Disclaimer: I own the character Edie and the plot. Everything else is the wonderful creation of S.E. Hinton.
A/N: Okay, well I know that I haven't yet finished my other story for those of you that are reading it, but I got struck with another idea so here it goes. Once again, as in my other fic, Dallas and Johnny aren't dead. I love their characters and think they add a lot to any story so for my purposes in writing this they are both alive. This is Darry/OC. Enjoy!
Chapter 1 – Unexpected
It was 6:30 on a Friday night and the gang was scattered throughout the Curtis household. As usual, they were congregating there to maybe grab a bite to eat and decide their plans for the evening. The evening, however, for one Daryl Curtis, would be quite different from the one he was currently expecting. It all started with a knock at the door. This struck everyone as unusual because one, they were all at the house already and two, no one ever knocked. Sodapop rose, curious, from the couch and went to the door. Standing on the front porch, looking rather nervous was a girl. She looked to be around Soda's age, maybe a little older, and she seemed slightly uncomfortable. She shifted from one foot to the other and Soda looked past her to the street where her car (so he assumed anyways) was parked. It wasn't an expensive car and she definitely didn't look like a soc, but she also didn't look like a greaser. After this examination of the unexpected guest, Soda finally strode into view and pulled open the screen door.
"Hello," he said, leaning against the frame, eyeing her.
"Hi." she fidgeted slightly with her hands. "Does Daryl Curtis live here?"
"He sure does." Soda stuck out his hand. "Sodapop Curtis, brother to one Daryl Curtis." The girl shyly gripped Soda's hand and shook it firmly, clearly trying not to let her nervousness get the best of her.
"Nice to meet you Sodapop." She didn't laugh or question him as to if that was actually his name. "My name is Edie," she offered.
"Edie…" Soda paused. "That's a strange name." She raised her eyebrows as if to say you're one to talk.
"Is Daryl home?" she asked, not quite sure where her conversation with Soda was going.
"Yup."
"May… May I speak to him?" She wondered why Sodapop was being so difficult. She didn't even know him!
"I don't see why not." And with that he turned around and disappeared into the house. He hadn't meant to make the newcomer uncomfortable, but it was uncommon for someone to come looking for Darry. He didn't really have any friends outside of the gang. It was even more uncommon for a girl to be looking for him, especially one this beautiful.
Edie waited patiently on the front porch. She didn't mind not being invited inside. She was nervous and by the sounds of it there were quite a few people inside the old rundown house and she wasn't in any hurry to meet them. Especially since Darry wasn't even expecting her.
All of a sudden a hulking, muscular frame appeared in the doorway, a change from the lithe body of Sodapop. The screen door was pushed open and all of a sudden Edie was face to face with the man she had come to see, no longer remembering any of the things she had come to say.
"Hi…" he said slowly. He seemed to recognize her, which was good, but he didn't recall her name.
"Hi Daryl, my name is Edie. I don't know if you remember me but we met earlier-" she was cut off by him.
"I remember." He said bluntly, but not in a harsh way. "Edie Peterson."
"Right…" She was now at a complete loss for words.
"What brings you by here?"
He was very curious himself. He had met her earlier that day on a roofing job. He and his partner for the day had been working on the roof of her house. It had been a particularly hot day and sometime in the early afternoon when the sun had become unbearably hot she had come outside with a tray of lemonade and asked them if they had time for a break. His partner, who was quite the ladies man and always on the prowl, climbing down the scaffolding eagerly
"For a pretty girl like you?" he had said slickly. "We always have time." Darry had followed behind him slowly down the scaffolding to join in for a cup of lemonade. Although it was his partner that had been eyeing the girl, it was with Darry whom she seemed to be interested in, and they had kind of hit it off.
This was an unusual experience for Darry. He hadn't dated since before his parent's death, partly because he no longer had the time, and partly because girls no longer took interest in him. In high school Darry had been popular. He was on the football team and had lots of friends. No one had though of him as a greaser. After the death of his parents Darry had become hard. He seemed much too tired and old for someone his age. He had been forced to grow up too quickly and as a consequence had not had a real relationship with anyone for years. Seeing Edie on the porch made a funny feeling prickle in his stomach. Something he had not felt for a long time.
Edie paused for a moment, trying to find the right words.
"Well… I really enjoyed meeting you today," she started. "And I didn't get another chance to talk to you before you left so I called up the roofing company and asked for your address but they wouldn't give it to me at first, so I told them that you had left something behind and I wanted to return it to you. I don't think they believed that but they gave me your address anyways so I came over here and…" Once she started she couldn't seem to stop and the words came pouring out rapidly, tumbling over one another. Finally she stopped and paused, pulling herself together.
"I was wondering," she started again. "I was wondering if you'd like to go see a movie or go for a shake or something." She stopped and looked at her feet, almost recoiling, as though expecting to be laughed at or something. She was younger than Darry, buy at least a couple of years, and clearly out of her element. Darry thought about it for a moment before answering. Edie was a very beautiful girl, and Darry hadn't been on a date for years. He decided he could not pass this opportunity up.
"A shake sounds like fun," came Darry's gruff voice. Edie looked up from her feet and gave him a shy smile.
"Okay… Uh, do you want to go now?"
Darry couldn't help but laugh, she seemed almost scarred of him, completely different from earlier that day. Earlier in the day she didn't come all the way to your house to ask you out either, a small voice inside his head reminded him.
"Sure, if that's okay with you."
She smiled at him again, this time a little more confidently.
"Now is perfect."
"Okay, one second, let me grab my jacket." Darry ducked briefly back into the house and reappeared with a brown jacket. "Ready?" he asked.
"Let's go," Edie replied with a smile, leading him to her car.
Okay. There was the first chapter. Let me know what you think! R/R if you want more.
