(Kate's POV)

"Kate," Darry started. "You're here." His voice sounded like gravel as he spoke, and there was a hint of surprise in his voice that stung to hear. Did he really think I wouldn't be here?

"Of course I am," I said quietly. I took a couple steps forward, trying to gauge if it was a pleasant surprise or not. Didn't Pony say Darry was asking for me? Was he really so surprised that I'd show up?

Despite his injuries, Darry moved to sit up in his bed, but he let out a pained yelp and froze mid-motion. I was immediately at his side, supporting his back and helping him find a comfortable position to sit in. Once he was situated, I sank into the chair on the side of his bed and stared at him. I still couldn't comprehend that Darry Curtis was severely injured and lying in a hospital bed.

After he caught his breath, Darry turned to look at me. "Are you okay?" he asked, his voice even rougher than before.

I reflexively let out an incredulous laugh. "No Darry, I'm not. Of course I'm not okay." He had a distressed expression on his face, and I continued before he had a chance to speak. "How could I be okay when you're in a hospital bed?"

In the moment that he hesitated before replying, Darry's expression went from pained, to surprised, then to his typical steady look. "I'm fine-"

"Don't say you're fine, because you're not," I snapped. I knew it was harsh and I was glaring at him, but I didn't care. He needed to know how serious the situation was. "You don't get to say you're fine after falling off a roof, Darry. You got hurt, really hurt, but it could've been so much worse. What if something worse did happen? What if you weren't ever going home? I'd never forgive myself."

Darry looked like he was going to say something but then was suddenly caught off-guard, which stopped him in his tracks. He recovered quickly and spoke with a confused expression on his face. "Forgive yourself? For what?"

"For last night. Our fight, and everything after. I heard you… when you were at my place, I heard you apologizing," I admitted, struggling to stop myself from crying yet again. Then I took my eyes off of Darry and looked down at my feet as traitorous tears started streaming down my cheeks. I tried to wipe them away and force myself to stay calm as words continued to spew from my mouth. "I should've opened the door. I should've accepted your apology right then and there. Then none of this would've happened."

Silence blanketed the room for what felt like hours, but it was probably only a few seconds before Darry replied with a softened tone. "It wasn't your fault, Kate. Not at all. I've thought about everything, and I've realized how cruel I was to you and how dumb I've been. Not just last night either, but today too. My brothers just laid into me about how stupid I was for going to work today."

Something about that angered me in the same way as Dally calling Darry a stubborn dumbass in the waiting room. Nobody calls Darry dumb, including himself.

I looked back up at him and glared. "You're not dumb, Darry," I practically growled, earning another look of surprise from him. "You had to work; I know you did, and I understand why. All of us do. That's also why this is so scary, why this… why this isn't working."

A look of pain mixed with desperation washed over Darry's face, and he immediately moved his hand to cover mine, which was resting on top of the bedsheets. "What are you saying, Kate?" he asked nervously. He was smart, so he likely already knew the answer, but just like me, he preferred to have all the details and know the score just to be sure. "What isn't working?"

Don't cry, and don't be dramatic. Just tell him.

"Us," was all I could say before choking on a sob that threatened to escape.

He gave my hand a squeeze. "Kate-"

Trying to hide or contain my sobs was futile, so I stopped caring and I let myself weep for the thousandth time in less than a day, cutting Darry off before he could get another word in.

"I can't do this if an argument between us leads to this… if it can possibly end up with your brothers losing you. If that happened… if those boys lose another family member because of me, I couldn't live with myself." I was completely bawling at that point, but I didn't care. He needed to hear what I had to say, no matter how I got the words out. "You said from day one that your priority was your brothers, and I expect you to keep your word on that. If there's even a chance of something like this happening again because of something between us, we can't... we can't see each other anymore. We have to think about the boys."

I hadn't realized my eyes migrated to look down at my hand covered by Darry's, but after blinking a couple times, I dared to look up at Darry's face, and he looked as heartbroken as I felt. I had to look back at our hands in order to keep my resolve.

