For The Love of a Greaser

Chapter 1

Abigail and the Dinner Nightmare

I let out a sigh as I sat there in bed, my knees pulled up to my chest and my head in my arms. It was another average day in Tulsa, but there were still so many things that needed to be done. The roof needed fixing, the same with the showerhead in the bathroom, even the kitchen sink. It was like the whole house was trying to fall apart on me. Even worse, I didn't make that much money and I had to support both my sister and myself. I mean, what can you expect when you're a waitress at a diner? Next thing I knew, I heard my sister call for me.

"Abigail, we're out of milk," she called from the kitchen.

"Great, just great," I groaned as I threw myself out of bed.

I looked over at the clock resting on my nightstand. It read 10:23. It was then that I realized that Eden was supposed to be at school already and had no apparently reason for still being at home. It was already bad enough that she skipped a day of school last week and now this. With that in mind I went over to my dresser and pulled out a pair of old faded jeans. I'd had them for about four years now and was in desperate need of new ones, but good jeans like these were hard to come by. Although, I suppose jeans were also the way to tell the difference between a Greaser and a Soc. People like us couldn't afford the nicer things like Socs. Socs were always dressed up real nice, while we were lucky to have what we had. I didn't have the money to go out and spend on nicer things. I was lucky to have what I did and that was about it. If I did spend money on something like that, then it definitely wasn't for me. No, if I did, then it was for Eden. With Eden in mind, I walked out of my room, pulling my light blue shirt over my head.

"Eden," I started as I walked down stairs, tucking my shirt in a bit like I normally did. "Why aren't you at school right now?" I asked curiously as I came to stand in the opening of the kitchen, my back against the frame of the door way and my arms crossed over my chest.

"Um, well, you see," she stuttered nervously.

It was obvious that she hadn't thought things through properly. She always did this and I didn't know why. She never thought things through properly. She was definitely nervous though upon realizing that she'd been caught.

"That's what I thought," I said, walking into the kitchen and grabbing a cup from the counter. "Get to school, okay?" I told her, watching as she up and ran right passed me, a piece of toast in her mouth.

"Bye sis," she called, quickly grabbing her bag and running out the door.

After I heard the door close behind her, I went over to the fridge and pulled out the carton of orange juice. It wasn't my favorite, but I knew that it would have to do for now. After that, I collapsed in the chair, resting my forehead against the cold top of the table.

If things kept going the way that they were at the moment, then I didn't know what we'd do. I didn't have to make any payments on the house, but we still had plumbing and electric to pay for. I still had this weeks groceries to buy and I wasn't sure how much longer we could wait on the roof. We already had plenty of water damage from last weeks rain and we were supposed to get even more sometime this week. There were even a few cracks in the ceiling from the weight.

"It's going to be a long week," I said with a sigh, before downing my juice.

T

I was about done with my shift when the bell on the door rang, the sound echoing through the diner and alerting me that we had another customer. It was a couple of guys, Greasers to be precise. Now, I don't have anything against Greasers per say, but I've still had troubles with some. There were always a few in particular that were causing problems, but from what I could tell, these two would be just fine. Besides, technically, I was a Greaser myself I guess. When I took a better look, I found that they were a couple of kids, maybe 14 years old at best. They were probably Eden's age to be honest, since she was only 14.

"Hello, my name's Abigail, how may I help you boys this evening?" I asked kindly as I came to stand in front of their booth.

They both looked up at me for a moment, barely taking enough time to contemplate their orders. The youngest one from what I could tell anyway spoke first.

"I'll have a burger and a Coke if you please miss," he said politely, turning to his friend a moment later. "What about you Johnny?" he asked.

"I'll have the same and some fries too if you don't mind miss," his friend Johnny said quietly, his bangs falling into his face a bit.

"I'll be right back then," I said with a small smile, before turning around and going behind the counter to get their drinks.

I put the order on the turner and spun it around for the cook to see, then I began filling the boys glasses with Coke. I didn't get very far though before the bells rang again, this time bringing in a bunch of Socs.

"Great, just what I needed," I muttered to myself, placing the kids' drinks on a serving tray.

The last time that I had a bunch of Socs in here, I nearly lost a weeks worth of pay for something that I started. I mean what a load of bull crap. Greaser, Soc, it doesn't seem to matter really. Something stupid always seems to happen when I'm around. Maybe I just don't have very good luck, I don't know. All I know is that I'm tired of all of the crap.

