For The Love of a Greaser
Chapter 55
Perfume
Darry heaved a heavy sigh as he stared down at Abigail. She was still asleep, even after passing through the night. He still remembered when Dally had finally brought her home, a frown forming on his face at the memory. He'd fought so hard against the thought that something had happened, the paranoia prodding at the back of his mind.
Normally, if Dally brought her back home or something like that, he'd joke around or something. This time, the mood was different, the atmosphere tense. It was almost as though he were hiding something from them, like there was a black cloud hovering over his head, but Darry had no clue what it was. His only hope was that whatever it was, he'd find out when Abigail finally woke up. Although, he had found it strange upon hearing Dally's words. He'd told Darry to keep an eye on her whenever she took her pain pills, telling him that they messed with her head a bit. He wasn't exactly sure what the extent of that was, but he'd find out later.
"Hey, Dar?"
"Yeah, Ponyboy?" Darry replied, turning toward his kid brother as he stood there in the doorway.
"Ya mind giving me a hand downstairs?" he asked, rubbing the back of his neck.
He'd been trying to peel potatoes for a while and there were just too many for him to do on his own.
"Yeah, sure kid," Darry nodded, slowly getting up off the edge of the and bed and walking over to the door, but not before giving one final look toward Abigail's sleeping form.
T
I groaned as I woke up, slowly opening my eyes. I could feel the sheets beneath me, soft, comfortable. The feeling nearly kept me planted in my spot. The only thing that prevented that though was my stomach which felt hot and bubbly, almost sick. I was in desperate need of food. Although, when I finally took notice to everything around me, I realized that I wasn't at Dally's anymore. Instead, I woke up in my own bed this time, the gentle light shining in through the window.
"Darry?" I groaned, slowly pushing myself up into a sitting position.
I felt so strange sitting there, a faint fuzzy feeling gnawing at the reaches of my mind. What was it from? I faintly remembered the feeling from yesterday, but that was about it. What did happen last night anyway?
"So, that girl has actually tried talking to you then?" I faintly heard Darry's voice ask from downstairs.
The sound alone drew me from the bed, pulling me toward the door, my bare feet touching upon the carpet in mine and Darry's room.
"Yeah, I think she may finally be trying to break away from the whole Soc and Greaser thing," I heard Ponyboy reply.
"Darry?" I groaned, standing at the top of the stairs, my hand clutching the rail.
"Abigail?"
Within moments he'd gotten out of his seat, coming to stand at the bottom of the stairs, a small smile on his face.
"You're awake," he breathed, slowly making his way up the steps.
I tried to meet him, but nearly ended up falling, his arms finding their way around me immediately.
"Don't worry, I've got you," he said softly, his hand coming to rest against the back of my head.
"Are you…wearing women's perfume?" I asked curiously, smelling the scent that seemed to blanket him at the moment.
He laughed at this, rubbing the back of his neck.
"Yeah, I am," he answered. "It wasn't really by choice though," he told me.
"It's Two-Bit's fault," Ponyboy supplied, standing by the table as he peeled a random yellow potato.
"Well, at least it smells nice," I said, trying not to embarrass him.
"I smell like you should," he pointed out.
"And how's that a bad thing?" I grinned a bit sluggishly, leaning forward and wrapping my arms around his neck.
I felt him pull me closer when I did this, picking me up and carrying me down the stairs. Once at the bottom, he placed me down on the couch, the springs creaking for just a moment.
"You hungry?" he asked, carefully letting himself lean back on the coffee table for a moment so as not to put too much weight on it, hands placed precariously on either side of him.
"Kind of," I shrugged, wrapping my arms around myself.
He seemed to take notice of my actions as I sat there, head leaning back a bit against the couch in fatigue. I was still tired and I didn't remember eating anything yesterday. All that I really remember was waking up at Dally's and then waking up here. Although, there was still something nagging at the back of my head as though something big had happened, something important that I was forgetting about.
"I'll get you some crackers," Darry told me, pushing off of the coffee table as he stood up, walking into the kitchen.
"Alright," I nodded, a yawn escaping me.
"So, what happened last night?" Darry asked from the kitchen, pulling something from the fridge.
"What do you mean?" I asked, completely clueless as to what was going on.
"What happened while you were over at Winston's?" he clarified, walking back into the living room, a soda in one hand and crackers in the other.
"At…Dally's?" I asked, brows furrowing together.
"Yeah, you were over there for quite a while last night," he told me, giving me a strange look.
"I…" I started, but stopped, pausing for a moment.
What had happened last night? I remembered Darry dropping me off at the hospital, Dally staying there to watch me. After that, we left on the bus while I was still out of it. We got to his place at some point, I fell asleep, then I woke up. I woke up to Dally beneath me, a cigarette in his mouth. He'd given me some pills for the pain, having me down them with a drink of beer and it had tasted disgusting.
I then remembered the fact that I'd upset him. He was a bit on edge after telling him about me and Darry. I didn't understand why though. After that, things kind of got fuzzy. I didn't know why though.
"I…I don't know," I told him.
"What do you mean you don't know?" he asked.
"I…I don't remember," I whispered, trying to rack my brain for answers.
There had to be something there because it was impossible to be completely blank. I never forgot things like that.
"You don't remember? How do you not remember?" Ponyboy asked, slowly stepping forward.
"Abigail, what happened?" Darry asked, sitting the crackers down on the coffee table. "I mean, Dally said to be careful when you took your meds, but still. That's all he told me. Said it messed with your head a bit," he explained.
"My head?" I whispered.
My head? They messed with my head?
I then looked down at my hand, staring at the place where my ring should have been. It was gone.
