Broken ||A Sodapop Curtis Love Story||

Chapter 14

"Soda! Soda, wait!" I yell. He doesn't stay, he's already out the door. Every bone in my body hurts, way too much to chase after him.

"Soda!" I cry. No response, he's already out. I lay back down in my bed, curling into a little ball. This can't be happening. I already lost him once. Did I really deserve this again? I'm such an idiot. Suddenly, there's a knock at my door.

"S-Soda?" I stutter.

"No, sorry. It's Sarah," The voice says. Sarah the staff member.

"Oh... Come in," I say, taking a breath and wiping my tears. I sit up again, and do everything I can to make it look like I haven't been crying.

"Everything ok?" She asks me. I fake a smile and nod.

"Yeah. Everything's fine. Thanks. But that guy, Sodapop, did he leave yet?" I ask. Sarah nods sadly.

"Sorry, honey. I just let him out," She says. That's when I get an idea. The window in my room. Maybe I can open it and tell him to come back. But when I open the curtains, I find the outside world to be pitch black and raining. Everything out there seems to be invisible. Exactly how I feel right now.

"Sarah, he can't be gone. You have to go get him. I need to talk to him. It's important...," My voice starts to trial off, but I swallow my pain and whisper a quiet, "Please?" She sighs.

"Emily, I would love to, but it's almost five in the morning. Letting him in when I did was breaking enough rules, but if I chase after him, I could get fired. You know very well that three o'clock in the morning isn't visiting hours. The only reason I let him in was because he was in uniform. It seemed important. And if he cares enough, he'll come back tomorrow. If not, he won't," She says. By this point, I'm sobbing again.

"But Sarah, you don't understand. That was my boyfriend. I told him what I did and why I was here and he left. He hates me now. But I need him. You need to go after him. I've never wanted anything more than I want him. I finally got him and now I lost him... again," I yell, sniffling as I go along. By now, there's a mixture of snot and tears streaming down my cheeks and I don't even have enough energy to wipe it. Sarah hands me a Kleenex, but I just put it down. She tells me to calm down, but I can't.

I can barely breathe, but I try to catch my breath as I say, "I've never cared about anyone, even my own brother, as much as I care about him. I love him. I made a stupid mistake and I'm so sorry, but he got mad and I lost him, probably forever. He tried to get me to leave, but I wouldn't and that was probably my last chance with him. I want to recover, I want to be happy, really. But I don't think I can do it without Soda," I tell her. She sits down next to me and I bury my head into her shoulder, soaking her shirt immediately. She rubs my back soothingly.

"Emily, you should have seen the way his face lit up when I told him he could see you earlier. That boy cares for you, a lot. He'll be back," She says, trying her best to comfort me.

"Y-you think so?" I ask. Sarah nods.

"I'm pretty sure. And if not, you have your brother and his friends. They can play messenger, right?" She suggests.

"I... I guess so," I whisper, starting to calm down. I wasn't crying anymore, but there was still that same feeling of dread that he wouldn't come back, in the pit of my stomach.

Soda's POV:

I can't believe it. Emily, my girlfriend, the love of my life cheated on me with my best friend. How could they? I shot myself to get back to her. I was in the military, I was doing fine, but I got a letter from her saying how upset she was that I left, and I did everything I could to get back to her. I loved this girl, and I thought she needed me too. But I guess not.

It's 4:30 in the morning and I'm walking in the rain, soaking wet, still in uniform to who knows where. I planned to go home, back to Darry and Pony, but somehow I end up at Steve's house. It takes me a minute to get the courage to knock on his door, his dad is pretty rude when you wake him up, especially if he's hung over. After a minute or two, he comes to the door.

"The hell do you want?" He asks, slurring his words.

"C-can you get Steve, please?" He walks away without another word. Then he knocks on a closed door and yells, "Someone's here to see you." After that, he goes back to his room and closes the door. Steve comes out if his room after a moment.

"Who the hell is here at three o'clock in the-" He starts. And then he sees me. And then he blinks over and over, and starts rubbing his eyes.

"This is a dream, right?" He asks. I shake my head.

"Nope, this is no dream, buddy. I'm back and here to stay," I say, giving him a small smile. He runs up to hug me, but I back away.

"No," is all I say.

"Soda, what's going on?" He asks. I don't know what to say. He doesn't know what he did?

"Shouldn't you know?" I ask, sort of harshly. He rubs his eyes again.

"It's three AM, Soda. Just tell me. And get inside. You're soaked," He says, running to grab me a towel. I gladly take it, and momentarily bury my face in it, drying the mixture of tears and rain running down my face. Together, Steve and I sit on the couch.

"So, tell me what's up. I need to know you're home and why you're so upset, now," He demands. I take a deep breath.

"You kissed Emily. She said it was her fault, but I don't believe her. She wouldn't do something like that. And I don't think you would either, so tell me you didn't and I'll believe you," I tell him, talking quickly.

"I... I..." He whispers......

A/N: Since this is the third update you're getting this week and it was 1,100 words, I'm going to leave you on a slight cliffhanger. Let me know what you think of this chapter, and I'll read them tomorrow morning! Goodnight!