Chapter 12

Ashton Keagan

I stared at the doorway in shock. "Dally?" Walking over to the door, I looked outside, staring down the hallway. He was nowhere to be found. I turned back to Ponyboy, who looked just as stricken as I felt. Johnny was gone. He won't ever be coming back. And now Dally's gone off somewhere… I suppressed a sob and pulled myself together, smiling weakly at Ponyboy. "Let's go, Ponyboy. W-we should tell the gang what happened."

He nodded dumbly, and then walked by me, his head down. I cast one last glance at Johnny, his frail body laying in that hospital bed, his dark hair a stark contrast to the white sheets. Gulping, I followed Ponyboy, closing the door quietly behind me.

Goodbye, Johnny.

Dally had taken the car, so we had to walk home. It was a silent walk, neither of us speaking. We were still in shock from everything that had occurred tonight. The rumble… Johnny… Dally… I sighed. What was going to happen to us? How would the gang react to the news of Johnny's death? Where was Dally? The questions whirled around in my head and I struggled to sort out my thoughts. I needed to calm down so I could think straight. So far, it wasn't working.

The gang was in the living room when we finally arrived at the Curtis house. Steve was lying on the sofa, his side bandaged and his shirt unbuttoned. Soda had a cut lip and a bruise on his cheek. He was sprawled on the ground next to Darry, who had a black eye and a Band-Aid on his forehead. Two-Bit was perched on an armchair, half of his face taped up. Everyone looked like hell, lounging around and smoking. They looked up as we walked inside.

"Where have you two been?" Darry asked, jumping up. He sounded distinctly angry. Then he caught the dazed expressions I'm sure Ponyboy and I both had. "What's the matter?"

Ponyboy swallowed, then whispered, "Johnny… he…"

I looked up, meeting his eyes when it became apparent that Ponyboy wasn't going to finish the sentence. "Johnny's… dead."

"We were just telling him about beatin' the Socs," Ponyboy put in quietly. "And he just… died. Just like that."

Everyone was silent, processing the information. Then Soda broke the silence with a small, choked-up sob. Two-Bit closed his eyes, his teeth clenched. For once, he wasn't cracking any jokes.

Ponyboy spoke up again. "Dallas is gone," he murmured. "He ran out right after. He's gonna blow up, he couldn't take it."

I knew it was true. Dally had loved Johnny. He had been one of the few things that he had cared about. Where was he? What's he going to do now? I wondered anxiously as Two-Bit spoke.

"So he finally broke. So even Dally has a breaking point." It was what everyone was thinking.

Next to me, I noticed that Ponyboy was shaking. "Hey, Pony, you okay?" I asked, looking at him.

"Ponyboy, you look sick," Soda said softly. "Sit down."

Ponyboy shook his head, backing up. "I'm okay."

Despite his words, everyone in the room knew he was lying. He looked ill, as if he would fall over any minute. His face was flushed, and I was sure that he was giving off a little too much body heat.

Darry, his brow creased in worry, started approaching him when the phone rang. Darry hesitated, then turned toward the phone and picked it up. "Hello?" He listened for a moment, then hung up quickly. "It was Dally. He phoned from a booth. He's just robbed a grocery store and the cops are after him. We gotta hide him. He'll be at the lot in a minute."

Listening to Darry, I felt my heart sink in my chest. Dally, you idiot. What the hell are you thinking? I turned towards the door, and we left the house running.

We reached the lot just as Dally came sprinting in from the other end. I could hear sirens in the distance, quickly approaching where we were. A police car pulled into the lot with a squeal of tires, the doors slamming as armed policemen jumped out. Dally reached a streetlight a hundred feet from where we were. Skidding to a halt, he turned back towards the police and pulled something from his jeans. I recognized it as a gun a moment later and almost screamed, covering my mouth in horror. That IDIOT!

Dally raised the gun slowly, pointing it toward the approaching officers.

"Dally!" I screamed, running forward. "Dally, no! Don't― no!" I reached him, throwing my arms around him and clinging to his body desperately. He still had the gun raised, his finger on the trigger. The policemen were fast approaching, their weapons raised in defense.

I could feel Dally's heartbeat thumping steadily in his chest. If that heart stopped beating… "I don't know what I'd do without you!" I sobbed into his shoulder. Goshalmighty, was I crying? I stopped and looked up into Dally's eyes. They were cold, blue, and blank. "Dally…" It was no use. He was lost to the world.

