i never said i liked you (book 2)

miss you

{steve}

3:00 pm

Stephanie was hanging with the boys in the living room, so I snook off to the kitchen to talk to Darry. He was hands deep in creating the perfect dinner for our thanksgiving "do-over." He looked at me was I walked into the room, "Steve," "Darry, how's dinner coming along?" "Pretty damn good, I think tonight's food will be even better than last nights." I shared a laugh with him before speaking, "I just wanted to say...I'm sorry I didn't ask for your blessing before I proposed to her, it was disrespectful...I hope you can forgive me." Darry set down his spoon and gave me a soft look, "Steve...I'm not her father, you never had to ask me for my blessing...I just want her to be happy," "I was raised that you always ask the father for their blessing." A soft silence filled the room as he thought about his late father, "He would've wanted you to marry her Steve...he would've supported it. I know it," "I still should've asked you Darry, you're her caretaker." He admittedly spoke, "I've always wanted you to be the guy Steph ended up with, I always saw how you looked at her and how much you cared about her...I'm just glad your the one that's marrying her," "Darry, I'll never hurt her," "I know you won't."

{cherry}

6:00 pm

Bryce and I anxiously walked up the porch steps of the Curtis house, he nervously spoke, "Cherry are you sure I'm welcome here? These boys are kind of scary and if they don't like me, then I really don't wanna give them a free pass to beat me up," "It will be fine Bryce, Steph reassured me that nobody's mad at you." His nerves calmed as I softly kissed him, suddenly the door jolted open. Bryce and I quickly jumped apart and were met with Ponyboy smirking at us, "What are you love birds doing out here?!? The party's inside!!." He ushered us inside the small house and we were both quickly met with all of the greaser boys plus Kylee, she quickly wrapped her arms around me, "Cherry!! I'm so glad you came, and I'm glad you brought Bryce." The boys all eyed Bryce up, which made him nervous. Two-Bit narrowed his eyes, "So Bryce, got anything you wanna say?" Bryce could barely speak, "I...Uh, I." All of the boys bursted out laughing, Sodapop lightly swatted Bryce's arm, "Were only teasing ya Bryce." A look of relief fell across his face, I questioningly spoke, "Where's Steph?," "Right here!." I turned my head and Steph came down the stairs halfway, she smiled, "Cherry, Ky...come upstairs now!!." Kylee and I followed Steph up the stairs to her room, once she shut the door, she eagerly smiled at us. Kylee raised her brow, "What's going on Steph?" "Kylee I want to tell you....Steve and I are engaged!!." Kylee froze and then quickly reacted by throwing her arms around Stephanie, "Oh my god!!! That's amazing Stephanie!!!!." Stephanie smiled, "Cherry noticed the ring earlier so I told her, otherwise I would've told you both at the same time," Kylee smiled, "That's okay, you told me and that's all that matters."

{stephanie}

7:00 pm

Everyone in the house gathered at the table for our "Thanksgiving do-over dinner." Everyone chatted and enjoyed the meal, which made yesterday seem irrelevant, especially the screwed up dinner part. Once we were all done eating, Darry stood up and tapped his knife against his glass, the room went silent. He softly spoke, "Thank you all for coming to our little thanksgiving do-over, without you guys...my siblings and I would be very lost, so we thank you, we're all very grateful for each and every one of you. I also just want to say congratulations to Steve and Steph on their engagement." The boys all clapped obnoxiously, Two-Bit piped up, "Just make sure you wait a few years to have any kids," Steve glared, "Shut up Two-Bit." Darry rolled his eyes and continued speaking, "Anyways, Steph is leaving tomorrow to go back to college...and she won't be back for Christmas, so this dinner is sorta like a going away dinner. Because who knows when she'll be back to visit, we love you Stephanie and we wish you the best of luck at college. You're doing amazing already, and I just know mom and dad are so proud of you." The boys all clinked their glasses and applauded Darry's little dinner speech, I sighed, "I'm really going to miss all of you guys," Ponyboy spoke up, "We'll miss you too Steph."

7:45 pm

After dinner, Cherry made her way up to me with Bryce. She softly spoke, "I should probably get home, I have to pack and all that," "Yeah I feel you, I'm really happy you could make it." We sadly looked at each other knowing this was the end, for an unknowable time period. I softly spoke, "Cherry, thank you for...everything. You saved my relationship, I will never forget that," "Steph, without you I never would've met Bryce...and I thank you for that. And I thank you for being the best friend I've ever had...I love you Steph," "I love you too Cherry." We wrapped our arms around each other tightly, after a few seconds we pulled away from each other. I looked at her in despair, "Safe travels home," "I'll call you!" "Sounds like a plan." She said goodbye to everyone and left with Bryce, and part of me didn't want her to go...because she changed in such a good way, that I wanted to be friends with her forever.

8:30 pm

Eventually, the boys all started leaving one by one. They wanted to be well rested for tomorrow, because they all insisted on coming to the train station. Soon, it was just my brothers and Steve left, Ponyboy, Darry, and Sodapop made their way upstairs leaving Steve and I on the couch. He looked over at me, "It's all starting to feel real now," "What is?" "You leaving." I took his hand in mine, "It's gonna be alright...remember?" "I know, I just...I don't know if I'm gonna be able to keep it together tomorrow," "What do you mean?" "Steph...I might cry," "Steve, you cried the last time I left," "I...I did?" "Yes! Remember, I wiped your tears with my thumb," "Of course I remember, I felt like such a pussy," "Your not. You're my perfect boyfrien-I mean finance!" "Say it again," "Your my perfect finance." He smirked at me and pressed his soft lips against mine, "I can't wait to marry you, Stephanie," "I can't wait to marry you, Steve." I wrapped my arms around him and buried my face into his chest, "God I'm gonna miss you," "I'm gonna miss you too Steph, so damn much."
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~k