For The Love of a Greaser

Chapter 18

Never Said You Were Stupid

"Shouldn't someone go and talk to her?" Ponyboy asked, sitting there on the couch with Two-Bit.

"Heck, I still wanna know what happened to her," Two-Bit said.

Darry sighed, running a hand through his hair.

"If I tell you, you can't go running and bothering her, got it?"

"Course," Two-Bit nodded, waiting for Darry to talk some more.

"Dally brought her home last night…" he started, looking away from the group as his hand curled dangerously. "She got jumped, they hurt her, and scared her somethin' afoul," he said, going over and putting his dish in the sink. "He was merely walking by when he saw them," he continued, walking back into the living room. "They pulled a knife on her, stabbed her, and carved the word trash on her stomach…" he said solemnly.

"Bastards," Two-Bit breathed, his hands curling around his pants legs til his knuckles started turning white.

"And get this, they're the very same guys that started the fire," Darry said, catching everyone's attention save for Soda's since he already knew.

"What!" Two-Bit exclaimed, standing up from his seat. "You're tellin' me that those bastards are the very same ones that did all that?" he just couldn't believe it.

"Yeah and Dally went right on after 'em last night," Darry sighed.

"Wait, ol' Dally didn't get hauled in did he?" Johnny asked nervously.

"I'm afraid so," Darry nodded. "Said he knocked the guy's teeth in," he chuckled slightly, wishing he could have been there to do the same thing.

"Well, good for him," Steve said, taking pride in the fact that Dally had been able to get ahold of one of those no good bastards.

After that, it was quiet for a few minutes, except for the sounds coming from upstairs. They weren't completely sure what she was doing up there, but they could hear her pacing back and forth every now and then, occasionally throwing a fist against the wall.

Darry wasn't kidding when he said that those Socs had scared her something afoul. It bothered her far more than any of them realized. Steve's little stunt in general had practically scared her half to death when he had lifted up her shirt to see the markings on her stomach. He hadn't meant to scare her, he just wanted to confirm what Darry had told him, he had to see it with his own eyes and he did. Like everyone else in the house, he had been outraged at merely even knowing what those Socs had done to her.

"I'm gonna try talkin' to her. There's no reason for her to stay up there all day and not eat," Ponyboy said, getting up off of the couch and heading toward the stairs.

Surprisingly, no one stopped him and he was allowed to continue, climbing the stairs up to his brother's room.

T

I couldn't sit still, couldn't stay still, couldn't do anything. It was driving me nuts, leaving me pacing back and forth, occasionally throwing my fist against a wall. I didn't know what to do. I was so annoyed, so distressed.

"Damn it!" I hissed, pulling at my hair as I slid down against the side of the bed.

This whole thing was driving me crazy. I couldn't be around anyone without jumping or flinching. Darry couldn't even touch me without causing a problem and it hurt.

"Abigail?"

I turned my head toward the creaking of the door, finding Ponyboy standing there awkwardly.

"P-Ponyboy," I stammered, my hands still buried in my hair.

"You okay?" he asked, his voice a bit nervous and somewhat hesitant.

"Fine," I said quietly.

"You know," he started, walking over and sitting down beside me. "You don't have to lie," he said, rubbing his arm slightly.

"If you knew I was going to lie, then why ask?"

He just shrugged his shoulders and leaned his head back a bit.

"I don't know, just felt like the right thing to do I guess," he said honestly.

"I'll be fine…eventually," I said, whispering the last part.

"I know things ain't easy, but we're tryin," he said, trying his best to comfort me.

"You know, I appreciate what you're tryin' to do Pony, I really do," I told him, trying my best to rope up some sort of smile.

"I mean it," he said once more.

"I know kid, I know," I sighed quietly, laying my head back as well.

I don't know why, but for once in my life, I was actually sitting there wishing that Dally was around. I know it sounds crazy, but for some reason I just wanted him there. I didn't know what he could possibly manage to do for me, but I really didn't care to be honest. Although, I was definitely going to hit him when he got out. He had good intensions in going after those guys, but he should have just stayed with us where he could be of more use. After all, Darry couldn't be with me all the time, nor could Two-Bit, Soda, Steve, Ponyboy or Johnny. Even Shepard's gang wouldn't be there all the time to keep an eye on things, but Dally seemed to do a good job at it when he was around.

"Why don't you come back down stairs and get something to eat?" he asked, giving me a hopeful look.

I just shook my head though.

"No, I think I'm just going to stay up here and go back to sleep for a while," I told him, closing my eyes for a moment.

"But…" he started, but I stopped him by putting a hand up.

