Safe and Sound

"Mommy!" Screeched the little girl that looked so much like her twin.

"Mommy's here, baby girl." The mother cooed to the little girl. "Now, what's wrong, Abby?"

"Keith pulled on my hair and wouldn't leave me alone." The young girl wiped at the tears brimming in her eyes and pouted her lip.

"Well, sweetie, that's just what boys do when they like you." Her mother laughed with a wink at her young daughter.

"Ewww, gross!" Abby squealed then scrunched up her nose. "I don't like boys, they have cooties."

"Hey, what about me?" A voice called out from behind the pair. "I'm a boy."

"But that's different. You don't have cooties because you're my daddy." The child explained to her father as he scooped her up in his arms for a hug.

"That's right, don't you ever forget that." He chuckled as she ran off to play with her brothers again.

Four children. Mr and Mrs Curtis had four children and Abby was the third of them. Darrel, or Darry, was the oldest. Then trailing three years behind him were the twins, Sodapop and Abigayle. Sodapop was older by about thirty minutes. That left the youngest Curtis child. Ponyboy Curtis was three years younger than Soda and Abby.

That was only their biological children, however. There were many kids from the same side of town that were friends with the Curtis kids.

Keith Matthews was two years younger than Darry and one year older than the twins. He was a funny kid. It didn't matter if you wanted his opinion or not because you were going to get it either way. He always had to get his two bits in, rightfully earning him the nickname of "Two-Bit".

Steve Randle was the same age as the twins. The three of them were best friends. It wasn't often you would find one without the other two. He was a tough kid. Him and Soda were always looking out for Abby.

Johnny Cade was the second youngest of the bunch. He was two years older than Pony and not too much younger than the twins. He was the quietest of the seven. More often than not, he would just hang around with Ponyboy. Seeing as how Ponyboy preferred to read, write or draw and Johnny just didn't talk much, it worked pretty well between the two of them. They understood each other.

They all got along real well and it was a rare occasion when the seven of them weren't together. All of them were kids without a care in the world. Nothing could bring them down.

*

Abby sighed as she thought back to that day. That was a long time ago. So long that it had been before Dally had joined their group.

Dallas Winston was almost two years older than the twins. He grew up in a rough part of New York. His mother was dead and his father didn't care, so he left. Eventually, he found his way to Tulsa, Oklahoma and to the gang. They took him in right away. He was mean, rude and heartless. Dallas didn't care about anyone with the exception of Johnny Cade. Dally was always looking out for Johnny like an older brother would.

Abby hadn't seen Dally or the rest of the gang in more than a year. It had also been more than a year since her parents died in a car accident. After they died, Abby went on a downward spiral. She began skipping school and getting into trouble. There was one night in particular that she got drunk at a party and came home at around 3AM. That was the last straw for Darry, who had been taking care of the twins and Pony. Darry sent Abby off to live with some of the little family they had left, their aunt and uncle. They lived on the outskirts of Chicago which was quite a distance from Tulsa but Darry was scared that she would get into too much trouble which could result not only Abby, but Abby, Soda and Pony to be taken out of his custody.

Her behavior wasn't much better in Chicago but the chance that she would be taken from her aunt and uncle wasn't very high. However, with the recent passing of the anniversary of her parents' death, Abby lost it. She got drunk to try to forget and then was found wandering the streets by the police and was busted for underage drinking. It was after this that her aunt and uncle decide it was probably better that she went back to live with her brothers, the only actual remaining family that she had.

Now, Abby was sat on a train to Tulsa. She had half a mind to get off at a random station and just live her life from there but decided that it was better not to. She wouldn't want to scare her brothers like that, she loved them too much to do that. Abby loved her brothers more than they would ever know but she already lectured herself about not getting too close to them again. There was no way she would be able to handle it then if she lost one of them. Her plan was to get there and be antisocial until she turned eighteen, then she would move out on her own. Things would just be better for everyone that way.

She repeated her plan in her head over and over again. Get there. Antisocial, no attachments. Move out. She repeated it as she watched the trees pass by. She repeated it to herself until she fell asleep with her head rested up against the window.

*

The train squealed to a halt at the station, causing Abby's head to bounce roughly off the window she had been sleeping against. She woke with a start and looked outside at the town she had grown up in. Her stomach fluttered a bit as she stepped onto the platform with her backpack, purse and suitcase. Looking around, she noticed that not much had changed in the time she was away.

Her eyebrows furrowed as she continued to look around. Darry was supposed to be here to pick her up. She looked around for a clock. When Abby saw the time, it occurred to her that the train had arrived fifteen minutes early. With a sigh she set her stuff down by a bench, sat down and dropped her sunglasses onto her face.

Within ten minutes, Abby saw a tall, broad shouldered man walk onto the platform and look around in search of someone. His hair was brown, his eyes were icy cold and his muscles stuck out in his plain black shirt. If she didn't know any better, Abby would've thought it was her father himself. It was Darry and he was looking for her. Abby made no effort to alert him of her presence.

After minutes of searching, Darry finally found her. Sitting on the bench all by herself, sunglasses covering her brown eyes. Abby watched him walk over to her in long strides before stopping right in front of her.

"Hi there." Abby spoke while glancing over the top of her sunglasses at him.

Darry said nothing. He just pulled her up by the arm and gently hugged her. Abby awkwardly stood with her arms by her sides, Darry's arms around her shoulders and his head rested on top of hers. She had missed him but she couldn't get attached again.

"We should get going. Soda's making dinner and we don't wanna keep it waiting so long that it'll get cold." Darry spoke while hoisted her suitcase over his shoulder and grabbing the backpack with his other hand.

Abby picked up her purse and followed him to the parking lot.

*

Once they made it to the familiar old truck, Abby climbed into the passenger seat while Darry put her bags in the bed of the truck.

The drive to the house was awkward with little conversation. Darry wasn't sure what to say. Abby wasn't sure how to say what she wanted to say so she didn't.

Abby was out of the passenger seat as soon as Darry had the truck parked in front of the house. She wanted out of that awkward situation. Reaching into the bed, she slung her backpack over her shoulder and winced as it smacked into her left side. Darry grabbed her large suitcase before she could herself. They slowly and quietly made their way up the steps and to the door.

Abby took a deep breath before stepping inside, completely unprepared for what was about to happen.