July 27, 2017

Soda kept making food puns throughout the entire shopping process, making it difficult to remain focused. He would run down the isle and jump into the cart, letting it wheel out of control until it slowed or bumped into the wall with very loud clanks of the metal. People were staring at us, probably judging the man-child but we were having too much fun to care. 

We had bought so many things, I definitely needed his hands to help bring them all inside. We bought a lot of fruit, perishables, some cereals that the boys requested or the closest we could find, and some canned foods. I also got milk, some soda, and juice. I could barely keep track of what we got. Enough to fill the kitchen for three hungry boys for a couple of weeks.

There were more comments to be made about the prices of everything. Soda even said, "I ain't payin' more than a dollar for a pack of Pepsi. Are you kiddin' me?" when he saw that a six-pack of soda was no longer fifty-nine cents. Darry made a comment about the prices of groceries going up back in the 60s, I hope I get to grocery shop with him soon and see what he thinks about it now.

Soda had to stop and pause when we passed the candy aisle and he found a fancy chocolate bar selling for about $6. He was appalled that it was so expensive. Bewildered, he told me, "back in my time, I could get a concert ticket for the same price."

"A concert ticket?" I asked, just to make sure I had heard him right.

"Yeah, last year my old man wanted to go see The Beatles when they were on their North American tour. Tickets were six bucks a pop," he said. "Maybe a little more than a year ago."

"I think it's been a little longer than that," I joked.

"Easy," he taunted with a laugh.

"How come you guys didn't go?" I asked curiously.

Soda's smile dropped a little. I saw his big brown eyes fill with sadness as he said, "he died before we were supposed to roadtrip down to Dallas for the concert."

My face fell too. I always felt terrible for bringing up his parents. He is still processing his grief of losing them, and I don't know what to do to help him. "I'm sorry, Soda."

Soda's face brightened and he put on his irresistible smile. "Oh, it's all right. I just can't believe how much the world has changed. And I get to see it."

At the register, Soda offered to help pay and he started thumbing through his loose pocket change. It was a sweet gesture, but I handed the cashier my debit card and the transaction was complete in a matter of seconds.

We got back to my house, and I noticed Lillian's car was there. I had three plastic bags being held in each hand, because I refuse to take two trips. I was trying to carry them inside while Soda only had two bags total.

"Bri, I can carry that," he kindly offered.

"No, it's fine. Just get the door please," I huffed while my arms were starting to feel like noodles.

Just then, the bag that contained all the canned foods ripped open and rolled around the entrance. One hit the door and a few went off into the garden that surrounded the front of our house.

"Dammit," I sighed and immediately reached down to grab a can. Soda had the same thought, because our heads collided at the bottom.

"Ouch!" I jumped up and rubbed the bump that was going to form on my forehead. A laugh escaped my throat.

"Are you okay?" Soda asked with a sweet smile, stepping closer to me and rubbed his thumb on my forehead.

"Yeah." I grinned up at him. "Why do we always do that?"

"I don't know." He smiled, his handsome face was gravitating toward mine.

"What are you smiling at?" I asked with a smile of my own.

He just kept smiling. I remembered that first time we were at Hanks like it was yesterday. We have shared food since then, but nothing has been quite so intimate. I was having a familiar feeling in the pit in stomach, the same one I felt when I shared that milkshake with Soda. When I'm with him, I don't think that feeling has ever really gone away.

Soda's hand brushed my arm gingerly, following his hand with his eyes. He then looked back up at me, with a gaze that told me he was in deep thought but with just one thing on his mind. Me.

"I just..." he chuckled nervously. "I just can't stop thinking about you."

I could feel myself blush with no chance of hiding it. "I can't stop thinking about you either."

"I missed you." His charming smile flashed across his features again as our noses came closer and closer.

"I missed you too." I tried not to sound ditzy, but Soda excited me so much. When I'm with him, nothing else around us matters. My knees almost feel weak, and my heart flutters.

Soda's eyes began to close as he slowly brought his lips to mine. He was giving me an opportunity to stop him, but I didn't want to stop him. I wanted to feel his lips on mine again, like it's the first time. His hands held my waist delicately, pulling me in closer to him.

The front door suddenly opened, which made us jump and snap out of our impure thoughts. Soda's hands slipped from me, and we saw Two-Bit standing in the doorway.

"It's about time. We've been waitin' forever." He snatched a few bags from my wrists and ran inside.

Soda and I looked at each other longingly and we began picking up the runaway cans of food with heavy sighs. I exhaled harshly, wishing that Two did not interrupt. For me and Soda, timing has always been terrible.

"Bri!" I heard behind me.

