Baby>> The Curtis Sister

Chapter Two

"Hey y/n, come help me will you?"

I look over from the book I JUST picked up to see Steve helping Sodapop walk up to the door. I sigh and walk up to open the door, but as I get closer I notice something is off. Soda is limping and his eyes are screwed shut, and there is blood dripping down his face.

"Oh my god, Steve, what happened?" I say, pulling the door open and taking some of Soda's weight.

"This soc decided it would be funny to come and pick a fight while we were working, so we fought them." Steve said, shrugging.

I struggle under Sodas weight and groan out in annoyance.

"Have you ever thought that maybe, just maybe, you don't need to engage with them?"

We set Soda on the couch and his head immediately drops back.

Steve huffs and looks over at me. "If you have to know, they were actually talking about you, so no. We did have to engage. You don't want to know what they were saying." He is face morphs into a look of disgust. "It's revolting."

I feel a rush of affection for the boys who were always so quick to stand up for me. "Well thank you for defending my honor, but next time I would beg that you don't speak to them. It never ends well for us, you know that."

Steve scrunches up his face as if my request was too much to ask. "We'll see about that. But on a more serious note, Soda got pretty banged up. I think his shoulder might be dislocated, and he got thrown across concrete, so he's a bit scratched up. And of course, they always wear those fucking rings, so his face has some deeper cuts."

I sigh and rub my temples. "You can go back to work. I can patch him up here."

Steve leans over and kisses my cheek. "Thank youuuu, y/n. We owe you."

"More than you know, dipshit."

He winks and pats Soda on the head before disappearing back through the front door, letting it slam shut.

I bend down in front of Soda and put my hand on his cheek. "Soda."

His eyes slowly open. "I feel like hell,"

I smile. "Yeah, I can tell. But it's not like you're actually dying, so maybe stay awake."

He grins meekly. "What's the damage?"

"Well, first and foremost, I need to put your shoulder back into place. That's gonna make you feel a whole lot better really fast."

He rolls up his uniform shirt sleeve and holds it, scrunched in his palm. "I trust you to fix me, so please don't let me down."

"Well this is gonna hurt like hell, so be prepared for that," I say, and I feel around on his shoulder until I can find the dislocated area. Without warning, I pop his shoulder back into place.

"FUCKING SHIT," Soda yells, holding his shoulder, and clenching his teeth.

"Better without a warning."

"Fuck you."

"I'll tell Darry that you are cursing like a sailor," I say, smoothing his hair back to get a better look at his wounds.

He looks up at me innocently. "I wouldn't."

"Right," I say. "I'm going to get some rubbing alcohol to clean the cuts."

I walk away and ignore his request for a different kind of alcohol.

I grab the rubbing alcohol off the bathroom shelf, and grab a small rag. I walk back to the living room and kneel in front of him.

"I'm gonna need you to sit up and tell me where you're scraped up." I say, pulling on his leg.

He slowly sits, groaning, and shows me all the cuts.

I start with his legs, and rub alcohol on the scraped areas, which are mostly his lower thighs and knees, where his jeans were ripped. Then, I start on his arms, and clean all the areas needed. He lets out a low hiss of pain when I reach a particularly ugly cut, and I squeeze his hand quickly.

Soon, all that's left is his face.

There are three deep gashes running down his cheek. I cradle his jaw and tilt his head so that I get a better angle to clean.

When I finish cleaning the third and final cut, I turn his face to look at me.

"I don't want you getting in these fights anymore. This is, what, the twelfth time i've patched you up? I especially don't want you getting banged up on my behalf. Let them talk. It doesn't matter to me."

He grabs my shoulders. "If you heard the things they say- It's horrible. They treat you like the town slut, y/n. It's not fair."

"I know what they say, Soda. And it doesn't matter to me. They don't matter to me."

He pulls me in for a hug and rests his head on top of mine. "You're my sister. I'll always protect you."