𝘪 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥, 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶, 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘦
Maria Randle was a month away from turning eighteen when it all happened. The moment changed her entire life and she always wondered...
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xxii. but if you decide to I'll ride in this life with you Iwon'tlet go till the end
IT HAD BEEN A WEEK SINCE IT HAD happened. The police would come down every now and then to check if Ponyboy was ready to give a statement but he was still sick, in and out of consciousness.
She had gone to give her statement to the police about the shooting and they had asked her to come and collect the body. She paid for it to stay at the morgue.
Maria would sit by Pony's side most days, checking his fever and trying to look after him.
She couldn't save Johnny or Dallas so she might as well try to save him.
"Morning," a voice called out and she turned to see Darrel standing at the door.
She smiled at him. He had been there for her like nobody else had been and she appreciated it a lot.
He would be there when she would come to the house screaming, unable to wipe the blood from her hands, the skin stained. She'd close her eyes and he would be lying there in the pool of blood.
She looked at the little boy that was lying in the bed. He looked just like a kid again and she wondered if he ever would be.
Maria stood up, walking towards the other room to see Darrel. She gave him a smile and he smiled back.
It wasn't a full smile, but it was better than it used to be. He would never forget that vacant look in her eyes as he rubbed the blood off of her skin.
They stood in the doorway for a second before he ushered her into the living room.
She stared at the couch for a second, remembering the time that she had patched Johnny up there. He deserved more than this life.
She tucked that thought away as she sat down next to Darrel.
"How you holding up?" He asked.
She shrugged, "Good. Im good,"
He knew it was a lie. He knew her well enough after all of these years of being friends to know that she felt things so strongly. She loved people with everything she had and that made it so easy for people to hurt her.
There was no way she was okay about it and he could tell from the bags under her eyes that she hadn't been sleeping well.
If he had his way, she would be living with him by now. He needed to look after her. He had promised Dally he would and he couldn't break that promise now.
"I'm worried about you," he stated and she looked up at him.
"You don't have to be," she said with a shake of her head but it didn't dispel his worries.
Even as she looked away, she knew he would never stop worrying about her. She realised he had always worried about her.
There was silence and he just watched as she stared at her shoes, fiddling with the hem of her sweater. She had been quiet since their deaths. It was almost like she had nothing to say.
