Author's Note… So it's a short chapter but there is a lot of stuff packed in it. The entire thing is also pretty bi-polar (kinda like Dally is). Also Dallas is out of character but I swear there is a reason for it and I'll explain it at the bottom.

And I don't know if it was clear last chapter but Dally got out of jail because no one could prove he robbed the library so they had to let him go.

Disclaimer: I do not own the Outsiders. Also, I do not mean to offend anyone with the situation that Winnie was put in when she was little.

Summer was always a tough time for me. I liked the break from school, sleeping in, and the weather, but I hated how bored I got. I felt like I was wasting so much time not doing anything productive. Most of the time I was out riding or doodling in my sketch pad but that got old after about two weeks. So I was pretty happy when Dallas brought the books over the third Sunday of summer break. I was more than a little surprised and disappointed to see that Soda wasn't with him though.

"Soda's doin' somethin' else." Was all the Hood said as an explanation. He have me a little side-glance. I wanted to press him further for more answers but I got the feeling Dallas was back to his usual moody, scary self. He carelessly dumped the books in my arms without looking in my eyes even after I tried catching his gaze.

"I'll just go set these in my room." I said slowly, wondering what was up with him today. He just nodded and turned around to walk towards the barn.

I rushed up the stairs to my room and silently thanked whoever was up in the sky that Fran was out with her friends and Uncle Todd was busy running errands. I didn't want to have to explain why Dallas would bother showing up without Soda.

My room was unusually neat, a side effect from having too much time on my hands without school, and I set the books on my bed. I was about to walk out when a stupidly girlish impulse took control. I didn't spend very much time in front of the mirror. I wasn't overly vain or tremendously self-conscious therefore the mirror wasn't a big part of my morning routine. So it was a little odd that a sudden urge to walk over and make sure I didn't look awful struck me. Maybe that was why Dallas didn't want to look at me.

My refection looked normal. My skin was slightly redder from spending time in the sun but it wasn't very noticeable and my hair was its usual, wild self. There weren't any boogers or blemishes as far as I could tell. Over all I looked like I did every day. Sighing, I pinned my hair up in a bun that looked more like a crazy birds nest thanks to the curls, put on a little lip balm, and finished with a bit of sunscreen. I tried to ignore the worn clothes I wore to go riding in. Maybe later I could muster up the courage to go shopping.

When I reached the barn I saw Dallas had already started brushing down King. I walked over to stand next to him.

"You're not taking Calypso out?" I asked, perplexed. It was pretty much decided that Ronny was mine, King was Soda's, and Calypso was Dallas'.

"Obviously not." Was his curt reply. I felt irritation flare in me at his tone.

"Did I say that you could?" I really tried keeping my voice neutral. Tried.

He finally looked at me, eyes flashing. Yep, old Dallas was back.

"Do I need your permission?" He said sarcastically. We both knew I'd let him take the wild horse out.

"Fine." I said, raising my chin and walking over to get Ronny ready.

"Fine." Dallas mocked, making his voice high pitched and whiny. I rolled my eyes.

"Mature." I muttered under my breath.

"What was that?" He said, slightly angrier now.

"I said, MATURE." I said clearly as I looked over my shoulder at him.

He stood there, mouth slightly open, brush paused mid air. I spoke again before he could recover.

"You know, you're the only person that annoys me enough to make me say things like that."

Dallas closed his mouth and gave me a smug smile.

"I'm honored."

"You would be."

"I bet you spend a lot of time thinkin' about how… annoying I am. I must get under your skin." I suddenly felt uneasy, I couldn't place his tone and I had no idea where he was going with this.

"No, I hardly think about you at all." My voice was getting smaller as my discomfort grew. Discomfort, because I did think about Dallas more than a sane girl should.

"Hmm, I guess I'm just gonna have to try harder to make you think about me." He said, arrogantly. I blushed.

"That's not what I want-" I said irritated and embarrassed.

"Relax, I was just tryin' to get under your skin." He said as he went back to grooming King. I let out a sigh. It was going to be a long, awkward day without Soda.

Two hours later I was laughing so hard tears were running down my face.

"Shut up." Dallas growled out as he lay in a patch of mud. King was some feet away prancing around and tossing his head back gleefully.

