CHAPTER 4

As I walked in the door of the shit hole, I noticed that the window was open, causing a wave of sunlight to fill the front room. As I walked over to the couch, I noticed there was something on the floor. It looked like a pile of clothes at first, but as I got a closer look, I realized that this 'pile of clothes' was breathing.

"Johnny?" I shook his sore body, "Johnny, are you alright?"

He gasped loudly, "Oh, you're home…"

"Johnny… what happened? Was it mom and dad?" I was kneeling next to him.

"Wh- No. It was my fault. I moved dad's vodka to a different spot and it was—was my fault." He lied there still.

I stroked his head, his long black locks fanning out over his eyebrows, "Can you move?"

"I could try…" He shook as he attempted to stand up. He collapsed, "Nah, man. I can't. I guess they whooped my ass pretty bad, huh?"

I couldn't believe this! I stood up and stomped to the kitchen, where my mother was 'hard at work' doing the dishes.

"Mother? What happened to Johnny?" I crossed my arms as I stood a full car length behind her, prepared for anything she'd try to pull.

She just kept doing the dishes silently. Soap, rag, rinse, repeat.

"Moth—" I grabbed her shoulders and angrily turned her around to face me, "Your son, my brother, is laying on the floor with a sore everything! What happened goddammit?!"

She shook loose and raised her palm above my head. I winced as she slapped me a good one across the face. I began to sob as I walked over to the phone and dialed Keith's number.

He was over at the drop of a hat. He was pretty damn protective of Johnny, not like Dally, but protective. I would've called Dal, except he's been acting weird lately. I didn't want to make things much worse.

He burst through the door, "Where's the kid?"

I pointed to Johnny, still lying almost lifelessly on the floor. Two Bit rushed to his side, "What's going on, Johnnycake?" Johnny was silent except for his breathing. He was gasping pretty loudly.

"Which of your parents did this?" He looked up at me in anger.

I stuttered, "I-I'm not sure. M-mom hasn't told me." I turned my cheek as I looked at the clock.

Two Bit jumped up, "God, what happened to you? Your cheek is red and puffy." He walked closer.

"Oh. M-mom slapped me."

He rolled his eyes, "I'm ready to kill…" He pulled out his switchblade.

"No, Two Bit!" I lowered his arm with the knife back to his side.

He licked his lips and grinned, "I gotcha didn't I?"

I punched his arm, "Dammit Two Bit. Just help me move Johnny to the bedroom, please."

"Yeah, okay." He chuckled as he grabbed Johnny's arms and I grabbed Johnny's feet.

Johnny was pretty light. I didn't expect for him not to be. Our parents hardly feed us enough to function. Now I guess you see why we go get breakfast with the gang every morning. It made us sound even more like we needed to be babied…

We carried Johnny into the bedroom we shared. We plopped him onto his bed on the right side of the room. He gasped loudly as he hit the mattress.

"Don't worry Johnny, just rest. We'll get your parents later…"

I shouted at him, "Two Bit!"

He pulled a beer out of his leather jacket pocket, "I got you again, didn't I?" He chuckled.

I rolled my eyes and sighed, "Jeez, Two Bit, have you ever considered getting a job?"

"Funny. I get the same thing from my mother and Darry. What do you think? Me getting a job." He took a swig of his beer as he thought.

I put my hand over my forehead sheepishly. I began to shake my head. I stopped when I realized, I hadn't taken my pills yet.

"Johnny, do you still have my pills?" I sat next to him on his bed.

He slowly flipped onto his back to face me, "N-no, they're at Buck's."

"Why are they at Buck's?!" I lowered my head to meet his.

He swallowed, "I went to check for you at Buck's to see if you were with Dally, but you clearly weren't. He said he'd watch for you and he'd give you them if he saw you."

"Really? So they're at Bucks. That's like…far. Shit." I snickered.

Two Bit grabbed my arm, "Do you need a ride? I was just headed that way myself for Buck's party."

I stood up, "I'd like a ride. But Johnny—"

Johnny gasped, "Oh I'll be fine. You gotta go get your pills."

"Are you su—"

"Yes, now go." He uttered loudly.

I kissed Johnny's cheek with a smile, "Thanks, Johnnycakes." I looked to Two Bit, "Okay, let's go." We walked out of the room and shut the door on the way out.

When I hopped into Two Bit's car, I noticed how many beer bottle were strewn across the backseat.

"Jeez, man. How many beers do you consume every day?" I shook my head.

He shrugged, "Too many to count, kiddo." He chortled with high enthusiasm. I rolled my eyes as he pulled off.

It was quiet for a minute as we rolled down the street.

"So, I hear you have a thing for Ponyboy." Two Bit said as he continued to drive casually.

