I do not own any of S.E. Hintons amazing characters.
Tim Shepard walked down the road, his breath creating a cloud of fog
with every step. He rubbed his arms in feeble attempt to warm himself.
He wished he had thought to grab even a sweater before deserting his
house in nothing but a tee shirt and jeans. He wasn't even wearing
socks under his All Stars.
Needless to say he had been kicked out again. He growled as he thought
about it. He hadn't really done anything, unless you consider refusing
to get your step dad a beer wrong. He rubbed his bruising eye for a
reminder not to get kicked out in the coldest night of the year.
He sat down on a curb and curled up in a ball trying to preserve all
his heat. He rubbed his hands together but couldn't feel anything.
Your gonna die before morning at this rate, he thought angrily.
Doing quick math in his head he figured he had been kicked out nearly
three hours ago. Everyone should be passed out or asleep by now he
thought to himself convincingly. After another gust of cold wind left
him shaking violently he decided to risk it and go home. What's the
worst thing that will happen? was his last thought as he entered the
house.
As the warm air hit him he realized just how cold it was outside. He
was suprised he didn't catch hypothermia. As a afterthought he
wondered if he could have. He decided that he would take a quick
shower as a precaution.
He breathed out as the luke warm water hit his skin and sent shivers
up his body. He made sure to only stay in for less than five minutes
to save money and knowing that the water would turn cold.
As he walked out of the shower he looked at his discarded clothes on
the floor and felt resentment at the thought of putting them back on.
He wrapped a towel around his waist and scooped up his clothes,
shivering slightly when he felt how cold they still were.
He quickly made his way back to the bedroom taking care not to leave
any drops of water on the floor. He had barely pulled his underwear up
when the door to his room burst open. "I thought I told you to get the
fuck outta here!" the man slurred loudly.
Tim found himself shaking a little. Old habits die hard. He just stood
there like a guilty kid. Nothing he could say could change anything.
"Answer my question! Did I or did I not tell you to get the fuck outta
my house?"
Tim looked down. "Yes, you did."
"What? Talk louder you worthless son-of-a-bitch!"
Tim looked up and glared at him "Yes, sir! You told me to get the fuck
outta your house, Sir!" he made sure to empathise sir.
Lance, his step dad, answered him with a vicious backhand that left
him sprawled out on the floor. "I guess my previous lesson didn't
teach you anything!" he said referring to the shiner Tim had.
Before Tim could stand he was kicked in his stomach sending him onto
his side gasping for breath. "Well don't you worry you'll learn this
time not to disrespect me!"
Under normal circumstances Tim would have already been on his feet,
killing his attacker. But this wasn't normal circumstances. He
couldn't fight back, because than they actually could have a reason to
kick him out permanently. And he couldn't leave Curly and Angel here
with him. God only knew what he would do to Angel, and Curly wouldn't
even survive a month. Kid didn't know when to shut his mouth.
A sharp slash down his back brought him back to him reality. He
gritted his teeth and glared at the wall in front of him.
Soon he heard a another whoosh of air and snap before pain tore down
his back again. He squeezed his eyes shut.
Nearly fifteen minutes that felt like hours Tim was left alone lying
on the floor, gasping for breath. A small pool of blood was forming
around him. What the hell did he hit me with?
A sudden urge over came him and he barely made it to the toliet before
he emptied all his stomach contents, along with some blood.
Once he was sure he was done he stumbled down the hall back to his
room. Nearly a second after he shut his door he heard footsteps going
down the hall. Fear shot through him. Thinking as fast as he could he
grabbed a shirt and pants and flipped out the window. He landed hard
on the ground.
After a few minutes he manged to regain his breath and began to
stumble down the road. He was shivering within a minute and numb
within three, although it was relief from the pain. His mind was
clouded.
After nearly ten minutes of stumbling around pointlessly he managed to
realize through his mangled thoughts that he needed help. Home? Hell
no. Any of his gang? No, he needed to be tough in front of them.
Darry? No, Darry didn't like him anyways. Bucks? Fuck no! That
left...making a sudden decision he stumbled down the road in
hopefully the direction of Dally.
