The Delinquent's Daughter {An Outsiders Fanfiction - Sequel to Hope}

19

Finals week is next week and I've been super stressed out so I haven't updated in a long time, but I promise that will change soon. I'm super proud of this chapter, enjoy.

I knew I wasn't supposed to use the phone. I knew I wasn't supposed to have anyone over. I knew that I shouldn't have even been out of my room, because I was feeling too sick to even eat after everything that was happening, but I needed someone. I called Faith first, trying to hold myself together. Uncle Soda answered, and said they were having dinner.

"C-can I talk to Faith?" I asked, my voice wavering.

"I'll have you call her in a little while, Hope. Is everything okay?" He asked. I took a breath, trying not to cry.

"Everything's fine." I didn't want him to know everything wasn't, because then he would have come over and he had enough to deal with with Faith's mother trying to take her away.

I tried Eli's house next, and as soon as I heard his voice, I burst into tears.

"Hope? Is that you?" He asked. I hadn't even said anything, I was just sitting with the phone in my hands, sobbing. I sniffled, trying to get enough air in my lungs to respond.

"Y-yeah," I said after a moment.

"What's going on?" He asked. He sounded worried about me. When I didn't respond, when I couldn't respond, he said something.

"I'll be right over." He was there in five minutes. When I opened the door, my face was puffy and red, tearstained. I was still crying. He hugged me, but didn't ask me what was going on, or what happened. He took me into my room, and sat me down on my bed, talked to me until I stopped crying. I explained to him what happened. How we were fighting over names, how my dad had walked out of the room, and the comment my mother made before going to her room. I wondered if they were in there discussing, or my dad had gone into his office, or if my parents were laying on the bed, on opposite sides as far away from each other as possible, not even looking at each other.

I could just picture the hurt on my mom's face as she uttered the words, "I guess what they say about babies saving a marriage isn't really true..."

I tried to figure out when I realized that their marriage was failing. Or if I ever did...

My parents had been together since they were kids, younger than Eli and I. They had kissed for the first time at 12 years old. They were in their 30s now, still married. Was that not meant to be? Eli had me in his arms, playing with my hair. I rested my head on his shoulder, taking deep breaths.

"I'm so sorry, Hope." More tears streamed down my face then. He had nothing to be sorry for. I turned so that I could see his face. Gently, he reached over and wiped his hand across my cheek, stopping a year from dripping down to my chin. I leaned closer. So did he. And we kissed. Longer, more passionately than we ever had before. I knew right then that I loved him. More than anymore I ever had before. My eyes closed and I let myself feel his soft lips against mine. We stayed like this for a while, but I wasn't complaining. It was 9:30 when he decided he should leave, he had been there a while.

"Call me if you need anything, okay?" He said as he walked out. "I don't care what time it is." I nodded, leaving a kiss to liger on his cheek before closing the door. I watched him walk out from the window. He turned around and waved. When he got to a point that it was too far for me to see, I went into my room, laid down in my bed. I couldn't sleep though, and my light was still on. My mom came in a few minutes later.

"Hi honey," she said, sitting down on the side of the bed. She looked like more of a mess than me.

"Are you okay?" She asked. She moved a stray piece of hair behind my ear. I nodded.

"Are you and Daddy going to be okay?" I asked her. I felt like I was three years old asking such a question, but I still was hoping for a good answer. She smiled, stroking my cheek, just like a mom.

"I think so," she said. I asked her if they had made up, to which she responded that I should get to sleep. I nodded, feeling my heart sink into my stomach. She pulled my comforter up a little higher.

"Don't worry about this stuff, okay?" She asked. "It's not your fault."

"I love you, babygirl," she said a second later, kissing my forehead before turning out the light. My dad came in to do the same a little while later, and I drifted off into a restless slumber. I couldn't remember the last time either of them had tucked me in before this.

••~••~••~••~••~••~••~••~••~••~••~••

"My dad talked to my mom last night after you called, Hope. Usually Emily is the one that does that," Faith said, running up to me before first period.

"What'd she say?" I asked. I was still shaken up from everything that had happened last night. So much so that I had slept through my alarm, and woken up so late that I didn't have time to put on any makeup if I wanted to make the bus.

"My dad's taking her to court," Faith said, just as Eli came up and put his arms around my neck.

"Morning, Hope," he said, kissing my cheek. He said hi to Faith too.

"He is not!" I exclaimed, getting back to Faith. She nodded.

"He's not just going to let her take me away, especially since it's not what I want," she explained. I nodded.

"So you think he'll win?" Eli asked. Faith shrugged.

"I dunno. Hopefully," she responded.

"Hopefully," I responded. They say it's for suckers, but all we could do right then was hope.

A/N: Raise your hand if you're still reading? I actually really love this chapter, and it's the first thing I've written since that essay gone wrong for my English Project (go see my Imagine book if you're curious), so I'm pretty happy. What do you guys think of this story? This chapter? Let me know! I love you guys!! -Katy