I practically jumped into the corner of the seat, "Ohhh my God! Does everyone know?! I mean it feels like I can't talk to one person that doesn't know." I chattered with irritation.

He put his right hand out the window as he controlled the steering wheel with the other, "God, Dani, you have a temper. How can we not know when you get upset all the time like this. You ask about him, you talk about him, you look at him like you just…want to be in his arms, ya know?"

I laid back in my seat, resting my head on the top, "Well Jesus, you guys act like it's the most adorable thing you've ever seen. You guys baby me and I'm sick of it!" I hit the side of the door.

"Hey, you break that, you pay for it." He looked at me, occasionally glancing back at the road, "Dani, you know that the gang loves you to hell and back. And you know that Johnny, even if he is a nervous wreck, would somehow gather up the courage to kill us if you aren't taken care of."

I sat up and glared at him, "You see what I mean? Even when you try to make Johnny sound tough, you end up making him sound like a wimp. I'm really sick of it!"

He stopped at a stop sign, "Girly, you need to face the reality that you'll always be like our baby sister. And to Ponyboy, you are just a good best friend. I mean, he talks more about you than anyone else I know."

"He does?" My heart skipped a beat.

He rolled his eyes, "But," he snickered, "as more of a best friend, you see."

I grumbled, "Yeah, I know. I keep getting reminded of it all the time."

Two Bit parked the car next to a red stingray, "We're here, kiddo." He took the keys out of the ignition.

We hopped out, "Thanks, Two Bit."

He grinned, "No problem, kid." He walked to the door and knocked on it. I followed, hoping that Buck would open the door quickly.

We stood there for a minute as the sun beat down on our backs. The door suddenly opened, and the boy behind it was no one other than 15 year old James Merrill, Buck's kid brother.

"What do y'all want?" He eyed me with disgust.

Two Bit put one of his hands in his pockets as he responded, "I'm here for the party and Dani's here for her pills."

James rolled his blue eyes as he opened the second door and pointed in, "C'mon in." We listened and walked in. Immediately, I noticed a bunch of girls were sitting on the couch, drinking.

I rolled my eyes as I noticed how dim the light was in there. I started to roam around looking for my pill bottle. I must've looked around for a good ten minutes as I slipped through the crowd of drunkards, trying just to find these damn things. I then had the dumb idea to ask someone if they'd seen them.

"Excuse me sir," I tapped some cowboy dude on the shoulder, "have you seen a bottle of pills anywhere?"

He looked shit faced as he responded, "Why baby girl?" He chuckled, "Yeah, I've seen some pills."

I crossed my arms as he cackled uncontrollably, "Uhm, where?" No response, just snorting and cackles.

Then, all of a sudden, I felt a hand on my shoulder. It had a firm grip and was surprisingly noticeable to have had rings on the fingers of whoever it belonged to.

I turned around as I realized who it must've been.

"What're you doing kid?! You tryna get yourself killed?!" Dally grabbed my shirt and dragged me upstairs. He brought me into a small space with a bed and a chest of drawers with a window just to give it a homy touch.

I sat down on the bed, "Johnny told me he left my pills here last night."

Dally was half naked as he searched through a drawer of shirts, "Here," he pulled out a capsule and passed it to me. He then grabbed a button up and slipped it on over his skinny, yet built, chest.

I seized the capsule from him and opened it to find my pills, except there were only 3 left.

"Dally!" I stood up in alarm, "Did you take some of my pills?!"

He looked at me like I was a nut, "What? No. Johnny'd kill me if I did." He buttoned up his shirt as he glanced over at me, "Why? What's the matter?"

"Last time I checked, there were 12 pills. And now there's only 3!" I grabbed one and closed the bottle.

Just as I was about to pop it in my mouth, Dally shouted at me, "Wait! Don't take that!" He grabbed it from me.

"Why? It is mine, isn't it?" I looked at the bottle. Oops, I thought. The bottle read WINSTON, DALLAS / PROZAK / TAKE BY MOUTH ONCE A DAY AT 9:00 PM.

He then snatched the bottle from me, "No, it's not. It's mine. Here's yours," he handed me a bottle with my name on it.

"Why do you keep it in there?" I asked as I picked out a pill.

He sighed as he closed the drawer, "'Cause I need to make sure that none of Buck's friends come in here and take 'em."

I sat back down, "But why would they—" I looked away in embarrassment, realizing what a dumb question it was. I felt Dally's eyes branded on me. He must've thought I was an idiot.

"Hey, are you okay?" He asked as he kneeled down in front of me.

I swallowed, "Yeah, I'm fine. I'm just kinda tired of you guys being so damn protective. And I know why you are. It's because I ask stupid questions like that! I mean, everybody knows the answer to that question. All I do is act like a kid and yet I'm wondering why I'm being treated like one."

