𝑫𝒂𝒓𝒍𝒊𝒏'//𝑫𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒂𝒔 𝑾𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒏×𝑶𝑪

💥|EIGHT|💥

I RUSH TO Ponyboy, throwing my arms around him and hugging him close. "You're so cold, where's your jacket?" I ask. I rub his ice-cold arms in hopes of heating him up. He opens his mouth to respond when Darry cuts him off.

"Where the hell have you been? Do you know what time it is?" Darry snarls, his eyes fixated on our little brother. Ponyboy doesn't respond, his eyes looking elsewhere. "Well, it's 2 a.m., kiddo."

"Hey, Pony. Where have you been?" Sodapop smiles lightly as he wakes up, his eyes also on Ponyboy.

"I fell asleep in the lot." Ponyboy answers, shrugging past me to go to the bathroom.

"You what?" Darry asks as Ponyboy passes him. He starts following him.

"I was talking to Johnny and I fell asleep in the lot. I didn't mean to." Ponyboy responds, flicking the bathroom light on.

He goes to shut the door only for Darry to push it back open "Yeah? Hey, I can't even call the cops because you two would be thrown in a boys' home so fast it would make your head spin." Darry spits at him.

Sodapop and I come up behind him "Darry calm down, all that matters is that he's safe and home." I speak up, putting a hand on Darry's arm.

"Come on, Pony. Let's go to bed now." Sodapop speaks up, his eyes on Ponyboy.

Ponyboy and Darry ignore our words and Darry even nudges my hand away. "Look, I said I didn't mean to," Ponyboy says moving past us all to get to the living room.

Darry pushes past me to follow him "I didn't mean to. I forgot. That's all I ever hear from you!" Darry barks, stopping Ponyboy from walking any further.

"Come on, Darry—" Sodapop is cut off by Darry.

"Shut up! I'm sick and tired of you standing up for him, you hear me!" Darry barks at Sodapop pointing his finger in Sodapop's face.

"Stop it, Darry! Just calm down!" I yell, standing in front of Sodapop.

"No you stop! You're not mom so quit tryin' to fix everything, Angela!" Darry barks, spit flying from his mouth.

"Don't you yell at them!" Ponyboy barks. I heard it before I saw it.

Ponyboy falls to the floor from the force of the hit. His hand lays on his cheek, shock, and fear on his face as he stares up at Darry. My blood turns ice cold. No one spoke. No one moved. Darry just hit Ponyboy, and hard.

"Ponyboy, I— I didn't mean to— Ponyboy!" Darry stumbles over his words as Ponyboy scrambles to his feet and rushes out the front door. Sodapop and I stay still and Darry rushes to the front door, yelling Ponyboy's name.

He stands there for a while and realizes quickly that he isn't coming back. He sighs and hangs his head as he shuts the door. He turns back to face Sodapop and me, his eyes wide. He looked shell-shocked.

He gulps "Angela—"

"What is wrong with you?" I ask, my voice barely above a whisper. I was shaking and I couldn't figure out why.

"I didn't mean—"

"He's a child Darrel!" I cut him off, quickly regaining my voice. "He's barely 14. Why are you so rough on him, huh? Ponyboy you have homework. Ponyboy do your chores. Ponyboy you're stupid. That's all you ever say to him!"

"Angela, calm down." Sodapop's soft voice is heard, and he grabs my wrist gently.

"No, Soda. No! He's always so harsh to Ponyboy and he—" My breath catches in my throat and I swallow harshly, shaking my head. I could feel tears burning my cheeks. I don't even know when I started crying.

I push past Darry and open the door "Angela where are you going?" Sodapop asks, following me.

"I'm going to find, Ponyboy," I respond grabbing my jacket from the coat rack with my shaking hands. I fumble with it and drop it "Damn it!" I bark going to pick it back up.

Sodapop places his hand over mine, stopping me from picking my jacket up. "Angie, look at me." His voice was stern, yet gentle.

My eyes shoot up to look at him, his face is twisted in concern and he pulls me into a hug. A soft cry leaves me and I push my face into his shoulder, soaking his T-shirt with my tears. "He's probably going to the lot or Two-Bit's for the night. He'll be just fine, okay?" Sodapop whispers.

I pull away, rubbing my tears away "No, he needs—"

Sodapop cuts me off "He needs time alone. You've done plenty for him, okay?" He tells me.

I sniffle taking a deep breath to calm myself. "Okay."

I slowly stand up and start putting my jacket on, Sodapop opens his mouth to speak and I beat him to it. "I'm going to Buck Merle's. I need to be somewhere else tonight, too." My eyes flicker to Darry who sat on the armchair, his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands, his face halfway covered by his hands and his eyes staring off, lost in his own thoughts.

Sodapop's eyes flicker to Darry before he nods, he kisses my temple and hugs me, squeezing me for a second before letting go "Be careful." He tells me.

I nod and leave the house. After only a minute of walking I could feel myself getting calmer, my trembling hands now only twitched lightly and my aching throat didn't ache as much anymore.

I pull a cigarette from my pack in my jeans and light it. I needed more since I was only down to 3.

When I get to Buck Merle's those 3 cigarettes are gone. I toss the empty pack into a bucket that was full of cigarette butts and pocket my lighter.

My knuckle bangs against Buck Merle's front door and soon I'm met with Buck himself. "Angela Curtis is that you?" He yells over the loud music a grin on his face.

"The one and only," I yell back with a grin. A chuckle leaves him.

"Get your ass in here, haven't seen you in months." He says. This was true, I hadn't gone many places since the death of my parents.

Nothing had changed about Buck Merle or his home. Booze and beers were set up in the kitchen, a cloud of cigarette and cigar smoke hung in the air, loud music blasted through the whole place shaking the floor, and people were everywhere, some danced, others were passed out on the floor.

I shimmy my way through the crowd to get to the kitchen. Immediately I grab a bottle of the closest alcohol and gulp down some before grabbing a beer to sip on. I sit on one of the uncomfortable wooden stools popping the bottle open and taking a long swig.

I was anything but a lightweight so it took a lot to get me drunk, which was both a blessing and a curse.

As if my night couldn't get any worse I hear the deep, voice with the hint of a New York accent rumble beside my ear. "What a nice surprise, Darlin'."