A/N: Thank you so much for the reviews! I love that you guys love Jacquelyn. So in case it wasn't clear i just wanted to give you a time line of these chapters. Chapter one was one day. Chapter 2 and 3 were the next day. Chapter 4 is a week after chapter 3. I'm bad at writing time lapses, or at least clearly stating how much time has passed, so I'll probably end up doing a timeline every so often. Enjoy! And I posted this because I have written up to chapter 8, yeah that far ahead, and I guess I was really excited about post up to what I have written.

DISCLAIMER: I don't own the Outsiders.

"Go ahead and clock out, Jacquelyn."

The brunette looked up from the box of records she had been sorting through. Her hazel eyes focusing on her boss who was standing at the front of the store, turning the open sign to closed. Jacquelyn sighed as she plucked a few more records out of the box and placed them in their correct places. After she'd finished, she propped the box up on her hip and started to the back of the record store. As she opened the door of the back room, she flicked on the light. The girl then sat the box on the floor and then turned the light off.

"Jacquelyn," another voice called to her.

She whipped her head around to face the blond that had addressed her. She was greeted by a pair of baby-blue eyes and a dimpled smile. Those could only belong to Gina Fields. She had a heart shaped face that her baby-blue eyes complimented perfectly. He build was curvaceous with shapely legs. Her blue eyes glittered at Jacquelyn.

"Gina."

The two girls had only known one another for a short while, one month to be exact. However, it seemed as if they had known one another for years. They just clicked. Their personalities were similar. They were both bubbly and hopeful. So when, Jacquelyn walked into the record store to clock in with bruises on her arms and face early last week, Gina took it on herself to find out what had happened. It took a total of two days before Gina got the entire story. It only took Gina all of three seconds to offer her sofa up to Jacquelyn. She needed a place to stay, a safe place, and Gina had one. Jacquelyn only took her up on the offer for one night, saying she wasn't trying to put her out.

"Your face looks better," Gina said in her nasally voice.

There was no amount of makeup that she could have used to cover the bruise that formed on her cheek the morning after her father had hit her. She'd applied layer upon layer, but nothing worked. So as she left and drove to the record store, she came up with a story. A story that no one believed, but the only person that called her one it was Gina.

"Thanks."

Gina plucked a The Monks record from the Kinks section and placed it back where it belonged. "My couch is still open," she said quietly, well as quietly as her nasally voice would allow. "You can always stay with me."

Jacquelyn smiled and ran her fingers through her hair as she clocked out. She hooked her thumbs through the belt loops of her denim capris and sighed. "I'm gonna get some coffee tonight," she told her friend. "Then I'm gonna go to my house, and sleep in my bed." Gina opened her mouth to say something and Jacquelyn shushed her. "I'm gonna be fine."

Gina mumbled something about Jacquelyn being to headstrong for her own good as she clocked out and followed her friend to the parking lot. They said their goodbyes and pulled out of the lot and on to the road, both heading in different directions.

Jacquelyn headed towards the diner she'd been at last week when she ran into Darrel Curtis. At the Dingo, he'd mentioned that they had some great coffee. The diner was on her way home and she just figured that stopping there would be better than going home. She turned into the parking lot of the diner and parked close to the door. She hoped out of the car and entered the diner without a second thought.

"Jacquelyn?"

His voice startled her. She looked over at a booth and spotted the person who'd called her name. The one and only Darrel Curtis. He was sitting with a newspaper in front of him and a cup of coffee to his left. His blue-green eyes met her hazel ones and her pale ivory skin brightened. He then took in the outfit she had on. Tight denim capris and an even tighter purple sweater. Her thick brown hair was loose, hanging just below mid-shoulder blade. Her makeup was done well. The dark eyeliner made her hazel eyes pop and the mascara opened them.

"Seat taken?" she asked as she pointed to the spot across from him. He shook his head gesturing to the seat across from him. "Thanks."

"What are you doing here?" he questioned.

A waitress came to the table to refill Darry's coffee cup. When she saw that he'd been joined, she quickly asked if she could get her anything. Jacquelyn ordered a cup of coffee as well. The waitress nodded and walked away to grab a clean coffee cup. Upon her return, she sat the cup in front of Jacquelyn and filled it. The red haired waitress informed Jacquelyn that her name was Suzanne, and to call her if she needed her before walking away.

"I came to get coffee," she told him quietly. "What are you doing here?"