"My ring," I sputtered, freaking out as I looked around me.
It was nowhere in sight. Not the floor, not the couch, not anywhere.
"What are you talking about?" Darry asked warily.
"My ring, i-it's gone," I stammered, looking around on the floor, nearly bumping my head against the coffee table as I did so.
There was no way that I could have possibly lost something so important.
"Just calm down," Darry said softly, placing his hands on my shoulders. "When was the last time that you saw it?" he asked, looking me straight in the eyes.
"At the hospital," I told him. "I took it off and gave it to Dal, along with my necklace."
"You gave it to Dally?" Ponyboy asked skeptically.
"Knock it off," Darry told him, before turning back to me. "Maybe you forgot to get it back from him?" he suggested.
"I…yeah," I sighed. "That…that must be it," I nodded faintly, trying to calm down.
"Why don't you try eating and then we'll go and pay Dal a visit?" Darry suggested, placing a hand on my shoulder.
"Alright," I sighed.
T
"Are you sure don't want me to just go in and get it for you?" Darry asked, looking over at me as we pulled up to Buck's place.
"I can do it," I told him, rubbing my eyes for a moment.
I then waited until he parked, killing the engine and opening the door. He came around to my side and opened mine, helping me out of the truck.
"Thanks," I smiled, leaning up and pressing a small kiss to his lips.
He grinned in response as he closed the door, walking up to the front of Buck's with me.
"He, man, open up!" Darry called through the door, knocking his fist on it a few times to get Buck's attention.
Within moments, the front door was being opened and Buck was standing there with his arms crossed over his arms.
"Curtis, long time no see," Buck greeted, a smug look on his face.
It dropped though when he saw me standing there with Darry.
"You," he stated, eyeing me for a moment.
"I'm…here to see Dally," I told him, leaning my head against Darry's side.
"Yeah, sure," Buck replied gruffly, moving out of the way in order to let us in. "He's upstairs," he muttered, walking back behind the bar to continue his work from before.
"I'll be right back," I said, letting go of Darry's hand as I made my way over to the stairs, my hand gripping the rail tightly.
This was probably something that I should have had help with, but I just brushed it off, taking it one step at a time.
Once I was at the top, a small smile slid over my face, my ears picking the voices of Buck and Darry from downstairs. A small conversation had been started between the two, my name being mentioned during one of Buck's statements. I ignored it though as I walked over to Dally's room and knocked, a groan emitting from behind the door.
"Dally?" I called out, standing there for a moment.
I heard another groan, before the shuffling of feet met my ears. Seconds later, Dally was standing there in front of me, hand through his hair and a blank look on his face.
"What are you doing here?" he asked curtly.
"Um…my ring?" I said, lifting my hand up for emphasis.
"Oh."
"Yeah," I sighed, rubbing the back of my neck for a moment.
"Sure, uh, just come in man," he said, stepping out of the way so that I could walk into the room.
He shut the door after that, moving over to the night stand, my ring laying on top of the nice cheer wood finish of the stand.
"Sorry about that Princess, didn't really I still had it at first," he told me, scooping it up into his hand. "Found it in my pocket last night."
"It's alright," I told him, stepping forward to take it.
He just stood there though, making no move to give it back.
"Um, Dal?" I questioned, raising an eyebrow.
"How'd ya sleep?" he asked, carefully looking me over for a moment.
"Fine, I guess," I shrugged, not really sure what else to say to him about it. "My head was still a bit fuzzy though."
"Yeah, about that," he started, rubbing the back of his head.
"Dal, what happened last night?" I asked, biting my lower lip.
"I'm not sure what you mean," he said, an obvious lie behind his tone.
"Something happened last night Dal and we both know it. What I want to know is why," I pointed out, referring to the conversation about me and Darry being engaged.
He seemed to have something else in his head as he spoke up though, his words hitting me hard.
"Look, I'm sorry, alright? I knew that I shouldn't have done it, but I did," he told me, walking forward as he placed his hands on my shoulders. "I mean, you kissed back though, so I know that there's something there."
I nearly choked as he said this, my eyes going wide, mouth hanging open.
"I…" I started, but was cut off as I felt him press his lips lightly to mine, the events from last night flooding back.
Memories of stumbling down the steps of Buck's establishment, dancing with a prick, the fight between the two, dancing with Dally, my depression, the kiss…
His lips had been so soft, the kiss so loving, and gentle. At the same time, it had been slightly demanding, but only after I had responded to it. He had told me that he loved me, held me close.
"Dal, am I a good person?"
I felt his hand on the back of my neck as I stood there, not fighting back at the moment, but not responding either.
"…didn't do anything wrong."
"I love you more than you know."
"…no clue."
"Dal…"
"Then kiss me."
I stood there for a moment, staring at Dally wide eyed, before pushing away and falling back onto the floor.I could barely even register anything as I sat there, my eyes watering. I was so confused, so frightened, ashamed… I remember kissing Dally. How could I have done that to Darry? How? I was a cheat, a fake, a hypocrite. I was something that I promised myself I would never be, a heart breaker.
It was then that I got up, tears in my eyes as I ran down the stairs, completely forgetting about the ring that I'd come for. I didn't even register at the time the fact that Darry had been standing outside the door, the hurt and upset look on his face. The only thing on my mind was running, something I had been used to all my life, something that I thought was over. When I was a kid, I would run away, and that's what I was doing once more.
Alright everyone, that was chapter 55. I really hope that everyone liked it? Again, I want AT LEAST 6 REVIEWS. Otherwise, no update. The reviews help me write people. Also, if ANYONE has ANY song ideas, please let me know? Music helps set the mood for scenes in my story. Let me know what you think everyone!