A week later, after Bri had calmed down enough not to jump at every little sound she heard, she and Anthony were getting ready to head back to the Curtis house. The morning after Ponyboy and Soda found her, they had gotten home after Aunt Sadie went to the grocery store and Uncle Charles went to work, so Bri cleaned herself up as best she could before they came home again. Bri changed her clothes, and every day after that she made sure that her sleeves and skirt covered up the damage and her hair hid the bruise on her head. Ironically, her face didn't have much evidence of being beat, so she didn't need to worry about that.
"Will you be home for dinner?" Aunt Sadie asked before Bri and Anthony left the house.
"Not sure," Anthony answered. "But if it doesn't take too long we'll just grab something to eat on the way back."
"Okay," Aunt Sadie said. "Be careful. I'll make something and leave it in the fridge for you two just in case. Call if something comes up."
"Got it!" Anthony called as they closed the door behind them. "Let's go," he said to Bri.
When they pulled up in front of the house, Anthony convinced Bri to talk to them on her own. He leaned against the car and waiting as she walked up to the door and knocked. Ponyboy answered the door, and his eyebrows rose when he saw her.
"You're back?" he asked her.
Bri nodded nervously. "Are your brothers home too?"
Ponyboy called Sodapop and Darry over, and Bri thanked them for helping her like they did, stumbling over her words a bit. When she finished, Soda said, "Is that why you came all the way here? Just to thank us? Aw come on now, it was no big deal."
"It was to me," Bri told them.
"You know," Soda began, "we have the gang over right now and we're gonna have dinner soon. Why don't ya join us?"
Bri blinked. "Um… Anthony's waiting outside, so—"
"He can stay too!" Soda insisted happily. Bri tried to protest, but Soda asked Darry, "We can have 'em over, right?"
Bri thought that Darry was bound to say no, but he just shrugged his approval and walked back inside. Soda walked out towards Anthony to try and get him to stay for dinner, leaving Ponyboy in the doorway. While Soda and Anthony talked, someone from inside the house yelled, "Hey, who's that you're talking to, Ponyboy?"
Ponyboy and Bri looked to see Two-Bit staring back at them from the couch. "It's Bri," Ponyboy answered.
Two-Bit cocked an eyebrow. He grinned when he recognized her. "Hey, little lady! You sure look different when you're not all beat up."
Bri tried to smile in spite of herself. In the living room, she could see three other boys she hadn't met yet. Soda came back with Anthony and announced that Bri and Anthony were staying for dinner.
"Here, I'll introduce you to everyone else," Sodapop offered, pointing out to her each one of the boys. "This here's my buddy Steve, that's Dally, and over there's Johnny." After the introductions, one of the gang, Dally, stood up and scrutinized Bri's face.
"She's a Soc," he speculated. "What's she doing here?"
"Relax, Dally, she don't mean any harm," Soda assured him. "She was in trouble when Ponyboy and I met her, so we helped her out. Oh yeah, and that's her brother Anthony." Soda pointed out Bri's brother, who had just come in through the door, and Dally, Steve, and Johnny appeared completely baffled. "Yeah, we were like that too." Soda glanced over at Two-Bit, who just smiled.
"Hey, it's not every day you see a Socy girl with a greaser brother," Two-Bit stated with a shrug. Anthony spoke up to argue, and he and Two-Bit went at it for awhile. Dally mumbled something that Bri couldn't understand, Steve was talking to Sodapop, Darry was making dinner, and Johnny and Ponyboy just stood next to each other, not saying very much at all. Bri felt out of place. She just stood by the wall and stared at the television screen, not really paying attention to what she was watching. Someone snapped their fingers in front of her face, and Bri flinched like someone just smacked her.
"Oh, so you're still a bit jumpy." Two-Bit was standing in front of her. "And here I thought you just got over it quick."
"Don't mess with her like that," Anthony snapped, walking up to her. "She was traumatized from that whole thing, you know. This past week she'd been a nervous wreck."
"Really?" Ponyboy cut in. Bri hadn't noticed that he and Johnny were right next to them. He looked at Bri. "Have you been okay?" She just nodded.
"Don't talk very much, do you?" Two-Bit asked, raising an eyebrow. "Or was that just after the incident?"
"Shoot, she's always been quiet," Anthony remarked. "She thinks too much."
He chuckled and messed up Bri's hair at the top. When she tried fixing it, she put too much pressure on the bruise, winced and clutched her head in pain.
