A Thief in the Night

Chapter 22:

I was sitting on the couch watching TV, bored out of my mind.

Darry was at work, Dally, Johnny, and Pony were all hanging out together, Soda, Steve, and Two were all at the DX, all while I was alone in the Curtis house.

It was mid afternoon, and nothing good on the TV was playing, I had more interest in what was under my fingernails than the movie playing on the TV.

Suddenly the door opened, causing me to jump, and jerk my heads towards the door, my body in protective mode.

I relaxed once I saw that it was only Darry, but my eyebrows narrowed confused as to why he was home so early.

Did he forget his lunch?

"Hey" he speaks starting to take off his work shoes.

"Hi?" I respond, wondering why he was taking off his work boots.

"What are you doing here so early?" I ask puzzled.

"I'm taking a day off" he says, taking off his final shoe and walking over to the couch.

"Why? Are you not feeling well?" I question, concerned if he got what I had.

"No, I'm feeling great" he says as he sits beside me, the couch cushion dipping, my body sliding closer to his.

"Then why'd you take a day off?" I ask as his arm snakes around my waist, pulling me into his side.

"I wanted to hang out with you" he says as he puts his feet on the coffee table.

I hum in response.

"Relax" he says as he strokes my arm soothingly, and thats when I realized my body was tensed.

I take a deep breath and let myself sink into his warmth, not feeling so bored all of a sudden.

"I also have a date planned for us tonight" he says scrolling through the channels on the TV.

"Really? Where" I ask, "is it at the same place as last time?" I question, "no, it's a different place" he says shutting off the TV, "theres nothing good on" he groans, "tell me about it" I respond.

"What have you been doing when I was gone?" he asks staring at the black TV screen.

I follow his eyesight to see our reflection, my body curled against his, his one arm holding onto my wrist, the other on my arm.

"Watching TV" I tell him and he hums in response.

"Was there anything good on then?" he asks, I shake my head no, "no" I say quietly.

I suddenly felt sleepy in this position, my eyes becoming more tired.

"How was work for the time you were there?" I ask trying to keep talking so I won't fall asleep on him, after all he did skip work to hang out with me.

 "Boring, and hot" he says in a monotoned voice.

"Where is everyone?" he asks, "Dally, Pony, and Johnny are hanging out together somewhere, and Soda, Steve, and Two are at the DX" I tell him.

I then remembered what Dally told me yesterday, and I sat up, so I could look at Darry.

He looked at me confused, and fixed his posture to look more serious, "you never told me Dally helped save me from the fire" I tell him.

Darry's lips curve into a smile, "so he told you" he says, and I nod my head yes, "why didn't you?" I ask puzzled as to why he didn't tell me who my other saviour was, especially if it was someone from the gang.