~♡~
Molly
I woke up this morning, earlier than usual. My head surprisingly didn't hurt for once. I sat up, and looked around. Something just wasn't right. I wasn't in the hospital. I was home, in my room!
I felt the warm breeze drift through the opened window, and brush softly against my face. It felt so good to be back.
Darry pokes his head through the doorway.
"Welcome home, baby doll." He greets.
He smiles at me, and I smile back. I really loved when he called me that.
Pony strolls into my room, and plops down next to me on the bed. He smiles brightly at me.
How come I'm home?" I ask.
"I thought I had another week back at the hospital." "The doctor said we could take you home, and he said that you're almost fully recovered." Darry tells me proudly.
I was ecstatic. I spent the past few weeks trying over and over again to walk, until I finally did it. All my hard work really paid off.
Pony helped me out of bed, and we walked to the living room together, like we always used to. Pony and I were almost always at each other's throats, and it felt good to know that he actually did care about me.
We both sat down on the sofa, just as Soda and Steve barged through the door.
Soda was wearing his DX hat, an unbuttoned shirt, while holding a bouquet of sunflowers.
"Hey, Molls!" He shouts with a huge smile on his face. I run over to him and hug him as tight as I could.
"Be careful, Molly!" Darry yells from the kitchen.
"These are for you. For being my strong girl." Soda says as he hands me the flowers.
"I love them." I smile.
He kisses me in the head, and sneaks a piece of bacon off the frying pan when Darry wasn't looking.
Steve lifts me off of the ground, and twirls me around while hugging me tightly.
"Steve, would you cut that out?!" Darry shouts at him. "If you hurt her, I'll kill you." He warns.
Steve rolls his eyes sarcastically.
"It's good to have ya back, kid." He sighs, as he puts me down. I giggle and hug him back.
"It's good to be back." I beam.
The front door swings open. It was Dally, Johnny and Angela. I run over to Dally and hug him.
"You feeling better, kiddo?" He asks me.
I smile.
"A lot better." I reply.
Angela looks over at us and smiles. She wasn't all that bad. We actually started talking a few days ago back at the hospital. She tried to be nice, but it didn't go too well. At least she tried though.
"What's goin' on, Molls?" Johnny asks, tussling my hair.
"Nothin', I'm just happy to be back." I reply, as I look up at him and smile.
"Breakfast is ready!" Darry shouts from the kitchen.
Two-Bit struts through the front door, and his eyes meet with mine. "Molly!" He shouts happily, "You're back!"
We all greet him happily, and we all sit down at the dining table. Soda pulls out a chair for me, and sits down next to me.
Darry serves me my smiley face pancakes. Soda cuts them up for me, and I was in love at first bite. I really missed home cooking.
"Thanks for the breakfast, D."
Darry smiles and sits down.
"I gotta pick a few things up at the grocery store, so can one of you keep an eye on-" Soda cuts Darry off.
"Can I go?" He asks.
"Yeah, why don't we all go?!" Steve suggests.
"Please please pleaseee." Ponyboy begs.
"Oh good lord." Darry exclaims as he shakes his head.
"Fine, we can all go." He rolls his eyes.
We were going to the store. All of us. Together. I already knew it was going to be chaotic, but who doesn't love chaos? Well, besides Darry.
We all finish breakfast as fast as we could, and I run straight to my room to get dressed. It was my first time out of the house since you-know-what, so I wanted to be presentable.
I open my dresser drawers and pull out an burnt orange turtle neck, and a beige, plaid skirt.
"We're leaving in five minutes!" Darry shouts from the living room.
"Okay!" I call back.
I quickly brush through my hair, slip on my saddle shoes, and I was out the door.
"Wait, doesn't your truck only fit like, five people?" Pony asks Darry.
"Oh, you're right. I guess you guys can't come!" Darry exclaims happily.
"Nah it's fine, we can fit in the back." Dally suggests.
Darry sighs, and we all walk out and pile into the truck. Soda lifts me up, and places me in the back. I had never been in the bed of Darry's truck, and I'm surprised he even let me ride back here.
Darry starts the truck, and Soda crosses his arms across my shoulders, and holds onto me tightly, in fear that I would fly out of the truck.
Darry was only going 30 miles an hour, but it felt like 80. The wind blowing rapidly through my hair felt amazing.
Everyone was laughing, and having a great time. I looked up at Soda, who was still holding on to me. He smiled me, and I smiled back brightly. I missed seeing everyone's smile. I missed it so much.