Two-Bit whistled. "Wow, that brick wall sure did a lot of damage." Anthony shoved him. Two-Bit shoved him back. They went on wrestling for a bit, until Anthony was pushed into Bri, who lost her balance and fell over. Before she hit the ground, someone had caught her. Bri looked up and saw that the boy named Johnny was holding her to keep her from falling to the floor. She couldn't even get herself to say sorry to him. He and Ponyboy helped her up, and Anthony made sure she was okay before apologizing.
"Sorry Bri," he said. "Didn't mean to knock you over."
"Hey, food's ready!" Darry called from the kitchen, and everyone went over to eat.
After dinner, Dally left first, then Two-Bit. The rest of them, minus Darry, hung out in the living room. Anthony talked with Steve and Sodapop. Bri sat with Ponyboy and Johnny. None of them said much. Sodapop and Anthony tried to get the three of them into whatever conversation they were having with Steve, but they couldn't get more than a few words out of them. Anthony then suggested that they get going, and he called Bri to follow him out
"Ya'll should come by again," Soda told Anthony, patting him on the back. "It's been fun having you around, even though we hardly know ya."
Anthony shrugged. "We might pass by the DX station, or something."
"See ya," Steve said.
As they got into the car, Anthony turned to Bri. "You know, those guys were friendly. I didn't think they'd treat us like they did. Normally groups like that don't warm up to strangers so quick."
Bri titled her head. "Groups like that?"
"They're a family. You could see in the way they'd mess around and talk to one another. One big family." Anthony started the car and drove towards home.
"I think it was because you fit right in," Bri decided, smiling at Anthony. "You look like them. Act like them sort of too. Soda, Steve, and Two-Bit like you just fine."
"Maybe." Anthony thought for a moment. "They all talked about the Socs. Soda said he and Pony thought you was one of them rich girls on the West side of town. Then they saw me and it completely canceled their theory."
"Aunt Sadie spoils me with clothes," Bri noted. "So, those boys, they're all greasers aren't they? The ones that start up all the trouble in town?"
Anthony shook his head. "They are greasers, and yeah, some of them do cause a bit of trouble. But those Soc guys are always jumping them. Steve and Soda said that they cause just as much trouble as any hood."
"I suppose you couldn't be a lawbreaker like them, though, 'cause Aunt Sadie and Uncle Charles would bury you alive," Bri teased.
"Oh shut it," Anthony said, but he grinned. "Aunt Sadie and Uncle Charles don't know half the stuff I get into. And you shouldn't either, for that matter."
When Bri and Anthony left, Steve figured he should get going too, since it was getting a bit late.
"You'll be staying here, Johnny?" Ponyboy asked.
Johnny nodded. "My parents got in this huge argument and my mom won't even let me inside the house."
Soda gave Johnny a pat on the back. "It's all right buddy, you know can always stay here we you need to." He walked down the hall and out of sight.
Ponyboy sighed, and sat down in front of the TV, and Johnny seated himself on the couch. For a while, none of them spoke. Then Ponyboy broke the silence.
"So what do you think about Bri and Anthony being siblings and all? Seems strange, doesn't it?"
"Sure does." Johnny leaned back on the couch, staring at the cartoon they'd left on. "I thought for sure she was a Soc and she'd brought some buddies to mess with us. Figured one of us had bothered her some. But her face didn't seem angry or none. She looked…kinda scared, guess 'cause we're greasers and all."
"Can't imagine her being angry at anything," Ponyboy admitted. "I mean, when we found her in the alleyway she was scared half to death, and after that she'd hardly say anything."
"Found her in an alley?" Johnny asked.
Ponyboy remembered that Johnny didn't know about Bri yet, so he told the story of how he and Soda found her. Ponyboy didn't mention that Bri reminded him of Johnny that night a few months ago, beaten and afraid. Johnny's face hardened as Ponyboy relayed the events.
"Drunk men," he muttered. "People do all sorts of things when they're drunk."
Ponyboy just nodded grimly. "Could've beaten her to death, and they might have too. She's lucky she ran when she did."
"You ever seen her smile? Even with Sodapop around all she did was stare at the floor."
"Maybe she's still shaken up." Ponyboy shrugged. Sodapop's smile was usually contagious, especially with girls. "After all, she's not really a tough girl. With a brother like Anthony it's strange that she's so nervous like that."
"I bet her smile's awful pretty," Johnny mumbled to himself absentmindedly.
"You say something, Johnny?" Ponyboy turned to him, but Johnny was looking away.
"Nothing."
A/N: So, looks like the gang is warming up to the Davis siblings quite nicely, haha. Anthony is the social one though; Bri mostly keeps to herself, but I suppose that's obvious already. And Anthony has some sort of a "secret life," possibly as a troublemaker.
Thanks for reading!