"Hey Abs, why don't ya come over here with us and let those Greasers get their own food," one of them called.

"That's Abigail to you buddy. Now, leave me be and wait your turn," I warned, walking back over to the two kids sitting over at the booth.

"Hey now, that's no way to treat a customer Abs," the guy said, walking over and grabbing me by the arm just as I sat the drinks down on the table.

"Get your damn hands off me Rodney!" I spat, pulling away from him and nearly dropping him to the floor in the process.

"Hey, leave her alone!" Johnny's friend yelled, standing up and shoving Rodney away from me.

Rodney didn't seem to like this very much and got up in the kids face, shoving him back into the table and knocking the drinks over in the process. Now I had something else that I had to clean up.

"Standing up for your little Greaser girlfriend?" Rodney taunted, shoving the kid again.

"Just leave her alone, okay?" the kid tried, standing between the two of us.

"Order up!" the cook call from the kitchen, the food being sat on the counter as he hit the little bell.

It was as if the bell was their cue to start fighting and before I knew it, fists were flying and a fight broke out.

I had to duck out of the way as a glass was thrown, the pieces flying all over the place. Part of it hit me, making a nice sized cut right above my eye. A few minutes later, someone was thrown through the window of the diner. I ran and hid behind the counter as people went flying and I nearly screamed when one of the Socs were sent flying toward me. I kicked the guy in the face when he made a grab for me, but for that he nearly broke my wrist.

Why does this stuff always happen to me? I thought to myself, groaning out loud at the same time.

Then in the back, I saw one of Rodney's friends pull out a knife. I thought only Greasers carried those on them, but I guess I was wrong. I then jumped up when I saw him try to go after the kid that had tried helping me.

"Kid, watch out!" I yelled, reaching out and grabbing him by the arm.

I barely pulled him away in time and we went crashing down to the floor. I then pulled him toward me, covering his head with my arms as a glass shattered above our head, shielding him from it.

"Thanks," he nearly choked out, before trying to stand back up.

"No you don't, you're staying right here. I'm not having you get killed because these idiots want to start a fight," I told him, staring him straight in the eyes.

It was like he'd seen this look plenty of times before and decided to stay put, much to my delight.

"Now, before anything else happens, why don't you tell me your name kid," I said, letting my eyes flicker back and forth between him and everyone else.

"The name's Ponyboy, Ponyboy Curtis," he said, holding his hand out.

I shook it, putting on a small smile.

"Nice to officially meet you Pony Boy. Now, I want you to stay here behind the counter, alright?" I told him, making sure that he did what I told him, before crawling toward the back.

I nearly cried out when I felt a piece of glass go into my hand. I was so lucky that I was allowed to wear jean here. That thought soon left my mind though when I made it to the kitchen door, pushing it open with my other hand. I let out a scream though when a bat came flying toward me.

"Damn it Joe, it's me!" I cried, moving out of the way before it hit me.

It was then that he started apologizing like crazy. Apparently, he figured that I was one of the guys trying to get back to the kitchen and cause problem. I couldn't really blame him though, I probably would have done the same thing to be honest. Although, I still didn't appreciate having a baseball bat flying at me though.

"When did you call the cops?" I asked quickly, opening the door a crack to look back out at the diner.

A glass came flying and shattered against the door a second later causing me to jump back.

I hope that Ponyboy's alright, I thought to myself.

T

About two hours later there was nothing else that I could do, but sigh. I barely managed to convince the cops to keep Johnny and Ponyboy out of jail, explaining to them half a dozen times what had happened and who had started everything. I couldn't believe how stupid people could be, that and the fact that about half of the Socs bought their way out of a night or two in a jail cell. I mean, they had destroyed private property, assaulted innocent people, not to mention scaring the crap out of the owner of the diner and myself. First, I had to worry about my sister. Second, I had to go to work and then deal with a bunch of Socs. Third, well, I'm walking two kids home after the cops had been called to break up the fight.

Nothing was ever easy anymore, not since Mom died.

"You know, you really don't have to walk us home Miss Abigail," Ponyboy said, rubbing the back of his neck.

I just shook my head though. There was no way that I was going to let those two boys walk home alone, not after what happened earlier at the dinner. No, I'd walk them home to make sure that nothing happened. Granted, you'd think that they'd be walking me home for the same reason, but still.