Darry pointed to the cup of coffee in front of him. "The same." He folded the newspaper and sat in beside him. "Soda, Steve, and Two-Bit missed you last night," Darry commented.

She could have smacked herself. She knew that there was something that she had to do last night. However, as she and Gina lay on the sofa scrolling through the television channels and eating popcorn, she couldn't remember what it was that she needed to do. "God, I knew there was something."

Darry shrugged. "Don't get worked up over it. There will be other Thursdays," he explained as he brought the cup up to his lips and took a long sip.

They two were quiet as they sipped the coffee. There was a chill in the diner and the coffee canceled it out perfectly. On the occasion, they would look up at the same time, blue-green eyes catching hazel ones and they would look away. A blush creeping on to her cheeks. Or they would catch the other stealing glances. He'd watch her over the brim of his cup as he sipped his coffee, and when she'd look up he'd look down. She'd watch him from under her thick eyelashes, and when he'd look at her, she would focus her eyes somewhere in the distance. Finally, it was her that broke the silence.

"Dare?" she questioned.

"Yeah?"

"How did they die?" she asked in a soft voice.

Darry sighed and ran his hand down his face. In that moment, he looked much older than his twenty years. With his hand folded on the table in front of him and his eyes focused somewhere behind her, he started. It was a difficult tale to hear. Ponyboy had gone out with Johnny and Dallas to the drive-in. There they encountered a redhead named Cherry. Dallas had failed in hitting on her and left steaming. Two-Bit had come. The boys decided to walk Cherry and her friend, Marsha, out. This decision resulted in a run in with Cherry and Marsha's boyfriend's. Words were thrown and knives were pulled, but no harm was done. The boys then walked home. Johnny and Ponyboy going to the vacant lot where they fell asleep. When Ponyboy awoke, he ran home, but it was too late. An argument ensued and ended with Darry pushing his little brother. Jacquelyn noticed the look of shame that crossed Darry's features when he said that. It had been an action that he sincerely regretted. Ponyboy ran out of the door, and back to Johnny. The two young boys went for a walk in the park, when they spotted a white Mustang, Socs looking for fight. The Socs approached the two Greaser Boys talking all kinds of crap, making Ponyboy's blood boil. Ponyboy instigated an attack by spitting on them and running. They caught him and dunked his head in the fountain. To save Ponyboy's life, Johnny stabbed a Soc successfully stopping the attack and accidentally killing a Soc. In a panic, the boys went to Dallas Winston. Dallas told them to catch a train and lay low until he came to get them. "I don't know a lot about what happened in Windrixville," Darry admitted. "I just know what Ponyboy told the court. They stayed in a church for a week, reading Gone with the Wind and eating bologna sandwiches. Johnny and Ponyboy gave each other haircuts, hoping that it would disguise them. Then Dallas came." The trio went to a Dairy Queen to get real food, BBQ sandwiches and Pepsi, and when they returned to the church it had caught fire. Johnny and Ponyboy ran into the burning church because there were children in the fire. The younger boys saved them all. Ponyboy got out of the fire. Johnny wasn't so lucky. "A burning timber fell on his back. Crushed his spine and burned him pretty bad. Dallas ran in to help him and pulled him out. Johnny was never gonna walk again if he lived through it," Darry informed her in a tight voice. "The next day, or maybe it was the day after, Ponyboy and Two-Bit visited him and Dallas. Two-Bit said that Johnny didn't look to hot, when I asked him. The rumble came that night."

"Did Ponyboy fight?" she questioned hoarsely.

"Yeah, Ponyboy fought. We won, the Socs retreated back to their Mustangs, and Dallas took Ponyboy to the hospital where Johnny died. According to Ponyboy, Dallas ran out of the hospital. Pony walked home, and informed us of Johnny's death. Dallas called soon after, saying he needed a place to hide because he'd robbed a store. We were going to meet him in the park, all of us. We saw him take out his gun, and the cops fired. He was dead before he hit the ground."

Jacquelyn sat in a shocked silence. She honestly couldn't believe that that had happened. She looked over at Darry, who was looking older than his twenty years again. She had never really gotten close to Johnny, he was so skittish. However, when she did talk to him, he was the kindest person that she knew. On the other hand, she did get to know Dallas Winston. They had an odd relationship. They would go back and forth bickering like small children. Dallas always had to be right, even when he was wrong. Yet, no matter how ugly the words between them got, Dallas was like a brother that she never had and never really wanted, and he had admitted to her drunkenly that she was like his sexy older sister. He always seemed to appear at the most inopportune times and do the most inappropriate things. But he was Dallas Winston. He spent his life in trouble with the law, in and out of the cooler, but he was invincible, and if he cared about you, like the cared about the gang and her, then you were invincible too.

