𝐢 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐢'𝐦 𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐲 ˢᵒᵈᵃᵖᵒᵖ ᶜᵘʳᵗⁱˢ

𝟎𝟎𝟐. ( newspaper )

❝ you came back. ❞

WHEN I WAKE UP the next morning, i notice two things. one of them being that i fell asleep in my work clothes and the second being that my window was wide open.

i scramble to my window quickly to close it. someone could've gotten in. someone could be inside my house. i try to calm myself from the thoughts and slip my slippers onto my feet.

i try not to wake anyone—considering that it's saturday and neither my mom nor my brother have work today.

i don't either so i make myself some coffee and grab one of our older newspapers. it's from a couple of months ago, meaning that it was three months after i last saw soda.

i frown at that, for some odd reason i'm thinking about him again. i try and forget about him for a good second—until i read a devastating part of the newspaper.

mr and mrs curtis died? why did nobody ever think of telling me about this?

soda must be heartbroken, i know how close he was to the two of them. how is he doing? i want to go to his house and ask him but this was a while ago when it happened—it'd be weird to ask now especially when he's not happy with me.

i set the newspaper down and go back to sipping my coffee. i feel like the worst person in the world, how could i just leave soda like that and never bother to contact him again?

logan appears from the hallway, "hey athena." he waves, his hair a mess.

"hi." i don't look up from my coffee. "did you know that mr and mrs curtis died?"

he looks at me weirdly, "uhm yeah? didn't you?" my mouth is wide as i realize that everyone must've known besides me.

"no? how was i supposed to know?!" my voice grows louder as a rush of panic soars through me. logan stares blankly at me.

"everyone thought you knew! no wonder you seemed so unfazed by it." logan scratches his head. i want to hit him in that moment for some odd reason.

"i-i need to see sodapop." i stand up quickly, leaving my coffee to sit on the table.

"you haven't see him in so long! what makes you think he'll let you in now?"

"i need to apologize, something i should've done so long ago." i hurry up to my room, changing my clothes quickly, not wanting to waste a second of time without apologizing to soda.

the guilt swims in my stomach as i rush down the steps and out the front door. i climb into my car. i remember the way i need to go to get to soda's house, so i have no trouble getting there whatsoever.

i climb out of my car—hurrying to the front door. i didn't even have the time to regret my actions as i rung the doorbell.

i could hear footsteps padding towards the doorway, my heart racing in my chest as i realize who it was that opened the door.

sodapop. my sodapop.

he doesn't say anything, only stares at me with what seems to be hurt and confusion in his eyes.

i force a smile, "soda." i say.

"you came back." he says stiffly.

"i came back." i nod, fiddling with my fingers. he doesn't say anything, he doesn't even move. i want to be sick, i should've know this was a bad idea.

"why are you here?" he finally asks. i'm a little taken aback by his question but i shrug it off.

"i heard about your parents." i hesitate, i can see soda's expression change a little—even if he tries to hide it.

"they've been dead for a while now." soda remarks, then shakes his head, "look, i have stuff i need to do."

it feels like a stab to the heart, but i'm not giving up so easily. "if there's anything i can do to help you..."

"you leave for a whole fucking year and you expect me to just let you right back in when you want to come back?" soda looks pained, like he wants to let me back in but doesn't want to go through the hurt all over again.

"i miss you, okay? i miss you soda, i really do." i step closer. "i made a huge mistake by hurting you and i've hated myself for that ever since."

soda doesn't say anything, instead a girl appears from behind him.

"who is this, babe?" she asks sodapop. my heart drops.

"just an old friend." soda looks at me like i'm dirt. i don't blame him—i feel like dirt in this moment—maybe even worse than that.

i smile at the girl, she smiles back as well. is this his girlfriend? "i better go then." i try to shake off the sadness building up in my body, the tears forcing their way to my eyes.

"yeah." soda nods, "you should."

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

i can't sleep so i updated horray
-molly