Soda and I looked at each other in confusion before I peered out to our driveway to see a black truck parked behind my car. A man with salt and pepper hair and a navy blue shirt came walking up to us with a carton of eggs and a paper bag in his hands.

"I'll be in, in a second," I whispered to Soda.

Soda nodded and took the rest of the groceries from my hands and looked over his shoulder at the guy as he headed inside. I heard the door close, so I turned to face this mysterious uncle I have never met.

When he got closer, I saw that he had my dad's blue eyes and his sharp nose. He had grey poking out of his dark hair, and a clean shaven face. He smiled at me warmly, and I noticed the emblem of the Tulsa Fire Department on his shirt.

"Hey, how's it going?" I finally greeted, trying to act like I've known him my whole life.

"Not too shabby. Heard your folks were gonna be out of town for a little longer than originally planned so I thought I'd come by to bring you some stuff that Lea made."

Who is Lea?

He handed me the carton of eggs, and the paper bag. I glanced it in and noticed a couple jars of homemade jam, a loaf of freshly baked bread, and a jar of fluffy homemade butter.

"Oh, wow. Thank you. You guys made this?" I asked. This was so sweet, it made me feel bad that I had no idea who he was.

"Yeah. Bread was baked fresh this morning, and we got the fruit for the jams from our garden," he said proudly.

"This is amazing, thank you," I said genuinely.

"Of course, and if you or Jenni need anything at all don't be afraid to holler."

I smiled at the friendly stranger. "We will, thank you."

He headed back to his truck while I went inside. I couldn't stop thinking about this man and how I had never met him before. I was just so confused.

I opened the door and I walked into the kitchen. Soda got the other guys to help unload the food from the bags, while Jenni was helping to instruct where the food belongs in the kitchen so they didn't just toss everything around.

"Who was that?" Soda asked.

"My uncle," I told him but my tone was uncertain.

"You saw Sean?" Jenni asked.

"Yeah. He gave me bread, eggs, jam, and butter," I said as I put it all on the counter. "Who is Lea?"

"Our aunt. His wife," Jenni responded.

"You don't know your own aunt?" Two asked.

"I swear I've never seen that man before in my life," I said.

"They live a little further out in the country. They have a little farm with chickens, pigs, and goats. They always give us eggs, bread, jams, and butter and I think they make them for all of their neighbors and coworkers and stuff," Jenni explained.

"And he's a firefighter?" I asked.

"Yeah. You remember now?"

"No, he was just wearing a Tulsa Fire Department shirt," I stated. "He must be a really good person."

"Oh, he's the best. He's so nice. Just a few weeks ago a restaurant caught on fire downtown and Sean got an award for saving the owner that was stuck in there."

"The Birch Cafe?" I asked.

"Yeah."

"Wow." I remember that fire, it was all over the news. The restaurant was built before sprinklers were required in buildings, so the fire raced through the structure. It took days, but they had found the owner amongst the rubble. Without Sean, the owner would have died in that fire.

"And you don't remember him?" Soda asked me. His hand grazed my lower back gently.

"Not at all. I thought he was dead."

"Weird."

"That's what I said." I turned to Jenni and asked, "does he have kids?"

"Yeah."

"We have more cousins?"

"How do you not know this?" She asked, exasperated by my apparently irritating questions.

"I told you, I don't know anything about him."

We kept putting the groceries away, and I took a small bread and butter break. The bread, the butter, and the jam were all incredible. I need to meet Lea so she can teach me how to make sourdough bread like this.

"What do you call a can opener that doesn't work?" Two asked, glancing around at all of us amusingly while he put a can of corn in the pantry. All of us looked at him deadpan, no one tried to answer his dumb question. "A can't opener."

Sometimes I think that Two-Bit cracks jokes because he just doesn't pay attention to what anyone else around him is saying.

He waited a beat before he asked, "do you get it?"

"We got it," I retorted.

"Why do you remember him being dead?" Jenni asked, bringing us back to the initial conversation.

"I don't know. Dad never really talked about it, but he went sledding with Sean when they were kids. Sean fell into a frozen lake and no one could get him out, so he drowned."

"Oh, yeah. I know that story, but Sean didn't drown," Jenni said.

"What?"

"Yeah. Some guy jumped into the water and pulled him out. Apparently it was in the papers and stuff," Jenni said.

"Who pulled him out?" I asked.

Jenni shrugged. "I don't know. Some guy."

Lillian had texted me saying she had to bring everyone over to my house because she needed quiet in order to focus on the Time Machine. After we put away the groceries, Jenni gave a tour of our house to the guys who hadn't been there yet. She also provided entertainment by talking to them about the future and she turned on the TV to help distract them.

