Wow, okay.

Can I talk about the much-larger than expected following for this story?

I decided to update because of that, haha, but because it's been so long, I'm not sure where I was going with the plotline. This is sort of just to test the waters, so sorry if it's subpar compared to the last few chapters. Thanks, enjoy!

Darry yawned and crawled out of bed, opening up the door to see Tim's serious face.

"Hey, man." He said, in his cool, quiet way. Tim Shepard was always calm. Darry envied that about him - he wished he had that same control. Even in a fight, Tim was always perfectly composed and serious.

"What's up there, Shep?"

The pair moved to the kitchen, where Tim sat down comfortably. Their house was more of a public safehouse, really, but connections with Tim's gang made it easier to move around. Although 'gang' was subjective. They were no River Kings, but they were well known, and the boys stuck together.

"You know Julia."

Tim Shepard didn't pussyfoot around.

"I've been doing some reading." Darry answered casually, pouring a glass of water. "Want any?"

"No thanks. I heard the two of you been real close lately."

Darry didn't answer. And Tim didn't pussyfoot.

"I look out for her. She thinks our 'gang' just means a crew of kids. I like to keep it that way. She's a nice girl, Darry, but real ignorant. Smart, but her head is up there in the clouds. Her brother thinks it's best that way anyhow, and she works too much to know any better."

"What do I have to do with this?" He asked.

"Me and the boys got a pact to keep her outta trouble. You in? After that incident at the Dingo, we all watch out for her. Nothing big, but she's like family. Takes care of Angela and Curly on occasion. 'Spose us too. I spend more time on her couch than on yours, and I ain't the only one."

Darry shrugged. "I like her a bit, Tim. Of course. But she doesn't get into no trouble that I've seen at that book store. And I don't see her nowhere else."

"Jimmy is a roughshod kid, you dig? He ain't composed like she is. Real hothead, that one, and I don't want neither of his sisters gettin' into trouble on account of his foolishness. The younger one is just as feisty as he is, and you know she got her hands full the way you do, so since y'all are becoming friends, I figure you can relate. 'Specially after all that bad blood with the Socs after the Bob Sheldon incident."

Darry nodded soberly. "You're right, Tim."

Standing, Tim's chair scraped the ground. "Thanks, man. I'm headin' out."

"You sure you don't want any dinner?"

"Yeah. Thanks, man. Tell the Ponykid and Sodapop I say hello."

He nodded, and Tim left. Darry sighed. The nap had left him feeling just as tired as he had been before, but all he wanted was to crawl back into bed. He never got sick, so it just had to be stress, he figured. Yawning, he dug through the icebox, looking for something to scrounge up for dinner. All the boys would be hungry, and since Steve and Two-Bit had all but moved in for the past week, he guessed that it would be dinner for five, and none of them ate daintily.

He got so wrapped up in making some frozen chicken into something edible that he didn't even notice when Ponyboy walked in with Steve and Soda, a few colas in their hands. Pony liked Pepsi the best, but Darry's favorite - when he drank the stuff, it was too sugary and it was cheaper to drink tap water anyhow - was 7-Up. Soda held up his 7-Up, and Darry grinned at his thoughtfulness.

"So, what's that supposed to be, Superman? Seems like even you can't make a decent meal out of... what in the hell is that anyway, because I surely don't believe that's supposed to be chicken-"

"Aw, be quiet, Stevie, he's feedin' you, ain't he?" Soda smiled good naturedly, opening up his own Pepsi with a hiss. "What's up, there, Dare?"

"Nothing. Grabbed a nap for the first time in what feels like a decade," he grunted. "Still ain't awake, but it was nice to catch up on some sleep."

Pony looked troubled. "Aw, you work too hard. You oughtta take a few days off, or something."

"No way. Gotta pay the bills somehow, huh Ponykid? 'Specially with all these street rats wandering in here and turning on the teevee." Darry's eyebrows drew together jokingly, and he eyed Steve, who had wandered to the television and was about to turn it on. He threw back a sheepish grin and meandered back in.

"Ain't there anymore chocolate cake?"

Darry felt guilty. "Didn't stop at the grocery. Was too tired, didn't even think. How was practice, Pone?"

"Good. My lungs are getting better."

"All right, Ponykid, good for you!" Steve crowed. "Heyo, Darry, in gratitude, how about I offer to pick up the ingredients for a new cake tomorrow?"

"Considering you'll eat most of it, I figure it's a fair trade." Darry answered dryly. Steve grinned in response, bouncing on his toes and grabbing his own drink. "Alright. Food's almost ready, so wash up, all of you. I don't need no dirty fingers on these plates. I tried to make it edible, but I don't even remember putting this in the icebox..."

The four yabbered on for about an hour until Two-Bit showed up, surprisingly sober. "Howdy there, buddies. What's all the hullabaloo about now?"

"C'mon and help us finish up this chicken, it's terrible." Ponyboy grimaced.

"That's because you let it get cold."

"Aw, it ain't my fault we found somebody's science project in the kitchen..."

Two-Bit and Steve hooted. "Cold!"

"I... have an announcement." Two-Bit stood before them importantly, chest puffed out, gangly body looming over their seated forms.

"What's up there, Two-Bit?" Soda piped up. "You get a date with Marcia yet?"

A lopsided grin crossed his features before he quashed it. "Not yet, but I'm still workin' on that one, you better believe it. Anyhow, I have gathered you all here today-"

"Get on with it!" Steve ordered, laughing.

Looking miffed, Two-Bit cleared his throat. "Well, gentlemen. As of today, I have declared myself a new man-"

Ponyboy rolled his eyes. "What is it, Two-Bit!?"

