*I don't own The Outsiders. The lyrics belong to Chris Daughtry.

(DPOV)

I'm going home

Back to the place where I belong

And where your love has always enough for me

I'm not running from

No, I think you got me all wrong

I don't regret this life you chose for me

I gently took her hand in mine, leading her to the cliff's edge.

The breeze was strong, causing the leaves on the trees to rustle. The night was clear and up here there were no lights. You could see the glow of the city lights, absolutely beautiful. Looking straight up you could see millions of stars.

I wrapped my jacket around her slender shoulder, recieving a beaming smile in return. "It's so pretty up here. How did you find it?" She asked.

I shrugged, "Driving around one day, I found it. I thought it would be nice here at night. That's why I brought you. She wrapped her arms around my waste and I lifted my hand to stroke her cheek.

Staring at each other, we both leaned towards one another and finally......

"DARRY, can you get the phone!" Soda yelled.

I groaned, not wanting to get up. I glanced quickly at the clock, it was only one in the morning. If this wasn't something important I was going to kill whoever was on the other side of the line. What could anyone need at this time of night?

I jogged grabbing the phone as I thought about exactly what Two-Bit could have gotten himself into at this time of night. I didn't have the extra money this month to bail anyone out. I hope they didn't waste their call on me then.

"Hello?" I asked roughly.

"How is my best buddy in the world doing?" Came a playfully taunting voice from the other end. I probably looked like a fish off land as I starred at the phone in my hand for a second in disbelief. Leslie's voice woke me like a shot of espresso.

"Leslie?! Is that really you?" I asked.

"Who else would call you at one in the morning. I should apologize for that, but I'm good enough to get up for right?" She laughed.

I was about to answer with a smart remark but she didn't give me time to, "Please tell me Steve is there, that's half the reason I called this late. I know how much he hates people bothering him."

"Sorry to disappoint, but he ain't here yet. Are you alright? You haven't called so I assumed you were okay." I mumbled anxiously.

"Dar, who is it?" Pony called.

"Did someone get busted by the fuzz again?" Soda yelled, then lower, "I hope not, I don't think we got any bail money right now."

"Well if it's Dal, he'll just tell us where he's got some saved up. He's been making some money off the races lately." Pony responded, half asleep already.

"Two-Bit don't have a dollar to his name, maybe it's him."

"Well, he should call Mrs. Matthews instead of us then," Pony's tone said shut up.

"Yeah, I'm all right. Don't worry so much, Dar. I tell you time and time again that it ain't good for you. You'll be bald before you ever go gray," she teased. I smiled, she sounded exhausted.

"You sound tired. Where are you? You better be taking good care of yourself too, Les." One of my biggest worries is that she's working so much it's affecting her. I can't tell you how many times she told me you need sleep in order to function, yet she'll be the first to break that rule if she feels like someone needs her.

"I'm a little tired. I'm actually at Fort Sill in Lawton. I just got sent over here from another base on the east coast. That means I'm only a few hours away, I think," she told me.

My eyes widened at how close she is. She wasn't suppose to be back in America yet. I felt a twinge of panic shoot through me, "What happened? How are you back already? Did you get hurt?..." I fired off my questions.

"Calm down, Darrel." Leslie only uses my full first name if she's getting annoyed. I didn't want her to get mad at me since we hadn't talked in a while and because I wanted to know what happened.

"I'm fine, Darry. You hear me? There isn't any reason to flip on me. My base over in Vietnam got attacked one night and me and a group of people fled. We headed over to the next base some miles off. I may have hurt my leg in the process, but it ain't nothing. Doesn't even hurt anymore," she said soothingly.

I scowled, "How did you hurt your leg? Are you going to be able to walk and run and all that? Are you going back to 'Nam? When are you coming home? I'm guessing your Dad is up there with you and he'll bring you back?"

"My Dad is here and we're leaving tomorrow morning. I'll be home before noon. Yes, I'll be able to do everything I've always done. No, I'm not going back to 'Nam. As to how I hurt my leg, a piece of metal got me when the base wall collapsed in. Sounds worse then it is, I swear. I'll just be on crutches for a little bit, due to muscle damage," she explained.

"Leslie, don't call one in the morning and tell me that you got hurt. Makes me panic," I said half serious.

"Sorry, I slept on the plane so I'm not that tired. The time changes are messing me up. Plus, I missed all of you so much. Is everyone okay? How's Pony doing in school? How's Soda liking it at the DX? How about you?" She shot at me.

"Everyone's fine. Pone's on the honor roll again. Soda's likes it at the DX, especially when him and Steve share a shift. I'm good. And everyone's been missing you. We all been worried."

I could hear the sadness in her voice, "Wish y'all didn't worry so much. Happy to hear that everything seems all right. Come on, you gotta have something more to tell me about yourself," she insisted.

"How about I come and talk to you tomorrow. I'll open up my afternoon, just me and you. We haven't just talked in a long time," I could practically see her pursing her lips, debating whether or not to agree to that.

"Okay. I don't know if I like the idea of you taking off work though," Leslie murmured, uncertain.

"Don't worry about it. My boss has practically been begging me to talk a day off." Almost everyone at one point has told me to take a day for myself.

Then I realized it was a mistake to say that to her, "Darrel, what did I tell you before I left? I told you not to work yourself to death. Oh, I'm going to get Pony and Soda for that one. I told them to look after you!" She exclaimed.

I laughed quietly, "I'm suppose to watch them."

"Quid custodiet ipsos custodes?"

"What?"

"Who will watch the watchers, it's in Latin." Leslie told me. She was always saying phrases in other languages, or telling me some strange fact that she found. The scary thing is she actually remembers them, I have no idea how.

I yawned, "I don't need anyone to watch me."

"Whatever you say, Darry." By her tone, I could tell she didn't agree.

"Tomorrow then," she stated.

"Yeah, I'll come over. One sound good to you?" I asked.

"Yup. I missed you, Dar." I could hear the smile in her voice.

"I missed you too, Les." I murmured, wishing I could elaborate on that point.

We both hung up.

I leaned against the wall for a moment. I was relieved she was out of that hell hole. At the same time, I was nervous. I didn't really spend any time with her after I realized I loved her. Can I keep it to myself? If she did find out would she freak out?

I couldn't risk out friendship. I needed her. It was a dependency I'd been working on since I was four or five. I don't know if I could handle losing her. Leslie was the one who pulled my family through after Mom and Dad passed. I will always be grateful to her for that.

She spent two weekends teaching us different recipes, showing us how to make our favorite dishes. She taught us how to make the famous chocolate cake. Without her, it would have taken a lot longer for us to get our acts together.

It would have taken me longer to find my job. It would have taken me longer to figure out bills, and the funeral arrangements, and everything. She helped us so much.

There's no way I can loose her.

But, Leslie is understanding. If I told her how I really feel she might return the feelings. Maybe, it would open the idea up to her. We could be happy together, as a couple. Even if she didn't return the feelings, I know she wouldn't just disappear.

Leslie's not like that.

I grimaced, running a hand through my hair. I can't think about this now. On the way back to my room, I checked in on Pony and Soda. Both were sound asleep. I smiled at how young they looked.

Closing my eyes, I picked up where my dream left off.

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