The Outsider Redo

by A.Cefaratti

So this is yet another story i started to write when i was probably in about 7th grade. I was co-writing this with somebody until she decided she didn't feel like writing anymore. you'll probably notice the difference in styles.

AUTHOR'S NOTE READ BEFORE READING THE STORY!: So this is yet another story i started to write when i was probably in about 7th grade. I was co-writing this with somebody until she decided she didn't feel like writing anymore. you'll probably notice the difference in styles. please, for god's sake, respect the fact that not everything people post on here is the best writing they can do. obviously, YEARS later, i thought it would be funny to post all my old stories. so PLEASE keep your nasty reviews to YOURSELF. if you have constructive criticism, you're more than welcome. i like to edit my stories as time goes on. this one hasn't been touched in YEARS, as you can probably tell. THANKS!

I woke up with the sun shining in my face and my parents usual fighting in my ears. Ugh, I was SO glad that I got to move in with the Curtis' today!

My mom had been Mrs. Curtis' best friend. Darry, Sodapop and Ponyboy were like my family. Though I didn't see them much, because they lived on the other end of the state, we all kept in touch via letter. Even though Mr. and Mrs. Curtis had been killed in an auto wreck eight months ago, Darry, Sodapop and Ponyboy were doing just fine. I wasn't though. My parents didn't care about me, and when they did actually notice I was alive all they did was yell at me for not being smart enough to bring home good grades, like Marie, my older sister, used to when she was in high school. Finally, my dad packed and got ready to walk out on us. As soon as Marie went off to college it would be just me and my mother. The only time she would probably speak to me was when she was hacked off at something. Then, I wouldn't be able to get her to shut up. My dad was leaving tomorrow, so I was leaving today.

When Darry, Sodapop and Ponyboy heard how horribly I was doing, they invited me to come live with them. I assumed that they meant just for a few days, but apparently, they assumed I was going to stay permanently. I graciously accepted their offer.

After a short train ride to the south end of Tulsa, I wandered around the East Side, where the Curtis' house was located, for a while. I was dying for something to drink. A coke sounded real good at that point, so I walked to the closest gas station, a DX, and grabbed a bottle. I was all ready to pay, when I noticed that nobody was at the counter.

"Hello, is anybody here?" I asked to the empty store.

"Be with you in a minute!" a teenage male voice called.

A tall boy, about my age stepped out behind the counter. He had blonde hair that was heavily greased into complicated swirls, fading blue eyes and a decent build. He looked like he had been working hard all day. I assumed it had been on cars, considering his shirt was covered in oil and grease.

"Will that be all?" he asked.

"Uhm no, can I get a pack of Kools too?" I said, pointing to the boxes of cigarettes behind him on the shelf.

"Yeah sure, here ya go. That's a buck twenty-five," he replied after ringing me up.

I was just about to leave when all of a sudden a familiar head popped out from behind the counter. When the person who was standing behind Steve (the guy who rang me up, he had a nametag) turned around, I yelped with surprise.

"Sodapop Curtis I haven't seen you in forever!" I said, hugging him as he walked out from behind the counter.

"Halley, what are you doin' here? I thought you were gunna go straight to our house after your train got in! Darry's waitin' for ya over there." Soda replied with a smile the size of Texas.

"Soda, you know this pretty lady?" Steve asked with a flirty smile.

"Yes I do, Steve, and don't you touch her!" He said giving me a hug. "I don't want your nasty, greasy hands all over my best friend!" Soda joked.

"Excuse me!" Steve said as he made a face and walked away.

Steve seemed nice, and it was so nice to see Soda again. But, it was a little creepy that Steve flirted with me. He was cute, buy my Lord Sodapop was gorgeous! His hair was as tuff as a greaser's can get, and his brown eyes danced playfully. He also had strong arms from workin' on cars all day. They weren't as strong as Darry's of course, but hey, they'd do for now. God I missed Soda!

"Come on Hal, I just got off work, you can walk home with me n' Stevie over here," Soda suggested.

"Okay," I agreed. I didn't care what we were doing, as long as I got to spend more time with Sodapop.

As we walked out of the DX and down to the Curtis' house, I noticed Steve kept looking at me, and smiling. After a while, I decided to play along. I stared and smiled back until Steve caught me. Then we both stared at each other until Sodapop broke in.

"What in the name of hell are you lookin' at, Steve Randle?"

For a while there, Steve and I had forgotten that Soda was walking between us.

Steve answered Soda, "Nothin' you need to know about, Sodapop Curtis."

I didn't really "like like" Steve that much, he was cute and a nice guy, but Soda just had so much more to offer, if you know what I mean. I could tell that Steve liked me though. He wasn't very good at hiding it. That was okay thought, as long as Soda thought I liked Steve and not him, I was okay. Sodapop had a girlfriend named Sandy. He had told me about her. I could tell that Soda was head over heels for this girl. That didn't stop me though. I still liked Soda as much as I ever did.

Sandy was pretty, but nothing more special than any other decent looking grease girl. I shouldn't be talking though. I'm content with my looks, but I've always thought there to be room for improvement. I have dirty blonde hair, that almost reaches my chest, and sharp blue eyes that make me look tough as can be if I need them to. I'm pretty short, and my chest and butt are a little bigger than I'd like them to be for my decently skinny body. Boys are always staring. What perverts.

We had finally reached the house. Soda, Steve and I walked in and Sodapop yelled, "DAR, PONYBOY, GUYS, HALLEY'S HERE!" into the house.

All of a sudden, there was a stampede of boys running into the Curtis' living room. The only two I recognized were Darry and Pony.

"Hey Halley, my god I haven't seen you in ages!" Darry said squeezing me in a tight bear-hug.

"Ponyboy Curtis, get your ass over here!" I said to him and hugged him so tight he yelled at me to get off of him. "I'm sorry Ponyboy, but this hug has to make up for a two years worth of time!" I said, squeezing him tighter as he tried to get loose.

After I finally let him go, Soda introduced me to the gang of guys that was watching me, Darry and Pony reunite.

"This here is Johnny Cade, Two-bit Matthews, and well you already know Stevie, here."

Just then, a tall, muscular, tough [and tuff] lookin greaser walked in. His hair didn't have a lot of grease in it, but it was bleach blonde and he has stormy blue eyes. He reached into his pocket and grabbed a cigarette.

"Anybody want a weed?" he asked in a rough voice.

We all shook out heads no. Pony was ready to grab one, but Darry gave him a look that said "not in the house".

"And this here," Soda stared, "is Dallas Winston"

I decided to introduce myself to Dallas, because it sure didn't look like he wanted to say anything to me, "Nice to meet you, I'm Halley Thomas."

"Hey babe, when'd you get into town and how did I not know about it?" Dallas said coolly.

"Just now, obviously," I slid back.

"Fiery, huh? Just how I like 'em."

"Wow, Dallas, you're just SOOO damn cool!" I piped sarcastically.

"You dig okay."

I rolled my eyes and started to walk away toward the kitchen when I heard that same rough voice behind me,

"Hey babe, by the way, it's Dally. I'll see you around." He winked, put out his cigarette, and walked away.

"Don't worry about Dally," Ponyboy said. "He's only talking like that to ya cause he thinks you're cute."

"Well she is! I mean just look at her!" Two-Bit said, lookin me up and down, and then winking.

"Hey I got an idea," Soda said. "Let's all hit the Nightly Double tonight!"

Everybody grumbled a yes or a "yeah, sure".

"Hal, you in?" Ponyboy asked me.

"Sure, why not? Might as well have some fun while I'm here right?" I said, positively.

"You can sit next to me, babe." Dally said coolly from the corner.

I hadn't even noticed he was there. I had just met Dallas Winston five minutes ago, and already I hated him. I didn't hate him because he was a greaser, or mean, or anything like that. I hated him because by tonight, I would probably fall in love with him. I knew it. I hate Dallas Winston.

After a long night at The Nightly Double, we all decided to head back to the Curtis' house. I got up to get a soda, when apparently Dally got Two-Bit's beer spilled on him when Two-Bit figured out that Soda was cheating at poker, stood up and knocked over the chair the beer was on. Dally stalked off to Darry's room to change.

After finishing my Coke, and watching Soda clean house at poker, as usual, I decided it was time for a trip to the bathroom. "Hey Dar-Bear (that was my old nickname for Darry back when we were younger) where's the bathroom?"

"Down the hall, second door on the left. Between my room and Sodapop's old one." Darry called back.

"Kay, thanks!" I yelled back down the hall.

After a quick trip in and out, I heard a weird noise coming from Darry's room. It sounded like snoring. I poked my head through the door. What I saw probably would have made my heart melt, if I didn't hate Dally so much. He was lying on Darry's bed, shirtless in only his jeans, asleep. The dirty shirt that Two-Bit had spilled beer on was on the floor in a ball.

"Jesus Christ, he couldn't even fold it?" I mumbled, picking it up and starting to.

Apparently, I woke Dally up.

"The word 'fold' isn't in my vocabulary." he said sleepily.

Dally sat right up when he saw that it was me. He was also staring at my chest…I was ready to slap the pervert, I had quite the temper.

"Are you finished looking at my boobs now? Or would you like me to turn around so you can stare at my ass too?" I shot at him.

"Relax, relax, I wasn't lookin' at your chest. Although, my best compliments on it," he said with a flirty wink. "I was actually lookin' at the beautiful hair of yours."

