Title- Trying to Adjust

Chapter Title- Problems

Chapter Number- 9

Disclaimer- I do not own The Outsiders

Reviewers-

oOoRikku4EveroOo- I created her that way.

QTpie4- The try to tell me who I can hang out with, they don't like the music I listen to (Green Day, My Chemical Romance, Evanescence, etc.), my mom thinks I'm going to beat somebody up (but I could never, I'm too sweet for that). I'm 14…

RangerDan- Laziness sucks. You should really get out of that habit. (Look whose talking! Lol)

XAmberX- I have MSN… my brother downloaded it last night! Wow… that's weird…

Eternal Dragon101- It's so much fun! Not really. Everything is different for me. When my brother does something it's a big deal because he's the first one and when my sister does something it's a big deal because she's the last one. But, it has its benefits. My grandma spoils me, completely.

JamesDeanismygod- I wouldn't count on her going to the zoo just yet.

Note- A lot of talking. Well, what is a story without dialogue? It's a very boring story. This just shows how curious Elizabeth can be. Naturally, six year olds are very nosey. Notice the extra use of the italics. I just finished reading The Catcher in the Rye and since he used a lot of italics, it rubbed off on me. I'm weird that way. Say, if somebody bolded a lot and I just read their story, I'd use a lot of bolded words in my story. I like the italics because the emphasize certain words. I am done explaining how truly odd I am.

A few minutes later, Two-Bit came outside. He got into the car quietly and drove home. I stomped into the house and slammed the door. He didn't look too happy.

"Elizabeth," he said when he came inside. I didn't like the way 'Elizabeth' sounded then. It sounded mean. I turned around to face him. I held onto my doll's leg, the rest of her body was dangling. "Why can't I go to my friend's house without you complaining?" he asked. I wanted to cry.

"I didn't mean to complain. It's just so boring! There's nothing for me to do. And Steve's always being a pain about me being a problem. And ya know what? I am a problem, I am, I am. I don't see why you bother with me! Why don't you put me in a home? It's not like you actually want me!"

"I don't want you? Who told you that, Steve? I gave up school for you!"

"Well, ya didn't have to! I don't wanna live with you!" I screamed at him. As soon as I said it, I regretted it. He no longer seemed mad, just sad. I dropped my doll on her head and ran to him. "I didn't mean it, I didn't, I swear," I kept sobbing. I was squeezing him. "I don't wanna leave you."

"Sh," he said. He picked me up. "You're not leaving me. I'm not leaving you." He carried me into the bathroom. He wet a washrag and wiped my face. "I love you a lot, Liz, don't let anybody make you believe anything else."

"Did mommy love us?" I asked him, suddenly. He was quiet for a minute, and then he nodded. "Well, why'd she leave us?"

"Well, it's 'cause she missed her mommy. She hasn't seen her in so long. When you get really old, you'll be able to go see our mommy," he told me.

"Older than you?" I asked, giggling.

"Yes, older than me." I thought of something.

"Did dad?" I asked him.

"Did dad what?" he questioned.

"Did dad love us?" I asked again. He thought about it for a while.

"I guess he did, once," he answered. I gave him another hug and went to get my doll.

I sat on my bed, thinking about what Two-Bit said. Mom really missed her mom, so she went to go see her. I'll be able to see her again. But why did dad leave? Did he miss his mommy? This question kept bugging me. Finally, I put my doll down and went into the kitchen.

"Two-Bit," I said softly. "Why did dad leave?" I asked him. He stared at me.

"I don't know," he answered.

"Did he miss his mommy?" I asked him.

"Yeah, he missed his mommy." I stood there for a bit, silently.

"Will we ever see him again? Do you miss him? Is it okay to miss him? Is he gonna come back? What'll happen if he comes back?" I started to fire these different questions at Two-Bit. I just got very curious.

"We might see him again. You just never know. I don't really miss him; I kinda blame him for this whole thing. You can miss him if you want because you're too young to understand-" I stopped listening to him. That made me mad. Since when was I too young?

"I'm not too young!" I shouted.

"Okay, you're not too young. You can understand," he said. He fixed his mistake. "If he comes back, you'll be able to live with him. I guess, I don't know."

"Love you," I told him and gave him a kiss on the forehead. He had been sitting down on the kitchen chair and I had gotten up. I went into my room and started playing with my doll again. I got very tired, so I lay down and closed my eyes. I was only gonna close them for a little bit, but I guess I fell asleep.

"Liz," somebody called. It was Two-Bit. I opened my eyes to see him standing over me. I felt him shaking my shoulder. "I made dinner," he said.

"I'm not hungry," I whispered. I turned onto my stomach and pulled the pillow over my head. "I don't feel good," I mumbled. I lifted the pillow off of my head and turned around.

"What's wrong?" Two-Bit asked.

"My eyes hurt and I'm tired and my head hurts," I answered.

"You just need to get some sleep." He placed my quilt over me and kissed my forehead. He shut off the light and left the door opened a crack.

"Mommy," I whined a few minutes later. I was half-asleep, half-awake. I threw the blanket off of me. "Mama," I whined a little louder. There was silence. I chucked the pillow across the room. It hit a picture and knocked it to the floor. I rolled out of the bed and hit the floor. "Ma," I wailed. I could feel the tears.

"Liz," Two-Bit said. I heard him walk into the room. He picked up my blanket, pillow and me. He tossed the blanket and the pillow onto the bed and then pulled me into his lap. "Liz, what's wrong?" he asked.

"I had a nightmare," I told him. I wiped away my tears.

"Do you remember it?" he asked me. He sounded worried. I wondered what he was thinking about.

"It, it, it was about the day mama died. I had a dream about when she got, got, you know," I swallowed, "shot." Two-Bit hugged me.

"It'll be okay," he whispered.

"How can you say that?" I asked. I looked up at him. His face looked funny through my tears. "It wasn't 'just a dream' like mom used to tell me. She did get shot!"

"I, I just don't know what to do," he told me. "I'm not ready for this." I wrapped my arms around his waist.

"What do you wanna do?" I asked him. "I don't care."

"What do you mean?" he replied.

"Right now, where do you wanna go, or what do you wanna do?"

"I want things back to the way they were. I'm not good at my job and I can't raise a kid. I don't know what to do," he told me.

"Okay, it's Saturday night. What would you have normally done?" I asked him.

"I woulda went out with a girl and then crashed at the Curtis house and drank," he answered me.

"Well, it's too late to go out with a girl," I said. "But you can go to Pony's house. I'll be fine." I was trying to make things better.

"What if the people show up tomorrow morning? You'll be home alone and then they'll take you away from me. Do you want that?" he asked me. I stayed still for a bit. I wanted Two-Bit to be happy, but I didn't want to leave him. I finally just fell asleep.

I have one other chapter written, but other than that I'm stuck. Maybe I'll think of something, if I don't the next chapter won't be out for a bit...