07-06-08
Again, this story has been edited on July 6th to read better. There were a lot of errors all the way through.

Disclaimer: The song Face Down belongs to Red Jumpsuit Apparatus and the characters Dallas and Tim belong to S.E Hinton. Margo belongs to me, as I have finally named 'her':D

Author's Note: Last and final chapter in the series I hope you guys like it. This is the song that kind of set me off on this idea a while back so I thought I would just incorporate it into the story in the last chapter. Here it is. I hope you like it. But knowing my lucky you guys won't and I'll end up rewriting it. Lol.

Hey girl you know you drive me crazy
one look puts the rhythm in my hand.

Her knuckles wrapped hard on the fake wood door. Her breath was coming in small rasps and pain was shooting through her body everywhere. Her thoughts, however, were filled with the question of how it could take one man so long to get down the stairs to open the door. She had been to Steve's and back again. She had taken too long.

Words couldn't describe how much desperation she had felt when she had gotten there just to find out that he wasn't there, waiting for her like he was supposed to be. And now here she was, back on the porch that caused the beating she received in the first place and her heart was pounding in her ears with fear.

It had taken her too long. She had been gone too long. He was looking for her. She knew it.

He would find her.

She had ducked her head at every car she had passed on the road, fear gripping her and almost making her swerve off the road. It was amazing the lengths she would go to to make sure he couldn't find her. So far it had been working but she wasn't for sure how much longer that would last.

"Please!" she muttered dramatically as she started banging on the door with a flat hand. She thought about kicking it for a few seconds but decided against it when she realized it would probably only cause her more pain.

"Alright!" the voice was raspy and tired and not as low as it normally was. She raised an eyebrow when a hung-over Curly answered the door.

Still I'll never understand why you hang around
I see what's going down.

He wasn't supposed to be home.

"You look like shit." was the first thing out of his hypocritical mouth.

"Is Tim home?" she asked hurriedly, her heart pounding in her ears as she turned to look at the road behind her. She never in her life thought she would be this afraid of some guy. She had always promised herself she wouldn't let this happen.

"He's upstairs in his room." was Curly's simple reply before he moved aside. She brushed past him and scrambled up the stairs, almost falling as she did so.

Her ribs ached but she tried her hardest to ignore it, convincing herself she wouldn't be safe until she was in Tim's sight. She didn't bother knocking when she got to his room. She just turned the knob with a shaky hand and thrust the door open. Cool darkness met her and she put her hand in front of her. She could tell he had sheets over his windows blocking out the light. The way he spent partying all night she didn't blame him.

She bit down on her tongue, hard, when she ran into something that felt like a bed. Her shine ached and she tried her best to follow the sheets up. Her hands fell on a hot bare skinned chest and she knew it had to be Tim.

"Tim." she said softly, letting her hands shake him a bit. "Tim." she said again, this time a bit louder. She felt his muscles ripple under her hands and she knew he was moving.

"What?" he groaned out before burying his head in his pillow.

"Tim, it's me. It's Andrea." she told him, her hand shaking him once more. "I need your help." her voice cracked at the end and she let out a small curse. She felt him move under her hands again and let them fall off of him as he sat up in bed.

"Turn on the light and close the door." he told her, his tired voice muffled by his hands.

She did as he said, walking blindly over to the door and flipping on the light switch. Her eyes stung for a few seconds as she adjusted to the light and she closed the door softly. She took a few minutes to gather her strength before turning around. She knew he was going to explode as soon as he did. She expected nothing less of her best friend.

She took a breath and let her body turn on its own accord. Her hair fell in her face as she did and she had to push it away so he could get a good look at her bloodied and battered face. She didn't dare meet his eyes, afraid of what she might find there. She knew there was probably fire and probably something else she wasn't quite sure of.

"Let me guess." his voice was deep and raspy and she looked up at him, "Dallas." She nodded, almost ashamed of admitting it. She couldn't count the numerous times he had warned her of what the other man could do.

