#jumped

{6:50pm. The Curtis House.}

Darry pushed the front door and held it open as his little brother, Sodapop, made his way into their rundown looking house. It wasn't much, but it was home. The defeated 20 year old followed close behind, having had one of the worst days he's had in a long while. It seemed to him that nothing had gone right at work all day. He had fallen off the ladder while trying to carry 3 bundles of shingles up to the roof at the same time. He hadn't brought enough nails to the worksite and had to go back for more, wasting precious time and daylight hours. Then, to top it all off, his supervisor told him to take the day off tomorrow, that they wouldn't need him. He desperately needed those extra hours, and now they were gonna be short on the bills for this month. Sodapop, on the other hand, seemed fine and dandy. He was as chipper and hyper as ever. Darry wished he could be as lighthearted as his middle brother always appeared to be, but he couldn't afford to.

As they came in, they ran into Two-Bit, who was making his way out of the house. He said something to the brothers about going to 'catch a good buzz and find some action.' He told them he'd be back around later if he couldn't find anything to do, and then he was off. After hearing the front door open and shut, Ponyboy poked his head out from the kitchen doorway and hollered his 'hellos' to his brothers. It was Pony's night to cook dinner, and it was just about ready. Soda went straight to the fridge for a glass of chocolate milk, and Darry sat down in his armchair and started to check the mail for the day, running his hands through his hair after seeing two more bills in the stack with 'Overdue' written in red ink across the fronts of them. Once Pony finished up with the cooking, he brought everything to the table, and his brothers met him in the dining room.

"I'll go grab (Y/N), she must be in her room," Darry observed as he started for the hallway. You usually took time to yourself in your bedroom to relax and get cleaned up when you'd get home from work.

"She isn't home, Dar," Pony declared, while dishing up the food. "She called a couple of hours ago, said she was gonna stay late at work or something. We gotta go get her at 10."

Sodapop looked from his younger brother to his older brother, and with a shrug, he sat down to eat.

"Oh. Alright," Darry muttered.

Darry hated the thought of his little sister having to do any kind of working at all, especially waitressing at such a sketchy place like The Dingo. It was his job to support this family, to keep things afloat, not hers, not Soda's either. He was the new man of the house since their parents had passed. Even so, he couldn't help but think about how thankful he was that she wanted to help out, especially picking up an extra shift like this. It was gonna help him more than she knew.

The boys ate dinner and then all helped to clean up. Afterwards, they separated to start doing their own things. Pony went back to his bedroom to keep reading his latest book. Steve had come over after dinner; him and Soda were in the dining room playing cards. Darry had made his way back to his armchair to read the paper. By the time he had finished with the paper, it was nearing 8:45. Darrel could barely hold his eyes open. He'd been up since 4:30am and, against his better judgement, decided to just rest his eyes for a couple of minutes. After the day he had, he needed this rest. Besides, it was still an hour until his baby sister needed to be picked up anyway.

Next thing he knew, Darry was jolted awake when the front door busted open. In waltzed a half-drunken Two-Bit, and behind him, Dally and Johnny sauntered in too. He must've picked them up along his way while looking for some fun. Two-Bit was rambling and laughing like a loon. Darry's heart dropped right to the floor as he looked down at his watch and saw it was well past 10, almost nearing 11. Oh. shit. He jumped up out of his seat, startling the other boys.

"Dammit all to hell! We were supposed to pick (Y/N) up at 10!", roared Darry to no one in particular.

Pony came out of his bedroom at the commotion, and for the first time tonight, Steve and Soda were silent. Two-Bit quit laughing and sobered up fast. Johnny looked very uneasy at the sudden change of tone in the room. Even Dallas took pause and looked slightly uncomfortable.

"Ponyboy! Sodapop! How could ya'll let me sleep this late?!", the eldest brother yelled.

Pony and Soda both looked down in shame. You had completely slipped their minds. Darry clenched his fists at his sides, more mad at himself really, than at his brothers. All three brothers had lost track of time. All three brothers had been preoccupied with their own pastimes. All three brothers had forgotten about their sister. How could they be so stupid? How could they be so careless?

Breaking the awkward silence, and speaking up for the first time since he got there, Dally said, "Well, come on you lousy greasers, quit wasting time. Let's go get her!"

