CHAPTER 2
It doesn't go over much better than was to be expected, although, while Emma was imagining at least one heater pointed at her, no heaters were to be found. So maybe she's dramatic. Sue her.
On the other hand, there was enough tension to light a fuse.
Darry's sitting in his chair, reading his newspaper when they walk in. As soon as the door opens, Darry stands up, ready to start yelling at Emma for just being so goddamn stupid, but cuts himself off when he notices the Shepard boy. He just sorta stares at their interlinked hands for a while, amazed that Tim actually has the nerve to come to his house after defiling his little sister. Soda and Pony stand, too-Soda glares at Tim, but Ponyboy looks more amused than anything. Because of course she'd sneak around with Tim. He was powerful, and from his observations, all the greaser girls liked the important ones. Well, Pony always was the most insightful of the group. But Emma's the kid sister, even if she's not the youngest, so he'll pretend like he minds a little.
Steve, Johnny, Dally, and Two-Bit are all there, too, silently watching the situation. Two-Bit looks a little nervous, wondering if he really should have shared the information he had received from Angela. Johnny seems worried about what's to come, but Steve and Dally just look bored, although Dally gives Tim a covert nod, which is returned.
There's a long silence, in which no one knows what to say. Tim and Emma stand awkwardly in the doorway, facing a line of standing Curtis boys opposite them-Tim smiling lazily at Darry as if to say "what'cha gonna do?"-while the rest of the boys lay sprawled out on the couch.
Dally's the first to break the silence. "So," he directs his attention to Tim and grins, "you fucked Baby Curtis."
Suddenly, noise explodes everywhere. Darry turns to Dally to tell him to watch his language, Soda starts yelling at Tim and trying to grab Emma away from him, Pony stands back and watches, bemused, Tim and Emma start screaming at Two-Bit for ratting them out, and Dally starts cat-calling and eventually asks if "she was any good."
As soon as Dally yells that, the place goes silent and everyone turns to Dally. Even Steve looks up interestedly, and Johnny and Two-Bit stop cowering briefly, wondering how the Curtis boys'll react.
"What the fuck did you just say?" growls Soda, stalking towards Dally, who merely grins.
Raising one eyebrow, Dally replies, "I asked if Baby Curtis was any good. Which, by the way, I assume she is if he's kept her around long enough to come with her to face her family and for them to actually be holding hands."
Darry whirls around heads towards Tim and Emma. "Exactly how long has this been going on?"
"Angela said that Tim's been disappearing for at least nine months now," Two-Bit cuts in. Tim and Emma glare at him, and he shrinks back down into his seat. "Sorry," he mutters.
Emma just laughs. "Angela's pretty unobservant, then. Tim and I have been going steady for a little over a year and a half."
"What?" shrieks most of the room, except for Dally, who grins.
"Damn. She must be pretty fucking amazing."
Darry turns on Dally as Tim mouths "She is."
"Get out," Darry demands. Dally shrugs and walks over to stand in the doorway.
"I'm out," he smirks, "but there's no way I'm missing this."
Darry just sighs and lets it go and Emma turns on Two-Bit. "How'd you even find out, anyways?"
Two-Bit sinks further into his seat, and Dally laughs. Emma and Tim turn around and Dally explains, "He was trying to chat up Angela."
"What?" Tim snaps. "She's like eight years younger than you!"
"That's gross," Emma murmurs, crossing her arms. "At least Tim and I are both nineteen."
"You're not nineteen," Darry points out.
Emma pouts and rolls her eyes. "Well, I'll be nineteen in like three weeks. I'm close enough." Darry just shrugs.
But apparently, that's not all on the Two-Bit-Angela-story. "Well, it worked," Dally barks out a laugh. "They went back to Angela's place when they heard you two through the walls."
"They weren't exactly quiet," Two-Bit smirks, finally feeling comfortable (and safe) enough to crack jokes and act like Two-Bit again.
Tim and Emma both blush. "Well uh...we're gonna go," Emma says slowly, trying to back out of the room, but Dally stops them and shoves them forward and Darry grabs Emma by the wrist. Hard. Emma cries out and, without thinking, Tim turns and belts Darry a good one, and Darry is knocked to the ground. The only thing going through his mind is don't you dare fucking hurt her.