Which is a horrible distraction, by the way. These guys are used to shoplifting, stealing hubcaps, holding up gas stations, watch and participate in drag racing, they rolled drunks, jumped people, and liked gang fights. Fist-fighting was a pastime for them. A television screen was not going to fulfill them, except for maybe Pony because he likes movies. Johnny probably preferred this too.

I didn't know what else to do with them, at least right now. Hopefully when they can get jobs it'll get them moving and burn off some of their endless energy. I don't know what I would do if one of them got arrested so that cannot happen.

Jenni turned on the Food Network just so something was playing. I was sitting on the corner of the couch with my head resting against my elbow that was propped up on the arm of the couch.

Two-Bit started groaning, "Bri..."

"What?" I mumbled tiredly.

"Bri..."

"What do you want, Two-Bit?" I opened my eyes.

"I'm bored."

"I think we are all pretty bored," Darry piped in.

"Okay, what do you wanna do?" I asked with a yawn.

"Something not this boring," Steve said while picking at something between his teeth.

"I'd like to know more about this future. What are some political things we should know about?" Darry asked like a true adult.

Jenni laughed and said, "there are so many things."

"When does the Vietnam War end?" Darry asked.

"Sometime in the 70's I think..." I said and pulled out my phone. After a quick search I said, "says here it ended in 1975. April 30, 1975."

Steve nudged his elbow at Soda and said jokingly, "still got time to draft you, huh?"

Soda laughed and shook him off.

"What about the Cold War? Anything happen with that?" Darry asked. He always used to talk about it when it was on the front page of the newspaper, it scared him quite a bit. He was terrified that he would get drafted, and leave his brothers to fend for themselves.

"No, it doesn't escalate with any direct confrontation," I promised.

"This is so fuckin' boring," Dally groaned. He put his face in his hand and slid his hands down his face before clasping his hands together.

"The Beatles broke up in '69," Jenni stated, all of us ignoring Dally's complaint.

"But The Beach Boys are still together," I added. I know Steve loves The Beach Boys because they sing about girls and cars. I saw him perk up a bit.

"What about the Space Race?" Pony asked. "Who won the Space Race?"

"We did in 1969," I told him. I noticed Dally get up and start walking around the room, seemingly uninterested in what we had to say.

"Neil Armstrong, and Buzz Aldrin were the astronauts," Jenni added. "Speaking of, Star Wars comes out in the 70s, and that's a pretty big deal."

"What's Star Wars?" Ponyboy asked.

"It's a big movie franchise," I said. I have never seen but I think Ponyboy would enjoy them.

"Has John F. Kennedy been assassinated for you guys yet?" Lillian asked.

"Yeah, that was a couple years ago," Darry answered.

"What about Martin Luther King Jr?" She asked.

Ponyboy's eyes grew wide. "No."

"Oh..." Lillian's voice trailed off.

"Does he get assassinated?" Ponyboy asked.

"Yeah, sometime in the late 60s I think," I said.

"Glory." Ponyboy recoiled.

"And John Lennon gets assassinated too," Lillian added.

"From the Beatles?" Two-Bit asked with wide eyes.

"Yeah. George Harrison died too, from cancer in the early 2000s. But Paul and Ringo are still alive," Jenni said.

"By the way, now, gay is okay," I stated.

"Oh, yeah," Jenni said. She is a bit of a history buff so she added, "gay marriage became legalized in Oklahoma in 2014."

"Gay is okay?" Two seemed puzzled.

"Gay is okay," I said with a nod.

Being gay in 1960's Oklahoma was not something that was typical or accepted, so I was not sure how the boys would react if they came across someone who their society would not approve of. I know that being an outsider from society is their thing, but they could still be jerks about it. I had to make sure that they were aware of the sensitivity regarding sexual orientation. Upon the first response, they did not seem horrified about it.

"Good to know," Ponyboy muttered to himself.

"The Berlin Wall gets taken down at the end of the Cold War in '89," Jenni stated.

"Ronald Regan becomes president," I said.

"Ronald Regan? The actor?" Darry asked with a scoff.

"Yeah, in the 80s," I said.

"Do you guys know Princess Diana?" Lillian asked.

"Who?" Soda asked.

"She married Prince Charles," Lillian tried to explain. She loves discussing the royal family drama.

"Who?" Darry asked with a squint of his eyes.

"It's a whole big thing." I tried to wave it off. They probably wouldn't care for the royal family drama anyway.

"Queen Elizabeth is still alive," I said.

"Still?" Ponyboy's eyes nearly popped out of his head.

