A/N: I had an urge to write a story based on The Outsiders, and because I like the romantic stuff, there will be romance in this story. This is an AU fic; the events that occur within the plot of the original story did not happen in this story, however, everything mentioned in the book that took place prior to the story did happen, like Johnny getting jumped by the Socs and the Curtis' parents dying in a car wreck. Ponyboy and the gang haven't met Cherry Valance or Marcia, Dally and Johnny are still alive along with Bob Sheldon, and the big rumble between the Socs and greasers hasn't happened quite yet. Also, if you find any errors I made, whether grammatical or in relation to the book, feel free to let me know.


Bri Davis was hiding in a dark alleyway. She should have been home already, but she didn't care. All she wanted was to curl up and disappear. A few hours ago, everything was fine. She was just talking a walk, but she'd let her mind wander. Before she knew it, she had gone over to a dangerous part of town. And she was alone.

If she had realized it earlier, she wouldn't have gotten hurt. When she came back to her senses, she started to make her way home, but a group of really drunken men staggered out of the building she was walking by and blocked her path. They spotted her said a few things, most of which didn't make any sense. Then they began to close in around her. Bri had to run, but one man grabbed her arm. She yanked her arm out of his grip and shoved the man. It didn't do much except make him angry. He slammed her against the brick wall of the building, knocking her head against the side. Everything started to get a bit fuzzy. Bri remembered them abusing her more; shoving and kicking her around when she fell. She resisted them as best she could by pushing them away and even hitting them back. The same man who had knocked her head crouched in front of her, and made her look at him. When Bri turned her head away, he smacked her and turned her face back. Bri suddenly came to the conclusion that since these men were drunk, they probably wouldn't care what they did to her, and at the moment, they could do whatever they wanted. Maybe even kill her. The thought sent her adrenaline rushing. Fear gripped her heart. She wasn't much a fighter, but she swung a fist and made contact with the man's jaw. The group broke in confusion as he clutched at his face. That's when she ran.

Somehow, Bri ended up in the alley, crying and hugging her knees to her chest. She was in shock. Hopefully it was just a terrible nightmare. Maybe she was safe in bed, asleep, and she would wake up soon. But Bri knew better. The experience was all too real and traumatizing. She could've spent hours crying there for all she knew.

At some point, she heard people talking, and footsteps nearing the alleyway. Since Bri had no energy left to run, she shut her eyes tight and braced herself. The voices sounded teenagers.

"Look over there!" one voice said. Bri heard the footsteps running hurriedly, getting closer, but she didn't dare move.

"Hey," the voice said softly, much closer. "You all right?"

"Soda, look, her head's bleeding!" another voice exclaimed.

It is? Bri thought. Probably because her head had smack the wall so hard.

"Gosh, that's quite a lot of blood," the first voice commented. Bri was starting to get a little nauseous. She listened to the people's voices having a quiet conversation.

"We ought to take her back."

"What about Darry?"

"Oh, he'll be all right with it. Besides, if we don't do anything, she could die. And we can't walk to the hospital, it's too far."

"But she looks like a Soc."

Suddenly, Bri coughed and spluttered, startling the two teenagers. She opened her eyes, and could barely make out their faces. They didn't look threatening. Both had long hair, one with gold hair, and the other with reddish-brown hair. They had also mentioned something about her being a Soc, but before she could think about the subject more, she closed her eyes again and passed out.

Bri woke up on a couch, and for a moment, she thought she was back at her house. Then memories of what had happened came rushing back. She jerked upright, and held her head in her hands, wincing at the pain. Once the pain subsided and she could see normally, Bri checked her surroundings. No, it wasn't the house she lived in with her aunt and uncle and older brother. But she was too delirious to observe much more than just that.

She heard someone say, "She's awake!" and turned to see the two boys from the previous night, and someone else who looked older than the two. He was tall, muscular, and quite scary, the way his eyes were, cold and unfriendly. The blonde boy came up to her and started to ask questions, but the oldest one told him to calm down, while the youngest simply stood there, watching.

"My name's Sodapop," the blonde boy said. "Call me Soda. This here's my big brother Darry and my kid brother Ponyboy. Our last name's Curtis." He gestured to the other two. Soda and Ponyboy? Bri thought. Those were odd names. "What's your name?"

Bri hesitated, but the boy was so happy and carefree that she couldn't hold any suspicions against him. "Brielle. Or just Bri."