He's protected her plenty of times over the last year and a half. Whether it was in bar fights, from street gangs (or even from his own gang, but God forbid her brothers ever hear that story), or from the Socs-just no matter what, Tim always protects her. Nobody messes with his girl. This time was no exception.
It goes dead silent. "What the hell was that?" Darry asks from his new position on the floor.
Tim blinks. "You were hurting her," he tries to justify, shifting from foot to foot. "Nobody's allowed to hurt her. I dunno, I heard her scream and I panicked."
"Oh, come on, Tim," Two-Bit grins. "That wasn't the first time you've heard her scream."
Tim sighs and shuts his eyes tight and Darry snaps. "Out!" he roars at Tim, and Darry looks so mad that Tim does as he's told, raising his hands in a sort of surrender and backing out the door as Dally watches him, feeling sorry for the poor guy. All he was trying to do was defend his girlfriend. Even Dally's nearly nonexistent code of morals included defending women who were getting hurt, but because of Two-Bit's dumbass comment, Tim was being punished for it.
Darry glares at his kid sister. "You're grounded," he snaps, and Emma just nods, terrified by him. "And you can't ever see Tim again!"
"But-" she tries before Darry cuts her off with a look. Emma screams, overwhelmed by the unfairness, and tears run down her face as she storms off to her bedroom.
Nobody gets to sleep at all because the sobs that rip through the house most of the night haunt them.
Back in the living room, Dally glares at Darry. "Come on, Curtis. What the hell was that?"
"What was what?" Darry spits. Everyone else just stares at Darry incredulously.
"Well," starts Soda cautiously, not wanting to anger his big brother any further, "don't you think that was a little harsh?"
"Harsh?"
Dally shrugs. "Well, yeah. I mean, I was waiting for some overprotective 'take care of my little sister or else' speech but that...well, no one was expecting that."
"He does seem to really care for her," Pony mutters, and Dally nods to the kid, who most of the gang considered to be the only sensible one of the group; he's the only one with a future.
"He's dangerous!" Darry insists. "He leads a gang! He acts without thinking! He's-"
"He's a greaser," Steve cuts Darry off and Darry stops talking long enough to sigh. "Just like you or me. And she's a greaser," he continues. "And they're a pretty typical greaser couple. Sneaking around, fighting for each other, overreacting."
"He's a hood," Darry corrects, but no one pays much attention to him.
Even Soda, who cares about Emma's reputation even more than his own, shrugs. "Might not be all bad. At least if she's going steady with Tim no one around here is gonna mess with her."
Darry sighs. "She can't see him, and that's that. Now, I'm going to bed." And with that, Darry spun on his heel and slammed the door to his bedroom.
At the Shepard household, Tim was busy working over Angela. "You know what you did?" he shouts at her. "Darry says she can't see me no more. Goddamnit, Angela, I really liked her. And you've ruined it." Angela grins, and Tim sighs. "What're you grinning about? This isn't a joke, Angela."
Angela laughs. "I've never seen you this worked up over a girl. Tell you what: I'll go talk to Emma and her brothers. I'll let her and her whole family know that you're gonna fight for her. C'mon, a rumble'll be fun, won't it? And you'll be off with your perfect greaser girlfriend in no time at all. Besides, y'all snuck around for a year and a half. You two should still remember how to be at least a little sneaky."
Dropping his head into his hands, Tim tells her, "Okay. I'll go gather the boys and tell them to get ready for a fight. Thanks, Ang."
"No problem," she smirks.
Tim lifts his head, smiling. "You're still grounded, though. Especially for bringing Two-Bit home with you."
"Dammit."
A/N: Quick note, the chapters are probably gonna be slow-coming until summer starts. What with finals and AP tests and everything, writing time is scarce. That said, I do have an outline written up for the next couple chapters, so it's not as bad as it could be. Anyways, THANK YOU SO MUCH to everyone who favorited and followed the story and a special shout-out to outsidersfanlovesdally, dontwakeme19, Jade, anon, Guest, and asghd for the lovely reviews!