I do not own these characters (apart from China) or any other element of S.E. Hinton's The Outsiders.

China Blue Curtis was getting worried.

Sodapop had promised to pick her up from school after his shift at the DX ended; "No later than 4:30, promise!" were his exact words, yet here she was at 5:15, wondering if he had forgotten. On any other day, she would have caught a ride home with Two-Bit, Steve, Johnny and Ponyboy (who, despite their natural impatient nature as teenage boys, were fearful enough of Darryl's wrath to wait for the middle school to get out half an hour after the high school did), but she had stayed after school on that particular day to work on a group project for Advanced English.

Such an endeavor was normally unpleasant, as she was one of the only non-Soc kids in her class, but she was lucky enough to be paired with Evelyn, a sweet girl who she had bonded with over their love of books and horses despite their different social classes. The hour they had spent in the library flew by as they discussed what book they were going to do their report on (National Velvet) as well as their plans for the upcoming fall social (Evelyn being enthusiastic about attending, China being hesitant about asking Darry to go out on a school night). Evelyn had waved her goodbye with a smile, and bounded outside to her mother's car where she was greeted with a hug and a kiss. China watched this exchange with a pang, the same pang that had crossed her heart for the past eight months every time she realized that she would never be hugged or kissed by her own mother again. She held back the wave of grief that was about to wash over her and focused on her task at hand: a ride home.

Drawn outside by the beautiful May sunshine and the increasingly dirty looks of the elderly librarian, China made her way over to one of the large stone benches in the front courtyard. She began thumbing through her well-worn copy of National Velvet, and soon got lost in Enid Bagnold's familiar words.

"Need a ride, kid?"

China's blood ran cold. Without looking up from her book, words now smeared in her line of sight by trembling hands, she replied as coolly as she could.

"No, thanks."

Nothing could have prepared her for what came next. Instead of the man yelling at her or trying to grab her, he started laughing. China would have known that laugh anywhere. Fear morphed into relief and then confusion as she set down her book and looked straight into eyes as blue as her own.

"Dallas Winston?"

Dally winked at her and leaned back in the driver's seat of a car that clearly didn't belong to him, a half-lit cigarette dangling from the corner of his mouth.

"In the flesh."

China cautiously placed her book down on top of her knapsack and approached the side of the car.

"I thought you were still in the cooler."

"Good behavior. Got off early."

Not entirely convinced that he hadn't made a mad break for it and ended up in front of her à la grand theft auto, the youngest Curtis took a step backwards.

"I was actually just waiting for Soda to come get me..."

Another laugh, this one slightly more impatient than the other.

"Relax, kid. Soda's backed up at work and asked me to come get you, seeing as I have Tim Shepherd's car for the week. Here."

Dallas thrust a crumpled piece of paper in China's direction, upon which a few scribbled words in what could only be Soda's handwriting were written.

Sorree for the weight, long line four gas, pleas let Dallie take you home.

Sodapop Curtis

China looked up from the note. She still had a few lingering questions about Dallas's sudden appearance (Why on earth would Tim Shepherd lend his car to a teenaged delinquent fresh out of prison?), but it was getting late and she desperately wanted to get home now that she knew at least one of her brothers was aware who she was getting a ride from. As she opened the passenger side of the convertible, she snuck a glance at Dally, who was presently occupied with flipping between radio channels. How strange it was that they had the same color combination of features (blond hair, blue eyes), but that they came across as delicate on her and dangerous on Dallas. He flipped the ignition as soon as she had buckled up, and roared out of the parking lot into the streets of Tulsa.

This was the first time that China had driven anywhere with Dally, and based on both his wild reputation and love for racing, she braced herself for the worst. Much to her surprise, the towheaded greaser seemed to be taking the turns with some amount of car, and while he swore in a low tone whenever faced with a red light, he made no attempt to speed right through them. The thirteen-year-old wondered if this had everything to do with her presence in the passenger seat or if Dallas was unused to driving after a few months. He turned his head ever so slightly towards her while they were at a stop, as if to see if she was actually there or not. Such a gesture, small though it may have been, caused China's heart to skip a beat. Of all of the gang members she could have chosen to have a crush on, why oh why did it have to be the one who would never love anyone other than them-self? China would never admit it to anyone, much less Dallas himself, but there was something about the way that he didn't care about what anyone else thought of him that she had fallen in love with. But at the end of the day, she knew that Dally would never see her as anything more than Darry and Soda's kid sister, and that the gestures of driving carefully and checking on her were carried out in fear of their overprotective wrath.

After what felt like an eternity of driving in silence, they finally pulled up in front of the Curtis family home. China began to gather up her things, but stopped for a moment and looked up into the hardened face of Dallas Winston.

"Thanks."

At this, Dally's rough facade briefly crumbled. He gave nothing but a brief nod and then drove away without looking back at her.

China watched the back of the car until it was no longer visible in her sight. She finally turned around, only to find Ponyboy standing on the porch with a bemused expression adoring his face.

"Dallas Winston, huh?"

Embarrassed at how evident her feelings had been portrayed, China rolled her eyes and began to make her way into the house.

"Y'know, I think the conjugal thing only works in prison when you're both adults."

At this, China tackled her brother and they rolled around in what little grass remained in the front yard. They were both slight (and thus far more fairly matched opponents than any of the other gang members, except Johnny) but at last, Pony ended up pinned under his sister's small but strong grasp.

"Jesus Christ, Chi, when did you get so buff?"

"Around the same time I never started smoking."

It was Ponyboy's turn to roll his eyes, and he struggled under her grip for a few minutes until he declared the task futile and flopped backwards. The blond girl gave a smirk and released her prisoner, dusted herself off, and finally went into the house. Despite the ridiculous comment made by Pony, China wondered to herself if there would ever be even the the potential for something more between her and Dally... But it's hard to plan for the future when you're not sure the other person has one. All she afforded herself for the moment was gratitude that it was Dallas who had pulled up in front of the school, and not someone who would ever entertain the thought of harming her. No, the threat Dally Winston posed towards her was of an entirely different nature: the threat of breaking her heart.

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-greysweatshirts