I own nothing except for 2 characters. " The Outsiders" is owned by S.E. Hinton.

I felt my eyes get wide, Johnny gagged, Ponyboy almost dropped his sundae, and Fang's jaw dropped. " Cherry Valance?!" we all said at the same time. " Yeah..we were all at the lot when she drove up in her red Sting Ray. Pretty brave. We were all for jumpin' her, but Two-Bit stopped us. She said it was all her fault, and that she would let us know everything the Soc's are plannin' on doin'." he replied. After a few moments, Johnny spoke up and announced, " We're goin' back to turn ourselves in."

Now, Dallas gagged, swore, then demanded what Johnny meant. " We're turning ourselves in. We'll give you the gun and the money back, and we'll say we hitchhiked back here so you won't get in trouble, Dal. I mean, it's not fair that Darry and Soda's gotta worry about Ponyboy, and I'm not gonna want to live in that church my whole life." Johnny explained. Dally was shaking his head the whole time.

" Anyway, it's not like my parents are worried about me..." Johnny continued. " The guys are worried! Do you know that Two-Bit was gonna go to Texas to look for you guys?!" Dallas shouted. " I asked if my parents are worried!" Johnny said annoyed. " No! They didn't! Why, I mean, do you think my dad gives a hang if....I'm in jail or something?!" Dallas answered. Johnny said nothing more, and we all could see the hurt in his eyes.

Dally was extremely mad, but we drove out and to the church.

" Johnny.....are you sure about this?" Dally asked in a surprisingly worried tone. Me, Ponyboy, and Fang shared a glance of surprise as Dally pleaded with Johnny. Johnny nodded, sticking with his decision. Suddenly, Dally slammed on the brakes and shouted " Oh glory!" The church was on fire! " Oh no...." I whispered. Ponyboy jumped out of the car, and bolted to the church. Fang followed, and Johnny did as well.

Dallas kept threatening them to get back to the car, but, I was scared, and not because of the fire. I got out and went over to the two adults, who were trying to keep some kids calm. The other three were there, asking what happened. Then, a woman ran up and yelled " Some of the kids are missing!" As soon as she said that, we all heard screaming coming from the church. Johnny, Fang and Ponyboy all ran to the church, and found a way in.

Dallas ran up to me, and was cursing. " Don't think about it." he said, which I guess was directed to me. I heard a shout, and it sounded like Johnny. It didn't sound bad, but, I knew I had to help. I bolted in, Dallas yelling at me the whole time. I got in, and used something to cover my nose and mouth. I noticed that they were getting the kids out, and I was relieved. But, then I heard a splintering sound. I looked up, and there was a board that was gonna fall, right on Johnny!

I darted to Johnny, and shouted " Look out!" He turned, but I already tackled him out of the board's way. We made it just before the board hit us. " Keisha?!" he said surprised. " C'mon!" I shouted. But before we got to the window, I heard something that made my blood go cold. It was a faint scream. I could see Johnny heard it, too. I ran in the direction of the voice, Johnny shouting my name as I ran.

I found the kid, got back to Johnny, handed him the kid, and forced them out of the window. Then, I heard a few sounds of what seemed like " mini-explosions", and I felt a sharp pain in my side and back, and fell to the floor. I realized as I laid there, it was the gun that exploded, and two bullets hit me. I thought I was going to die, but, I yelled for help as loud as I could.

" Keisha?! Where are you?!" a familiar voice yelled. Next thing I knew, I was being picked up slightly. I looked to see, to my surprise, Fang! " Fang?! Why..?" I started. " I'm gettin' you outta here!" he shouted over the flames. He lifted his hand from my side, and shouted " What happened?!"

" Gun....exploded. Bullets....hit me.." I said slowly, feeling faint. He cursed, but wiped the blood off and made his way to the window with me. " No......leave me...go.." I said weakly. " No way!" he said defiantly. I looked at him, and he grinned his trademark grin. " I won't leave a member of the gang behind!" he continued. I felt him hold me up, and I felt Johnny and Ponyboy pull me up. Fang jumped out right as the church collapsed.

