This chapter can be considered a one-shot, or a continuation from the previous chapter. I hope you all enjoy!

In this chapter: Kate gets surprised when some Socs approach her after work, but Darry is there to step in and help.

The familiar sound of a truck's engine rumbling drew my attention to the front door of the diner.

"Is that Darry?" Connie asked from the kitchen.

I was standing near the register, since that's where I spent nearly my entire shift. Even with my broken ankle secured in a cumbersome boot, Connie hadn't let me move from the counter ever since I got hurt, which had been two weeks prior. It felt nice that she was looking out for me, but work was incredibly boring being stuck in the same twenty square-foot area.

I looked at the man exiting the truck carefully, and a smile crept on my face. "Yeah, that's him."

Connie walked up to me and watched my boyfriend walk into the diner. "I was wondering who your chauffer was going to be today. I haven't seen Darry in a while."

Ever since I got hurt, either Darry or one of the guys always drove me to and from work, even though I had my own car that I could drive. Darry assured me that he wanted to drive me, and I assumed he asked the others to give me a ride when he couldn't because of work. It usually ended up being with Two-Bit or Steve driving me because their work schedules coordinated with mine best, but Darry still insisted driving me whenever he could. I didn't mind being driven around by the guys at first, but I was starting to wonder when they'd let me drive myself again. Probably when the boot comes off, but maybe not even then.

Darry walked into the diner, his eyes immediately finding mine. "Hey, honey." Then he looked at Connie and gave her a polite nod. "Good afternoon, Connie. How are you doing?"

Connie smiled, and if she didn't already know Darry well enough, I was sure she would be blushing. "I'm great, Darry. It's good to see you. You here to take Kate home?"

"Yes ma'am," he said. Then he watched me as I walked around the counter. "You ready to go?"

I reached him and gave him a quick kiss, then I kept my arms around him as I pulled away and looked into his dreamy eyes. "You bet."

"Hold on you two, I have some food I want you to take home," Connie said before returning to the kitchen. She was a sweet lady, and she always gave me food to either bring to my place or to the Curtis residence.

Darry looked at me, then gave me a small smile. "Why don't you go wait in the truck, get off your feet. I'll be right there."

That sounds so nice. "Glory, I love you," I said, relief flooding my voice.

Darry briefly kissed my forehead. "Go on, I'll be there in a minute."

I left my boyfriend to receive what I was sure would be a bounty of food from Connie, and I walked out the diner. I reached Darry's truck, but before I could open the door, a hand grabbed my shoulder, spun me around, and shoved me against the metal of the truck.

"Well hello there, pretty thing."

It was a Soc with a bent nose standing in front of me, holding my shoulder, and he had two friends with him. Uh oh.

"You better scram," I warned.

The blonde Soc raised his eyebrows. "Oh yeah? Why's that?"

The diner's front door opened, and I heard a very angry voice shout, "Hey!"

In a flash of movement, Darry shoved the blonde Soc away and he stood protectively in front of me. I could see the tense, strong tense muscles in his forearms and biceps, ready to spring into action. "Leave her alone, you hear?"

The blonde Soc, demonstrating his stupidity, sounded cocky when he spoke. "What're you gonna do about it? There's three of us, and only one of you."

The Socs moved closer, and Darry's hands balled into fists.

"If you get one step closer to her, you'll regret it," Darry said dangerously. I never heard his voice sound so deep and threatening, and it made a shiver run down my spine. He means business.

One of the other Socs, the one with brunette hair, stepper forward and swung on Darry, but he was met with Darry's fist meeting his jaw, and a fight broke out right in front of me.

The three Socs ganged up on Darry, but my boyfriend was tough and strong, so he could handle it. Even so, I wasn't about to let him fight on my behalf while I just stood there. One of the Socs went behind Darry and tried to put him in a choke hold, but before he could, I grabbed the guy's shoulders and threw him to the ground. I was strong, sure, but I was pretty sure that I was only able to knock him down because I surprised him and I had adrenaline running through my veins.