"You like my hair?" I asked with surprise. I assumed he was looking at my boobs, like all other guys do.

"Yeah, it frames you sharp blue eyes good. I like it, don't ever cut it." He replied sweetly.

Don't do it Halley…don't do it! I warned myself. You're falling for him Halley, come on girl, get it together! I kept on telling myself "no", but I wasn't convincing me. Ohhh will you look at his eyes, they're so dreamy. I've never seen bluer eyes in my life. No Halley! Stop! Ugh Jesus! It was too late though, I had already done my signature flirty hair flip. I made sure it went right by his face.

As I finished the motion, I stopped so my face was turned to the left. That's when Dally grabbed my cheek and pushed on it a little so I'd turn my head back to facing him. He ran his hand slowly down the side of my face, and then brought his face extremely close to mine. We were centimeters apart.

That's when I felt his soft lips press against mine. I don't really know who kissed who, but as far as I knew, right about now, I was in heaven.

I snapped out of my blissful moment when I felt Dally lick my bottom lip. That little S.O.B. want to make out with me I thought. Well then, what Dallas Winston wants, Dallas Winston gets.

I decided to play around with him. I licked his bottom lip, and then he licked mine again, catching onto the game. Finally, I decided to open my mouth and let his tongue slip in.

We were making out like our lives depended on it, only coming up for air if it was absolutely necessary, when all of a sudden we heard a knock on the door.

"Dally, Halley, are you two okay?" Darry asked as he opened the door.

Me and Dally didn't think Darry was actually gunna come in, and he couldn't have picked a worse time to do it. Dally and I had just rolled over so he was on the bottom again and by this point Dally's hands were rising up my back, and mine were on the back of his head, messing up his hair.

Darry whistled, and I pulled away from Dally.

"Sorry, didn't mean to interrupt the make-out session here, but Halley, you were in the bathroom for an awful long time and I wanted to make sure that you were okay. But obviously Dally's already given you the 'mouth to mouth' that you needed," Darry shot with a slight grin.

"You know you wanted it to be you Dar-Bear!" I joked.

"Yeah I did just as soon as I'd want to give Ol' Two-Bit a kiss!" Darry kidded.

"Jealous," Dally said with a sly undertone. Darry didn't hear him, I giggled.

"Well then, I guess I'll leave you two love birds alone. Be smart now, Dally," Darry warned. Dally knew exactly what Darry was talkin' about, cause Dally rolled his eyes and said,

"It ain't nothin' like that Darry."

"Alright," Darry let it go, "Just still, be careful."

After the door shut me and Dally decided it'd be best if we didn't tell anybody about that. Darry was the only person who saw it, and Darry wouldn't tell the guys. It's not like me and Dally are "together" I thought. It was just a little "friends with benefits" thing. No big deal, right? I was wrong though. It was something more. I told you I never convince me.

Dally and I walked back out into the living room, it was dead silent. Everybody was doing something: Two-Bit and Sodapop were watching TV, Darry was playing poker with Steve and Johnny, and Ponyboy was doing what looked like homework. Dally sat down in Darry's armchair and started watching whatever was on TV with Two-Bit and Soda.

"Whoa, who died?" I asked jokingly.

"SHHHH!" Two-Bit hissed at me.

"Jesus," I whispered under my breath.

"Nobody talks while Mickey's on, or Two-Bit gets cranky," Soda warned.

I looked around for a seat. When my eyes fell upon Dally, he patted his thigh and raised his eyebrows. I'm SO not sitting on his lap. He patted his thigh again. I looked around for a different seat. No such luck. I let out a big sigh, and then went and sat down on the arm of the chair.

"What, come on babe, I don't bite" Dally said, watching me keep my distance.

"Yeah you should know," Darry mumbled as he raised Steve's bet.

"Whatta you mean 'She should know?' Soda questioned with a curious smile.

"Ya'll are lucky it's a commercial!" Two-Bit informed us.

"Nothin', it's nothin'," Darry tried to hide it.

"Come on Hal, just tell us!" Pony urged.

I looked at Dally; he raised an eyebrow and shrugged. "You saw it Dar, you can tell the story," I said.

"Alright Fine," Darry started to tell what happened. I wasn't really paying attention for a while; Dally was trying to sweet-talk me in sitting in his lap. I finally slid down off the arm of the chair and into his lap. It was surprisingly comfortable. I decided to tune back in when I heard Darry say, "I walked in and Dally was shirtless, making out with Halley like there was no tomorrow."

There was a few whoop's and whistles from the boys when Darry told them that. They all looked at me, Steve looked the most stunned. I think that was partly because he liked me, and party because I was on Dally's knee.

"So are you 'n' Dal, you know, together?" Steve asked hesitantly.

"Uhm, I…don't really know," I said with a questioning look on my face. "Are we?" I asked Dally.

"I guess we are now, babe," Dally said serenely. He wrapped his arms around me, and smiled his devilish, happy smile. Apparently he felt accomplished. Personally, I felt kind of weird. I had just seen Dally again for the first time a few hours ago.

"Knock, Knock!" We all turned to see who was at the door. Nobody got up to answer the door, because the Curtis' door is never locked, in case somebody needs to stay over. That's when Tim, Curly, and Angela Shepard walked in.

"Timmy!" I squealed as I ran up into his hug.

"You two know each other?" Dally questioned.

"Yeah, DUH!" I answered.

"She's Curly's ex girlfriend, and my like old best friend!" Angela explained to everybody, giving me a hug.

"You dated Curly?" Two-Bit said with a surprised look, almost spitting out his beer.

"Yeah, A few years ago, I moved-" I started.

Tim cut me off, "She moved to our turf for a while, while her parents looked for a new house on her end of the county. Her and Curly hit it off after Angela and her became inseparable. It was ridiculous; MY baby sister, with my other baby sister, goin' out with my kid brother!"

This time Two-Bit really did spit out his beer. "HALLEY'S YOUR LITTLE SISTER!" he asked with shock to Tim.

"Nah. Not by blood, I just call her my sister 'cause we used to be so close. Plus, I didn't want any filthy grease guys on her, so I figured her bein' a Shepard might help the fact," Tim told Two-Bit.

Two-Bit was relieved. Nobody wanted to be caught dead messing with any of the Shepards; otherwise you'd have Tim to deal with afterwards. Now he could hit on me without worrying about Tim. But as of three minutes ago, he has Dally to answer to.

"So," Tim continued, "If any of you mess with my baby sister over here (pointing to me, not Angela)-"

Dally cut him off, "Me and Tim will PERSONALLY beat the tar outta' ya!"

"Why you and Tim, Halley's not your baby sister?" Curly questioned.

"Nah, just his girlfriend," Johnny put in while folding his hand.

Curly's mouth dropped open. "Shit Curly," Tim started, "Looks like you've been replaced!"

Angela flashed me a huge smile. "Let's go catch up, Ange," I offered.

"How you land the position of Dallas Winston's girlfriend?" she whispered in my ear, as we walked away arm and arm.

We walked into Sodapop's old room, and sat down on the bed.

"So," Angela started.

"So, what?" I asked.

"So, TELL ME WHAT HAPPENED!" Angela almost jumped out of her seat in excitement.

"Well," I started, "Dally was smooth talking me the whole night. We went to the Nightly Double; he sat next to me of course, and something must have clicked. I went to go see who was snoring in Darry's room after we got back, and it wound up being Dally."

"Gee, what a shocker that was!" Angela cut in. Gosh, she really is a Tim and Curly mini.

"Anyway!" I went on, "We started talking, and then somehow, we wound up kissing."

"Aww, that's so sweet!" Angela gushed.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," I said with an eye roll.

After me and Angela talked for a while, we decided to go back out into the family room. People were laughing and talking, Mickey must have been over. Tim was telling everybody some story, and Steve and Soda were arm wrestling for some reason. I didn't want to know.

I sat down in Dally's lap again, and leaned against his muscular chest. He wrapped his arms around me. It felt so good to be with him for some reason. He leaned forward and whispered in my ear,

"Just like old times."

I shuddered at the thought. I tried not to think about "the old days" as most of us called them.

Before I lived in up-state Oklahoma, I lived in New York. This is where my family moved to after we moved out of Tulsa when my dad's job got transferred. We moved to New York when I was about thirteen, and back down south to Oklahoma when I was sixteen. Those three years in between were crazy. That's when I had met Dallas Winston for the first time. When I was in New York, I didn't go by my real name.

My full name is Halley-Marie Thomas, now I go by Halley. But, when I was in New York I went by Marie Thomas. I was on a name changing kick that ended fast after we left NYC and moved to Warr Acres, Oklahoma.

Anyway, when I had just moved into NYC, I met some hoods that hung out around my apartment complex. Apparently they were part of a small, generally not that active, gang. Dally was one of them. He had just recently moved to New York also. After a while, I was hung out mostly with the gang and the member's girlfriends, until I became one. Dally and finally asked me out after I had been in New York for about a year. We dated for a long time, until my dad told me that we'd have to move back to Oklahoma for his job again. When I told the news to Dally, we had a nasty break-up, but fixed it in the end. After I moved he never wrote or anything, but we wanted me to leave on a good note. Apparently Dally had figured out that Marie and me were the same person, I had just changed my name. Dally changed his grip on me as I shifted my weight. He kissed my cheek. It really was just like old times.

"Alrighty, we just came by on our way home to see how Halley was settling in. But we can see that she's perfectly fine with you three," Tim said to Darry.

