Disclaimer: By now you know the drill. Don't own and not making any money…definitely not making any money...

Author's Note: Thank you to all the people who still want me to update this story. Sorry for the wait, my muse sort of arsed off somewhere.

Chapter 4

Dally arched as lips trailed hot kisses up his spine. The room around him seemed fuzzy and slightly familiar, but the reason why escaped him at the moment. He tuned everything out except for the body against his back, pressing him down into the bed, one hand reaching under him to rub him through his jeans. Dally let out a moan, bucking into the hand. The person seemed to like his reaction and leaned down over his body. "I'm gunna make you scream Dal..."

"Tim...uh...please..."

Steve's P.O.V.

Steve jerked awake in his chair. A low sound from across the room had woken him up. Looking to the couch, Steve could see what looked like Dally lying asleep on his stomach. He was stirring and moving around in his sleep, small moans escaping his parted lips. Should I wake him up? Dally would probably be embarrassed if he woke up to find out that Steve had seen him having an erotic dream on the Curtis's couch.

But...then again, this would be great for blackmailing Dallas into doing stuff for him that he didn't really feel like doing. Steve leaned closer. Maybe Dallas would say a name. He grinned wickedly, that would be even better.

Dally shifted again and turned over onto his side. Steve's eyes were drawn to Dally's mouth. A pink tongue peeked out to wet arousal swollen lips before Dally arched and moaned again.

"Tim...uh...please..."

Steve reeled back and landed on his ass next to the couch. He had managed to convince himself that what he had heard Dally say while leaning over the toilet was just in his head but the words that had just slipped out of Dally's mouth sort of blew that idea right out of the water.

Getting up Steve walked to the small kitchen and grabbed a beer out of the fridge. He didn't really know what to do. This was so much bigger than Dally crushing on a girl, he was erotic dreams about another guy for Christ's sake. This was not something that you could just threaten a guy with these days, if one bit of it got out then Dally and Tim were as good as dead. And if Steve tried to hold it over Dallas's head it was more than likely that it was Steve that was going to end up dead. At Dallas's hands.

He was pulled from his thoughts by the sound of people coming in the door. Dallas woke with a start as TwoBit threw himself down on the couch without looking. "OW! GET YOUR FAT ASS OFF ME RIGHT NOW TWOBIT!"

Three months later

Curly watched worriedly as Tim pushed the food around on his plate uninterestedly. He hadn't been eating well for over a month and it was starting to worry him. He'd never really worried about his older brother before figuring that he could take care of himself, but recently he had been acting really weird.

For the last three months Tim had been distracted, he stayed up all night most nights, and wandered around in a daze for most of the day. He had had a new girl in his bed almost every night until about a week ago. He also wasn't eating. It had taken Curly getting one of the guys to blow up at him to get him to eat even a little.

Tim sighed and pushed away from the table. The smell of the food was making his stomach queasy and he could feel his little brother's gaze on him. He knew that he was worrying his brother and his gang but he couldn't help it.

Three months. It had been three months since he had seen Dally. Three months since he had slept with the fiery blond and woke with him sleeping against his chest like he belonged there. When he woke though, Dally had spooked and run. Tim had looked everywhere for him except for the Curtis house. He knew that it was the most likely place to find the tow-headed teen but he couldn't work up the courage to go.

Tim walked outside to stand on the step by the railing, pulled out a cigarette and lit it. Bringing it up to his lips he took a long drag, feeling the bitter smoke filling his lungs. Since he had realized that he was actually afraid to face Dally again he had been smoking like a chimney, going through packs of cigarettes like it was going out of style.

He knew that the only place left in Tulsa for Dally to be was at the Curtis's. Dally practically lived there at the best of times. Tim had started to go there a few times, the farthest he ever got though was the end of the street. There was a house on the corner that had a large overgrown hedge that was taller than him and if you looked through the branches, you could just see the Curtis's front door. Ponyboy Curtis and that black haired boy - Johnny was it? - had been sitting on the front steps smoking. Sodapop Curtis was standing on the upper step leaning against the support post for the railing. The entire group was at ease, laughing amongst themselves at something that Soda had said when the door swung open.

