For The Love of a Greaser
Chapter 16
Crying in the Shower
Darry froze at Dally's words, his eyes trailing down to me. I'd imagine that he had plenty of thoughts running through his head now thanks to Dally.
"Abigail," he said softly, reaching a hand forward toward my injured shoulder.
"Please, d-don't," I cried, pulling away a bit.
He looked hurt when I did this. I didn't mean to, I just didn't want him touching it. I then heard Dally sigh as he came behind me, pulling his jacket off my shoulders so that Darry could see what he almost did.
"Careful where ya touch her man," he advised in agitation.
"Hey Darry, what's going on?" Soda asked as he stepped out of the house and onto the grass.
T
Soda froze when he saw Abigail sitting there in the grass, her hand on her shoulder, clutching it painfully. With the light from the porch he was able to see the blood on her hand, that, and the torn shirt she was trying desperately to keep closed. Her face was even red from where she'd obviously been hit a few times.
"Hey…what happened?" he asked, slowly making his way over.
"Like I told your big brother over here, I'ma kill me a few Socs," Dally growled, moving and pulling Abigail up by her uninjured arm.
Tears stained her face as she stood, nearly falling as her legs tried to give out on her.
"Well, what do you wanna do man?" Dally asked Darry, keeping a firm grip on Abigail's arm.
"Let's get her inside," Darry finally said, moving out of the way along with Soda as Dally pulled her up onto the porch and through the door.
They followed right behind him though, watching as he helped her on the couch.
T
Once on the couch, I curled up right where I was, keeping my arms around my stomach. I didn't mean to, but I flinched when Soda placed a hand on my knee.
"Hey, it's alright, you're safe now," he said, carefully pulling my arms away from my stomach. "Glory…" he whispered, seeing the marks on my stomach. "Hey, Dar, come take a look at this," Soda said, motioning for him to come over.
I nearly started crying when he saw it, his mouth nearly hanging open.
"They didn't…" he couldn't even finish his sentence as he stood there, thinking about the possiblility of rape.
"No…but they tried to," I whispered, trying to curl up again, but Soda wouldn't let me.
"We need to get you cleaned up," Soda said softly, pushing a bit of hair out of my face.
The tone in his voice helped put me at ease, but I was still scared. I could barely remember the last time that I had been so scared. Even when the house had been set on fire, I wasn't as scared. When they had come after me, I had been scared for my life. I feared that they would kill me, but not before defiling me first and tearing me apart with their knife. If Dally hadn't shown up, I can only imagine what they would have done to me. The thought brought more tears to my eyes as I sat there, burying my face into my hands.
T
They all sat there in the living room, just listening to the sound of Abigail's sobs of pain and anguish. They'd finally managed to get her into the bathroom and over to the shower, but after that, it was merely her.
Hearing her sobs nearly tore Darry in half as he stood outside at the bathroom door, fighting the urge to go in and comfort her. Unfortunately, he knew that he couldn't and that made it even worse for him. Still, he stood there, the side of his head resting against the door as he listened to her sobs.
"Hey Darry, why don't you come and sit down?" Soda said from his spot on the couch, trying to get his brother away from the door.
Darry shook his head though, staying right where he was. He needed to be close to her so he wasn't going anywhere.
"I…I just can't believe that they did that to her," he said quietly, running a hand through his hair.
"I know Dar, I know," Soda sighed, leaning back on the couch.
None of them really knew what to do, but they knew that there'd be trouble.
"Look, I'm gonna get outta here and see if I can't find those punks that did this," Dally said, pushing off of the wall and heading toward the door.
"Come on Dally, the last thing we need is you in trouble," Soda pointed out.
"Yeah, well I ain't gonna stand around with a thumb up my ass just doin' nothin' man. Those guys are gonna pay, one way or another," he promised, before walking out of the house, the screen door slamming behind him.
"All he's gonna do is get himself in trouble," Soda said, pointing out the obvious.
"Yeah, I know," Darry nodded, finally pushing away from the bathroom door and walking into the kitchen.
Darry hated the fact that he was unable to do anything. Abigail was sitting in the bathroom crying her eyes out and he couldn't do a damn thing about it, but stand around like an idiot. At least that's what he thought anyway.
"Damn it…damn it all!" he growled, knocking an empty bottle off of the counter and onto the floor, the glass scattering to bits.
Soda remained quiet, watching his brother from the living room with a sympathetic look on his face. He'd seen his brother upset before, but never like this. It was obvious how much his brother cared for Abigail and it was tearing him apart inside knowing how badly she'd been hurt, how close she'd been to being raped or killed even. This was all because a few guys decided to get drunk, have some fun, and jump her. Even worse, Dally informed them that those guys had been the ones to start the fire according to Abigail. That in itself made it ten times worse for Darry.
"Hey, Darry?" Soda called, slowly walking into the kitchen.
Soda found him sitting there on the floor, an arm on his knee and his hand on his face.
"Darry?" he called hesitantly.
"I should have been there. I should have stopped by and picked her up," he exclaimed, slamming his fist against the cabinet under the sink.
"I hate seein' you like this Dar," Soda sighed, rubbing the back of his neck.
"I know," Darry sighed, wiping his eyes with the tip of his finger in an attempt to hide the few tears from his brother.