"Don't worry about it kid. Besides, you two helped me out and I think it's only fair that I get you cleaned up Ponyboy. I mean, what would your family think?" I told him as I ruffled his hair in a friendly manner. "And call me Abby, okay? After what you two did, there's no need to be so formal. Same goes to you Johnny."

I smiled to myself at this, leaving them with no choice really, but to call my Abby.

"Hey Ponyboy, do ya mind if I stay at your house tonight?" Johnny asked as he walked beside Ponyboy.

"Sure. In fact, you can stay in my room tonight Johnny. I'm sure that Darry won't mind," Ponyboy said.

"Darry, is he your brother?" I asked curiously, coming to walk beside the two of them.

"Yeah, him and Soda. Soda works up at the gas station and Darry roofs houses," he told me, before digging into his pocket and pulling out a cigarette.

"Wait, your brother roofs houses?" I asked, wanting to make sure that I heard right.

"Yeah, that's what I said. Why, is there something wrong with that?" he asked curiously, slightly worried that perhaps I didn't approve.

"Oh, no, no. You see, I've been trying to find someone that could fix my roof and I think you might have just solved my problem," I told him.

He seemed relieved upon hearing this, though I didn't really know why.

T

15 minutes later I was sitting there in his house on the couch cleaning him up. He had a few cuts that were pretty good. It amazed me the fight that he put up against those other guys, him and Johnny both. They were both pretty tough kids, but it was obvious that neither of them was the fighting time. Ponyboy in particular seemed like the gentle type to be honest, which made me wonder what the rest of his family were like. Normally, Greasers were the fighting type, then again, that was also stereotypical too. Take me for instance, I'm technically a Greaser, but I don't fight unless I have to. Plus, it's normally fighting for my sister's sake then my own. I was about done with Ponyboy when someone came in through the front door, the sound of it closing behind them causing me to pull my eyes away from Ponyboy.

"What in the hell happened to you Ponyboy?" came the man's voice as he walked over and inspected the kid.

I stood up and moved out of his way so that he could look him over. He was tall and definitely well built. With that in mind, I concluded that it must be Ponyboy's brother, Darry.

"You must be his brother," I started, catching his attention to where he turned back toward me.

"Yes, Ma'am. The name's Darrel, but you can call me Darry," he said, holding his hand out.

I took it, shaking it. He had a strong grip, that was for sure. Then again, in his line of work it should be expected.

"My name's Abigail Winters. You can call me Abby if you wish," I told him, bowing my head slightly. "You should be proud of your brother," I said, gesturing my hand toward Ponyboy.

"And why is that?" he asked, seeming a bit skeptical.

"Well… let's just say that there's a few Socs at my diner that can't seem to keep their hands to themselves," I said bitterly, annoyed at the thought of Rodney.

Darry seemed to get the picture, seeming a bit miffed his own self at hearing what I said. He obviously didn't agree with the Socs actions.

Soon though, Ponyboy took notice to my own wounds and scratches, getting up to stand next to me.

"You know Miss Abigail, you should really get that looked at," Ponyboy said.

"Yeah," Johnny pitched in.

I just shook my head though. First off, I really didn't have the time, nor a car to do such a thing.

"I don't have the money to be going to the hospital for something like this. Besides, I should be getting home. Eden's been by herself for far too long tonight," I told him getting ready to leave.

It was then that Darry grabbed me by the arm, keeping me from leaving. All that I could do was turn back around to look at him, a questionable look on my face.

"Why don't you let me take a look at you, see if I can't fix you up a bit?" he offered.

I stood there for a moment, hesitating, unsure of what to do. After a moment or two longer though, I nodded my head, agreeing to the offer.

"If you're sure," I started, only to be stopped by Darry.

"I'm positive. After everything you did for Pony, it's the least I can do for ya," he assure me, before turning back to Ponyboy. "Ponyboy, why don't you go upstairs and get ready for bed, you've got school in the morning," Darry said, watching as his brother ran upstairs with Johnny.

It made me laugh a bit though at how quick Ponyboy ran out of the room. This caused Darry to turn his eyes back toward me again.

"He seems like a pretty good kid," I said, allowing Darry to pull me down onto the couch with him.

We still had the first aid kit out, so he just started pulling things out and sitting them down on the coffee table.

"He is, when he's not in fights that is," he told me.

"He doesn't seem the type to start fights though," I admitted.

