(A/N: Alright, this is set before the book. About four or five months before, just after Johnny is beat up by the Socs. Ponyboy is still 13 and everyone else is their ages in the book.

A/Nx2: I've edited this first chapter. I think it's better now!! To me, Rae is tough but it seemed that she was taking the rape too well. So, I changed a lot of it. I hope you enjoy it!

Disclaimer: Raelee Angela Winston is mine. Carrie, who appears later is mine. Everything else belongs to S.E. Hinton.)

Chapter 1

Raelee Winston, 15, stood outside of her house, holding a backpack in her right hand. It was dark, after midnight, and cold at the end of September. There was a mild breeze every few minutes. She wore a no-sleeved shirt under a thin, long-sleeved, oversized men's shirt that belonged to her older brother, a pair of dark blue jeans, and black All Stars. Her collar-bone length red-brown hair blew in the wind and her brown eyes held a cold expression.

After a few long minutes of staring at the house, she slung the bag onto her shoulder and turned her back on the house. This was the hardest thing she'd ever done. All of the rumbles she'd been in were nothing compared to this. Running away. She had a lot of great friends, who were all boys, and a brother who kept her safe…most of the time. As a matter of fact, Rae had come to know all of her friends through her brother, Dallas, or Dally. She loved them all, especially her brother, and she knew he loved her even though he usually didn't show it. That was what made it so hard. She didn't want them to worry, but she couldn't stay any longer. Raelee started to walk away. She had only taken a few steps before the front door creaked open.

"Where you goin' little girl?" the voice of her drunken father pierced the silence of the night. This was precisely why she couldn't stay there. Rae scowled, but kept walking. She heard him stumble down the front steps. "Come 'ere."

"No," she simply said. His pace quickened behind her. She started to tremble, and not from the wind. She was terrified of her father. In his drunken state, he was more likely to do something to her that would put him in jail. She had a feeling, though, a bad feeling. This night would be different from all of the other countless beatings. Rae wanted to quicken her pace, but her body wouldn't let her.

"Stop," he growled. His voice was closer. He was taking large steps to reach her. She tried to urge her feet to go faster but they stopped completely. Suddenly, he grasped her shoulder and dug his fingernails into her skin, through the long-sleeved shirt, which made her wince. "Do what I tell you to do, when I tell you to do it." He threw his beer bottle to the ground. It shattered. The pieces flew everywhere. He pushed her to the ground, in the grass, stripping the backpack from her shoulder. He threw it off to the side. Then, he advanced on her. Rae tried to quickly scramble to her backpack, which had her blue handled switchblade, with her name engraved on the blade. She had almost gotten there when her father grabbed her ankle. Desperately, she tried to get away from him again. After that, she felt a sharp pain in her head and everything was blurry, or completely black. Rae went in and out of consciousness. She heard a ripping sound and was suddenly very cold. The next thing she remembered was repeated pains in her lower abdomen. She also felt hands touching her body in indecent ways. She thought she heard him mumble things like "accident child" and "was born purely for his pleasure." This was precisely why she wanted to leave, but he'd never done anything to this extent. Suddenly, it all stopped. No one was hurting her. No one was touching her. But, she was too scared to open her eyes. She heard feet moving around a lot and other noises. Someone was beating the shit out of someone else. Someone fell to the ground, then scrambled away. Someone grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her. She cried out and started fighting him, trying to keep him away.

"Hey, stop!" a familiar voice said. Rae stopped squirming and opened her eyes to see Dally's face. He was the one who was holding her. Darrel, or Darry Curtis, stood not far behind her brother, looking around. She was trembling still, but she couldn't tell is it was because she was cold, scared, or both. Tears started spilling out of her eyes.

"D…Dally?" Rae whispered. He had an ever-so-rare worried expression on his face. She didn't even need to ask what had happened to her; she already knew. Dally tore his jacket off of himself and laid it over his sister's body.

"Yeah. Don't worry, Rae. He's gone," her older brother said, gently. He wiped her tears away and grabbed her hand. "Good lord, you're shaking like a mad man!"

"He…he…scared me," Rae stuttered. He leaned over instantly and hugged her tightly.

