A/N: I realized that it's been awhile since I put in a disclaimer, so here's one now. I don't own The Outsiders. I really wish I did cause it is the work of a genius, but I don't.

Heartbreaker by Pink

XXX

I keep thinkin' bout that little sparkle in your eye
Is it a light from the angels, or your devil deep inside?
What about the way you say you love me all the time
Are you liftin' me up to heaven, just to drop me down the line?
There's a ring around my finger,
But will you change your mind?
And you tell me that I'm beautiful,
But that could be a lie
Are you a heartbreaker?
Maybe you want me for the ride
What if I'm fallin' for a heartbreaker?
And everything is just a lie
I won't be leavin' here alive
I won't be leavin' here alive, no
Temporary happiness is like waiting for the knife
Cause I'm always watchin' for someone to show their darker side
So maybe I'll sit back and just enjoy all this for now
Watch it all play out, see if you really stick around

The problems started in the middle of May. I'd noticed a change in Tim's attitude around the end of January. I'd very rarely seen him get drunk outside of parties; but now he went out drinking with his gang all the time, coming back stoned out of his mind.
I'd asked if I could go with him a few times, but he'd said no. At first, I hadn't thought anything of it; but when he wouldn't come back until late the next night, or sometimes the morning after that, I started to become suspicious of what he could be doing.
That was when the fights started. They weren't that big a deal at first; I would just snap at him for being out late, and never telling me where he was going. But I'd bit my tongue when he'd drop down on his bed, or on the couch, with a groan. Clearly suffering from a hangover.
But as the months went by, things got worse and I started to get frustrated over where he could possibly be going all the time.
"I know you run a gang," I'd said one night when I'd arrived at his house after he'd been out for the third time that month. After a long string of nights out over the past months. "But I think this is a little much, don't you?"
"Listen Mia, we're in the middle of dealing with a few things." He'd been sitting at the table, a cup of coffee in his hand. "Just calm down, it'll be over soon." I'd huffed and turned to leave the house, frustration driving me in circles.
But I'd believed him then, but now, I was having a very hard time trusting anything he said.

