Love in The Cross

After running into Johnny's mother, Two-Bit rushed me to the elevator.

Dally seemed to be his old self, mean and ornery, so that gave us the heads up that he was okay.

I grinned at Two-Bit. He knew I was sweet on Dally...he was the only one. I had just come to accept it...I realized that I do love Dally and that's...okay, I guess. Especially now that he's in the cross—the hospital. I realized, after the whole burning of the church, that I coulda lost Dally. I mean, I coulda died, too, and Johnny alike, but I got to thinking what not having Dally around would be like...

...and before I knew it I was bawling, just at the thought. That was when it came to me. That I do love him, that it's not just a crush or an awkward liking, it's love. I'm in love with Dallas Winston.

"What happened to your gown?" The curly-haired nurse asked. She must be exhausted, working with Dally all this time.

"I threw it...I threw it away." Dally said like a stubborn kid.

"I'm going to be so glad when you get outta here..." The nurse sighed as Dally ordered at the same time, "Get outta here! You make my stomach sick!"

And he just laughed once he realized what she'd said to him. But that was the hood I loved...and I couldn't help but shyly stand behind Two-Bit as he greeted Dally. I couldn't risk him seeing my blush.

Dally grinned, "Man, am I glad to see y'all! These fucking hospital people won't let me fuxking have a smoke, and I want out!"

I smiled and turned my head away. My face reddened. He really had thrown his gown away...he was completely naked aside from the tight briefs he was wearing, and they weren't doing much to hide him. "Sounds like Darry..." I muttered, and Dally only looked at me.

"You say something, Pony?"

"Oh...no, no..."

Two-Bit nudged me closer to Dally, but I just backed up behind him, where my emotions were safe from being discovered.

"Shepard came by to see me awhile ago..."

"That's what Johnny said..." I muttered audibly this time.

"Uh huh. What'd he want?" Two-Bit asked.

Dally cracked a smirk, "Said he saw my picture in the paper and couldn't believe it didn't say 'Wanted: Dead or Alive' under it. He mostly came to rub the rumble in my face, that bastard. I...I hate missin' it man..."

I felt bad for Dally...the rumble wouldn't be the same without him there. And he really wanted to be in it, it was the closest thing we had down here to those bloody gang fights in New York. And I wasn't too fond of Shepard, never was. Maybe it was because I always loved Dally and never knew it, and though Dally and Tim were always buddies, Tim had just cracked a good three of Dally's ribs last week. They think they're just alike, two of a kind, and in some ways, they are...but I know beyond that rough shell there's a Dallas Winston who cares. Shepard was thick all the way through, and he just wasn't my kinda guy.

Dally was grinning at me, and I coward a bit, I must've been glowing red. His grin was sexy...I couldn't afford to look him right in the face while he wore that expression, but I knew if I didn't look at him, he'd know something was bothering me, so I held my breath to try to stop the blush and I looked back at him.

"Kid you scared the devil outta me the other day. I thought I'd killed you."

That was the kinda thing I was hinting at earlier. Dally'd use that dangerous grin to hide the way he really felt, and that much was evident in his word choice. He might have actually been really worried, but like Dally Winston feels worry.

"Me?" My voice cracked, and I cleared my throat awkwardly, "Why?"

"When you jumped out of the church. I meant to hit you hard enough to knock you down and put out that fire, but when you dropped like a ton a lead I thought I'd aimed too high and broke your neck." He smiled, and I swear that was a real, genuine smile, "I'm real glad I didn't, though."

I grinned, too. "I'll bet..." My voice actually came out right that time...I felt like I'd really...connected with Dally. Like he was my buddy...or...maybe more...that's what I'd always wanted to feel with him...I'd always wanted to be the person Dally opened up to...and I felt like maybe I'd been one step closer to my dream...all of this because he was happy he hadn't killed me.

Dally smiled at me, then looked out the window. "How's Johnny?"

"We just left him." Two-Bit said, and I could tell he was thinking about what to tell Dally. "He...He seems real bad man, but I ain't a doc, so I dunno..."

I could tell Dally was hurt, and my heart dropped.

"You still got that fancy black-handled switch?"

