Stumble

Chapter One

Disclaimer - I do not own the Outsiders. Or Stumble by Natasha Bedingfield.

– I'm not the kind of girl you bring to mother –

You can't help who you fall in love with. That's what my Mama always used to tell me. Every time I asked her why she put up with my father, that was her answer. You can't help who you fall in love with.

My daddy wasn't a nice man, to put it lightly. While he never laid a hand on me, he used to beat my mother something fierce. I hated having to watch it again and again. Especially since she never did anything about it.

She could have left him, should have left him, so many times. But she never did. Not once did Mama ever seem to consider packing her bags and walking out the door. Life would have been so much easier if she had.

Maybe, if she had, I wouldn't be as screwed up as I am. Maybe I would have had a chance at a normal life. Maybe I wouldn't have hated myself so much. Maybe other people wouldn't have hated me so much. And maybe, just maybe, I wouldn't have gotten my heartbroken so many times.

But, like Mama always used to say, you can't help who you fall in love with.