As I was fading, I heard them shouting Johnny's name, and a thump, then went into welcoming darkness.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

When I awoke, there was a bright light. I walked on, farther into it, and saw two figures standing in it. I recognized them, and tears came into my eyes as I identified them. " M-Mom? ...Dad?" I asked. They both smiled, and I was overcome with joy. " I can't believe it's you!" I said, taking a step forward. My father frowned, and said to my mother, " I don't want her to join us yet, honey..."

I was really confused. " Join them..?" I thought to myself. My mom nodded, and turned to me. " It's not your time, dear." she said kindly. " What? I don't....understand..." I said, the tears starting to fall. My father walked up, and said " There's someone who needs you down there."

I walked to them, and they quickly embraced me. I sobbed as I felt their warm arms wrap around me, something I longed for since they died. " You must go now, dear." my mother said, and her and my dad started to fade. " No! Please don't leave!" I sobbed. " We love you, Keisha. And we're always there..." my father said, smiling. Then, I felt a force pulling me away, out of the light.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

I woke with a jolt, and looked to see the worried face of Fang looking down at me. " What's the matter? Bad dream?" he asked. I sat up, a little painfully, and I noticed that I was really crying. " What happened?" I asked, trying to change the subject. " You don't remember?! You ran into the church, got hit by the gun's bullets, and I had to go in and save you." he explained. " How are the others?!" I asked worriedly, just remembering them. " Oh, Dally and Ponyboy are fine. We don't know about Johnny, yet. He keeled over after we got you out..." he answered.

" ....and you almost died..." he said suddenly. My eyes widened,and then I realized, it wasn't a dream. I really was with my parents, and they gave me my life back. I remembered the last thing they said to me: " We love you, Keisha. And we're always there...."

I smiled, and a few tears fell from my eyes. Fang cocked an eyebrow and asked, " You sure you're alright?" " Yeah.." I answered, wiping them away. We were silent, and then, I asked Fang something that's been on my mind. " Why?"

He looked over at me, a questioning look on his face. " What do you mean?" he asked. " Why did you save me?" I asked again. He sighed, and said something that surprised me. " You are my friend, ain't you?"

I stared at him, completely shocked. He noticed, and grinned. " I'm too lazy to hold a grudge." he replied. I smiled back. " Looks like he did forgive me..." I thought to myself. After a few moments, Fang got up and asked, " You able to walk?"

I got up and proved it, and so we walked out to the lobby. Before I knew it though, I was picked up and swung around by none other than Two-Bit. " She's okay! She made it!" he shouted happily. I was being spun around so much between the gang members, you'd think I was doing ballet. " Easy, guys! I'm recovering still!" I said, smiling. After they finished spinning me around like a top, Dallas got up.

" I'm goin' to check on Johnny." he said. I went with him, and before we got to the room, the doctor came out. " Doc....can we see Johnny?" I asked. He sighed, and I thought he was gonna say something I don't wanna think about. " You can, but I doubt he'll know you're there." he replied. " What?! Why?!" Dallas demanded. " Well, from the shock and smoke inhalation, Johnny's fallen into a coma." he said flatly.

It seemed as though the whole hospital went dead silent. " Johnny's....in a coma? Will he ever come out? This has to be a dream!" I thought to myself. We went inside, and I was surprised to see that all he had hooked up to him was a heart monitor. He could breathe on his own, so that was good. I walked over and pulled a chair up to the side of his bed. We stayed in silence, and I said " He's....gonna be alright..."

I was trying to convince Dally, and.....myself. However, I suddenly felt a strong force grab me and slam me against the wall. I yelled out in pain, and I felt my bullet wounds open a little. When I opened my eyes, I saw the angry face of Dallas. He kept me pinned against the wall, his hand around my throat. " You!" he shouted, and called me every name under the sun. " W-What?!" I managed to say. He glanced at Johnny, and his grip tightened. " He just had to care about someone! He cared too much for you!" he shouted angrily.