Once the guy was on the ground, I stomped on his knee with my good foot. Apparently, I didn't think things through, because even though I felt something shift under my foot that resulted in the Soc yelping in pain, he was able to grab my leg and pull me to the ground. I slammed into the pavement, not able to catch myself fully with my hands. A moment later, the guy on the ground next to me was kneeling, and judging by how he drew his arm back, he was about to start pummeling me. I covered my head with my arms, trying to protect myself, but the blow never came.

A few seconds later, I felt big, calloused hands on my arms. "Kate, baby, are you okay?"

I moved my arms away and looked up at my boyfriend. Other than a split lip and a cut on his cheek, he looked okay. Thank God. I glanced to the side, and I noticed all three Socs were on the ground, groaning in pain.

"Hey, don't look at them, look at me," Darry instructed gently. When I complied, he asked me again. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," I assured him.

I put my hands on the ground and was about to push up to my feet, but my left wrist collapsed and I hissed in pain. Luckily, Darry caught me, and held me by my upper arms. "What is it, honey? What hurts?"

"Just my wrist, it's fine," I said. I put my right hand on the ground, then I moved my left foot so it was underneath me. I struggled to push myself up, but Darry easily picked me up and helped me regain my footing.

Even after I was standing, Darry didn't let go of me. "Are you sure you're okay? How's your ankle?"

I gave him a smile, trying to make him believe me. "I'm sure, babe. I'm alright."

He didn't seem convinced. He quickly looked me over, and his eyes widened when he looked at a spot near my left temple. He moved his hand and gently touched the spot, making me wince a little. "Kate, your head's bleeding."

"Darry, I'm fine, I promise." He was getting worked up, and I was nervous that he was going to go another round with the Socs, who were still lying on the ground nearby. "Can we please go?"

"Kate!" I heard another familiar voice shout nearby. I turned to look at the diner's door, and Connie was rushing towards us. "Are you okay, sweetie?"

"I'm okay, Connie," I said, giving me a hopefully-convincing smile.

Connie looked at me, then at the Socs on the ground. "I called the cops. They'll take care of these three." Then she looked back at me and Darry. "You guys should go on and get yourselves cleaned up. I'll talk to the police for you. I saw everything from inside."

"Thank you, Connie," Darry said politely before ushering me into the passenger seat of his truck.

As I got situated in the truck, I realized that something was missing, so before he could close the door, I grabbed Darry's arm and gave him a grin. "Does this mean we don't have Connie's cooking to bring back to the house?"

He looked at me like I was crazy for a moment, then he laughed and shook his head. "I think you need to change your priorities."

"He left it on the counter when he saw those guys bothering you," Connie explained. "I'll go get it, hon. You stay here with your bodyguard."

Connie disappeared into the diner, and as soon she was gone, Darry looked at me with an amused look. "You know, you really do need a bodyguard if Socs are going to bother you on a regular basis."

I leaned forward and kissed him, then I rested my forehead against his. "I already have one."

He grinned at me, then put his hand on my cheek and kissed me again.

"Alright kids, here's some food for you," Connie's voice rang, which made me and Darry break apart. She walked up to the truck, and Darry moved just enough to let her approach me and hand me containers of food. "Take care, Kate. I don't want to see you at work tomorrow, okay? I'll get someone to cover your shift."

I opened my mouth, about to argue and tell her I could work, but Darry beat me to it. "Thank you, Connie. I'll make sure she's okay and gets some rest." I tried looking at him, hoping to nonverbally tell him I was fine and could work, but he suddenly couldn't meet my eyes.

"You're a good man, Darrel Curtis," Connie said with a huge smile on her face. "Now go take care of yourselves."

We thanked Connie and said goodbye before Darry closed my door. Before he walked to the driver's door, he leaned down and said something to the blonde Soc, who was struggling to make it to his hands and knees. I saw the Soc nod his head a little before Darry straightened up and took his seat behind the wheel.

"Are you going to tell me what you said to him?" I asked carefully.

Darry turned the key, then he looked at me with a grin that reminded me of Two-Bit. "I just warned him if he wanted to live a long and prosperous life, he and his friends would leave you alone."

I couldn't help but match his grin. I loved knowing that Darry would protect me, and he was intimidating enough to give those kinds of warnings and other people would actually listen.

