Reunited | Dally's Little Sister

nine

Sage P.O.V

I don't know why I said anything. The only thing Dally knows how to do is be the overprotective brother and beat up whoever hurt me. The sad thing was, I didn't even know this guy's name. Dally sat on the edge of the bed and asked what I did. I struggled to find the right words that wouldn't anger him. 

"We went to that party on the south side and things got a little out of hand." 

"Who's 'we'"? Shit. I didn't mean to bring Angela into this. Who knows what Tim is going to do when he finds out?

"You can't say anything if I tell you." I saw him nod his head in agreement, but I knew it was an empty promise. "Angela was with me." 

He let out an unamused laugh, "I already don't like where this is going. Neither of you know when to stop."

 His words stung more than I thought they would. I knew I didn't want to have sex with that guy, and I told him to stop. But if I didn't take that Ex, would I have been in the same situation? Maybe Dally was right. And that scared me more than anything because that kind of behavior is something Dally is known for. I thought I was smarter than that. 

His voice pulled me back tour conversation, "What happened at the party?" I fiddled with my hands and continued the story. "We were drinking and having a great time. Nothing really happened until we decided to take something." 

He cut me off, "What did you take?" My voice came out small, "Ecstasy." I don't think I was going to make it to the end of the story. Dally was already pissed, and I hadn't even gotten to the worst part yet. 

"Why the fuck would you take that? And on the other side of town with no one there to look out for you, huh? How stupid can you be?" The tears started coming out again and at this point I didn't care if he saw them or not. Everything he was saying was right, because we were dumb and reckless, and we paid a hefty price for it. 

He saw me getting upset again and visibly tried to calm down. "Continue explaining." I was honestly afraid to. If he was this upset with me now, I can't imagine how he is going to take the next part. I let out one last deep breath and tried to force my way through the story. 

"We took it and then everything turned into a blur. We were dancing and having a good ass time, until these guys told us they had this expensive bottle of liquor upstairs. I was honestly curious on what it was and didn't really think about what we were doing until we got up there and they locked the door." 

My hands were shaking again, and the tears started turning in to sobs. I felt Dally tense up next to me and quietly asked what happened next. I couldn't say it out loud. It was almost like if I admitted it, it actually happened, and I still didn't want to believe it did. 

After a few more minutes of crying I said, "I told him to stop. He just kept hitting me. I couldn't stop him, Dally. I really tried." I broke down after that and to my surprise, Dally pulled me into his arms and held me tight. I cried into his chest, inhaling the smell of smoke and whiskey. As much as what happened sucked, I felt like I was home in Dally's arms. 

We stayed like that for a while, until I was calm enough to pull away. He held my shoulders and looked me in the eyes, "I will handle this." 

Shaking my head, "I don't even know who it was. We didn't see them." 

The look in his eyes changed as it clicked for him, "Angela was there too. What happened with her?" There I go again, throwing her under the bus. I knew Dal told me he wouldn't say anything, but Tim was as close to a best friend as he had. I just hope Angela wouldn't be too mad at me. 

He snapped his fingers in my face, "Answer the question." 

"There was a second guy. We couldn't do anything." He stood up and started pacing. I leaned my back against the wall and knew I had to wait for him to finish thinking before I could say anything else. Watching him walk back and forth, I could see him slowly start to get angrier. 

Eventually he stopped and looked at me. "You do not leave my sight unless you are with the gang. Do you understand? I looked down and thought about how I last interacted with them. He seemed to know something was up. 

"Look I know you and I didn't get off to a hot start, but I only want what's best for ya. I really am sorry for leaving back in the city, but I didn't think bringing you back here was what you needed. I know now that I was wrong, but right now I just want to keep you safe." It felt good to hear those words and the fact that he might still care about me, but that wasn't why I was hesitant. 

"I didn't have the best interaction with the gang tonight." He looked confused and I went on to explain. "Two-bit came and got us because I know you would've killed someone, and I asked him to bring me here. He didn't listen and brought me to the Curtis's so Darry could look at me, but I ended up ignoring all of them. I figured if I could push them away, they wouldn't keep asking about what happened. I walked out the door after snapping at Two-bit, got into it with Soda and then came here." 

To my disbelief, he started laughing. Like a genuine laugh that only made me more confused. "Kid, you have no idea how much of me is in you. They probably thought this whole time you were this nice and innocent kid, but really you are me with longer hair." 

I rolled my eyes, "I guess that's what living in New York does to you." He picked up on my clipped tone and gave me a weird look. "What happened back home?" I couldn't tell him about Mark. Not after telling him about what happened tonight. He would never let me leave the house again. "That is a story for another night." 

Luckily, Dal didn't want to get into it and said, "The gang will get over it. But I promise you that asshole will not get away with this." I knew he would hold true to that promise. But Angela also said she was going to kill them. I wonder who will get to them first. 

He went to leave, and I blurted out, "Can you stay? Please?" He froze by the door, seeming to think about what I just asked, and then walked back over to the bed. He took his shoes and shirt off and crawled into the bed. I laid down with my back to him and he threw an arm over me. 

"Yeah, kid. I'll stay." I let out a few last tears and slowly fell asleep to the sounds of his breathing.