Ch 7:

"I'm not afraid, to take a stand. Everybody, come take my hand, come take my hand. We'll walk this road together through the storm. Whatever weather; cold or warm. Just to let you know, you're not alone. Holler if you feel like you been down the same road."

~Eminem (Not Afraid)

Ponyboy's P.O.V:

"He didn't mean it!" I pleaded desperately. Four pairs of apprehensive eyes stared back at me; four pairs of fists were clenched tightly. Steve, Soda, Two Bit, and Darry were (mostly) bandaged and angry. I tried to beg them with my eyes, but they stared past me without pity.

"We don't have the money Ponyboy. He deserves it." Darry said firmly. I shook my head. Did Dally deserve to go back to jail? Yes, since what he did was completely manically. But could he take going back to jail? No way. He had told me how jail brings back the memories even more then the hospital does. I shook my head angrily, letting my eyes graze over the gang. Dally's 'supposed' to be friends.

Then I stalked out of the room, slamming the door behind me. I could hear them talking and arguing loudly, which only made me fume more. I grabbed Soda's ratty old bicycle from the driveway, and peddled furiously down the street. During old times, if I did this I would get jumped by a couple of Socs instantly. But now, things were different. The Socs left us alone, and we left them alone. Except for the occasional little skirmishes, no one fought with each other anymore. It was a nice change, but I would rather have things the way they were before with Johnny still alive then the way they were now.

I cycled into Soc territory, but not even one person wearing madras even gave me a second look. I looked around at the nice street with the trimmed yards, pleasant little houses. I would love to live here, if we had the money. Then Darry wouldn't have to spend so much time fixing up our little run down house, and he would finally relax. Soda could go to school… No. I told myself firmly. It was no use thinking of those things when I knew they would never happen.

I pedaled faster and harder until I reached a tall, yellow house with little white flowers out front. Cherry's house. I sprinted up to the door, unsure of what my hurry was. I hesitated, however, to ring the doorbell. My finger hovered over the little granite button, thinking over in my head of what I would say. It wasn't easy to ask someone to bail your buddy out of jail, especially when this specific person wasn't even involved in the incident that got him in jail. I took a deep breath, and pressed the button.

I heard the ring echoing through the house, and I nervously combed my hair back with my fingers. I heard footsteps, clicking heels on the stone flooring. Then the door swung open.

"Ponyboy!" Cherry crowed, embracing me with surprising strength. I hugged her back, trying to keep the smile off of my face.

"Hey." I said coolly, shoving my hands in my pocket once she had shut the front door so her parents couldn't over hear.

"What's going on?" She asked when she looked at my bruised and cut face. I looked down, sighing dejectedly.

"Cherry…. Dally's in jail. He…." I trailed off, and Cherry's eyes instantly grew panicked. "He, kind of got really upset and…." I trailed off again, not sure of what to say. What had happened had haunted me since that day, the crazed look in Dally's eyes, the way he lashed out without a second thought. Before I knew what I was doing, I was spilling out everything to Cherry, in great detail, watching her eyes get wider and wider.

Once I finished, her mouth fell open in absolute horror and shock. I bit my lip and nodded sadly. She crossed her arms over her tank top, gripping her shoulders as if she was trying to pull herself together.

"Of course I'll bail him out, but… why? Why would he do that?"

"Cherry, he's messed up right now. Look, he needs someone to convince him that everything's still okay, that Johnny doesn't mind. Golly, I wish Johnny could tell him that. I think he might be the only one who can." I checked her expression to make sure she understood. Her eyes softened briefly.

"I understand… I'm going to bail him out then talk to him. Wish me luck." She gave me a sympathetic smile, before disappearing back into her house.

Cherry's POV

I crossed my arms around my chest, shivering. But not because I was cold. It was just the look Dally was giving me as the cop unlocked his handcuffs. His gaze was hard, utterly blank, and emotionless. Normally he had so much emotion these days, because that was the difference between Socs and Greasers after all. Socs had no emotion, Greasers had too much.

"Thanks." Dallas's voice was guarded as we slowly walked to my Corvette. I nodded my head, trying to not let show how hard my heart was pounding at how close our hands were. They were just barely touching, brushing against each other's fingers. It sent tingles down my spine.

We got into the car silently, him leaning against the window. There were dark circles under his eyes, and he just seemed… defeated.

"Did they tell you what happened?" His tone turned bitter like it always was, and I felt my muscles relax from there tense position on the steering wheel. I nodded my head slowly, biting my lip. He let out a shaky sigh.

"I'm such a terrible person. They are never going to forgive me." Dally's voice wavered, and I reached out and took his hand gently. He looked at our now intertwined hands. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a smile pull at the corners of his lips before fading.

We spent the rest of the ride in silence. I turned into my driveway, and led him inside. He didn't even protest, or ask why he was there. I led him to my all-white living room, before stopping and grabbing both of his hands in mine. He looked at me skeptically.

"Dally; we are all trying hard to help you through this." I paused, and his eyes left mine for the floor. "And I would do anything I can to make you right again. Johnny wouldn't want you to be the shell of the person you used to be, he would want you to be reckless, to get drunk, to go to rodeos, to have a girlfriend…" A single tear dripped down his cheek and I brushed it away with one finger.

"He would want you to live." I paused, and pulled him closer to me. "Because he can't." I whispered. I leaned up and pressed his lips to mine, letting my hands rest gently on his broad chest. At first he kissed me lightly, then pulled away to regard me.

"I need time." He said lowly, his voice throaty and deep. I nodded, and entangled my hands into his hair before pulling him back to me. This time, his lips were passionate and held their own. We both breathed heavily, and our lips bit against each other's hungrily. His hands caressed my body, starting through my hair and moving down to my hips.

He pushed my down on the couch and got on top of me, kissing my fiercely. I kissed him back with as much vigor as I could, pressing my body against his in a way so I could feel his heartbeat through his thin shirt. I bet he could feel mine.

When he started unbuttoning my shirt, I didn't protest. I would give him time, just like he asked. But right now, I wish time would just pause so I could appreciate the beauty of this moment. Because, somewhere deep inside, I had feeling it would never happen again.

I am sooo sorry! I am so bad at updating, I'm just juggling a lot of stories right now (which is completely my fault) and I've had huge writers block. I hope this chapter makes up for it, even though its somewhat short :/ Thank you so much my lovely readers and reviewers, and I would love it if I got at least a few reviews on this chapter even though I do not deserve them. Next chapter should be out fairly soon… I'll try to update a lot sooner than I have been! Love all of you guys!

~Alaina