(Kate's POV)

"Hey Kate," Rachel said, pulling my attention away from the register. She was cleaning a nearby table as I sorted the money in the till. "Your bodyguard is here," she said, motioning towards the door where Darry had just walked in.

Naturally, I had told my best friend everything that had happened on Valentine's Day, and she'd been using that nickname for Darry ever since. Thankfully, Darry hadn't really treated me differently after everything I told him, but in the days and weeks following that night, I had noticed some small differences with the gang. For one thing, the guys wouldn't make as many crude jokes around me, but when they did, Darry would glare at them or even smack them in the head for it. I knew better than to believe Darry told them anything specific, so I could only assume he was trying to keep the guys from saying anything that could bother me. It was a sweet gesture on his part, but I really didn't need the special treatment.

There was one specific incident that stuck out to me. One Saturday night, after hanging out with the guys and retiring to the Curtis household, Darry insisted that I stay overnight instead of drive home while being exhausted, so I spent the night. The entire gang had apparently decided to stay too, because as Darry and I walked towards the kitchen the following morning, I heard several loud voices.

Above everyone else, I heard Dally say something like "maybe Superman got some last night." I wasn't upset by the comment as it was just a group of guys having a typical conversation, but I heard Darry inhale sharply next to me, so I knew he heard Dally's comment too. When the two of us walked into the kitchen just seconds later, the entire gang turned to look at us. Dally's eyes widened a little as they landed on Darry– a rare display of nervousness from him– which showed how serious my boyfriend had apparently been about keeping suggestive or provocative comments away from me.

I could practically feel Darry's anger spike as we stood there for a moment, but before he could launch himself at Dally, I smirked at the guys in front of me and tried to ease the tension. "Trust me Dallas, if he did, you would've known."

The guys in front of me all looked shocked for a second, then the four older boys started laughing while Pony and Johnny grimaced, to which I muttered an apology. Meanwhile, Darry stood next to me, still fuming.

Darry didn't mutter a single word during breakfast. After everyone had eaten, the gang moved to the living room, with Dally staying out of Darry's reach as he walked by, which we all noticed. With everyone else out of the way, Darry and I took care of the dishes. He was scowling the entire time he scrubbed, and I knew I had to get him to talk.

"Tell me what's on your mind," I said as softly and carefully as I could while I was drying a plate. When he didn't answer, I set the towel down on the counter and reached over to stop his hands from moving. Luckily, he didn't fight against me, and he dropped the sponge and let me hold onto his soapy hands. "Are you still upset about what Dally said?"

His eyes finally met mine, and for a split second, I saw his barely-contained anger, but then it faded slightly. "Yeah, I am. But that's not all."

I studied him, trying to figure out what else could've happened. With no other obvious answers, I withdrew my hands and took a step back. "You're mad at me too?"

A flash of pain crossed his face, then he quickly grabbed hold of my hands again. "No, that's not it, Kate." I waited for him to figure out what he wanted to say, and after a minute of thought, his voice dropped and I had to strain to hear him. "It's just… after everything you told me, I don't want the guys to say something insensitive. And when you made that joke, it was like you didn't think it's a big deal, but it is, and I don't want-"

"Darry," I said, cutting him off and trying to give him a comforting smile. "You don't need to worry about me. Sure, I have my moments, but I like to think I'm fine most of the time. I don't want anyone walking on eggshells whenever I'm around."

Darry had seemed hesitant to accept what I was saying, so I had to double-down.

"I promise it's okay for the guys to have their bull sessions and talk about that kind of stuff, even when I'm around," I assured him. "I deal with those kinds of comments by dishing them right back. It's the same way I deal with any sort of conflict; I act extra confident since that's the opposite you'd expect from someone that's uncomfortable. It usually works out pretty well."

He studied me, analyzing every part of my expression as my words hung in the air. I had a feeling that if I was lying, he'd know. It was a good thing I was telling the truth.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Darry eventually asked, his voice soft and quiet.

"I'm sure. It's sweet that you're concerned though." I threw my arms around his neck and pulled him down a little so he was closer to being at my eye level. Then I smiled up at him. "Thank you for worrying about me, but you can worry less. I don't want to be treated any differently than before. I'm still the exact same person."

He let out a breath, then he nodded. "Okay." Then we shared a brief kiss, and after we parted, we finished cleaning the rest of the dishes.