"That's because he's not. If he was, I'd kick his butt right into next week, same with Soda. I already have enough to deal with, so they know better," he told me, putting a bit of peroxide on a cotton ball, and placing above my why.

I hissed in pain as he did this, causing him to pull back for a moment.

"Sorry," he apologized, before pressing it back against my skin again.

You'd think that I'd be used to this by now, but I wasn't. I've dealt with it quite a few times these past four years and this was just another tally on the wall.

"So, do you have to do this often?" I asked, referring to the fact that he was cleaning me up.

"Every now and then, but enough. Either that or I'm fixing someone else up," he told me as he put a bit of ointment on the spot.

I didn't really mind that much since it didn't hurt. I was more surprised though at how gentle he was being. Working with roofs, I would think he'd be a bit more rough when it came to his hands. Then again, I suppose that he had his moments just like the rest of us.

"Your brother tells me that you work in the roofing business," I said off handedly, just trying to keep our small conversation going.

He seemed to perk up a bit at my statement though, obviously catching his interest.

"Yes Ma'am. Why, do you need some work done?" he asked.

"Actually, yes I do. In fact, we've been needing someone to work on the roof for a few months now," I told him.

"Why now then?" he asked curiously, obviously wondering why I hadn't done something about it sooner.

I just scratched the back of my head nervously. I wasn't exactly proud of my job. I mean, I never even tried to go to college because I had to worry about Eden.

"Well, like I said, I work at a dinner so I don't make much," I said, catching him off guard a bit.

"I'd imagine that you make plenty in tips though?" he inquired.

"Well, it doesn't do much when I have to take care of my sister…" I said quietly.

When I said this he seemed to understand perfectly, inclining his head in a respectful manner.

"I see what you mean. I've been looking after Soda and Ponyboy for a while now. It's not easy I tell ya," he said, opening up a bit.

"Well, my dad left when I was 16, so I've been looking after Eden for the last four years now. I was lucky to manage finishing high school to be honest," I said begrudgingly, but it wasn't toward Eden, it wasn't her fault.

I was more upset with my father. He just up and left one day, leaving us behind and on our own. All I know is that after Mom died, he just started drinking all the time. I had to make sure to keep Eden away because I didn't want her to see Dad like that. I didn't want her around all of the alcohol. I even remember a few times I would leave the house some nights with her and we would stay in the park until I knew our father would be asleep.

I hadn't heard what Darry had said, so the next thing I knew, I was biting my tongue in pain as he pulled a bit of glass out of my hand. He soon apologized though, getting up and grabbing a wash cloth, coming back and pressing it to the palm of my hand.

"I really am sorry Miss Abigail, but I did warn you," Darry said as he cleaned my hand up.

I just shook my head dismissively. It wasn't his fault, I was the idiot that wasn't watching where I was crawling earlier, not him. The only thing I did do though was watch him as he wrapped my hand up, making sure that it wasn't too tight, but still tight enough that it wouldn't come loose.

"I think that ought to do it for now," he said, standing up after placing everything back inside the little tin.

I stood up as well, wincing when I placed pressure on my hand. I hate it when I hurt my hands, I really do.

"Well, I should be getting home now. Thank you for your help Darrel," I said, a friendly smile on my face as I walked toward the door.

"Let me at least give you a ride home," he said.

"No, it's alright, really," I said, not wanting to bother him with it. "Besides, I only live a couple streets down, I'll be fine," I assured him.

"Then let me walk you home then Miss Abigail. Trust me, it's not safe at night to be walking around alone," he informed me, walking toward the door. "Those Socs seem to be a problem as of late around here," he persisted, making an obvious point.

At that, I really couldn't say no. After all, what would Eden do if something were to happen to me?

It couldn't hurt. Heck, I could show him the house then, I thought to myself.

"Alright, I see your point, and at least then you'll know where I live," I concluded, remembering the fact that he could help me with the roof.

Ok everyone, this is my first Outsiders story, so be nice. I have many other stories besides this that you might like such as ones for X-MEN (Gambit), FINAL FANTASY 7 (Vincent and Chaos), ROBIN HOOD: PRINCE OF THEIVES (Will Scarlet), LABYRINTH (Jareth), and MORE! :) Just check out my PROFILE for all my stuff. Also, please remember to REVIEW and MESSAGE me. I really REALLY want to know what everyone thinks of this story. I've had it in my head for a long time and have finally decided to start writing it. I always love feedback. Thanks everyone! :)