For The Love of a Greaser

Chapter 57

Sweet Dreams

Darry nearly tore the door off of its hinges as he stepped inside, the screen door slamming shut behind him. His mind was a whirlwind of thoughts, scenarios running rampant through his head.

For the last hour, Darry had been driving up and down the streets of north side Tulsa looking for Abigail. Sadly, he had yet to find her, inevitably driving him insane. He just didn't know what to do. After all, she hadn't come home, gone to the diner, the Dingo, the vacant lot, or anything else that he knew of. It was like she had just run off to nowhere and disappeared.

"Hey, Dar, where ya been?" came Ponyboy's voice, the youngest stepping where Darry could see him.

"You seen Abigail anywhere?" Darry asked, eyes glancing around the room.

"I thought she was with you," he replied, a look of confusion on his face.

"She was, until she ran off," Darry said with annoyance, running a hand through his hair.

If he didn't find her, he was going to have a heart attack. He was almost sure of it.

"What happened?" Ponyboy asked, stepping into the living room fully as he looked his brother over.

It wasn't hard to see that he was frustrated, carrying around a disheveled look to him. The fact that he looked so frustrated and bothered about everything made Ponyboy uncomfortable. He didn't like seeing his eldest brother in such a way.

"Damn it, Ponyboy," Darry sighed, allowing himself to fall back into the armchair.

"Darry, what happened?" Ponyboy asked once more, coming a bit closer to his brother.

"I want you to listen to me, Ponyboy, and I want you to listen good," Darry told him. "I see or hear you been around Dallas, I'll ground ya for a month," he said firmly, eyes locked onto his brother's.

"Darry, what happened?" Ponyboy persisted, crossing his arms over his chest.

"I know what's gonna happen. I'm gonna kick that boy's head in."

"Darry!" Ponyboy snapped in irritation, bringing Darry back to his senses.

With a small grumble, Darry pinched the bridge of his nose, taking in a breath as he closed his eyes for a moment. He had to calm down and think.

"He kissed Abigail," Darry finally admitted. "Went over to his place to get her ring," he sighed. "I shouldn't have even taken her there."

Ponyboy felt his jaw go slack as he stood there, taking in Darry's words. He couldn't even bring himself to speak at first, stuck amongst the thoughts in his head.

"Next time I see him, I'm knocking his teeth in," Darry grumbled.

T

Tim let out a sigh in exasperation, running a hand through his hair as he stood watch against the wall. He was still debating whether or to call Curtis up and let him know that Abigail was there with him.

Currently, said female was once again asleep on his couch, her head tilted to the side in fatigue. He had to admit though that from afar, he'd done a good job on stitching up her arm. Then again, Curtis would kill him if he did any real damage to her.

"What the heck do you keep staring at her for?" Angela asked, leaning over the railing to look down at her brother.

"I'm not staring at her," he said curtly.

"Bull crap."

"Ang, why don't you go back upstairs and finish your homework?" Tim suggested, pushing off of the wall and walking toward the phone.

He'd decided that calling Darrel up would be for the best. At least then, she'd be out of his hands and in a more comfortable place. Plus, Tim didn't exactly do well with crying women.

"Whatever," Angela muttered, rolling her eyes as she went back upstairs to her room.

This left Shepard to his own devices, pulling the phone from the hook and railing in the numbers.

T

Letting out a sigh, Darry sat there with his head in his hands. He was worried out of his head. Had he known what he did now, he would have just stayed home. With that in mind, he knew he could have prevented it and he would have had her laying in bed with him at that very moment.

"I'm sure she'll turn up soon Dar," Ponyboy tried to assure him. "She loves you."

Darry shook his head. He knew that she loved him. The time they'd spent together was proof of that. He knew in his heart that the whole thing was just some weird misunderstanding. Still though, he knew that he never should have left her with Dallas. He should have told work that he had no one else to take or watch her and he should have been there for her when she woke up. He should have been with the woman that he loved.

Letting out another sigh, Darry leaned back in his chair, closing his eyes as he drew in a deep breath, slowly letting it out through his nose. Then, as though answering a prayer, the phone started to ring. He was on his feet in a second and the phone was crushed in his hand as he pressed it to his ear.

"Abigail?" he breathed out, heart racing in his chest.

"Not quite," came the sound of Tim Shepard's voice.

Hearing that, Darry pressed his forehead against the wall.

