I finally updated! Yay!

Disclaimer: I don't own the Outsiders

Over the next year or two, Dallas turns out to be not all that bad, although he'll deny it 'til he's blue in the face if I ever said so. Sure, he gets locked up and fights with other boys and has a bad temper, but for some reason, after we talk for the first time, he makes it his mission to look after Johnny, and by default, me as well.

The way he glares at Marty whenever he sees him makes me scared Dallas might be arrested for murder one of these days. Dallas glares at me too, but no more than he glares at everybody else, and he whispers in my ear during casual chats over the fence before Marty gets home, keeping me up to date on little things going on around the neighborhood so I can look out for Johnny better.

In addition to this, he and I have worked out a silent communication. He raises an eyebrow at me when he walks Johnny home, and if I shake my head, he suggests to Johnny they go somewhere else. If I shrug, he lets Johnny walk inside, but then he waits five minutes before strolling down the street with that angry confidence of his.

That's not to say there's nothing about Dallas I dislike. There's plenty. He's got a huge chip on his shoulder for one, and it makes it hard for people to talk to him, though Linda Curtis seems to have a handle on that front much to my annoyance.

Dallas also has a tendency to hang around a boy named Tim Shepard, and they are both two sides of the same coin. Anger constantly rises to the surface in both of their countenances, but where Dallas gets mad and gets over it, Tim holds a grudge. Where Dallas is loud and makes a scene, Tim is quiet and controlled, dealing with things out of the public's eye when he can help it. As a result, Tim is jailed less, but only because he gets caught less. Maybe the only reason Tim ever gets caught doing anything at all is because Dallas has the ability to goad him into a fight no matter where they are.

Anyway, Tim and I don't ever meet, but I know he runs a gang and is rather disdainful of Johnny. He thinks of my boy as nothing but a tag along since he follows Dallas everywhere the same way Tim's look alike of a brother follows him. I'm not bothered by Tim's lack of regard for my son, since everyone he does have regard for is recruited into his gang, except for Dallas. When it counts, Dallas Winston stands his ground, and I know this is what my boy sees when he looks at his friend. It's what I saw in Benny.

"Mrs. C. doesn't like you," Dallas tells me one day as I hang up some laundry on the clothes line. He's actually in the yard this time, a rare occurrence.

"Please tell me it didn't take you this long to figure that out," I quip. "She's pretty obvious about it."

Dallas only lights a smoke. "I don't get why."

"Not exactly an ideal mother, according to her."

The kid ignores my comment. "I mean, you and Mrs. C. are so alike. It's fucking ridiculous that you waste time pecking at each other like a pair of damn hens."

"How are we alike?" I demand to know. "She's self-righteous and I'm…" I sigh. "I don't know what the hell I am, but it ain't anything like her."

Dallas scoffs. "Yeah, you are, alike that is. You'd both die for your kids, take lickings for them too. Only difference is you actually have to." He swats lazily at a flowing bed sheet. "Does she know you're saving up to leave your bastard husband?"

I drop a couple of the pins in my hand. "How did you-"

"I can be observant!" he snaps suddenly, swatting at the sheet again, more fiercely this time. "No matter what anyone says."

"And by anyone you mean Tim?" I ask knowingly, glad Dallas's temper has made him stray off topic.

He scowls. "Fucker thinks he's so special, acting like he's the next James Moriarty or some shit."

"You know who Moriarty is?" I'm surprised, because while the name Sherlock Holmes is common knowledge for most people, that of his nemesis isn't. I wouldn't know myself except for being a bit of a bookworm before I met Marty.

"What? Crime is interesting reading, okay? Unlike all the shit they teach about dumbass poets and jackass kings."

I'm still shocked.

"I can also read," Dallas mutters, avoiding my gaze. "Surprise, surprise, huh?"

"Sure, might even be newsworthy," I tease, hoping humor is the right call.

It must be, since he cracks a brief grin. "Yeah, maybe."

I wait for him to calm down more and say, "I guess I can see how Tim is rather full of himself."

"Even more than a soc," Dallas agrees.

"A soc is a rich kid?" I confirm uncertainly, trying to get down the lingo.

He waves his hand, dismissing the question's importance. ""Yeah, it is, but this is not what I wanted to talk to you about. My point, before I got sidetracked, was I think the Curtis clan could really help you and Johnny."

"Johnny maybe," I say. "They'd never waste their time on me."

"Sure they would. You just gotta get over your damn self and ask them to."

I huff and pin up another sheet. "And have you talked to Linda about this?"

"Nope, figured you'd be more welcome to the idea."

"How did you reach that conclusion?" I wonder aloud.

He snubs out his cigarette on a fence post. "Well, you have fewer options, and you've got less pride."

I wince at the end of the statement. "Guess you've got a point there."

"Stop!" he barks. "I only mean you're more open to things. Mrs. C. knows how things are, sure, and she don't push too much, but she still raises the bar so high it's out of this world."

I sigh, knowing his outburst has made him feel vulnerable, which means he'll likely be hacked for a while yet. But thankfully Johnny comes scampering out of the house, hair greased the way they all the boys except Dallas are wearing it these days.

Lessening the intensity of his glare until his usual scowl is in place, Dallas whistles. "Look at you, Johnnycakes, you're gonna pick up a broad for sure tonight."

Johnny flushes with embarrassment, though whether it's at what his friend has said or the fact that I'm present to hear it, I can't say, but either way, he stammer, saying, "I-I ain't looking for anything like that, Dal."

Dallas shrugs. "Fine by me. I don't need the extra competition anyhow."

Relieved his buddy doesn't continue to tease him, Johnny relaxes, and I peer at him closely. He's fourteen now, and despite how Dallas was only joking, I think Johnny would give him competition if it was just about looks, even if he is a tad small for his age.

But I also know he's sweet, and girls around here don't usually go for sweet types. They like athletic types, dangerous boys, bad tempered ones, funny guys, and just plain cute boys who can draw a crowd. Shy, sweetie, and skittish, Johnny probably hasn't even talked to a girl his age.

As much as I don't want my baby to grow up, I worry about this. Maybe he would open up to girls, people in general, if things were better at home. I think about what Dallas suggested, sighing heavily. He was right to say I have less pride. If I take Dallas's advice, I could make that work in my favor for once.

I hope everyone was in character. I'm trying to imagine a relationship between Dallas and Ruth that still let's Dallas admire Mrs. Curtis but doesn't make him see either of them as perfect. On top of that, I need Dallas to be subtly protective of Johnny to the mostly everyone while being blatantly obvious to people who keep tabs on him, like Ruth and Mrs. C. Hope I succeeded.

By the way, thanks to everyone who reviewed both on this story and on "Cheated". I really do appreciate it.