(Darry's DOV)

My body was vibrating the entire drive home. My fingers, toes, my lips… everything was buzzing after kissing Kate. I already knew how much I liked her, but after the kiss and feeling her touch on my head and neck, I knew I was falling for her.

You've only been on a couple of dates with her, Darry. Calm down.

It didn't matter that the logical part of my brain was trying to convince me otherwise, my heart knew the truth about the depth of my feelings, and it scared me.

My brothers are still my priority. I can't forget that.

Despite the trembling in my limbs, I managed to make it home, park the truck, and walk up the steps and into the house. Soda, Pony, and Johnny were all on the couch watching tv, with Johnny's wheelchair on the other side of the room. The moment they heard me walk in, all three of their heads all snapped in my direction.

"How was your date?" Soda asked excitedly.

I smiled at him. "It was good. It was really good."

"Did you guys see Dally?" Johnny asked.

I chuckled a little. "Oh yeah, we saw Dally."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Pony asked, his face scrunched in confusion. Then he looked a little worried. "Did he say something to Kate?"

"Yeah, sort of," I said with a grin still plastered on my face as I remembered how surprised and concerned Dally looked when he saw Kate go into the feral horse's stall. He can act as tough and as intimidating as he wants, but the moment he realized what Kate was doing, Dally was worried.

"So are you gonna tell us what happened, or are you gonna just sit there smirkin' to yourself?" Soda asked impatiently.

I laughed at my brother's antics. "Alright, I'll tell you." I sat down in the recliner and told the three of them what happened from the moment Kate and I walked into the barn to when we left the rodeo.

As I talked, I watched their reactions. When I said anything about horses or the farm that Kate frequently visited, Soda's eyes lit up just like I knew they would. All three of them were upset when I told them about the kids that were bothering the red mare in the barn, but when I told them about Kate's actions, Johnny looked shocked while my brothers had approving looks on their faces. I briefly mentioned that Kate thought I'd be mad at her for what she did, but I made sure to tell them that I wasn't really mad, I was just concerned, and I had told her that too.

Ever since the awful week that Pony and Johnny were in Windrixville, my brothers and I had all been trying to communicate better and talk about our feelings. It seemed like it was especially hard for me to discuss emotions, but I wanted to make sure they knew I was trying my best, and my effort extended past our household. I'm going to keep working on it, especially now that I'm dating Kate.

The three of them seemed glad to know that I was trying to communicate better, notably with Kate, but my brothers seemed especially happy. The two of them have seen me at my absolute worse, and I owed it to them to do better.

"And then I drove her home," I said, concluding my recap of the date.

Soda eyed me suspiciously, and I tried my best to keep a neutral face as he analyzed me. "There's something you're not tellin' us," he said with narrowed eyes. "What is it?"

To be fair, there were probably a couple things I wasn't telling them, some on purpose and some on accident, but I didn't really want to tell them absolutely every detail about my dating life. I figured I deserved at least a little privacy. "Nothing."

"I ain't buyin' it," Soda said determinedly.

"Well, that's on you then," I said, standing up from the chair. I went into the kitchen to get a glass of water, and when I returned to the living room, the three of them were all whispering and smiling to each other. When I sat back down, they all looked at me expectedly. I took a sip of water, and since they were still silent, I raised my eyebrows at them. "What?"

Soda leaned forward and squinted at me. Then, his eyes grew wide and he smiled. "You kissed her!"

"What- how'd you know that?" I asked, utterly confused. Do I have a certain look on my face or something?

Soda shrugged, but he kept the knowing smirk on his face. "You were smiling real big when you came home, and there's a smudge on your glass, so unless you're wearing lipstick or something, it must've come from Kate."

I looked down at the glass, and sure enough, I could easily see where my lips had been; there was a very faint pink tint to the smudge. And Soda thinks he's stupid? Shoot, I don't know anyone else that would've noticed that. I shook my head, but I couldn't wipe the grin from my face. "Yeah, we kissed."

"And?" Soda asked, anticipation written all over his face.

I felt my skin heat up, but I forced my eyes up to look at the guys. "It was nice."

All of them grinned at me, and I was suddenly glad nobody else from the gang was there. Anyone else would've made fun of me or demanded more details, but the three sitting on the couch were the most understanding and least likely to comment on things revolving my dating life. It probably helped that I was their legal guardian too, so they couldn't tease me too much.