"I know," he whispered, cursing his father in his head. Darry looked down at the two. He didn't want to break them up but it was cold, Rae didn't have any clothes on, and that insane father or theirs would be back at any time.

"Come on, guys. We should go. I'll take her tonight if you need me to, Dal," he said. Dally separated from his sister and nodded.

"Thanks, man," Dallas said. He looked back down at his sister. "But, let's get you some clothes first. It's freezing out here."

"I'll wait out here," Darry said, "and make sure that he doesn't come back for second helpings."

"Right. Thanks, Darry," Dally said and easily lifted his sister off of the ground. Then, he carried her into the house and all the way to her room. He set her down on her bed. "Grab some clothes for the next few days, and do it quickly." He went looking for her backpack, but had no luck finding it. "Where's your backpack?" Rae started to grab some clothes to put on. She looked down as she did so.

"It's outside, in the dirt," she replied. She put her underwear on and set her brother's coat on the bed. He looked at her, confused. "As for clothes, they're in that bag, as well as my blade." She slipped some jeans on and then a long sleeved shirt. Her father hadn't bothered to remove her shoes. Rae slipped on her own jean jacket. It looked exactly like Johnny's.

"What were you goin' to do, Rae?" Dally asked her. "What were you doin' out there at this hour?" She looked at him with regret in her eyes. He walked up to her. "What is it?"

"I wouldn't have been able to do it anyway, Dally," she answered. "I was going to run away, but I wouldn't have been able to leave you and the guys." She sobbed and latched on to his shirt. She buried her face in it and cried. She shouldn't have cried in front of Dally. He didn't like it. Usually, he'd tell her to 'Stop, right now and be a man.' Even though she wasn't a man. "I'm sorry." Dally was shocked for a few seconds, but didn't show it. He'd never seen his sister cry like this. He stood there and let her cry. After what she'd been through tonight, he didn't blame her.

"Don't you dare apologize! You don't have anything to apologize for, damnit!" he yelled, shaking her by the shoulders.

"But if I hadn't have provoked it, none of this would have happened!" she sobbed, pulling away from him.

"No! It's my fault! I'm sorry for not taking better care of you. I'm sorry for not protecting you more. I knew better than to leave you home alone with him," Dally said, pulling his sister back to him.

"Hurry up in there!" Darry called from outside. "We don't have all night."

"Right!" Dally called back. He put a hand on top of Rae's head. "We gotta get outta here." Rae looked up at her older brother. She was surprised he didn't order her to be strong or whatever. She nodded. He wiped her tears away and led her outside, where she collected her bag. Then, all three headed down to Darry's house.

When they got to the house, both boys helped her inside. Dally sat her down on the couch while Darry forced his younger brothers to the back of the house.

"I'm going to let Darry take care of you tonight for now. I have to go somewhere," he said. She nodded, staring down at the ground, in a daze. "You'll be alright, don't worry. I'll be back in the morning, okay?"

"Yeah," Rae said, in a low voice. "I love you." He turned to her and flashed grin. She knew that was his way to say, 'You too.' Dally stood up from the couch and went out the front door. Darry came back into the room moments later, carrying a blanket and a pillow. She didn't look up at him, she just kept staring at the floor. He put a hand on her shoulder.

"You alright?"

"I'm not sure," she replied. Darry stared at her for a few seconds.

"Don't worry. You will be." She nodded. The two younger Curtis brothers came back into the room.

"Hey, Rae," Sodapop Curtis said. "Haven't seen you in a while. What's up?" She didn't answer.

"What happened? Are you alright?" the youngest, Ponyboy, asked. She didn't answer again. The two boys looked at each other.

"Rae?" Soda asked.

"Sorry," she replied.

"Okay, that's enough. Why don't you two go to bed? We'll talk in the morning," Darry suggested. The two looked at their older brother and nodded.

"Right, then. Goodnight," Soda said and dragged Ponyboy out of the room with him. Darry set the bed clothes on the couch.

"If you need anything at all, come and wake me up, okay?" She nodded. "Goodnight, Rae."

"Goodnight…" He left the room for his own room. After a few minutes of staring blankly, Rae made her bed on the couch. She laid down and turned off the lamp. She must've been really tired because she was out almost instantly.