A/N: Hey there! So I've been sitting on this plot for a while, and I finally got the muse to write it. So I hope that you enjoy it. Please review, I love reviews! Also, all spelling and grammar error are my own. Sorry!

DISCLAIMER:So I don't own The Outsiders, all the characters with the exception of my original characters belong to S.E Hinton, not to me.

The sun was setting through the dark grey clouds, signaling the end of Darell Curtis' second shift. He turned his eyes upward towards the sky and sighed. After tightening is tool belt, he descended the ladder and touched his boots to the ground. He stretched a bit, attempting to loosen the tense muscles in his back, however, the attempt was in vain. He'd have to ask his brother to work out the knots in his back when he got home. After clocking out, Darell started off towards his bark blue Ford pickup. With his keys in hand, he opened the door and placed his keys in the ignition. After a few times of attempting to start the car, the engine turned over and the truck roared to life. He reminded himself to get Steve to look at that at some point.

As Darell pulled out on to the street and on his way home, he looked up at the sky. He hoped that the rain would hold out until he got home. Sodapap had yet to replace his windshield wipers, so he had none at the moment. However, the grey clouds that had been threatening to burst all day, and he knew that the rain would not hold out much longer. He'd gotten about a half a mile down the road before the rain started to fall. At first it was a light drizzle, only spotting the windshield. However, he knew that soon the rain would come and that it wouldn't be safe for him to be out on the road. He sighed as he pulled over into a diner parking lot, and parked near the door. The man brought his index finger and middle finger to his temple. Honestly, he'd just wanted to go home and attempt to relax, but that wasn't going to happen right then. He stepped out of the truck and walked into the diner.

The diner was seat yourself, so Darell picked a booth beside the window. That was he could watch the truck, and listen to the rain. The rain was peaceful and calming in a sense. It washed everything away. The red pleather seating on the booth was torn and the yellow cushioning was visible on the seat of the booth the Darell selected. An older waitress brought him a menu and sat it on the black table before him, after doing so she told him that she would return in a moment. Absentmindedly, he flipped through the menu, already knowing that he wanted. He wasn't going to order any food, but he could go for some coffee. When the waitress returned, he told her exactly that. A coffee, black. Just as the waitress took the menu from him there was a clap of thunder and the rain started to fall.

The waitress returned and sat the cup of black coffee in front of him. Darell thanked her quietly before she walked off to another table. He sipped on his drink, letting it warm him. His eyes stayed on the window, watching the rain fall. The rain falling usually soothed people, however all Darell could think about was if Soda had remember to put the bucket under the crack in the living room ceiling. He had been meaning to patch it up, but there just hadn't been anytime to do that. There just weren't enough hours in the day. However, he was going to have to make time to do it. They couldn't go on living with a leak in the ceiling. He ran his fingers through his dark hair as the rain continued to fall. His hand came to rest over his blue-green eyes as he sighed.

Things had been rough all over. It had been two months since Dallas and Johnny died. It had been almost a ten months since his parents passed. The amount of loss that he, his family, and his friends had experienced in the past ten months had been crazy. With the death of his parent and him being the oldest, he had to step up and be the parent. That meant giving up the life that he'd known for one that was foreign to him. Then just as he felt that he was kind of getting a hold on things, Dallas and Johnny died. And there was no way that he could replace either one of them, even if he had wanted to.

He lifted his cup up to take another sip of his coffee, only to find that the cup was empty. He turned his attention to the window, see that the rain had all but stopped. When he looked down at the watch on his wrist, he saw that he'd been sitting there for almost forty-five minutes. Darell cursed under his breath as he reached into his pocket and let the payment for his coffee and a tip. He waved and thanked the waitress as he stood as started towards the door.

In his rush, he didn't see the figure walking towards the door, and as a result he ran straight into the figure. Immediately, he reached out to grab the person. His large hand grasped at the persons waist, a female waist. Darell pulled her upright and held her as she gained her bearings.