"Bye Hal," Angela and Curly said on their way out the door.

"You call if you need anything, Halley-Marie," Tim offered.

"I'll be fine Timmy, night," I replied with a small wave.

"Night," Tim said, he cracked a small smile, then left.

Everybody's mouths dropped.

"You're Marie Thomas!" Johnny asked in utter shock.

"In the flesh," I replied.

This was big. Dally must have told them what had happened between us. I was the only person who ever broke Dallas Winston's heart, and they knew it. Johnny looked mad, Pony looked scared and the others had no facial expression, except shock.

The silence got a little too awkward for me.

"I'm gunna go hit the hay," I decided. "See ya'll tomorrow."

"I'm gunna go try in sneak back into my house, see if my folks stopped fighting," Johnny said, getting up from the floor.

"I'll walk ya, Johnnycake," Darry said, getting up. Smaller greasers can't walk alone much, especially at night. Most likely, they'll get jumped, or threatened at the least. Somebody big or older, like Darry, Two-Bit or Dally, usually has to walk with the younger ones, like Johnny and Pony.

Once I got into my room and closed the door, I immediately started to eavesdrop on the conversation in the living room while putting on my pajamas.

"I can't believe it's really her!" that was defiantly Two-Bit. I could always tell by his voice. He sounded a little pickled 24-7, so it was hard to tell when he was actually drunk.

"THAT'S the girl that broke Dally's heart?" Ponyboy asked.

"You're lucky Dally's not around now, he'd beat your head in just for talkin' about it. You know he doesn't like to show his soft side," Sodapop said to Ponyboy.

"Like he has a soft side," Steve put in.

"Steve Randle, you should know better than that!" Darry scolded.

"What'd I do!" Steve asked

"You know even Dally has a soft side, a breaking point. And you know he cried when he got back from New York. He just wouldn't tell anybody but me and Johnny why," Darry explained.

The boys sounded shocked, "Dally, our Dally, cried!" Sodapop asked in disbelief.

"Yeah, bawled the whole night. Nobody was home at his place and I spent the night there with him and Johnny. He told everybody that he just needed me to fix him up after he got in a fight, it was semi-true," Darry told them.

"I can't believe somebody found a way to break Dally's heart. That girl must be pretty damn dangerous," Two-Bit though out loud.

"Yeah, she did break my heart, but that was long time ago," Dally said from the doorway.

"Shit, Dal, how long you been there?" Steve asked.

"Long enough, and listen, that was then, this is now. I don't wanna talk about it," Dally said, almost with a scared tone of voice that he quickly covered up.

"Darry, is it okay if I stay the night? My dad's up to his usual business and Buck's havin' a party. I tried sleepin' over there, but who could possibly sleep with all that racket. Hank Williams, ugh!" he said probably with his signature eye roll. "Plus I think I cracked some ribs, me and Shepard just had a run in. Ol' Tim sure can pack a punch!"

"Yeah, you know where the blankets are," Darry said. "Everybody else, unless you're stayin' too, I suggest you start walkin' home."

Two-Bit and Steve must have said their goodbyes and left, because I heard the door slam. I also heard somebody coming down the hallway, it must have been Dally. I quickly threw on a shirt.

He knocked, "Halley, you asleep yet?" he assumed I was, he was talking very quietly.

"Nope, I'm up. Come on in," I invited.

He came in with an ice-pack, an ace bandage and blanket in hand.

"Hey," he said. He even cracked a small smile.

"Hey."

"So uhm, you headed for bed?"

"Pretty soon, why?"

"No reason." I noticed him wince a little bit when he took his hand off his ribcage and said that.

"You bust some ribs again?" I asked casually.

"Yeah, Shepard caught me slashing his tires. No sweat though, no bad blood between us or anything," He replied back. He was looking me up and down as our conversation paused. I decided to get it started back up.

"As comfortable as the Curtis' couch is, you shouldn't be sleeping on it with broken ribs," I said nonchalantly, noticing him wince again.

"Well where in the world else am I supposed to sleep?" he asked to the sky, Two-Bit style.

"Well," I said, pretend thinking about it for a moment. "I could wrap you up, and so it'd be less painful, you could sleep in here tonight. But don't think you're gunna get anything out of it, Dallas Kyle Winston, I know you."

"Well, it just so happens, Halley-Marie Thomas, that I am too tired to be messin' around with you in bed, anyway, so you have nothin' to worry about." He replied with a smile.

I smiled back and he kissed me on the forehead. Gosh, he's so much taller than me. "Well what you waitin' for, the second coming of Christ! Wrap me up, Iced Tea!" he yelled playfully while tossing me the ace-bandage.

"I'm workin on it, Street-Side!" I called back, picking up the ice off the chair.

Street-Side and Iced Tea were our nicknames for each other that we used when we were dating. Dally used to say I could be as sweet iced tea if I wanted to. And I used to tell him that when I first saw him, hung over, sitting on the curb, I thought, "Man, that's the cutest street-side burnout if I ever saw one!" He hadn't called me Ice Tea since the day we broke up.

*Flashback of what Dally said:* "Don't do this to me Iced Tea," he pleaded.

I remembered that moment clear as a Soc's car window. Those were two things I hated to think about, Socs, and the break-up Dally and I had back in New York.

He carefully pulled his shirt over his head, while I ran my fingers carefully down his ribs. We leaned forward into a kiss on the lips. Just then, Ponyboy opened the door.

"Oh, well I came in to say goodnight to Halley, but I can see that you two love birds are busy, so I'll go," Pony said with tomato-red ears.

"Aw, Pony, it was nothin' like that!" Dally explained. "She was wrappin' my ribs up for me." I held up the ace-bandage to prove Dally's point.

"Okay, whatever you say," Pony giggled.

"Goodnight Ponyboy!" I said with a fake-nice tone.

"Goodnight you two!" he said with a wink.

"Glory, this family!" Dally exclaimed. "They always walk in at the wrong times!"

"Ahh quit gabbin' and let me wrap you."

After Dally was all bundled up in his bandage, he carefully slid into the left side of the bed, me on the right.

I turned to him, "Night, Street-Side."

"Night, Iced Tea," he kissed me on the forehead, "I love you."

That took me back for a second, I wasn't expecting that. "I love you too, babe." And I meant it.

When I woke up the next morning, Dally's arm was over my shoulder and my head was on his bare, well-built chest. I slid out from under his arm as quietly as I could. He didn't move a muscle, fighting usually tires him out. I decided to wander into the kitchen and see who had started breakfast. As usual, it was Darry.

"Mornin' Hal."

I yawned, "Mornin' Dar-Bear."

"How'd you sleep your first night here?"

"Mmm, good, real good. Thanks for asking'."

"I'll bet. Although, I don't know how much good company Dally is after he's been in a fight. He usually gets pretty crabby in the morning. It's like a giant, painful hang-over to him." Darry said as he flipped the flapjacks.

"No, he was pretty nice to me-HEY! How'd you find out about him sleeping in my room? FULLY CLOTHED I might add, for future reference." I shot at Darry.

"Well, when I woke up this morning, and he wasn't on the couch, and I poked my head in your room to see if you were up yet, and you were asleep on his chest, it gave me a hint." Darry said with a slight jokey smile.

"Hmm yeah, you're just SO funny, Darry Curtis! You crack me up!" I heaved at him, dripping in sarcasm. I couldn't help smiling though. When Darry gets mouthy at you like that, you can't help but smile. "And don't you go worrying yourself gray-headed about me 'n' Dally, alright? We didn't do anything. And we probably won't...ever," I added the "ever" for emphasis, but I think Darry got the jist of what I was saying.

"I don't know about 'ever', but I think 'eventually' would be a more accurate term. You guys can make out with each other until your tongues turn purple, but you and I both know that eventually Dally is gunna want something more. It might mean sleeping with you, it might not. You'll just have to ask Dally to figure this one out," Darry said. He flipped the last pancake onto the plate and turned to me.

"You know I was just joking about you sleeping with Dally tonight. But," he sighed, "he really might want something more…but he probably didn't want to do anything with broken ribs." I was trying to register what Darry had just said in my brain when I heard,

"Shit, I'm swelling again! DARRY!"

That was defiantly Dally calling. He must have taken the ace-bandage off and seen the swelling on his ribcage.

"Shit, I'll be right back as soon as I fix Dally up. Take the rest of the flapjacks of the stove for me?" Darry asked. I nodded. "Thanks Halley, you're a doll," he said. And then, he did something that I didn't really notice until he was out of the room, telling Dally to hold his horses and quit gabbing. Darry kissed me, only on the cheek, but it was still a kiss.

After thinking about it for a minute, I realized that way back in the day, when I used to live in Tulsa with my parents and sister, Darry used to do it all the time. I guess I just forgot. Hmm, I needed to talk to Angela!

After finishing up with the pancakes, I ate a few, got dressed and turned on the TV. By then, Pony and Soda were up; eating their pancakes with Dally wolfing his down, as usual, when Two-Bit and Steve came in.

"Good Mornin' Curtis'!" Two-Bit yelled, sticking his head through the screen door. "Why, hello there, Halley. Did you sleep ok- OOOOOHH MICKEY'S ON!" Good Ol' Two-Bit, so easily distracted. He was so innocent, I think that's why I loved him in the brother-type way. Steve walked back with chocolate cake and a cold-one.

"Beer for breakfast there, Two-Bit?" I asked.