Cover up with make up in the mirror
tell yourself it's never gonna happen again
you cry alone and then he swears he loves you.

He had told her stories but she had always pushed it aside as jealousy. She hadn't listened to him and now she was regretting it.

"Once a hood, always a hood." he said. His muscles rippled as he rose from the bed and walked over to her. His hand gently grabbed her chin and moved it from side to side. He had really done a number on her face, he decided as he looked it over.

"Lift it up." he told her as he stepped closer to her. Her eyes darted down to her shirt and her shaky hands grabbed a hold of it, lifting it up so he could see her ribs. He made a tusk of disapproval as he looked those over, too. Then, a few minutes later, he was standing up strait again, looking at her.

"It's not my fault. Right, Tim?" she asked him, tears welling in her eyes as she thought about whether or not she deserved everything Dallas dished out to her.

"Don't." he told her with a gruff voice, pointing at her. "You know that it's not your fault. Ever since Johnny died Dallas has been a changed man." he tried to convince her. She nodded slowly and looked down, brushing gently at her tear filled eyes.

"I've had enough." she told him in a firm voice. "I'm not going to put up with this anymore." she continued. Her voice wavered a little and Tim realized she was trying to get the courage up to actually tell Dallas that instead of just herself. Telling Dallas anything, everyone knew that was a different story.

Do you feel like a man
when you push her around?
Do you feel better now as she falls to the ground?

"Let's go then." Tim said, heading over towards his closet where he kept his clean clothes.

"What?" Andrea bit out, her voice full of confusion as she looked at his scarred back.

"Let's go." he said slower. "You're gonna tell Dallas you're fed up and I'm going to be there to make sure he doesn't hurt you. Trust me on this, Andrea." his voice was firm and left no room for argument.

She took a seat on the bed as she watched him rummage through everything to find what he wanted to wear.

"You hopin' to get a peak of something?" he joked as he looked at her over his shoulder.

"Maybe." she joked with a small smile. He gave a low, raspy laugh and closed the door to the closet.

"Tim." she said suddenly, her hands clenching the mattress underneath her.

"I'm sorry." she told him. "I'm sorry for not listening to you when you told me everything. I'm sorry for thinkin' you were just jealous and then yellin' at you for it. I should have listened to my best friend, even though he is a hood." she took in a deep shaky breath and hoped to God he would accept her apology and not make a big deal of it.

It wasn't often that Andrea Daniels apologized when she was wrong and anyone would grab at the chance to shove her apology back in her face.

"Don't worry about it." he told her, turning to look at her with boxers in hand. "Let's just get it fixed." he told her before he turned around again. Before she knew what was going on he had stripped down, leaving his tanned strong backside open for view.

Without even realizing it, Andrea gave a throaty moan. Her eyes glazed over after a few seconds as her thoughts began to wonder. She could see him tense from where she sat on the bed and quickly pulled herself out of it. Shaking her head as her face turned red from embarrassment. She looked away for a mere second but her eyes wondered back over. He was just now pulling on his fresh pair of boxers. His back and butt muscles tightened as they all worked together to move his limbs and she had to bite her lip to keep from moaning again.

Well I'll tell you my friend, one day this world's going to end
as your lies crumble down, a new life she has found.

She didn't have the time to think of what was coming over her and she didn't want to either. After she had talked to Dallas and put the whole relationship thing to rest, she was going to vow not to date another hood like Dallas Winston. And that meant no Tim Shepard...in a romantic sense anyway.

By the time she snapped out of her thoughts she looked up to see Tim staring at her, still only dressed in a pair of dark black boxers. His six pack glistened from the light above them and she took a few seconds to appreciate his structure.

"You weren't lying." he told her in a low, gravely voice. She raised an eyebrow at him.

"When you said you might want to get a peak of something." he went on, watching as a dark crimson blush rose in her cheeks. "You weren't lying."