"I'm sorry," he told her as he dropped his hand from her waist and cast an apologetic smile in her direction.

The girl in front of him sighed, and attempted to brush her wet brown hair from her eyes. Darell watched her as she struggled. Her dark hair was plastered to her forehead, she gotten caught in the rain, and her soaked clothes proved his assumption correct. She'd gotten the hair of her forehead and out of her eyes. She had faded freckles across the bridge of her nose. Her hazel eyes flicked up to his blue-green ones and a soft smile crossed her pink bow-shaped lips. Darell found himself speechless. Stunned, even. Her eyebrow arched and she seemed to shirk away from the intensity of his stare.

"Jacquelyn Ross?" he choked out.

The brunette's eyebrow arched even higher and her smile faltered as she looked at the man in front of her. However, after a moment, her eyes lit up and her smile returned. Her arms flung around his neck as she embraced him. He had no choice but to return it. Not that he would have made any other decision. The scent of citrus filled his nose. It was her scent after all. When she pulled back, the smile was still on her lips. "Darell Curtis," she said brightly. "What are you doing here?"

"Staying out of the rain," he answered. "However, I see that you haven't been so lucky, Jacquelyn," he told her as he gestured to her wet clothes.

"You're hilarious," she stated with a dry laugh. "Nah, my car broke down on the way back from work a block that way," she said as he pointed up the road. "Just looking for a place to call a tow truck." She brushed her hair from her eyes quickly and tilted her head. "You coming or going?" she questioned as she gestured to the dinner.

Darell hesitated for a moment. "I was leaving. I can give you a ride home if you want," he suggested.

Her hazel eyes brightened. "Really? I don't wanna put you out or nothing."

Darell shook his head and stepped out of the doorway. "It's no bother. Really. You don't need to pay for a tow truck, Jacquelyn."

"Well, okay. If I'm not putting you out," she stated again.

The man shook his head as he led her to his truck. He reached it before her and opened the door. She teased him about being a gentleman, but thanked him before he closed the door. When he reached the driver's side and opened the door, he saw her running her fingers through her dark hair and humming to herself. He climbed into the car and started the engine after two tries.

"You know, you're the only person that's ever called me that?" she questioned as they pulled out on to the street.

"I beg your pardon?"

"Jacquelyn," she told him. "No one calls me that but you."

"It's your name, isn't it?" he asked her. She rolled her eyes and sat back in the seat, deciding that it was better to not acknowledge that he'd asked that question. There was a silence between them as he slowed at a red light. In that silence, he tried to keep the thoughts of their past away. "What are you doing back in Tulsa?" he asked unable to keep his curiosity at bay.

The light in her eyes faltered at his question, and suddenly he regretted asking her. However, before he could say anything about it she'd started to answer his question. "My parents divorced. I decided to come back with my dad, because this is more home that Wisconsin could ever be." Something about what she said struck him as odd. He'd never known Jacquelyn to be able to completely answer a question that was asked of her in two sentences. She was a talker, always had been. Yet, she'd given him a through answer in two sentences.

"I'm sorry to hear that," he told her as they passed another red light.

"It's okay. It was a long time coming," she told him.

"Jacquelyn, where am I going?" he inquired.

"Um," the brunette stalled as she looked around her attempting to get her bearings. "Um, left." He did as told. "What about you?"

"What about me?" Darell asked.

"Right," she told him as he came to a stop sign. "What are you up to?"

"The same old, same old," he replied. After a moment, he said, "You living in the same house?"

The girl beside him laughed. "Yeah, yeah, I am." She wrapped a strand of her hair around her finger. "How'd you remember that?"

Darell shrugged as he pulled into the driveway of her place. It was a small white house. There were two windows on the front for the house, both covered by closed blinds. The yard was small, but well-manicured. On the side of the door was the number 25. Just like it he remembered it. "I just do." He looked over into her light eyes and then ran his fingers through his hair. "I can have someone look at your car tomorrow for free," he told her.