All 7 boys started filing out the front door to the Curtis house, panicked. It was no less than a second later when they heard it. The most awful, stomach turning noice any of them had ever heard. They could barely make it out, but it was there. A scream. Your scream. Desperate. Frightened. Disturbed. Their faces paled, their hearts pounded. Eyes wild, opened wide. The only thing worse than hearing it was hearing it abruptly stop. Not a single one of those boys hesitated to start running straight towards where the terrible noise had originated from. They didn't care or even bother to think about what they may come across. Heaven have mercy on anyone who dared to get in the way between them and you in this moment. All that could be heard in the night was the gang's ragged breathing, their shouts for you, the sound of their feet meeting the pavement as fast as humanly possible.

They found what they had been looking for, and it was even worse than they could've imagined. The sight before them was enough to make them all sick to their stomachs. That vulgar, perv Soc on top of you. His buddies holding you down. Your shirt ripped open, lip busted, eye already swelling, with bruising starting to appear there and on your side as well. Darry pounced on the redheaded Soc. You felt a huge weight lifted off of you. You started to come back to reality, just as Darry started pounding the guy senseless. Punch after punch, blow after blow. He was not letting up. You had never, in your whole life, seen him in a state like this before.

"WHAT KIND OF GUY DOES SOMETHING LIKE THAT TO A GIRL, HUH?? YOU FUCKIN' PIECE OF SHIT! YOU'RE GONNA WISH YOU WERE DEAD, YOU WORTHLESS BASTARD!!", Darry screamed. His voice was strained, breaking a bit. Darry hardly ever cursed, and it scared you a little to hear him go off like that.

Soda, Steve, Two, and Dal all each took on one of the other 4 Socs. When Darry tackled the ginger Soc, the others tried to make a getaway, but the boys were too quick for them. Swear words were being thrown left and right. The sound of skin against skin, of knuckles getting busted, of bones breaking was all you could hear. These Socs were just barely going to get out of here with their lives. "Good!", you thought to yourself. They deserve to feel as scared as you did.

Ponyboy and Johnny were the ones to come to your aid. They helped you to sit up slowly. You yanked the handkerchief out of your mouth and threw it to the ground. Loud sobs immediately left your lips and wracked your body. Johnny was doing his best to look away, to help you keep the tiny bit of dignity you had left, until he could give you his jean jacket to put on, so you wouldn't be exposed anymore. Pony hugged you so tight, it was hurting, but you let him. You needed it. He started to smooth down your hair with his hand. That's when he felt the blood. He pulled off his shirt and held it against the back of your head. You didn't know it, but he had tears in his eyes, threatening to spill. He didn't dare let them. He knew you needed someone calm and collected in this moment. You were always a rock for him; someone he could come to in his times of need. Now, it was time for him to return the favor. He spoke to you in that soft, thoughtful way that he had learned from you. You were always so good at it. He tried his best. You can't remember exactly what he had said to you, but you felt so much safer just being in his arms. Johnny was scared to death, his own jumping replaying over and over in his mind. He knew all too well the pain, emotional and physical, you were feeling right now. He rubbed your back to try and assist Pony in calming you down. When your breathing had slowed and started to even out, Johnny gave you a cancerstick to help calm your nerves.

By this time, the Socs all lay flat out on the ground, a few out cold and the others right on the edge, moaning and groaning. They wouldn't be in any shape to get back to their side of town anytime soon. Darry and the others left them to wallow in their pain and rushed over to you.

"(Y/N)! Oh god! Oh my god. I'm so sorry, little sister! It's all my fault. It's all my fault-" Darry sounded so hurt, as he held your face in his large hands. He pulled you into an even tighter hug than Pony's, only letting go when he heard you whimper from the squeezing. You knew he would never forgive himself for this. He didn't care if he wasn't looking tough right now. His emotions were getting the better of him, and he let some of his hot, angry tears slip down his cheeks.

Sodapop piped up, "(Y/N), baby, it's all our faults. I don't even know what to say. You needed us, you trusted us to pick you up, to keep you safe, and we failed you."

All the boys looked about as good as you felt, which wasn't good. They went from fuming to somber real quick once the fighting was over. Crashing from all the adrenaline and finally getting to have a good look at you.

