Welcome to my one-shot series! I decided to create this series of stories involving the gang, but focusing on Darry and his girlfriend, because Darry is underrated and I think he deserves someone special. Also, it's a little different from my usual writing and I wanted to test the waters a bit. Of course, these stories will include angst, hurt, comfort, etc. themes, but lots of fluff too. Feedback is welcome!

Disclaimer: I do not own The Outsiders or anything related to the story created by S.E. Hinton.

In this chapter: Ponyboy is sick at school and calls Darry's girlfriend.

Wiping down the counters of the diner was boring work, but at the end of working a double, especially one that was mostly overnight, I was more than happy to be bored for once. I had a feeling the storm that came rolling in had something to do with people staying at home, and while it would mean less tip money coming my way, I was glad I finally could take a break after working more than 12 hours straight.

The countertop was squeaky clean, but the circular movement of the rag in my hand was almost soothing. As I moved to a different spot, I glanced at the clock. Just a couple more hours. I found myself relaxing and letting out a sigh of relief.

The phone rang, but my boss, Connie, answered it before I could even let go of the rag.

I was about to move on to sweeping the floor, but Connie yelled in my direction. "Kate! Phone's for you!"

Who on Earth would be calling me? That was an easy question; it had to be one of the guys. Ever since I started dating Darry, I'd been accepted into their gang of friends, and I spent more time with them than my own friends from high school. They're the only ones that would call me when they knew I was at work.

I quickly walked to the phone and smiled at my boss. "Thanks," I said as I took the receiver. Then I put the phone up to my ear. "Hello?"

"Kate?"

"Ponyboy?" I had expected one of the guys to be messing with me or asking me to do something after work, but Pony's voice sounded weak and hoarse, and it caught me off guard. He's supposed to be at school right now. "What's going on, Pony?"

"I'm at the nurse's office. They said I'm sick and I should go home," he said, sounding like a young kid who thought he was going to be in trouble. "I- I'm sorry, I didn't know what to do. Nobody answered the DX or the house, and I didn't want to bother Darry-"

"Hush Pony, it's alright. I'm glad you called me," I said as nicely as I could. I knew Darry wouldn't really be upset if Pony called him to bring him home if he was sick, although I know my boyfriend well enough to know that it might come across that way to his youngest brother. Darry has a lot of things to worry about, and he's not the best at showing his emotions or realizing what his actions might seem like to others. "That's why I gave you this number, isn't it? In case you needed me?" I added, hoping he could somehow hear my smirk.

I had given the diner's number to all the guys in case of an emergency, although on more than one occasion, Two-Bit or Dally would prank call and mess with my coworkers. I apologized for their antics, but Connie always smiled and said it was nice to see us "young kids having a good time these days."

"You don't have to come right now," Pony said, bringing my attention back to him. "You could wait until your break, or- or after your shift. I can wait, I ain't that bad off."

I could hear in his voice how sick he was, and I wasn't going to let him think that I believed him. "You don't sound too good, kiddo. What's your temperature at?"

There was a pause, and I could practically see Pony's face as he thought about whether or not to lie to me. "Uh… like a hundred and two."

Shit, the kid's real sick. "I'll come pick you up."

I heard him sigh in defeat, and I couldn't help but grin. The whole Curtis family is stubborn, but I'm pretty good at winning the battle of wills. "Okay. Thanks, Kate."

"Of course," I said. "I'll be there soon, Ponyboy."

I hung up the phone and looked at Connie, who was watching me closely from a few feet away. "Connie, is it alright if I take a break? Ponyboy's sick and needs a ride home. I can come right back-"

"Honey, you've been here long enough. Bring him home, but don't come back here. You're done for the day," she said with a smile. "In fact…" she trailed off as she headed to the kitchen. I just stayed in my spot, waiting for her to return. She came back with a container of soup that she shoved into my hands. "Take this with you."

I beamed. She's so sweet. "Thank you so much." With that, I left the diner and walked to my car with fresh, hot soup in hand.

When I walked into the nurse's office, nurse Joyce immediately recognized me, even though It had been a couple years since I had been in high school. She smiled and gave me a big hug. "Catherine Miller, it's so nice to see you."

