Hey everyone! So I was sitting up the other night and thought this idea up. I hope you all enjoy it! Please review, and let me know what you think! I only own Brenda and her family, the others are all S.E. Hinton's wonderful creations!

"What am I going to do?" she mumbled to herself, sinking down to the floor from where her back rested against the wall. Her head was spinning, to the point where she knew a migraine was in her immediate future. If someone had told her three months ago that this was going to happen to her, she would've have thought they were completely crazy. But now it had, and now she had no clue how she was going to cope…

***Three months earlier***

"No, that's not right," Brenda muttered, tossing the skirt she held to the side. Her usually neat bedroom was covered in a various assortment of tops and skirts, all discarded for one reason or another. Today was the first day of her new job and she wanted to look perfect. Well, looking perfect wasn't possible for a plain Jane like her, but she could at least look nice. She sighed, and, choosing another outfit from her closet, got dressed.

After brushing back her waist length, mousy-brown hair, and completing her outfit with her Christopher medal, she went downstairs to have breakfast. Her dad looked up from his paper, and threw a simple, "Button the top button and stop showing so much, you harlot!" Brenda sighed and did as he asked. Her dad was what most would call a religious zealot. Brenda had felt his belt more than once in her life for not pleasing his strict standards. Roger Seale had strict, 1800's modesty standards for his only daughter. Brenda was made to wear floor length skirts, and long sleeved button down blouses with every button closed. She had never been allowed to wear makeup or cut her hair, and had been forbidden to date. Roger had told her that God would send the right man into her life, and only then would he allow a male to see his daughter as more than a friend.

Brenda's mother, Elizabeth, had stopped some of her father's tyranny while she was alive. Only because of Elizabeth did Brenda have any fond memories of her childhood. Brenda shook herself from her thoughts and checked the time. It was 8:20 and she had to be at work by 8:40. Grabbing her purse, Brenda kissed her father and ran for her car.

Arriving at work at 8:35, Brenda clocked in and went to the office to see what her uncle wanted her to do. John Watson was Elizabeth's brother and had promised to care for Brenda after his sister's passing. So, when she had graduated secretarial school, her uncle had a job waiting for her at his construction company. John smiled when Brenda entered his office.

"Hey, sweetie, how are you this morning?" John asked, standing to hug his niece. Brenda smiled and returned the embrace, then pulled back to answer his question.

"I'm fine, Uncle John," she said, smiling. "I was coming to see what you needed me to do."

"There are some work orders I need filed, right over there," he pointed to the desk he had set up for her, and, sure enough, there was a stack of work orders there for her to file. "After that, I will show you how to fill out the workers' time log, and then how to use the log to issue paychecks at the end of the week. Somewhere during all this, we can catch some lunch. How does that sound?" He smiled at his niece, who looked so much like his sister, it was eerie at times. Brenda grinned at him and went over to the desk to get straight to work.

About half-way through the morning, as Brenda was carefully filling out the time log to correspond to the worker's time cards, a knock came at the office door. "Come in!" her uncle yelled gruffly from his desk, continuing to write out equipment orders. A tall man with a muscular build and a tough expression on his face entered the office. John looked up. "Morning, Darrel, how's everything looking out there?"

"Morning, Mr. Watson," the man said, his deep voice a rumble from his throat. Brenda was intrigued, and, although she knew eavesdropping was wrong, she tuned into the conversation while she continued her work. "Everything's looking good; the guys are working hard to finish on time and on budget."

"Excellent, "her uncle said, smiling. "To what do I owe this visit?" The tall man, Darrel, looked down sheepishly, turning red. After a moment, he cleared his throat and spoke quietly.

"Mr. Watson, I need to leave a little early today. My younger brother has a doctor's appointment to check and make sure his head is alright from that concussion. I know last month had me out a lot, and I hate to ask, but Soda can't get off, and one of us has to be with him or Ponyboy will kick-"her uncle stopped Darrel mid-sentence.

