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Virginia thought she landed herself in a trap. It was quiet for too long, an uncomfortable silence that made her skin crawl and her mind run rampant with the darkest of her thoughts. A part of her was ready to hunt down Thomas Reed for his betrayal. Another wanted her to confess everything to her brother and rid herself of the burden that threatened to crack her shoulders.
"Johnny's stayin' the night," was the first thing he said. He gave a tilt of his head in the direction of the boys' bedrooms. "His old man never wanted him there no more now he's past eighteen and all. Just keepin' him there to earn a livin' he'd shell out on booze. He gave Johnny the boot today."
Virginia's heart was wrenched. "Is he going to live here? Please let him. Just-just until he gets back on his feet?"
"Ponyboy said the same thing— we're all okay but Johnny said he'd feel like a bother."
"A bother?" she repeated in incredulity. She tugged her lip between her teeth, her fingers drumming anxiously on the dull wooden table. "Did anyone tell Dally?"
A sudden coldness shadowed her brother's face and she felt her blood freeze. Virginia didn't think it would boil down to the hard truth this early. Her throat felt dry like it was rubbed with sand and it hurt to swallow, to breathe.
His eyebrows furrowed together, the lines around his eyes deepening as he frowned. "You're still talkin' to Dally?"
Virginia felt her heartbeat pick up and she averted her gaze. "Uh, we-we talk still."
"You don't go around his place? I don't want you two feet close to him, you dig?" Sadness briefly flickered in his eyes, but it was gone as soon as it appeared. "Kid's lost now."
Virginia Curtis was a woman of her word. But she couldn't give her brother the promise he wanted her to swear by, not while her fervid heart still beat. She simply nodded the most demure nod, ignoring the sudden sour stab that lodged in her stomach.
Darry was quiet for the most part, the wrestle inside flickering in his ice eyes. She wanted to believe he was trying to speak to her truthfully and she despised how difficult it was. A nauseating feeling filled her stomach—how did it get so hard for him to look her in the eye? She was ashamed with herself too for letting it get this frosty.
"It's not what you think with Thomas," was what he finally said, his eyes trained on the table. "He was here to explain some things to me. He said you two talked... after you violently hauled him against the wall in the school faculty lounge."
Virginia pursed her lips and shook her head fervently. "Right, let's uh, ignore that part, can-can we?"
"Look, Thomas just said he was ready to let go of any preparations between the two of you," Darry replied. "He said it's no one's fault, you both talked and this is what the two of you wanted. He didn't wanna force you into nothin' you wanted."
