Quick author's note

This is the first thing I've written and shown people so I hope it's somewhat good. It's been beta read by my sister who has a master in English Literature so we should be alright but if you do spot any mistakes please let me know. I'll obviously take criticism but please try to be polite with it. All that over with, enjoy the story!

Tulsa, Oklahoma. 1964.

It wasn't all that late but already it was getting dark and she didn't want to be caught out in the dark, she didn't want to be out at all. There was a hell of a chill, made worse by the sharp wind swirling leaves around her ankles and a light rain that pattered down pooling anywhere it could. The street was lit by a murky mixture of what little sun there was and the dim glow of the street lamps just starting to flicker on. Her heels clicking against the cracked sidewalk merged in with all the other sounds that came just before nightfall: cars going a tad too fast in their driver's rush to get home, birds squawking as they scrapped over god knows what, the distant shouts of delinquents planning what sort of havoc to cause, dogs barking and howling back and forth.

It made Billie uneasy, it was hard to hear someone approaching with all that commotion going on and in this neighbourhood you'd want to hear someone coming up behind you. As she squinted through the rain her destination came into view. The Curtis household. She hadn't planned on turning up so late but her boyfriend was due to meet her outside her work and when he didn't show up after forty five minutes she got pissed. After she had rung his house on a nearby payphone five times with no answer she got worried. Darry was not one to miss a date and he definitely wasn't one to ignore the phone so all kinds of hideous scenarios were racing through her head at this point, all except what actually happened.

As she walked up the old steps she noticed the house was eerily quiet, not its usual bustling self. Something was definitely wrong. She pushed open the screen and door and was greeted by the sight of Darry sat staring at the floor and Sodapop and Ponyboy wrapped in each other's arms on the sofa. All eyes landed on her and Darry stood as she entered.

"Hey doll," he said as he walked up to her, "what you doing here so late? You know it's not safe to walk alone at night."

"Yeah, I know, but you were meant to pick him me up for our date and you didn't show so I rang you but when you didn't answer I got worried, thought I should check if you were okay."

She spoke soft and low as she placed her damp coat on the arm of the sofa and Darry sighed, "Boys could you give us a minute?"

They didn't reply as such, just walked over to their bedroom with a nod.

Now she was really worried.

"Darry, sweetheart what's going on? What's wrong?" He held back tears as he motioned for them to sit down. His eyes shone as he clasped her hands tight. "Billie, Mom and Dad are gone."

Her breath hitched in her throat. "What do you mean they're gone?"

"Some police officers came by and said they'd got in an auto wreck and that, that they were both," he couldn't finish the sentence for crying. Billie felt light tears in her eyes and she wrapped her arms tight around his shoulders letting his head rest in the crook of her neck. She stroked his hair gently just letting him cry.

After a while she finally spoke, "What happens now? To you and the boys I mean."

He tilted his head out and stared at the powerless television. "They think the boys should be able to stay with me so long as I can look after them and we all stay out of trouble."

She furrowed her brow and sat up slightly. "What about college, you've worked so hard to get there."

"I know but it's give up college or send my brothers to a boys home and probably never see them again and I can't do that, I can't lose them too. I can't afford it anyway"

She didn't know what to say, on the one hand Darry had worked so hard to get that scholarship, you didn't get privileges like that easy on the east side and it would give him a ticket out of Tulsa for good. On the other, going to college now came at the cost of splitting his family up and as frustrating as the situation was, it was a clear what had to be done. She was pulled out of her thoughts when Darry eventually sat upright. "I should really check on the boys."

"No baby I'll go, you've had to deal with enough today. How about you head on to bed and I'll let myself out once I'm done?"

He looked ready to argue but eventually nodded and sat back into the sofa as she turned towards the younger brothers' rooms. Upon reaching the door it was clear that the room was dark and little noise came from inside so she tried her best to be quiet and just pop her head in but the door creaked and caused Pony to mumble a quiet, "Darry?"

She sighed and walked in. "No honey it's just me, I wanted to see how you two were doing."

Pony sat up slowly. "I don't know, it doesn't really feel real yet, it's like they're still gonna walk through the door and say sorry for being late." Tears ran down the tracks that had been laid out by previous bouts of crying. Billie sat as gently as possible on the bed and lightly wiped his face, "it's gonna be okay Ponyboy." He crumpled forward and started to shake with sobs, she quickly slid next to him and wrapped protective arms round his shoulders, whispering reassurances to him.

She was unsure of how long she'd been laid gently rocking the teen in her arms but when his sobs had subsided into soft snores she freed her arm from under him and tiptoed away to Soda's room, but looking in he was fast out and she wasn't gonna be the one to wake him.

She smiled and went to grab her coat but stopped when she saw Darry sat in the exact position she'd left him in.

"What are you still doing up baby? I said I'd be okay letting myself out you didn't have to wait."

"I know darlin it's just I," he huffed gently, "I wondered if you'd stay the night. I wouldn't normally ask it of you but I just don't think I can cope with..."

She stopped him, "you don't have to explain Darry, I'll stay, if it makes this any easier then of course I'll stay." He took her hand in his and held her gently before finally heading to bed.