T
I didn't know how long I was in the shower. I knew I'd been in there for a while, but it didn't feel nearly long enough in my mind. I didn't know what to do and my mind wouldn't stop racing. I just felt my lungs continuing to heave as I breathed, trying my best to stop crying. It was even worse when I had heard Darry's raised voice and the sound of glass breaking earlier.
After a few more moments I turned off the water, sitting there just a bit longer. I dreaded the idea of getting out and facing them, but I knew that I had to, no matter how much I didn't want to. So I got out of the bathtub and dried off, wincing every time that I moved my arm. I grimace when I looked down at my stomach though, the word 'trash' carved into the skin.
I felt sick as I looked at myself in the mirror, the bruises already starting to set in, along with the busted lip. I looked absolutely terrible, in fact, I felt as terrible as I looked.
I had to bite my tongue as I pulled my pants back on, keeping the towel wrapped around my upper half to cover me. I then walked out of the bathroom, my feet leaving behind wet footprints on the floor.
"A-Abigail," Darry stammered, quickly standing up from his spot on the kitchen floor and coming over to me when he saw me.
Without even realizing it, I took a couple of steps back, watching his face fall in return. It hurt me to see the look on his face, a few tears pricking my eyes as I realized what I had just done. I was hurting him.
"Abigail," he said gently, slowly reaching his hand out, only resulting in having me flinch. "I'm sorry," he breathed, hesitantly moving his hand away and letting it drop down to his side.
Darry…
I wanted so much to reach out and take his hand in mine, tell him that I didn't mean it, but I couldn't. It hurt knowing that I was too scared to do so, too scared to be touched by the man that I was so fond of. I knew that he'd never hurt me, but I couldn't help it, I just couldn't. My mind said one thing and my body was saying another.
"Why don't we get you fixed up?" Soda suggested, gesturing for me to move over to the couch.
I deafly nodded my head and sat down, making sure that I kept my front covered.
My arm still stung like hell, burning at the air around it. It hurt to even bend it and even after finishing with the shower, it was still bleeding freely. That also meant that I was now ruining a perfectly good towel.
I tried not to think about things as Soda sat down on the couch with me, making sure not to get too close. I silently thanked him for this in my head, still looking away when he took hold of my arm. I hissed in pain though when he put a bit of alcohol on my shoulder, biting back the tears. At the same time I saw Darry take a step forward out of reflex, before realizing what he was doing. That made me smile, but it also hurt. It made me smile because he was trying to be considerate, but it hurt because he wouldn't come forward. It was a double edge blade in my opinion. One thing that's needed cannot be done because of the consequences it would entail.
T
Darry winced as he watched his brother work on sewing her up.
Those Socs had really done a number on her and that thought scared him to no end. Although, what truly hurt him was she had flinched away from him. He would never hurt her. True, Darry was a large man, but he was never a brute. That's why it hurt so much at the idea that she thought that he would possibly hurt her. It just tore him apart.
He caught her eye for just a moment when he tried to step forward and comfort her, but then quickly remembered her fear and kept his distance.
There was something in her eyes that cried out to him, but he didn't know what to do. Hold her, comfort her? At the same time he would be scaring her and he just couldn't bare the thought of that.
"I'm sorry, I'm not quite as good as Darry," Soda apologized, laughing slightly as he tried his best to sew her up without hurting her too much.
It didn't do much good though as she still tried to hold the tears in. He couldn't take seeing her in so much pain and being left with no way to help. He wanted so badly to come over and take over Soda's task, but he was afraid what that would do to her. With that in mind, he walked outside and onto the front porch, sitting down on the steps and leaving the two of them inside.
T
I was hurting him. I was hurting Darry terribly and I didn't mean to. Every time that I thought of Darry it brought tears to my eyes. I just…I knew that I was hurting him. I was hurting the one that I loved and all because I was too scared to be near him. I didn't want anyone touching me.
I guess my tears were Darry's breaking point and he left the house, going outside somewhere. I couldn't help, but to cry further at this. I was driving away the one that loved me…the one that I loved more than any.
"Darry," I choked out, feeling a hand on my other shoulder a moment later.
"Hey, it'll be alright," Soda said, trying to put a smile on. "Darry's a big boy, he can handle it," he smiled, trying to lighten the mood.
Even though it didn't do much for my nerves, it made me feel just a little bit better. Even just a little bit felt better than nothing. After all, Sodapop knew Darry far better than I did, so he'd know best.
"He is…isn't he," I whispered, pinching my eyes closed as my hand curled around the material covering my leg. "I'm sorry for causing so much trouble Soda," I said quietly, catching him off guard.
"Hey now, don't you dare do that," he said, scolding me as he started wrapping up my arm.
Even as he did this, I wasn't exactly able to met him eye to eye. He didn't seem to mind though and kept a kind smile on his face the entire time. Good ol' Sodapop.
Okay everyone, that was chapter 16. I had a bit of a hard time trying to write that one because I wasn't completely sure how I wanted to write it. I hope that it turned out alright though? Please REVIEW and MESSAGE me to let me know what you think? I'd really appreciate it. Also, keep an eye out because I might have chapter 17 sometime TODAY, if not shortly after posting this. AND as usual, also check out my PROFILE for other stories that you might like such as X-MEN (Gambit), FINAL FANTASY 7 (Vincent Valentine and Chaos), FRUITS BASKET (Kyo), and much MORE. Also, some stories I still have to fix since they were originally made a few years ago, but have at it everyone! :)