The first thing Dally felt was a soft wind, ruffling his hair lightly. Then he heard it, brushing through the leaves of trees, along with the happy call of birds chirping. Besides these peaceful sounds, everything else was silent.

No terrible music grinding against his ears, no slurring drunks, unaware of how loud they were being, no girls giggling obnoxiously, no police sirens blaring, no cussing, fighting, screaming.

Just a gentle calm. But it didn't feel strange, as it should have. He felt safe, like he didn't need to be on edge, ready to pound someone's face in on a moment's notice.

Wait a minute, he thought, realizing that he never felt safe. Except for when he was all alone with Johnny.

The name Johnny made him feel a sudden twinge of anxiousness, and he became unsettled in this calm envirement. That, however, was strange, because thinking about Johnny had always had the opposite effect in him.

What had happened with Johnny? He tried to think back, but his memory was blurred. What was the last thing he and Johnny had done together? He had been in the cooler for a while... then he saw Johnny and they made plans... where did they go? Oh yeah, to see a movie. But then he left and went to Buck's...

Then it all came pouring back to him in a quick wave of trauma- Johnny telling him he had killed a soc, the church, the fire, the rumble, and then-

Dally had killed himself. He was dead.

But he was still thinking, and feeling. Was he-

He felt a warm, wet drop land on his cheek. His eyes shot open, and his heart filled with undescribable joy when they met Johnny's.

His sweet, soft Johnny's tear filled eyes lit up like the sun, and he reached out a hand to touch Dally, as if he didn't believe it was really him. He beamed, and more tears filled his eyes, as though he was crying in deep relief.

Johnny was so beautiful, and there he was by Dally's side once again. But he had seen Johnny die... seen the life slip from bright eyes. This could only mean one thing-

"We're... we're in heaven," Dally sighed blissfully. "You were right, kid. Guess I wasn't that bad after all." Dally grinned. "So, heaven is for real, huh?"

"Dally, I don't know what happens after death, and I'm not ready to find out. We're not dead."

Dally sat up and looked around. Johnny was kneeling in front of him. They seemed to be in some sort of clearing in some sort of forest. The quiet nature scene around them was illuminated by an early morning sky, although the sun had not yet risen.

Dallas had never been in a place like this before. It looked like everything he'd long ago thought would be in heaven- before he stopped believing in that nonsense. He believed it all now, though.

"Johnny... I died. I remember it. I was shot by the fuzz."

"Shot, but not killed," Johnny explained, loving tears still dripping from his eyes.

"But... but I got shot in the CHEST, Johnny. I remember feeling a bullet hit there. You can't tell me that it didn't!"

He looked down at his chest- his shirt had been taken off- and expected to see a fatal wound through his heart.

There was a bullet there- but not in his heart. Nor was it in his lungs, stomache, or any other life-ending part of his body. Rather, it was in his Saint Christopher- the necklace Johnny had given him. It had caught the bullet. Had it not, he would no doubt be dead now.

Johnny smiled kindly at his awe. "Do you believe in fate now, Dally?" Johnny remarked, referencing a heated conversation they had had not so long ago. It seemed more like years to him now.

Dallas was too overwhelmed to think about any of that. How narrowly he had avoided death, how he had almost killed himself for no reason, since Johnny was alive, or why Johnny was alive.

All he cared about was that Johnny was alive.

He wrapped his arms around Johnny's slim frame, holding onto him like his life depended on it. Which, he finally realized, it did. Johnny hugged him back, nuzzling into him, unable to comprehend that after everything that had happened, Dally was here with him.

Dally could have stayed like that forever, in that blissful hug with the only thing he cared about, but there was something he needed to say.

He pulled back and looked Johnny square in the eyes.

"Johnny. I love you."

Johnny wasn't stunned, or shocked, or disturbed. His eyes twinkled and a huge smile streched across his face. Behind all that joy, Johnny's expression quietly teased, about time!

"I love you too, Dally."

Dallas was ecstatic to hear him say it, although he didn't need to- he had already done so dozens of times. And now, Dally had finally returned the affection.

He thought back to the anguish he had felt when he thought Johnny was dead, how all he had wanted was another chance to make things right. And at last he had.

Johnny thought so, too. He wanted to make things even more right.

He leaned forward, and kissed Dallas on the lips.

Dally had never been kissed like that before. All these emotions coarsed through him, happiness, passion, joy, and... love. The feelings Dally had held back for so long- Dally had now let go and let them take over. And wow, it felt great.

When he was a kid, he had always been told about how beautiful and magical kisses could be. As a result, he was greatly disappointed at how anticlimactic his first kiss had been, with some greaser girl who couldn't care less about him.

But this tender, wonderful kiss with Johnny- not only was it just as spectacular as the others described it to be- it was a million times more. He doubted anyone had ever felt the way he did then- how could they, had they not kissed Johnny?

To think that he nearly died without experiencing this- that thought was unbareable.

Another thing that was unbareable, however, was the sudden pain the shot through his hip. He stumbled back onto his other side, holding his hip.

Dally realized this must have been an effect of his face to face confrontation with death, but that didn't make it hurt any less.

He heard Johnny squeak something about how the pain would stop in a soon, and then everything went black.

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