"Just go back downstairs Pony. If you don't hurry, there won't be nothin' left for ya to eat," I said, slowly getting up and laying down on Darry's bed. "Go on kid, I'll be fine. Oh yeah, tell Darry to call Joe for me? Tell him I'm sick and can't come in today."

T

Ponyboy sighed as he closed the door to his brother's room, walking back down the stairs and into the living room.

"What'd she say?" Soda asked, his hand curling and uncurling.

"Not much. Said she's goin' back to sleep for a while though," Pony said quietly, walking into the kitchen passed Darry and grabbing a bit of what was left of the food. "She did tell me to ask you to call Joe though," Ponyboy said, turning to look at his eldest brother.

"Joe?" Darry questioned.

"Yeah. She said to tell him that she's sick and can't come in today," he told him, causing him to sigh.

"Great, her idea of being 'sick', is getting stabbed and beat up," Darry groaned.

Leave it to Abigail to try and get by with things.

Unfortunately, Darry knew the real reason behind it. She didn't want to tell Joe herself because she hated lying to the man. Also, she probably didn't want him knowing what happened to her if at all necessary. She'd probably just put makeup on and try to cover things up. He knew though that I'd be harder than just that. She'd have to face him eventually, just like she'd have to face all of the customers without breaking down or having an episode. They didn't know what would set her off, but it would happen eventually, no matter how hard they tried to prevent it.

T

It was dark. Only a bit of light poured in from my view. Something pulled me back to before though, back to the trees and the sky.

It was peaceful, the wind blowing around me, my hair fluttering in the wind. It was like something out of a book, something surreal. Just so peaceful. It was like I was living Darry's words.

In all honesty, it was beautiful. The sky, the sun, the trees, the grass, the open fields of land. There was no one there to bother me. I didn't even want to wake up. I wanted to thrive in this peace forever, never live my struggles again. I just wanted to give into this peaceful sleep.

"Darry…"

T

As mid day to evening came around, the boys were left on edge, especially when Two-Bit picked Eden up from her friend's house and brought her back. Unfortunately, Darry had been the one to explain things about her sister, watching her breakdown and run up to his room.

She had thrown the door open, standing there, staring at her sister.

Abigail just laid there on the bed as Eden watched, tears falling down the young girl's face.

"Eden?" Darry called, walking up behind her.

She didn't say anything as she threw her arms around Darry's middle, catching him off guard. It was obvious how much it bothered her seeing her sister in the condition that she was in. It was also the first time that she'd shown such trust in Darry, hugging him like she was.

"It'll be alright kiddo," he assured her, placing his arms around her and comforting her. "She'll be okay."

She just shook her head though, not wanting to believe what she saw. She saw how Abigail was all beat up, her left eye practically black and blue along with various other bruises decorating her skin. In short, she was a mess in Eden's eyes, something that wasn't normal for her to see. Then again, Abigail was normally cleaned up before hand if something happened, so Eden never really saw her in such a state.

"How do you know?" Eden asked, her eyes narrowing slightly.

Darry just pulled back from her a bit, leaning down slightly so that he was more at eye level with her.

"Listen kiddo," he sighed. "I'll admit, I haven't been with her that long so I probably don't know her like you do, and I'm sure she's been with plenty of other guys far longer than she had been with me."

"But?"

"But if there's one thing that I know about your sister, then it's that she doesn't give up. Your sister ain't no quitter Eden," Darry told her. "She's not a quitter. Things may get tuff and she may need help, yes, but she's not a quitter."

"You think that you know everything, but don't," Eden said quietly, catching Darry's attention.

"I never said that I knew everything," he defended.

"She's never really been with anyone," she said.

"Wait, what do you mean?" Darry asked curiously.

"You said she's been with plenty of guys, but she hasn't. She's never had time for it…" she told him.

"I'm sure that's not entirely true," Darry tried.

"She was always watching me, going to work, coming home. That's all she ever did," she said, looking elsewhere. "She doesn't think I've noticed, but I have. She doesn't sleep well. She'd come into my room during the night to check on me and I'd have to pretend that I was asleep…"

"So, you've known for a long time then?" Darry concluded.

"Why wouldn't I? I'm not that stupid."

"I never said you were stupid kiddo," Darry pressed.

"Well, then you'd be a first," she muttered, walking out of the room a moment later.

Okay everyone, there's chapter 18. I hope that everyone liked it? The next chapter should be longer than this one. Anyway, please remember to REVIEW and MESSAGE with your thoughts, ideas, opinions and feelings on this chapter/story. I always love hearing from people. It makes me smile and keeps me writing. Thanks everyone! :)