"Yeah, goes great with chocolate cake! Try it!" he said, handing me a bit of cake and his bottle. I took a bite of cake and washed it down with a small sip of beer. It was good at first, but had a funny after-taste. I puckered my lips a little.

"What, you don't like it?" Two-Bit asked.

"Nah, Bitsy, it's great at first, until the after-beer kicks in." I told him.

"Yeah, then it tastes just about as good as when Sodapop makes breakfast!" Steve joked. The whole gang was in hysterics. Even Soda had to laugh, from what I'd heard; he wasn't the best cook in the world.

After a few more minutes of watching Mickey with Two-Bit and Dally, after he slowly walked his way over to the couch, I decided I smelled like a dog and needed a shower.

"Babe," I told Dally, "I'm gunna go shower and get dressed."

"Kay, don't you go using all the hot water on that beautiful hair now!"

"Don't worry, I will!" I joked with Dally. He kissed me on the lips, and held it there for a minute. We both pulled away a little, but our noses were still touching. We went back in for a longer one. God, it feels good to be able to do that again. After I pulled away, I looked around the room as the boys whooped and whistled. Everybody had a joking look on their face, except for Darry. He looked hurt. It didn't make sense.

I decided to forget about all of it while I was showering. I wasn't even going to think about it until I got to the Shepard's house. I put on my cutest jean shorts, and the blue tank-top that Sodapop said matched my sparkling blue eyes perfectly. I even curled my hair and threw on a pair of small heels, just for the hell of it. When I walked back out into the living room, everybody was dressed and ready to do whatever it was they had to do.

I sat down next to Dally's feet on the couch. He was sprawled out with ice on his stomach. After I sat down, he put is feet in my lap and smiled.

"Where are you goin', all dressed up like that, Miss Halley Thomas?" he asked.

"I figured I head over to the Shepard's. Angela wanted to take me shopping today. Maybe, if you're a good boy, I'll get you something on my way home!" I kidded.

"A pack of Kools and a Coke would be nice." Dally said with a smile.

"Alright, but only 'cause I love you, Street-Side!"

"I love you too Iced-Tea!" he said as I leaned over to kiss him good-bye. After a quick peck on the lips, (so the boys wouldn't whistle) I was on my way out the door.

When I finally arrived at the Shepard's place, Tim's truck wasn't in the drive-way. I assumed his gang was having a meeting or something. I pulled right in and parked my car in back of Angela's. After walking up the Shepard's old steps onto their porch, and knocking on the door, I sat in one of the chairs after somebody yelled "Just a minute!"

When the door opened I saw Curly Shepard gawking at me.

"What in the High Heavens are you looking at, Curly?"

"Huh, what? Ugh, nothing…you just look so, uh nothing," he stuttered.

"Whatever is Angela here? I need to talk to her…NOW!"

"Yeah ugh," he was still ogling at me, "ANGE! HALLEY'S HERE!"

Angela came to the door, curling iron in hand, with a serious expression on her face.

"Tim's not here…he left to have the weekly gang meeti-"

I cut her off, "I know." Every time I came to the Shepard's with a serious or scared look, I usually asked for Tim and/or Angela. Angela would comfort me and Tim would try to help me/protect me. Angela must have assumed that something bad had happened over at the Curtis' and I needed Tim's help. She had it wrong. Something did happen, but Tim was the LAST person I wanted involved in this one.

"Ange, can I talk to you…alone?" I motioned my head toward Curly.

"Curly, babe, I love you…as a brother of course, but if I catch you eavesdropping I'll have Tim beat you ass until it turns purple, you hear?" Angela threatened.

"Yeah I hear," Curly said reluctantly.

Me and Angela walked up to her room, she shut the door and locked it.

"Alrighty, so what's this all about?" she asked. I felt embarrassed for some reason, so I whispered it into her ear.

"DARRY KISSED YOU!" she shouted in shock.

"SHHHHH!" I hissed at her, knowing Curly probably heard that.

"What the, how the fuck, WHAT HAPPENED?" she demanded.

I told her everything, about Dally falling asleep in my bed, how he used our old nick-names, how Darry pecked me on the cheek and how he looked so hurt when I made out with Dally in front of the gang.

"Wow, that's some story," Angela said in shock.

"Yeah, so what do I do, Ange?"

"Well, that all depends on how you feel about Darry," she replied.

"What's that supposed to mean? That I like Darry even though I'm like in love with Dally!" I asked, confused and shocked at her answer.

"Well, what'd it feel like when Darry kissed you?" she asked.

"Idunno really, it was just a peck on the cheek…I couldn't really get any feelings from that, it'd have to be like a full on lip-er if I wanted to know what it really felt like." I answered.

"Hmm, well then, I think we need to play a little game over at the Curtis' tonight. It's gunna be 'Best Kiss'."

I was taken back by that. "Best Kiss" was an intense kissing game that only the hard-core grease girls and guys played. There was usually one girl, but it could be a guy too, and he or she, the "single player" would stand in front of the room. Next, the other people in the room [the opposite gender as the single player] will line up by age to kiss the single player. After everybody has been kissed once, the single player reveals his or her top three. From there, it's one more round to decide the winner.

"Are you SERIOUS, Ange!" I asked in astonishment.

"Yeah, it's the only way to find out for sure if you have feelings for Darry or not!" she insisted.

"Fine, fine, fine! But doesn't that mean if Curly and Tim come with us, that they have to play too?" I asked reluctantly.

"Well, uhm, yeah, I guess. Nobody's allowed to sit out."

"Ew! That's like kissing my big brother! I can't kiss Timmy! And I mean, Curly is cute 'n' all, but he always goes in for it…and making out with your ex is awkward!" I said.

"From what I've heard, you and Dally seem to have no trouble!" Angela joked. And just before I could come back with something…

"I'm Home!" somebody shouted while walking in the door. It must have been Tim.

"Hi Tim!" Ange shouted while looking for something in her closet.

"Hey Timmy!" I yelled toward the door. I heard footsteps coming up the stairs. The door burst open.

"Halley-Marie what in the name of hell are you doin' here? Causin' trouble, as usual!" Tim asked with a smile.

"Ehh, not yet! I'm gunna go shopping with Angela for a while, and then probably head back to the Curtis' later. You wanna come with us?" I asked.

"Ehh, I'll pass on the shopping! I can't stand to hear you two talk about all that girl stuff for hours on end! I'll probably show up at the Curtis' later though, see how Dally's doin'." Tim replied. That's when I noticed the huge shiner on his right eye, and three of his fingers on his left hand taped together. I assumed the shiner was from Dally, and Tim probably broke a few fingers throwing punches at Dally's ribs.

"Nice shiner you got there Timmy." I smirked.

"Ehh shut up, will ya? Your boyfriend sure knows how to throw 'em." He smirked back.

"Well from what I saw last night when Dally and I fell asleep, so do you. You know Dally's not the one to stay put after he gets hurt. To him, life goes on. But last night, he could barley even pull the covers on me and him without wincing," I answered back.

"YOU SLEPT WITH HIM!" Tim shouted.

"NO! NO! NO! We slept IN THE SAME BED…FULLY CLOTHED, well Dally was shirtless but that doesn't count! He couldn't make it home, so he just slept on the other side of my twin bed. Jesus Tim, what were you gunna do, re-break his ribs?" I chuckled over Tim's freak out.

"Well, it just kinda scared me! I know how Dally is with girls, and I didn't want him to hurt you!" Tim assured.

"Well he didn't, so let's just drop it okay? I'll see you at the Curtis' later!" I hugged him as he walked out.

As soon as Tim closed the door: "Put these on!" Angela said as she chucked a pair of new heels at me.

"Why?"

"Well you wanna look good when we play BK don't you?"

"Duh."

"Well then put those babies on, and let's go shop for a new outfit for tonight!" Angela said, excited to get going. She opened the door and ran down the stairs laughing.

"Wait for me you, stupid slut!" I joked.

"Hah, bitch, NEVER!" she said, as I almost tripped over the door mat, while running to the car.

After a long day of shopping all around town, a bazillion bags to carry, and three cokes later, we were finally done. In the four hours that I was in town with Angela, all I had to show for it was a new tight pair of low-cut jeans, a tight black tank-top, two packs of Kools [one for me one for Dally] a bottle of Coke for Dally, and an half empty wallet.

*Later that day, at the Curtis' House*

"Wahoo, I am TIE-RED!" I said, dropping my bags and walking through the Curtis' unlocked front door.

The whole gang was already there by 6:00.

"Ya see, that's what I don't get! All girls think shopping is SOOOO tiring! All your doin' all walkin around, wasting money!" Two-Bit complained, stretched out on the couch.

"Bitsy-spider, that's where you're wrong…shopping, wipes, you, out!" I said, falling on top of him when I said out.

"Get off of me!" Two-Bit said playfully, pushing meonto the floor. But because I was sitting on his stomach, it came out more like "ET OFFA EE!"

Istood up, smacked Two-Bit and smacked Two-Bit upside the head, just as Dally walked in.

"Hey Babe!" Dally said, grabbing my waist and pulling me into a kiss. It's not like I was shocked, but it did come to me as a surprise that he would do that with Tim, Angela and Curly Shepard standing in the doorway. And it's not like I pulled away. I guess I just got caught up in it. Dally can do that to you.

Tim whistled. That broke us apart.

"Damn it, Tim, couldn't you see I was busy!" Dally joked.

