Status: just started

Safe and Sound

Chapter 2

As soon as Abby pushed the screen door open, she was flooded with the sound of laughter and a multitude of male voices. Her breath caught in her throat as she tried to enter as quietly as possible. She wanted to escape up to her room, to just hide away from all the faces she had missed so much in Chicago.

Even though she had grown up with those boys, she knew a confrontation was inevitable. Multiple questions raced through her mind as she thought of the events to come.

Did they all know what happened up in Chicago? All the trouble she got into?

Did they miss her?

Did they know how much she had changed? Did they even know what she looked like anymore?

She had only been gone a year, but that was plenty of time for Abby to undergo some obvious changes. It was apparent that she was what her mother would've called a "late bloomer". Over the past year, Abby's body had developed further. Instead of looking like the little tomboy she used to be she had grown to look more like a woman with a curvier body, longer legs and she had gone up quite a few bra sizes as well. She was a very late bloomer, indeed.

"I'm gonna bring my stuff up to my room." Abby mumbled to Darry as she pushed her way past him and up the stairs.

"Well, alright. But come back down right after. Supper is ready and all the boys have been dying to see you." Darry's deep voice spoke while he scratched the back of his neck.

There were framed pictures hung up on the walls on either side of the staircase. Abby took a few seconds to look at each one as she made her way up the steps. She stopped at one picture in particular. It was a picture of her, Soda and Steve. They were about 10 years old and they had gone fishing with the rest of the boys. Well, that was before Dallas had joined the group, so with most of the boys.

Back then it was easy to tell that her and Soda were twins. They had the same hair and eyes and they were practically joined at the hip. Now, her hair was brown while Soda's was dark blonde and her eyes were cold and mean while Soda's were laughing, dancing and full of life.

Abby stopped herself from wishing to go back to then and pushed on up the stairs.

She found her old room and noticed it was virtually untouched since she left. With a shrug, Abby unceremoniously dropped her bags on the floor and flopped down on the bed. She landed on her left side and winced. Deciding to check on the wound, she walked over to the mirror on her bureau. Carefully, she lifted the hem of her shirt to reveal the bandage wrapped around her torso. The cut didn't seem to have bled through the bandage so she decided she was fine for now. Cleaning it later would be another story.

The long train ride had left her looking tired and disheveled. She dug her makeup bag out of her purse and began touching up her makeup. Starting with her eyeliner and ending with her red lipstick, she fixed it until she was pleased. Abby ran her fingers through her hair and adjusted it so it was messy but not too messy. It looked good but not like she tried too hard on it. She slipped out of the leather jacket she had stolen from her ex-boyfriend back in Chicago and tossed it onto her bed. He wasn't getting it back anytime soon.

One last glance at the mirror and Abby made her way back down the stairs.

*

Abby was hit with a strong feeling of nostalgia when she walked into the kitchen and saw all the guys spread around in various places. Soda and Darry were serving up pasta and sauce on plates. Steve, Two-Bit, Dally and Johnny sat at the table playing poker while Pony sat at the other end of the table where he was working on what looked like homework. None of them looked that different, just taller if anything. It was just like old times.

Her thoughts were interrupted when Two-Bit looked up from his hand of cards and noticed her standing in the doorway. He looked shocked at first but it didn't even take a second for the Two-Bit grin to spread across his face. He didn't waste time in getting over to Abby and pulling her up into a tight hug.

"Glory, Abby! We missed you so much!" Two-Bit hollered in an excited tone. With his arms wrapped around her waist, Two-Bit gave Abby a tight squeeze. This resulted in a yelp of pain from Abby which surprised Two-Bit enough to drop her on the floor.

"Watch the side, Two." She muttered while pulling herself up off the ground.

"What happened to your side, Abbs?" Darry asked with a concerned look on his face.

"From the last fight I got in." She mumbled, becoming very interested in the hem of her shirt.

"Why the hell did you get into a fight?" Darry asked, with a bit less concern this time. It was more curiosity. Abby had never liked fighting. Ever. If there was a fight, she would typically try to steer clear of it.

"'Atta girl, Abby! Did you kick her ass?" Steve asked from his spot at the table.

The response he got was a glare from Abby. A mean, cold, hard glare that could even make Dallas Winston shiver. The boys all gave each other a look that had a hidden message that Abby couldn't read.

"Why did you get into a fight?" Darry repeated himself, more firmly this time. Abby walked around him, grabbed a plate of food off the counter and sat down next to Johnny. She twirled her spaghetti with her fork and decided to just tell him the truth.

"It was just a little scrap with the bitch that my no good ex-boyfriend was two timin' me with." She shrugged and took a bite of the food.

"If it was just a 'little scrap' you wouldn't have gotten hurt." Ponyboy said from his place on the other side of Johnny.

"All it was supposed to be was me and her, skin only. The tramp apparently wasn't as strong as she thought so she pulled a broken bottle on me. She got one good stab at my side before I pulled out my blade and threatened to cut off all of that fake ass hair of hers." Abby retorted back.

"And for your information, I did kick her ass." She smirked at Steve.

*

Darry, Soda and Pony took care of the dishes after dinner while Abby sat around and caught up the guys.

"So, you mentioned a boyfriend?" Johnny asked. Abby simply rolled her eyes at this.

"Yeah. A good for nothing, two-timing jerk." She replied while tossing a stick of gum into her mouth.

"That's rough. What was so wrong with him?" Two-Bit asked in a girly tone while fluttering his eyelashes at her. This got a chuckle out of the seemingly rock hard Abby.

