Change of Heart

"You can't do that!" Sammy urged, her dark blue eyes intense. "You just got here, basically."

"I don't know," I mumbled. "Two weeks is an acceptable vacation time..."

"Not if you were planning to stay two months!" She looked absolutely shocked.

I shrugged again and started walking. Every step felt heavier with how much I debated the problem in front of me.

On one hand, it would make everyone's lives easier. Mine because I wouldn't be waiting around for Darry to make a move, Darry's because he wouldn't have to make a move, and everyone else's because I wouldn't be invading.

On the other, I'd definitely miss it here. I loved hanging out with Soda, Johnny, Ponyboy, Darry, Sammy, and Two-Bit. They were really great people, and I was definitely going to miss them.

I stepped into the Curtis house and went up to my room to think a little more. As I was leaving the living room, I could hear Sammy and Ponyboy whispering, letting me know that they were going to be talking about my impending decision.

Later, I heard Darry's bedroom door open and close, and then more raised talking from the living room. Then, there was a knock at my bedroom door.

"Sophia?" Darry's soft voice questioned. "Can I talk to you for a second?"

"Sure," I answered, fixing the pillows at the top of my bed. He walked into the room and shut the door behind him. Then, he sat on the edge of my bed. It reminded me too much of a completely different situation when he did the same thing.

"So I couldn't help but hear downstairs..." He stared at me for a second seriously. "So you're really thinking about leaving, huh?"

"It would make everything easier for everyone," I whispered, taking my hair out of the bun so it fell loosely to my shoulder blades. "No one would be worried. I just feel like everything got complicated when I got here."

He laughed lightly. "Trust me, things were complicated before you got here too."

I smirked for a second, but it fell off my face in the next. "I just don't want to make things harder for you."

"You're not." Darry shook his head and tried to look for the right words. "Sure, I'm...I'm kind of confused, but you're not making life difficult."

"I'm not?" Somehow, this was kind of hard to believe. It at least felt to me that my life was getting all screwed up.

"No, you're not. It's just a little more...eventful." He smirked and I couldn't help but let out a small laugh.

"So you're gonna stay?" he questioned. "At least until August?"

"Depends..." I was totally going to lead him into a trap because I'm a devious girl. "Do you want me to stay?"

He got it right away and let out a little breath of a laugh. "That was cheap."

I raised an eyebrow to show him that I was still waiting for an answer. Then, he leaned forward, placed his hand under my hair so it was against the back of my neck, and kissed me.

At first, I was shocked that he had finally made a move, but then I actually realized what happened. When he pulled away, he smiled at me.

"You can take that any way you want to," he allowed.

"Damn. I guess I'll go pack my bags then." I put on a dramatically sad face and got up to walk over to my closet.

Darry grabbed my hand and turned me back around to face him. "You're not serious, right?"

"Nope." I could feel the warmth of his hand working its way to my cold fingers.

"You're really cold," he commented.

"Always am," I answered. "Just like my father." My parents had divorced when I was only a year old, so he was kind of out of the picture, but Mom had always told me that I was just like him in that sense. Also with my sense of humor and brain.

Darry pulled me close to him and whispered, "Feel any warmer?"

"Eh," I replied honestly. There was no way my hands could get warmer. They got cold on their own accord, and they warmed up the same way.

"C'mon. Let's go make dinner." He nodded toward the doorway, and we stepped out into the hallway.

Soda, Ponyboy, and Sammy were all standing in the living room, watching us walk into the kitchen. "You guys aren't very stealthy," I commented jokingly.

"Well, I was all for standing in front of the door and eavesdropping, but these two wouldn't let me," Soda replied, staring accusingly at Sammy and Pony.

"Eavesdropping on people isn't right," Pony reminded him.

"Time to cook," Darry announced, starting to scramble around the kitchen for materials. I watched him for a second. Maybe things were starting to turn around...