""Oh I'm sorry Dal, was I interrupting somethin'?" Tim smirked.

"Hey there, slut!" Angela teased.

"Hi, Ange, Timmy, Curly." I said back.

After a few minutes of laughing and talking, and when Mickey was finally over [for Two-Bit], Sodapop said,

"Well, what now?"

"I know!" Angela started. "Let's play a game!" she smirked at me.

"Which one?" Soda asked.

I knew what was coming next-

"Best Kiss," the words just rolled off Angela's tongue like it was her job to say those two words.

Two-Bit, Soda, Curly, and Steve's faces all lit up like Christmas lights. At first Dally smirked, knowing he'd win, but then he put on a very stern expression, because he then realized that all the other guys got to kiss me too.

"Ya'll in?" Ange asked. Everybody gave a "yup" or a head nod to show that they wanted to play. "Alright, line up by age, youngest to oldest." Everybody stood, looking confused…Angela turned to Darry, hoping he'd know how to organize these idiots.

Darry knew what Angela meant, "Alright it's Ponyboy, Johnny, Curly, Soda, Steve, Tim, Dally, Two-Bit, Then me."

"Hey, wait a sec!" Curly whined, "I ain't kissin' my sister!"

"Well good, cause I don't wanna kiss you neither, but it doesn't matter cause I'm not playing, Halley is!"

"Oh, never mind," Curly smirked, "I'll play." I rolled my eyes.

After Darry had finally got everybody lined up we started playing. In my head, I had made a list, almost like a chart, of what each guy did well on, and what he had done badly on.

Ponyboy Curtis:was light and sweet, only on the cheek though; too shy.

Johnny Cade: also sweet, but still to shy; was just a peck on the lips.

Curly Shepard: wasn't shy at all, great kisser, but moved a little bit too fast, went for the French too early.

Sodapop Curtis: GREAT kisser; Soft and light; put his arm around my neck; tilted his head; waited a bit too long for the French; will probably get his ass kicked by Dally in the near future.

Steve Randle: pretty good, not very many complaints, not too shy, but not too bold; was probably afraid of Dally.

Tim Shepard: surprisingly good, no complaints; went for it all, just like Curly; put his arms around my waist; knew EXACTLY when to go for the French; I felt like a slut though; will also probably get his ass kicked by Dally.

Dallas Winston: ah-mazing! Put his arms around my waist; was soft and light at first; broke away, but just far enough so that our noses touched, went back in for the French; making out was ah-mazing, no complaints accept he may have been a little too rough during the make-out; was hard to pull away from.

(Keith) Two-Bit Matthews: experienced, more so than Steve, put his arm around my neck, tilted his head, went right in for the French after just a few seconds; will also probably get his ass beat by Dally.

Darry Curtis: same as Dally, except wasn't rough at all. In other words…perfect.

"Damn" I whispered when I pulled away from Darry. It was only loud enough that me and him could hear it. He was still holding me. Dally cleared his throat.

"Ehhhem?"

"Huh, what? Oh, sorry, uhm, hmm well I think I know who finished where, but I need to talk it over with my lovely assistant, I looked at Angela who was sitting on the couch next to Two-Bit." I said.

Angela and I quickly shuffled to my room and I told her my top three. She agreed by the way things looked. I nodded and we walked back out into the Curtis' living room.

After she sat back down, and making sure everybody else was seated, I started talking. "For the top three..."

"Yessssss," Dally hissed under his breath.

"In third place, we have good Ol' Timmy Shepard!" I announced like a game-show host. Tim got high-fives from everybody.

"And in second place," I took a dramatic pause, "We have Dally!" I said, again like Pat Sajack would on Wheel of Fortune.

"WHAT?" Dally stood. "If I got second, then who got first?" he questioned impatiently.

"Darry did! Now will you si'down, Street-Side and cool your jets!" I warned him.

"WHAT?" everybody questioned.

"Oops," I had just spilled without realizing it.

"Hal, that is NAWT what you told me!" Angela spat, confused.

"Well, I decided at the last minute, to change some things based on each guys performance." I defended myself.

"Well, wasn't it obvious Darry was gunna win?" Johnny asked.

"Whatta ya mean Johnnycake?" Two-Bit asked.

"I see what Johnny's sayin' now," Soda said. "When him and Halley were kissin', well it just didn't look like when any of us kissed her." I blushed slightly. Darry left hastily to take a shower.

I decided to just sit down and watch Mickey, he was back on TV, but Two-Bit didn't seem to notice.

"Ohhhh, now I see why I lost!" Two-Bit said, sounding a little soused.

"Two-Bit, have you been drinkin'?" Sodapop asked.

"Surprisingly, besides the beer I had at dinner, no. Why, does it sound like it?" Two-Bit asked.

"Sometimes we can never tell with you. You're crazy 24-7!" I joked. (According to the guys, Two-Bit was a funny drunk.)

I looked at the clock, trying to avoid the subject of drinking, hoping the time I drank spiked fruit-punch when I was little with Angela wouldn't come up. "Hey, wow it's only 8:00" I said, still trying to avoid ANYTHING to do with drinking.

"Whoa, it IS early," Steve agreed. "Let's go do somethin! Com'on Soda." Sodapop stood up and grabbed his shoes.

"Darry, I'm sleepin' over Steve's! I'll be back before work!" Soda shouted toward the door on his way out.

"Oh shit, I got to be at Kenny's by 8:15!" Ponyboy said as he rushed to pick up his small bag that he packed. Apparently, he was sleeping over his friend Kenny's, from the track team.

"We better get goin' too," Dally said, looking at Two-Bit, Curly, Angela and Tim. "If we wanna make that party at Buck's, we should probably head out now."

Two-Bit nodded and grabbed his shoes, "Bye Hal, Darry. See ya'll later!" he said on his way out the door.

Dally kissed me on the lips and said, "Bye, see you tomorrow." I noticed he didn't call me "babe" that time. Hmmmm.

After the Shepards said their good-byes I decided it was about time for me to shower [yes, I know I already showered in the morning, but it was hot out and I was sweaty!] and change.

"Dar-Bear!" I called into the kitchen. He was doing the dinner dishes. "Do you want some help with those?"

"Nah, I got it, Dandelion." Darry always called me that, because my hair was so blonde.

"Alright, if you're sure." I said. I decided that now would be a good time to shower.

After a much needed, long, hot shower I quickly realized that I hadn't gotten my clothes from my room. I quickly ran down the hallway and into my room, hoping Darry was still in the kitchen. When I came out of my room, after changing and quickly throwing my hair up into a bun, I realized I wasn't so lucky.

"Jesus, Darry, you scared me. How long have you been sitting there?" I asked.

"Long enough," he smirked, looking up from his newspaper. I blushed. "Don't worry, I didn't see anything. Believe it or not those short-ass towels actually cover a lot more than they look like. I know from experience," he smiled. I looked at him curiously. "What?" he asked.

"Nothing, it just sounds like they're quite in interesting story in there. But, I don't think I wanna know about this one," I laughed.

"Mmm, yeah, ask Two-Bit about that one next time you see him." He smiled, thinking of the past.

"So, uh," I stuttered. I didn't quite know what to say. Darry was only in a wife-beater and his work pants. I couldn't help but stare at his muscles. They were gorgeous.

"So, uhm, do you wanna watch a movie or somethin'?" he asked, bringing my thoughts back down to Earth.

"Uhm, yeah, sure," I replied.

For some reason, instead of sitting in his arm-chair like he always does, Darry sat next to me on the couch. There was an awkward tension between us. It's like when two people like each other, but refuse to admit it. I shivered, partly form the cold Oklahoma night, partly because the thought of what Dally would say if he saw us.

I put my hand down in the space between us on the couch. I didn't know why I did it. Part of me was hoping Darry would get the hint that I was still Dally's girl, and was not to be messed with. But then, a bigger part of me hoped that he would put his hand on top of mine, comforting me. The bigger part won.

When I felt Darry touch me, it sent a shock through my whole body. I shivered again at the thought of Dally, and leaned in closer to Darry.

"You cold, Hal?" he asked, concerned.

"Yeah, a little bit Dar-Bear," I lied. That shiver was all thanks to the thought of Dally. I had to try really hard not to shiver again when Darry put his arm around me. I leaned into his extremely muscular and well-built [more so than Dally's] chest. Darry's ah-mazingly toned body was so comfortable. I yawned.

I felt bad, leading Darry on like this, but for some reason, I couldn't stop. I was using all my old tricks with him.

"Tired?" Darry asked, just like I knew he would.

"Mmm, a little," I responded. I looked at the clock, just as the movie was finishing. "Maybe we should hit the hay soon, it's already 10:30 and don't you have to work tomorrow?"

"Nah, it's my day off, but I could sure use the sleep," Darry agreed.

I got up, and redid my hair. That's when I noticed that my sopping wet hair left a wet-stop of Darry's shirt. He didn't seem to notice. He sat up straight, pulled his arms up by his head, scratched his neck and stretched. His arm muscles flexed a lot when he stretched. God, he's so hot.

We slowly walked down the hallway, side by side. It was just awkward enough to be perfect. Darry and I both stopped in front of my room. This is when I almost smiled, because my plan was going so well.

"Well, I guess this is good-night.," I kept it simple. I even added a cute little smile.

"Yeah, good-night," Darry said. I sighed, and we both stared at each other for a few seconds.