"I'm goin' sober. That's right, I see the shock in your gazes, and I do appreciate and enjoy all of this attention, thank you very much, and I gotta tell you that this is the first day of the resta my life."

They all stared, eyes wide like the hole in the screen door.

Then they erupted.

"Holy shit, you mean it!?"

"Steve! Watch the language around the kid!"

"Aw, I ain't a kid, Soda, but Two-Bit, that's tuff-"

"Congratulations, Two-Bit, now we just gotta get you house trained..."

"Shut it, Steve, this is great, Two-Bit really-"

Loving every second of their attention, Two-Bit bowed from person to person.

"And why are you doin' it?" Pony asked.

"Kathy says she'll make an honest man outta me if I can stay sober for a week or two," he grinned.

Sodapop groaned. "So you ain't really goin' sober, you're just trying to lift a piece of tail-"

"Don't be vulgar, now, Soda, c'mon, Two-Bit, only a week?" Darry raised a brow.

Two-Bit shrugged. "I guess. 'Sides, drinkin' beer all the time surely does get expensive, you dig?"

Darry nodded, catching his drift. They quieted, and Two-Bit moved a chair over to sit, challenging Pony to an arm wrestle, which he promptly lost. Darry watched his boys bicker and laugh, and -especially when his eyes drifted over his littlest brother - felt the stirrings of protectiveness rise up over him. Perhaps he understood Tim's meaning more than he thought he did.

x

"Hey, there, Darry, Sodapop, how are you?"

Julia smiled at them openly as they trooped through the door. Darry had drawn the line at shirts with collars, but made the boys wear the nicest, least torn clothes. She was wearing a dress, frayed at the ends, and her little brother, Jimmy, was lounging in front of the teevee, in jeans and an old shirt.

"Hey," he greeted them quietly. Darry eyed him. He hadn't been at the rumble, he didn't think. Or he couldn't remember.

"Hey there, Jimmy." Pony answered, eyes familiar. Darry was glad everyone knew someone. For some reason he felt a little shy and strange, while Sodapop began talking to Julia with ease. He felt a flash of jealousy at his good-looking younger brother's ability to charm anyone. He still hadn't spoken.

"Julia, have you seen my hair brush?" A voice hollered from another room.

"Check the bathroom!" Julia called out, turning into the kitchen. Sodapop and Darry followed, while Ponyboy awkwardly settled himself on the couch next to the lankier boy.

"Thanks!"

A flash of red darted out from one room to the next. Julia smiled absently, stirring something in a small pot. "Don't mind Diane, she's just a ball of energy, always misplacing things and running around."

"Am not!" A girl hotly argued. Darry turned as she walked into the kitchen, and he smiled.

Diane was almost an exact duplicate of her sister, thin and tall, but with long dark hair, much longer than her older sister's. But her voice was lower and less clear, and her eyebrows were twisted impishly in a way that her sister's did not. The comb was stuck in the mass of hair she had, and she sighed.

"Can you brush my hair?"

"Sure. Jimmy, come keep an eye on the sou-"

"I can do that," Darry offered, finally adding himself into the conversation. Soda grinned.

"Darry's the best cook around." He boasted teasingly. Julia stared at him raptly - she had a way of focusing all her attention on whoever was speaking, Darry noticed, and grinned. That would make it easier to tell her jokes - she was smart and attentive, the perfect audience to his brother's antics. "You know, he once made this chicken-"

"All right, there, buddy." Darry cut in with a laugh. "Slander ain't appreciated."

"You shouldn't tease him 'bout his cookin' unless you wanna cook yourself." Jimmy muttered from the couch. Pony looked startled at that seriousness from him, but neither Julia nor Diane reacted.

The house was calmer than theirs, thought just as seemingly downtrodden. Diane was charming and silly, flighty in the way a child her age was, a little more than a year younger than Pony, but two grades below him, and they got along well, though he and Jimmy stuck together with the comfortable awkwardness of teenage boys who weren't quite sure of themselves or their bodies.

Dinner was a thick chicken soup - and Darry thought wryly that if he'd had the time, he should've made soup from that terrible chicken in the icebox, but he didn't have a recipe anyway - and a sad-looking little salad. They all chowed down dutifully, though, and for dessert, there was an absolute abundance of pastries.

Carefully cut chocolate cake, strawberry cheesecake that tasted like it was only a few hours to molding, sticky buns that weren't quite as sticky as they should've been, and dozens of cookies that Julia warmed up in their oven - they all gratefully stuffed their faces, and the entire process took almost an hour, with little conversation in between. They were all quiet eaters, and money was tight that week, so they'd all had rather light dinners for the past few days.

"Julia," Darry swallowed. "This was swell. Hey, how's that leaky roof treating you? It was raining pretty bad the other night."

"Terrible!" Diane declared, outgoing and unabashed. "It's right in my room, so I can hear all the drippin', and it drives me wild."

"How about as a thank you, I come over Sunday and fix it up for you?"

"Oh, no!" She looked distressed. "Darry, all you do is work, the last thing I'd ask-"

"After the way you just fattened us up, I'd say I owe you one. Sodapop, Pone, wanna come help?"

"Sure thing." Pony answered listlessly, and Soda nodded eagerly.

She relaxed a little. "Jimmy, you should help too. It'll be nice to learn, just in case."

The boy shrugged. "Sure thing, sis." He was not unfriendly, exactly, but quieter and somehow a little sullen, as if he'd woken up on the wrong side of the bed. Darry recognized it - Ponyboy often got just like it. The moods came part and parcel with adolescence. Though, he frowned, Sodapop had never been that way. Though he never really got the chance to be a moody teenager.

Julia smiled brightly, and Darry stifled amusement at Sodapop's enormous grin. "Well, thank you kindly, boys! So... it's a date?"