"So when are we gonna meet her?" Pony asked suddenly.

I furrowed my eyebrows. "You already met her. You were there at the diner when she was our waitress."

"That doesn't count," Pony said with a roll of his eyes. "When can we really meet her? Like officially."

I pressed my lips together as I pondered the idea. It had been years since I had brought a girl home to meet my family, and I hadn't dated anyone since our parents died, so I wasn't even sure how it would go now that I didn't have parents for her to meet. That thought sent a spike of pain into my gut, but I ignored it.

Still, I remembered how willing, and even excited, Kate seemed when she mentioned spending time with my brothers earlier that night. Most girls wouldn't want anyone else to tag along on a date, but once again, Kate proved to be different. She was always wanting to hear more about me and the guys, and when she mentioned bringing my brothers to the rodeo next time to see the horses, there was a glint in her eyes that showed how genuine her suggestion was.

"What about Thursday?" Soda offered before I even replied to Pony. "She can come over on Thanksgiving since we'll all have the day off."

Shit. I had totally forgot about the holiday, and once I realized how empty the house would likely feel without Mom or Dad, the pain I was still trying to push away wouldn't budge. Then I thought about what groceries we could afford to make it seem like a normal Thanksgiving, even though it would be anything but.

"Hold on guys," I said, hoping to pause the conversation before they got carried away. Sure, Kate had demonstrated that she was interested in spending time with my brothers, but I was surprised that they seemed equally as interested. Still, I didn't want things to happen too fast. "We've only been dating a couple weeks. I can't ask her to come over for a holiday that soon."

"Why not?" Soda asked with his eyebrow quirked. "It's not like she's a complete stranger. You knew her in high school. And it's not like we'll be all fancy or nothin', it'll just be us hanging out." I wondered if Soda was thinking about how it would be our first Thanksgiving after the accident that killed our parents, and this was his way of trying to make it interesting and lively instead of being a sad occasion.

"Won't she be with her family?" Johnny asked.

"Yeah Soda, I'm sure she already has plans," Pony said, echoing Johnny's thought, though his voice almost sounded disappointed.

They didn't know about Kate's family situation, and I wasn't going to bring it up either; that would be up to Kate, whenever she was comfortable to talk about it. However, I started to wonder what she would be doing on Thanksgiving if she wasn't going to see her mom and step-dad. If she's not going to be with family, maybe Thursday could work.

"We really would like to meet her Darry," my youngest brother said as he looked at me with his soft green eyes. "Whenever you're ready."

"And we promise to be on our best behavior," Soda added. Johnny nodded in agreement.

I grinned at them, happy to see them excited about spending time with Kate. Since they've already kind of met her, maybe it's not too soon. "I'll ask her what she's doing on Thursday when I call her tomorrow."

It was early afternoon when I called Kate the next day. I wondered if she was working or something since she didn't answer right away, but right before I was about to hang up, she answered.

"Hello?" She sounded a little out of breath, and I was curious.

"Kate? Are you alright?"

"Huh? Oh yeah, I'm fine," she said. Then I heard her take a few seconds to catch her breath. "Sorry, I was in the shower and heard the phone ringing. I had to grab a towel and run to get to the phone."

Don't picture it. Don't-

"Oh, okay," I said dumbly, still fighting with my mind to not imagine the scene Kate had painted for me.

"So I talked to my aunt this morning," Kate started, saving us from an awkward silence. "She wasn't surprised at all about what happened in the barn last night. In fact, she said she would've done the same thing."

I laughed a little. "Guess it runs in the family then."

"I guess so," she agreed. "She asked so many questions, like what rodeo we were at or if I knew who owned the horse. That woman talks so much… I swear, if my aunt and Connie ever meet, the conversation would go until the end of time." She spoke fondly of the two other women, and I couldn't help but feel a little pang of hurt since the only mother figure I had in my life was gone. That's not true; Mrs. Mathews is still around, making sure we're alright. "She asked about you too."

"Really?" I said, not knowing if that was a good thing or not.

"Yeah, I knew she'd be curious. I think after being alone for so long, she was in disbelief that I was actually dating someone," she said with a laugh. "Then when she believed me, she asked hundreds of more questions."