Dally hit my arm, then pointed to my eyes with his finger, "Hey, you stop that! You know we love you, kid. You and Johnny are the only things meaningful in my life. I wish that you'd just see that."

I laid back on the bed, my legs still dangling over the edge, "I do see that, Dal. I do. It's just I don't want to be known as the pet of the gang forever. I don't wanna always be the good little girl people make me out to be!"

Dally planted himself on the bed, "Oh yeah right. And what do you wanna be, huh? A bad girl?"

I rolled my eyes, "Clearly you don't get it. I mean, you've always been the tough guy of the gang. Nobody really has to worry for you. Me on the other hand, I'm the youngest. They see me as an opportunity to babysit when they get the chance! And Johnny, well, Johnny's always seen as the wimpy, whiney, lost puppy in the crowd. And that I'm even more sick of!" I rolled over on my side, facing the window. I felt Dal's eyes on the back of my head now.

"Danielle, you know how much you mean to us, right?" He asked. When I didn't respond, he scooted closer, "Dani, you mean the world to me… You know that, right?" I still just stayed silent. He leaned in closer and put his fingers on my chin, forcing me to look at him. "You mean," he paused, "everything to me."

My couldn't move. I was paralyzed in shock. Dally has shown that he cared before, but I was just confused at that point.

"Dally? Why are you really so nice to me? You act so mean to other girls… or at least you harass other girls." I sat up, pulling his hand away.

He sat up too, looking into my eyes, "You know you aren't like other girls. I don't know those girls. You know that things can be complicated with me as it is."

"And what is so complicated about being nice?" I glared at him.

He laid back down, "God, you act like you don't know me at all! Look, being nice is hard for me to do. Most people assume I'm never nice, so I just take it for granted. I mean, it's not that I don't wanna be that guy—you know the one that can always be there and pay for stuff and make the girl look and feel good about herself. I just can't." He hit his fist down on the bed as he laid there.

I can't believe how bad I felt. Did Dallas Winston have a soft spot?

I relaxed myself and leaned back onto the mattress next to Dally, resting my head on his arm, "You aren't a bad guy Dally. It's a shame that that's how you see yourself. Maybe you aren't that guy… but you are a good guy. And whatever girl can't see that is blind and stupid."

That's when Dally all of a sudden flopped over to face me. He wrapped his arms around me tightly. I had no idea what was going on…but I think I liked it. Dally kissed my forehead. I smiled as I felt my eyelids grow heavy. I then fell into the trance of sleep in the comfort of his warm embrace.

When I aroused myself later on that day, it was dark outside. Dally was gone but the door lie open a crack. I stretched in relief, as I hadn't gotten sleep like that in forever. I stood up and collected my jacket, which was folded up and placed on the chest of drawers in the corner closest to the door.

I opened the door and was immediately greeted by James.

"What the hell are you still doing here?"

I leaned up against the doorway, "I fell asleep. What time is it, man?"

He glared at me, "You fell asleep? In Dallas's room? Whatever, it's 5:45." He said looking down at his watch.

I sighed, "Dammit. Is there any way you could drive me to the vacant lot?"

He rolled his eyes, "Look, I'm not allowed to drive without Buck, law says so. Anyway, why would I help you? You ain't nothing special to me."

I stood up straight, "Guy, man, you gotta help! I'm late to hang out with—someone…"

He smirked, "Dang, must suck to be you!" He continued down the hallway.

"James! Get back here!"

He turned around, "Uh, what?!"

"Please, James. I'm begging you! At least get me to the Dingo…"

He leaned his head back and cursed under his breath. He finally gave in, "Fine. But it's gonna cost you, yeah?"

I nodded, "Whatever, dude. Just get me to the lot."

He sighed annoyedly, "Fine, let's go." He gestured, pointing downstairs.

After we got into his car, he locked the doors in a rush. He started the car and pulled off onto the dirt road toward the vacant lot. He floored it down the road as we rushed through the empty streets, being the only car in sight.

He slammed on the breaks as we pulled up to the corner of the street where the lot was. As I tried to open the door, he grabbed my arm in a fuss. "Wait a minute! That'll be $10."

"I don't have $10 to give you! I'll pay you next week, okay?" I struggled to get away.

He tightened his grip, "I want it now."

I glared at him, "I don't have it, dammit!" I looked out the window in worry.

"Well, if you don't have any money, I'm gonna need something…" He stroked my leg, making me very uncomfortable.

I slapped his hand away, startling him, "No way. Just let me out and I'll get you a pack of cigarettes later on." I put my fist on my cheek as I leaned on the door.

"No, just give me an article of clothing or something." He hit the steering wheel impatiently.

I slapped him, which I rarely do unless someone really irks me, "Listen, perve, you'll let me out now, or I'll get my older brother on you!"

