Things Are Rough All Over

Ch. 18: Stay

Eleanor's POV

The week had come and gone. Trent and I were packing to leave in an twenty minutes. Elena asked me what happened when Soda and I left, I didn't tell her anything about the kiss. Soda and I have been avoiding each other since the first night back, but no one seemed to notice. They probably thought it was because of the argument if they did.

"I think that's everything baby, we should head out now if we wanna make the train." Trent said, zipping his bag. I nodded but didn't say anything. "Eleanor, are you okay? You've been off since the night we got here." Trent said, taking my hand in his. I smiled up at him and nodded. "I'm just tired lately." I said, he looked as if he didn't believe me, but didn't say anything. 

He grabbed our bags and we walked outside. Steve and Elena were waiting for us by the car. We got in and Steve drove us to the train station. No one said anything. 

Soda's POV

"Soda, what's going on? You haven't acted like yourself since Eleanor got back." Darry said, everyone looked at me. "Nothin." I said simply. Sandy sighed and grabbed my hand, dragging me out to the front porch with her. 

"Soda, go to her. Go before she gets on that train and doesn't come back." she said, I looked at her confused. "Sandy I don't-" "Sodapop Patrick Curtis, you don't think I see the way you look at me, compared to the way you look at her?" she asked, she had a few tears in her eyes, but she was smiling. 

"Soda, you never looked at me the way you look at her. You love me.... but you're in love with Eleanor. What kind of person would I be.. if I kept you from truly being happy?" she said, a few tears trickling down her face. 

"What about you and Kasey?" I said, whipping the tears from her cheeks. "We'll still be here Soda, you can still see Kasey whenever you want." she said, looking down for a minute. "You better go before you miss Eleanor. I'll let the others no and head on home with Kasey." she said, smiling up at me. 

"Thank you Sandy. Thank you for understanding." I said, pulling her into a hug. She hugged back and laughed. "Go before you miss her!" she said, shoving me forward a little. I ran down the street and to the train station as fast as I could. I saw Steve's car parked in a spot. I hurried to the platform and looked around. Eleanor was fixing to get on the train.

"Eleanor wait!" I yelled, she turned around and looked in my direction. I ran to her and she stepped off, looking at me confused. "Soda, what're you doing here?" she asked, I smiled and took her hands in mine. "Stay, Eleanor. This is where you belong. This is you're home." I said, she tilted her head to the side. "Soda, I can't be around you and Sandy. It hurts too much to see you with her and I just-" I pulled her into a kiss, holding her close to me.

I pulled out of the kiss, cupping her cheek in my hand. "Stay." I said softly. She bit her bottom lip and nodded. She turned Trent, he was smiling sadly at her. She walked over and took his hands in hers. 

"Trent I-" "You don't have to say anything El. You belong here. This is where you grew up. You're friends and brother are here. The guy you love is here. To be honest, I probably would've talked you into coming home within the week anyways. I see the way you look at Soda. You deserve to be happy." he said, smiling down at her. He looked over at me and grinned. 

"You take care of her. Don't let her try to overdue on anything." he said, I walked over to them and grinned. "Don't worry, I'll take care of her. Thank you for taking care of her while she was with you." I said, wrapping an arm around her waist. "Here's your bag, I'll send the rest of your things to you. That way you don't have to make a long trip." Trent said, holding her bag out. I took it and we smiled at him, waving as he got on the train. 

I set her bag down and pulled her close to me. "C'mon, let's go home and tell the gang the good news." I said, leaning down to kiss her. "Okay, okay, let's go before they think we jumped the train with Eleanor." Elena laughed, I almost forgot she and Steve were standing there. Elena grabbed Eleanor's hand and pulled her along, smiling with her. 

"I'm glad y'all are together again." Steve said, crossing his arms and looking at the girls as they walked back to the car. I watched as well, smiling at my beautiful girlfriend. "Do you think she would say yes, if I asked her to marry me?" I said, turning to Steve and grinning. "Only one way to find out. I'm sorry I punched you in the face." he said, turning to look at me. "I deserved it. C'mon, let's go before they drive off and leave us to walk home." I said, grabbing Eleanor's bag. Steve laughed and wrapped an arm around shoulder. 

~~~~

That night, we hung out at my house with the rest of the gang. It felt like nothing had changed, except for Eleanor being pregnant and Sandy being in town with our daughter. 

Eleanor ended up falling asleep with her head on my chest. Most of the gang had gone home by now or had fallen asleep in the living room. I carefully picked Eleanor up, carrying her to my room. I laid her on my bed and walked over to my dresser, grabbing her a shirt. 

"Eleanor, baby get changed for bed." I said, softly shaking her arm. She woke up and sleepily changed into the shirt I handed her. I took my shirt and jeans off, leaving me in my underwear. I crawled in next to her and smiled. She had fallen back to sleep. She looked so peaceful. 

Sandy's POV

I was walking around the house, packing everything up. "Mommy, what're you doing?" Kasey asked, I rolled my eyes and turned around. "I'm packing Kasey. I'm leaving town." I said, turning back around to finish getting what I needed. "Where are we going?" she asked, I sighed and sat on the bed, pulling her over to me. 

"Kasey, listen to me okay? You aren't coming with me. You're staying here. I can't take care of you anymore." I explained, tears filled her eyes. "But I wanna go with you." she sniffled. "Kasey, I am very sick. I was going to tell daddy soon but I never got around to doing it. I need you to stay with him and Eleanor okay?" I said, she nodded as a single tear slid down her cheek. 

I finished packing my bag and then put a few of Kasey's things in a bag. I took them out to the car and went back inside to get her. She didn't say anything while I was driving, but I could hear her soft cries. I pulled up to the corner of the street from Steve's house. I got out of the car, grabbing Kasey's bag as she climbed out of the car. 

When we got to the dark porch, I crouched down in front of her. "Kasey, I need you to promise something okay?" I said, she nodded and looked at me with sad eyes. "I need you to promise me that you'll be good for daddy and Eleanor okay? No matter what, you do what they say. But most importantly, I want you to know that I love you more than anything in this world and I am going to miss you so much." I said, moving a strand of hair from her face. "I promise mommy." she sniffed. 

I pulled her into a hug and handed her the bag. "I want you to slowly count to ten, then knock on the door okay?" I said, she nodded and I hugged her one more time before walking down the steps and down the street to my car. I got in, driving out of the neighborhood and out of Tulsa. A few stray tears fell from eyes, I whipped them away and didn't dare look back.

Steve's POV

Elena and I were in our bedroom talking about different things when there was a small knock on the door. We looked at each other confused. It's gotta be at least two in the morning. I got out of bed and walked to the front door, opening it. I was fixing to shut it until I heard I tiny voice and looked down. Kasey

"My mommy dropped me off."