A/N: Whaaat! Belle is officially on fire! Here's the third chapter of this week. I have no idea what's getting into me but the words just flow as I'm typing and it's wonderful. Enjoy this! Please don't forget to review and let me know what you think! Reviews are always highly highly appreciated! Big love! xx Stay gold.

XxX

*Mary's POV*

"What the hell were you thinking Mary?" yelled Ponyboy.

"It's none of your business," I mumbled.

"It is my business Mary, you're hurt," he continued on.

"Calm down!" I yelled at him. "I was doing just fine until Bob hit me. I can fight, I'm telling you. I don't need you. I can take care of myself."

Ponyboy seemed taken aback.

"You still shouldn't have fought, you could've been really hurt," he added, looking down at his shoes.

"I'm sorry, okay, I just…" I started but I was interrupted by a shout.

"Mary, are you alright?" asked Soda, coming back towards us, a bruise forming on his jaw.

"I'm fine," I said, looking down at my shoes.

"Are you wearing Pony's clothes?" Soda asked, suddenly grinning.

I smiled slightly.

"I didn't have anything that would make me blend with you guys," I said defensively.

"So, not only are you a rebel, you're a thief," Soda summarized. "And you thought we were dangerous."

I couldn't help it. I laughed. He was right. I looked over at Pony and he was smiling too.

"Hey, Curtis!" yelled a voice that belonged to the tall man that defended the curly one earlier. "Winston's hurt!"

"Coming, Tim!" Soda yelled back. "We should probably go see what's going on."

Ponyboy, Sodapop and I made our way back to the group of greasers. Down on the ground in the middle of the group, Dally was lying down, unconscious, looking badly injured. A few yards away, a Soc, seemingly in the same condition as Dally was, lay as well, apparently forgotten by his friends.

"Y'all need to take him somewhere," said Tim, kneeling down next to Dally to check his pulse.

"We'll take him over to our house for the night," offered Darry.

"What are we gonna do about him though?" asked Curly, pointing towards the pummelled Soc.

"Why should we care?" asked Tim.

"Well, we wouldn't wanna get in trouble with the cops. It's our territory, remember?" answered Curly.

Suddenly, the silence of the night was broken by the sound of police sirens coming closer. Somebody must've heard the racket and called the police. A dozen greasers started running in the opposite direction from where the sound came from, towards their homes. Everyone ran except for Pony's gang.

"What do we do? We can't just leave him here," started Ponyboy. Suddenly an idea spiked up in my head.

"You guys go, get Dally and go to Pony's house, I'll meet you there in five minutes," I told them.

"Mary, don't be silly, you'll get hauled in," Two-Bit started.

"Not if I can help it. I'm an actress, remember?" I answered.

"But…" Sodapop started.

"Hey, let me save you this time. Just trust me," I retorted.

The sirens were getting closer. They had to act fast. Darry and Two-Bit teamed up to lift a motionless Dally off the ground and the whole gang ran back towards the Curtis house.

I turned and ran towards the Soc. I dropped to the ground next to him, and as I heard the police car arriving on the edge of the lot, I took out my best acting skills to appear as hysterical as possible. It wasn't too hard to fake, since I had cried earlier and my cheek was bruised and cut. I turned around as two cops were getting out of the car.

"Please, please help my boyfriend!" I yelled at them from where I was, tears threatening to spill, breathing heavily.

"What's going on, young lady?" they asked, my (fake) hysterical state alarming them as they ran towards me.

"Please help him," I said again, my voice breaking as the cops were getting closer.

"Glory, look at him," said one of them, dropping down to my level to feel for the Soc's pulse. I let out a pretty convincing sob.

"What happened?" asked the second cop. "We received complaints about noise and trouble around here."

"M-me, m-my boyfriend and h-his friends were out for the n-night, and suddenly, th-they j-just started a-arguing about something, and then th-they started fighting," I explained "I d-dunno what happened it was so fast. But th-they kn-knocked him out and then th-they ran, they all ran."

I was surprised at how smoothly my story came out. I almost believed myself for a moment.

"You gotta help him please," I started again.

"We will, alright, calm down, young lady. We'll bring your boyfriend to the hospital," one of the cops said as the other lifted my boyfriend off the ground with ease and carried him to the car. "How old are you?"

