Disclaimer: I don't own the Everly Brothers, or their song "Wake Up, Little Suzie," or Suzie herself. The Phil in the story is not meant to be, or have anything in common with, Phil Everly. I'm not making money off of this fanfiction story. Does that about cover it?

A/N: Originally completed 7/10/10, although it was started way back in maybe 2005 and just lay around for years. Ah, what fanfic authors will write when they're bored-and I'm guilty, too. If you happen to read (and that would be astounding), would you please review this bit of oddness?

Rated K+ for suggestive themes.

A Rude Awakening

"Wake up, little Suzie; wake up," Phil whispered, shaking his girlfriend's shoulder gently. He couldn't quite see her face in the near-darkness, but he heard the slow intake of breath that meant she was awakening.

"Phil? Where—why is it so dark?"

"We're still at the drive-in," he explained. "The movie's over. We must've fallen asleep."

This time her intake of breath was far less relaxed. "Still at the drive-in?" she repeated, her voice ending in a squeak. "What time is it?"

He made a wry face as he peered at his watch in the dim glow of a far-off street light. "It's four o' clock. We're in trouble deep."

She was now staring at him, obviously hoping that he could come up with a solution. Unfortunately, he had no brilliant plan up his sleeve, except to simply trust in the luck of the draw. With a sigh he started the car and began backing out of the parking lot. Suzie's parents were probably wild with worry about their daughter. He didn't want to contemplate what they would say when he showed up at four-thirty in the morning with his girl in tow. Mired in gloomy self-disgust, he muttered, "I told your mama that you'd be in by ten." To his not-quite surprise, she chuckled: this was not the first time that their date had ended in mishap. It was with a sheepish grin that he admitted, "Well, Suzie-baby, looks like we goofed again."

She laughed and nodded in agreement, but the mirth quickly subsided as they neared Suzie's residence. Phil found himself being pessimistic again.

"What're we gonna tell your mama?" he murmured, not expecting an answer. "What're we gonna tell your pop?"

"I'll be lucky if my parents ever let me out of the house again," she confided ruefully.

"I think we'll be lucky if they ever let us go out together again," Phil said in a heavy voice.

"Oh, no, they wouldn't stop us from seeing each other!" Suzie declared vehemently. But upon glancing over at her, Phil saw that her face wasn't as confident as her voice was. He begged the fates to be merciful as he pulled into the driveway.

Their short walk to the front door was spent avoiding one another's eyes. Phil rang the doorbell, watching his girlfriend out of the corner of his eye. Suzie nervously straightened her skirt and smoothed her hair. Trying to put his best foot forward, Phil imitated her, flattening his hair and tugging his collar into place. But when the door opened, he saw right away that good impressions were of no effect.

"Susan Jane Marron!" bellowed the man standing before them. It was just their bad luck to get Suzie's father—but then, it was probably stupid to think that Suzie's mother would answer the ring of a doorbell at four-fifteen in the morning.

"Daddy, I'm really sorry—" Suzie began hastily.

"Get in the house, young lady! Right now!" her father barked. "I'll talk to you in a moment. And as for you," he growled, pointing at Phil threateningly, "I can't believe you have the nerve to show your face here, like you're escorting my daughter home. I recall asking you to bring her home by ten. A quarter after four is a little after curfew, don't you think?"

"Yes, Mr. Marron, but I can explain," Phil told him quickly. His girlfriend's father looked at him with something close to revulsion.

"Oh, you've got a lot of explaining to do, boy. Save it for your parents. I'm sure I don't want to know what you were doing with my daughter past midnight."

"Isaac!" his wife said reproachfully, coming up beside him.

"Don't start now, Karin," Suzie's father grunted. He glared at Phil like a jaguar about to attack. "I don't want this . . . this delinquent to get near my daughter."

"Daddy!" Suzie cried out, distraught.

"I don't want to hear a word out of you, either, Susan!" Mr. Marron shouted. "You're not to see this boy anymore, do you hear me?"

"Yes, I hear you! But I won't obey you!" Suzie's voice was tremulous, but despite her fear, she was facing her father down. She continued to glare at him in defiance, even as he rounded on her and opened his mouth to shout at her again. Except Suzie beat him to the punch, casting her father a wounded stare. "Don't talk about me like I'm some dirty slut!" she exclaimed, on the verge of tears. "You want to know what Phil and I were doing last night? Well, I'll tell you! We went to the drive-in and fell asleep! It was late! The movie didn't have much of a plot! We were bored, tired! So for the last six hours we were snoring in Phil's car, and if he hadn't woken me up, we'd still be there! So don't go blaming him, like it was his fault. He didn't force me to go to the movie—and he didn't give me sleeping pills to make me to sleep! It just happened! Sometimes, things just happen, Daddy! And I know—" Suzie finally had the grace to hang her head. "I know me and Phil—w-we mess things up a lot, and miss curfew, and stay out too late." She lifted her eyes and stared earnestly into her father's face. "But Phil's good, Daddy. He's good to me and—and if I ever married him, I know he'd make me happy, and you proud."

Phil's face went red, and he hung his head for an entirely different reason from his girlfriend. Mr. Marron seemed embarrassedly at a loss for what to say. He mumbled something about Suzie getting him wrong, and that he was only trying to be a responsible father. To Phil's amazement, Suzie had actually managed, not only to get a word in edgewise during her father's rant, but to turn the tables of his argument and come out on top. It was hard to believe she'd done it, or to see her father, the one who was always sure of himself, blushing and abashed.

"Now, Suzie, don't take it the wrong way," he muttered, all the more awkward now that his daughter had tears on her face. "It's just that . . . you being out till four o'clock and all . . ." He patted her head. "Your mother and I were worried. I mean, you and Phil don't exactly have a good track record. . ." He got a little laugh out of Suzie at that point, and seemed encouraged by it. Then he swallowed his pride and said something Phil never thought he'd hear Mr. Marron say. "But I know Phil's a good boy, sweetheart, and you're a good girl, too." He was gruff, but still sincere about it. Suzie and Phil both stared at him, astonished by his words and at the same time hoping against hope he would say exactly the thing he said next. "If you want to go steady, who am I to break you up?"

"Oh, Daddy!" Suzie cried, throwing herself into his arms. "Thank you! Thank you and—and I promise we won't stay out so late next time. . ." She made it sound like they had missed Mr. Marron's curfew by only an hour, so it was no surprise when everyone laughed.

"Yes, I'm really sorry, Mr. Marron," Phil told him, now that he was safe in the knowledge that he wouldn't get his head bitten off for apologizing. "Really sorry, and I promise it won't ever happen again." Suzie's father slapped him genially on the back.

"I'm not sure I believe you, son," he admitted, "but you make my Suzie happy, and that's what really counts."

Elated with the compliments showered on him by his girlfriend, secure in the knowledge that he had Suzie's parents' blessing, and already looking forward to his next date, Phil left Suzie's house a lot happier than he'd expected to.

All the warm feelings came crashing to the ground when he got into the car and remembered that he had another set of angry parents to face when he got back home.

`The End`