Chapter 7

The next few days were rough ones. There was a harsh bite in the pre-winter's air, which didn't make the best of working conditions. Darry often found himself driving by the diner after a hard day at work. Sometimes, he thought he saw a flash of raven hair as he went by, but he could never be sure.

He waited until Thursday before visiting the diner on his lunch break, but she wasn't there.

"She's been staying with her Uncle since he got home on Tuesday," Anne told him when he arrived, "She hasn't said anything about coming back."

Darry got into his truck, but he waited before sticking his keys in the ignition. He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. What was he doing? He had barely known this girl for a week and there he was, chasing after her.

One kiss. He had kissed her once. She was angry with him more than she was happy. But there was something about her, she was so…secret.

He should have gone home, but he didn't. He went to her house.

When he knocked on the door, he half-expected her not to answer, but she did. The lock clicked and the door swung open.

"Cole-"

"Shhhhh," She held her finger to her lips and opened the door for him to come in, "My Uncle's asleep in the other room."

"Cossette, who's there?" A voice called from the other room.

Cole sighed before answering, "No one, Uncle, go back to sleep."

She waited for a moment before grabbing Darry's wrist and leading him passed her Uncle's doorway to the back room.

"Cossette?" He laughed quietly as she closed the door carefully behind her and turned on the light.

"Hush up, you!" She said, but she was smiling.

"How's your uncle?" He asked.

"He's back to his needy old self. The doc says I shouldn't leave him alone yet. It's too risky," Cole laughed softly, "Cossette, what's for breakfast? Where is the newspaper, Cossette? Cossette, where are you?"

"Is that why you haven't been at work?" Darry asked, sitting on the edge of her bed.

"Yes," she said and then looked over at him, "Why, were you in there?"

"Just today, I swear," he held up his hands in self-defense.

"Good."

He watched her for a long time as she stared out the window. There were only the shadows of buildings and the few streetlights that dimly lit up the roads through the evening darkness. He wasn't sure what she could be gazing at so intently, but he didn't ask.

"I missed you," the words flew out of his mouth before he could stop them.

She didn't say anything in response; she didn't even act as if she had heard him. But her eyes shifted from the window to a particular picture on her dresser. She picked it up, slowly, and smiled down at it lovingly. An expression Darry had never seen on her face.

Cole sat down beside him before speaking.

"That is my father, right there," She pointed to a tall, thin, young man in the picture. Darry peered over her shoulder to look.

"And that woman, beside him?" He asked, although he already knew exactly who the woman was.

"My mother," She said, "I'm half Vietnamese. My mother was one of the lucky ones. She escaped Vietnam at the before the war started, but most of her family was left behind."

"Was your father a soldier?" Darry asked, prodding at her to continue.

"No," She said, not looking up at him, "He wanted to be. He wanted to fight because all of his buddies were. He couldn't though. A childhood accident caused him to have this odd limp, like one leg was shorter than the other. I'm not sure how it happened, I'm sure he told me once, I just can't remember. I never really listened to him. He had so many stories; it was hard to listen to all of them.

"This was the only picture of them together. My mother was shy. She was only twenty-one when she married my father, but she never regretted it. She told me she never did, not even once. My uncle says I am mostly like her, nothing like my father. I can't remember either of them that well to know."

Cole peered at the picture once more, before placing it beside her on the bed. Darry didn't want her to stop talking; afraid that if she did, she would never start again. But she would not say more.

"May I come over tomorrow?" He asked her later, as she was saying goodbye to him at the front door.

"Yes, but not before nine," She said, handing him his jacket to slip on.

"Alright," he smiled.

"'Till tomorrow then," she said.

"Goodnight."

And there she was, standing on tip-toe to kiss his cheek once again. As she began to pull away, he held her there. He kissed her lips for a millisecond and pulled away.

"Goodnight, Cole," he restated before leaving.

Okay then...I'll try to post a new chapter later today or tomorrow. Constructivecriticism please! I love good reviews too, but I'd rather have something that's going to help me.
Thanks to Music Insane Doll for reviewing! I think there needs to be more Darry/OC fics too!

-Avenging Angel