"Really?" she questioned excitedly as she eyes lit up.

"Yeah."

"Well, let me give you my number," she told him. "And my keys." She reached into her wet pocket and pulled out her car key. Her fingers quickly detached her house key from the key ring.

Darry took the key and pocketed it before pointing to the dashboard. "There should be a pen and a napkin in the dash." She leaned forward and opened the dashboard. He watched as her slender fingers wrapped around the pen and her bubbly handwriting covered the napkin. After she'd finished, she handed the napkin to him with a bright smile. "I'll be in touch. You working tomorrow?"

"Nah, I'm off. So I'll be around." Jacquelyn opened her door and slipped out of the seat. Just before she closed the door, she turned and smiled at him. "Thank you, Dare," she told him. "I really appreciate it."

"It's not a problem," he told her.

"I'm glad that I ran into you," she told him before closing the door and walking to her front door. He watched as she unlocked the door and turned to wave at him. He gave a small have back, and she disappeared into the house.

The brunette pressed her back to the door as she heard Darell's truck back out of the driveway. She slid down the door and sighed. That had been completely unexpected. She hadn't expected to run into him. She covered her eyes with her hands as she tried to calm her racing heart. Her heart had been racing since she ran into him at the diner. She pressed the heels of her hands into her eyes, trying to take her mind off the events that had just occurred.

"Jackie, is that you?"

That would work. She flicked her hazel eyes upwards and looked towards the living room. She started to hear the television noise in the background. She could hear her father's breathing. She could smell the alcohol. The girl attempted to blow a strand of her wet hair from her face and sighed.

"Yeah, it's me. Who else would it be?"

"You getting smart with me?" her father shot back.

"No, sir," the dark hair girl told him as she stood up and locked the door.

"Better not be," he grumbled, as she walked past him. "Why are you all wet?"

"Car broke down, dad," she replied. "I had to walk a block in the rain to find a place to call a tow."

Something dropped on to the floor. "You paid for a tow truck?" her father questioned. "We ain't got that kind of money, Jackie. You know that. I don't need you wasting the money we got on a tow truck. You coulda walked here just fine."

Jacquelyn looked over at her father. He was stretched out on the torn sofa with a bottle of beer in his hand, and three or four around him. The thing that had fallen to the floor had been a shot glass. On the table before him was a bottle of what looked like whiskey. On the television was some sort of sports channel. Jacquelyn couldn't quite make out what the man on the television was saying, but then again what did she care about the man on television. She slowly ran her fingers through her dark hair so not to catch any knots on the way and sighed. "I didn't call a tow. I ran into a friend and got a ride home from them." Her father grumbled something as she turned to walk down the hall.

"Jackie!"

"Yes?"

"Get me another beer."

The brunette turned on her heel and headed towards the kitchen. She opened the white refrigerator and saw that the fridge was damn near empty. There were two eggs, a nearly empty bottle of soda, a few oranges, and some cheese. However, there were two cases of beer. She sighed as she reached into one of the cases and grabbed an ice cold beer from the case. Her hazel eyes looked over the empty fridge, and she made a mental note to get something to eat tomorrow after she got her car back. Just a few things to hold them over until she got her paycheck next week. Some bread and eggs and milk. The basics. She handed the beer to her father, and he grumbled a thank you as she walked away towards her bedroom.

Jacquelyn pushed her bedroom door open and closed it behind her before flinging herself on to her head. She closed her eyes as she buried her face into the navy blue pillow on her bed. The brunette exhaled slowly, finally letting her heart rate settle. She then rolled over so that she was looking upward at the popcorn ceiling above her. No matter how hard she tied not to, she thought of him. She thought of him and that she was going to get to see him tomorrow. The girl sat up and she kicked her shoes off, letting them fall to the floor with a loud thud, and then started peeling away her wet work clothes. She then grabbed her pajamas and wrapped her towel around her before she started to make her way to the bathroom for a shower.