A/N: Hey, there! I wonder if you guys are still around. I hit a lot of stress and school was stupid hard this past year. So you know that. But I'm gonna try to get this finished.
DISCLAIMER: I don't own the Outsiders.
Jacquelyn Ross stared into the mirror in the bedroom that she and Darry shared. The light brown eyes of the girl in the mirror stared back. Jacquelyn hadn't seen herself like this in months. She was generally sure a causal dresser that anything more than a pair of capris and a sweater was a little too dressy for her taste. Jacquelyn pulled at the fabric that covered her body. A turquoise dress with a white ribbon tied at the waist hugged her body. She then pulled at a strand of hair that had fallen out of her high ponytail. The ponytail was tied with a white ribbon, the exact shade as the one around her waist.
"Christ," a voice said from the hall. "You look like a Soc, Ross."
Jacquelyn looked up and over her shoulder towards Steve, the only one that addressed her by her last name. She felt a little odd about his comment, but then turned back to the mirror. However, she couldn't disagree with him. She did look like a Soc. When she looked back at him, Steve seemed to realize that he had insulted her.
"Not that that's a bad thing, Ross," he said as he turned to walk away down the hall and away from her before he said anything else that could offend her.
As Steve walked down the hall and away from the room, another set of footsteps started towards the room. Jacquelyn started pulling at the fabric of the dress again. She watched the girl in the mirror reflecting her actions, but she wasn't convinced that she was actually performing them. She blinked her light eyes and so did the girl in the mirror. When she brought her hand to her face so did the girl in the mirror.
"You clean up nice, Ross."
A smile spread on Jacquelyn's face, which had previously been frowning, as she looked over her shoulder at the person speaking. Darrell Curtis leaned against the doorframe as he watched her. He held his hand out to her, beckoning her towards him. Jacquelyn came with no resistance. She laced her fingers with his and he pulled her small frame into his much larger one. Her body fell into his frame as his arms fell around her waist. The brunette tucked her head under his chin and exhaled softly.
"You okay?" he questioned, his voice vibrating in his chest. Jacquelyn nodded against his chest, softly inhaling the scent of tar of his shirt. The smell had long since become a sort of calming mechanism. "You sure?" She nodded again. Darry pushed off the doorframe gently and closed the door with his shoe, careful not to break the embrace between the two of them. "Tell me," he said after the soft click of the door closing.
"It's nothing," she told him as she pulled from his arms and sat on the edge of the bed. Darry followed. "I mean really it's nothing."
"What is this nothing?" Darry question as he lay back on the bed and folded his arms behind his head.
"My mother."
"I figured as much. Go on," he prodded.
"When did you get so pushy?" Jacquelyn snapped, uncharacteristically. Darry lifted his head from his arms and looked at her with an arched eyebrow. "I know, I know, I'm sorry. The impending presence of my mother is stressing me out," she told him.
Darry reached up and pulled her back to lie beside him. Without any further direction or prodding, she rolled over on to her side so that she was facing him. Darry pushed a strand of her hair that had fallen loss from its ponytail behind her ears.
"She's just you mother," he told her quietly.
Jacquelyn scrunched her nose, "You've met my mother, right?"
"I have. I asked her and your dad if I could take you to prom," he stated as her fingers laced with his. "She's not the nicest lady," he started slowly as he watched their fingers twist together.
"You're being nice," she told him with a soft laugh.
Darry shifted his position so that he was lying on his side as well. Her light eyes caught hold of his cobalt ones. "She's not awful," he tried again.
"She is awful," the girl replied.
The two greasers lay that way for a long time. Darry's thumb rub circles on the side of her palm. They had become at peace with silences between them. When there was nothing else to say on a topic they didn't push it. There was nothing uncomfortable about the silence between them. It was just a natural part of the conversation. When the conversation ended, let it end.
The doorbell ringing broke their peaceful silence and a look of panic crossed over Jacquelyn's face. Before she could speak, Darry leaned over and captured her lips in a heated kiss. Jacquelyn's hand fisted in the fabric on the front of his shirt, startled by the fierceness of the kiss but accepted it all the same. After a moment, Darry pulled away and got off the bed, leaving Jacquelyn lying there breathless. A smirk played on Darry lips as he pulled her up to a standing position.
"What were we talking about?" he questioned. Jacquelyn looked confused and to that Darry roared with laughter.
Rolling her light eyes, she pulled away from Darry and headed down the hall, brushing her hair back into place, and towards the door. She hesitated at the door but then took a deep breath and pulled it open.
"Well you sure took your time opening the door."
That was the greeting that she got from her mother, who she hadn't seen in months.
"Hello, mother," Jacquelyn said quietly as the older walked into the house.
"Mrs. Ross," Darry greeted. Jacquelyn looked over her shoulder that Darry had buttoned a navy blue shirt over his white t-shirt.
"You live here?" her mother asked as she touched the torn fabric of the sofa and then turned her eyes to Jacquelyn. Jacquelyn nodded. "Oh, well, we'll talk about that later."
Talk about what later? Jacquelyn wondered. She watched her mother as she moved about the room. Growing up, everyone had always told Jacquelyn that she looked just like her mother. They shared the same dark brown hair and hazel colored eyes. However, that was all that they had in common as Jacquelyn grew older. Sadie Ross was a slender woman that stood at about 5' 4. While Jacquelyn was about the same height, she was shapely there were more curves on her. Sadie Ross' thin lips never seemed to form themselves into a smile. In fact, she often looked like the librarian does when someone is making too much noise for the library. Sadie Ross was very stuck up to be a Greaser. She dressed like a Soc and hoped to fit in with them. However, she was just a Greaser in Soc clothing. They never accepted her. Jacquelyn never tried. She was happy where she was.