"Don't think anything of it, Darrel," John said, grinning. "I have three kids of my own, so I know how inconvenient doctors' appointments can be. After everything ya'll have been through, I'm honestly surprised you have the sanity to come back to work at all." Darrel grinned half-heartedly at John's comment. "I hope you will agree to have lunch with me and my niece, however?"

It was then that the man seemed to notice Brenda. He smiled and gave a shy wave in her direction. She smiled back, blushed, and went back to her work. John grinned and looked to Darrel for an answer. Darrel nodded and thanked the man for his understanding and invitation, then excused himself back to his work. As he left, Brenda found herself full of questions, the most pressing one being:

"Did he just say Soda couldn't get off work and Ponyboy would kick the doctor if he wasn't there?" she asked, disbelief in her voice. She briefly wondered if Darrel was the one recovering from a concussion. Her uncle laughed, shaking his head.

"Yes, he did. I knew Darrel's father, and, God rest his soul, he made sure his kids wouldn't be confused with anyone else," John said, still grinning at the expression on his niece's face.

"I see," Brenda said, still in shock slightly. After a brief pause, she asked, "How did- Ponyboy, is it? - get a concussion?" Her uncle grin faded and his eyes darkened.

"Poor boy got kicked in the head in a fight about two weeks back. Darrel has had a rough year. His parents were killed in a car accident about ten months ago; then about a month and a half ago, his little brother runs off with a friend of his who killed another boy in self-defense. Things just kinda escalated from there. Poor kid works two jobs, Soda works at the local DX station to help out, and they make it, but this month has just been extra rough, especially with Darrel having to miss work while Pony was in the hospital." Her uncle shook his head and rose from his desk, stretching. John looked at his watch, and, noticing it was about fifteen minutes until noon, he turned to Brenda. "Why don't we go for a walk around the site? Stretch our legs and work up an appetite before lunch?"

Brenda nodded and rose from her chair, realizing how stiff she was from sitting all morning. After a quick stretch, Brenda and her uncle set off around the construction site. The crew was currently working on an apartment complex that stood on about five acres of land. The project was one of the biggest her uncle's company had undertaken to date and Brenda knew it would mean big paychecks for all of the crew. She said a little prayer that Darrel's family would be helped by the extra income. As they circled the back of the building, she could see workers beginning to come down the ladders as the noon whistle sounded. Her uncle spotted Darrel and waved him over. "I want you to come eat with Brenda and me, remember?" Darrel looked shy and began to try to politely refuse. Her uncle cut him off. "I insist. Molly is bringing a picnic lunch over and she has been dying to meet my new assistant supervisor in training. So, why don't you go wash up a little and meet us back in the office?" Darrel nodded and walked over to the sinks that had been rigged on site for just that reason.

When all three of them had returned to the office, they were met by Brenda's Aunt Molly, a tiny woman who Brenda had admired her whole life. After her mom had died, Molly had taken Brenda under her wing, teaching her the things a woman needed to know. Molly was strong and independent, and she and John had what Brenda would call the perfect marriage, if there were such a thing. Molly had been a stay at home wife and mother for twenty years, with three teenagers who loved her dearly. Brenda and her cousins were close, but she did envy them ever so slightly because of the close family relationship they had.

"Hey, Brenda, how are you, sweetheart?" Brenda was snapped from her thoughts by her aunt's sweet voice. She smiled and hugged Molly happily. "I brought your favorite to celebrate your first day at work. You still love fried chicken, right dear?" Brenda grinned and nodded. After clearing John's desk, they sat down to enjoy a meal together, with Brenda ending up beside Darrel, which made her nervous and… excited at the same time.

After they had eaten and cleaned up, Darrel expressed his thanks and returned to work. Brenda and her uncle both returned to their desks and the tasks at hand, but Brenda found her mind wandering to thoughts of Darrel all afternoon.