"He was great at first, but as we were together longer he just wasn't there as often. He would disappear for days, not bother to call me when he did disappear. He wouldn't show up for most of our dates and if he did show up it was always late. The only thing I ever got from him was a leather jacket, but I stole that from him anyways." Abby furrowed her eyebrows while ticking off on her fingers all the things that had gone wrong in her previous relationship.

"But I guess the final straw had to be when I found out he was cheating on me. He would always accuse me of cheating and I always swore that I never did. Then he turned around and did that when I had trusted him not to. Not that it really matters, we were bad from the start. Always off and on and off and on and off. Basically, we stayed together when it was convenient for him." She leaned back in her chair and began pulling at the fraying holes in her jeans.

"Aw, shoot. I'm awful sorry to hear that, Abby." Two-Bit said with a concerned look on his face.

"I'm over it." Abby spoke while wrinkling her nose. "I think I'm gonna head outside for a bit. I'll be back."

Abby stood up and pushed through the back door. She sat down on the edge of the patio and gazed up at the stars. She was looking for one star in particular.

After minutes of searching, her eyes finally rested on it. The North Star. Her father had told her about it on multiple nights when she was a little girl. Those nights felt so far away now. It had been years ago but his words still rang clear in her mind.

"Find the North Star and you will never be lost."

Those were the exact words he had told her on every occasion they laid together in the backyard and watched the night sky.

As she sat alone on the patio in the dark of the night, Abby let a few tears slip from her eyes as she repeated the words to herself.

"I already found it. Why do I still feel so lost?" She cried quietly towards the sky in hopes that her father would somehow hear her. As if by coincidence, a breeze came by right at that moment. She wiped the trails of tears off of her face. Trying not to think about how disappointed her parents would be in her if they were still here, she looked back to the sky.

"I miss you so much." She whispered, unaware of the boy standing behind her.

"They miss you too." The husky voice spoke as he dropped down beside her as he pulled out a pack of cigarettes. "Want a cancer stick?"

"Thanks." Abby mumbled as she took a cigarette from the pack Dallas held out to her. He leaned over and lit hers after lighting his own. For a while they just sat there in silence.

"Nice night, ain't it?" Dally remarked in a weird tone.

"What do you want Dallas? I know you sure as hell didn't come out here just to make small talk with me." Abby preferred to get straight to the point.

"Listen, things weren't the same after you left." Dally began. "Your brothers were affected by it the most. Darry didn't wanna let you go but he couldn't risk you getting yourself, Soda and Ponyboy taken away. Two-Bit and Johnny missed you. Hell, I know he won't admit it but Steve missed you. And, well, you know me." He smirked and took another drag off the cigarette in his hand.

"Anyways, the point I'm trying to make is that things were pretty rough when you left. Don't screw up or let anything bad happen to yourself. I don't think your brothers would be able to take it if something did happen to you."

"Well, what if I wasn't planning on sticking around long anyways?" Abby turned towards Dally.

Abby saw multiple emotions flash through Dally's eyes. Surprise, anger, fear, then something she couldn't figure out. Then they returned to their original cold, unreadable state.

"Don't just stick around until you turn 18 and then leave. That ain't too far away. It'll kill your brothers to get you back for a little while then just have you disappear like that on them. Don't even try it." Their was a dangerous edge in Dally's voice as he spoke.

"Sure thing, Dal." Abby rolled her eyes. "Hey, wait a second. How did you know that I smoked now?" She asked in an incredulous tone. She had never smoked before she left Tulsa.

"I guessed." Dally shrugged. "But, trust me, I know more about you than you think."

"Like what?" Abby didn't like the smirk on Dally's face in that moment.

"You got those piercings in your ears after you left and you probably have another one you don't want Darry knowing about. You also got a tattoo or two. You also have a habit of running away from your fears and problems." The smirk never left his face.

Abby's mouth went dry. She had gotten her ears pierced but anyone could see that. When she got her ears done she had decided to do something crazy and get her belly button pierced too. He was right about the tattoos. There was one on the back of her right shoulder that stretched up on top of the shoulder and to the top of the upper part of her right arm. She was feeling pretty brave when she got that one. There was also one on her left side, right on her ribs. It was her parents' birthdays, anniversary and their death date. And the last part, he was dead on about that.

"That's what I thought. Oh, and let me know when you decide to tell Darry about your tattoos. I would love to be here for that." Dally smirked and then let out a laugh when Abby just got up and walked back into the house, mumbling obscenities towards him on the way.

*

A little while later, Abby was back inside with the guys. They were all in the living room just talking and having a good time. Abby shifted in her seat sending a pain through her side where the cut was. She winced, which didn't go unnoticed by Darry.

"Abby, come on. Let's go get that cut cleaned up now." Darry frowned.

"It's fine, Dare. I can clean it by myself later." Abby waved it off.

"Abby. Now." He repeated. Abby gave in and silently thanked herself for taking out her navel piercing the last time she wrapped the cut up.

Abby took a seat on the edge of the tub as Darry pulled out the peroxide, a washcloth and a new bandage. There was tension in the air as Darry cleaned the wound and checked for any glass that might have been left behind. Neither him nor Abby spoke a word.

"Thanks." Abby finally mumbled when Darry wrapped the bandage around her torso.

"I gotta take care of my little sister, don't I?" Darry shrugged. "Just try to stay out of trouble, please."

Abby scoffed lightly as she walked out of the bathroom.

"Trouble always has a way of finding me."

That it did, that it did.
♠ ♠ ♠
second chapter done
this took me a while to write but i didnt write it all at once
feedback is greatly appreciated