For the following few months after that, Tim and I had been going through good days and bad days. Good days were when we'd go out for a meal, and talk like we always would. Bad days were when one of us would wake up in a bad mood and start a fight over something. For example; the other day I'd stayed over and was making breakfast the next morning when Tim came into the kitchen. Without a word he got a cup of coffee, and left. Not a word. I was furious and after I ate, I left for the rest of the day. I hadn't been planning on going back to the house that day, but I realized I'd left my jacket in my rush to get out, so I had no choice but to go back. Tim had been home and we'd had another fight. I'd grabbed my jacket, snapped at him and left. It'd taken days for us to work things out.
Today was an off day, yesterday being the bad one. I had snapped at him again for something else, this time though, I accused him of seeing someone else.
The situation would have gotten worse had I not run out the door.
Now it was heading into evening, and I'd been sulking around Buck's all day, trying my hardest not to let any tears fall from my eyes, or let the pain eat at me too much.
I had been in the bathtub for maybe 5 minutes when Buck knocked and I pulled the curtain over before he stepped in.
"Tim's here." He said, though he didn't sound happy about it. He'd been watching me walk through the day like a ghost, and knew Tim was the cause of my drastic mood swing. "You want me to kick him out? Cause if you want me to, I'll kick his ass out into the yard." I started to nod my head, but caught myself and shook it.
"No," I said quietly, my voice soft from lack of use. "Send him up." Buck nodded reluctantly before he closed the door.
I pulled the curtain over all the way, blocking my view of the door, and visa versa.
There was a quiet knock before the door opened and I peeked out from behind the curtain to see Tim standing there, the door now closed behind him while he looked down at the floor.
"What do you want?" I asked, putting as much force into my voice as possible.
"Mia-" He started and cut himself off when he let out a heavy sigh. "Look, I'm tired of all this fighting, OK? That's all we've been doing for months now, and it's not us. I know it's not, cause we were fine before the New Year started." He looked at me, and though I knew his words were meant as an apology, I couldn't read anything in his face. It was as blank as a stone. "I don't want to keep doing this" He said as he came over to the side of the tub. He kneeled down beside it and pulled the curtain back enough that it wasn't hanging in our faces, but I pulled it over to cover myself up. "I can't keep doing this with you; all this fighting is making everything else seem ten times as hard as it used to be." I bit my lip, knowing I shouldn't believe what he was saying. This was what everyone had been warning me about, his lies, and his ability to cover them up so no one could see them. But I was falling for it again, just like I had at the beginning.
"I know," I said, even though my brain was screaming for me to smack him across the face and tell him to get out and leave me alone. "I hate fighting." The corner of his mouth turned up in a smile and he reached a hand up to brush some of my hair out of my face.
"So do I, with you at least." He leaned against the tub. "How much longer are you planning on staying in there?" I shrugged and dipped my fingers into the water that was slowly starting to cool down.
"I need a shower, and then I'll be out." Tim nodded and shifted around to lean against the wall.
"You have a shower, and then we can go eat. I'm half starved." I rolled my eyes, but moved to the other end of the tub to pull the plug and let the water drain out.
"You're always half starved." I commented as I pulled the curtain over fully and stood up before turning on the shower.
I quickly washed up, since the water was cooling off, and shut the tap off.
"Can you pass me that towel?" I asked Tim as I pointed out to the towel on the back of the door. Tim grabbed it and passed it to me, and I quickly dried myself off before I wrapped the towel around myself and stepped out. Tim was leaning against the counter, seemingly waiting for me to finish.
"Leave so I can get dressed." I said and Tim rolled his eyes, but left the bathroom without another word.
I pulled on my clothes and ran my hairbrush back through my hair before I pulled it back in a ponytail, still wet.