I couldn't say anything, but I gave him a questioning look. " Johnny loved you! You were practically all he would ever talk about when you weren't around!" he shouted, dropping me. I was speechless. " Johnny will just get worse! He won't get out of this.....it's too late! It's all your fault! When he saw you at the church, it scared him half to death!" he shouted still. He punched the wall, then stormed out of the room.

After a few moments of sinking in everything that was said, I got up, and walked over to Johnny's bed. I was shaking and crying, but I managed to talk. " Johnny...I'm sorry for this...but, if there's any way you can hear me.. I just want to let you know...that... I... love you, too." I said, and before I left the room, I gently kissed him on his forehead.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

I left the room, still in tears, and the gang rushed over. " Keisha! Dally left in a hurry and..what th-? Keisha, don't tell us...." Darry asked. " No! He's not dead, but, he is in a coma." I said quickly, knowing what Darry was going to ask. Then, we all heard a woman's voice saying " But he's my son! I've went through sixteen years of my life raising him, and I will see him!"

Then, we saw a woman come, and stare at us with hate in her eyes. I figured it was Johnny's mother, for they had the same black hair, and the same dark eyes, but that's where it stops.

" He'd rather see you hoodlums than his own mother!" she said hatefully, spitting out the word " hoodlum" with pure hate. " No wonder he hates your guts!" Two-Bit said angrily. She paid no mind to him, and she walked right up to me. " And you......I could see how close he wanted to be to you...." she started. I looked at her with pure confusion, 'cause what was so bad about him loving me?

" He should have chosen someone better than you..." she continued. I couldn't help keep the surprised look coming onto my face, and I knew the guys were shocked as well. " What do you mean?" I asked, feeling anger rise in me. " He had better choices for a girl." she replied in a matter-of-fact way. I heard a few quiet gasps from the gang, and I said in return. " He should've had better choices for parents, too." I said hatefully.

She then smacked me, and with me being in my weakened state, I fell to the ground. " You little piece of trash!" she yelled. The guys were about to do something, but we all heard something we didn't expect.

" Don't you lay another finger on her!"

We all turned in the direction, and I almost cried. Standing there, in the doorway of the lobby, was Johnny, and instead of the fear and suspicion in his eyes, there was anger. Almost the whole gang gasped, and his mother turned in his direction, and walked toward him. " My son, you're-" she started, reaching out a hand. He swatted it away, which surprised everyone, and came over to help me up.

" So, you'd rather hold that piece of trash than hug your own mother?!" his mom asked angrily. He didn't answer. I looked up at him, and he just looked straight back at me. She grabbed him by the collar of his jacket, and pulled him up, demanding an answer. He looked at her, unafraid. " Yes. And she's not a piece of trash.....you are!" he said angrily. She let go of his collar and smacked him, but he barely moved.

It looked like she smacked a brick wall, 'cause that's how he stood. She finally got fed up and left, spitting on me as she walked away. Fang growled, and Two-Bit told her off. I got a paper towel and wiped it off, and I walked back to the gang. They were congratulating Johnny for standing up to his mom. When they were just talking amongst themselves, Johnny snuck away and walked over to me. I didn't know what to do, so I stood there like an idiot. We just stood in silence, both of us trying to figure out what to do.

I looked at him, and looked back down. " Johnny..." I started. Before I knew it, though, he had his arms around me, and I heard him whisper " Thank you."

I hugged him back, the tears returning again. We let go, and just looked into each other's eyes. " So...I guess you know my secret, huh?" he asked. I nodded. He blushed a little, and I just giggled. " What?" he asked. " It's not you, it's just, it's funny...'cause..." I began, taking a hold of his hand. He looked down, then back to me. " ...I feel the same." I finished. He gave me a surprised look, then he smiled. I can't begin to tell you how happy I felt, just being able to tell him the truth of how I feel.