They sat in awkward silence for a minute, Tim staring at Andrea and Andrea blushing and staring at the floor. She could feel his eyes on her and it unnerved her to no end, but at the same time, all she wanted to do was look up and meet his eyes.

"I think I should get the same favor." his voice was even deeper then before and this time Andrea actually did look up.

"Maybe when we get this over with." was her short and quick answer before she got off the bed and walked to the door. She made her way downstairs and headed to Tim's car a few seconds later and it was a give minute wait before Tim came out too.

She was dreading it even though Tim was along for the ride. She couldn't bring herself to think that it was actually safe to go talk to Dallas with Tim of all people with her. I should have brought Darry or someone, she told herself with a mental shake of her head.

Too late now.

A pebble in the water makes a ripple effect
every action in this world will bear a consequence

Her heart pounded as they pulled up in front of Buck's house and she knew, just knew, that Dallas was there, up in that stupid room, looking down at them from that stupid window.

It's what he always seemed to be doing anyway, ever since Johnny died.

She opened the door with a jerk of the handle and it fell open quite easily. Her hand was clammy as she shut the door and realized it had left a wet mark. She looked up in the direction of Dallas' room and could make out his form in the window, one side of the curtains pulled back.

If you wade around forever you will surely drown
I see what's going down.

"Come on." Tim called from up by the door, half in and half out.

"Coming." she called back to him, tearing her eyes away from the window before walking up the steps and into Buck Merril's hot smoky house. She followed Tim up the stairs cautiously and gave him a reassuring smile when he turned to look at her.

They were at Dallas' door before she knew it and her hands were shaking so bad she thought they might run away without her. Her heart was pounding as Tim knocked on the door, or more like pounded.

"Open up, Dallas." he yelled, not able to hide the anger from his voice.

"Why?" came a gruff reply. "Come to avenge your whore."

"Came to the beat…" Tim started but was cut off by Andrea.

"Dallas, I need to talk to you." her voice was firm on the outside but she was screaming and panting with fear on the inside.

I see the way you go and say your right again,
say your right again
heed my lecture

The door opened a crack, revealing darkness on the inside. Tim pushed the door open the rest of the way with his knuckles. His hands were balled into fists waiting for a fight and he went into the room with caution.

"Start talking." came Dally's voice from the corner of the room. Andrea followed the sound of his voice and took another step into the room.

"We're done." she spat out without even thinking. Her anger was getting the best of her and that was never a good idea.

Do you feel like a man
when you push her around?
Do you feel better now as she falls to the ground?
Well I'll tell you my friend, one day this world's going to end
as your lies crumble down a new life she has.

"Are we now?" Dally replied coolly. A light lit in the corner of the room where he sat and then his whole face was illuminated. His cold eyes were staring up at her and she took a step back, fear shaking her once more.

"Y-yes." she let out.

She felt Tim grab a hold of her arm, ready to pull or push her out of the room if there was any trouble.

"Alright then." Dally said, just as calm and cool as ever. Tim's grip slackened and Andrea's jaw fell open.

"What?" she asked, disbelief written all over her face even though no one in the room could see it.

"If you say it's over, it's over." he told her again.

Face down in the dirt she says, this doesn't hurt, she says i've finally had enough.
Face down in the dirt she says, this doesn't hurt, she says i've finally had enough.
One day she will tell you that she has had enough
its coming round again.

"O-ok." she said, her heart beat slowing again.

"Let's go Tim." she said, taking Tim's hand and pulling him out of the room and down the steps. She still hadn't registered that she was free.

Dallas stood up from his chair, his weed glowing in the dark as he took a long drag and made his way over to the window. He pulled the curtain back just in time to see Andrea and Tim making there way out to Tim's car, still holding hands.

Damn him. Damn that Tim Shepard. He always got what Dallas Winston wanted.

Do you feel like a man, when you push her around?
Do you feel better now as she falls to the ground?
Well I'll tell you my friend, one day this world's going to end
as your lies crumble down, a new life she has found.
Face down in the dirt she says, this doesn't hurt she says I finally had enough..