A/N: So here's the next chapter. Thanks so much for the reviews, I love them. They make me happy. It's great to know that people are still reading.
DISCLAIMER: I don't own The Outsiders.
"Welcome to Penny's," the blond shouted from the backroom as the bell over the door tinkled letting her know that someone was entering. "Let me know if you need any- Oh!" The blond had turned to face the customer that had entered the establishment, it was Darry Curtis. Gina moved towards him from the backroom with her arms crossed over her chest and her eyebrow arched. "Hey, Darry, Jacquelyn's not here, you know?" She figured that he of all people would know that the brunette wasn't there.
"I know. She's with Two-Bit and Ponyboy," Darry said as he pushed his hand into his pockets and shifted his weight from his right foot to his left foot and then back.
Gina leaned on the counter and watched him curiously through her blue eyes. "What's on your mind, Darry?" she questioned.
Darry's brows knitted together as he looked down at his work boots. "You know you're her best friend and all, Jacquelyn's I mean," Darry started slowly as he brought his hand to the back of his neck. "I wanna…" It wasn't too late. It wasn't too late for him to just turn around and leave. He could go back to work and act like this never happened. But what kind of man would he be if he did that? What kind of man would he be if he continued to avoid this? "I wanna talk to you about something, Gina."
Her blue eyes narrowed as one of her perfect blond eyebrow arched. "I'm listening."
Darry rocked back on his heels and took deep breath before removing his hand from his pocket and placing a small velvet box on the counter between them. Gina's baby blue eyes widened as she brought her eyes from the black box on the counter to the blue eyes of the man in front of her.
"Oh. My. Gosh," Gina stated very slowly. "Can I look?" Darry nodded. Gina hurriedly picked up the small box and flipped it open with a smile one her lips. "Oh my gosh. How'd you get this?" Gina questioned as she looked toward him again.
"Uh, it was my mom's," he replied absentmindedly, as if he hadn't expected her to ask that question. "Do you think…?"
"She'll love it. She's absolutely love it. I mean its Jacquelyn, she loves you so she'll love it." Gina flipped the box shut and placed it back on the counter. "What did you need from me, Darry?" He glanced at her briefly. "You wanted my approval of the ring?" While he didn't say anything, she knew that was it. She picked up the box and placed it in his hand. "She'll love it."
"Soda, get in here," Darry called from the living room.
He'd asked Soda and Ponyboy to come home after work. Soda was still holding down a job at the DX and had recently be promoted to assistant manager. While Ponyboy had started working at the Dairy Queen. After the rough time that he went through, Darry figured that he needed a little freedom and that was what he wanted to do. So before they went to work in the morning, while Jacquelyn was still burrowed somewhere under the blankets, he told them that he wanted them to come home after work so that he could talk with them about something. That they had done. However, with Ponyboy came Two-Bit, who had hung around the DQ so much over the summer that they had given him a job, and with Soda came Steve, Steve was now head mechanic at the DX.
"Why are we all here, Superman," Two-Bit asked as he took a chip from the bag that Soda had come back into the room with.
"Why are you here?" Darry asked. placing an emphasis on you.
"Ponyboy and I are now a matched set," the Mickey Mouse lover exclaimed as he wrapped his arm around Ponyboy's neck. As soon as he did, Ponyboy tried to pry him off. However, it seemed that he was determined to prove his point and not let go.
He, Soda, and Ponyboy were all sitting on the sofa. Two-Bit in the middle and Soda and Ponyboy on either side. Steve was sitting on the arm of the sofa next to Soda.
"I'm here 'cause ain't nothing else to do," Steve said with a shrug even though he wasn't asked.
"What did you wanna talk about, Dare?" Soda said, holding the bag of chips out of Two-Bit's reach.
"Jacquelyn," he said honestly.
It was so much easier with them. They were family. They looked at her like family. They weren't going to judge him or her. They were more likely to be supportive.
"What about her?" Ponyboy asked.
Or maybe it wasn't that easy… What if Soda and Ponyboy didn't approve? What if they didn't want her as an official part of the family? But wouldn't they have said something about her living with them for so long if they had that problem? They did like her right? What about the state? What would the state think? Had he really thought this though enough?
He cleared his throat, shaking the thoughts from his head. "Uh, I'm gonna ask her to marry me."
The four younger boys all seemed to focus their attention on him. It was quite possible that they weren't expecting that.
"You're gonna ask her to marry you?" Soda echoed. Darry nodded mutely trying to judge his tone. "You're gonna ask her to marry you!" This time he wasn't repeating or questioning. His voice held a genuinely excited ring to it. He was okay with it.
"It's about time you made an honest woman out of her," Two-Bit teased.
Darry blue eyes glanced over to his younger brother who hadn't said anything. "Pone? Are you okay with that?"