"How old are ya?"

"Sixteen."

Sodapop nodded. "Sorry we brought you here," he continued. "It probably freaked you out to be in a stranger's house. But you looked bad, so when Ponyboy and I found ya we brought you back and tried to fix your head."

"My head…?" Bri gingerly felt the side of her head where she hit the wall. It was bruised, and it hurt to touch it. She winced again, and brought her hand down. That's when she noticed her clothes. The skirt of her dress was torn on the side, and there were a few dark stains, possibly blood. Her hair fell in front of her shoulders in a tangled mess. She was missing her shoes, and Bri could see that her feet were dirty.

"Golly, I'm a mess, aren't I?" she wondered aloud.

"Shoot, we've seen worse," Sodapop said cheerfully. "You ain't so bad."

Bri wanted to smile, but scenes from the night before flashed in her mind. How could she have been so stupid? In her head, she could see the men's faces jeering at her, threatening her, and hitting her. She hadn't thought that it something like this could happen. Oh Lord…

"Whoa," Soda said. "Come on now, don't cry."

Bri touched her face and felt her fingers get wet with her tears. She hastily wiped them away and sniffled. "Sorry…" she whispered quietly.

Just then, the front door swung open and everyone turned. Bri jumped at the noise. A guy with long sideburns stood in the door way, grinning like mad. "Morning!" he called happily, and waltzed right inside, leaving the door open behind him.

"Gee, Two-Bit," Sodapop said. "Pipe down a bit, you're gonna scare our guest away."

The guy named Two-Bit cocked an eyebrow. "Guest, huh?' His eyes landed on Bri. "This little lady? How she end up here? She shouldn't be in this neighborhood."

"Her name's Bri," Ponyboy said. "Soda and I found her in an alleyway, all beat up and stuff. We brought her home and Darry helped us when we tried to fix her head wound."

"You slept through the whole thing," Soda told Bri. "You sure are a heavy sleeper."

Bri didn't respond. Instead, she stared at her hands. Two-Bit got another look at her and said, "Wow, she sure is scratched up."

It was true. Bri's hands and arms were covered in scrapes and bruises, and dried blood smeared like red-brown patches on her skin. She could hear Sodapop and Ponyboy explain to Two-Bit the events of last night, but it seemed like it was coming from far away.

Bri snapped out of her daze when Darry called her. She looked up at him, and he asked, "You got someone you can call to come pick you up? You're parents must be worried sick."

She didn't mention that her parents were gone and her aunt and uncle were the ones taking care of her and her older brother Anthony. It wasn't something she liked to talk about. She just gave Darry the number and told her that her brother would be picking up the phone. Bri wasn't in the mood to start talking so much, and knowing her brother, there would most likely be a lot of questions to answer. Darry spoke with Anthony on the phone for a little while. When he hung up, Darry told Bri that Anthony would be coming over.

"Wait, isn't your brother a—" Two-Bit began, but Soda interrupted him.

"You gonna be okay Bri?" he asked her. "You look pale."

"It's probably the shock," Ponyboy suggested. "Can you tell us what happened?"

Bri didn't want to relive it, but she figured that keeping it to herself would kill her. Quietly, she told them the story, and watched their faces carefully. She was glad they weren't making a big deal out of it; it might've stressed her out more.

"That must be rough for you," Soda said sympathetically.

Two-Bit nodded. "A little girl like you shouldn't be out on the streets."

"She's sixteen," Ponyboy pointed out. "Not too little."

"Really?" Two-Bit looked at Bri. "The way you look now, all shaken up and wide-eyed from the beatin', you could be fourteen or something like Ponyboy here."

"You callin' me little?" Ponyboy asked in mock accusation.

Two-Bit cocked an eyebrow, but he grinned. "Maybe I am."

Darry had made breakfast for them, but Bri didn't move from the couch. She didn't want to eat. They told her it would help, but she just didn't have an appetite. As the boys ate, they heard a car pull up in front of the house. Someone knocked on the door. Darry answered it, and there was Anthony.

"Bri!" He completely disregarded Darry and ran straight toward her. When he saw her cuts and scrapes, he was immediately angry. "Who did this? I'm going to kill those no good…" He continued to use every rude name he could think of.

The rest of the group all had a look of astonishment on their faces. Anthony noticed them staring and snapped, "What?"

