"baby, please don't cry"
Candice "Candy Cane" Marshall hasn't seen or talked to any of her friends in a long time. Dallas and Johnny are gone and she's terrified to face the fact that Steve and Sodapop may have met their fates in Vietnam. But when t...
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Getting off the plane back in Tulsa was the most relief I'd felt in a long time, probably since the first time I hugged Sodapop when he got home from Vietnam.
I hadn't even expected to see him at the airport, but catching his cheerful blue eyes as I left the gate made my heart swell an I couldn't help but run straight toward his arms. My backpack thumped heavily against my back as I ran, but I didn't care. Having him envelop me in his embrace brought me to tears.
"Hey, what's wrong?" he asked. "What happened?"
"I got them to sign," I said. "But Greg and Claire--"
"Are they okay?"
I didn't know what to say. I was choking on words and I felt heavy as I just wanted to sob. I had cried when I got back to the hotel the night before and I was able to keep it together all day, but now I was ready to cry again.
"Let's go home, baby," he said. I nodded and he held my hand as we walked down to the carport. He held my hand the entire drive home, occasionally kissing my knuckles and sending reassuring smiles my way.
Sometimes I thought about how he referred to me as his angel, but what I never really realized was how he was like mine. He'd come back into my life at a time where I really needed someone. Sure, I had Hannah, and I loved Hannah to death-- but my love for Hannah was totally platonic. With Sodapop, I was sure I was in love with him.
I knew I was smitten for that dumb goofy smile of his and those bright blue eyes when we were kids, but as adults and being able to have an adult relationship, I knew it was love. True love. Not that stupid sappy shit they have in movies.
Soda and I rarely fought, and when we did it was usually over something stupid like who ate the last slice of pizza or who didn't tie the bread bag up before shoving it back in the bread box. We knew each other too well to get into silly shit. We trusted each other.
In a way, we almost reminded me of Soda's parents. We were lucky. I wondered if Darry and Tasha or Ponyboy and Cathy were like us.
Then again, maybe they weren't. Soda and I were different from everyone else.
When we got home, I dropped my bag by the door and made my way over to the sofa, where I plopped down with a huge sigh. Soda closed and locked the door behind him before coming to sit next to me. I moved so my legs were draped over his. He rested his hands lightly against my jean-clad thighs.
"What happened in New York?"
I took a deep sigh. "I got them to sign the papers. But, he was kind of irritated and kept asking me shit like 'why would you want these kids?' and 'they're nothing but trouble'. Like, they're kids. They're gonna get into trouble. But then he started to say Greg was fighting. He got suspended from school, Soda! And he said that Claire wasn't eating. I told him she doesn't eat meat and he knew, but he said she wouldn't even eat salads or anything.