"Where are you going?" Buck asked as I came down the stairs.
"Tim's taking me out to eat." I hadn't eaten all day, and now I was starting to feel the side effects of it.
"Mia." Buck ground out. "I'm not liking the way he's got you forgiving him with a few choice words." I sighed and ran a hand over my face.
"Just let me be, Buck." I said. "I haven't forgiven him; not one bit." Buck raised an eyebrow, clearly not convinced. "OK, I've forgiven him a little, but not completely. I'm hoping I'm going to find out what's been going on." I stuffed my hands into the pockets of my jeans. "I don't trust that he isn't seeing someone else, and I figure I'll find out tonight." Buck let out a sigh.
"Well, if you end up stuck somewhere, call the bar. I'm going to go keep an eye on the place for a little while." I nodded and headed out the door to find Tim waiting in the car.
"Where to?" He asked as he started it up and pulled out of the yard.
"The Dingo's fine with me." I said as I leaned against the window, closing my eyes.
"You look tired." Tim said, and I nodded.
"I didn't get much sleep last night." I said, knowing fully well the accusation in my voice. The silence was tense, and I was glad to arrive at the Dingo so I could get out of the car.
We walked in and headed for a booth at the back of the diner. I slid into one seat, and Tim slid in across from me. We were quiet while we waited for someone to come take our order.
I was picking at the pealing paint on the table top when Tim cleared his throat.
"I don't want this to turn into another fight," He started. "But I think we need to talk about what happened." I nodded, and waited for him to continue. "I'm not seeing someone else, Mia. I swear, it's only you." I fiddled with the ring on my finger.
I remembered when Tim had graduated from the Will Rogers High School; it was the same year I dropped out. All the graduates got rings with their diplomas, and most of them who had girlfriends handed them over to them. Dally had gotten his off a drunk senior a few days after graduation, and he'd given it to me a few days after that. I still had the ring; it was on a chain in the back of my drawer, along with the chain my mother had given me. I'd started wearing Dally's chain when I got home from New York, and I hadn't taken it off since.
"Then where have you been going?" I asked as I planted my hands down flat on the table surface. "And why?" Tim opened his mouth to answer, but was interrupted by the arrival of our food.
"I've been going out with the boys." He said. "We've got a way of getting cash, and its working. Since our rodeo thing ended for us." I nodded and took a bit of my burger.
It was unfortunate that the one rodeo I'd gone to see was the one where they got busted. It turned out it was fixed, and somehow it got pinned on Tim's guy. It put an end to their rodeo days.
"Why won't you tell me what it is that you're doing?" I asked. Trying to keep the desperate plead out of my voice.
"Mia, I..." He broke off, and sat there for a moment, clearly unsure of how to continue. "I just don't want you to get in on it, OK? I don't want to see you get hurt, and what we're doing isn't easy stuff. I know you want to stay outta jail, and this is a high risk jail thing. I just don't want to see you get hurt." I bit my tongue to keep from making a comment, and instead nodded my head.
"I'm gonna go get a refill on my drink." I slid out of the seat and walked over to the bar counter. I asked for another drink and slid onto a stool to wait. The diner wasn't overly busy, but it was enough that I had to wait for someone to come back with my drink.
"Well for all the lights in New York!" I sat up straight when the voice spoke behind me. "Mia Baker. For all my life, I never thought I'd ever see you again." Shock shot through me as I realized I knew that voice, and I turned to see a young girl with bright green eyes and smooth brown hair that hung down to the middle of her back.
"Jessie?" I asked and a smile broke out across her face, causing one to form across mine. "Oh my god! Jessie!" I stood from my stool and wrapped my arms tightly around the girl. She laughed as she hugged me back just as tight,
"Mia! Oh, how I've missed you!" Jessie said as she pulled back.
"I've missed you too." I said as I grabbed my drink. "How long has it been?" Jessie laughed.
"However long it's been since you and Dallas skipped town. I think we were hanging out the day before, weren't we?" I rolled my eyes, though I felt slightly guilty.
Jessie Hanson had been my closest friend, besides Dally, in New York. She was a year old, and I'd always looked up to her. Though at one point, she'd admitted that she was envious of my ability to fight, deal with all the guys and be able to look after myself. It was hard to find a completely independent girl in New York back then. Not that I'd ever felt that way. I'd always felt like I was depending on Dally too much.
"Probably." I finally said. Whenever I wasn't with the old gang, I was normally hanging out with Jessie and a few other girls. Contrary to what everyone seemed to think around here about what my life was like in New York, I did have friends that weren't guys. "So what brings you here? Long way from the city." Jessie nodded and bit at her lip.
"Here on business with..." She trailed off and looked over my shoulder. I followed her gaze and frozen, wishing I hadn't moved at all.
"Hiya, Mia." I knew my eyes were wide, but I couldn't help it.
David Languor was standing behind me, his dusty blonde hair longer then I remembered it to be, and his hazel eyes didn't sparkle like they used to when we were younger.
"Hey, David." I said, trying- and failing- to pull my eyes off of him. He'd changed from the skinny, awkward kid I'd known. Now he was tall, broad shouldered, and seemed to have put on some weight; but it looked to be all muscle from the way his t-shirt fit across his chest. "You've changed." He smirked, though the shock I knew was in my eyes, was flickering across his as we starred each other down, trying to see who'd back down first. I won; David looked down at his ratty old sneakers as he rubbed at the back of his neck.
"So have you." He said. "For the better though." He scanned me up and down, a grin playing across his face. "Definitely for the better." I sneered, knowing he hadn't changed since back then.
"David." Jessie scolded, then turned to me. "We were just about to grab something to eat, would you like to join us?"
"Actually, I already have a table. You can come join us if you want." Jessie raised an eyebrow when I said us, but nodded and the three of us walked over to where Tim was leaning against the wall beside the booth.
