Note: The reason I said that a girl was sucked into a book is because on a different penname I did that with the Outsiders. Anyway, now that I can't remember my password to that account, I didn't want to write a story just like it and get called out or something by it, so now I'm writing an almost completely different story, but with the Outsiders again. Anyway, sorry about the mix-up.

The next day, Dallas invited the gang to go see a movie. Only Johnny and Pony were going, but Keith said he might stop by. Audrey, however, had things to do. She had to fill out all kinds of paperwork so she could get into Pony's school, and then she decided to clean the house. It was pretty messy and Audrey had heard from Darrel and Soda's conversation that a social worker would be stopping by pretty soon.

"Are you sure you don't wanna come, Audrey? Double feature for a quarter."

"Nah, but thanks. I've got paperwork to fill out and stuff."

Pony looked disappointed and Johnny looked scared as always. But Dallas's feelings were harder to gauge. Audrey was quite certain they spelled out relief.

As Dally, Johnny, and Ponyboy walked down to the drive-in movie theater, Ponyboy could hardly contain his shock when Dally asked him a question.

"So what's Audrey like? I was in jail I think, the last time she was around."

"Yeah, you were. She's all right. She's pretty quiet now that her parents have died, but she used to be really loud and funny. I think she just needs time though, and she'll come back. Plus I heard from Darry that something happened to her at her old school. Something to do with someone named Patrick."

"Oh."

Ponyboy was at a complete loss as to why Dallas Winston would be asking about his cousin Audrey.

Dallas however, could hardly fathom why anyone would be at a loss over that. Audrey was a beautiful girl. She was tall, but not quite as tall as he was. She had beautiful auburn hair that she pulled away from her face in a glossy ponytail. Her green eyes were flecked with gold and brown. He hated himself for noticing these things like some kind of sap, but her beauty always struck him. And something in her expression proved what Pony had said about her to be true. She had a lively spirit; she just needed time to grieve.

He shrugged. What he really needed was a night at the movies, distracted from her pretty face. He certainly didn't need to be thinking about some cousin who was only going to be here for a few months and then leave. She was too nice for him anyway. She wouldn't give him a second glance.

Darrel had tried to dissuade Audrey to just rest instead of cleaning up the whole place, but she was not to be dissuaded. She scrubbed and scrubbed almost maniacally in the kitchen. By ten o'clock her paperwork was completely filled out, every dish in the kitchen was sparkling clean and stacked neatly in the cupboards. She then filled a bucket with clean, hot, soapy water and grabbed a mop that looked like it hadn't been used in a while. She shoved the chairs and the table into the living room and set to work. When she came across particularly stubborn spots she got onto the floor, scrubbing at the spot obsessively with a toothbrush until she got it out.

Darrel and Sodapop gave up on her after a while and went to bed. She scrubbed and she scrubbed. She cleaned out the fridge throwing away a startling amount of expired items. Then she washed down the counters and she was about to tackle the bathroom when she realized it was midnight. The time certainly wasn't going to make her stop. She knew she was obsessing so she wouldn't have to think about her parents or the day before, but when she stopped for just a second, she realized Ponyboy still wasn't home.

She remembered the boys saying something about a vacant lot in the neighborhood. Her intuition was incredibly strong and she knew Ponyboy was down there. She also knew she had to get him out of there or there would be real trouble soon. Darrel ambled out into the living room, rubbing his eyes. He had a cowlick that was sticking straight up in the air and looked quite comical. Audrey wanted to laugh.

"Where's Ponyboy?"

"I know. I'll go get him."

"Why's he out so late? And how do you know where he is?"

Pause. "I'll be back in a second."

"No, you can't go out in this neighborhood all by yourself. I won't allow it."

"Well I'm not gonna let you come with me. Unless you promise to behave yourself when you see Ponyboy."

He sighed. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Just let me go Darrel. I can handle myself."

He looked at her long and hard for a second then waved his hand at her. "Get a jacket, and I'll let you out of the house." She grinned for a second, then ran out the door with her jacket on.

She was completely not surprised when she got to the lot and saw Ponyboy and Johnny asleep there. But Pony was only in a cut-off sweater, he must be freezing.

She woke them both up by nudging their legs with her toe.

"Pony! Johnny! Wake up, c'mon it's midnight!"

Finally they did, sitting up and shivering. "C'mon you guys, let's get you home."

"I'll just stay out here," Johnny said, looking at Ponyboy. Pony shrugged and got up, but Audrey knelt down on the grass beside Johnny. She tapped his shoulder to get his attention and he immediately sat up, looking like he'd just gotten in trouble with the teacher.

"Johnny, come home with us. Please?"

"Did you walk out here all by yourself?" asked Pony.

"Please, Johnny?"

He looked completely uncertain, but he finally got up and followed Pony and Audrey to the house. Darrel was sitting on the couch waiting. When he saw Ponyboy he jumped up and started yelling.

"Why weren't you thinking? Out until midnight? What's that about? And where were you? You look like you just spent five hours in a freezer! If you get a cold –"

Suddenly, Audrey was between the two of them, her hand on Darry's shoulder.

"Darrel. He's okay. That's all that matters, right?"

He took a deep breath, his eyes closed, just as Audrey had the day before.

"Yeah. You're right. I'm sorry Ponyboy, but when I got a look at the time I just got so worried."

"That's all right, Darry. I'm sorry for being out so late."

"Yeah, you better not do that again." But he was grinning. Then he had both Pony and Audrey in a huge hug, squeezing them until their ribcages groaned under the pressure. Then he stalked off back to his bedroom.

Johnny looked down at the couch made out like a bed. "There's not exactly enough room for me here. I'll just go back out to the lot."

Audrey felt fear curl up inside her. "Johnny. You can't do that. Don't ask me to explain, because I can't really, but you just can't go back out there. Besides, I'm completely awake. I'm not even remotely sleepy. You go ahead and go to sleep on the couch."

He looked uncertain still.

"Johnny, go to bed."

Unable to disobey a direct order, Johnny crawled under the covers. Audrey smiled to herself. She gave Pony a hug and he went directly to his room. Then Audrey set to work on the bathroom, which, if cleaned properly, would probably kill an hour or two. She wasn't being polite to Johnny. She was completely wired.