Since that morning, Darry had let most of the guys' comments slide, only occasionally scolding one of them, and everyone treated me just like before. Still, Darry's anger from that morning had left a lasting impression on the guys, and I knew Two-Bit had told Rachel about what happened in the Curtis kitchen that day. Rachel, of course, knew why Darry had been ready to take on Dallas Winston, but she pretended like she was shocked when Two-Bit had given her the details.

"Is your bodyguard making an appearance tonight?" I asked Rachel as I closed the till.

She shook her head. "No, Keith said he would be hanging out at Darry's house tonight. Something about keeping an eye on things."

Even though Rachel didn't know what that truly meant, I did. Considering Darry had just gotten off of work and was at the diner, and I knew Soda had the closing shift at the DX, Two-Bit was probably at the house to keep an eye on Ponyboy. Pony was a tough kid, but his brothers worried about him a lot, and rightfully so. Since the Socs at school had started getting brave and jumping greasers again, nobody in the gang wanted Ponyboy to walk home alone after track practice, so someone was always there to either drive him or at least walk with him. Since he had a car and didn't have a job, Two-Bit received that responsibility more than the others, but he didn't seem to mind.

"He said we can do something tomorrow though," Rachel added with a small smile appearing on her face. "He mentioned maybe bringing me to a drag race."

My eyebrows shot up. "Really? You?" I asked before I could stop myself. Then I let out a light laugh. "Gee Rach, I never thought I'd see the day you'd be excited to go to a drag race with a greaser."

Surprisingly, she laughed right back. "You know what? I'm surprised too."

The diner wasn't too busy, so once we were done with our tasks, Rachel and I stood behind the counter while Darry and Dally sat on stools opposite from us. The tension between Darry and Dally from the incident in the kitchen a couple weeks back had basically disappeared, but I figured it would still be a while before Dally tested Darry's patience. Still, by the way he kept glancing at Darry, it seemed like Dally was still expecting to get hit by my boyfriend.

"How much longer are we waitin'?" Dally asked gruffly as Johnny joined Rachel and me. Dally had already been at the diner for a couple hours, mostly to talk with Johnny whenever the younger had spare time, but once Darry arrived, Dally seemed to get a little more restless.

"There's only a few more minutes of our shift," I answered on behalf of the three of us behind the counter. Rachel still wasn't entirely comfortable talking to Dally yet, (at least not without Two-Bit there,) and while Johnny could clock out whenever he wanted, he usually stayed until my shift was done anyway.

"Hey girls, could one of you take out the trash before you leave?" Mary asked. She had the same job title as Rachel and I did, but she was older and had more experience than us, so when Connie wasn't around, she was in charge.

Before either of us could reply, a young kid on the other end of the diner spilled his entire milkshake across the table he and his family were sitting at, and it immediately started dripping onto the floor.

Rachel and I exchanged a look, knowing what each other were thinking.

"I call garbage!" I said barely faster than her.

While I grinned from the victory, Rachel sighed in defeat. "Fine, you win. Have fun with the trash," she grumbled as she went to get the cleaning supplies.

I glanced at Darry, who looked amused by the exchange. "Just give me a minute to take care of the garbage, then we can leave, okay?" After Darry nodded at me, I turned to walk away from the guys, but before I left, I whispered to Johnny, "You're in charge, Johnny. Don't let them start fighting while I'm gone."

Johnny snickered, and as I walked away, I heard both Darry and Dally ask him what I said.

Never one to take multiple trips, I gathered all of the garbage bags and carried them out the back door and towards the dumpster behind the diner. It was a bit of a workout and my forearms burned from the tight grip I held the bags with, but it was all worth it when I made it to the dumpster without a single bag dropping or ripping. I tossed them into the dumpster one by one, and right after I threw the last one in, I heard a disturbingly familiar voice. "Hey Katie."

I turned around and saw Peter standing there, and his two friends were off to the side, standing between me and the door back to the diner. I wasn't sure if that was on purpose or not, but either way, I felt the hair on the back of my neck stand up. My instincts were telling me to get out of there, but my friends and my car keys were inside the diner, and I wasn't confident I'd get very far if I tried to run from three guys in the shoes I wore for work. This isn't good.

"How's my favorite girl, huh?" Peter asked.

