𝓾𝓷𝓱𝓮𝓪𝓵𝓽𝓱𝔂 𝓲𝓷𝓯𝓪𝓽𝓾𝓪𝓽𝓲𝓸𝓷 • 𝓳𝓪𝓵𝓵𝔂 | ✓ |

4. 𝓶𝓸𝓻𝓷𝓲𝓷𝓰

                     |4|
"you've got a friend in me."
        ||YOU'VE GOT A FRIEND IN ME;||
                  ||CAVETOWN||
︵‿︵‿୨♡୧‿︵‿︵
                        TW: CHEATING
                        ︵‿︵‿୨♡୧‿︵‿︵
i woke up the next morning, still in the embrace of dally. i could feel his steady breathing on the back of my neck.

i slightly turned my head to look back at him. he looked calm, calmer than i had ever seen him before.

he looked really hot all the time, but he looked so sweet and cute when he was asleep. he would be almost unrecognizable.

i carefully slid myself out of his grasp and walked to the kitchen. i peeked out the window to see it was still dark outside. when i reached the kitchen, the stove read 4:32.

"wow," i thought to myself, "i'm up early..."

i groped the counter for a cigarette in lighter before realizing i had one of both in my pocket. i reached for them, slid them out of my pocket, and tiptoed to the front door.

i ever so quietly opened it, along with the screen door, and stepped outside. i made sure to catch the door behind me so it wouldn't slam.

i leaned against the porch railing while trying to light my cigarette. after lighting it, i breathed in the toxic fumes and blew them out in a puff of smoke. i repeated the action many more times while thinking about dally.

i could help to think that maybe dally knew how i felt about him. maybe he's trying to hint that he likes me back. or maybe he's just messing with me. he always pulls cruel little pranks on the gang, but this would be too far, right?

as much as i didn't want to believe it, i had my mind set on the fact dally was playing me.

overtime, the flame of the weed began to die down so i used it to light a fresh one before discarding it.

i heard the screen door open and immediately snapped around to see who it was. who would be up at like 4:30 in the morning anyway?

it was still pitch black out so i couldn't tell who it was. they stepped down onto the porch and carefully shut the screen door as i previously did as well. still, i didn't know who it was until he spoke to me.

"johnny?" soda whispered, walking closer to me.

"yea, soda?" i whispered back. we both made sure to keep our voices down. we didn't want to risk waking anyone up yet.

"what're you doing up?" he asked, groggily, rubbing his eyes.

"i-i don't know, i just woke up. why're you up?"

"can't sleep. i haven't slept all night."

i formed a surprised look on my face. that's not necessarily the answer i was expecting.

"why's that?" i asked him as he moved next to me and leaned against the rail.

he let out a heavy sigh. "could you pass me a cig?"

i immediately did as he asked. i pulled another cigarette out of my pocket, lit it for him, and handed it to him.

he placed it between his lips and took a long drag before speaking again.

"just stuff with sandy. its...ugh i don't know man."

i remembered the night on the porch when he was smoking and told me there was something going on with her.

"well, if you want to talk about it, i'll listen." i said. i'm sure i could've worded it much better, but i was still really tired because i had just woken up.

he sighed yet again, releasing a puff of smoke from his lips.

"she uh...she's pregnant."

my face lit up with happiness.

"oh soda, that's wonderful! i know your probably stressing about being a dad and-"

"it ain't mine." he interrupted, his voice cracking.

a wave of mixed emotions overran my body at the new information.

sandy cheated on soda?

why?

with who?

how could she?

unanswered questions filled my mind, but i knew i shouldn't ask them right now. i couldn't ask them right now.

i placed one had on soda's shoulder in a comforting way while i still tried to fathom what he just told me.

"soda, i'm so sorry. please know it's not your fault. you did absolutely nothing to deserve this. some people are sick and take other people's kindness for granted, and turn around and hurt them."

a car drove by with their brights on. the lights shined on us as it passed and i could see the reflection of light from a single tear on soda's cheek.

i couldn't stand seeing soda so distraught. soda was always the goofy and happy one in the gang so it was strange seeing him upset.

this just proves that things are rough all over.

i tossed away my cigarette and wrapped my arms around soda, pulling him in for a hug.

i could tell he was a bit startled at first when i did so, but he accepted the gesture and hugged me back. he rested his chin on the top of my head as we hugged for a while longer. drops of salty water fell onto my head and heard quiet sniffles come from soda.

i felt so bad for him that he was being treated so terribly by the person he was head over heels for. his person was actually doing this though, i just pictured mine doing it in my head because i'm so pessimistic.

we stayed hugging for god knows how long as the sun rose. he finally broke it off and looked down at me.

"thank you so much for listening johnny. i really, really owe you one." he said to me, smiling.

"of course soda. i'm always here, always."

soda let out a deep breath of relief before speaking up again.

"well, i gotta get ready for work. you should try to go back to bed. you can just sleep in my old room if you'd like."

"thanks soda, i'll do that."

we both walked back inside. soda went off to his room to get changed for work. when we went inside, darry was in the kitchen, making his morning coffee. i walked by him though, not wanting to disturb his morning mood.

i entered the familiar spare room and laid down on the bed. this room was practically mine because of how much i stayed in it. the dressers even had some of my clothes in them.

i got underneath the covers, still in my denim jacket and clothes from yesterday, and immediately fell back to sleep.