He scoffed, "Oh yeah right! Get that twig to fight your battles for you."

My jaw started to hurt it dropped so low. I jumped in his face, "Johnny is not a wimp, you little—" He cut me off as he leaned in and kissed me intently. I pushed him off, forcing his head to the back of his seat.

"What in the actual fuck do you think you're doing?!" I began to kick the door.

"God, don't break my car!" He grabbed my hair and tugged on it.

I had no idea what I was thinking when I did what I did next… I popped him in the jaw. He fell back almost instantly. I was fed up, though. I hopped across his chest and unlocked the car doors.

I opened the door and slammed it shut behind me, "How's that for breaking it, you asshole!" I turned around and began to run toward the fire pit. "Pony?" I looked around, "Ponyboy, are you still here?" No response. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see someone sitting behind a tree. I ran to see if it was Ponyboy and it was. He sat there with a look of hurt and disappointment struck upon his face. "Pony, are you alright?" I reached out to touch his arm.

He looked up at me and jumped as if I startled him. He began to bawl as I crouched down next to him, "I saw something. Something awful!" He coughed as he wiped his tears with his sleeves, "I can't believe what I saw…" He shut his eyes real tight.

"Pony. What did you see?" I caressed his cheek gently. He stopped and looked at me with his irresistibly calming greenish grey eyes that made me want him even more.

"You are so…" he leaned in and fondled my cheek softly. I lost all of my focus as he brought his face to where our foreheads were touching and we met directly eye to eye.

When I came back to reality, I pulled away and just held his hands in mine, "Wh-what happened, Pony? Was it Darry?"

He sat up and closed his eyes, "It wasn't Darry. It was Soda."

"What!?" Jumped up in shock.

Pony stood next to me, "He got arrested."

"What for?!"

Pony grabbed my hand, "For getting into a fight…"

I felt my head lower in confusion, "With who?"

Pony hesitated, "Why does it matter?" He looked away.

"Because," I paused, "it just does."

Pony rolled his eyes, then sighed, "Dally." My eyes widened as soon as I processed what he just said.

"Dally? As in our Dally? Dally Winston Dally?" I shook my head in disbelief.

He looked at me in a concerned way, "Why are you so shocked it was Dally? He's known to do this kind of thing. But not Soda…" He inspected my hand as if he was waiting for me to respond.

I scowled, "Because I was with—because… Now what was the reason that Soda got into a fight with him at all? Yeah, it's unlike Soda to fight like that, but that means they must've been talking about something to make him angry enough to fight."

Pony leaned up against the tree, "I was there. Dally was talking to Steve about some girl when Soda and I walked up to him. Soda asked who he was talking about and Dally got all defensive about it and wouldn't tell us. He wouldn't even tell us her name because 'she would be mad' if he did or some shit." Pony grabbed my hand and pulled me next to him, "Steve asked too, so I guess he didn't tell him either. At some point, Soda thought that Dally was going out with Sylvia again. He said he wasn't. Soda then started to ask more narrowing questions like 'Is she cute?' and 'Does she have blue eyes?'. It got to where he started to accuse Dally of trying to get with Sandy…"

"Sandy? But I thought that Soda broke it off with Sandy?" I asked in confusion.

He raised his eyebrows, "I did too, but I guess they got back together? I dunno. Anyways, that's how it started. When Dally kept dodging his questions about it, Soda began to get angry. He threw the first punch, then Dally started in on it. Steve immediately drove me home to get Darry. When we got back, the cops were there and Soda and Dally were in cuffs."

I hugged him as I noticed he had tears running down his cheek again, "It's okay, Ponyboy." I began to stroke his hair, my finger nails painted a dark red. "Ponyboy," I giggled a bit, "I'm guessing that Sodapop's never been to jail before?" I could hear him chuckle a bit from behind my head.

"No. He's too much of a goodie two shoes." He hugged me tighter.

I liked this moment. I never wanted this amazing feeling of comfort to end. His arms around me… It just felt so good, so right!

Pony then broke away and grabbed my hand, "You still up for going to the Dingo tonight?"

"Wait. Please," I sighed nervously, "can we… maybe do that again?" He smiled as he bundled me back in his arms again.

He sighed, "I know we are only fake dating and all," he gently pressed my head down to rest on his shoulder, "but I really like the way this feels."

I felt a grin grow wider on my face as I replied, "Me too."

~A message from teh author~

Ello frands :) I really want to know what you guys think. I only have a few followers, but I'd like to at least know your thoughts. If you have any suggestions or anything to make it to your liking, I would love to hear them. If you'd like me to use your name for a new character or something... if you'd like me to use a specific word because- well I don't even know why xD please lemme know and I'll see what I can do. -Your frand NoelTheUnicornCurtis :D