Author's Note: After hearing so much about the new musical, the 13 year old inside of me got excited and insisted my 50- something self write this. She loves it! Hope the child in you does, too.
The tension-filled air smacked him in the face as he walked up the front steps of his home. A silent prayer of "what now?" flitted across his mind. Upon entering the small living room, he froze taking in the scenery, searching for the source of the trouble. Two silent brothers sat on the couch, one doing homework and one whose closed eyes opened upon his entering. No tension blaring, no shouts from unseen rooms. The smell of onions and garlic mixed with the aroma of unease. "What's wrong?" he finally asked, voice tight.
The eldest of the two teens tilted his head towards the kitchen. "Lacie."
"Is she alright?"
He shook his head. "I tried to help her."
The younger boy kept his eyes in his book, not daring to look up. "She yelled. Loud."
Having gathered enough information, he took long strides to the kitchen, dropping his toolbelt on the dining room table along the way. His beautiful girl stood in front of the stove, still dressed for work in a short navy skirt and white sweater, stirring whatever concoction was in the pot. "Lacie," he said.
"I'm fine." She reached her non-stirring hand up to her cheek and pushed away the tears.
"What's wrong?" He took another step closer and put his hand on her arm. She flinched it away.
"I said 'I'm fine.'"
Hands hovering above her, he waited a wordless moment, then tried placing them on her arms again. This time she did not flinch. "What is wrong?" he repeated, with a bit more emphasis.
Pulling from him she took the pot lid to the sink and turned on the water. "Do none of the men in this family listen?"
He watched her wash a few random dishes while he considered his approach. When she turned the water off, he reached for her arm again and said, "Come with me."
She pulled away and shouted, "No!"
Invading her space, he lowered his voice, held fast on her wrist and repeated, "Come with me."
For some reason, which neither of them fully understood, she conceited.
They bypassed the two brothers and headed straight to their bedroom. He left her standing in the middle of the room while he closed and locked the door. Then he took her wrist, more gently this time, and led her to the bed where he sat on the edge facing her. Long brown locks covered her eyes which were trained on a spot on the floor. He brushed the hair aside to confirm the tears he suspected.
Feeling self-conscious, she pushed his hand from her face and wiped her eyes. He rubbed her arms, up and down. "Relax," he said, in a quiet tone, "it's just us here. Relax." He waited a few moments, hoping she would calm, before asking, "What's going on?"
"Nothing. Just a bad day. I'm sorry. I really yelled at your brothers."
He moved his hands to her waist. "It's ok. They probably deserved it." Half of his mouth tweaked up in a smile.
She shook her head. "They didn't. They did nothing wrong. I just yelled like a crazy lady for no reason."
"They can handle it. Plus, I'm sure there's something they should have been yelled at for, that they weren't."
Starting to relax simply from his presence, she crinkled her nose. "I don't think it works that way."
He pulled her closer. "Trust me. With little brothers, it does." She leaned forward and he kissed her. A perfect, soft, gentle kiss on her lips. "Now, tell me what's wrong. And don't say 'nothing.'"
"Really, Darry. Just a bad day." She kissed him again.
"Tell me about it."
She leaned back as far as she could with his hands now firmly on her ass. "Please don't push. I need to figure this out on my own."
Concern returned to his face and his voice hardened. "So it's not just a bad day. What the hell happened?"
She tried to move away from him, but he would not allow it. "I'm serious. Everything is ok. I will take care of things myself."
If that was supposed to alleviate his fears, it failed. "Jesus, what happened?"
She pulled away from him, successfully this time, and moved as far as the small room allowed. "Nothing. Everything is fine. Just. . . a little situation at work. But I've got it covered. Everything will be fine."
Darry had stood in the middle of her declaration. "I can help you."
"I know you can. But this is my job. I need to take care of things myself."
His jaw clenched and he considered his options. He could pressure her enough to spill her secret.
She watched the wheels turn in his head and stepped towards him. "It's ok, Darry. I'm not one of your little brothers." She took his hands in hers and leaned up to peck at the corner of his mouth. "You don't need to protect me. I just got a little upset tonight. I'm so sorry I took it out on the boys. I swear I won't do that again."
She continued to kiss him, but it was her apologizing that softened him. "Hell, it's the quietest they've been in months. Maybe you should bitch them out more often." He held the side of her face and tilted it up so she was looking at him. "But you promise you'll tell me if you need my help."
"Of course," she acquiesced. "But I won't." The kissing resumed.
"God, I can't wait to wreck you tonight," Darry said, trying to control himself.
"What's stopping you from doing that right now?"
"The two boys in the other room."
"You locked the door, right?" She pushed him down onto the bed and hiked her skirt up enough to straddle him.
"Yeah," he said, raking his fingers through her hair and pulling her closer.
"Then we're in the clear, 'cause I'm pretty sure I scared those boys away from me for a bit."
With one hand holding firm on the back of her head, he used his other, and a leg, to flip her onto her back. His suddenness worked a yelp out of her which he expertly stifled with his hand. His laughing eyes met her blown pupils and he whispered, "Didn't expect to get you screaming so soon." One hand now on her mouth, the other worked at the buttons on her sweater. "Let's see if we can take you apart without too much of a ruckus." Cardigan open, he replaced his hand with his mouth.
In the living room, Ponyboy looked up at his brother. "Did you hear something?"
"No, I did not," Soda said, knowing full well that he did hear something, and exactly what it was. "Let's go get some dinner." He rose and turned on the radio before leading the way to the kitchen.