"How long are you staying, mother?" Jacquelyn questioned as she looked over at Darry.
"We are going to pick out a plot today and plan as well. Then two days from now, so Thursday, will be the funeral. I'll be leaving on Friday."
Three and a half days with her mother. Jacquelyn wasn't sure if she could handle that. She was never certain how she had managed to make it through 19 years with her. Maybe if she managed that then another three days wouldn't be so bad.
Right?
Wrong.
When the Ross women arrived back to the Curtis' house, their arguing could be head from inside the house. Darry, who had been reading the paper, folded it down and sighed. Two-Bit, Steve, and Soda, who of course were playing cards, looked towards the door in shock. Ponyboy as well.
They had never head Jacquelyn raise her voice at anyone. She was much too sweet and levelheaded for that. They'd also known her to respect her elders. The fact that she was yelling at someone and someone who was older than her, just kind of blew them away.
"THAT IS THE MOST RIDCIOULS THING THAT I HAV EVER HEARD!" Jacquelyn's voice shouted.
"YOU'RE A CHILD!" that was her mother.
Darry could hear Jacquelyn's footsteps approaching the house. She was clearly very angry, not only because she was yelling but she was literally stomping up to the house.
"YOU GET BACK HERE, YOUNG LADY! I WILL NOT HAVE YOU RUINING THE ROSS NAME DOING THIS?"
"DOING WHAT!?"
"PLAYING HOUSE WITH THAT BOY!"
Jacquelyn scoffed. She was standing near the door now. He heard her footsteps come to a stop on the porch. A final stomp signaling that she has come to a complete stop. "I'M NOT PLAYING HOUSE, MOTHER."
The way that she said the word caused him to look towards the door. Her tone was wrong. He'd known her for years and he had very rarely heard her voice hold that kind of venom. Especially aimed at an adult.
"GET BACK IN THIS CAR, YOUNG LADY!" her mother shouted.
To that Jacquelyn opened the front door and closed it hard behind her after she stepped into the living room. Two-Bit moved to say something, but Darry shook his head no. The brunette stormed pass the boys in the living room, not even bothering to acknowledge them, and into the bedroom. The door slammed.
"Three, two,…" Darry counted slowly as he folded the newspaper.
Right on cue, Jacquelyn let loose a scream. A muffled one. Clearly she was screaming into a pillow. Darry sighed and dropped the paper on the table in front of him. He then leaned back into the chair that he was sitting in.
"Aren't you gonna go, I dunno, talk to her?" Steve questioned.
"She does seem awful angry," Ponyboy added.
"Boys," Darry started with a sigh, "that would not be a good idea. You'll learn when to just let a lady blow off steam. Give her five minutes, unless she does something…"
There was the sound of shattering glass followed by a muffled swear.
"Drastic," Darry finished as he got out of the chair and moved towards the bedroom. He grabbed a rag from the bathroom on his way to the room. "Jacquelyn," he said as he leaned on the door. "I'm gonna come in, okay?" She didn't respond, so he pushed the door open.
She lay on her back in the middle of the bed, clutching her hand to her chest. Darry moved to her, after closing the door, and opened her hand to see a long, shallow cut along the center of her palm. He wrapped the rag around her hand and sat next to her. He gently untied the ribbon holding her hair up in the ponytail and released her dark locks from their hold. He then started to run his fingers through her hair.
"What's wrong, honey?" he questioned softly as she relaxed into his actions.
The brunette rolled over on to her stomach and groaned. She buried her face in the pillow and groaned again. "I hate my mother," she mumbled into the pillow.
"You don't hate her," Darry commented as he lay back on the bed, his fingers still combing through her thick hair.
"I do," she mumbled back. "She's despicable." Darry opened his mouth to ask what she meant, but she continued without his prodding. "She doesn't want a marker for my dad's plot. She says that he doesn't need recognition where he's going. I get that they weren't exactly on the best terms, hell neither were he and I, but you don't speak ill of the dead. She'd just not a kind hearted person."
"You are," he mumbled into her dark hair.
His closeness and breath on hair send a chill down her spine. However, Jacquelyn tried to shake the feeling, but she couldn't managed to. Especially as Darry's arm wrapped around her torso, pulling her close and rolling her over at the same time. Her hazel eyes met his cobalt ones.
"Hmm?" Jacquelyn hummed quietly.
"You shouldn't let your mother get you like that, Jacquelyn," he informed.
"She's just despicable," she repeated as she attempted to roll over into his side.
Darry held her in her position. "You shouldn't let her get to you like that," he repeated slowly. His lips brushing against hers in their close proximity. "You could always ignore her and be the bigger person," he continued.
"I shouldn't have to," she told him, knowing that he wasn't going to change anything that he had said.
"You shouldn't have to," Darry agreed. "But you do."
"I don't want to," she wined.
Seeing that this conversation was going nowhere, Darry pressed his lips to her forehead. "Alright, fine. You don't have to." He kissed the tip of her nose and then her lips. "Okay?" She nodded. "Okay?"
"Okay," she echoed quietly.