He stopped nearly a half hour later in front of a slightly recognizable
house. Screw it he thought as he tripped and fell toward the side of
the house.
"Now which window.." he said out loud. "Great now your taking to
yourself..." Shit, he said that out loud too. He wondered momentarily
if he was dying. Naw, if I were dying I'd feel like I was, right now I
feel like I'm drunk he decided.
Remembering his task he looked up at the windows and saw one had pink
curtains. Nope. The one beside it had a beer bottle and the farthest
one had a high school banner. Gotcha.
He climbed up the tree by it nearly falling off multiple times.
Finally he managed to reach the window and pushed it open while
falling into it. He landed with a thud.
Dallas shot awake in bed. He glanced to the side and noticed the
window was opened. What the...
Then he heard a groan. "Tim! What the he..." he stopped talking as he
saw him.
The moon shone just enough through the window to illuminate the room.
Tims white shirt was soaked in blood and his body was shaking
violently. His hair was ungreased letting thick curls of black hair
fall on to his face. He was gasping for air and bruises covered his face.
Dallas jumped out of bed and rushed to his side. He helped Tim stand
then shoved him onto to the bed and then flew across the room for the
light switch and flicked it on. He returned to Tims side and examined
him more closely. Tims blue eyes were clouded and his gaze moved all
along the walls, never settling on one thing. It didn't take a genius
to know what happened.
Dally slowly helped Tim pull his shirt from over his head. His chest
appeared to be, other than a few bruises an scrapes, uninjured so he
pushed him down forcfully so he was on his stomach. Long lines
crisscrossed across his back in vibrant red lines and were surrounded
by crusted blood. Dally winced. They looked painful.
Tims body suddenly began to shake again and Dallas took notice that
Tims hair was wet. He knew that it was freezing outside, and if you
were wet...
Tim briefly felt something cover his body. He weakly tried to fight it
off but gave up after a few seconds. God he was tired...
Dally walked back in the room with an armload of towels. He tried to
choose darker coloured ones because he knew that the red wouldn't wash
out too well but after a bit decided to grab any colours, they
wouldn't miss a few towels.
"Alright Tim..." his gaze rested on the currently sleeping Tim
huddled under the pile of blankets he had dumped on him to try to warm
him up.
After a few unsuccessful attempts to awake him he peeled the blankets
away from Tim and worked on cleaning his back.
Nearly a half hour later Dally sat back and examined his work. He
couldn't find any bandages so he just cleaned it, leaving thin red
lines that striped his back surrounded by inflamed skin and bruises.
Surprisingly Tim hadn't as much as stirred during the while ordeal.
Damn he must have been tired...Dally thought while stifling a yawn.
He figured he should go to bed when he realized Tim was in his bed. He
looked at Tims body and knew he wouldn't be able to awake him if
nothing he had done so far hadn't, and he wasn't in the mood to be
snuggling up to another guy, Tim none the less. But as he looked at
the floor he winced. It was so hard, and even though he was almost
completely healed, 'Scribbles' hadn't done any good. He looked back at
the bed. Soda slept with Pony, and no one thought less of him. And no
one would know anyways.
With that he pushed Tims sleeping body until he was touching the wall
and then laid on the opposite side facing away. He struggled so much
to be away from Tim that half his body was hanging off the bed. He
soon fell asleep beside the other unaware teen.
. . .
Tim shot awake in bed to a blood curling scream. He looked around in
desperate confusion. Where the hell am I? What the hell happened? Why
the FUCK am I sleeping beside Dally?
He was so caught up in trying to figure out what had happened he
forgot about the screaming until it began again. He looked beside him
to see Dally thrashing wildly and falling off the bed with a THUD,
never ceasing to scream.
To say the least Tim was confused. Actually that's an understatement.
Guys like Dally don't have nightmares, they don't thrash around
wildly, and they sure as hell don't scream bloody murder in their
sleep. But Tim being Tim, was good with pressure and his natural
leader instincts kicked in. At the rate Dally was going he was going
to wake up the house. They couldn't see Dally like this.
Grabbing a pillow he rolled off the bed and stood so Dally was between
his legs. He pushed the pillow against his face smothering his scream.