"Ohhh," I sighed quietly to myself. "Ehh, what the hell?" I asked to nobody in particular, shrugged, smiled, and kissed Darry on the lips. He pulled away and smiled.

"Uhm, thanks," he said, still smiling a bit.

"It wasn't too much?" I asked, making sure that me kissing him was "ok".

"No, it was, uh, it was perfect." He said.

"Good, cause-," I was cut off.

I can't say that I was totally shocked when Darry kissed me back. I mean of course, it was a lot more intense than my little lip-kiss that I gave him, but it was all part of the plan.

I don't know what it is about Darry. He has that strange "tuff guy with a sensitive side" charm to him that just makes you fall head over heels. Just like I was.

After Darry made his move by kissing me, we started backing up toward his room; kissing and walking at the same time. When we finally got to his room, Darry and I backed up onto his bed. He pulled away for air. [He was on top of me when we were kissing on the bed.]

"Hold on a sec," he panted.

"Kay."

He quickly got up, shut the door, and locked it.

"Dar, nobody's home," I reassured him.

"I know, but, you know, just incase. You never know when somebody's gunna show up at our house. And they don't knock, they just waltz in!" he explained as he got back on the bed.

"Mmm, true," I mumbled as he kissed my forehead. He began to migrate down and kiss my neck.

"Mmm," I mumbled, "Darry."

"Yeah, babe?" he asked, between kisses.

"What's gunna happen when Dally sees me tomorrow and notices that I have hickeys that he doesn't remember giving me?" I asked, while he was still lightly kissing my neck.

"We'll cross the bridge when we come to it," Darry reassured me.

I smiled. I trusted Darry. And apparently, he trusted me. If he didn't, I don't think we would be on his bed right now.

After sweetly kissing somewhere around my collarbone, [Dally never did that] Darry moved back up my neck. That's when I decided to pull the same thing he did. I took control and pulled him into a passionate kiss. It got even more intense when I felt his warm tongue slip in. He is such a good kisser. Maybe better than Dally. Woah girl, you can't think that. Dallas Winston is the best kisser in our end of the city...probably in the whole city, actually. No, no, no, Darry can't be better!

His face was as close to mine as possible, without our noses touching. He held my face in his strong hands.

"Do you trust me?" he asked, staring into my eyes.

"Yeah, of course I do," I told him. It was true. I would trust Darry with my life.

"Well then you trust me to do this with you, right?" he asked.

"Of course I do," I replied coolly, even though I was bubbling inside.

"Good," he said with a teeny smile.

He pulled me back into another passionate kiss turned make-out. His hand started to creep under my shirt. First just near my belly-button, then to the side, toward my ribs. It started slowly and sweetly rubbing my side; as his other hand went down to unzip my jeans. He came up for air and pulled his shirt over his head, panting. I did the same. Once we were back together again, tongues rolling around in each others mouths, I reached down and began to fuss with Darry's belt. I couldn't get it undone. He pulled away from me, and undid it for me, along with pulling his own pants down to his knees. I did the same with my jeans. We kicked our pants off in unison and started into each others eyes. My god, Dally would kill me if he saw this. Good thing he's at Bucks, and probably wasted as hell.

**Darry's POV**

My God, Halley sure is beautiful. At this point we were only in our underwear. I had taken off Halley's bra, careful not to snap it. Finally, I slid off her underwear while she slid off my boxers.

**End Darry's POV**

Darry and I were in complete contact.

"You're so beautiful," he told me. I responded by kissing him on the lips, and starting to make out with him. As we were making out, he was grinding his hips into me. A let go of a light moan.

"Mmm, you like that, babe?" Darry asked with a smirk.

"Mmm," I mumbled with satisfaction. That's when it all happened. Darry grabbed a condom off the night table and went into me with a serene look on his face. I kept calm, even though I was still bubbling inside.

*A few minutes later*

Darry pulled out of me and rolled over. I rolled over too and closed my eyes. Darry kissed me lightly on the cheek.

"I'll be right back, babe. I have to go to the bathroom."

"Mkay." I said. He unlocked the door and walked out.

Darry was in the bathroom for a long time. I hoped I he wasn't sick.

"Darry?" I called into the bathroom. No answer. "Dar-Bear?" still no answer. Finally he came out.

"It broke." He said with the most serious face I've ever seen.

"What do you mean, it broke?" I asked, not believing what I was hearing.

"I mean, it broke." He replied, still with his stern face.

"Well, when did it break?" I asked, suddenly realizing that I was probably pregnant.

"I don't know, I was a little busy!" Darry said back.

"Well so was I!" I defended myself.

"Alright, let's just stop fighting and calm down," he suggested. I gulped and nodded to show that I agreed. "And we should probably get dressed while we're at it…'cause I think I hear somebody!" Darry whispered while throwing me my pants.

I don't think I ever got dressed that fast in my life. And I was never so thankful. Because when Sodapop walked in, Darry and I were fully clothed, and he was lying on the bed. I was giving him a back rub.

"Hey," Soda said.

"Hey, Sodapop. I thought you were sleeping over Steve's," I asked.

"Well his little sister got sick so I figured it'd be best if I left so I didn't catch it," Soda replied.

"Well I'm gunna go to bed. I'm tired from work. Thanks for the back rub, Halley," Darry said. Which was code for, "I'm going to bed, so should you, and don't mention the sex."

"I'm gunna hit the hay too, you coming Soda?" I asked.

"Yeah." He said, realizing that something was wrong. Soda could always tell. He was special that way. We walked into my room and he sat me down on the bed.

"Alright Honey-Bee, what's wrong? You look scared shit-less," Sodapop asked like a concerned best friend.

I just gulped. "I-," I stuttered. "I…I…I might be pregnant." I finally got it out.

"YOU WHAT!" Soda asked in whisper-shock.

That's when I broke down crying. Soda pulled me into his shoulder. He rubbed my back soothingly. He whispered things in my ear like "It's okay, Honey-Bee" and "Don't cry". Sodapop was always so understanding. His shirt was soaking wet from my tears, but he didn't seem to care. I fell asleep to him rubbing my back and telling me that everything is going to be okay.

The last thing I heard Sodapop say was, "Everything is going to be fine. You can tell me what happened tomorrow."

I woke up and looked at the clock. 3:00 AM. It was still dark out. After my eyes adjusted to the dimness in my room, I noticed Sodapop sitting in the armchair in the corner. I couldn't tell if he was asleep. I sat up.

"You awake, Honey-Bee?" he asked me.

"Yeah, I couldn't sleep," I replied

"You wanna talk about it?" Sodapop asked, sitting on the edge of my bed.

"Yeah, sure," I said back.

"Does Dally know about it? I mean, he is the father, right?" Soda asked, looking very concerned.

"Well-…" I hesitated. "No. Darry is."

"WHAT!" Sodapop whisper-yelled. "How did my brother get you pregnant?" he asked.

"I…well," I stammered.

"Well, I mean of course I know how, but like, you're going out with Dally, so why in the world would you have sex with Darry, OF ALL PEOPLE!" Soda asked, worriedly.

"Well, I didn't mean too, well I guess I did, but it just kind of…happened," I explained.

"Well, how did it all 'happen'?" Sodapop asked. "I want to know …how did you end up, well, you know?"

"Well," I started. "We watched a movie, and I guess we got a little too 'cozy'," I said with air-quotes. "He started to put his arm around my shoulder, 'cause he thought I was cold, and things like that. Then, we were in the hallway after the movie ended, and I kissed him. Then he kissed me, and well, we ended up kissing on his bed. And, well, you know the rest," I said, out of breath.

"Well then, why didn't you guys you know, play it safe, and well use protection?" Soda asked.

"We did!" I defended myself. "But after we were done, Darry went to go to the bathroom, and he realized at some point, it broke. We don't know when…so I might not be pregnant."

"Oh," was all Soda said. I think he was overwhelmed.

"It's going to be alright Honey-Bee," he told me. "And don't worry, I wont mention this to anyone, okay? Not even to Darry."

"You read my mind, Pepsi-Cola," I smiled.

"Go back to sleep now, it's all gunna be alright." I closed my eyes after Soda assured me of that. As soon as my head it the pillow, I fell into a deep, dreamless, much needed, sleep.

The next morning I got up and got dressed in record time. Soda must have gone to his room after I fell asleep. I raced silently past Soda and Pony's room, and into my car. I bolted toward town and the nearest drug store. Once I got there, it was a little embarrassing to buy a pregnancy test, but I did it anyways. The lady at the counter didn't even look at me twice. I bolted right toward the store bathroom. I couldn't do it at the Curtis'! I would OBVIOUSLY be the only one there who would use a pregnancy test.

After it didn't turn blue for negative or pink for positive after a few minutes, I looked at the box. UGH! Stupid me! I had picked up the 4-hour ones! I shoved it back into its little plastic baggy, into the box and into my purse. I would have to hide it from the guys.

After running some errands, I pulled up to the house, Tim Shepard, Dally and Two-Bit's cars were in the driveway. The gang must have been over on Darry, Soda and Steve's day off.

When I walked in, I didn't say a word. I was hoping nobody would notice I was gone. They didn't. Everybody was sitting down on the floor or on the couch, staring at nothing. Except Dally, Darry and Tim Shepard. Darry and Tim were sitting on the couch next to Dally, and what looked like comforting him. Dally was crying, mmm no, scratch that, sobbing. His elbows were rested on his knees, his head in his hands.