"Should I be worried?" I asked, only mostly joking.

I could hear the smile in her voice when she responded. "Of course not. After the interrogation, she agrees that you are a perfect gentleman."

I was glad she couldn't see me blushing. She really thinks that highly of me? "If I ever meet her, I hope I can live up to her expectations."

"You definitely would. Aunt Kay would fall head over heels for you," Kate assured me. "Uncle Ted is a little trickier. He's an old-fashioned farmer with a tough exterior, but on the inside he's a big softie."

I smiled. Just hearing about her family and thinking about potentially meeting them one day was exciting and scary, which was a feeling I was starting to get used to.

"Speaking of families…" I trailed off, trying to figure out how to voice my thoughts. Nice segue, Darry. "I was wondering if you'd be interested in having dinner or something with my brothers sometime to meet them for real. I know you saw them at the diner that one day, but I just thought you all haven't met for real, and I'd like you to. I get it if it's too soon or you don't…" I forced myself to stop blabbering. Geez Darry, just shut up already.

"I'd love to!" Kate said immediately, sounding truly excited. Then after a second, her voice dropped a little. "As long as you all are okay with it. I don't want to impose or anything-"

"No, you wouldn't be imposing," I said quickly. "We talked about it, and they want to meet you."

"Then I happily accept," she said confidently. "Will Johnny be there too?"

"Yeah, if that's alright," I said sheepishly. Sure, Soda and Pony were my brothers by blood, but since Johnny was living with us, he practically became one of us too, even more than he already was. Plus, I wasn't about to kick him out of the house so Kate could just meet my biological brothers without him. If a girl has a problem with Johnny, then she isn't the girl for me anyway.

"Of course it's alright with me. He's part of your family too," she said earnestly. Glory, she really is the nicest girl. "I'd love to meet all the guys eventually, as long as you'd want me to."

"I think you've met all of them already, at least briefly," I said. Then I remembered that wasn't true. "Well, except Steve. He's…" How do I describe Steve Randle in a sentence? "He's a smartass with an attitude and a big mouth, but he's a genius with cars."

"Sounds like one of my cousins," she replied. "I think I can handle him."

"Oh I know you can," I confirmed. I found myself smiling as I remembered how Dally had started apologizing to Kate the night before, and she initiated a handshake, demonstrating there were no hard feelings between them. If you can be sociable with Dallas Winston, you can be friendly with Steve Randle.

"But first thing's first," Kate said, drawing me back to the present. "When would you like me to meet your brothers?"

"Well, I know it's a little unconventional, but with most of us working fulltime, it's not very often we're all available at the same time, so we were thinking maybe you could come over this Thursday," I explained. Then I continued, trying not to pressure her into it or anything. "I know it's Thanksgiving and it's a little short notice, so I understand if you have other plans."

I heard her chuckle a little, and I hoped it was a good sign that I didn't scare her away with the whole 'do you want to meet my family on Thanksgiving after we've only been dating for a couple weeks?' situation. "The only plans I have for Thursday is work."

"Wait, you're working on Thanksgiving?" I asked, astounded and confused. "But it's a holiday."

"What can I say? I'm untraditional," she said with a laugh before explaining further. "The diner is open twenty-four seven, and since I don't go to my mom's house or anything during holidays, I always offer to work so other people can be with their families." I was torn between feeling upset that she didn't spend holidays with her family, or commending her for helping her coworkers. I didn't have much time to think about it before she spoke again. "That being said, I'd be more than happy to meet your brothers after my shift. I can even bring some food from the diner."

"I couldn't ask you to-"

"You didn't ask me, I'm offering," she countered. "Connie always lets us take food, especially the people working on holidays. And if she hears that I'm going to your house, she wouldn't let either of us say no."

Since I had met Connie, I knew that Kate wasn't exaggerating. The diner owner seemed caring and generous, especially towards Kate. "I'll have some food at the house, so you don't need to bring a lot," I said as polite and stern as I could.

"Okay," she said. Even though she was agreeing, I had a feeling she was already thinking about not listening to my request. She was stubborn like that. "I'm done with work at six. I can come over right after if that works."

"That would be perfect," I said. "I'll pick you up at six-thirty."