" Hey, guys! Heads up! We've got some lovebirds in our midst!" Fang said. The gang looked over, and some went awww and " I knew it!". I didn't care, and I don't think Johnny does either. Then, Johnny turned and asked " Where's Dally?"

" He just stormed out of here." Ponyboy answered. So, we all got in the truck, and headed to the Curtis's.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

We got in, and took it easy for the night. It seemed perfect, until we got a phone call. Darry answered, and went into the other room to talk. " So....is this official?" Two-Bit asked, a sly look on his face. Me and Johnny shared a glance, and we both blushed. " It might.." Johnny said quietly. Darry then burst into the room. " Guys! That was Dally! He got in trouble with the cops, we gotta hide him!" he said in a rush.

I saw Johnny go pale, but I helped him up, and all of us bolted out of the house and to the park.

We ran, and we could all hear the sound of sirens. We saw Dally standing under the street light, and, before we knew it, he pulled out the gun, shouting " You'll never take me alive!"

I remembered what he said about the gun, that it wasn't loaded. " NO! DON'T SHOOT!" I screamed. The others were shouting things, but the cops started to shoot. Dallas was able to dodge them, but not well. " DALLY!" Johnny shouted. Dallas turned, and got shot in the arms and one of his legs. He fell, and rolled down the hill. " NO!" we shouted. We all ran, and we looked down on Dallas' motionless body. Darry cursed at the police, but they didn't hear.

Johnny was shaking violently, and I noticed tears forming in his eyes. I was crying, too, and I put my arms around him, to try and comfort him. Two-Bit knelt down next to him, checking his wounds. Ponyboy and Fang held their heads down, both slightly shaking. Steve and Soda were upset, too. " I'm sorry, Johnny.." I whispered. He nodded slightly to let me know he heard.

" He's alive!" Two-Bit shouted. Everyone looked in the direction of Dallas' body. When I looked closer, I could see he was faintly breathing. Johnny stood as though he was paralyzed. " I'll get the truck!" Darry shouted, breaking into a run. Soon, we were all in the truck, heading back to the hospital.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

So, we were back again, only this time, we all were in the lobby waiting for Dally. Johnny was still shaking, and he had his fingers weaved, as though he was praying. I put my hand on his, and we both sat together, praying and hoping.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, the doctor came out. " Well, doc?" Darry asked. " Your friend, the blonde?" he asked. We all nodded. " He'll be in recovery for a few days, but otherwise, he'll make a full recovery." he finished. We all seemed to breathe a big sigh of relief, especially Johnny. Sadly, we couldn't see him that night, so we all headed to the Curtis's, and everyone spent the night there. Ponyboy, Soda, and Darry got their rooms, Fang got the couch, Two-Bit got the chair, and me, Johnny, and Steve got the floor.

The next morning, I woke to the smell of breakfast cooking. I got up, and went into the kitchen. " Good morning, Darry." I said kindly. " Morning, Keisha." he said, turning slightly. He asked me if I could go wake everyone else up, and I agreed. After I got everyone up, we all sat and had breakfast. " Nice hair, you guys." Two-Bit said, chuckling. Fang, who was sitting next to him, punched him in the arm.

Right after breakfast, we all got ready and headed to the hospital.

We entered the lobby, and Darry went to ask about Dally. The others were keeping themselves busy, and I pulled Johnny aside. " Johnny....I'm really sorry." I said quietly. " For what?" he asked. I looked up at him, and I sighed and said, " It was my fault that Dallas stormed out. He was so sure that you weren't gonna come out of that coma, he thought you were gonna die."

I saw Johnny's eyes get wide. " It was all because of me that you went into the coma, and this wouldn't of happened if I...... didn't come into the group.." I continued. " Hey. Don't talk like that! Sure, I was scared when I saw you, but it was a mix of the church burning and those kids, too." he said firmly. I nodded, letting him know I understand. I glanced over, and I saw my picture.

