built for sin~ sodapop curtis

four

a/n: i don't know the curtis's moms name i only know their dad is darrel sr. so i'm just gonna make up a name:)

iris's pov

cordolium. cordolium means heartfelt sorrow. that's what almost everyone was feeling in a time like this. how do you tell someone you loved goodbye? how do you move on? it's a mystery to most. people think it's something i've gotten fairly good at. they can think that, but it isn't true.

losing a parent is terrible, losing both, that's a pain nobody will ever be able to explain.

"hey pone," i said getting to the curtis house. "hey iris," he said and i hugged him. i then hugged darry. i looked at soda and he held out his hand as if i was gonna shake it. i brought him into a tight hug.

"i know we don't usually like one another but at least hug back," i said quietly. he complied.

my dad came with me to the curtis house too. once we were all ready, we went to where the grave was gonna be. did i mention darry asked me to speak?

darry, ponyboy, soda, me. why did they ask me to speak? why not johnny? i love their parents with my whole heart, i just haven't been here in so long. there were quite a bit of people we didn't know that were probably from work or something. i stood in-between steve and johnny. as darry walked up to speak, i knew i wouldn't last much longer trying to compose myself.

"hello everyone, most of you probably know i'm darrel curtis jr, the first born son of charlotte and darrel sr." he said.

"i wanna start by saying thank you all for coming, my parents would be so grateful to see so many people care about them," he continued talking but i zoned out staring at the ground. tears fell from my eyes and steve just continued to hug me.

after ponyboy spoke it was soda's turn. i could tell he was a mess.

"uhm i'm sodapop, charlotte and darrels second born son, my parents were the most amazing people i've ever known, i'm sure everyone says that about their parents but in the case, it's true.

there was never a moment that you were unhappy around them, unless of course they had just caught me doing something stupid with my brothers," everyone laughed. "t-they were always there to help whether it was on homework or fixing the dinner i burned, they never l-left you alone," he started crying and dropped the papers.

i ran up and picked them up.

he got them back in order and i could tell he couldn't keep talking. i wrapped an arm around his shoulder and told him to show me where he was.

"my family are my best friends, if i didn't have them i wouldn't be able to get through this, and even though i'm gonna miss them more than anything, i know that we can carry on, i'll miss you forever mom and dad," i read the rest of the paper. he gave me a grateful look and went and stood next to darry.

"well i guess i'll just stay up here now that i get to speak, my name is iris ripley, i've known the curtis's since i was little, ever since i've known them i've thought the world of all of them.

charlotte loved me more than my own mother did and was frankly more of a mother to me, darrel was like a second father to me, these two amazing people loved their kids more than anything and took a lot of us in as their own, if you needed it, you could go to them no matter what time of day it was.

i loved them so much and they will be greatly missed," i said and wiped the tears away that fell out of my eyes as i walked back to steve.

"you okay?" johnny asked and i nodded.

once we got back to the house we all sat around the house, just me and the guys. "hey iris can we talk?" soda asked and i nodded. i followed him onto the porch. "thank you for helping me today, i've been a bigger dick than i usually am but you still helped me, i'm glad you're here," he said.

"it doesn't matter if you've been a dick or not, i know we haven't always gotten along, but you were there for me when my mom... anyway we can still be there for each other," i said. "i honestly don't know why we don't get along," he said. "sometimes it's just entertaining," i replied and he smiled.

we went back inside and soda sat back down. "i think i'm gonna head home and change," i said. "johnny you stayin' here?"

"yeah i'll see you later," he said. i smiled at all of them and walked home. when i walked inside i got the feeling that i should hurry. i walked to my room quickly and got in a pastel yellow comfortable, but loose dress. i switched my shoes so i was wearing my converse and went back to the front door.

"where are you going?" my mom asked. "probably back to the curtis's," i replied.

"you're always with them," she said walking closer. "did you need me for something else?" i asked. "no, go," she spat and i ran out. i might not be scared of much, but she's one of the things that scares me most.

when your own mother causes you to run away, that's saying a lot.