***Darry's POV***

I've spent the majority of today shopping around. The house needed a food restock, so as the man of the house, I had to fix that. Currently, I'm standing in the produce aisle of the grocery store, searching for food for the week. The boys wanted chicken, but none of it looks very good.

As I continue with my chicken issue, I hear frantic yelling from the checkout counter a few isles away.

"Please sir, they're my siblings, I've searched for days and I can't find either of them," a girl says.

"I'm sorry ma'am, I haven't seen either of them," the clerk says apologetically.

I walk up behind her to check out with the rest of my items. While waiting, I catch a glimpse of the picture the girl is showing the man.

I recognize the girl in the picture from somewhere.

Wait, I know for sure I saw her today, she was racing through town like no one's business.

"Excuse me, Miss?" I ask her. She turns and my oxygen decides to cut out.

Dear God, she's gorgeous.

"I, um, I saw your sister earlier today," I say.

Her eyes light up and she smiles.

"Where!?" she asks.

I hand my items to the clerk and continue to talk to her.

"She was running through town today, headed up towards Jay Mountain I think," I tell her.

"Really!?"

I thank the clerk and hand him money as he finishes checking me out.

"I could bring you back to some of my friends, they might know more," I suggest, literally trying to think of any reason to be with her.

"Oh my gosh, that would be great!" she exclaims.

"Do you need a ride?" I ask as we head to my truck.

"No, I can walk back."

"Nonsense, let me give you a ride," I say with a smile.

She smiles and climbs into the passenger seat.

"So," I ask, "How old are you?"

"I'm 20," she says. "How about you?"

"20 as well," I say with a smile. "My name is Darry, by the way."

"I'm Lauren," she says, smiling back at me.

I drive her back to the house. We walk inside and I expect the whole gang to be there, but the house is deserted.

"Weird, the house is never empty," I say. Lauren laughs and helps me unload the groceries and get dinner started.

The gang bursts in the door about an hour later. Two-Bit is crying, Soda looks scared, Dally looks burnt, Steve has bags under his eyes, Ponyboy looks sad, and Johnny and Bailey are nowhere to be found.

"What's going on?" I stand and ask.

"A lot, Dar," Soda says. 

"Well, where's Bailey and Johnny?" I ask.

Everyone looks at each other.

"Okay, someone start talking or no one gets dinner," I threaten, knowing that will hit them where it hurts.

"Johnny's dead and Bailey will probably be the same by the end of the week," Steve says.

On second thought, no dinner doesn't sound like such a good idea.

"What happened?" I say, completely in disbelief. Ponyboy offers to tell the story.

"Well, you know when the church caught on fire? Bailey, Johnny and I all went in to help get the kids. We found a girl halfway through that was about my age and Bailey ran out with her. But her younger brother was further back into the church. We went further in but we couldn't find him. I was able to escape but I never saw Johnny leave, so we all figured he's dead."

"He's not dead guys!" Dally says. He sounds like one of those crazy creepy people in a mental hospital. Soda places a hand on his shoulder.

"So when Bailey found out, she tried to kill herself," he continues. "And this girl came and found me and Soda in the hospital to tell us, but then she took off and we haven't seen her since."

"Was it that girl that was running through town earlier?"

"Yea, her!" Soda yells.

"That was your sister," I tell Lauren. She nods.

But jeez, I've missed a lot.

"Anyway, who's this?" Steve asks.

"Lauren, Victoria and Bryce's older sister," I say. They all "oooooh" in understanding.

She shyly waves.

"Wait, so they're both dead?" I ask fearfully.

"Pretty much," says Ponyboy.

I guess this is what happens when I'm M.I.A. for a few hours.