Even though I only went to the nurse's office once or twice during high school, I always enjoyed talking to Joyce in the hallway between classes. She was a nice lady, who didn't care what side of town you lived on, she just wanted to help. Even though she was nice, she wouldn't hesitate to call kids out on their bullshit if needed, and I loved her for it. "Nice to see you too, although I wish it was under better circumstances," I said as I pulled away from the embrace.

She nodded. "Yeah, Mr. Curtis sure isn't feeling good," she said, leading me into a small area of her room where I knew there was a small cot for the students to lay on if they felt awful enough. "I'm surprised he came to school at all today. I think he has the flu or something."

We approached Ponyboy, who was laying on his back, eyes closed, and ice pack on his forehead. He was pale and sweating, and I spotted a garbage bin next to him, probably there in case he needed to throw up. Alarm bells started ringing in my head. How did he leave the house this morning looking like this? Did nobody else notice? I knew his brothers and friends too well to think nobody would notice if the youngest member of the gang looked like a sick ghost.

"Ponyboy," I said softly as I crouched down and put a hand on his shoulder. He slowly opened his eyes and looked at me. "You ready to go home?"

"Yeah," he muttered before slowly sitting up. After a few seconds to catch his breath, he stood up and looked at nurse Joyce. "Thank you," he said politely with a smile.

"Of course, sweetie. Now get some rest," Joyce said.

We made our way out of the school and I guided Ponyboy to my car. The rain was pouring at that point, so I put my jacket around Pony, knowing that the last thing a sick kid needed was to battle the elements too. When we reached my car, he sat in the passenger's seat with the container of warm soup on his lap, the ice pack resting on the back of his neck, and my jacket still wrapped around him. He was shivering and sweating. Poor kid's a mess, his body doesn't even know if he's hot or cold. I immediately started driving towards the Curtis house, where I planned on staying for a while so I could keep an eye on Ponyboy.

"So how did you sneak out of the house this morning?" I asked light-heartedly.

I saw him give me a funny look out of the corner of my eye. "I didn't sneak out."

"Oh yeah? You're telling me nobody noticed that you looked sick this morning?" I replied.

He shrugged. "Darry went to work real early since the storm was comin' in, and I slept in late, so I skipped breakfast and went straight to school."

I wasn't sure how much he was stretching the truth, but I let it go. It doesn't matter, right now I just need to make sure he gets home and rests.

We stayed quiet for the rest of the ride, mostly because Pony nodded off within a minute. Once I pulled up to the house, I gently shook Pony's shoulder. "We're here, kiddo."

He groaned before opening his eyes. "It's still raining," he stated.

I huffed out a laugh. "Yeah, it is. But that's why you have that jacket," I reminded him.

He looked down and noticed my black jacket still around him. "But I didn't bring one."

"It's mine," I said slowly, suddenly getting more worried about Ponyboy. He's getting delirious. "You're borrowing it until we get you inside."

Pony nodded. "Thanks, Kate."

I gave him a smile. "Don't mention it."

The two of us walked up to the front door, which was of course unlocked, and we stepped into the warm house. After taking my jacket off of him and reminding Ponyboy to take off his shoes, I told him to change into dry clothes and go to bed. He listened without saying a word, and after I took my shoes off and hung my wet jacket on the hook, I brought the container of soup into the kitchen.

I debated heating up the soup for Ponyboy, but I figured it was better to just have it warm instead of boiling hot. Who knows if he's feeling cold or hot right now? I poured some soup in a bowl, grabbed a spoon, and walked towards the bedroom Pony and Soda shared. He was already curled up and shivering under the covers, and I regretted not warming up the soup.

"Hey kiddo, you think you want something to eat?" I asked.

He looked at me with a puzzled expression, like he either didn't know who I was or why I was there. Glory, don't tell me he already forgot I brought him home. To my surprise, that wasn't why he was confused. "You're staying?"

"Yeah, is that alright?" I asked. If he said no, then I would've given him his space, but I would've at least had to tell someone else about his illness.

Pony took his eyes away from me. "You don't gotta stay," he replied, although not too convincingly.

I instantly knew what he was thinking about and how he was feeling. Guilty and embarrassed. I put the bowl of soup down next to his bed and crouched down so I was at eye-level with him. "I know you can be by yourself, but what if I said I want to stay? I don't want to leave you by yourself when you feel like this."