When we arrived, Tim looked up and surprise flashed through his eyes when he saw the two people behind me.
"Tim, this is Jessie Hanson, and David Languor." I said as I slid into the booth beside Tim so that Jessie and David could sit together on the other side. "Jess, David, this is Tim Shepard. My boyfriend." The words sounded strange coming from my mouth after all the trouble we'd been having, but I let it slid.
"Hello." Jessie said with a smile, and David nodded a hello before wrapping an arm around Jessie's shoulders. A second later, I felt Tim do the same thing, and I noticed the hard looks the two of them were giving each other.
"Oh, stop it." I said, just as a waitress came over to take our orders. "I'd suggest the burger and fries." I told Jessie, and she nodded before ordering two. "Half the stuff they serve here isn't any good." Jessie smiled.
"Sounds like home." She said. "That burger joint we always went to closed down a few years ago, and now we've all moved to another place a little closer to the main part of the city, I wouldn't trust most of the food to be legal." I made a disgusted face, but smirked.
"I wouldn't have trusted most of the stuff at the other place to be legal either." Jessie nodded in agreement and we continued to chat until our food came.
"So Tim," David started as he dove into his burger. "How'd you and Mia meet?" I rolled my eyes, wondering what he was trying to get at.
"Her and Dallas got into some trouble with some kids from the other side of town. Some guys I got a gang with and I had to help them out."
"We were doing just fine on our own." I said around a mouthful of fries. Tim smirked over at me.
"Right." He said, and I rolled my eyes. We'd had this argument before; long before we were even dating.
We all ate in silence, finishing quickly and paying for the meal. We made our way outside and over to one of the picnic tables that were set outside once the weather started to warm up. A fight had broken out on the other side of the parking lot, and David took off after Tim to go check it out. The two seemed to have come to some weird agreement over whatever it was they'd had against each other, and were being civil with each other.
"It's been good seeing you again, Mia." Jessie said as we sat on the top of the picnic table, watching the dust fly up from the fight. It hadn't rained for a while now, and everything was dry.
"Same." I said. "It's nice to see a friendly face for once." I clasped my hands together as I looked down at the ground. "It's been a rough few months; things haven't been going very well between Tim and me lately."
"I noticed. You seem very tense around him." Jessie said. "What's wrong?"
"That's just it," I said as I ran my hands down my face. "I have no idea what's wrong. It just kind of happened. I mean, things were a little weird when I got back from being in New York- I got in trouble and they hauled me up there to serve out my time." I answered in response to her confused face. "But it's only been since January that the change has been noticeable. But it hasn't been a good change." I watched Jessie bit at her lip nervously, and was about to ask what was wrong when she looked around and pulled me off the picnic table, and over behind a large tree at the side of the parking lot.
"Listen Mia." She said, seriousness covering her voice. "I could get in big trouble over what I'm gonna tell you, but you really need to know." She took a deep breath and looked around, checking over at the fight that was still happening. I could see Tim and David placing bets with a guy over who'd win. But other then that, it was impossible to see anywhere else in the dark. "Things are changing, and not for the better either." I glanced at her. Even though she was a year old, we were the same height, and I was able to look her right in the eyes. She almost looked scared to be telling me this. "There are some bad things going on that could do a lot of harm to a lot of people if it leaked out. He's got it out for all of us, including you. Especially you." I raised an eyebrow at her.
"Me? Who's got it out for me?" I watched as Jessie shook her head; she kept glancing over at the fight, which was starting to finish up. From the look on Tim's face, he'd win if things kept going the way they were.
"I can't say, I've already told you too much." Jessie took a deep breath, and looked me straight in the eyes; I could see fear flickering through them. "Listen to what I'm going to tell you. This is very important, and you need to follow what I say. Don't trust anyone outside your closest friend group, and I mean no one. If any strange people come up to you, scream as loud as you can. I know this place is like New York in its own way, but scream anyway. Don't walk alone; especially at night. Keep yourself in the open as often as possible, and keep this on you at all times." She glanced over at the fight again. It was over and the people who'd won were collecting their money.
I was focused on the money Tim was being handed when I felt a cold metal object being dropped into my hand. I looked down to see a small revolver sitting heavily on my palm.
"Jessie?!" The fact that she had a gun on her at all freaked me out, let alone the fact that she was handing one to me. "You must be out of your mind!" She shook her head.
"I care about you, Mia. You're like a sister, and this is for all those times you pulled me out of trouble. Keep it hidden, and keep it with you at all times. Savvy?" I nodded, a numb feeling crawling its way up my stomach to my throat, making me feel like I was going to be sick.
Jessie nodded, seemingly approving of my lack of words, and pulled me out from behind the tree.
"Also," She said in a whisper, since the boys were on their way back over. "Don't say a word about this to anyone. Your life, literally, depends on you keeping silent." I nodded, stowing the gun away out of sight in the back of my jeans.
"What're you girls talking about?" Tim asked as they came up to where we were standing.
Inside me, I was screaming and fighting the urge to cry; on the outside, I shrugged casually.
"Just catching up." I said, and placed a hand on my stomach. "I ain't feeling too good. Can you take me back to Buck's?" Tim raised an eyebrow at me, but nodded.
"How long are you guys staying?" I called out as we walked to Tim's car.
"Leaving tomorrow." Jessie called. I pouted and she returned the look. "It was good seeing you again, Mia. We should really try to keep in touch this time." I nodded and waved before ducking down into the car.