"Kate…" he muttered. The sound of his voice breaking was almost enough to make me take everything back, but I couldn't; not when it was best for him and his family.

"We agreed Darry," I repeated, hoping his own words would be enough to keep him from arguing with me. If he fights me about whether or not we should keep dating, I'm afraid I'll cave and let him pull me back in. I love Darry, but I don't want to be the reason anything happens with the Curtis family and their gang. "Your brothers come first."

"Kate, don't… just- just hold on a second," he started, sounding like he was still gathering his thoughts but his mouth needed to say something. He squeezed my hand again, then with a soft, pleading tone, he spoke. "Kate, honey, please look at me."

Against my better judgement, I obliged.

Before I met his eyes, my mind had been set. Breaking up with Darry would prevent anything that happened between us from disrupting his family, so that's what I was going to do.

But then I saw the tears, and my resolve faded.

"What about what you want?" Darry asked quietly. He didn't sound angry, but instead, his voice contained the echo of a heart breaking. "Do you want to break up? I'd get it if you do after last night-"

"I'm not upset about last night," I said sharply. It was mostly true. I had largely forgotten about the fight itself, instead focusing on how it caused Darry to end up in the hospital. "I'm not upset about a fight. We can work through disagreements and move on afterwards, but we can't move on if you die because we argued!"

"I'm not going to die," he said with a slight shake of his head. I caught him wincing, but I was sure he tried to hide it, so I didn't say anything. "What happened today isn't your fault Kate, and I need you to know that. It was my fault. I was a jerk last night and I said things that I should've never said, which led to a series of things to happen. Everything is my fault, and I know I don't deserve your forgiveness."

It was my turn to shake my head. "No Darry, I should've told you-"

"I should've let you-"

"But I was just trying to-"

"I know."

I was shocked into silence by Darry's response, and I looked at him seriously, trying to figure out what to say next. Instead of something intelligent or helpful for my side of the argument, all I could mutter was, "What?"

He took a breath and spoke evenly, despite his voice still sounding rough. "Last night, after you left, Soda was angrier than I'd ever seen him, and he hollered at me for how I treated you. Between him and Two-Bit, I got some sense knocked into me. I know you had good intentions."

A part of me felt like I should've been pleased by those words, but instead, they troubled me more. "Look Darry, I-"

"Please Kate, let me apologize," Darry said in an almost-begging tone. I stayed quiet so he could keep saying whatever was on his mind. "I get that you were just trying to help, at least I get that now. When I saw you putting money in the safe, it just felt like… I guess it felt like you were giving us money because you thought we needed it, and that made me feel lousy. And the fact it was behind my back just made everything feel more… more intense I guess."

I nodded my head, but I had to avert my eyes again after the cold feeling of shame started rushing through me. Why didn't I just tell him from the beginning? I could've saved us all of this trouble. I always knew Darry's a proud man, so of course this was going to affect him when he found out.

He squeezed my hand again, but I still couldn't look up at him. "Kate, honey… I'm sorry for letting my anger get the better of me. You didn't deserve that, especially not after everything you've done for us… for me. I promised you that I'd never hurt you, but I did. I know I didn't hit you, but I still hurt you in a different way, and I'm so sorry."

That got me to look back up at him, and even through the tears blurring my vision, I could tell his eyes were glassy.

"I'm sorry too," I responded easily. "I knew you wouldn't like me adding money to that college fund, but I wanted to do it, so instead of talking to you about it, I did it behind your back. That was wrong, and I'm sorry that I did it that way, but I'm not sorry for contributing to a worthy cause."

Darry studied me carefully, and even though I saw his jaw clench, I could tell he was reining in his emotions in an attempt to stay calm. "I appreciate what you were trying to do, but you should keep your money. You earned it, and you don't have any obligation to use your money to take care of my family. That responsibility falls on me; I'm the man of the house and the legal guardian."