Ponyboy sat quietly for a moment, as if he was mulling over his answer. "I like having her around," he said finally.
That was his way of saying yes and Darry sighed. That was half the battle.
One more thing.
"So I wanted to ask if it was okay if I used mom's ring?" He'd leaned forward with his elbows on his knees and his hand folded under his chin.
Of course, Soda approved. "Mom would've wanted her to have it and since you're the oldest you get first dibs on it."
Ponyboy was silent again. "Can I see it?" he questioned. Darry nodded and pulled the black velvet box from his pocket and handed it to his youngest brother. When the auburn haired Curtis flipped it open, the corners of his lips twitched upward subtly. "I remember this ring. Dad knocked it down the drain once when I was little and we had to get it before mom found out. Cleaned it and everything." Darry smiled. He remembered that too. Of course, their mother had found out eventually, but no harm no foul, she'd said. "Yeah," Pony said as he flipped the box shut and handed it to Darry. "She'll like it."
The sound of a car pulling into the driveway made everyone jump and Darry pocked the ring quickly. Two-Bit flicked on the TV and Ponyboy picked up a book off the coffee table. Darry pulled the newspaper from the pocket of the armchair and opened it.
Jacquelyn opened the door and kicked her shoes into the closet. When she looked at the boys in the living room, she arched an eyebrow. "Hi, guys?"
"Ross," Steve greeted gruffly.
The woman slowly walked into the living room and sat on the arm of Darry's armchair. Soda glanced at her from the corner of his eye and Ponyboy watched her from behind his book. Suddenly, the brunette felt very self-conscious. "What?" she exclaimed.
Darry shot his two brother's a pointed look at his two brothers, but said nothing. He was surprised that Two-Bit hadn't opened his big mouth. He supposed that he would just have to count his blessings on that one. Soda turned his eyes away from Jacquelyn and Ponyboy looked towards his book.
"Something weird is happening here," she announced as she stood off the arm of the chair. "Something weird is happening and I don't wanna know what it is, because it seems really weird." She reached over the coffee table and took the bag of chips from Soda's hand. "Stop eating out of the bag," she said as she took a handful out of the bag.
"You're eating out of the bag!" Soda countered.
"I bought the bag," she told him as she started towards the kitchen. From the corner of her eye, she could see the boys sharing a smirk.
Weird things were happening.
"What are we doing here?" Jacquelyn Ross questioned as Darry pulled the car into a parking space.
They were at the University of Tulsa football field. The stadium was brightly lit, just as it always was whenever she drove by. When she'd come home from work, where Gina had been acting rather odd, she'd flopped down on the sofa flicked on the tv and tried to find something to watch. Then Soda had come in, glancing at her and smiling like he had been doing whenever he saw her for the past three weeks. In response, she'd launched a throw pillow at him to make him stop. She'd finally settled into watching Micky Mouse when Darry came in. Finally, something normal. Not quite. He'd told her that there were going out to do something. He didn't tell her what they were going to do or anything, he just told her that they were going. When she refused, because she was tired of all the weirdness, he'd picked her up, placed her on his shoulder and carried her to the car. She had no say in the matter at all.
"Remember when you said that you wanted to learn how to play football?" he questioned as he glanced at her from the corner of his eye.
"Yeah…." the brunette answered slowly. "What of it?"
Darry reached down beside his feet and produced a football. "Well, I'm gonna teach you. The boys wanna play football and it seems that we are at an uneven amount." He watched as she ticked off each of the boys on her fingers: Darry, Soda, Pony, Steve, Two-Bit. "So I'm gonna teach you so that you can play."
"I'm a girl," she sputtered as Darry opened the driver's side door and hopped out of the car. "I can't do grossly athletic things. It's frowned upon. And it's cold outside." Darry leaned on the car's frame and smiled at her. "What?"
He would admit that she had a point. It was cool outside. October was starting to turn into November. The leaves were starting to fall off the trees more rapidly. So much so that he hadn't even bothered to rake them. He wouldn't rake them until the last leaf fell of the tree.
"Good thing we aren't Socs, Jacquelyn. Let's go." The brunette folded her arms across her chest and huffed; determined not to move. Darry rolled his blue eyes, closed his door and made his way around to the passenger side door. Jacquelyn moved to lock the door, but Darry was faster than her having the door open before she could even touch the lock. "Last chance to walk on your own," he offered. The woman huffed again and turned her eyes away from him. "Your choice," he said as he reached into the car and effortlessly picked her up and placed her on the pavement before closing the door. "You're not getting out of this."
She knew that he was right, but she was not going to go quietly. She followed him on to the field, stomping the whole way there. Her small feet making a very tiny sound, but she was getting her point across, at least she thought that she was.