The drive home was silent, and I fought hard to ignore the feeling of the gun pressing against my back. Jessie's words flashed through my brain, and I was left trying to decipher what they meant; what all of this meant.
Tim pulled up outside Buck's and stopped the car. I sat there for a moment longer before I reached for the door handle.
"Thanks." I said softly, too absorbed in my thoughts. But before I could get out, Tim's hand reached out and took hold of my arm. I turned to look at him, and in the lack of light coming from inside the house, I could only make out a flicker in his eyes before his mouth was suddenly crushed against mine.
I sat in shock for a moment before I eased into it and wrapped an arm up around his neck, tangling my fingers in his ever greasy hair.
The kiss lasted a long time before we both pulled away with a gasp of air. I felt my cheeks flush with color, and my lips tingled.
"I'm sorry, Mia." He said. "I really am. I wish things weren't the way they are right now." I nodded, still absorbed in my thoughts and the kiss to really be paying attention. "Sleep well, angel." He kissed me again, softer this time and I nodded once more before I got out of the car.
I slowly made my way up to my room and collapsed on the bed without bothering to change my clothes.
I was so confused. Everyone was acting like the world was ending or something; which I knew it wasn't. But no one seemed to be acting the way they used to, and it was leaving me with a massive headache trying to figure it all out at once.
I felt tears sting my eyes, and I wiped them away furiously. This wasn't something to cry over, this was nothing, and I could deal with it. But the tears continued to come, and I found myself crying myself into a restless sleep.

But there's always this one question
That keeps me up at night
Are you my greatest love
Or disappointment in my life?
Are you a heartbreaker?
Maybe you want me for the ride
What if I'm fallin' for a heartbreaker?
And everything is just a lie
I won't be leavin' here alive
I might as well lay down and die
I'm holding on with both hands and both feet, oh
Promise that you won't pull the rug out from under me
Are you a heartbreaker?
Maybe you want me for the ride
I pray to god you're not a heartbreaker
This time around I won't survive
Cause if I'm fallin' for a heartbreaker
And everything is just a lie
I won't be leavin' here alive
I might as well lay down and die, oh
I won't be leavin' here alive

XXX

I realize that some people think that Tim didn't graduate, but I kind of picture him graduating.

I hope everyone enjoyed that chapter, new characters… Do you think they'll have a part in the rest of the story? Send me your thoughts, either as reviews or as private messages. Also, what do you think Tim has gotten into? I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Reviews please!

~Stay Gold!