"Buck up, Curtis," Shepard said, chuckling when he heard Darry let out a groan. "I found her."

Hearing Shepard's words, Darry was standing straight as a pin. At this point, his knuckles had turned white.

"Where is she?" Darry nearly choked out.

"Got her here at my place," Tim told him. "Had a panic attack and passed out. The stitches all popped and I had to sew her back up."

Darry frowned when he heard this.

"She's sleepin' now."

Swallowing the lump in his throat, Darry nodded.

"I'll be right over."

T

Hanging up the phone, Tim ran a hand through his hair. Curtis sounded like he was on the brink of pulling his hair out. he nearly laughed when the idea of seeing him with a bald spot on his pretty head came to mind. Shaking his head, he turned his eyes toward the couch. After stitching her back up and giving her the pain meds, she'd promptly passed out. He honestly felt sorry for her, especially when she passed out in his arms. He hated to admit it, but she'd scared him. It wasn't the first time that he'd had someone pass out in his arms, but it normally wasn't a friend's girl. Normally, it'd be one of his boys after a rumble. Granted, with the bloodied arm, she looked pretty close. Pushing that form his head, Time headed upstairs. Not that he normally cared, but he wanted to clean up before Darry got there.

T

For a time, I wasn't sure where I was. All I could see was darkness, ears picking up on muffled voices, before I felt something on my cheek. It was warm and gentle, the feeling soothing my clouded mind. It was familiar to me, but I couldn't quite place it. Soon, everything disappeared back into the blackness of my mind and I was left to the quite depths once more.

T

"Where'd you find her?" Darry finally asked, closing his eyes for a moment as he leaned his head back.

Tim had offered him to stay for a bit to let Abigail rest a while longer before moving her. The woman in question now had her head laid out in Darry's lap.

"Found her near the lot," Tim explained, watching as Darry carefully ran his hand through Abby's hair.

He still found himself surprised at times, the way that the two would interact. He was happy for the guys. After all, the death of his parents had put a lot of weight on his shoulders, leaving him without any time to go out and enjoy himself. Seeing him with Abigail, he knew that he'd found someone special to spend his life with.

"She told me about Winston," Time finally said, watching as the other man flinched.

As he thought, it was a sore subject.

"Ya know…" he started, Darry cutting him off.

"He comes near her again, I'm gonna knock his teeth in," he said firmly. "He never should have done that to her."

Sitting there, Darry rolled his tongue over his teeth. The amount of stress that Dallas had put her through could have easily sent her back to the hospital. During her initial accident, the doctors had tried explaining things to him. Due to the fall, it had nearly ruptured something, along with the tension and force, in the end, that's what had caused her heart to go out at first. Even now, her body was still healing itself.

"Look, I'm not gonna sit here and pretend that guy is innocent, but maybe you should let him explain himself," Tim suggested, watching as Darry promptly stiffened.

Maybe it hand't been the best choice of wards.

"Tim," Darry sighed, running a hand through his hair. "I knew after I asked Abigail to marry me that I might run into a problem," he admitted.

Tim was quiet as Darry spoke, listening carefully to every word.

"I wouldn't say that it was obvious, but Dal's been different these last few months," he explained. "He just seemed to change whenever she was brought up."

Hearing his own words, he actually wasn't all that surprised that Winston had fallen for her. The problem was, he should have known better than to act on it. That was the real problem. He knew that Darry had proposed to her, yet he still acted. There was just no honor in that.

Through all of their talk, Darry wasn't surprised when Abigail finally let out a slightly pained groan, rolling over off of her arm and curling into him. He breathed a sigh of relief when she remained asleep, his hand cradling the back of her head. He wanted her to rest for as long as possible, even if that meant sitting on Shepard's couch and talking things out.

He wasn't quite ready for her to wake up yet, not sure of how things would go when she finally decided to come back to the world of the living. He was almost afraid of how she'd respond, scared that she'd try running again.

"What are you going to do?" Tim asked, arms crossed over his chest as he stood leaning against the living room wall.

"I'm not sure," Darry replied, glancing down at Abigail, one of her hands curled around the fabric at the front of his shirt. "I mean obviously, I'll take her home, but after that…"

He paused for a moment as he gently stroked her cheek with the pad of his thumb, her flesh soft against his skin. He knew that the only thing he could do was to let her know how much he loved her. He wasn't mad at her. In fact, he wasn't even disappointed, he just wanted her to wrap her arms around him and forget everything that had happened. From there, they could move on with their lives and get back to how things were. That's all he truly wanted. Lastly, what he wanted even more was a wedding.

