Reunited | Dally's Little Sister

twenty nine

Chapter 29

Sage P.O.V.

It had been a few months since the Mark incident. Steve was walking on his own now but had a little bit of a limp. The doctor said it should start to go away as he gets his strength back. Steve had been more than okay with me after the whole my ex shooting him thing. He likes to brag that he saved my life, and it was at that point that I knew he would have that over me for the rest of my life. I was just happy that I didn't lose a friend because of it.

Tim was more than fine. The talk of getting shot had boosted his rep and he liked to find any way to talk about it. I even saw him on multiple occasions wearing a cut off shirt to show off the scar. Needless to say, nothing about him changed.

Two-bit was a slightly different story. He had complications from his surgery and ended up being in the hospital about a month. The bullet that hit his ribs ended up nicking an organ. While they fixed it up as best as they could, an infection set in a week later. His mom was finally able to get him home on strict bedrest orders which is what has really gotten him down.

His drinking has been nearly cut out and unless someone in the gang can get him a pack of kools, he was without them as well. Pony and Johnny had been busy with school, Steve, Soda, and Darry were working all the time, and I found it awkward going to see him.

The last time I went over, it was the first time I had never seen him smile during a conversation. He was serious the whole time and yelled at me when I refused to get him a beer. I was all for breaking the rules, but since I was the reason he was on bed rest to begin with, I wasn't going to make things worse and help him drink. Dally said things will get better as soon as he is able to get out of the house again, but I wasn't so sure.

Things with Soda and I went from bad to worse. I was in the hospital for three days and he never once came to see me. Darry had checked in a few times to make sure I was doing well and promised me there was no hard feelings between us. He claimed he knew what he was getting into when he walked out of that house.

Soda seemed to have other feelings. I ran into him at Buck's a few weeks back and he was plastered. Soda normally never drank, and I had a feeling it was because of everything that was going on. Dally told me to keep my distance, but I didn't listen. Long story short, Soda blamed me for almost having half of the gang killed and basically said he never wanted to see me again. This resulted in Dally and him getting into it and Buck breaking them up.

We haven't talked since.

Part of me should have been more upset about it, but we never had the best relationship in the first place. He deserves a girl that would treat him right. Maybe a middle class one who was far away from all our bullshit.

As for me, I was still rattled by everything that happened with Mark. I had nightmares often about him shooting me or someone else. Even with him dead, I still couldn't escape him. Dally had been hovering more. I realized it was because I wasn't exactly talking to people and it was rare now that I left Buck's. He was worried in his own way and I knew I needed to do something about it.

Angela had helped me through a lot of this crap, and she knew what was going on in my head. I knew she was good for her word and promised not to tell either of our brothers how I was feeling. Slowly, she got me out of Buck's and back out into our world. The things we did might not have been healthy, but I guess it was better than me being locked inside Buck's with nothing but my feelings.

-

Tim was having a bon fire with his gang and a few random greasers that showed up. Angela and I have been nearly inseparable these last few months, so it wasn't a surprise when she dragged me out there.

Alcohol had played a big part in getting me somewhat back to my old self. It wasn't like I was drunk every second of the day, but I was rarely seen without a drink in my hand. Truthfully, I didn't think I would ever be the same after what happened, but I needed to act like I was taking steps in the right direction.

Tim kept an eye on me when I was around him. He kept his distance, but I knew the second I took a step in the wrong direction, he would be there pulling me back.

Dally on the other hand was always there. He commented on my drinking a few times, but never acted on it. I think he just wants to make sure I wasn't about to jump off the deep ended like I did earlier in the year.

The bon fire wasn't anything crazy. With it only being Tim's gang, there wasn't fights breaking out like usual. Angela was flirting with some guy who clearly had a death wish with Tim standing nearby.

I had been sitting on top of the hood of an old broken-down car, watching everyone around me. Sitting away from everyone allowed me to take a few deep breaths and drop the "everything is fine" act for a little while. I kept my eye out for Tim and my brother, making sure they didn't sneak up on me. I knew they wouldn't let me sit over here for long before one of them dragged me back to social interaction, but it was expected.

What I wasn't expecting though, was for Soda to walk up with a girl on his arm. As much as I wanted to ignore him and his ability to move on so quickly, something about the girl seemed familiar. I tried to look casual and sipped on my beer as they got closer to the fire in case one of them happened to look over at me.

Time seemed to slow down as she turned towards my direction and the flames from the fire lit up her face. The only emotion that seemed to run through me was pure rage. The two-timing bitch somehow managed to find her way back from the sunshine state and into the grasp of the guy who was entirely way too good for her.

My body seemed to disconnect from what my mind was doing. I didn't realize I was walking their direction until a set of arms pulled me into a different direction. My brother's voice was in my ear, "I know you're pissed because I am too. But this isn't the place to beat her head in."

My body was shaking at this point. "How the hell could he take her back after everything she did to him?" Dally managed to pull me away from the bon fire altogether and started walking down the street back to Buck's. "How are you not as pissed off as I am?"

He let out a short chuckle, "Kid, you have no idea how much I wanted to kill him right then and there. But one of us should be the adult and it was clear you weren't going to be it."

I shook my head, "She cheated and ran. He doesn't deserve that. Yeah, I fucked up too and nearly got his family and friends killed, but you don't see me trying to weasel my way back into his life." Dally was silent the rest of the way as I continued to vent about the whole situation, knowing that nothing he said was going to make me feel better.

We made it to Buck's, and I headed straight for the bar. Before I could order a shot of the strongest thing he had, Dally dragged me away and pushed me towards the stairs. "You're pissed and drinking is only going to make it worse."

I shook my head, "You don't know that."

We got to his room and he threw me some of his clothes to change into. "Yeah, I do. As much as I hate to admit it, you are a mini me and I have ended up in the cooler too many times after trying to drink away whatever pissed off feelings I had. And with the last name we share, the cops wouldn't even give you a second glance before throwing you in. Just stay in here and get some sleep. We will deal with this bullshit tomorrow." I watched him walk back out of the room and knew he would be sitting at the bar in a seat facing the stairs.

On top of being pissed off about Soda and Sandy getting back together, my brother was being the more reasonable one out of the two of us and locked me in this room like a child who was grounded.

I let out a frustrated scream and punched the wall in front of me. As much as I was hoping to feel relief from that, pain was what greeted me. I looked down and saw the blood dripping from my knuckles and knew I cut it up pretty bad. I was able to open and close it showing me that at least it wasn't broken. But looking at the giant hole in the wall, Dally was going to livid.

On a brighter note, for the last hour I managed to have one other emotion besides depressed and scared. Even though rage is what replaced them, it was better than nothing.