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The first thing Cherry noticed when she woke up was the soft morning light peeking into the room through the thin curtains.
The second thing she noticed was how well rested she felt—she hadn’t woken up at all over the course of the night. That rarely happened anymore, if she even managed to fall asleep in the first place.
The third thing she noticed was the sound of a heartbeat. That was when she realized that she was practically lying on top of someone, their legs intertwined and her head resting on their chest.
And then she remembered what had happened last night. Her parents had been arguing and she just couldn’t take it anymore. She’d decided to sneak out of her window, but it wasn’t until she was halfway to Marcia’s house that she remembered her friend had some sort of plan with Two-Bit that night. So she changed directions, eventually finding herself on the East Side, in front of the Curtis house. She felt guilty about burdening their family, but Soda always insisted that she was welcome at their house at any time and she figured she might as well take him up on that. The idea of simply walking into their house without knocking still felt strange to Cherry, West Side manners were drilled deep into her blood. She couldn’t just discard them overnight, even though she knew the brothers didn’t mind.
So she knocked, and after waiting a few seconds heard a yell from inside to come in. She explained what was happening and of course they all excitedly agreed to let her stay the night. She’d been ready to sleep on the couch (something she’d never done before and was curious to try,) but they'd all insisted she take the bed in Soda's old room.
That was when she realized that she didn’t have anything to wear to sleep. So Soda, ever the gentleman, offered her some of his old clothes. It felt wrong to wear a boy's clothes when he wasn’t even her boyfriend, but she eventually decided to accept the offer. She did her best to ignore the butterflies that exploded in her stomach.
After getting ready for bed as best she could, she and Soda had sat on her—or technically his—bed. It was strange in his old room, like a time capsule, little figurines of horses and cars littering practically every surface. She and Soda had stayed up talking, and she guessed they’d accidentally fallen asleep together.
And now she was cuddling with Sodapop Curtis .
The oddest thing was how safe she felt. She hadn’t felt this safe in far too long. But now, lying here in Soda's arms…it felt safe. It felt comfortable. Like nothing could ever hurt her.
After a few minutes of lying there listening to his heartbeat, she finally felt him begin to stir. She half expected him to shove her away, but he just stayed where he was. Slowly, his hand moved up. He started brushing it carefully through Cherry's hair, and she shivered at the touch.
“Good morning.” Cherry's voice was all gravely from sleep.
“Mmmm,” Soda responded lazily.
Cherry inched herself up so her head was resting in the crook of his neck and one of her arms was slung over his chest.
“Should we get up?”
“Nah.”
Cherry giggled quietly. “Ok.”
And so they stayed there, wrapped up in each other's arms all morning. It felt as if a bubble of peace and calm had been placed around them, like all the expectations and fears that dictated their lives couldn't touch them as long as they stayed just like this.
Eventually, they did have to get up. They pretended as if nothing had happened, and ignored any looks they got over breakfast. Cherry got dressed, messily braided her hair, promised to find that book Ponyboy was talking about, and kissed Soda's cheek in goodbye. Then she left.
For many nights afterwards she’d crave the feeling she’d had lying in that bedroom with Soda. She craved Soda , but she tried to ignore that. She wasn’t ready for a relationship yet. For now, she just kept him close by, hoping that might be enough.