Author's Note: This chapter is written by taylor519 (user id 2770779). I wrote chapter 9 and will write from here on out.

Disclaimer: I do not own The Outsiders.

Emma groaned at her mirror as she twisted her hair this way and that. It just wouldn't go the way she wanted it to. It was extra frizzy and therefore extra frustrating. She gave up on it and moved on to her face. She dolled up her eyes with mascara and shadow.

Darry had asked her yesterday if she would like to go out with him. On a real, official date. Excited was an understatement for how she felt. She was ecstatic. It had been so long since she went out on a normal date. The effort put into prettying herself up and the butterflies in her stomach were enough to tell her it had been too long.

Feeling the way she did unnerved her, but in a way she kind of liked it. The giddiness made her feel like a little girl, one with a normal childhood.

She moved back to her hair, pinning it on either side. Still frizzy. Nearly growling, she tore out the pins. The music was cranked up loud behind her; she sang a few lines here and there to calm herself. Johnny was still out. She hadn't seen him since yesterday morning, but she assumed he had stayed the night at Pony's house. It wasn't so unusual for him to crash there once in a while.

XX

They sat across from each other at the table. It's a nice, private little restaurant close to her apartment. She wouldn't have known it existed had he not shown her it. It's not very big but the food is excellent and it's well priced.

Emma tells him stories of her life back in Vegas, her interests, living with Johnny. He talks about the gang and his work, tells stories about his life. They make each other laugh and pick at each other's minds. A sort of peace had settled over their table. They both felt this sense of careless normalcy that neither had experienced in such a long time.

"Did you want to get dessert?" Darry offered her.

"Only if you split it with me." She gave him a flirty smile.

"I think I can do that."

They each took a forkful of the strawberry angel cake. It was so perfectly light she felt like she was floating.

"You like it?" He asked, already knowing she did.

"I love it!" She took another bite. "So, I was wondering, did Johnny stay over at your place last night?"

"No, I didn't see him. Why?"

She paused. He wasn't over at their house. So where could he have been? She tried not to panic, maybe he went to Bucks with the guys, Buck was having a party. Or maybe he left before Darry woke up.

"Em? Is everything alright?" Darry was concerned now, studying her face. His hand reached across the table and rested on hers.

She wanted to tell him it was fine, but couldn't. So she shook her head no. "I'm just worried." She hesitated, wondering if she should tell him everything. About Uncle Jim, and buying the guns, and Dallas staying over. But she held her tongue. Not yet. "Maybe I'm just over-reacting. He'll probably be at home when I get back."

Darry sat back in his seat, his hand still lay on hers. "You're not over-reacting, you're just worrying. I do it with Pony all the time. It can't be helped." He knew how she felt, he got it. She was not Johnny's guardian, not his sibling like Darry was to Pony and Soda. But she still loved him, and she wanted to be sure he was safe. Even Darry was a little worried at the moment, considering he hadn't seen Johnny in a day either. But Darry knew Johnny better than her. He knew Johnny often fell asleep in the lot, or wandered from the DX to his couch to the park. Though, the kid usually had someone with him, but it wasn't uncommon for him to walk alone.

"You're right. It's kind of new to me; I never used to worry about things. He's turned me into a worrier," she joked.

"It's just because you care" Darry reassured her.

"I know," she smiled to herself then, thinking how much she did care about him. Then thinking about how he'd not been seen in the past twenty-four hours by herself or Darry. She started to stress again. "It is awful difficult though, worrying so much. How do you deal?" She needed to move her mind off Johnny, so she redirected it back to Darry and their date.

"Hardly." He laughed. "I'm still learning how to deal with worrying, or maybe learn to worry less, but I don't know if that's possible yet. But with Soda and Pony I know that they know I worry, so they do their best not to get themselves in any sort of trouble. Still, though, I feel like I'm about one home-after-curfew away from a heart attack sometimes."

She really admired Darry for the way he took care of his brothers. The amount he sacrificed himself for them was just so noble to her. She saw so much good in him; it made her feel like with people like him around, there wasn't so much bad in the world after all.

"It's impressive," she told him, "how well you guys have it together. How you've just got it all figured out."

He chuckled at her, "Oh no Em, let me tell you, we are far from all figured out. Especially myself."

"Really?" She seemed genuinely surprised, and he wondered if everyone thought he was doing as well with his brothers as she seemed to. He hoped so.

"Yeah, I mean, Pony and I fight all the time. The two of us just have two completely opposite personalities. And I have no idea if what I'm doing is right as far as actual parenting goes. Usually I just do what I think will keep them safe and happy, but other than that I'm just kind of pretending to know what I'm doing so the state doesn't get involved." He confessed freely. He trusted her, she wasn't just someone he felt romantically towards, he also felt like they were pretty good friends. And she was easy to talk to about this kind of stuff since she could kind of relate.

"Well, I mean, safe and happy is pretty much the goal of good parenting, I think. So you're on the right track."

"Thanks. And, I suppose when I really don't know what to do I try to ask myself what would our parents do? Or what could I do to make them proud? It helps sometimes, when I get frustrated."

"You're kind of unbelievable, you know that?"

His eyebrows furrowed at the seemingly out-of-place comment. "What do you mean?"

"Just that, I know I haven't always known the nicest or most loyal people. In fact, I've known very few truly kind people at all. So it's kind of unbelievable sometimes that you're just genuinely so… good."

Her eyes were shining as she told him this, and she didn't seem embarrassed in the least by telling him so honestly what she thought of him. He didn't quite know how to respond to such blatant admiration, but he loved the way she was so honest and fearless about it.

"Well, I guess you'll have to start believing it then," he finally said. She beamed at him, and he felt like maybe she was one of the best things that had happened to him in a very long time.