"Uhm, hi? What's goin' on?" I asked.

Dally sobbed again and sniffled in. He looked up at me with red, puffy, agonizing eyes. "Sylvia's pregnant." He took another, long, heaving sob into his hands.

I gasped, and then realized something,

"Whose Sylvia?" I asked. Dally was no longer sobbing uncontrollably. Now he was crying lightly on Tim's shoulder, trying to compose himself in front of me.

"Let's take a walk, Dandelion," Darry offered. "I'll explain things."

Once we were out the door, and out of hearing distance from the porch, I asked,

"Alright Darry, what's goin' on? Who's Sylvia and why does Dally care if she's pregnant?"

**Darry's POV**

I was anxious that Halley would bring this up. I really wish she hadn't. But she deserved to be clued in.

"Sylvia is Dally's recent ex. They constantly broke up and got back together before you got here. But, Dally never officially broke it off with Sylvia when you got here. He hadn't seen her until last night at Buck's. According to Tim, right as Dally was about to dump her, she dropped the bomb on him. Dally knew he's the reason Sylvia's pregnant. Tim said Dally ran outta Buck's place like a bat outta hell. Angela took the liberty of telling Sylvia that Dally was just about to break up with her. She didn't seem to care. Little slut," I finished.

"Wow," was all she could say.

"Yeah so uh, speaking of well, you know, how, uh, how are you doin'? I asked, worried.

"I, uh, don't really know yet. I took the test this morning, but I don't know yet," she told me. She was looking at the ground.

"Oh," I responded, disappointed. I had a feeling we were both hoping the same thing.

"Yeah, so, uh, maybe we should get back, it's getting kind of dark," She tried to change the subject.

"Yeah, maybe Dally cooled down a little," I said. Note to self, Darry: Slap self in the head later for bringing up the whole issue again. URGH! Stupid, stupid, stupid!

** End Darry's POV**

When we got back into the house, Dally had regained his composure, and was lying on the couch with his head in his hands. As soon as I looked at him, it reminded me of my own baby-related issue.

"I, uh, have to go get something out of the bathroom. Darry could you, uh, help me find it?" I asked him, with a look that said, "The test is probably done…LETS GO!"

He was staring off into space, "Huh, what? Oh, yeah, I'll help you."

Darry and I silently walked side by side down the hallway. Instead of turning into the bathroom, we went into my room, when nobody was looking. I quickly picked my purse up off the ground and dug to the bottom to get the box. It quickly chucked the box into the trashcan, pulled it out of the baggie and shook it. My heart leaped in my chest.

"It's blue?" Darry looked confused.

"Yes!" I silently hissed under my breath.

"Well what does it mean?"

"IT MEANS IM NOT PREGNANT!" I whisper yelled with excitement.

"Oh my God!" Darry said with a look of pure shock. He smiled and pulled me into a bone-crushing "Dar-Bear"-hug. Just then, Sodapop walked in.

"Woah! Sorry I interrupted!" Soda said with a smirk.

"Soda, C'mon now, you know it ain't nothin' like that. And you better go get dressed. It's one o'clock!" Darry told him.

That's when I noticed something about Darry. Even though he obviously was the father figure in the house, because he had to take care of his two little brothers, he would make a good father. Even though sometimes he didn't know how to control his emotions, and him and Ponyboy fought, he was always the firm hand that kept everybody in check. So even though I wasn't pregnant, if I was, I would be happy that Darry would be the father.

I was so happy about not being pregnant, I almost forgot about Dally. I walked back into the living room, and now Dally was up, eating something that looked like chocolate cake. I stood in front of him on the couch. He didn't look up for a second.

"Dally?" I asked softly. No answer. "Dal?" I asked again. Still no answer. "Come on Street-Side, talk to me." I begged quietly.

He looked up. His face looked weak and like he had just seen somebody he loved die. I sat down in the spot on the couch next to him. Everybody cleared the room out and "went outside for a smoke". He turned toward me and put his head on my shoulder. Finally he spoke.

"Halley I love you so much, and I don't deserve you."

"Dally, what are you talking about? That's the craziest thing I've ever heard! You'd give anything for me. Don't ever say that you don't deserve me."

"No, I cheated on you, and worse, I got Sylvia pregnant! I should have called her right away, but I just couldn't keep my hands to myself! I guess even when you came; I still couldn't fight off my old ways. I love you so much, please; I promise I won't do it again!"

"Shh, Dally it's okay. I don't care if Sylvia is pregnant with your kid," I cooed.

"Y-you don't?" he stuttered.

"No, I don't, because I love you so much, what you did with that whore-bag makes no difference to me, as long as you don't do it again," I soothed.

"Alright. But don't go tellin' any of yer little friends that I was crying!" he straightened up. That was the Dally I knew!

"Now why would I do that?" I asked.

"I dunno, you girls do some strange stuff sometimes!" he joked. That's when Ponyboy came back in. the rest of the guys followed him. I assumed it was about dinner time, because Darry had his sleeves pushed up and looked like he was getting ready to cook dinner.

"I got an idea!" Dally said, rising to his feet.

"What is it Dal?" Sodapop called from the kitchen.

"Who wants go to the drive in before we hit up that party at Buck's tonight?" Dally asked.

"I gotta work tomorrow, so I can't be out too late," Darry said with a sigh.

"Me 'n' Soda got dates," Steve announced.

Two-Bit considered the though for a second and came out with, "I was plannin' on getting boozed up, but if I'm sober enough ill drop by the Nightly Double to hang with you guys."

"Well, me 'n' Johnny 'll come!" Ponyboy decided. "We've got nothing better to do tonight anyway!"

"Yeah, sure," Johnny agreed.

"So it's settled?" Dally grinned. Nobody had to even say "yeah it's settled" because we all knew once you said you were gunna do something with Dally, you didn't back out when he had that look on his face. He was up to something.

**Later that Night**

We ran all over town before it finally got dark enough to hop the fence of The Nightly Double and sneak in. we walked up front to the chairs because obviously we weren't in a car. Dally picked four seats in the fourth row from the back. Just after we got settled, two Soc girls sat down in front of us in the row ahead. One had bright red hair and the other dark brown. The red-head sat down right in the chair Dally had his feet on. I hoped that she'd have the sense to get up and move; because obviously Dally wasn't going to.

She turned around. "Would you mind taking your goddamn feet off my chair?" the redhead asked sharply. What. An. Idiot.

"Wha'd you say to me, you little shit?" Dally asked, surprised the redhead attempted to stand up to him. He lit a cigarette. The redhead stood up to face Dally.

"You heard me. Get your feet off my chair!" she ordered.

Dally blew smoke into her face. "Make me."

"Ugh, get lost hood!" she ordered again.

This was trouble. I knew it from the start. You didn't mess with Dally and get out of it this easily. Just as Dally stood up, I held him back.

"Who do you think you-" he started.

I cut him off, "Dally," I warned. After all that had happened today he knew I wasn't in the mood for any crap. Surprisingly, all I got was a dirty look, and he sat down.

"You messin' with these nice ladies, greaser?" that didn't sound good. As a natural reaction from living in New York, Dally stood up, his hand ready at his back pocket, to whip out his switch if he needed to. It turns out that the Soc who was getting ready to jump us was ol' Two-Bit. OF COURSE.

"Jesus, Two-Bit, scare us to death, why don't you?" I asked, a little ticked

"Ahh, c'mon I was only messin' with yah!" Two-Bit said. Surprisingly, he didn't sounded half cocked. I bet he had been drinking, though. My question was, where, with whom. Especially because there was a red mark on his neck; one that wasn't there before he left the house.

"Glory, Two-Bit! That's some hickey you got there!" Dally commented.

He touched his neck. Two-Bit replied with "Oh this? Yeah, I got it from some chick down at Max's; blonde." He raised his eyebrows. The redhead in front of us rolled her eyes. That was when I realized that Dally's feet were back on her chair.

"You know, Marsha," the redhead began.

"What is it Cherry?" the brown haired girl, apparently "Marsha", asked.

"You know what I hate? Those disgusting little greasers from the east side that think they're such hot shit! You know what they are? Nothing but a disappointment to society is what they are."

"Well," Marsha began; she adjusted her body slightly toward Two-Bit, "I bet you not all of them are that way."

This time I couldn't stop Dally from getting up.

"Alright, ginger, WHO IN THE HELL do you think you are? Insulting our kind right in front of us!" he was really pissed now.

Cherry got up too. Dally had spoken fighting words, and now she was ready.

"Well, maybe if you weren't so rude to us, your "kind" wouldn't have a bad name, GREASE!" Cherry seethed.

"You're a fiery one, aren't ya?" Dally asked her with a wicked smile.

"Yes, yes I am, and I stand up for what I believe in." Cherry said, her eye practically twitching out of anger. "And one thing I believe in is respect, which you clearly don't know how to give. Now for the last time, GET LOST HOOD!" she ordered and threw a coke in Dally's face.

Cherry and Marsha stood up and moved about six seats away from where we were sitting. Dally looked back at them angrily, but knew better than to go after them, because there were probably a lot of mean-old Soc boyfriends around. He whipped the coke off his face and stalked off.

"I'm gunna go after Dally, you guys be alright on your own?" I asked Ponyboy and Johnny.

"I'll take care of 'em," Two-Bit assured me. That wasn't much reassurance, but at least they'd have an older member of the gang with them.