We drove in silence most of the way to Darry's house, but it was apparently worrying him, because Darry kept looking over at me like I was about to break into pieces or something. Finally, when he pulled up to the house and turned the engine off, Darry looked at me and spoke softly. "Are you sure you're okay?"

I looked at him and gave him a smirk. "Yes Darry, I'm sure."

Wordlessly, he walked around the truck, took the food Connie gave us off my lap, and held the door open for me as I hobbled out of the truck. Together, we walked up the porch steps, and I held the door open for him as he brought the food into the house.

"Connie brought us more food?" I heard Two-Bit's excited voice ask.

"Nobody touches it until Kate has some, and she's not doing that until I make sure she's not hurt, understood?" Darry barked as he walked through the house and towards the kitchen.

I had followed him in the house, but I stayed in the living room after I made sure the door didn't slam shut. "Darry, I told you I'm fine," I said, starting to get a little annoyed with my boyfriend. Does he really think I'm fragile or something?

"What happened, Kate?" Soda asked from his spot on the floor. He and Steve were wrestling, and it was hard to tell who was winning.

"Ran into some guys after work, it's fine," I deflected.

"How did that happen? Wasn't Muscles with you?" Two-Bit asked.

Darry quickly walked into the room, whacking Two-Bit on the back of the head as he passed. "Shut it, Keith." By the harshness of Darry's voice, I knew Two-Bit hit a nerve, and it was obvious to me what was bothering my boyfriend so much. Darry's upset about what happened. He thinks he should've done something to prevent it.

"Come on, Kate. Let's get that head of yours cleaned up," Darry said kindly. I silently nodded and followed him to the bathroom.

Once I sat on the closed toilet seat, Darry got some rubbing alcohol and put it on some gauze. As he cleaned the side of my head, I tried looking into Darry's eyes, but he wouldn't meet my gaze. "Darry, I'm fine. It's okay. It's not your fault."

Finally, he looked directly at me, but there was some sadness in his eyes. "I should've been there. I should've just walked you to the truck, then they wouldn't have bothered you in the first place."

"If it wasn't today, they would've found me another day," I reasoned, although it didn't seem to make him feel better. "At least now they know what happens when they mess with Darry Curtis's girl, right?"

He grinned a little at that. "They better."

I let him clean my head wound and wrap my left wrist, and when he was done, he looked at me expectedly. "All done. You sure there's nothing else hurting? How's your ankle?"

I put my hands on his cheeks, forcing him to look at me. "Sweetheart, I'm fine. Thank you for worrying about me, but really, I'm okay. And I don't want you ask me that again, alright?"

He sighed and nodded. "Yeah, alright."

I gave him a quick kiss. "Good. Now let's eat. I'm starving."

While we ate dinner, the guys asked questions about what happened at the diner, but Two-Bit seemed uncharacteristically quiet. I guess Darry hit him harder than I thought earlier. Once dinner was done, I was feeling exhausted, and Darry apparently noticed.

"You tired?" Darry asked quietly. I had offered to wash the dishes, but he refused to let me, so he washed the dishes as the rest of the guys set up a card game in the living room.

I yawned and nodded in reply. I was resting my elbow on the table, with my chin on my hand, and I was already falling asleep in that position.

Darry dried his hands and walked up to me, kissing the top of my head. "Alright, let's get you to bed."

After getting to my feet, Darry helped me hobble to his room. I grabbed the first T-shirt of his I could find, changed into it, and flopped onto the bed, letting out a sigh of relief as I did. Darry laid down next to me and pulled me close to his chest. "I know you told me not to ask you again, but-"

"Darry," I said sternly, cutting him off. "I'm okay." Then I looked into his eyes, trying to convey how honest I was being. "I'm okay because of you, alright?" Before he could say anything, I gave him a slow, prolonged kiss. "Thank you for protecting me," I said once we broke apart.

He tightened his arms around me, pulling me even closer to him, then he kissed the top of my head. "Of course. I'd do anything for you, love."

I smiled into his chest and closed my eyes. "I know. I love you, Darry."

"I love you too, Kate."