"I'm so sorry," the brunette told him when she was finally able to speak. She was still in shock.

Darry nodded in acceptance. When she didn't' speak again, he knew better than to push the subject. He sat and sipped on his coffee as he watched her marinating in the story and her thoughts. "Jacquelyn?" he called to her after a few moments. Her hazel eyes focused in on him. His eyes scanned her face, making sure that there were no signs of distress. His scanning stopped abruptly when he came across the discoloration under her right eye. The makeup hid it well enough, making it difficult to notice if one wasn't looking at her closely. However, he noticed. The purple showed through the makeup. The yellow around the purple showed. Something in him bristled. "What happened to your face?" he questioned slowly through gritted teeth.

"I ran into a door," she answered automatically. Darry scoffed. "What? I'm clumsy!" she explained. She knew that he wasn't buying into her story. "Come on, Dare."

He pushed cup of coffee away from him violently. "Why won't you tell me?" Her hazel eyes grew wide at his outburst. Her small hands gripped the side of the table and her heart rate increased rapidly. Upon seeing her reaction, he sighed and ran his fingers though his hair. "I'm sorry."

She nodded as she folded her hands in her lap. "It's fine." She was quiet for a moment as she regained her composer. "Why does it matter?" she questioned.

"You're my friend," he responded without hesitation.

Friend. That was an odd thing to call her. It seemed like it had been many millennia friends. Paul Holden's girlfriend at the time introduced them. Jacquelyn was new and just happened to find herself face to face with Lisa. When she admitted that she was lost, Lisa showed her around. Which was how they ran into Darrel and Paul. When Jacquelyn's hazel eyes flicked up to meet his blue-green ones, he felt something. Although, he wasn't quite sure what it was at the time, he know recognized them as butterflies. Jacquelyn mentioned that he had Geometry with Mr. Hartford, and Darry said that he did as well. So they spilt from the couple and went off to class. Due to her contagious laugh and bubbly personality, Darry knew they would be fine friends.

"I suppose I am," Jacquelyn replied.

"I just want to make sure that you are okay," he continued carefully. The wording of that sentence was difficult. He didn't want to sound aloof and uncaring, but he didn't want to sound like, for lack of better term, a boyfriend. He wasn't that to her. At least not anymore.

"I'm fine," she assured him with a toothy smile.

She was lying through her teeth, and he knew it. She was lying and there wasn't a damn thing that he could do about it. When the realization came it was like a knife through his stomach. Seeing her bruises, stirred something other than anger. It stirred up protective feelings for her. He had been her protector for so long that, this, not protecting her would drive him crazy. However, it didn't just stir protective feelings for her, it stirred all the feelings he had for her. He still cared for her.

"Well, if you need anything-"

"I know who to call."

She'd call him. She'd call him like she always did. Whenever she'd needed him, he always came to her aid. When her parents would fight, she would call him on the verge of tears and he'd be over in five minutes to whisk her away from everything. He'd always been there for her. He'd always been like her own personal Superman.

"Good." There was a pause in the conversation as Darry thought about how to word his next sentence. "I'm sorry for the way that I behaved at the Dingo."

He'd been short with her. Whenever the conversation would roll around to him, his answers would be just enough to keep the conversation going. She thought that when he offered to walk her to her car that he would lighten up, but the shortness only continued. She wasn't quite sure what to make of his actions, and in the end decided that it was best to just leave well enough alone.

"It's okay."

And it was. She couldn't just bulldoze back into his life and expect everything to be the same. He had changed. She knew this for a fact, because she was there when he changed. After his parents died, his change was almost instantaneous. He'd come to her room and told her what happened. When she tried to comfort him, he pulled away. He then told her what his two options were as far as his family went. He could stay at University of Tulsa and his brothers could be placed in a boys' home. Or he could drop out and take care of his family. She didn't need to ask him which on he'd selected. She could see it in his eyes. After he walked out of her room, he was never the same again.

"Alright," he muttered. Jacquelyn was quiet for a moment, taking in the situation. Suddenly, she yawned. "You're tired," he told her. She shook her head. If she admitted to being sleepy he would make her go home. "You are." She ran her fingers through her dark hair and sighed. "Why don't you want to go home?" he question carefully.