"Fourteen," I answered honestly.

"What's your name?"

"Annie McGraw," I blurted out.

"Alright, Annie, would you like us to give you a ride somewhere?"

"N-no, I'll be fine I went to the closest house over there and called my parents. They're gonna come and get me here and we'll join my boyfriend at the hospital."

"Alright, well we'd better get going. I don't know how injured he is. Are you sure you're gonna be okay? You have a bruise."

"I'm fine, they hit me too, but my mom'll take care of me when I get home," I answered.

"What are their names?" asked the cop.

"I don't know. We just started dating, so I don't know his friends. There were four other guys with us," I answered.

"That's all the information you have?" asked the cop.

"Yes, all of it," I added, sniffing.

"Okay, well, we'll get going. Thank you, miss," the cop said before turning around and running back to the car.

I waited until they were out of sight, wiped the tears off my face and ran back to the Curtis house, a smirk planted on my face.

XxX

*Pony's POV*

When Mary walked in, about ten minutes later, Dally had regained consciousness. Darry was leaning over Dally, cleaning his cuts. The entire gang was sprawled out all over the floor, some of them treating cuts and bruises of their own. Her eyes were red and puffy, pieces of her hair were falling out of her twist and the skin on her cheek was turning purple.

"What happened?" I asked, standing up automatically.

Mary launched into an explanation of how she had managed to make the cops go away by pretending she had an injured boyfriend, and everyone had a good laugh.

"Now that is brilliant, Mary Jane," commented Soda through fits of laughter.

"Wish I could make cops back off like that," added Dally in a strained voice. "But they seem to see right through me. They just love to…"

He stopped mid-sentence when Darry poured rubbing alcohol over a particularly deep cut on his forearm. Dally hissed and groaned slightly, his mean face twisted in pain. Dally never showed signs of weakness, and even now, he still acted tough about it.

"Do you wanna stay overnight, Mary? Everyone's crashing," asked Darry.

"I wouldn't wanna be a bother," she started.

"Oh you won't be," Darry insisted. "Soda and Pony will sleep together, I'll sleep in my room. You can have the couch, we'll put Dally in Soda's room."

"Where will the others sleep?" Mary asked, feeling uncomfortable.

"Shotgun the armchair!" yelled Two-Bit.

"No way! You had it last time!" Steve protested.

"Well, too late, Stevie!" Two-Bit laughed, plopping in said armchair.

Steve groaned.

"Johnny and I can sleep on the floor," he said to Mary's attention, glaring at Two-Bit.

"Are you sure you won't mind?" Mary asked, slightly uncomfortable.

"Of course we don't," Soda said. "Besides, you wouldn't want your brother to see you with that bruise."

"Speaking of which," I interrupted, grabbing her wrist gently. "Come on."

She followed me into the bathroom, and I made her sit on the side of the bath.

"Hang on," I said. I grabbed a washcloth from the bathroom closet and soaked it in warm water. I wrung it slightly before turning towards Mary and crouching in front of her.

"What are you doing?" she asked, slightly startled.

"Taking care of you," I answered.

"I can take care of myself," she snapped. She was still angry about our argument at the rumble.

"Well, let me take care of you. Just once," I insisted.

She didn't say anything and I took it as a yes. I brought the washcloth to her cut to clean it. The simple pressure of the washcloth made her wince.

"It's okay Mary," I reassured, removing the cloth from her face before bringing it back down, gently this time. She relaxed a little and for a moment none of us spoke. I found myself relishing of this quiet little moment. Being around girls always made me nervous, but I was surprisingly comfortable around her. She was a Soc, but I still felt like I didn't have to prove myself to her. She was accepting of who I was, regardless of what she had heard and I was grateful for that.

"Thanks," she said as I finished cleaning up her cut.

"No problem," I shrugged. "Can I be honest with you?" I asked, running the washcloth under the water to clean the blood off.

"Sure," she answered, slightly reluctant.

"You're probabl the most badass girl I've ever met," I told her, turning the tap off.

"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?" she asked, laughing slightly.

"I haven't decided," I winked at her. "C'mon, let's go join the others."