, trying to include her in something different for once in order to give them a bit of possible bonding time.
Eden stood there for a moment though, not saying anything as she eyed the man in front of her. After a moment or two though she nodded, stepping forward, her hands behind her back in a shy manner.
"Should we peel 'em or leave 'em?" Darry asked, setting the sack of potatoes on counter, giving Eden the decision of choice.
"I don't like skin," she said simply, glancing up at him for a moment before grabbing a potato.
"Well then," Darry opened the drawer beside him, pulling out a couple of potato peelers. "Let's get peelin' kiddo," he grinned, handing one to her.
T
Half a hour later, Eden was sitting across the table from Darry just playing around with some of the potato peelings.
"So…what's up with your brother?" Eden asked out of the blue, causing Darry to give her a curious look.
"Which one?"
"Mr. Bookworm," she said.
"Oh, Ponyboy. Um, well…" Darry just scratched the back of his head, not really sure what to say.
"What's with those books of his?" she asked, raising an eyebrow slightly in question.
"The kid likes books, what can I say?" Darry said with a shrug, before standing up and checking the pot.
"Poetry?" she asked, a skeptical look on her face.
"Well, that's Ponyboy for ya," Darry said with a shrug, stirring up the food a bit more.
"Seriously?" she still had that look on her face saying that she didn't really believe him.
"Yeah. The kid has a thing for books and movies," he told her.
"He's weird," she muttered half heartedly, resting her head in her arms.
"Look, kid," Darry sighed. "I know that you don't wanna be here, but I promise that we're trying our best," Darry said, placing the lid back on the pot and coming to sit back down at the table. "I'll admit, I'm far from perfect, but all I want to do here is help," he explained, watching the expression on her face.
She just continued to sit there though, quietly taking in his words. He was right though, he was far from perfect, especially in her mind.
"How bad are they?" she asked suddenly, catching him off guard.
"Huh?"
"Your arms…" she said, looking elsewhere at the moment.
"Well, not too bad I guess," he shrugged, carefully pulling one of the bandages loose to look at it.
Red and irritated skin looked back at him, his skin slightly splotchy here and there, but not too bad. He had been lucky that that's all he had, a few small burns here and there.
"I…I'm sorry…" Eden whispered quietly, barely loud enough for Darry to hear it.
He still heard it though, in turn giving her a curious look.
"For what?" he asked, watching her carefully from his seat.
"For being a brat…" she mumbled, truly catching him off guard this time.
Although, Darry couldn't help, but to smile at bit at her words. It was obvious that she was trying. It was hard for her, but she was still trying to be civil with him. He merely wished that Abigail could be there at the moment to witness it.
"No one is perfect kid," he said, getting up and placing a hand on her head. "We just gotta keep trying our best is all," he finished, ruffling her hair slightly, only to have her glare at him in embarrassment.
He merely laughed at this though, walking passed her and into the living room, picking up a few empty beer bottles that Two-Bit had left laying around.
"This house never stays clean," he said with a sigh, dumping them into the trash can, before going back to check on the soup.
Okay everyone, that was chapter 14. I really hope that everyone liked it? Hopefully, it also cleared up a few questions that some of you have been asking. Anyway, please remember to REVIEW and MESSAGE me with your thoughts, opinions, ideas, and questions on this chapter/story. Your REVIEWS help to keep me writing. Also, don't forget to check out my PROFILE for other STORIES that you might like. Thanks everyone! :)