Her hazel eyes shot up to his blue-green ones. "I'm not avoiding going home," she told him.

"I just asked why you doing want to go home. I didn't say you were avoiding going home."

Shit.

"Why are you avoiding going home, Jacquelyn?"

"I'm not," she replied.

Darry had to hold his tongue. He wasn't going to get any answers from her tonight. He could see that now. He supposed that whatever was going on she didn't want him to know about.

"Alright, I'm sorry," he said to her in surrender.

She flashed him a smile, letting him know that he was forgiven. Her hazel eyes connected with his cobalt ones. She held his gaze for a moment. Her hazel eyes searching. The question slipped from her lips before she could stop it. "Why didn't you ever call?"

The question caught him off guard, and that wasn't an easy thing to do. His eyes widen slightly before letting a soft sigh escape his lips. "Jacquelyn, I don't-"

"Don't say you don't know," she pressed.

He thought over her question for a long moment before he came to the decision to tell her the truth. He leaned back in the booth seat and sighed. "Jacquelyn, I called you," he admitted. "I called you," he paused, "several times."

"You never called me," she uncharacteristically snapped. "That's a lie."

He knew that it wasn't going to be as easy as telling her that he'd called. Things were never that easy with her. "It's not a lie. I called you, and you never called back."

Jacquelyn angrily pushed herself away from the table and crossed her arms over her chest. Her hazel eyes were disbelieving. He was sitting there, in front of her lying. Lying to her face. It was outrageous. Yet as she looked into his eyes, she could see that he wasn't. There was no sign of the concentration that would be present in him making anything up. There was nothing. His azure eyes were honest. Completely honest. Her anger melted and her arms fell to her sides. "You called me?"

"Several times," he confirmed. "You mom answered the phone and said that she was going to let you know." He folded a napkin in his hands. "The last time I called was maybe a month after you left, after that I figured that you had moved on."

"You called me?" she repeated still in shock. He'd called and her mother hadn't relayed the message. The latter part of that statement would be dealt with at a later point. Her heart lept in her chest the more she thought about the fact that he'd called her.

"Yes."

"Oh." That was the only thing that she could think of to say. "I'm sorry."

Darry waved his hand, dismissing her apology. "It's fine." He shifted in the booth seat a bit uncomfortable with the situation. There was something about Jacquelyn that just made him talk. Maybe it was the way that she looked at him with her hazel eyes as if she could see the words before he said them. Maybe it was the way she sat with her elbows on the table and her chin propped up on her intertwined fingers listening attentively. There was just something about her that made him talk. He looked down at his watch and exhaled softly. "I gotta get going, Jacquelyn," he said as he stood up. He placed enough for two cups of coffee on the table. "My treat."

"Next time, it'll be mine," she told him without hesitation.

"Jacquelyn," he sighed.

"Don't cut me out," she demanded softly. He looked down at her. Her canine tooth bite down on her bottom lip as she thought about the wording of her sentence. "I know I just got back, and a lot has changed and happened, but you can't just cut me out."

He placed his palms on the table and lifted his cobalt eyes to hers. There was that look again. The one that he couldn't say no to. "I can't promise you that I won't, but I can say that I can try not to."

That was better than nothing. She nodded as he pushed off the table and walked towards the door. "Darry," she called as she looked over her shoulder. He looked over at her. "I get off a six on Fridays," she said to him, a hint of a smile in her voice. "This place has really good coffee."

The next Friday, Jacquelyn sat at a table with her hands folded in front of her. Her light eyes flicked around the diner as she waited. Her foot tapped impatiently. She'd been waiting for a half an hour. Her hazel eyes flicked to the door, and then to the cup of coffee in front of her, and then back to the door. Her eyes then found the clock on the wall. She'd been waiting for thirty-one minutes now. She ran her fingers through her dark hair and sighed. He wasn't coming. He just wasn't going to show. The brunette lay her forehead on the table and then brought her hand up to push the cup of coffee away from her.

"Hey, Jacquelyn," his voice said to her.

The brunette sat up quickly, her dark hair flipping over her shoulders. Her hazel eyes brighten and smile, that she desperately tried to contain, played on her full lips.

"You came."

A/N Number 2: So I don't feel that I did an amazing job describing the events of the novel. However, I was trying to do if from the information that Darry would know, and I figured that he wouldn't know all of the details.