A/N: Sorry this took so long! Ugh why am I made of writer's block? Anyways I hope you all enjoy this little story. For those of you who might not know, this story goes along with my other story called Unexpected. You might want to read that one before this one… I don't own the Outsiders!
Darry and Holly had been married for a couple months now, and one day, Darry came home very exhausted and sore from work. He collapsed into the armchair and winced. Holly walked in then.
"Hi, Darry… are you okay?" she asked, giving him a concerned look. Darry put his head in his hands.
"Just a bad day at work is all." Holly went behind him and started rubbing his shoulders. He hissed painfully and she stopped and knelt down next to him.
"What happened at work? I keep trying to tell you to be more careful…"
He sighed and looked at her tiredly. "Yeah, but I figured I could get us some more money if I could get more work done and do overtime…" Holly gave him a baffled look.
"Darry, you don't need to do that! We're really not that hard on money!"
"Well I just thought we could use a little extra. I mean, we are a little tight on the bills."
"It's not so bad that you need to be hurting yourself over it… you have me and Sodapop helping out too!" Darry just sighed and Holly kissed his cheek. "Just take it easy, okay? I'm making dinner."
When Darry climbed into bed with Holly that night she started massaging his shoulders again.
"How are you feeling, Darry?" He closed his eyes.
"I'm just tired." He laid down and she snuggled up next to him.
They were both quiet for a few minutes, but then Holly said, "You know, Darry, I've been thinking…" she trailed off and bit her lip.
"About what?" Darry urged her on.
"Well… about, um, having a baby." Darry's eyes popped open.
"What?" he asked, hoping he'd misheard her.
"Yeah, I mean we're married now, and I don't want to wait until your brothers move out."
Darry ran a hand through his hair. "Holly, I don't think that's a good idea right now."
"Why not?"
"Do you know how much work and money we'd have to put into a baby? I already have to take care of two teenagers." Holly frowned at him.
"Aw, come on honey, we can do it. I think it would be wonderful." Darry shook his head.
"I really don't want to talk about this right now," he said, rolling over on his side. Holly huffed and held her pillow close to her.
The next day, when they came home from work and Ponyboy came home from school, Sodapop made dinner, and Pony and Darry got into an argument because Pony wanted to go to a movie on a school night, and he hadn't finished his project yet.
"I said no," Darry repeated, starting to get annoyed. Pony crossed his arms.
"Come on, Darry! I know I haven't finished my project but it's almost done! I'll be home by ten and I'll finish it right away!" Ponyboy's reasoning didn't change his older brother's mind.
"Sorry, kid. You know you're not allowed out on school nights." Pony threw his hands up in frustration. Soda spoke up.
"Darry, I think you should let him go. He's been workin' real hard on that project. Just let him have a little fun. He said he would finish it after." Darry still stood his ground. Holly looked at Pony and then back at her husband.
"Hey, I think you should let him go too. Soda's right… Ponyboy's been working on it ever since he got home," she said quietly. Darry sighed.
"All right. You can go, but just this once. And you better be back by ten and get that project done right away, you hear me?" Pony was a little surprised but he nodded.
"Yeah, I will." He went to the movies after they were done with dinner, but he ended up coming home a half hour later than he expected.
'I hope Darry doesn't get too mad,' he thought. He opened the door and started heading to his room but Darry stopped him before he could get there. 'Here it comes.' He knew it wouldn't be too bad, though. They've gotten along a lot better since the time he broke the window on accident, and Darry didn't yell nearly as much anymore. Since he got married, he seemed to be a lot less stressed too. That's why Ponyboy was so surprised at how angry Darry was. He knew Darry wouldn't be happy about him coming in late, but he didn't think he would be this mad.
"I thought I told you to be back by ten," he said, glaring at him.
"Sorry, Darry. I was going to be, but…" Darry cut him off.
"I don't wanna hear it. I hope you enjoyed that 'cause that's the last time I'm letting you out on a school night."
"What's the big deal, Dar? It was only a half hour-" Pony tried to argue. Darry ignored him.
"Just go to your room and finish your project." Pony sighed heavily and went to his room. "And don't give me that attitude!" Darry shouted after him. Pony slammed the door and Darry rolled his eyes.
"You really shouldn't have been so hard on him," Holly told him.
"So you're taking his side now?"
"I was just saying… it was only a half hour. I don't think that's really that big of a deal…"
"He said he would be back by ten. I can't just tell him to be home at a certain time and let it go when he decides he can come home any time he wants. Then he'll think it's okay to do it all the time and it won't always be just a half hour."
"You don't know why he was late! Maybe it was for a good reason. I'm sure he didn't mean to be late. He's not like that; it's not like he's trying to pick fights with you. He knows he can't just walk all over you. I thought you guys were getting along better now. If you would just listen…"
Darry glared at her. "We were! Look, I can handle this. He's not your brother. I don't need you telling me how to take care of him!"
Holly gaped at him. "I'm just trying to help both of you!"
"Well, don't," he said coldly. Her eyes hardened and she crossed her arms.
"Fine! I'm going to bed!" she yelled walking off.
"Fine!" he yelled back. Holly slammed the door behind her. A tear slipped down her cheek; Darry had never been mad at her before. When she fell asleep though, she ended up having a nightmare.
"Darry, what's going on?" she asked him tearfully. He looked at her with stone-cold eyes.
"Don't you get it? I don't love you anymore. I realized that I loved Rebecca so much more than I ever loved you… I talked to her last night and now we're together. It's over, Holly. I never want to see you again!" He turned away from her and she burst into tears.
"You don't mean that! I love you, Darry…" He ignored her and pulled Rebecca to him, kissing her passionately.
"No…" she whispered, sobbing.
Darry woke up again in the middle of the night after going to sleep on the couch. He ran a hand through his hair and stood up. He was going to go to the kitchen to get something to drink, but he stopped to check on his wife. His anger had subsided. He knew he had been harsh before, and he wanted to make sure she was okay. He thought he heard her crying and guilt tugged at his heart. He knocked on the door softly.
"Can I come in?" he asked. He didn't get an answer so he turned the doorknob and slowly pushed the door open and stood in the doorway. "Are you okay?" Holly looked up at him and wiped her eyes.
"No," she said. Darry rubbed his arm and sat down next to her.
"I'm sorry about our fight. You were right; I shouldn't have been so hard on Ponyboy, and I shouldn't have gotten mad at you either. I guess… I guess I'm just tired of feeling like the bad guy. I mean, things were getting better, but lately I've been feeling like everyone's been arguing with me. And now you told me you want a baby… I don't know, I guess it all just got to me. I don't want to fight with you, though. Can you forgive me?" He looked at her sadly. She just smiled at him and threw her arms around his neck.
"I forgive you, Darry. I don't want to fight with you either." Darry kissed her sweetly. He turned on the radio, and Elvis's song The Wonder of You was playing.
"Dance with me?" He held out his hand and she took it, grinning at him.
"Okay, Prince Darry." He laughed and held her close as they danced together.
"I love you." Holly rested her head on his chest.
"I love you too." She thought about telling him about the dream she had, but she decided not to. He already felt bad and if she told him… it would probably just hurt his feelings to think that she would ever think that he would ever leave her. Especially after how they had broken up that time when they were dating and he kissed her sister. She definitely didn't want to bring that up again. That was good enough for her, to know how he would react to that nightmare. He wasn't going anywhere; he would never stop loving her.
"I guess I'll never know the reason why
You love me as you do
That's the wonder
The wonder of you" Darry sang to her. She looked into his soft blue-green eyes and kissed him again.
"I'll always love you, Darrel Shaynne."