"Yeah. She's in her nineties but she's still Queen and everything," I said.

"I found the old mans liquor cabinet," Dally called from the kitchen. I did not even realize that he was over there.

"Dal, come on. Leave it alone," I stated.

Jenni quickly ran over to the kitchen and was quick to snatch the green bottle of champagne from Dally's hands. He tried to grab it back, but she was too quick for him and she scurried away.

"What do you think you are doing?" He asked her loudly.

"I'm putting it away." She gripped the neck of the bottle firmly in her hand.

"Why don't you just bring it to me?" Dally said, holding his hand out.

"No." Jenni shook her head. The rest of us watched as the newbie was dealing with Dally, wondering why he was not angrier than we expected him to be.

"Give me the bubbly."

"I said no," she replied bravely.

"Just bring it to ol' Dal." He smirked, and closed his eyes as if the sun was in them.

"No."

"Doll, I know that you do not know me but I am an alcoholic," Dally said, his tone somber as he realized that Jenni was serious. He narrowed his icy blue eyes at her. "Give it to me."

"Hey, Jen, just... just give it to him," I said, trying to protect her from his antics. "Otherwise he won't shut up."

"But—"

"Just do it," I said. "Mom and Dad won't notice that it's gone."

Jenni finally gave in. She rolled her eyes and handed him the bottle of champagne. He snatched it from her hand, as if she was going to pull it out of his reach to tease him. He glowered at Jenni as she walked away, then he scavenged the kitchen to find a bottle opener. It was like he could sniff it out because he found it in the first drawer he opened. The moment he popped the cork, it went flying across the room and landed beside Pony on the floor.

"Oop!" Dally exclaimed as the champagne spilled onto the floor. He promptly brought the bottle up to his lips and started chugging it.

"You're cleaning that up," I said.

"Yeah, yeah," he grumbled, waving me off with his hand. He swallowed and peered around at the bottle. "I never really liked champagne, but it'll do."

"You are juvenile," Darry said.

All Dally did was grunt and bring the bottle back up to his lips. He passed it to Steve and Two to try it, and he quickly got it back.

"Bri," Soda asked as he looked over at me. "Can I talk to you for a second, please?"

"Yeah, sure."

Soda began walking over to his room. I hesitated for a second, wondering what was so important that we had to leave the living room for it. We walked into the spare room that he spent the night in last night with Pony and he sat on the well-made bed. I closed the door behind me. Soda patted an empty space next to him on the white comforter, and he grabbed my hand when I sat down.

"Seriously, where are we?" He asked with sincerity in his voice.

"Tulsa," I answered honestly.

"No, we ain't." He shook his head. He was in denial. "Don't lie to me, please."

"Soda, you have to trust me on this." I squeezed his hand a little tighter.

"But... it's impossible."

"You trusted me when I was at your house," I pointed out. "You have known me for a year, Soda, I thought you still trusted me."

"I do... I do trust you." He shook his head. "But I just can't accept that you are sproutin' out about this... this time travel stuff."

I nodded, completely understanding his suspicions. I am sure that even fifty or a hundred years from now it would be extremely difficult to convince someone that time travel is possible. I asked, "can you at least pretend?"

He chuckled. He looked into my eyes and said, "fine, I will. For you."

I didn't realize that we were still holding hands from when I sat down. I only noticed because Soda started to gently rub his thumb in circular motions against the back of my hand and it made my face grow warm.

"Soda, I wanted to talk to you about how I left," I said, swallowing my pride. There was this gnawing guilt that was eating away at me. I just hoped he would forgive me, but I wouldn't blame him if he didn't.

"It's okay."

"No, it isn't okay. I can't even begin to tell you how hard it was for me to leave. It was not a decision I made lightly, I need to make sure you know that. If I could, I'd go back and change what I did... but I can't. I should have at least told you that I was leaving. I should have said goodbye."

Soda chuckled as he shook his head at me. "Bri, no. You did what you had to do, I get that now. You really didn't get a choice."

"But you didn't know if I ran away or if I was dead for so long. I'm so sorry. If you find it in your heart to forgive me... I'm so sorry."

"Don't be sorry. I have you now, huh? That's all that matters."

My voice was small. "Thank you."

"I'm just so happy that I found you again. Can we get back to where we left off?"

"From when?" I asked, getting lost in his sparkling eyes.

"Outside. Before Two-Bit interrupted us." His charming laugh was soft.

"Oh, that's right." I chortled.

"How's your head?" He asked, running his fingers through my hair and tucking it gently behind my ear.

"I'm a little tougher than you are giving me credit for, Sodapop." I smirked up at him.