"I-I think," I tried saying between giggles, "I think it is safe to say King doesn't like you." It had to have been one of the best moments of my life to see Dallas Winston thrown off a horse into a slimy patch of mud.

"That horse ain't worth shit." He said as he stood up and attempted to wipe the mud of his jeans.

"Hey now, Soda never had any problems." I said still laughing lightly. Technically that wasn't true since Soda and King had had a rocky start.

"And you deserved it."

"You really need to shut up." He said stonily.

I laughed even harder when he reached up to brush some hair from his forehead and ended up smearing mud in his hair.

"Soda is gonna love this!" I wiped some tears from my eyes.

"I'm warning you." Dallas said as he took a step closer to Ronny and me. I just kept picturing him flying off the back of the bucking horse and landing with a lout 'SPLAT'. I was laughing so hard my sides started hurting then –

"ACK!" I let out a shriek as Dallas grabbed me around the waist and yanked me clear off Ronny's back. A jolt of fear went down my spine but was quickly extinguished when I noticed that he wasn't actually hurting me. He was just carrying me over to where he fell. Realization dawned.

"NO! Dallas! Please put me down!" I struggled to get out of his grip but he just held on tighter.

"I warned you." He said and it almost sounded like he was playing around but I was too focused on the approaching mud puddle to really think about it.

"I'm sorry I laughed at you! Just don't put me- NO!" It was hopeless as he let me go and I landed much the same way he had, with a loud 'SPLAT!' Now Dallas was the one who was laughing. I sort of just sat there in shock. Shock at being in the mud and also at what Dallas had done. Two hours ago he was being mean and now he was laughing like he was actually a nice guy. I couldn't help but smile. I reached my hand into the slime and picked up a good -sized glob. Before I thought about it too much and changed my mind I stretched my arm back and snapped it forward. There was a third 'SPLAT!' as the slime made contact with Dallas' chest. He stopped laughing, raised one eyebrow, and gave me a very dangerous leer.

"That's how it's gonna be?" He asked, calmly. I nodded.

He sighed, "Okay."

Then he pounced. I was knocked back flat into the mud. I couldn't help but start laughing as I felt the coolness from the mud seep into my clothes. Dallas was sitting to the side of me, flicking mud all over my face and body and doing a strange combination of a growl and war cry. I desperately tried to throw mud right back but he definitely had the upper hand.

"Ha-ha!" I cried when I finally managed to smear mud all over his face. I made to sit up but he pinned my arms to the ground. My laughing slowly died down when I noticed where his eyes were pointed. He was looking just below my neck. Confused, I glanced down and let out a gasp. The first three buttons of my shirt had come undone during the mud fight. It wasn't terribly revealing and some girls wore shirts that showed about the same amount of cleavage but not me and definitely not in front of Dallas.

"Dallas! Quit!" I said as I freed my arms from his grasp and sat up, buttoning my shirt. My face was on fire. It was also covered in mud. Dallas snorted after a moment.

"Ain't like you got much to see anyway." He said carelessly . I blinked and turned to glare at him. He wasn't looking at me so I flicked some mud in his face. He growled and glared back.

"I think I won this battle." I said haughtily. I stood up, slipped, almost fell down, righted myself, and walked over to Ronny with my head held high. I heard Dallas stand as well.

"Uh, Winnie, take a look at your self." He said. I decided to humor him and assessed the damage the mud had done. I was literally covered from head to foot in mud. Then I looked Dallas over. It was pretty obvious from the lack of mud on his clothes who the real winner was.

"Alright, you won. It's not like it means anything." I said grabbing the reins and leading Ronny back towards the house on foot. I didn't want to dirty the saddle. Dallas walked over to King and did the same. I was so telling Soda what his horse had done.

The walk back was oddly silent and uncomfortable. I was still trying to process Dallas's new, strange behavior. I briefly considered the possibility that he was on drugs, or that him and Soda had magically switched bodies and couldn't tell anyone. I also thought that I might be dreaming, the world had ended and this was purgatory, hell was now frozen, and aliens had invaded. They all seemed unlikely.

"So, uh, ya get the box?" Dallas said suddenly.

"Huh?" I asked, dazed from all my thinking.