"Alright, then I guess I'd better go find Dally." I sighed.

About 10 minutes later I found him smoking on the hood of a car. "Whose car?" I asked.

"Tim's," he replied without looking at me. He seemed really out of it, staring off at something in the distance.

"Something wrong, Dal?" I asked.

"Take a walk with me, will ya, hun?" he asked me. He wasn't calling be babe, or Hal, something was up.

After re-hopping the fence (he didn't even help me over) and getting back onto the sidewalk of Picket Street, Dally lit a cigarette. Forgetting that I don't usually smoke, out of habit of being with the gang all the time, he offered me one. And for some reason, I took it. He lit it for me.

After a long drag he finally said, "You know, there's only two people in our gang that I would never fight, Johnny and Darry."

"Why wouldn't you fight Darry?" I asked. I knew he would never fight Johnny, Johnny was like Dally's little brother. He worshiped the ground Dally walked on.

After thinking about it for a second, he came up with, "Darry's like the father I never had. He's the only person that ever told me "no" or tried to help me when I was hurt, his house is my real home, because I've never been welcome at mine. And after all he's done for me; hitting him would be hurting the one person who took care of me."

This shocked me. Also, Dally probably knew that Darry could take him in a fight. Darry was pure muscle, and Dally was street-smart, but at the end of the day, Darry would come out on top (in a fair fight, of course). I couldn't think of anything to say, so I just took another drag on my cig. I finally came up with something.

"So say Darry did something to you, you wouldn't be mad?"

"Depends what he did." Dally said, without even changing his facial expression.

"Say, he kissed your girl or something?"

"I'd be mad, but I wouldn't do anything, not after all he's done for me."

I let out a sigh of relief after he didn't ask me why I had used that example. Dally took one last drag and put out his smoke. "This isn't what you really wanted to talk about, is it?"

"No, but I guess it makes sense to be thinking about all of this now," he said. "After all we've been through; I thought I could read you by now. But I'm still stuck."

"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked, wondering where in san hell he was going with this.

"I don't know if I'm 'the one', you know, the one for you," he said, looking all confused.

"Once again, where are you going with this?"

"Do you love me, Halley? Like do you REALLY love me?"

There was a long pause "I-uhm, I just…."

"That pause and stutter, tells me a hell of a lot more than whatever sentence of bull you just tried to pull out. I see the way you look at Darry. It ain't the way you look at me. It's the way you USED to look at me, back in New York. Don't try to say you don't love him, 'cause I know you do. And I'm not mad, I could never be mad at Darry, I just wish you'd told me sooner. Maybe then it wouldn't have hurt so much. Maybe then I would have been prepared to loose you."

I froze in my spot. And for the second time, I watched Dallas Winston walk away from me, hands in his pockets, head down and ready to drink his troubles away. All though, this time, it hurt twice as much, because I knew there was no chasing him. That was why I came back after all. I knew he was here, and I knew he would come back to me. But this time, I had nowhere left to run, no time to think, and no place to start over. I had lost him for good.

The next day when I woke up, I couldn't remember for the life of me what went on last night. I checked myself out for the usuals. I was fully clothed in my own clothes. I was in my, er, the Curtis' house. There was no scent of beer on me, and I didn't have a craving for hangover food. Everything seemed to be alright. So then why did I feel like I had the worst smarting headache God could ever punish a person with? I decided to let it go and just try hangover cures.

Darry was already two steps ahead of me. My place was set at the table, right between him and Sodapop, like usual. When I came in, and I was ready to hug him good-morning, for some reason, an alarm went off in my head and told me not to. So I didn't.

It was a dreadfully silent breakfast. Pony, Soda, and Darry must have figured that I had a hangover, cause when they did talk, it was awful soft. And there was coffee, which Darry never makes unless he knows somebody was out drinking the night before. But I don't remember drinking a drop last night. I just couldn't seem to piece together what was going on.

Sodapop kept shooting strange glances at me. It was like he was trying to tell me something. After the table was clear, when he finally realized I wasn't picking up on his signals, he came out with,

"I'm so happy it's finally my day off. I sure as hell could use the extra sleep. You know what, I think since its Pony's turn to do the dishes that I'll head back to bed." I knew that was my qu.

"I think I'm gunna shower and then head back to bed too. I've got a headache like hell."

"Ahh, so you were out partying with Dally last night?" Darry asked from the other room while changing for work.

Last night was still a blur, but I knew I hadn't been drinking. "No sir, I was not. I just don't feel all too well."

He walked in with his tool belt in hand, "Alright, nobody's accusing you, but Sodapop it's your day off and Pony has to go to his track meet today so I want you to keep an eye on Halley. I can tell just by looking at you that you don't look to good, Hal. I gotta go to work. I'll see ya'll later" he directed me to go back to sleep by pointing toward my room. I figured he also wanted to have Sodapop interrogate me about last night. But, honestly, I didn't even remember myself.

After a quick half hour nap, I got my towel and slumped down the hall toward the bathroom. Just as I was about to open the door, Sodapop walked out in nothing but his very short towel.

"Oh hey, Hal"

"Woahhhhh, hi Soda, shouldn't you uhhh, I uhhh, Soda…."

"What?"

"You're towel's…kind of…not really on."

"Huh? OH! Shit…haha uhm yeah. Sorry about that." He fixed his towel real fast after I said that. "So uhm, you seem a little bummed this morning."

"Oh, well I'm not really bummed. I just can't seem to piece together what happened last night."

"Halley, you're trying to get rid of bad memories. You remember what happened last night. You just don't want to remember. I don't want to remember either. But it happened."

"Sodapop what on God's Green Earth are you talking about?"

"Come on, Halley. I'll explain."

He sat me down in his room on his bed. He was still only in his towel, but I barley even noticed on account of how confused I was.

"Butter-cup, you gotta promise not to yell or scream or interrupt until I'm done, alright?" he asked.

"Alright Sodapop, I promise." I agreed.

"Good. Now here's what happened. Last night, you and Dally broke up. He got you to admit that you loved Darry more than him and he just sort of left. Nobody's seen him since last night. Last night, Sandy broke up with me because her mom said that I was a low-down slum of a greaser and she wasn't allowed to be associated with trash like me. Sandy said she agreed with her mother. You came home crying and found me in here. We stayed up all night together talking. And now that Sandy's moved to Florida and Dally's gone, we're in the same boat."

I was speechless. What was I supposed to say to that? I had been left by the one boy who truly cared about me. And my best friend, Sodapop Curtis, had been left by the one woman who he cared about. We were both alone. I felt like there was a hole in my life now. There was no Dally's bear, broad chest to wake up on. There was no greasy blonde hair and pale blue eyes for me to look at mindlessly. There was nobody to carry me home in his arms after a night of too much partying. I mean sure there was Darry. But it wasn't the same. When I had to choose between loving Dally, and being "infatuated", I guess you could say, with Darry (on impulse of course) it was like being stuck between a rock and a hard place. Now I was choosing between burning to death and drowning to death. Either way was a pretty repulsive way to go, but I had to choose.

"Halley, hun, say something…let me know you got what I said?" Sodapop asked.

"I feel so…empty. I feel like I need something to jumpstart my life again."

"Me too, Doll-face. Me too." There was a long pause. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"Well if you were thinking that you're towel is falling off again, then yes, I was."

"Well, close enough." He said, getting closer to me. He didn't fix his towel. It was only covering his front; all twisted and balled up around his lap.

"Why, what were you thinking?" I asked, curious. Then again I knew what he was thinking. I was thinking it too. Darry's at work. Ponyboy's at school. The house is empty for five more hours-

"Breakup sex." We said it in harmony. Apparently me and Sodapop have the same brain. He leaned in closer to me. We kissed. Nothing had ever felt so relieving.

"Soda…?" I asked

"Yeah Hal?"

"Doesn't this feel kind of…skanky?"

"Hal…its...breakup sex…it's…supposed to be…skanky. If…it isn't…we're not…doing it right." He assured me between kisses, using the only breath he had left. I had a feeling that it was going to end badly, but at this point, who really cared? Not me.

Honestly, the next morning when I woke up on Sodapop's bare, tanned chest, I was the happiest girl on earth…until I remembered that I still didn't have a boyfriend. What a horrible way to start out the god-damned morning.

"Halley-Marie!" it just got worse.

As I groggily opened my eyes to see which gang member's throat the deep growl of my name had just come from, when I realized that if I sat up, the covers would fall, and whoever it was would get a show. I shook Sodapop awake, he sat up, and I quickly grabbed a handful of covers to wrap myself up in.

My eyes finally came into focus. Oh shit. It was Darry. Of fucking course it was Darry, who else would it be?

"Sodapop Curtis!" He growled, "Please for the love of God tell me I am not seeing what I'm seeing right now."

"No Dar," Soda responded, "You, are. And you know what, DEAL WITH IT! You know very well that my social life and love life don't run on your schedule. Sandy's gone, so is Dally, and does it really matter at this point who sleeps with who?"

"Well, yeah it does! WAIT, Dally's gone? Gone? Gone, where? Why didn't you say anything earlier? What happened, one of you two better start talking'!" Darry demanded. He was in big-brother mode now, and there was no stopping it. I guess the fact that Soda and I had just slept together would have to wait. "You two, get dressed and get the guys, we're goin' out to look for Dally. Lord knows he's probably already in a jam."

Sodapop hopped out of bed as soon as Darry left the room. I, however, couldn't move.