Shots rang out. I pushed Dally to the ground roughly, landing on top of him. A tear slid down my face, landing on his cheek as I sucked in a ragged breath, getting my heaving sobs under control. "Winston, I know your life sucks and has since you were born and I'm sorry." I said, barely managing above a whisper. I cleared my throat and continued. "I'm sorry that Johnny's dead and I'm sorry I took your suicide attempt away from you." I paused again. "But you listen to me right now and you listen good. There's still good in this world. You have friends, and you have people who love you and would miss you if you were dead right now. I know the gang would miss you. And…" Here I stopped again, nervously wiping away a stray tear. "…I would too, 'cause I love you more than anything. If you died, I would die." My voice was back at a whisper, the confession barely audible to even me. He stared up at me, silent and unmoving. I lowered my head and kept talking, my voice getting a little stronger. "You may be a stupid, impulsive bastard, but you're my stupid, impulsive bastard, and that's how it's going to stay because you're not dying here under this streetlamp. You hear?" Dally continued staring up at me. I finally worked up enough courage to look him in the eye, giving him a small, hopeful glance.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, he whispered hoarsely, "I hear."

I smiled through my tears.

He reached up to wipe one away. "…I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking." His arms wrapped around my waist, holding me close. "I love you too," he admitted in a whisper. My heart soared at his confession, and I started crying again. But this time, it was out of joy. He chuckled quietly, brushing his thumb across my face, wiping away the tears. And then we were kissing, both of us lost to the world as the gang crowded around us, whooping with delight.

The click of fancy leather shoes brought us crashing back down to reality all too quickly. The police were coming. "Blast it," Dally muttered. I rolled off of him as he got to his feet. He took my hand and we turned to face the fuzz together, the gang backing us up. Together. With the gang. The words filled me with complete joy. My family might've disowned me, the Socs might not look me in the eye, but I was with Dally and the gang. And that was all that mattered.

I didn't hear what Dally was saying to the police. I know he got let off with only a few days of jail time, which compared to other punishments, was nothing at all. "See you later," Dally called back to me with a wink as he was led away by the officers. I smiled and nodded.

"Yeah. See you."

I walked into the police station cheerfully. My leather jacket was at home; instead, I was wearing a nice skirt. The officer at the desk didn't even look up. "Down the hall, Miss." I smiled at him and followed another officer down the hall.

Dally was waiting at the door, grinning at me. The officer unlocked the door and gave me a tight-lipped smile. "Careful, Miss."

I almost laughed aloud. Careful of what? Dallas Winston? My boyfriend?

Dally slipped an arm around my waist and we walked out of the police station without a glance back.

Two-Bit was waiting at the curb with his car. He grinned as we climbed into the backseat and started the engine. "How was your stay, Dally?"

"Could be worse," Dally replied, grinning. 'No cancer sticks though."

"Shame," Two-Bit said as we started home, whistling as he drove. "Mind if I stop at the store? We need chocolate milk." He pulled into the parking lot.

"I'll get it," I told him, hopping out of the car.

"We'll get it," Dally corrected me, following me into the store. I smiled as he took my hand and headed toward the back of the store where the milk was.

I was about to pick up a bottle when I saw a familiar reflection in the glass of the refrigerator. I turned around. My dad looked at me uncomfortably. "Ashton. You've grown." He looked at Dally, back to me, then at our intertwined hands. He nodded at him. Dally nodded back. My dad looked back at me. "Careful, Ashton. I don't want you hurt."

I nodded. "I know."

He looked at Dally again. "You take care of her, you hear me, young man?"

Dally's mouth turned up at the corners. "I plan to."

My dad smiled, waved half-heartedly, and left.

Dally turned to me. "You and your folks, you good?"

I shrugged. "Better, I guess." We walked up to the front to pay for our milk. I was sure that my parents would forgive me eventually. My dad had already started to. And he liked Dally all right. "You got my dad's approval, that's for sure."

"I did?" He asked as we left the store.

"Yeah. He likes you all right. I can tell."

"That's good. I won't feel guilty for this then." He put his arms around my waist and kissed me, nearly lifting me off the ground. Two-Bit honked. I felt Dally smile against my lips and we broke apart, getting into the car. We pulled out of the lot with a squeal of tires and headed back to the Curtis house. Back home.

A/N: So that's it! I'm so sorry; I was getting lazy by this point. And I was starting to lose my inspiration for this fic, which is why the ending sucked. Oh well. It's over now. Thanks for putting up with my inconsistent updates and overall laziness; I really appreciate it. And thank you to all of you who reviewed/favorite! Makes me happy. And thanks to all of you who read this story. I'm happy to say that the first fanfic I ever put up here is finally finished. Whew. All right then. Bye-bye~!