"What?"

"The blade, man."

"Yeah."

He still didn't look at us. "Give it here." He extended his hand out behind him.

Two-Bit flipped the blade and stared at it, before carefully handing it to Dally, making sure not to cut him.

"We gotta win the fight tonight." Dally said, his voice was hard...like I dreamed it'd be when he'd talk about me with a fighter's heart...but maybe it was because Johnny wasn't in the room, that he'd talk like that. I let myself think that if I was away, maybe he'd have mentioned me too. It made it easier to cope with the fact that he hadn't actually. That my love was clearly unrequited, and I'd just have to live with that.

"We gotta get even with the Socs...For Johnny, man!" He put the switch under his pillow.

"Maybe we should go, Pony." Two-Bit whispered to me.

"You go on...I'm gonna tell him."

Two-Bit grinned. "Really?"

I nodded, blushing.

"Aw, good luck man!" He whispered encouragingly, patting my back. He left and I looked over to Dally.

"Dally..." I'd have to be careful with my word choice. Dally's in a fiery mood, so the first thing was first: I had to calm him, "I...I bet if you could be in the rumble with us...you'd make more than half the difference."

He rolled over to look at me. "Man, those Socs are lucky."

"Yeah...they are..." I agreed. "Brave, Pony," I told myself and I closed my eyes, stepping closer to him. I opened them again and sighed. "I'm real Sorry, Dally."

"For what?" He looked puzzled.

"For...For causing this. If I'd never run away, then none of this would have happened...and you'd be able to be in the rumble."

"Pony," He chuckled, "You do realize that if you hadn't got outta town, the rumble wouldn't be happening. You wouldn't have run into that Soc and Johnny wouldn't have killed him and the Socs wouldn't have gotten mad enough to call it..."

I hadn't thought of that.

Dally sighed. "You don't haveta be sorry, man..."

"I love you..." I found the words spilling out of my mouth unallowed.

"What?" Dally asked sharply, "Did I just hear you right?"

My eyes got really big, I'd just realized what I'd said. "I...um..." I sighed, "Yeah..."

"You're fucking around, aren't you?"

"No. Dally, I'm just as shocked as you are...okay, probably not that shocked anymore...but did you think that I expected you to just...just...stroll into my life and...and make me love you? I never thought that you'd be the one...but you are and I can't help it...I told myself a million and two times that I'm not a fag, and that I don't even like you, but y'know what? Lying to myself just made me love you more...so there. Go ahead...kill me..." My voice never rose, it was calm the whole time...my eyes were heavy with tears, though, and halfway through my confession they spilled out. My face was red hot and the tears that strolled down my cheeks were a cool comparison.

Dally looked at me stupidly, like how Two-Bit looks at me when I read him a math equation. "No...No, Pony, I ain't gonna kill you. I'd be a hypocrite."

"Look, I know it's—" I interrupted myself. "Wait...what do you mean by that?"

"C'mere."

I walked closer to his bed, until I was right in front of him.

"Closer, Pony."

I leaned down a little.

He sighed and sat up, "Christ, kid, I mean this," and he began kissing me immediately.

I froze, then pulled away. "Dally..."

"What? You said you loved me, wouldn't you want that?"

"I'm so confused..."

"Don't be...I..." He looked away for a second, then he looked back at me, "I love you..."

"You do?"

"Yeah...when you were talkin'...I...I understood you. I felt where you were coming from, and I knew what that meant...I knew that that feeling I get in my gut when you're around isn't annoyance...but it explained why I always wanted to kiss you so bad. But I never said anything...because..."

"Because you can't open up, Dally...and I don't expect you to..." Then I thought. "Wait...you...just..."

He nodded. "Yeah...I...opened up to you..."

Then I kissed him. That was what I'd always wanted. I wanted to get inside of that head of his, and I did it without even trying...and he let me. He could have easily told me to 'get the fuck out', but he let me stay and he let me in.

He kissed back gladly, sucking on my bottom lip harshly, like I knew he would. I'd never expected him to be gentle, except in my wildest of dreams, but we have yet to get there. Right now I focused on his soft, full lips and how they worked against mine.