This was the way Jake saw them when he rushed in.
Jake assessed the scene before him quickly before tackling Tim to the
ground. He pinned him to the floor holding his arms behind his back
and glanced over to see Katie and Randy squatting beside a dazed
looking Dally.
Jake pushed Tim roughly against the ground again. "What the hell are
you doing in my house."
Tim looked at Dally with his face pressed against the ground. He could
easily get out of this, tell the truth, Dally had a nightmare, he'd
been there all night. But Dally had saved him lat night...he
couldn't.
"I wasn't really gonna hurt him, just scare him."
Dally felt his eyes open wide. What was he doing? But when his eyes
met Tims blue ones he saw a new softness in them and knew. Tim was
giving him an easy way out. The least he could do was help. "Like you
could scare me." Dally snorted winking slightly to Tim.
"By the way you were screaming I'd say I did." came Tims muffled
response when Jake decided to press his face harder into the ground.
"We both know you were screaming as much as me."
"Bullshit. Can't lie your way outta this one Dallas."
"I ain't gotta lie to get outta this one Timmy."
Jake interrupted before Tim could respond. "I don't care who the hell
screamed I care about the fact you broke into my freakin' house!"
"Yeah well... Dally slept with Angel!"
"You slept with Sylvia!"
"You slept with Abby!" Abby was his latest girl.
"You cheated me at poker!"
"You slashed my tires!"
Jake listened with shocked interest. The first few accusations all had
to do with sex, which made him wonder that if Dally, at only sixteen,
has sexual relationships that if Randy, at seventeen, did aswell. All
the ones after that all had to do basically with law and fights,
reminding him all too well the hood Dally was. Is.
"Aren't you Tim Shepard?" Randy asked a little too fast.
Jake looked down at the figure he had pinned and reconized him as Tim
as well. Although Dally's police record may be longer Jake picked up
Tim many more times than he had ever picked up Dally. He grounded his
teeth. The kid always got under his skin. He momentarily thought about
why his kid would know that, but decided he'd rather have a blind eye
in that matter.
"Yea," Tim mumbled rolling Jake off him and pushing himself back so
his back was against the desk. He hoped no one noticed his wounds, or
didn't care at least.
Dally looked and saw Tim attempting to cover his marks and threw him
one of his shirts. Tim pulled it on great fully.
Everyone watched the exchange with interest. "Dont you guys, um, hate
each other?" Randy asked still half asleep. He didn't care if his
question sounded weird, he knew everyone else was just as confused.
Tim and Dally shared a knowing glance and let a small smile appear on
their faces. "Sometimes..."
Randys face distorted in confusion making him look extremely dopey.
"Wha...sometimes?"
Dally rolled his eyes. "'Cause of you socs we can't hate each other,
we all gotta be tight else we'll all get killed. You see two greasers
fightin' one day, the next they'll be best buds cause they need each
other to live. We're each other families. We protect each other."
Randy shrugged. He knew if you jump one greaser, you are jumping
every one around it as well.
Once silence fell again Jake spoke. "Now, I could call the cops-"
Tim and Dally groaned at the same time.
"BUT, it's Christmas eve so I won't, but if I see you even near the
house again your screwed, understood?" Dallys eyebrows furrowed
together. It Christmas eve?
Tim nodded. He hopped up and looked between the door and window. "Now,
can I use the door or do I have to climb a tree again?"
Smirking at Jakes growl he jogged down the stairs and out the door.
Once he was outside he resumed a walk until he heard the door open and
shut behind him. If it was Jake he was going to make a run for it.
There was no way he was going to get arrested for 'breaking into' a
cops house. Not even Curly was stupid enough to do that. But as he
turned around he saw not Jake but Dally.
"Hey," Dally greeted.
Tim didn't bother to answer so Dally continued on. "Tim...I just
wanted to...I wanted to say..." Ah screw it. You already lost your
pride. "Thanks. Thanks for not uh...you know...giving me up?" He
didn't mean it to sound like a question but couldn't help it.
Tim couldn't believe it. Dallas Winston was thanking him. Thanking
HIM! Well he deserved it. He had saved Dallys rep, and even more, his
respect. "So what was your dream 'bout?" he asked casually. Enough
awkard moments had already happened to last a lifetime.