He looked at me with his big grey-green eyes, and I knew he appreciated the gesture, but he probably didn't like the idea of me missing work; the same way he never wanted to be the reason Darry or Soda had to miss work. None of us had money to spare, but we'd all drop everything for each other if needed. "I shoulda found Two-Bit or Steve at school. They could've given me a ride," Pony said sadly. "Sorry you had to leave-"

"Hey, don't apologize Pone. I'm always happy to help," I said genuinely. He didn't seem to accept my answer, so I added, "plus, I was glad to get outta there. Worked too many damn hours."

He grinned at that. "Didn't you pick up a shift last night? Ain't that why you worked an overnight double?"

The kid's sick and delirious, but he remembered that?

I ruffled his hair. "Yeah, I guess it's my fault then. So I should be thanking you for bailing me out, huh?"

He laughed a little, but after a few seconds, his voiced returned to serious. "Really, thanks Kate."

"Anytime," I said before straightening up. "I'm going to leave the soup here if you want any, and the rest will be in the fridge, alright?"

He nodded and immediately closed his eyes. Since he was still shivering, I grabbed a blanket from the living room and draped it over Pony before closing his bedroom door halfway. I went into the kitchen to put the rest of the soup away when I heard the front door open and close quietly. Darry.

"Kate?" I heard my boyfriend say from the living room. "You here?"

I put the soup container in the fridge and went to meet Darry. He was carrying a couple bags of groceries, so as I took one from him, I gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Hey, babe. Off work early today?" I asked as we walked to the kitchen.

"Started early, ended early," he said slowly. The confused look he was giving me was so similar to Pony's that I almost laughed. He set the bags down on the table and started taking the food out of them. "Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining, but what are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be at work?"

I hesitated for a second, which was enough for Darry to realize something was up. He turned to look at me with a raised eyebrow.

"I got a call from Pony at school," I started. Like I anticipated, Darry's eyes widened.

"What happened?" he asked worriedly.

"Nothing happened Darry, Pony's just sick. He has a fever and isn't feeling good," I explained. "He needed a ride home, so I picked him up. We only just got here a few minutes ago. He's resting right now."

Darry deflated slightly, then he went to check on his kid brother. One thing I love about Darry is how much he loves and cares for his brothers, and seeing that in action always makes me smile. I was still smiling and putting the groceries away when he came back into the kitchen. He gently put a hand on my arm, stopping me from reaching into the paper bag and making me look at him.

"Kate, I'm so sorry. It should've been me, you shouldn't-" I cut him off by putting a finger against his lips.

"Darry, sweetie, it's fine. I was happy to do it," I said with a smile. "You and Pony worry too much about me."

Darry grinned, then wrapped his arms around me and rested his chin on the top of my head. He's quite a bit taller than me, so when he hugged me, I was snug against his chest, making me feel safe and comforted in his muscular arms. "It's because we care about you."

I melted into the warm embrace and let myself soak up all the love and affection radiating form Darry. "I care about you guys too."

Suddenly, he pulled away from me and held me at arm's length as he studied me. He looked at my hair, face, arms, and my legs, all while looking confused. "Why are you soaking wet?"

I rolled my eyes. "It's raining… same reason you were done with work early." Is he delirious too? What's going on with everyone today?

He glanced towards the front door, then back at me. "You had a jacket, but you're drenched from head to toe, and you're shivering."

Honestly, I didn't realize I was shivering until he said so, and I didn't know I was cold until I was enveloped in Darry's warm embrace and it was suddenly taken away. "I gave Ponyboy my jacket." I guess being outside in the rain with just my work shirt and a skirt doesn't help me retain heat.

Darry groaned. "Kate-"

"He's sick, I wasn't about to let him be out in the rain without a jacket," I said, defending myself. I knew Darry didn't like the fact I was cold because I lent his brother my jacket, but I didn't like that he felt bad for me because of it. "I'm fine, Darry. I'll warm up in a few minutes."

He sighed and shook his head. "People think I'm stubborn."

I grinned. "You are stubborn."

"Nothing compared to you," he muttered with a grin. Before I could retaliate, he pointed towards his room. "Borrow some of my clothes."

I could've argued, but Darry's clothes were comfortable, they smelled like him, and most importantly, they were dry. I went to his room, changed into a pair of his sweatpants and a t-shirt, put my wet clothes in the bathtub, then I returned to the kitchen. I was planning on helping him put the rest of the groceries away, but he was already done and leaning against the counter, waiting for me.