Darry smiled as he imagined meeting her at the end of the aisle, watching as he walked down with a gorgeous gown of white. She'd have a smile on her face, her lips painted red. He could almost see the gleam in her eye as she reached out, taking his hand in hers. He could feel his heart yearning for that simple pleasantry. He merely hoped that the image in his mind would come to pass into reality, that they would be together until the end of their days.

Suddenly, the thought of children popped into his head, his heart seeming to skip a beat and a streak of heat flashing through his skin. Had she thought about the prospect of children? Would she even feel that she would be able to have them after everything that she'd been through in life? Although like him, he knew that she already had experience in taking care of Eden, said sister sitting back at the house with Ponyboy. He still remembered how much of a hand full she'd been when they'd first met. In fact, a terror would probably be a more appropriate word for it actually. Yes, she'd been an absolute terror. It was a different story now though, especially, over the last few months. Something seemed to have clicked after Abigail's accident and she'd mellowed out significantly, even going as far as to help out around the house. He almost laughed, remembering the dumbfounded look on Abigail's face when she'd found her young counterpart actually doing the dishes on her own. It had definitely been an interesting sight. Even more so when she'd asked if there was anything else that she could do. It had been practically alien to the woman's ears. At first, she'd thought that she was hallucinating, but found otherwise when Darry had come to stand beside her. It was honestly the funniest thing that he'd seen in a while. Feeling the side of his mouth turn up, Darry looked down at her once more, until the image faded away.

T

Initially, all I could see was darkness, a small speck of light making its way toward me. I was baffled as I stood there, hand alight as it floated closer, lighting my face in the dark. It wasn't until it landed on my hand thought that there was an explosion of light.

Sound finally hit my ears as the brightness tapered off, leaving me standing in a familiar room. I could hear voices, but they were so soft that I could barely make out what they were saying.

"…have to…quiet…"

The voice was male, the tone almost familiar as I moved forward, brows furrowing as I tried to locate it. I heard footstep, the sound echoing around me.

"…make…you're ready."

I frowned momentarily, stopping in my steps. I knew that voice, but it sounded slightly rougher, as though their throat was sore.

"Can I Daddy? Can I?"

My eyes went wide, heart pounding in my chest. Daddy? How? When? I was so confused. The next thing I knew, tiny footsteps were padding against the wooden floors, stepping running down the hall. I was shocked when I saw who it was, but I didn't recognize them. There was a sense of familiarity though as I locked eyes with them, a pair of familiar orbs staring back at me with a happy grin.

"Happy Birthday, Mommy!"

I almost cried as I stood there, mouth hanging open slightly as I stared. I could see the similarities as I slowly knelt down, knees brushing the floor. The little boy in front of me just continued to smile, a messily wrapped parcel in his tiny hands.

"Hurry, Daddy!" he called out, jumping up and down.

"I'm coming, I'm coming."

With that, Darry slowly stepped into view, a cake in his hands. I was almost too stunned to speak as I looked between the two, glancing down at the energetic little boy in front of me and then back to the man that I'd fallen in love with.

"We made it together!" the little boy exclaimed.

"Settle down, Liam," Darry chuckled, placing a hand on the boys head, before ruffling his hair affectionately.

"Liam…" I whispered, gently pressing a hand to the boy's cheek.

I could almost feel the tears trickling from my eyes as I stared at him, the corners of my mouth tugging.

"What's wrong, Mommy?" he asked, a frown forming on his little face. "Daddy, why's she crying?" his asked, looking back at his father. "Did I do something wrong?"

I could almost feel my heart break when he said that, forcing a smile onto my face.

"It wasn't you baby," I cooed, closing my eyes momentarily, before pulling him into my arms. "I'm just happy," I whispered. "I'm just happy."

Alright everyone! The long awaited update! I sincerely apologize for the long wait, but college has been kicking my butt and so has work. I'm finally finished with classes for the semester though, so I hope to get more chapters out. I thank everyone for their patience and I hope that you liked the chapter. If you have any ideas, please feel free to let me know. It'll help me get back into the groove of things. Thanks everyone!