Love Who You Love

Chapter 4|| The Awful Morning

     *Rrrrrrrriiiiiiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnnnnggggggggggg-*

     Darry stopped his alarm and groaned, hearing the normal chatter from the gang in the living room fill the entire house. The noise only made the small headache he felt worsen, which in turn worsened the nausea. Slowly, Darry got out of bed and walked to the mirror attached to his dresser to study the damage from the previous night, his joints popping as he did so.

    His eyes were slightly red and puffy with dark bags underneath, and Darry noted that he looked like he could use a shave. He just looked tired and sad. The boy also noticed he felt quiet nauseous, something that'd been happening lately. He hoped today he wouldn't get sick. Darry now gets sick every morning, luckily before anyone is up or in the living room to notice him. But that day may have been a different scenario.

As he tucked his shirt into his jeans and threw on his flannel for work, he could smell eggs and bacon wafting from the kitchen. His mouth began to water while his stomach swirled. Darry knew it was his fifteen year old brother, Ponyboy cooking. His seventeen year old brother, Sodapop, couldn't cook to save his life. He's always been thankful for his brothers and their helpfulness, as they both knew Darry had a lot on his shoulders for his age. He had to grow up too fast and saw a lot in his now twenty-one years in life. Darry swallowed and opened his bedroom door, taking in more of the scent filling the house as it made the nausea he experienced increased rapidly.

     Darry prayed and hoped no one would notice how bad he looked today or get sick in front of anyone, that would definitely raise suspicion among the other six. Yet all of that went flooding down the drain when Darry stopped dead in his tracks and ran past the gang into the bathroom, slamming the door shut behind him. Darry kneeled in front of the of the toilet and gagged before he emptied his stomach contents, what little there was.

     By then, the chatter from the gang ceased into a quiet and empty void of nothing. He heard footsteps slowly approaching the bathroom door as he kept at it. Retching and heavy footsteps were now the only sounds filling the small house. He was too distracted to care about the gang. His stomach was now sore and achy. His back and shoulder muscles stiff. His throat felt like fire. His eyes were watering while tears steadily flowed down his cheeks from the reflex. Darry was already tired. He was absolutely miserable, and morning sickness definitely became a pet peeve of his that day.

     Darry's heard of it before, yet he never thought it would be this bad. He's only experienced it for a while now and already hated it with a burning passion. He only hoped it would end soon, yet he didn't know how long it would last. There was a soft knock on the thin wooden door, making Darry flinch as he was still kneeling before the porcelain bowl. He felt so weak when he got sick, he's never liked feeling weak nor getting sick.

"Darry? Are you okay?" Soda's usual calming and soft voice was heard through the door, now laced with worry instead of  his usual cheerfulness. He tried to answer his younger brother but was interrupted when he threw up once again. Darry groaned as he vomited, praying he didn't begin to dry heave. The door slowly opened, squeaking loudly to reveal Soda and Pony standing in the doorway, the gang a few feet away in the hallway.

"Oh, Darry." Pony sighed. He left to get a glass of water for his brother, something he knew would be needed in a few moments. Soda waved off the gang and sent them into the living room before he walked into the bathroom, quickly taking action in comforting his older brother. He began to rub Darry's stif back and sore stomach with his hands, slowly relaxing the muscles. He, just like his father, was very good at comforting people.

     Darry gasped slightly and flinched as he felt a hand rubbing his back, slowly easing the sore and stiff muscles while another slowly began to massage and rub his aching abdomen. He worried if Soda could feel the slight baby bump that was there, no one else did yet Soda was smarter than people thought. Through the worry, he did felt slightly at ease. Darry was glad to know he wasn't fully alone in it all, a fear of his since childhood.

"Shhhh...it's ok, Darry. It'll be over soon." Soda soothed, clearly seeing his brother in his miserable state. He continued to rub Darry's muscles, watching Darry empty his stomach in the process. Soda always knew Darry hated getting sick, and he also knew how miserable Darry was when he did get sick. He hated to see him like that. Pony came back in with a glass of water and set it on the counter, sitting on the tub next to Soda all while watching his two brothers. As they stayed with their oldest brother in the bathroom, all the gang could do was listen.

'He's never sick. Why now all of a sudden?' Dally wondered. The gang did worry for him but Dally, however, worried about Darry the most. The two shared their feeling for each other and were secretly dating for a few weeks now. He suddenly remembered the night they shared before and his eyes widened slightly. He kept a straight face in front of the gang while his thoughts went frenzy.

'What if he's pregnant?! What then? How is everyone going to act? Can we afford it? Should I run....no definitely not. I can't be like my father; run when he knocks someone up and show up years later only to abuse them. I can't do that. But....Could we do this?' Dally's thoughts scared him, each one racing, one after another. He kept his cold face on the outside but inside, he was panicking and screaming. He knew it was possible for men to have children that way. It happened to a very close cousin of his in New York, yet it was still very rare. Dally didn't want to jump to conclusions, but who could blame him?

                  ******Darry's POV******

     It seemed like eternity until it ended. I just kept getting sick, my throat was now insanely sore, my stomach hurt beyond words, my back was still as stiff as ever. But my brothers were still there. I'm lucky these two are my brothers....hopefully they're good uncles, too.