"Better?" Darry asked with a smirk. He knew he was right and that borrowing his clothes was the smart move, but I didn't want to give him the satisfaction.

I shrugged as I approached him. "I guess, but these clothes don't quite fit me."

He grinned, wrapped his arms around me, and gave me a quick kiss before resting his forehead on mine. "Thanks again, Kate. I'm sorry you had to leave work. I owe you one."

"You do not," I replied, pulling away slightly but keeping my arms around him. "I'm more than happy to help out. Connie even gave me some soup to bring over."

He smiled. "I'm sure Pony will have some when he wakes up."

Just then, the front door slammed open. "Hello? Darry? Kate?" For a moment, I wondered how he knew both of us were there, but then I remembered about our cars parked out front. Duh, Kate.

I pulled away from Darry and looked at Soda and Steve. They were both about to walk through the house before Darry spoke up. "Shoes off, guys. I don't want to have to clean just because you're bringing mud all throughout the house." Steve grumbled something that made Soda laugh, but I didn't hear it.

"What're you doin' here, Kate?" Soda asked before he almost fell while taking his shoes off.

"I was about to ask you the same thing. I thought you worked until six tonight," I said. Then I looked at Steve. I guess he's skipping school today.

"Yeah, but the storm knocked the power out at the DX. We tried fixin' it, but it was no use. Boss sent me home. Good thing Steve stopped by so he could drive me," Soda said as he shook water out of his hair. "Darry stopped by the DX on his way here, but he said you'd be working for a few more hours. Did the power go out at the diner too?"

I shook my head. "No, Pony's sick and needed a ride home."

Just like Darry, Soda instantly looked worried. "What? He's sick?"

"Yeah, the nurse said she thinks it's the flu or something," I said. "He had a fever and was shivering, but he's sleeping now."

Soda swore under his breath. "I knew something was up. He was up studying extra late last night, then he slept in and skipped breakfast before going to school. He left even before Two-Bit showed up."

"Why'd he go to school if he was sick?" Steve asked. "I ain't sick and I ditched today. Why does the kid want to go to school?"

Soda shrugged. "I think he had a big test or something today."

Darry sighed. "He probably didn't do well on it anyways since he's so sick."

To other people, Darry's response might seem insensitive, but I knew he what he meant. He wasn't truly upset that Pony might not get an A on the test, even though he'd like it if Pony kept his straight As, but he was actually thinking that since Pony was so sick that he had to call me to pick him up, then he should've just stayed home and rested instead of worrying about a test.

"I'm gonna check on him," Soda said as he moved towards his and Pony's shared bedroom.

"If he's awake, see if he can eat some soup," I suggested as he walked away. He didn't reply, but I knew he heard me.

"There's soup?" Steve asked, perking up instantly at the mention of food. "Any left over?"

"It's in the fridge," I said. Steve immediately went to the kitchen, apparently to devour some of Connie's soup, so I politely added, "save some for Pony, Steve. He's the one who's sick."

"Yeah yeah," he muttered.

Darry wrapped his arms around me from behind and kissed the top of my head. "Glory, I love you so much."

I gripped his arms and leaned into him. "Love you too."

Later that evening, the whole gang was over at the Curtis house, eating the food Darry cooked and playing poker. Johnny and Two-Bit were worried about Ponyboy since they noticed they never saw him at school, and even after they found out he was sick, their worries didn't go away entirely. Dally said Pony would be fine if everyone hushed up and was quiet enough to let Ponyboy sleep, which eased some of the tension in the room and made me glad that Dally cared about Ponyboy, even if he never said it out loud.

I was sitting with Darry, trying and failing to focus on my cards. I was usually decent at poker, but I had worked an overnight double and spent the majority of my day after work either helping take care of Pony or helping clean the house, so I didn't have the focus or the energy I usually did. I told the guys I was done playing and just wanted to watch, but within a couple minutes, my eyes were closed and I was leaning heavily against Darry. I felt myself start to drift off, but at some point, I was lifted into the air and was being moved. It was obvious Darry was carrying me somewhere, but I honestly didn't care where; I trusted him, and I just wanted to sleep.

I suddenly felt the softness of a bed underneath me, and I was tucked in with a thick quilt wrapping around my whole body. I felt his warm lips on my forehead and heard Darry whisper, "Get some sleep, Kate."

I was too tired to do anything except hum in reply before I fell asleep.