I could feel his teeth against my bottom lip soon, and then his velvet-like tongue literally pushed it's way into my mouth. He didn't lick gently to see if I'd get the hint, he just pushed into my mouth without warning, and I moaned against his mouth, moaning what I was sure was "Dally!".

Before I thought about it, my knee was on the bed beside his hip, and he was feeling up my thigh, sending tingles up my spine, a hundred for each fingertip. I could feel his hand moving upward, until he was touching my rear without shame, his hand cupped around it while his tongue roughly battled mine, and I was okay with losing.

His tongue claimed my mouth, liking every inch of the inside. I was moaning like it was the only thing I knew how to do at this point, and I gasped when I felt his other hand on the inside of my other thigh. His hand stopped for a minute before he pulled my other leg comfortably onto the bed, so I wasn't half-standing anymore and I could be more comfortable, and maybe even so he could shove his tongue deeper into my mouth, I was hoping for both, especially the latter, and he sat me down onto his lap, but he didn't stop kissing me. As a matter of fact, I got just what I wanted.

He was sucking on my tongue now, one of his hands made it's way up my shirt, rubbing hard against my abs and stopping when it found a nipple. He pinched it and squeezed it, and glory it felt good. I felt something in his lap poking me, and my mind was a haze but I figured out what it was...I kind of wanted to touch it...but I didn't know if I could handle it honestly...If I touch his, he'll want to touch mine, which I'm sure is as hard as a rock right now, and I'll go crazy if he touchest my most intimate part...I might even cry.

So I settled for rubbing all over him. It stared with me just having my hands around his neck, but I quickly moved downward, to his chest, and then his abs...and what was below the waist was basically calling me...so I answered. I pulled out his manhood, and I firmly grasped it, right in my hand, and it felt weird at first. I wasn't sure what to do...I'd never done this before. But glory...Dally sure was big...

Dally halted his assault on my mouth, a long string of saliva broke between us and he looked into my eyes, daring me to do more.

I uncurled my fingers and ran them along his shaft, and he must have liked that a lot, because he moaned...I actually got him to moan!

"Pony...faster..." He ordered and I delivered, hardening my touch and jerking him faster.

"Glory, kid..." He gasped. He started to unzip my pants and pull out my manhood, and I gasped.

"Do you trust me?" He asked, before he made any other move.

I stared at him silently, before nodding. "Yes..."

He smiled at me and buried his face in the dip of my neck, I don't know where my shirt went but I didn't care. It was long gone and I didn't miss it, and he sucked on my collarbone, leaving his love-bites in a trail, marking me, letting the world know I was his lover...he kept jerking, going faster and faster and I followed his speed.

"D...Dallas..." I hadn't meant to say his full name, but I think he liked it.

"Say it again," He ordered, "Just like that."

"Dallas!" I said it again but even louder, just in the same tone, like he'd wanted.

"Fuck, Ponyboy," He started to kiss me violently again, and I felt something build in me...I felt like I was going to explode...and I think I did...

I came, right there, I was so overwhelmed and I cried out "Dallas!" into his mouth.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck, Pony, I'm gonna cum..." He wasn't lying, either. He came all over my hand and stained the sheets. It's a good thing they were white already, the stains wouldn't be that noticeable.

Despite that dramatic burst, he continued to kiss me, pushing me down on the bed next to him.

He stopped and looked me in the eye. "Pony...I never want to stop kissing you..." he pecked the corners of my mouth, "You taste too damn good..."

I chuckled. "Dally...I...Thanks...for giving me all I ever dreamed of..."

He cocked a brow. "That was all you ever dreamed of? A little jerk off? Gee, I thought maybe you'd thought of more..."

I blushed. "Oh no...I have...I just...I wasn't sure I was ready..."

"You let me know as soon as you're ready, and I'll be in you faster than you can blink, Pony."

"Oh Glory, you make me want to just rush it, Dally..."

"Nah, take your time," He licked along my bottom lip, "For you, I'd wait a million and one years."

"Trust me," I smiled, "Keep going at this rate, and you won't have to wait that long."

Gee...I forgot we were in a hospital...