Disclaimer: I don't own the Outsiders.

oOoRikku4EveroOo: Yeah, I know it sounds a little over the top. Read the author's note and I think you'll get it.
Tk421beth: Thanks but I didn't come up with Ponyboy being an author; I read a little interview with S.E. Hinton that said Ponyboy became an author. It also says that Soda dies in Vietnam which is very depressing, and Darry owns a construction company (I came pretty close with the roofing business!). As for Roxie and Daniel you'll just have to wait and see.
Silent Storm 2000: I'm glad you like this story and the first one too. It's always weird when characters in stories have the same names as people you know.
Babygurl33: it's fine that you want her to be with Dally. If I weren't writing the fic and knew what was going to happen I would want her to be with Dally too! But as I have said before you'll just have to wait and see.
TWbasketcase: Ha-ha, yes Daniel is a little jealous. But when you think about it he kind of has a right to be. Johnny and Pony are in this chapter. And that big Dally blowup you have been waiting for is coming up soon. And that blowup leads to THE BIG THING (theme from 2001: Space Odyssey playing in the back round). LOL.
Caitym: It's okay for you to want her to be with Dally. I would want her to be with Dally too, if I was reading this story as opposed to writing it.

Author's Note: I hope you guys don't think Daniel is some controlling freak who's going to start hitting Roxie. Because he's not! I promise. He's just suspicious, that's all. He really does love her and, although you might hate him because he's one of the reasons Roxie and Dally can't be together, she loves him too. But more on that subject later. For now I think it's time the rest of the gang met Daniel. Don't you? I finally wrote a kind of long chapter!

Chapter Eight: A Talk with Ponyboy and Johnny

I bit my lip nervously as I knocked on the Curtis's front door. Daniel was leaving tomorrow and he had yet to meet any of my friends besides Dally so Olivia and Darry were throwing a little get together. I wondered if they ever got tired of their house being the hub of all the activities, but thinking back it always had been, and it probably always would be. Daniel stood behind me on the porch, with his hand touching the small of my back, a gesture that I had grown to love.

"Hey Roxie!" Olivia said coming to the door with Halley in her arms.

"Olivia, this is my fiancé, Daniel Albright. Danny, this is one of my best friends Olivia Curtis and her youngest daughter Halley," I said, kissing the top of Halley's head as Olivia shook Daniel's hand.

"It's nice to finally meet the famous Daniel we've been hearing so much about." Olivia said smiling.

"It's nice to meet you too. All Roxie can talk about on the phone is about her friends in Tulsa. Especially your two little girls." Daniel said smiling at Halley who buried her head in her mother's shoulder. She didn't like strangers that much; in fact she had only started warming up to me.

"Come on into the kitchen," Olivia said putting Halley down where she ran ahead of her mother into the kitchen where her sister and father were playing Go Fish. Darry stood up when he saw Daniel.

"So you're the lucky guy who's going to marry our Roxie…" Darry said shaking Daniel's hand. Daniel nodded. He wasn't fazed by Darry, who can be a little intimidating the first time you meet him, like most people were beings that Daniel was as tall and broad shouldered as he was. "Well you better treat her right because there is a whole gang of guys here that don't want to see her get hurt."

"Will do." Daniel said as the doorbell rang. Haven ran to go get it.

"Who's coming?" I asked Darry as Olivia bustled about getting the food ready. Darry shrugged.

"Two-Bit and Trisha, Ponyboy and Nancy, Soda and Erika. Johnny might not be coming because David has an ear infection and Kelly has to work, but he said if she got off early he would try and stop by. And Steve might show up but Evie took their kids to go see her grandmother in Texas. I think that's everybody…" Darry said distractedly as he cleaned up the Go Fish cards and handed them to Halley to go put back in the toy box.

"What about Dally?" I asked as Daniel came over and put his arm around me. It then came to me that Dally was the only one who didn't have a girlfriend or wife. He was the only one who hadn't settled down. Darry shrugged.

"Who knows? I told him about it but you know how Dally is. He'll show up if he wants to." Darry muttered, more to himself than to me.

"Hey Little Roxie," Ponyboy said winking at me as he sat down next to me on the back porch. The name Little Roxie brought a lump to my throat but I swallowed it and smiled at him.

"Hey Pony."

"I just got done talking to Daniel. He's an interesting person," Ponyboy said taking a sip of his Pepsi. I nodded, leaning back on the palms of my hands. "He works a lot doesn't he?"

"Yes he does but he's a doctor…and doctors work a lot." I answered

"Does it bother you?" he asked. I cocked my head to one side in though. Did it bother me that Daniel worked a lot?

"I don't know…sometimes. I was disappointed he didn't come to the funeral. But he was so busy there was no way he could get away." I said. That was the first time I had ever said Daniel disappointed me out loud. I was about to add something as Johnny came out the back door and joined us.

"Hey Pony. Roxie, I just talked to Daniel. He's a good guy," Johnny said, in his quite voice. I nodded.

"Yes he is…" I said as I traced the rim of my beer can. I usually didn't drink but today for some reason I had reached for it instead of my usual soda.

"How long are you staying here Roxie?" Johnny asked. I shrugged. I really hadn't thought about it. I had taken a month off of work from the paper back home.

"I have two more weeks before I have to get back to work. But then I might try and come back before Christmas, just to make sure the house is okay…" I said jerking my head in the direction to my aunt's house, although I suppose it was my house now.

"What are you going to do with the house?" Ponyboy asked. I bit my lip.

"Well I know Daniel would never want to live here. He's too attached to the hospital he works at in Cincinnati. And I love my job at the paper; I don't think I could leave that, except for a really good reason. But I don't want to sell it. I can't bear to think of someone I don't know living in it." I said fiddling with my wedding ring.

"Two-Bit and Trisha might rent it from you. I think they said something about wanting to move out of their apartment." Johnny said. I shrugged and attempted to change the subject.

"Did Dal ever show up?" I asked. Ponyboy raised one of his eyebrows, doing a bad impression of Two-Bit.

"Why do you ask?"

"No reason…I just wondered," I said. We made idle chitchat for a little while before I excused myself to go back inside. Talking to Ponyboy and Johnny had given me a lot to think about. I needed to talk to Daniel about the house. But I realized that this was not the weekend to do it. He would be leaving in less than twenty-four hours and I didn't want to spend that time arguing about the house that had once belonged to my aunt.