East West Sunset - A Darry Curtis Fanfiction

Chapter Fourteen

That night, I lay in Darry's bed, looking up at the ceiling and feeling strangely empty. My chest felt numb, but my mind was buzzing with activity. There were so many questions that were plaguing me, so badly that I couldn't sleep. I flipped over onto my right side and slid my arms between the cool underside of the pillow and the cotton sheets. What was going on with Darry and the gang? Why did they not want me to know about it? Did Darry not like me as much as I had thought he did? I had always assumed that he and I would never really have a chance to really be together, but I couldn't deny that there was a little flame of hope inside me that had just been snuffed completely out by his rejection. If he didn't trust me enough, if none of his gang trusted me enough, to tell me what was really going on, then there was no hope. My stomach settled into an uncomfortable miasma of despair. I gritted my teeth and squeezed my eyes shut, just wanting to fall asleep and leave all these troubling thoughts behind.

I had to go back to the real reason I was in Tulsa in the first place, I reminded myself sternly. I was not here to discover the secrets of a (indisputably good-looking) leader of a potentially dangerous gang; I was here to find out what had happened between my mother and my grandparents, and more importantly who my father was. I straightened the fresh thin bandage over my arm and almost successfully blocked out any thoughts of Darry and the rest of the gang. Before I fell asleep, though, I saw a pair of brightly blazing blue eyes flicker across the back of my tightly closed eyelids...

I woke up some hours later to someone tiptoeing quietly near the open door of Darry's room. I could faintly hear soft rustlings coming from the room next to mine, yet the footsteps outside my door were so quiet I didn't know at first what had woken me up. I rolled over and blearily peered at the glowing red clock on Darry's desk; it was about four in the morning. 

The footsteps had shuffled to a stop in what sounded like the kitchen. I heard a slight creak and a faint click, like the sound a cigarette lighter makes when it is flicked on, tickle my eardrums. I figured one of the boys must be up and having a smoke, because soon I smelled the slightly acrid tinge of cigarette smoke snaking into my room from the kitchen. Cool air wafted into my room, presumably because whoever it was had opened the back door. I sat up in bed, rubbing my eyes groggily, wondering why anyone would smoke at this early hour. Slowly, careful not to make any noise as to not wake anyone else up, I placed my bare feet on the chilled hardwood floor and stood up.

I tiptoed silently to the door and placed my hands on the rough doorjamb, using it as a brace as I stepped out into the tiny hallway. As I looked into the kitchen, my nerve failed me when I saw Darry standing at the back door, his back towards me, his dark wavy hair blowing about in wisps in the chilly breeze. He held a cigarette to his lips and was taking deep drags from it, his other hand cradling his head. I could hear him breathing jaggedly, it was so quiet. He looked upset.

"Darry?" My voice sounded unnaturally loud in the silent house, and Darry jumped around at once to face me. "Is everything alright?" My voice feathered out, my throat sleep-scratchy. 

"Yeah, Diana, everything's..." he took a deep breath, massaging his chest over his heart. "Everything's fine. You scared- I mean, I didn't think anyone else was awake."

"I heard someone walking around. I just wanted to be sure everything was fine," I said, cringing at how stupid I sounded.

"Pony just had a bad dream. One of those night terrors he has sometimes." He looked worried and turned away from me. "Luckily I was right there, so I could calm him down." 

"Oh," I said. That must have been the faint rustlings I'd heard coming from the other bedroom. "He's asleep now?"

Darry nodded as he took another deep drag from the cigarette and blew the pale smoke out between his perfect lips. "He should be."