"Ok," Pony said, walking towards the bedrooms. "I'll go get Darry."
Soda reached his brother's sleeve before he could go any further. "I think we'll just eat without him. He'll come out when he's ready."
OOOOOOOOOO
Lacie worked at the wholesale fruit and vegetable warehouse on the outskirts of town, handling large orders for markets and restaurants. Having worked there since she was sixteen, and being twenty-two now, her managerial and communication skills were excellent. She was a valuable asset to the company. Her boss, store namesake Willam Dellatorro, trusted her abilities enough to allow her to handle most of the day to day business, compensating her close to what she was worth. But his son's increasing handsiness was beginning to take its toll, especially now that Darry was in her life. The harassment was worsening. But perhaps it bothered her more now that it disrespected her relationship. Or maybe she was just overreacting.
She spent most of the weekend weighing her options while going through the motions of household chores and relaxation with Darry and the gang. Quitting her job did not seem like a good idea. The pay and benefits were too much to relinquish. And she had worked hard to earn her position. Quitting also meant leaving her friends, the best she had ever had. She cherished her days with them. They made work, and life, great. She would not risk jeopardizing that. Of course, she could tell Darry about the situation. He would tell her to quit immediately and then probably beat the guy up, get arrested, lose the boys. That option seemed out of the question.
Considering all this while preparing food for the guys to eat during the football game, she did not notice the phone ring until Sodapop called from the living room announcing it was for her. Wiping her hands on a towel, she shouted back, "Thanks, I'll take it in the bedroom." Once back there, she picked up the receiver, told Soda she had it, and waited for the living room line to hang up before saying, "Hello?"
"Hey, Lacie," her best friend Abby said.
"Hey, Abs. What's going on?"
"Just checking in with you before tomorrow. Friday was so awful. Are you ok?"
"Yeah, really dreading tomorrow though." She propped the pillow and stretched out on the bed.
"What are you going to do?"
"Pretend nothing happened. Is there another choice?"
"Yeah, there is! You can quit. Find something else. Have you told Darry?"
"No! He'd go nuts if he knew Dellatorro had kissed me like that." She kept her voice down and her eyes on the door. The bastard had only stopped kissing her because Abby entered the walk-in unannounced. Lacie had been powerless against him. She hated to think what could have happened.
"Good! He should go nuts. I'm sure he wouldn't want you going back there. Just quit."
"And let Tammy take my job? No way! Besides, I've been working there for so long. And you caught him before things got out of hand. He'll probably lay low for a while. I'll be more careful, too. I won't let myself get cornered again."
"You know this isn't your fault, right?"
She sighed. "Yeah, I know. He's never been this forward before. It's always been just subtle touches and stupid comments. I don't know what caused this."
"I hear his wife is leaving him. That's probably what made him more aggressive."
"I'll be more careful." Victory shouts came from the living room where a touchdown was being celebrated. "Listen, I have to get going. I've got food in the oven."
"Ok. I'll be in early with you tomorrow. I won't leave your side. If you won't let Darry protect you, I'll do it myself."
"Alright, slugger," she laughed. "See you tomorrow."
OOOOOOOOOO
Lacie exited the bedroom in time to see the boys running out of the house. Halftime usually meant a pickup game at the lot, so she presumed they were headed there. Rounding the corner to the kitchen, she was only a little surprised to see her boyfriend taking the casserole out of the oven.
"You don't have to do that," she said, making room for him to put it on the counter.
"It's fine."
"You could have gone with the boys."
"I'd rather stay with you."
Noticing his lack of eye contact and short answers she said, "You're mad."
He turned to face her. "I'm worried. And a little annoyed." When she didn't respond, he continued, "Was that Abby?"
"Yeah. She was just checking in on me."
He wanted to ask if Abby knew what was going on with his girlfriend, which, of course she did, Abby knew everything about Lacie. And why she got to know but he didn't. Why was he not being trusted? But he kept quiet and looked at the woman he loved, who was in pain. And instead said, "Why are you afraid of me?"
Her eyes widened at the question. No one had ever asked her that before, but she had been so very afraid of so many people. They locked eyes in silence for a few moments and she decided that if she wanted this relationship to continue, and to be different from any other she had, she needed to be brave and answer him. So she did. "I am afraid of losing the best person who I have ever known. I'm afraid of hurting you. I'm afraid of your reaction to what is happening. I'm afraid of you overreacting. I'm mostly so scared of losing you."
She melted any anger he felt. He wanted to pull her into his arms and keep her tucked there forever. "I'm not going anywhere. But you have to tell me things that are hard and trust me to deal with them."
"I know," she said. "Billy kissed me."
Darry felt like he had been punched in the gut. "Billy Dellatorro?" he asked, eyes wide.
"Yes."
"Did you kiss him back?"
"Of course not! He assaulted me in the walk-in. I bit him. He went to hit me, but Abby arrived just in time and he left." She did not mean to say all that, but it tumbled out.
The words, "I'm gonna fucking kill him," wanted to escape Darry's mouth, but he managed to control them. "Did you report him?"
Lacie crumbled in tears and lowered herself into a chair at the kitchen table. "To who, his father?" she yelled.
Darry dropped to his knees in front of her and pulled her into a hug. "I'm so sorry, baby. You didn't fucking deserve that." He kissed her head. "It's ok, we'll figure things out."
"Just hold me," she said. "I always feel safe in your arms."
He tugged her closer. "Then stay right here, baby."