"I know I don't have to, but as long as we're together, I want to help as much as I can because I care," I retorted.

"I know you care, but we don't need you to help out so much, especially not with money. We've managed just fine for more than a year without anyone else's help," Darry said defensively. He was slowly getting agitated again, but I could tell he was doing his best to speak as calmly as possible. "I've worked my ass off to provide for my brothers, for the entire gang, ever since our parents died. We've hit a few bumps, and the truck breaking down yesterday was another one, but I always figure it out. I don't need or want anybody's charity. I'll take care of everything on my own without anyone giving me a handout, especially my girlfriend."

Being the stubborn person I am, I couldn't help but argue back, but since Darry was gradually getting worked up, I was careful to speak calmly to keep the peace. "I understand what you're saying, but please believe me when I tell you it was never a handout or any kind of charity."

He didn't seem convinced, so I tried a different approach.

"What if the situation was reversed, huh?" I asked. "What if we were dating and I was in charge of taking care of a few kids and you were in a position to help? Wouldn't you help if you could?"

I already knew the answer, so I wasn't surprised one bit when he agreed. "Of course I would, but that's different-"

"Is it different because just you're a man and I'm a woman?" I offered bitterly.

"Well… yeah," Darry said confoundingly. He quickly continued when he saw I was about to argue with him some more. "I'm the man of the house, so it's my job to take care of everyone and everything, especially when it comes to money. I shouldn't rely on other people, especially not my girlfriend, to take care of my job. I should be taking care of you, not the other way around."

I let his words sink in for a moment so I could breathe and gather my thoughts. I should've known this was the root of the problem. Darry's a proud man with traditional values, and I insulted that pride by going against the standard roles.

I replied as peacefully and respectfully as I could. "Look Darry, I understand that you're perfectly capable of taking care of everything and everyone by yourself, but I'm here to tell you that you don't have to," I said, stressing those last four words. Let us help you. Let me help you.

He seemed to be contemplating my words as he sat silently, but little did he know that I had a lot more to say.

"I never considered anything I did for you guys as charity, and I'm a little upset you'd ever think that," I added, my voice regaining a slight bitterness to it that I had to quell. I put my free hand on top of Darry's, sandwiching it between mine so he hopefully wouldn't pull it away. I took a breath before speaking in a kinder tone. "I love you Darry, and everything I did was because I had the ability and desire to help. Like it or not, I want to help take care of you and your boys. I love you, and I plan on doing everything I possibly can to make your life better."

Darry's eyes lit up and his facial features softened. "Are you saying that you don't want to break up?" I could hear the cautious optimism in his voice, like he was trying not to get his hopes up.

"I never wanted to break up," I said truthfully. "I want us to be together. It's just… if we're going to keep seeing each other, we need to set up some ground rules or something. I couldn't handle it if our next argument led you to another hospital bed, or worse, and I know the guys would feel the same way. I can't do that to them, especially your brothers."

Darry gave me a slight nod, but he stayed silent, as if he knew I already had a couple ideas that I wanted to express right away.

"Next time we argue, we need to talk it out civilly and listen to each other," I said, squeezing his hand with mine. He silently responded by doing the same. "No storming off, and no ending the night angry at each other. We found out the hard way what could happen if we do."

"Okay," he immediately agreed.

I grinned at him, then continued.

"And another thing… I don't give a damn about gender roles," I said seriously so he knew I meant it. I pulled my hands away from his so I could gently place them on his cheeks and stare directly into his icy blue-green eyes. "If we're partners, we take care of each other equally. I don't want you thinking you have to hold the weight of the world on your shoulders when I'm willing to help you carry it, you hear?"

He wanted to argue, that much was certain, but he didn't. It looked almost painful for him to agree to my declaration, but nevertheless, he nodded. "Yeah, I hear you."

I suddenly remembered the first time Evie told me how traditional and old-school Darry was, and I knew it would take some adjusting before he would be comfortable with a change in the dynamic he was used to. However, I trusted that Darry would at least try to adapt to that particular change.