"Huh?" He mocked, "Did I stutter?" He was angry again. I really wasn't able to keep up with his mood swings today. Then I remembered the books and that I promised to help ship them to his mysterious friend.

"Oh, right. Yeah I have a box and the stamps. I can pack them up tonight and you can get them some time this week. It has to be before Sunday though." I said softly.

"Why?" Dallas asked, annoyed,

"I'm leaving for Montana Saturday. I spend some of the summer up there." I tried to keep it like it wasn't a big deal.

"So you can see the parents you don't live with for whatever reason."

"Right."

"Why don't you just tell me why the hell you ain't up there with 'em?" He bit out. I sighed, knowing I probably wasn't going to get away with another brush off. So, I made sure to choose my words and tone carefully.

"My parents are completely normal. They sent me down here thinking it would help get rid of my fear of big crowds, towns, and larger groups of strangers." I said evenly. I hated telling people this story. I didn't want to sound like a little baby looking for sympathy.

"Those are stupid things to be scared of." He said harshly. I think he was more uncomfortable than I was but I didn't know why.

"Not when you have a reason to be."

"You got a reason?"

I nodded, ignoring his tone, "When I was really young my family and I drove to the nearest town which I think at the time was Dillon or maybe Missoula, we moved around a few times. We were there for the fair and there was a huge group of people and everyone was having a great time. I was walking a few paces a head of my mom; I think I was really eager to see the longhorns or something. Anyway, my mom lost sight of me in the crowd and we got separated and I couldn't find her."

"That's it?" Dallas asked, incredulously. I rolled my eyes.

"No, that's not it. I started crying and this man came up to me and asked me what was wrong. When I told him he smiled, took my hand and told me he'd help find her. He ended up dragging me to his truck and then we drove for hours to the middle of nowhere. And all the time he kept talking to himself, things that scared me to death. I was old enough to know that I was in serious trouble. We took a ton of dirt roads. Then we stopped at his campsite and it was pitch black out by this time. When he came around to my side of the truck I made a dash for it and hopped out the drivers side door. I ran as hard as I could into the forest, in the dark. The man chased after me. Eventually I lost him, or he gave up, and I hid in an old fox den until morning." I gave a final sigh as I finished. Dallas looked like he was deep in thought.

"What happened in the morning?" He asked quietly.

"Eh I sort of wandered for a while, I ran into a couple of hunters who were actually hunting when and where they shouldn't have been. Said they heard about a missing girl in Montana and the radio. Turns out the man had driven me all the way to the Wshington- Idaho border. They took me to the nearest town and a police car drove me back to Montana." We had almost reached the barn now.

"What happened to the pervert?" Dallas asked, his voice was void of any emotion. I had to smile.

"The police didn't get him but an angry momma grizzly sure did." I said ruefully.

"Man, really?" Dallas asked.

"Yep, I call it Karma. So I guess since that day I kind of associate towns and people with bad things. It's gotten loads better since I've been here." We had reached the barn. Dallas was pretty quiet and he had an unpleasant look on his face as we brushed down the horses and gave them fresh water.

"I'll come around sometime for the books." Dallas said as we walked towards the car he had driven.

"Yeah, alright." I inwardly kicked myself. I knew if I told him my sad little story things would get awkward. They always did. He got in the car.

"Hey Dallas, can you tell Soda I said bye? I won't see him before I leave." I bit my lip, waiting for his response. He gave a sardonic smile.

"Don't think he'll care, but I guess I could do that."

I frowned as he drove away. I hoped the mud on his clothes stained the car seats.

Ok so there is no way to explain Dally's behavior in this story because we don't see his POV and there is no way Winnie would know (And he'll never really admit it). So here is the explanation for Dally's over all behavior (both good and bad)- He's actually realizing that he doesn't hate Winnie as much as he makes it seem. He isn't sure how he feels about her or how he should treat her so his actions are mixed and unsure. Sometimes he's cruel and hurtful because that's just how he is normally and other times he gives into his deeply buried feelings and acts in a way that isn't normal for him. So that's the basic reasoning behind his behavior in the chapter.

I hope you like it and let me know what you think.

And a big THANK YOU to all my reviewers! You guys are all GOLD!