Shawna's Story (A Johnny Cade Fanfiction) //CURRENTLY EDITING//

~7~

After lunch, I cleaned the kitchen and walked into the laundry room to help Johnny with laundry.

"So, does Shante stay at the house?" I finally asked Johnny.

"Nah, Shante has a friend that she stays with," Johnny said. "Once she was old enough, she began leaving home."

"That's good. Neither of you need to be there when they're home. I worry about you, you know?" I said, putting a load of laundry in the washing machine.

"I know...I don't mean to," Johnny said.

"I know, I worry about everyone all the time," I said with a sigh, shaking a little at some thoughts that made me nervous. I can't remember what it was now, but whatever it was, it bothered me a bit at that moment. Johnny noticed me shaking and gently held my hand.

"You're shaking," he said softly.

"I'm still shaken up from earlier," I said softly.

"I get that," Johnny said. "You won't be by yourself like that anymore, I promise you that." he reassured. "I won't let him hurt you anymore."

"Thank you," I said, before gently pulling him into a hug. He hugged me close and gently kissed my head, making me relax a bit. Once I fully calmed down, we continued to get some laundry done, sorting them into colors and white loads, before sorting them out into smaller piles. "This should make it easier and get things done quicker. We'll need to get some more laundry detergent later."

"Yeah, we can go tomorrow if you want," Johnny suggested.

"Yeah, we can do that," I said. We finished sorting and walked into the living room to wait for the laundry. "So, Shante, will you be staying for dinner?" I asked, sitting down on the couch.

"If it's okay, I would love to," Shante said.

"Oh, I don't mind. It actually helps me out a bit with more people here," I said. "I guess you can say it's a bit of a habit."

"Yeah, I get that. Thank you," Shante said.

"It's no problem," I said, before watching, yet another Mickey Mouse rerun on TV. After an hour or two, Pony and Two-Bit came in, having finished school for the day, and wanting a snack. I got up, walked into the kitchen and came out with some lemon cake for everyone. "I have enough lemons to make one more cake tomorrow," I said, handing out the plates with cake on them.

"Well it was good while it lasted," Dallas said.

"Yeah," I said, not really a chocolate cake fan myself. It's not that I hate it, but if I eat too big of a piece, I feel sick from the richness. "I better get dinner started before Steve and Soda get back to bother me."

"Hm...Ponyboy, Two-Bit, Sodapop...interesting nicknames," Shante said.

"Two-Bit is my nickname, Pony and Soda's names are their legal names," Two-Bit said.

"Wait...seriously?" Shante asked.

"Yeah, I can even show you our birth certificates," Pony said.

"No need, I believe you," Shante said, going back to eating her slice of cake. I gave a soft chuckle and put on my apron, before washing my hands, and starting dinner. By the time Soda and Steve got back, I had the table set and dinner ready.

"Dinner's ready," I called, getting the sink ready for dirty dishes.

"Hey, sis, can I talk to you for a sec?" Soda asked. I looked over at Soda and nodded.

"Sure," I said, drying my hands, before taking my apron off and hanging it up. I set our plates on the counter and headed out of the kitchen with Soda, who was holding a brown paper bag. I followed him to our shared room and closed the door behind me. "Did you get it?"