Disclaimer: I don't own The Outsiders, I do however, Own Willow and the characters you don't see in the book or movie.

AUTHOR NOTE: Guys!!! I'm so sorry!!! Time is still my enemy and I can't believe I didn't update for as long as I did! I've just had so much! I hope you guys are still around!!!

-A much saddened girl, Casey. :(

Reviewers:

Blondie 24-7 - I love Soda toooo! I'm glad to see you were back. I hope you still are!!!

Rugrats101 - Yeah Willow can be quite a dope lol. But she doesn't really know what to believe. Thanks for reviewing!!!

Lilshorty9030 - Thank you very much!!!

Tiffany - Yeah I know! I'm awful! But I'm updating right now! Lol, I shall pull you out of this evil cliffy. ;)

Chapter 10. "Searching for Dally."

I stared at the door for what seemed like hours until I felt a small nudge against my shoulder. "Go on." Soda urged me. I looked back at him, blankly. "Soda...I can't go in there..." I mumbled. I could feel my cheeks growing warm. My heart beating against my chest like a drum.

"Why can't you?" Soda asked. I looked at him, at a loss for what to tell him. "It's just been too long. W-what would I say?" I stammered. Soda didn't respond. He just looked down at the ground and back up at me with his cool blue eyes. They seemed to gaze right through me. "Just say what comes to mind." He suggested.

"Easier said than done..." I muttered and turned back towards the door. I raised a shaky fist to knock, I held it in the air for a while. I finally after a few moments of hesitation knocked softly. "You knock like that, ain't nobody going to hear you." Soda teased and knocked for me. I held my breath, hearing footsteps approaching the door. the door slowly creaked open and I was met by a woman. She stared at me with eyes that seemed lost. Her hair was thrown up into a messy pony tail, her clothes were a little too big and she looked like she hadn't slept in days. What had become of my mother? The beautiful gracious woman I used to know?

"Can I help you?" She said, softly. I took a few breaths and then said, "I-I'm looking for a Dallas Winston...h-have you seen him?" I said trying to stop from choking on my words. She looked at me strange because I stuttered so much. "Are you all right? Did he hurt you?" She asked. If I wasn't mistaken she sounded like she had a small trace of concern in her voice.

"N-no, he didn't hurt me, I'm just looking for him is all." I responded. She looked at me uncertainly, "He's not here at the moment, can I ask your name so I can tell him you came by?" She asked me. "Oh...I'm Wi--nona...Winona." I said. I could practically hear Soda's dissapointment as he kicked the ground softly with his shoe. "I'll tell him you came by." She said, also sounding a bit dissapointed. "I had rather hoped that you might have been...forget it, enjoy your day." She continued and closed the door softly.

"How could you do that?" Soda asked me coldly. I stared at him, tears starting to form in my eyes. "You don't know what it's like Soda!" I began, walking away from the door and out to the street so my mother and father, if he was there, wouldn't hear the commotion. We both began walking down the street. "I used to have such a normal life, but then, it was taken from me. I learned to forget about it and move on. I was with another family, and things seemed almost all right again, but then I ran into him at the movie theatre. Talk about crazy coincidence. To go back to a life left behind, it's really, really hard Soda, don't you understand?" I asked.

He folded his arms and kept walking. Silence filled the air as we walked. Suddenly he spoke up. "I understand...but I don't believe that you could just leave something behind."

"I guess I didn't leave it, but I took a long absence, and it seems odd to go back to that." I explained.

He nodded and yet again, stayed silent. We walked and walked until we were standing in front of a house that looked a little rundown. "Whose house is this?" I asked. He turned around and softly grabbed my hand. "Mine."

He pulled me towards the door, and guided me in. I was met by the delicious smell of chicken and potatoes. The house was pretty clean, it looked nothing like it did on the outside. "Soda is that you?" I heard an older voice call from the other room. "Yeah Dar, it's me."

I heard a few footsteps and then my eyes landed on a tall, muscular, and not to mention, handsome guy walking into the room wearing an apron. The apron was pretty amusing on a guy who looked so tough. "Who's your friend, little buddy?" He asked, wiping his hands off on a towel he was holding. "Dar, this is Willow, Willow, this is my older brother, Darry." Soda introduced. I extended my hand that he took and gently kissed it. "Wow, I'm guessing this family's just full of gentlemen." I laughed.

My laughter was interrupted by the door opening and slamming shut. "Two-Bit I swear to God, if you don't shut up, I'll hang you from the roof until all you're good for is scaring crows away, understand?" Stated the boy who just walked in. He clearly was a little young, but cute non-the-less. I narrowed my eyes at the boy who followed. It was the guy who hit on me at the movies.

"Meet the youngest; my brother, Ponyboy." Soda introduced. Ponyboy was caught off guard. He looked up and stared at me for a minute. "Who's this, Soda?" He asked. Another voice cut in before Soda could respond. "Heeey, it's that girl from the drive-in!" The boy I guess who was named...Two-Bit, said.

"Yeah, I remember you quite well." I responsed, stiffly. "That's just Two-Bit, he really don't mean nothin' best to just ignore him." Soda told me. "Aww C'mon fizz, you don't mean that!" Two-Bit stated, flopping onto the couch."to answer your question Pony, she's a Soc from the other side of town, I'm trying to help her find Dally." Soda answered. "You're looking for Dally?" Darry asked. I nodded.

"Oh, well, Dal's asleep upstairs." Darry responded. He was upstairs? It was about time that Dally and I had an actual conversation one-on-one. Tonight, that conversation would happen, but who would've thought it wouldn't turn out the way I hoped?

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Sorry it's been so long! But hey, I finally got a new chapter up!!! Hopefully you guys are still around. I wanted to see if I still had people, so this chapter was pretty dull and short for that reason. The next chapter should be a lot more exciting. PLEASE tell me that you guys are still around! Review, please!!!

-Casey.