"You're this girl's brother?" Two-Bit asked incredulously. "We thought you were gonna be a Soc!"

"What the hell are you on about?" Anthony asked with irritation in his voice.

"The rich kids on the West side!" Two-Bit explained.

"Rich kids?" Anthony looked at Two-Bit strangely. "Where'd you get that? We ain't rich."

"Well you're sister dresses like it." Two-Bit looked at Bri. So did Anthony.

"She likes to dress nice, so what? I dress like this, what's so wrong with that?"

Two-Bit looked at the guys like, Is he for real? They all looked confused too. Bri and Anthony were different in a lot of ways, including the way they dressed. Bri like to look presentable, and she'd gotten a lot of new clothes from her aunt. Anthony didn't care much for his appearance, but he did take a liking to things that Aunt Sadie and Uncle Charles thought made him look like a hood (and sometimes, Bri wondered if Anthony was actually part of a gang). They didn't mind so much though. To them, it didn't matter.

"Sorry," Anthony said, jamming his hands in his pockets. "I should calm down. But Bri—" he turned to her—"what happened?"

It was then that Bri realized she was trembling. She couldn't manage more than just a few words. Luckily, Ponyboy and Soda covered for her. Anthony had a dark look in his eyes when they told him the story. He placed a hand on Bri's shoulder and looked her straight in the eye.

"Bri…" he said softly. "Oh Lordy…did that really happen?"

She nodded in response, and she felt the tears well up again.

"One of them slammed her head against the wall," Darry informed Anthony. "She was bleeding like crazy. We tried to clean it up the best we could, but that was all. If the hospital wasn't so far away, we might have taken her there instead."

Anthony felt the side of Bri's head where the wound was. It didn't hurt her when his fingers grazed the skin; Anthony was good at being careful when she got hurt. He said some comforting words that relaxed her, and she stopped shaking. She took a deep breath and swallowed.

"I never thought this would happen to you," Anthony told Bri. "Of all people. You'd never hurt a fly if you could help it." He sighed, and helped Bri get to her feet. "Anyway, I should thank you guys for saving my kid sister."

"Shoot," said Two-Bit. "Thank Pony and Soda over there; they're the ones who found her."

Anthony nodded. "I owe you two."

"Naw, it was nothing," Sodapop said, grinning. "You get well now, Bri, all right?"

Bri smiled a little, and followed her brother to the car. As they drove away, Bri looked back at the house and the rest of the neighborhood. It didn't look too well off. This was probably the poorer side of town. Anthony and she didn't live on the rich side exactly, nor this side of town. As they pulled out, Bri could hear someone yelling from one of the houses. The anger in the voice made her cringe. Bri and Anthony continued the trip home in silence for a while.

"Man, I never thought I could feel as scared as I did when mom and dad died," Anthony said in the middle of the drive.

Bri tried to not get hurt when Anthony mentioned their parents. They hadn't died in the best ways (what would be the best way to die?) and the story of it haunted her for weeks. When Anthony was born, mom and dad didn't take care of him very well. They mostly left him with Aunt Sadie and Uncle Charles. Mom and dad hadn't planned on having a kid, so they thought they could dump him somewhere else if they wanted. Then mom got pregnant again with Bri when Anthony was two, so their parents had another kid to worry about. Apparently, it ruined their lives, and dad had practically hated the two of them. He died before Bri turned four after crashing the car while driving drunk. Mom committed suicide out of the devastation, and to get out of raising the two kids on her own. Dead or alive, it hurt to know your parents didn't care for you.

Anthony continued. "I kept thinking things like, what are they going to do? What's going to happen to us?"

"I get what you mean," Bri said in a small voice.

"I won't always be around to help you, kiddo," Anthony said matter-of-factly. "Last night was proof of that." Anthony glanced at her, then said, "You know I won't be able to rest easy if I have you walk around town alone like that again, right?"

Bri nodded. "I don't wanna walk on my own anymore now."

Anthony smiled. "You wanna go back and see 'em, don't you?" he asked.

She only stared at him in surprise, and Anthony chuckled.

"You oughta give them a proper thank you," he explained. "Don't ya think?"


A/N: Just to be clear, Anthony isn't exactly a greaser and Bri isn't a Soc. They just look like it. But Anthony does adopt some of the gang's habits along the way, once he and Bri start hanging out with them. Anthony sort of has a story of his own. I'll get to that later, though, all in due time. Thanks for reading!