We finally arrive, and I was kind of bummed. I didn't want to get out.
I jump out of the truck. Soda grabs a shopping cart, and wheels it Inside. Dally lifts me up, and sits me in the back of the cart.
"C'mon Dallas, that's for food, not people." Darry proclaims.
"She weighs like 30 pounds, cool it, D." Soda defends.
I think of I weighed 30 pounds I'd be dead, but ya know.
Soda wheels me all around the grocery store, with a big grin on his face the whole way. He was having the time of his life.
Two-Bit was juggling a few oranges.
"Will you cut that out, Two?" Darry asks him as he takes the oranges away and puts them back on the display.
"Okay we need tomatoes. Do you guys know what a tomato is?" Darry asks with a serious look on his face.
We all disregard his question, and Soda and Ponyboy continue to push me around the entire store.
It kind of felt like that time we all went to six flags, and I went on that huge roller coaster with Two-Bit and Steve.
I look around and Dally and Johnny were both filling a shopping cart with all the candy in sight. I don't think I've ever seen the two of them look happier.
I glanced over at Angela, and she was laughing. She was actually laughing.
I hop out of the cart as fast could and jog over to her. She looks at me and smiles at me. "Hey." She says.
"What's up?" I smile.
She ignores my question.
"You wanna see something cool?"
"Sure, I guess."
"Come with me."
She grabs onto my hand and drags me along with her. She was wearing a striped shirt, and a denim jacket.
She brought me to the parking lot, and we found our way to the truck. We climb over and sit ourselves down in the bed of the truck. She hands me a tiny brown bag.
"Here." She smirks.
"What's this?"
"Just open it, you'll see."
I thought it was a bomb or something. I peeked inside the bag, and I pull out what was inside. It was the pastel kit I had been wanting for as long as I could remember! Darry said we just couldn't afford it.
"H-how did you know?" I question her.
"Pony may have brought something up about how you love art, so I bought those fancy crayons for you." She smiles.
We both laugh.
"But how on earth could you afford them?" I ask.
"Do you know who my brother is?!" She asks. "I stole them, silly!" She playful punches me on the arm.
I look up and smile at her.
"Why are you being so nice to me all of a sudden?" I ask.
"Because I like you, I guess." She tells me. "You're pretty cool." She smiles at me.
"So are you." I tell her.
"...We should probably head back."
"Yeah." I nod.
"Hey, thanks for these." I tell her. "I've been wanting these for ages."
"No problem." She smirks.
She helps me out of the truck, and we start to walk back to the store, talking and laughing the whole way. That was one of the only times I had ever seen her smile.
"... and that's why I live here now, in Tulsa." She explains.
"I'm so sorry, that you had to go through all that stuff." I say, sympathetically.
"Yeah, you get used to it after a while."
"I never really wanted to be loved because I didn't know what it felt like." She says.
"Well now you do." I say.
I put my arm around her and she smiles.
We walk back into the store, and find the gang.
"Looks like you two are getting along." Dally smiles.
"Yeah." I say and look at her.
"I guess we are." I smile.
Angela was really cool once you got to know her. She was so sweet, and so caring. She was only mean because she never had anyone to tell her how to act, so I don't blame her.
I wish I hadn't judged her so quickly. I didn't even know her, yet I was so rude. Angela is such a sweet girl. She doesn't deserve all the criticism. I think she's my best friend.
Nah, I know she's my best friend.
Angela and I walked around the store, talking and getting to know each other a little better. It turns out we actually had a lot in common, like, um... we both wore shoes!
Soda looks over at us in disapproval. He walks over to me and pulls me away from Angela. He gets down on his knees and places his hands on my shoulders, looking me dead in the eye.
"What did she do to you?" "Are you okay?" He asks with concern.
"Soda, really?" I question.
I take his hands off my shoulders.
"Angela's my friend!" I explain.
His face goes completely blank, and his eyes widen.
"Blink three times if this is a cult." He whispers.
"What's a cult?"
"...Nothing, never mind."
"But, cut it out. She's a nice girl, really." I tell him.
He stands up and brushes himself off.
"Yeah, sure." He mumbles under his breath. "Sure." He mumbles again, as he walks away.
I walk back over to Angela and smile at her. Sure, she can be a little rude, but I knew she had a soft spot, somewhere in her. And even though I don't really know her all that well, I still love her. No matter what.