Disclaimer: I don't own The Outsiders unfortunately, and the fact that the only money I have right now amounts to about sixty-eight cents, I probably never will.
A/N: Hey everyone! Wow, I love writing this story! I should probably update some of my other ones sometime soon, but I keep concentrating on this one because I like doing it so much. Well, anyway, here we go!
I was walking around the streets. It was probably about four in the morning, but I had no where to go. Homeless people stared at me and watched my every move. I would hide behind cars and trash cans whenever a police car rolled by. I didn't want to have any kind of trouble, especially not with the police. Or the fuzz, as I should probably be calling them now. Again I looked up at the stars. They seemed to wink down at me in a reassuring manner. I smiled at them, ignoring the stares. I had been stared at enough for one day, and I found that I didn't really care anymore.
I heard a car roll up behind me. Had I been so lost in my thoughts that I hadn't heard it before? Hoping it wasn't a police man, I kept walking. The car stopped and the driver honked the horn. I really didn't want any trouble. Wildly I wondered if it was the Socs looking for Johnny and Ponyboy. I turned around. To my extreme relief, the car was a junker, and certainly no car any Soc would be caught dead driving. But then I wondered if it was some pervert trying to catch up to me and the fear returned. The door opened. I started walking faster.
"Hey Sassy!" I turned around. I couldn't see who it was, but the voice was semi-familiar. I walked closer to see who it was, already chastising myself for being so stupid as to get closer.
It was Two-Bit.
"Hop in," he said.
I went to the passenger side and opened the door.
"Thanks, Two-Bit," I said.
"No problem. What are you doing wandering the streets at this hour. Why aren't you at your aunt's?"
"Um…" Caught in a trap! I was caught! "Well, I came to surprise her, but it turns out she's moved and I don't know where she is."
"So you'll be leaving soon?" he asked.
"Well, no. I don't have anywhere else to go." At least that was the truth. I hated lying.
"What about your folks? Where are they?"
"Dead." Also the truth. My parents had died two years ago in a car crash.
"I'm sorry to hear that," said Two-Bit, actually sounding a little bit sorry. That was nice of him. I was sure I would be annoyed by Two-Bit sooner rather than later before I finally got to leave this strange and very realistic delusion, but so far he had been nothing but nice to me. I was extremely thankful.
"Thank you. What are you doing?"
"Oh, just cruisin I guess."
"At four in the morning?"
"Well, I just gave Dally a drive over to Buck Merril's. Tim Shephard found out it was Dally who had slashed his tires and broke a couple of Dally's ribs.
"So where you planning on staying now?" asked Two-Bit.
"I don't know. I really don't have a clue. Maybe I'll sleep in that vacant lot or something until something better comes along."
Two-Bit stopped the car. A little surprised that he had stopped, I looked out the window to see where we were. Surely, nothing could be open this early in the morning. I was even more surprised to see we were back outside of the Curtis house.
Two-Bit hopped out of the car. He came back out grinning, Darry right behind him.
Two-Bit opened the door for me, and I hopped out.
"Two-Bit says you need a place to stay," said Darry. I blushed furiously. Was that what Two-Bit was doing?
"Yeah, but I'm not looking to impose on you guys. I mean, I really can just sleep in the lot, I don't mind. It's not even that cold!" I was actually shivering almost uncontrollably.
Darry just grinned in a bemused kind of way. "You want to sleep all by yourself in a vacant lot in this neighborhood?" Gee, when he put it that way… "You won't be imposing. One of the boys is always at our house. Just come on in and we'll make arrangements for you until you find out what you're going to do."
"That's a very nice offer for you to make, but it's really too much -"
"Nonsense. My conscience won't let me let you sleep in the vacant lot, so think of it as doing me a favor." Wow, Darry was just as nice as Two-Bit. They were all very nice. Nice enough to make me a little bit suspicious, but not enough to try and turn down Darry's offer again.
"Well, thank you." The three of us just kind of stood there in awkward silence for a few seconds and then Two-Bit finally piped up.
"All right, well I saw a Texaco up the way and I want a root beer. See you two kids later.
He took off, and I followed Darry into the house. The lights were all off, and it was very dark, and very quiet. He flicked on the living room light and pointed to the couch. "You can sleep there. I'll get you some blankets." He turned to leave the room.
"Uh, Darry?"
He turned around. "Yeah?"
"Thanks again." He just grinned and left.
When he returned, I had taken off my shoes and taken the rubber band out of my hair.
"Here you go."
"Thanks."
"See ya in the morning."
"Good night."
I put the folded blanket on the couch, then stared at the thing I should be sleeping on. I knew already that I wouldn't be able to sleep. My nerves were way to frazzled to be able to deal with anything as calm as sleeping. Seeing that the rooms were separated fairly well from the kitchen, I decided to do something useful and do the dishes. I donned the yellow gloves and ran hot water and used a lot of dish soap. It looked like these guys hadn't done dishes for a month. Some of it was so crusted on I had to ply it off with some kind of fork or spoon. Which often bent.
Finally, after having done the dishes, mopped the floor, dusted the living room and kitchen, it was time for the rest of the world to wake up. I hurriedly put away all of the cleaning utensils I had used and ran to the living room. I hurled myself on the couch, threw the blanket over myself, and closed my eyes. I heard a doorknob turning somewhere, and thanked my lucky stars I had been so quick. I hated explaining to people about my chronic insomnia.
I opened my eyes a slit to see who in this house was up at five in the morning. It was Darry of course. Why hadn't I guessed? He was trying to be very quiet in the living room, which I thought very considerate of him. I sat up, folded the blanket, and pulled my hair back again. Might as well be useful and help him make breakfast.
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