XXX

He walked her to her door, as he had done before. She loved that he did little gentlemanly things like that. He'd open her door for her when they got into the car, and he'd offer her his arm as they walked. It made her feel like she was in a movie, being treated so well.

Even though their date had been perfect in near about every way, the closer they got to her house the more her mind wandered to Johnny. Would he be home when she got back? If not, she'd be very worried. Heck, she already was. She'd have to ask him not to disappear for so long again.

When they got to door 107 she turned to thank him for the date, but before she could get the words out his lips were on hers. She closed her eyes and went with it. The kiss was firm and gentle at the same time, and it ended all too quickly for both their tastes.

Darry rubbed the back of his neck as she stared up at him, like he was embarrassed. "I've been wanting to kiss you all night," he confessed.

"Me too." She said back, her voice soft.

They both grinned at the same time. Emma put a hand on his arm and moved a step closer, indicating he should kiss her again. This time, when his lips met hers she moved a hand up to his face, and he placed one on her lower back. It was slow and tender, and much longer than the first, but still it ended too soon.

"I should get home, the guys are probably up waiting to harass me about my date," he told her quietly.

She nodded, "and I've gotta check on Johnny."

Still, they stood close to one another, not wanting the date to end. Finally, Emma turned and unlocked her door, saying goodnight once more.

Once she was inside with the door closed behind her, she grinned with delight, so bright it could outshine the moon. On the other side of the door, Darry did the same.

Still giddy, she went to Johnny's room to check if he was there. She had almost convinced herself by the end of the date that Johnny would certainly be home by now, and that he was safe in bed and there was no reason to worry.

But when she pushed open his door to find an empty bed, her joy came to a halt. He still wasn't home.

Okay, don't panic. She went to the kitchen and dialed Darry's, knowing he wouldn't be home yet. Soda answered the phone.

"Hey Soda! It's Emma. I'm just wondering if Johnny's over there?" She kept her voice casual, so as not to worry anyone else.

"Oh hey Em! No, he's not here, haven't seen him all day actually." Soda told her. She held in her concern and thanked him, hanging up and hoping he wouldn't think too much of the conversation.

So Johnny was still out. Maybe he was just with some other friends, or maybe he just wanted some time to himself. Maybe he was with Pony and Soda just didn't mention it. Or he could be with Dally.

No matter how many reasonable and safe scenarios she tried to convince herself of, Emma couldn't help but picture him somehow back in the grips of his father.

After about half an hour of waiting around and trying to convince herself he was fine, she decided it couldn't hurt to go for a little drive around town to see if she could find him. That wasn't overprotective, it was just responsible.

She drove by the lot first, knowing he liked the calmness there, but it was plainly deserted. She also went by the park, the Dingo, the movies, and most major streets around their area. Then she may have driven by each of them again. After an hour or more of searching, she was realized she ought to go home and if he wasn't there then she should call some people.

She was a block away from their apartment when she saw him strolling along down the street. She actually sighed with relief when she saw him alive and walking around. By the time she pulled the car up next to him, though, she was furious.

He got in when she stopped next to him. "Hey Em, where you coming from?" He asked cheerily. He'd been a lot more out of his shell with her lately, and she was glad for it. But tonight she was too upset. Her hands tightened on the wheel until her knuckles were white.

Johnny sensed she was upset almost immediately and stopped talking. They drove the final block to the apartment, parked, and went in in terse silence. When they got inside Johnny headed straight to his room, but before he even left her sight she called out, "wait!"

Her tone was very angry. He'd never seen her angry before. He turned to listen to her, silent and still. It was how he learned to react when people were mad at him. Do as little as possible and you won't aggravate them further.

"Johnny, do you have any idea what I went through tonight?" She wasn't yelling, but she wasn't speaking kindly by a long shot. She went on without a response. "I've been all over town looking for you. I haven't seen you in two days!" She lost control of her volume at the end, and raised her voice. She had been trying not to.

He stared at her, his eyes wide with caution, and she hated that he was afraid. But she hated more that he didn't acknowledge what she was saying. "I thought you were hurt Johnny!" She was frustrated, upset, and exasperated.

"I'm okay." He said quietly, when she didn't go on.

Emma let out a huge sigh. His voice sounded timid, and even though he didn't seem to fear her, he was certainly tense. And she knew after everything he's been through he didn't need anyone yelling at him. Plus, she'd never had much of a temper anyways.

She strode up to him and pulled him into a fierce hug. "I know that now," she said gently, not letting him go. He hugged back after a moment's hesitation.

Johnny was safe, there was no reason to be yelling at him now.

She led him over to their couch and told him to sit, which he did without hesitation. She began pacing as she talked.

"Okay, hun, now I know you're sixteen and mature enough to handle yourself. I know you've been handling yourself for years now and never had any reason to tell people your whereabouts. But I'm your family now, and I care about you. And that means I worry about you. Now I'm not telling you you have a curfew or setting any rules or anything, I wouldn't do that. I'm just asking, please, please don't do that to me again."

Johnny was starting to understand why she was freaking out so much. It was like Darry with Pony and Soda. Darry had lectured Pony like this before, Pony had told him about it. And boy did Ponybooy hate it when Darry did that. But that's the thing: Johnny kind of loved it. No one used to care enough to worry about him. He was really starting to get used to this whole having family who care about you thing.

"I'm sorry," he told her honestly. He hadn't meant to scare her.

She sat next to him finally, and took his hand in hers. "Can you just next time let me know if you're going to be gone for so long? Or check in and see me or Darry every once in a while so I don't lose my mind?" She was talking real sweet to him, she felt bad for yelling when talking was clearly easier. He understood and she appreciated it.

"Yeah, I can do that."

She let out a sigh of relief at his agreement, and hoped to god he wouldn't disappear like that again.