Darry just found the whole process of angry Jacquelyn amusing. Usually it lasted all of three minutes and she just moved on. She wasn't the type to hold a grudge or anything. He patiently waited for the frown to leave her lips. As he did, he surveyed the field. It was just the way he remember it. The smell of the grass and the paint. How perfect the white lines on the field were. It was like nothing had changed. Of course, everything had changed. Everything was different. Well, he glanced at Jacquelyn who had stop frowning and had taken to rubbing her shoe along the white paint, not everything. She was still constant, even if she had been gone almost a year. She came back and it was like nothing had changed.
This was where everything between them ended, so why not let this be the place where something new started?
"Alright, this," he held the oblong brown ball up, "is a football." She rolled her eyes. "These are the stitches," he turned the ball so that the white stitches were facing her. "You're right handed, right?" He didn't want for her to nod, instead he picked up her right hand and spread her fingers. "Okay, index finger goes here," he placed her index finger close to the tip of the ball, "middle finger goes here," he pointed to the end of the white laces closest to her index finger, and she placed her middle finger there, "ring finger goes between the second and third laces, like that, and pinky between the fourth and fifth laces. Thumb wrapped around the ball." He watched her fingers. "Geez, you have tiny hands," he commented as he shifted her grip. "Better?"
"Better."
"Stance." He walked behind her and pulled her right side back. "Throwing arm to the back, feet shoulder width apart." He circled her as she made the adjustments needed. "Good. Do you wanna give it a throw?" he questioned.
"Aren't there more instructions?" the brunette questioned. "Aren't you going to tell me how to throw?"
"You just bring the ball up and release, let it roll off your fingers starting with your pinky. I can show you, but it's hard to tell you, you just gotta feel it." She started to hand him the ball, "No, hold it and we'll go through the motions together. Don't let the ball go, okay?" She nodded. He led her through the motion, bringing her arm back and then shifting it forward and then showing her the follow through. "Try it."
"You just want me to throw the ball?"
"Do you want me to go and catch it?" he questioned with a smirk. "I don't think it will go very far." He dodged her as she took a playful swing at him. "Alright, alright." He moved ten yards in front of her. "Let's see if you can get it this far."
Jacquelyn snorted and took the stance the he'd showed to her and then she did the exact motions that he's guided her through. Even Darry was surprised. He had to run backwards a couple of yards to catch the ball that she'd thrown and the spiral wasn't that bad either. His blue eyes met her hazel ones. "How was that?"
"You hustling me, Ross?" Darry questioned as he walked back towards her.
"No!" she said with a laugh as she held her hands up in a defensive manner. "First time, I've ever done that. Maybe I'm just naturally talented."
Darry held the ball up, "Yeah, yeah, you wanna catch it?"
Jacquelyn's hazel eyes widened. "Instructions?"
"There aren't instructions for everything," he teased, but he tucked the ball under his arm and held his hands up in the shape of a diamond. "Just do this, watch the ball from the middle, and catch." He tossed the ball in the air and caught it the way that he'd said. "I'm not gonna throw it hard. Ready?"
"No," she responded but held her hands up to catch the ball. He lofted it to her, because honestly he wasn't sure if she was going to be able to catch. She did fine.
"You're hustling me, Ross," Darry stated. "You have done this before."
He was impressed with her. Honestly, he didn't expect her that to catch on so quickly. There were times that they would toss the ball around in his backyard when they were younger but he'd never taught her the right way. He never really figured that she was interested. She was always whining about how he came back with bruises from practice and how she thought the sport was so brutal. He just never thought to teach her. It wasn't until about a two or so months ago, right before her dad passed, when they were lying in bed that she even mentioned wanting to learn.
"Maybe I have a really good teacher," she said as she moved to throw the ball to him. "Did you think of that?"
He rolled his eyes as the ball made contact with his hands. He tossed it back to her, an actual throw not a loft, and when she caught it and adjusted her hands she tossed it back. He was stalling, he was stalling so much, but honestly he was enjoying their game of catch. He was just enjoying being in her presence. She always had such a light aura around her. She was also so bubbly and happy and she was just a blast to be around. That was probably why he pushed her away when his parents passed. He didn't want to taint that aura. Clearly, there were other factors, but that was certainly one of them.
"Dare!" the brunette shouted. He looked over at her. "You okay?"
"Yeah, yeah," he told her. "Ready?"
She nodded, "Yeah."
Darry lifted his arm and released the ball from his fingers, a little harder than he had been doing before. The ball went soaring over Jacquelyn's head. The brunette shot his a glare and he shrugged. The ball settled about 20 yards down the field. "You gonna go get it or…" he let his voice trail off as he gestured at the ball at the end of the field. She continued to glare at him before turning her back to him and stomping, because she was angry. Darry took a deep breath and pushed his hand into his pockets, his fingertips brushing against the velvet box. He wrapped his hand around the box and started walking towards her as she walked away to get the ball.