"Did they uh... did they hurt ya bad, kid?", Dally said while scratching the back of his neck and lighting a cigarette. He was hesitant to even ask. He knew the answer. He took a long drag from his cigarette before continuing. "Looks like they gotcha pretty good, but we got 'em better. They won't ever touch you again," he finished.

"Those no good, rotten, ugly, pig-nosed...," Steve continued with his colorful ranting as he paced in front of you. He must've not been satisfied, because he walked over to one of the Socs and gave him an another hard kick.

"You're a tough ol' gal, (Y/N)! You had us scared to death! Bet you could've taken those guys all on your own if they hadn't suprised ya!" He knew that wasn't the truth, but Two-Bit was trying to lighten the mood in the only way he knew how, by joking around.

You cracked a small smile as you replied, "Oh yeah, boy. They just caught me on a bad day." You laughed a sad, weak laugh after you spoke, wincing from the pain in your ribs, causing more concern from everyone.

Darry picked you up bridal style and carried you all the way home. Everyone else followed behind. No one said much. You hated the grim silence, but you were so tired, even the thought of talking seemed to be too much right now. Once you all were back at the house, and the boys knew you were safe now for sure, Dally, Johnny, Steve, and Two-Bit all parted ways with the group for the night. But, not before they each either gave your arm a squeeze, kissed you on your head, or patted you on the back while you were sitting there on your couch.

Once the guys were gone, Darry moved you from the couch to the bathroom. He walked to your bedroom and grabbed some clean pajamas. Looking you over well, he could hardly keep it together. Seeing you in this broken and battered state killed him. He decided you'd be fine to get a shower, and then he'd patch you up after. You'd be lying if you said you didn't have a huge breakdown in the shower, finally alone to process what had just happened to you. The warm water helped to calm you down. Once you got all nice and clean, Darry bandaged your head, applied ointment to your busted lip, and gave you ice for your eye and ribs. He also gave you a couple of aspirin and a glass of water.

"Drink."

All three of your brothers helped to get you tucked into bed. They hung around in your bedroom for a long while, afraid to leave to you there alone. Like maybe you'd completely crumble apart and be gone if they weren't there to watch you. Darry sent Soda and Pony away to their room. They needed to go to sleep. Their heads kept drooping, because they would start to doze off, and then would snap back up. They wanted to argue with him, but decided they better listen. If they had had it their way, they both would've slept in that bed with you tonight, keeping you guarded tight between them. Darry pulled his armchair into your bedroom. He'd be fine to stay here for the night. He knew he couldn't sleep at all in his bed while you were in here, looking so fragile and small. Just when you were about to drift off to sleep, you spoke in a whisper.

"Darry?"

"Yeah, angel, what is it?", he said, reaching for your hand and rubbing it gently with his thumb.

"I'm sorry I tried to walk home alone tonight. I knew better than that. You taught me better than that," you croaked out, throat tightening and tears welling up yet again.

"Oh honey, don't you worry about that. It's not your fault, okay? Now you just get some rest, kiddo. I'll be right here if you need me."

"Okay. Goodnight, Darry."

"Goodnight, (Y/N)," Darry said to you before kissing your hand, "I love you so much."

Darrel watched as you lay in your bed asleep. He was trying his best to not let his mind wander to how much worse things could've ended up had they arrived even just a few minutes later. He couldn't stop himself from thinking how close they could've been to losing you. He could not lose anyone else. He didn't know how he would be able to find the strength to ever let you step foot out of this house again after tonight. But one thing was for sure, you were never going to go anywhere alone. Period. Even if the whole gang had to take shifts staying by your side and accompanying you wherever you went. He knew they would in a heartbeat, you were like a sister to all of them. He had failed you once, and he was never going to let something like this happen to you ever again. Not over his dead body.

𓂃𓈒⟡・𓂃𓈒⟡・𓂃𓈒⟡・𓂃𓈒⟡・𓂃𓈒⟡・𓂃𓈒⟡・𓂃𓈒⟡・𓂃𓈒⟡𓂃

note: ahhh! yay! part 2 is complete! i hope you all enjoyed it! if anyone has any suggestions for some curtis!sister ideas, lmk! :)