I did a double-take, and walked over to the newspaper stand. I picked up a paper, and read aloud: " Juvenile Delinquents Turned Heroes." It had a picture of me, one of Johnny, one of Ponyboy, one of Fang, and surprisingly, one of Dallas. The others came and looked at the paper, then congratulated us. Darry returned, and said we could see him. Two-Bit, Soda, Fang, and Steve ran to his room, while me, Ponyboy, Johnny,and Darry walked.

We entered, and Dallas looked over. Johnny was near the back, so Dally didn't see him. " Hey, Dal." Darry said happily. Dallas just sighed. I looked at Johnny, and he looked sad. I nudged him, and motioned for him to go up there. He slowly moved up to the front, and I saw Dally's jaw drop. " Hey, Dally." he said quietly. Dallas just sat there. Finally, he said, " Johnny? Y-You're outta that coma?"

Johnny nodded. Dallas did something he rarely does, smile. " And....there's something else." Fang said, suddenly pushing me forward. Johnny quickly caught me, saying " Careful, Fang!"

" What?" Dally asked. Both me and Johnny looked away, blushing. " Well, come on! Tell him what!" Fang pushed, grinning. " Uhhmmm..." Johnny said, trying to find the words. Fang groaned slightly and blurted out, " They're hooked up! Boyfriend-Girlfriend, you dig?"

Dally grinned, shook his head, and said " I knew you had it in ya, Johnnycake." We both smiled. Suddenly, Dallas smacked his forehead. " Aw, crap! Ain't the rumble tonight?!" he asked. The guys got surprised faces and some were saying " Oh, yeah!" or " I totally forgot!". Dallas fell back down on his pillow in a huff. " Great..." he muttered. Then, his face lit up. " Two-Bit! You got your switchblade?" he asked.

Two-Bit flicked it out, and gave it to Dally. " Thanks. Alright, that nurse'll be in soon, so I'll see you guys later." he said. We all left, in high hopes for Dallas, and the rumble.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Later that night, we all got ready for the rumble. Me and Johnny quickly ran to his house, and we both got ready. I changed into a dark green T-shirt and a pair of black jeans. Johnny had on a black T-shirt, and his blue jeans and jean jacket. " Ain't the jacket gonna get in the way?" I asked. " I'm gonna wear it over to Pony's, then keep it there 'til after the rumble." he explained. " Ah." I said, nodding.

Thankfully, Johnny's dad was out still, and his mom was passed out on the couch. We left without a problem, and quickly ran over to the Curtis's.

We entered, and Two-Bit and Steve were already there. " Hey, you two." Two-Bit said, glancing at us. " Hey." I said back. I noticed Ponyboy was asking everyone why they like to fight. Darry also mentioned to Ponyboy that he should be careful and use his head. " Yeah, Pony. I mean I use my head!" Soda said happily. " Yeah, to grow hair on! Let's go!" Darry yelled, running out the door.

Everyone was doing flips and cartwheels, so I joined by doing a backflip, doing a half-turn in the middle. It impressed some of the guys, and we went on disrupting the nightly peace. The guys started a chant:

Sodapop: " I am a greaser! I am a JD and a hood! I blacken the name of our city, I beat up people, and I rob gas stations. I am a menace to society, and boy, do I have fun!"

Darrel: " Juvenile Delinquent, you're no good!"

Two-Bit: "Get thee hence white trash, for I am a Soc. I am the privileged and well dressed, I throw beer blasts for fun, drive fancy cars, and break windows at fancy parties."

Me, Fang, Ponyboy, and Johnny: " What else do you do?"

Steve: " He jumps greasers! Whoo!"

We were all over the place, almost. Fang started to howl, and me, Ponyboy, and Johnny all joined in. We got to the lot, and we said our hellos to Shepard's Gang. We stood, waiting for the Socs to come. Then, a few minutes later, four or five cars filled with Socs pulled up, and we knew, it was on.

Whoo Hoo! We're at the rumble! I'll get the next chapter posted as soon as I can! Reviews are appreciated!