He stopped walking and sighed. His fingers twitched around the box as he brought it out of his pocket. "Jacquelyn?"
"I'm getting the stupid ball that you through, what do you want?" she shouted over her shoulder without looking at him.
Darry laughed as he positioned himself. She was definitely a spitfire. He'd give her that. "Jacquelyn," he said again. She'd reached the ball, mumbling something under her breath about how it was stupid and how it was his fault that the ball was over there so he should have gotten it. When she turned around, all of the mumbling stopped and the ball that she'd just retrieve fell from her slender fingers and to the green grass she'd just picked it up from.
"What are you doing?" she questioned as she really began to take in what she was seeing. He was there, two or three yards from her, on one knee. Her voice and facial expression were very neutral. "Darrell Curtis, what are you doing?" This time her voice not so neutral. However, he couldn't quite place the tone.
"Jacquelyn," he started slowly catching her hazel eyes with his blue ones. He wasn't good with words, but he had thought about what he wanted to say to her, because there was so much that he wanted to say to her. He wanted to let her know that he appreciated all that she had done for his brothers, helping Soda get over Sandy and taking Pony school shopping. Not just those things though, she treated them like her own brothers. She never once did anything to harm them and everything that she did was always in their best interest. He wanted to let her knew that she meant the world to him. That she was special to him. That honestly with her, he wouldn't be the same. He wasn't him without her. However, as he looked at her standing there, watching him, he realized that he was never going to be able to verbally tell her any of that. There was no way for him to ever put that into words. Nothing could suffice. So he settled for the simple way, "Jacquelyn Ross, will you marry me?" he questioned as he flipped the black velvet box in his hand open.
For a moment, her face took that neutral expression again. A split second later, she was biting her lip, biting back a smile. "What was that? I didn't quite hear you?" she teased as she walked closer to him, the football completely forgotten. Her hazel eyes fell to the ring in the black velvet box. The band was white gold and in the center was a small diamond. On either side of the center diamond were two smaller circular diamonds. On the side of the accent diamonds was some type of decorative ridging. It was nothing flashy, but it was beautiful.
Darry frowned, "Jacquelyn..." His voice held a sort of warning tone it in.
The brunette wrapped her arms around his neck, catching him off guard and effectively pushing him to his back. "Yes."
Darrell Curtis let loose a breath that he hadn't even realized that he was holding. She'd said yes. While everyone reassured him that she was going to say yes, he still had it in his mind that she was going to say no and leave him again. Talk about trust issues. But she hadn't. She'd said yes. He pushed his way up so that he was leaning on his forearms and sighed.
"What?" she questioned with a smile. "Did you think I was gonna say no?"
To avoid the question, Darry took the ring from the box and slipped it on to her left ring finger.
"You did!" she laughed as she held her hand up to admire the ring.
"It's my mom's," he told her quietly as she watched her. "I think that she would have wanted you to having. She always called you the daughter that she never had. She always said that she was destined to be surrounded by testosterone and that if she wasn't sure that the fourth one would be a boy, she would have tired for a girl again. Then there was you."
Jacquelyn's hazel eyes met his blue ones briefly before she looked back at the ring on her hand. "Then I love it even more," she announced. She paused and then smacked his arm lightly. "This is why everyone was acting so weird around me! You told Gina! She keeps trying to find excuses to look at my hands. You are awful!" she shouted in a perfectly playful manner.
There was something in her voice. "Are you crying, Ross?" he questioned.
"No!" she answered all too quickly with a sniffle. "I'm allergic to grass is all."
Darry snorted and pushed himself up further, pushing her body up with his. However he didn't comment on her excuse. She stood first and offered her hand to pull him up.
"Sorry, I yelled at you about the ball," she stated as she walked to grab the ball. "But come on, what if I had really tried to catch that. I could have…"
Darry cut her off with a kiss, his lips pressing to hers mid-sentence. He effectively silenced her. He wasn't really itching to hear about how badly the plan could have ended. "Geez, engaged for one minute and you're already nagging."
Jacquelyn rolled her light eyes and kissed him again.
A/N: It's the chapter that everyone has been waiting for! YAY! Exciting! Horary! I'm going to be honest. I didn't actually have it plotted to have them get engaged, but then I did that 'And you'll no longer be a Capulet' line and I was like, 'Yeah. Yeah, this has to happen'. Anyways, I wanted to give you all this because you guys are great and I really appreciate the support that I have gotten recently as well as the support that I had before I disappeared that was here when I came back. So this was for you guys.