Judging by Peter's slurred words, half-lidded eyes, and the stench coming from all three of the guys, I knew they were all drunk. To make matters worse, Peter took a couple uneven steps towards me and his friends followed, making the smell more prominent as they closed the distance between us.

I did my best to appear strong and confident, despite the fact I was suddenly surrounded by three drunk guys. "What are you doing here?" I asked harshly.

"I wanted to see your pretty face," Peter said with a lopsided grin.

He took a step closer to me, and I stepped backwards, trying to keep a safe distance between us. Unfortunately, my back hit the dumpster, and I knew I was trapped. I just need to talk my way out of this, or at least stall until someone else comes back here.

"Okay, you saw it. Now get out of here before my boyfriend comes back here and kicks your ass," I snapped.

Peter had always lost his nerve when he saw Darry, but apparently his inebriated state made him lose his common sense or something, because the grin stayed on his face and he kept approaching me until we were practically face-to-face. "Let him try. There's three of us here; we can take him."

I couldn't help but laugh right in his face from the ridiculous comment. Darry could take all of you. "I know you're drunk right now, but I didn't take you for being stupid on top of that."

A dark look suddenly crossed his face, and I was starting to rethink my strategy of being extra confident or cocky in the face of danger, especially when that danger included a drunk person. "I'm not stupid," he spat, pointing a finger right at me. "You're the dumb broad that won't go out with me."

"If I'm such a dumb broad, why don't you find some other girl to go after?" I retorted.

Peter's expression morphed into something resembling a grin, but it was more disturbing than a normal grin should look. "Because I like lookin' at you," he said as he took a step closer to me. "And I like the challenge."

A wave of nausea instantly hit me. "You're disgusting," I snarled at him.

Time slowed slightly as Peter reached his hand towards me. I didn't know if he wanted to grab me, hit me, hug me, or maybe even kiss me, but I didn't like any of those options. I reacted on instinct; I threw both of my hands against his chest and shoved him hard. Peter stumbled backwards, and I started to shout, hoping my boyfriend would be able to hear me.

"Darry! Dar-"

I was cut off when Peter's friends rushed towards me, and while I managed to punch one of them in the jaw, the other one covered my mouth, muffling my screams.

A cold chill ran down my back.

Not again.

I tried to kick and punch the two of them, but they were stronger than I had anticipated, so I was quickly subdued. They both had strong grips on my arms, and they put their feet firmly on the ground on the insides of mine, effectively locking my legs against the dumpster behind me and preventing me from kicking. One of them– the one with crooked teeth and black hair– kept his hand over my mouth, keeping me from calling for help.

The whole thing felt sickeningly familiar, and I felt myself start to panic.

I'm trapped. I can't move.

Not again. Please, not again.

I clenched my fists and tried to get myself to calm down enough to focus on the present rather than relive the past.

Peter slowly got back to his feet, and when he was standing up straight, I saw the blood on his hands and cheek where his skin had met the pavement. Good. I hope it hurt.

While Peter approached me, I could see a sudden fury blazing in his eyes. I again tried to rip myself out of his friends' hold, but their hands were clenching my arms so tight that they wouldn't budge. Once he reached me, Peter's hand flew forward and roughly grasped my neck.

"You should want to go out with a guy like me," Peter said harshly. With the hand covering my mouth, I couldn't respond, and fighting back wasn't really possible either since I was still being restrained, so I just narrowed my eyes at Peter, hoping even through his drunken haze that he could see how much I hated him. "I'd be a much better man for you. Anyone is better than your greaser boyfriend."

That got my temper to flare.

I was barely able to move my jaw, but somehow, I managed to bite down on the hand covering my mouth. The dark-haired guy on my right yelped and pulled his hand away, and I started screaming again. "DARRY!"

Peter suddenly tightened his grip on my neck and I couldn't help but wince in pain as black dots started appearing in my vision. "Shut up!" he spat. His breath smelled so strongly of alcohol, I got dizzy.

Not again. Not again. Not again.

I desperately tried to fight back and escape, but the hold on my neck pulled me forward, only to roughly shove me backwards, causing the back of my skull to slam into the metal behind me. Tendrils of pain instantly shot all around my head. As everything faded to black, one last thought ran through my head: Please Lord, don't let this happen again.

I know this was a shorter chapter, but the next one will be pretty long, so I hope that balances it out