Dally shrugged. "Stuff. What happened to yah last night?"
Tim grinned mockingly. "Stuff."
They then traded a few more words and said their goodbyes.
. . .
Dally walked out of the house with an amused expression on his face.
Katie had invited him to spend Christmas eve and Christmas with them.
He of course refused, but she, of course, persisted.
She explained that they go to a late church that night and have a
feast. Then they'd wake up the next day and eat a big breakfast and
open presents.
Dallas had down right refused the first time, but after seeing the
hurt in her eyes he felt a pang of sympathy. She was only trying to be
nice. So he rephrased it, explaining how he actually couldn't go to
church, because chances were when he walked in it'd burn down or
lightning would strike or something which earned a grin from her. To
insure she was happy he promised he'd come home the next day and that
he was going to be with friends.
He didn't 'really' lie. He would come home the next day, not
necessarily in the morning but he would go back. And chances were he
would meet up with friends. But not purposely. He's advoid the Curtis'
house for sure, nothing would change this year. Two-Bit would likely
be at his house. Steve would likely either be at his house, unless he
got kicked out, then he'd be with Evie. And the church thing was as
close to the truth, the last church he went in was on fire, whether it was from him he'd never know. So he actually hadn't lied. That much.
Dally walked everywhere he could think of, from Bucks to The Dingo but
eventually his feet led him to the lot. He stared at the abandoned car
for a second before walking over to it and plopping down on the hood.
He leaned back so he was laying down and gazed up at all the twinkling
stars above him. Raising one of the beers he brought to the air he
felt warm despite the cold. "Merry Christmas Johnnycakes."
. . .
Tim walked down the road leaving his neighbourhood. Curly and Angel
were no where to be found, and even though he wasn't a holiday person
he'd rather spend it having a good time then hiding up in his room,
especially his two kid siblings weren't even around.
Not that he could have much fun anyways, he couldn't go to far with
broad because he didn't want them to see his cuts and ask questions,
and wasn't in the mood to fight. He figured he could grab a few beers
and play some poker. He wasn't the best at it but he still could make
some dough, and he was gonna get Angel something. He always gave them
something this time of year, because it covered their birthdays and
Christmas' they never have.
Tim shook his head sadly. He didn't even know if they knew about
Christmas trees and presents and Santa. He knew he wouldn't if Dally
hadn't explained to him about what the Curtis' did. Dally himself
wouldn't have know if he hadn't known the Curtis'.
This year he got Curly he 'bought' Curly this nice ring. He was gonna
get him a new switch, but he figured he'd over used that as a gift for
him, considering that had been his gift for the past seven years, ever
since he had gotten his first blade when he was nine. He knew Curly
didn't care, anything Tim gave to him was sacred, but Tim wanted
Curly to have something from him that wasn't going to land him in jail.
Also he wanted Curly to stay out of the cooler for at least a month,
considering he got back from the reformatory just yesterday.
Angel was more difficult. She, unlike Curly, was not pleased with just
anything from Tim. He had ruled out clothes, makeup, money and shoes
when it hit him. Her real dads watch. He left soon after she was born but
he gave his watch to Tim to try to get the young boy to behave when he'd
have to watch him. He never wore it but he knew she'd like it considering
she didn't remember him even a bit. And he didn't even have to steal it.
As he turned to head back to his house he saw a lump in the lot. The
only person he knew to do that was that Cade kid, but... Then it hit
him. It was Christmas eve. Dally always spent it with him in the lot,
and he had even joined them a few years. It hurt him to see his best
buddy so beat up over some kid. It's what you got for caring.
He silently made his way to Dally and looked at him. Dally was laying
back on the hood with his eyes closed. It wasn't a normal position to
fall asleep in unless you were watching something...like the stars.
Grinning a little he made his way back to the road. Dally frickin Winston
was watching the frickin stars.
Like I said, Im sick so will try to update a lot today. If your wondering
how Im putting them out so fast its cause i prewrote like 9 more chaps, I
just proof read slowly :) If your wondering about the amount of Tim, I love
him :) REVIEW !