Sodapop's POV
I knocked on Buck's front door, I was going to walk Callie to school that morning before going to my morning shift at the DX.
Callie opened the door, her eyes wide in horror and sweat rolling down her forehead, her hair pulled back into a loose bun. "My dad.." she wheezed.
I didn't even take a second to think, pulling her into a tight hug, looking behind her into the empty entry way.
I could hear banging and crashing upstairs followed by choruses of shouting and yelling.
"Shhhh... It's okay. Is Dallas okay?" I stroked Callie's head, wiping the tears from her cheeks.
"Yes... they're upstairs." Callie's voice shook as hot tears poured down her, paler than usual, face.
That's when I noticed the glass and remains of plates on the ground. Callie's breathing got quicker and more shallow. "Are you okay?" I asked her, lightly lifting her chin to get her attention away from the anxious thoughts I knew she was having.
"Y-yes." She answered, pulling away from my embrace, wiping the tears from her face with the edge of her hoodie sleeve. The shouting upstairs intensified dramatically, it sounded like they were shouting at each other through megaphones.
"Stay here." I said, running upstairs. Dallas and his father were punching and shouting each other, running into walls and furniture.
I grabbed Dallas' arm, pulling him away from his father, whose nose was bleeding and had two black eyes.
"YOU WILL REGRET THIS!" His dad shouted, his knuckles cracking open and bleeding.
"GET OUT! YOU ARE NOT TAKING MY SISTER!" Dallas struggled against my grip but I didn't let him go.
"Get out." I said rage filling my voice as I turned to his dad.
"WHO MIGHT YOU BE?!" His gaze snapped to mine. I thought quickly.
"Callie's boyfriend." I responded, forcing my tone to be confident and truthful.
"What?" Dallas hissed in my ear, glaring at me.
"Go with it." I snapped, whispering into his ear. Dallas' father glared at me, thowing a chair into the wall before walking downstairs and out the door. Far away I could hear police sirens. Dallas pulled his arm from my grip, glareing at me. I didn't say a word and ran downstairs, Callie was sitting on the ground, the phone on the ground next to her.
"Callie..?" I asked, leaning down to her level.
She didn't respond, and just sat there, staring blankly at nothingness.
"Callie. Get up." Dallas said softly, grabbing her arm and pulling her up off the floor. She stumbled slightly but met my gaze, her blue eyes alert again.
"You still want me to walk you to school?" I asked, giving her a soft smile, trying to distract her from what just happened.
"You can skip today Cals." Dallas said, opening a cabinet and pulling out a red First Aid kit. "Soda why don't you take her with you to the DX. She can help you out for the day."
"Uh-sure." I looked down at Callie, and she nodded slightly, grabbing her backpack and throwing one strap over her shoulder.
"Dal you ok?" She asked, her voice slightly shaky.
"Yup. Go with Soda, okay?"
She sighed but followed me out the door. We walked silently next to each other down the sidewalk, the loud VROOM of cars and motorcycles filling the silence.
Once we reached the DX, I clocked in and called Steve to let him know that I was there. Callie dropped her backpack onto a chair in the break room before helping me count money in the register behind the front counter.
Callie's POV
I silently counted the dollar bills in the register, separating them into ones, tens, twenties, fifties, and hundreds. I split the money in half like Soda told me too and put half of them back into the register and gave Soda the other half to give to his boss.
My heart was still pounding, my mind still going back to Dallas and my father. I couldn't focus, all I could think about was how horrible it would be if my dad did somehow manage to bring me home with him.
"Cal." Soda's voice snapped me out of my thoughts, my eyes snapping up to his.
"Yeah?" I asked, scanning his handsome tan face for any indication that I had done soemthing wrong, even though his tone was normal and sweet.
"You know Dallas won't let your dad take you."
I sighed, putting my elbows onto the counter, my fist pressed against my right cheek as I looked at him. "You don't know my dad. He hates loosing. He hates both Dallas and I but he hates not being in control even more. He wasn't lying, he will go to the cops."
"Oh-" I saw Soda's eyes flick to the ground and then back at me, his lips pressing together to form a thin line, his jaw clenching slightly. "He doesn't sound like much of a father to me."
"Oh trust me. He isn't." I kept my tone level, we could hear Steve working on cars outside the shop and talking to customers.
"You know. You could stay at my house for a bit. Darry's idea. Then your dad wouldn't know where to find you, and Dallas might be less on edge since he knows we'll protect you." Soda suggested, a soft smile playing at his lips, even as his eyes showed the anger his face had a few seconds ago before he hid it from me. Well tried to hide it, I could read people better than they thought I could.
"That's kind of him, and yeah that is a smart idea. You ask Dal already?"
"Pony boy told him." Soda moved, instead of standing across the counter from me he walked behind it, grabbing some paperwork and setting it onto one side of the counter, facing away from us, along with setting a pen next to it.
"Customer paperwork." He said with a grin when he noticed my raised eyebrows and look of confusion.
"Did Dallas agree to me staying with y'all?" I asked, switching the subject back.
"He said it was alright, as long as Two kept his drunk butt out of the room we put you in, and that Ponyboy walked with you to school since you tow go to the same one."
"Oh. I'm surprised he didn't threaten you as well." My fingers drummed on the counter, I pretended not to notice that Soda was standing right, right next to me in this small register space.
"Oh he did. But you don't have to worry about that." Soda said, looking down at me with his adorable cheeky grin.
DON'T THINK ABOUT THAT CALLIE! My brain screamed.
"Sounds like a plan then." I smiled back at him, for the first time in a few days, I felt kind of happy.
"You look good when you smile." Soda said calmly, his eyes not leaving mine even as I glanced back and forth between the cash register and his face.
"Thanks. Not much to smile about these days." I shrugged.
"Then it will be my own special job to make sure you do."
Soda's POV
Gosh, she looked so pretty when she smiled. Based on the way her eyes flicked uncertainty back to me and elsewhere in the shop, she had no idea how pretty she actually was.
"SODA!" Steve called, poking his head inside the shop. "You have a customer! Come take over!"
"Come on-" I grinned at Callie, moving out from behind the counter. "I'll show you how to fix an engine."
(Sorry abt the ending, but I didn't want this to be super super long)
Word count: 1279 words
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Under The Willow Tree
FanfictionCallie Winston is the younger sister to Dallas Winston, Greaser gang member and convict, who's jail record is longer than movie credits. Callie has lived in the shadow of her brother her whole life. That is until, as a shy, anxious, and introverted...
