sorry for the delay but I'm back with Soda's talk with Dally!

Disclaimer: I own nada!


"Soda, sit," Dally commanded. It wasn't a request; it never was with Dallas Winston.

Soda obeyed, seating his bruised body beside Dally, who offered him an ice pack and he gratefully took it.

The blonde hood took a gauze and started to dab at Soda's cut- the one on his forehead- which had started to ooze so much blood, it fell into his brown eyes, making his vision possess a reddish tint.

"Damn, Soda," Dally muttered. "Hope you don't need stitches."

Soda sat bolt up right, shaking his head wildly.

Dally laughed. "Seriously, Soda? You'll take a whooping from a dozen Socs at once, but heaven forbid, anyone come near you with a needle."

Soda raised his eyebrows, attempting and failing to do the one eyebrow thing Two Bit did. "If I recall, you got scared of a bunny rabbit on that camping trip. I mean, really- the great Dallas Winston scared of a bunny rabbit!"

Dally blushed. "We've all got fears, okay? And besides, bunnies are evil."

"What ever you say, Dally. What ever you say."

Dally took a bandage out of the box and pasted it on Soda's forehead.

Soda was honestly shocked. He'd only ever seen Dally this gentle and caring when Pony and Johnny were concerned, which meant...

"Sodapop Patrick Curtis, you better tell me what happened tonight."

Ah, there's the overprotective Dally he knew. He didn't yell the statement, but Soda wished he did; when he spoke in that tone, he sounded like Darry and everything came pouring out.

"Well, I'd just walked Aimee home after seeing you guys and this kid jumped me. His name was John Cabot, like that explorer we learned about in eighth grade, and then, after beating on me pretty good, a girl stepped out of the shadows. At first, I thought it was Aimee, but then, I recognized her as Marcia, Aimee's twin sister.

"She started telling me to stay away from Aimee or else. When I asked else what, she threatened Pony, telling me she'd make his life a living hell if I didn't break up with Aimee. I don't know what to do, Dally! I just don't want anyone to get hurt!"

"No one has to, Sodapop," Dally said. "I'm going to tell Two Bit, Steve, and Johnny that someone's been bugging Pony at school, and that he's too independent to admit it. They'll watch out for him. And you can continue to date Aimee, and we just keep the two of you away from Marcia for as long as we can."

Soda snorted. "That's gonna be kind of hard. They live in the same house."

"She can stay with you guys. Hell, she could stay with Two Bit if you guys don't have the room. I'm pretty sure she has plenty of friends to bunk with. We have a lot of options, but I will not let you break up with her. I see how much you love her- more than you ever loved Sandy- and I will not let both you and that sweet girl get hurt by this. Deal?"

"When did you become so wise, Dally?"

Dally grinned. "Comes with growing up fast, Soda. You learn a few things. Why do you think Pony and Johnny are so smart?

Soda smiled, thinly. "Thanks, Dal."

"Don't mention it. That's what friends are for."

"What the hell happened to you?!"

The two boys whipped around to face the doorway.

Soda smiled, sheepishly. "Hey, Darry."

Darry took a shaky breath, closing his eyes as if that could change the sight of his battered brother before him. "Soda, I will ask you one more time... what... the hell... happened... to you?!"

"Well, Marcia happened. She and this other kid jumped me and well, here I am," Soda responded, opting not to tell his elder brother about the threat. He knew that that would not end well.

Darry was frozen, his eyes wide. "What else?"

"What do you mean?"

"I know there's something else, Sodapop. Tell me."

Soda turned to Dally, who shrugged as if to say, 'You're call.'

He took a deep breath. He knew he wasn't getting out of this one; Darry always knew when he was lying.

"She may have... threatened... um, Ponyboy," Soda closed his eyes, preparing himself for the explosion that was about to come.

"What?!" Darry growled, loudly. "What the fuck did she say?"

"She said that if I didn't break up with Aimee she'd make Ponyboy's life a living hell. What do I do, Darry?" Soda cried, his head in his hands.

"Well," Darry sighed, "you are not breaking up with that sweet girl. That may break both of you. Dally and I will talk with the guys and tell them to watch out for Pony. Deal?"

Soda nodded. "What do we tell Pon-"

"Tell me what?" A voice asked from the doorway.

Three heads whipped around to face Ponyboy, who was sleepily leaning against the doorframe.

"We didn't want to tell you that..." Darry trailed off, his mind racing a million miles an hour as he frantically searched for an excuse.

"That Aimee's gonna be staying with us for a while!" Soda blurted. "It was going to be a surprise."

Darry and Dally turned to Soda, who shrugged and they nodded like 'Nice save.'

Pony yawned tiredly before nodding. "Okay, but could you keep it down? I'm pretty sure the neighbors can hear ya'."

"Got it, little brother," Soda teased. "Now, get back to bed. You need your beauty sleep."

"Shut up, Soda," Pony grumbled before returning to his bedroom.

"Well, that was close," Dally said and the other two nodded in agreement.


Meanwhile, on the other side of town, two girls glowered at each other.

"What happened to you, Marcia?" The red haired girl asked. "The night that Bob died, you were perpared to drop everything to go on a date with a Greaser. Now, you don't want anything to do with them."

"Well, maybe I've changed, Cherry. Do me a favor and stay out of my life!" The other girl growled.

It was hard to believe that those two girls had once been best friends.


sorry for the short chapter, but I'm having a bit of writer's block. Next chapter will be the confrontation between Cherry and Marcia. See you then!

But the way, I've been looking through the chapters of this story and I noticed a lot of typos. I'm sorry for those, but I have a faulty autocorrect and I did spell Marcia's name wrong in one chapter. That is because Marcia is not a common name where I'm from, so I apologize for all the spelling errors.