Light had caught the white strands and turned them a flaming gold and red. It highlighted the long neck and slender, muscled body. His heart skipped a beat. The light, being behind the person had made them into a silhouette but he would know that shape anywhere. Dallas. The breath of air that he had just taken caught in his throat and sent him into a coughing fit. Tears streamed from his eyes at the pain in his lungs but he could still see the people on the step. They hadn't heard him.

Tim hadn't moved for the entire time that Dallas was outside. His unblinking eyes had drank in the other teen's supple form as he jumped down the stairs and sat on the step in front of Johnny. The black haired boy offered him a cigarette which Dallas accepted. Tim's breath caught again as he placed the butt of the cigarette in his mouth and cupped his hands around it and a lighter to light it. He was too far away from the group to know what was being said but he guessed that from the laughter and the look on Dallas's face as he took the cigarette out of his mouth to look at it that Dallas was complaining about the type of cigarette.

Johnny's head fell a little and Dallas wrapped an arm around his and smiled a little to reassure him. Jealousy welled up at the sight. How dare that little shit get to touch Dallas while he had to content himself with looking from a distance. It was the first time that he had gotten to see Dally in a two months and this bastard, who got to see him every day, was cuddling up to Dallas on the steps where anyone could see them.

Unable to stand the sight of Dallas any longer Tim had ran home. When he arrived he was soaked in sweat and his lungs felt like they were on fire. He had ran miles in a daze, with smoker's lungs no less, to reach home. He hadn't noticed the stitch that was trying its best to act like a stab wound or the sound of his own labored breathing, he had only wanted to get away.

Tim's head came up at a shout from across the street. His gang was gathering to get ready for a rumble at the lot near the Curtis's. He didn't really feel like going but then again he didn't feel like doing much these days.

'Hey Shepard! C'mon man! The rumble's gonna start without us!"

One of the other guys laughed and cuffed the shouter 'round the head. "I doubt it stupid since it's between the Brumly boys and us." The gang laughed.

Footsteps behind Tim made him look around. Dave Marshall, his 'second in command' was standing just behind and to the left of him. "Ya feelin' alright Tim?" he asked.

Tim shrugged. Dave sighed and shook his head. "Look if ya like Winston so much that you're makin' yourself sick over him then you are really gonna have to go talk to him soon." Tim whipped his body around so fast he nearly gave himself whiplash.

Dave laughed at the look on Tim's face. "How…?"

Dave moved a few steps to the side to keep the rest of the gang from reading his lips, Tim's body rotating to keep him in front of him. "I'm not stupid you know. Ever since that party at your place when Winston spilled his beer on ya, and ya took him upstairs and never came back down, ya haven't been yourself. I saw him run out of the house in the morning with tears in his eyes, and I don't know, but the words Dallas Winston and tears just don't go in the same sentence. I've seen the women that you're sleepin' with now a days too. Shoulder length blond hair, not so skinny bodies and rather flat chests? It's not that hard to put together."

Dave paused for a moment when a flash of emotion raced across Tim's face. For a second it had looked like fear. It clicked a moment later why Tim was afraid and Dave hastened to reassure him. "Oh I don't have a problem with it, but you are gonna have to do something about it soon. The gang is starting to notice that something is wrong."

Tim didn't answer and just kept staring at him warily. Dave put his hands on Tim's shoulders and looked him right in the eye. "I mean it man, it don't bother me any," he laughed and dropped his arms. "Hell Jaime and Mike have been sleepin' t'gether fer years. As long as you don't go all soft on us." He smiled as the look of relief spread across Tim's face.

"C'mon man, we got a rumble to get to!"