I smiled. "Thank you." Then I carefully leaned forward to lightly place my lips against his, giving him a quick kiss before pulling away. "Anything you want to add?"

Darry's eyes fluttered open, apparently having closed them when we kissed. He looked at me for a moment, then he pulled my left hand away from his face and pressed his lips against the back of my hand. Then his eyes dropped down to look at our hands as he lowered them to the bed. After a few moments passed, he quietly muttered his simple request. "No more secrets." His eyes met mine again, and he repeated himself a little louder. "No more secrets. About anything."

"No more secrets," I agreed with a nod. Secrets are poison to any relationship.

It suddenly hit me that despite telling Darry every traumatic thing from my past that I kept hidden from the rest of the world, it was him finding out I was secretly adding to Pony's college fund that caused a stir in our relationship. I felt stupid for keeping something like that from him after everything we had already been through together.

The shame and guilt from what I did instantly returned with vengeance, and I couldn't help but avert my eyes and apologize again. "I'm so sorry, Darry. I should have never hidden anything from you. I've told you everything about me and my past, but I kept a secret from you that involved you and your family. I understand why you were angry last night, and I don't blame you one bit. I trust you whole-heartedly, but I didn't-"

I was cut-off by the feeling of fingers grasping my chin and moving it, followed by rough lips meeting mine. It surprised me, but it wasn't unpleasant.

"It's okay," Darry said after he pulled his lips away from mine, but he kept his gentle grip on my chin. "We don't need to talk about it anymore, do we?"

I grinned sheepishly at him. "No. We're good."

He smirked again before leaning in for another kiss.

We sat there, relishing our reconciliation and kissing softly for a few moments before Darry shifted in a way that caused him to inhale sharply and wince from pain, causing him to pull away from me. When I opened my eyes, I could see pain etched into his facial features.

I immediately made a move to stand up. "Let me get your doct-"

"No," Darry said, grabbing my wrist to prevent me from leaving. He then gave me a stubborn, pleading look. "Stay?"

My brain told me that I should get either Dr. Price or a nurse so they could give Darry something for the pain, but my heart wanted me to stay with him. Why can't my heart and brain work together for once?

"Please," Darry added.

That one word was the decision-maker.

I let out a long breath. "Okay. But if you need-"

"I'll be fine," he interrupted. "You're all I need."

What a cheesy line. Even if it was cheesy, my face suddenly got hot, so I rolled my eyes in an attempt to act cool rather than flustered.

Darry grinned and let go of my wrist. Then, to my surprise and irritation, he started moving sideways in the bed, causing him to grimace in pain as he did so.

"Darry, what-"

"C'mere," he mumbled as he settled into his new spot and patted his hand onto the space between us.

My confusion must've shown on my face, because he carefully grabbed my arm and pulled me towards him. As much as I wanted to pull away and let him have the entire bed to himself, I was worried resisting would cause him more pain. Plus, after everything that happened within the previous 24 hours, I wanted to be as close to my boyfriend as possible. So, after asking him if he was really sure about it, I allowed him to guide me into the most comfortable position for him. I sat on the hospital bed next to Darry and let my head fall on his shoulder before I closed my eyes. I felt his arm wrap around me right before he kissed the top of my head.

We silently sat there for a minute or two before Darry spoke again. His voice was barely above a whisper, and being so at peace and close to sleep, I strained to hear him clearly.

"I know I said we don't need to talk about it anymore, but I need to say one more thing. What I said last night, about how we don't need you… I didn't mean it, Kate. I'm real sorry I said that," he said remorsefully. "I think I was just scared because I realized I do need you, and I'm not used to that."

