There were certain things about the Winston twins that not many other people knew.
The first thing was that they weren't twins. Dallas was eleven months older than April. They didn't have the same father either, hence April's light brown, almost dark blonde, hair and green eyes as opposed to Dally's white blonde hair and blue eyes.
Dallas was determined April wouldn't turn out like him. This meant keeping her away from the gang fights in New York, taking the beatings off their father for her, protecting her from the Socs, and forcing her to go to school. He even forged the signatures on her reports, so no-one knew that their parents didn't give a shit. He would never let anyone know how proud he was of his little sister and how smart she was.
When April took a chance and walked home alone and got jumped by Socs, Dallas spent the night tending to her wounds and holding her as she cried herself to sleep. Once she was asleep, he cried, because she was innocent and had done nothing wrong, but they chose to pick on her anyway. After that, he told the gang that at least one of them needed to be with her when he wasn't there to protect her. Then he went out and got revenge.
Everyone knew the pair had rooms next door to each other at Buck's, but no-one knew that April slept in Dally's room most nights. Dallas would sometimes have nightmares about what he had seen in New York or during his first time in juvie, and April was the only one who could calm him down. She would wipe the tears from his face and hold him until he fell asleep again. She never told anyone that Dallas Winston could cry.
April hated Sylvia. Not because she was taking her brother away from her, but because she could see right through her and knew Sylvia was constantly two-timing Dallas. She never said anything because she thought Dallas wouldn't believe her and she didn't want to hurt him.
When Johnny Cade showed an interest in April, and April made it clear she felt the same way in return, everyone expected Dallas to threaten Johnny with everything under the sun. Instead, he took them aside and made them promise him they wouldn't hurt each other because she was his little sister and he was his best friend, and he couldn't choose between them.
After April left for her first date with Johnny, Dallas locked himself in his room at Buck's and cried because his little sister was growing up and he couldn't do anything to stop it. When she got back, he sat up and listened to her talk about how Johnny had taken her to the Dingo and the Nightly Double, and then he had walked her all the way home, and Dallas noticed how excited and happy she was and felt like crying all over again.
April was the only person Dally would write to from jail or call when he had the chance. She never said anything about how touched she was he would think of her first or about the shoebox full of letters that she kept under her bed.
The night that Mr and Mrs Curtis died, Dallas and April spent the whole night crying in each other's arms because they lost the only people they had considered parents, and now everything good was slipping away from them.
Dallas often wished April had been put up for adoption because she deserved so much better.
April loved that it was always her and her brother against the world.