"Ain't you gonna ask me how mine is?" He sounded jokingly offended.

"Oh, I'm sorry," I chuckled. "How's your head?"

"Better now that you're here."

I laughed and rolled my eyes. "You are so sweet."

Soda slipped his other hand from mine and he brushed some more of my hair back behind my ear. His hand delicately cupped my jaw, and I felt his fingers around the side of my neck. Both of us leaned toward each other and let our lips come together. Soda's eyes closed before mine, his soft lips were magnetizing. I have longed for his touch since the last time I saw him. He trickled his hand down to my chin where he lifted it. I never would have thought I would have had a weakness to something to subtle, so I did my best to not smile so our moment could last longer.

When we kissed, it was like I had never kissed another guy before. None of them counted until I kissed Soda. It felt so wrong, but in all the right ways. This proved that he desired me just as much as I desired him. Both of my hands came up to his jaw, and he kissed me harder.

We pulled away from each other and I did not realize how perfect it felt to be with him. I had been so focused on myself and getting back home that I did not let myself deal with the feelings I had for him, especially when Sandy was in the picture. I felt at home when I was with him.

"God, I missed you," I breathed out.

"I'm weaker than a man should be, because I just can't help myself when I'm with you."

"No, it's okay," I assured. "I feel like I've been waiting for you my whole life. I never want to leave you again."

"Good, 'cause I never want you to leave me again." His smile faded so he could kiss me again.

"I haven't been able to stop thinking about you," I stated between kisses.

He smiled giddily. "You haven't?"

"No." I let out a little embarrassed laugh.

"For how long?"

"I don't know. Since last time."

"Since last time?!" He acted flabbergasted. He fell down to the bed and I crawled beside him. I giggled as I rested my hands on his chest and he looked at me with so much admiration. "You're obsessed with me."

"Am not." I grinned back.

"Are too."

"This is slander," I joked.

"If it makes you feel any better, I'm obsessed with me too."

"You're funny." I kissed him again. With my hand in his chest, he wrapped his arms around me and pulled me closer to him. I giggled and his loving lips planted against my jaw and my neck.

I treasure every moment I have with him. Every second is more special than the last. We know that he is here on borrowed time, and someday soon he will have to go back home. I want to explore as much of him as I can, even if it'll make saying goodbye even harder. This love I have for him has already taken a toll on my heart, it can't hurt more than it already has.

Before anything else could happen, I stopped him and said, "maybe we should go back out. They'll be wondering where we went."

Soda sighed and rested his head back against the mattress. "Yeah. You're right."

I jumped off the bed and headed to the door. Soda ran his hand over his face and followed me out to the living room.

"Man, life here is so fucking boring," Dally complained with the bottle resting against his hip. He was sitting on the arm of the couch where Darry and Pony kept it anchored to the ground. He leaned forward and put his hand on his knee.

"Are you just going to complain this whole time?" I asked as I stood beside the couch.

"I'm not complaining." He took a sip from the bottle of champagne and made a face like it was sour. "I'm just stating the facts."

"He is complaining," Two whispered, followed by a wholesome giggle.

"I'm going to take a shower." Dally stood up, leaving the bottle on the floor. He scampered down the stairs and slammed the bathroom door when he got to it.

Jenni grabbed the bottle and was about to close it but peered inside. Instead of returning it to the liquor cabinet she rinsed it out and put it with the rest of the recycling. Dally is a heavy drinker, it would take a bit more than just one bottle of champagne to get him wasted. It didn't really seem to have an effect on him. He just got a little crankier, so nothing unusual.

I grabbed a red apple as a snack and washed it in the sink. I debated on cutting it up into slices and getting some peanut butter, but I figured that it was too much work. I stuck with just the apple, and ate it to the core.

"I still can't believe you ain't got no grease," Dally stated, coming back from his quick shower. He was running a comb through his blonde hair, and shaking out the water from his ears.

"You don't even use hair grease," I pointed out.

"So?" He asked with a snarl of his lip.

Ponyboy combed his hair back with his fingers and he said, "I ain't me without my grease."

"Your hair looks good," Jenni told him. "It will just take some getting used to."

"No kidding," Steve said, running his fingers through his clean hair.

It was the first time I have ever seen Steve's hair not combed in complicated swirls. They all almost looked like different human beings.

"Maybe we can get you some hair gel or something," I said. "It's close enough."

In a way, I felt like these boys were aliens. I had the urge to expose them to anything and everything I possibly could. However, that was not the case. I still have at least eight more months with them, and I was determined to make those eight months count. I didn't realize how much I actually missed them until they were gone.