His fingers were gently moving up and down my arm in a calming motion, but I stopped his movements when I covered his hand with my own and gave it a squeeze. "You don't need me, Darry." I knew he'd have a stern response to that, so I moved my head just enough to meet his eyes before I explained further. "Like you said, you've been taking care of your family for over a year now, and I know you'd be able to handle it again without me if you needed to because you'd do anything for your family. But it's sweet that you hold me in such high regard, and as long as we're together, I want to help you carry the load and responsibilities."

Those light blue-green irises contained so much love and warmth, I felt like I was going to melt. Then when Darry's warm lips pressed against my forehead, my eyes drooped shut and I felt myself start to slip away.

As the last ounce of my energy left my body, I heard the deep rumble that could only be Darry's voice: "I love you, Catherine."

(Darry's POV)

Everything hurt. My head was pounding, my left arm and leg were throbbing, and my rib cage felt like it was on fire, but none of that mattered. All that mattered was my girlfriend was right there sitting next to me, and for some reason that I couldn't comprehend, she had forgiven me.

The conversation we had was filled with emotions coming from both of us, but I knew it was because we cared about each other so much. In fact, it seemed like both of us wanted to support each other, but, almost entirely in my case, we didn't want to be supported.

I wasn't necessarily surprised when Kate explained that she didn't agree with the typical roles men and women played in relationships, especially since I remembered how she wanted to pay for herself on our first date, but it was still hard for me to agree to accommodate her wishes. I'd do anything for Kate, and I respected her strength and independence, but the innate urge to fully provide for her and everyone else wasn't going to go away overnight.

Despite how awful it was to have a fight with Kate, (even if it only lasted less than a day,) it helped me see what Soda had been telling me for months; when I care about people, I become blinded by my desire to protect them, and in turn, I end up pushing them away. Soda was like our mom in that way– always seeing people for how they truly are– and it reminded me of something she told me just a few months before she and Dad died:

"All of you boys love so strongly, but in different ways. You love fiercely, Sodapop loves passionately, and Ponyboy loves quietly. None of those are bad or wrong, but each of them have different strengths and shortcomings, and it's important to understand what they are."

I couldn't even remember what we were talking about that led her to say that, but Mom's statement stuck with me. Apparently, my type of love made me prone to anger at the first sign I wasn't doing enough, and just like Soda said, that tended to make me push away the people I cared about the most.

I never wanted to push Kate away, just like I never wanted to push Ponyboy away after our parents died, but it came too naturally to me, and I always seemed to cross a line before I even realized I was getting near it. It was something I needed to work on, especially if I wanted to keep dating Catherine Miller.

In the short time I thought Kate was breaking up with me, it felt like I was going to have a heart attack on top of everything else. I wouldn't have blamed her if she wanted to split up– I deserved it for what I said and did– but it still would've hurt nonetheless. Luckily, thankfully, it seemed like Kate was going to stick with me as I tried to better myself.

Leaning against my right side with her head on my shoulder, Kate's breathing had evened out and her body was limp, so I knew she had nodded off. I found myself still drawing patterns on her arm with my fingers in a soothing fashion, even though she was sleeping and no longer needed any soothing. While my hand kept repeating the slow movements, my eyes focused on the bracelet she wore, which was the one I had given her for her birthday, and I couldn't fight the smile from creeping onto my face. Even though we were fighting, she still wore it.

I knew that Kate had been concerned that it would cause me more pain for her to join me on the small bed, but what she didn't seem to understand was even though it wasn't the most comfortable position, it was certainly better than not having her next to me. After everything that had transpired in less than 24 hours, I felt the need to be in contact with her, so I was going to ignore a little discomfort.

There was suddenly a soft knock on the door, and when I looked up, I saw my brothers and the whole gang standing there with varying levels of relief and gratitude on their faces. None of them said anything right away, but by the way they were looking between me and Kate, I could tell that they were glad we had made amends and we were okay.

We're okay. Everything's going to be okay.

Originally, the part that Kate says they should break up was going to be a cliffhanger to end a chapter, but it just didn't flow right, so I decided to give you guys some mercy and not do that.

And yes, Kate is a feminist and Darry will have to deal with it.