Pony sighed as he heard Darry and Violet fighting again. He knew that they usually tried to keep it quiet for Hailey's sake but lately it hadn't been that way. He sighed and walked into Hailey's playroom that was just off from the kitchen and saw her sitting and holding her stuffed bear.

"Hey Hail… Did you want to go and visit Uncle Johnny and Dally?" He asked, picking her up and rubbing her back. She nodded and Pony smiled, kissing her head and walking out the back door, avoiding Darry and Violet that were arguing in the living room. Scout followed Pony out of the house and the short walk over to the house at the back of the property and knocked on the door before walking in. He saw Johnny walking out of the bathroom wearing only a towel and he smirked, putting Hailey on the couch. Johnny nodded at him,

"Hey man," before walking into his room and coming out in a pair of pajama pants, pulling on a black shirt. Pony flinched when he saw the scars from the accident, having almost forgotten about that day. "What's going on?" He said, smiling at Hailey. She grinned in return and giggled, waving at him.

"Darry and Violet are fighting again, and I didn't want Hailey to stay around while they did." Pony said softly, and Johnny sighed, walking into the kitchen and coming back out with a plate of cheese and a bowl of crackers. He set it on the coffee table and let Hailey have some.

"You know, they seem to be fighting a lot lately Pone." Johnny said softly and his friend sighed nodding,

"Yeah I know. I think they're both just irritable from lack of sleep with Darrel and well… I guess Violet's not happy that Darry is working more than he used too." Johnny nodded and took a piece of cheese, sitting beside Hailey. Pony turned the television on and sat with the two until the front door opened. The two looked up to see Violet standing there, her eyes red and puffy. She sniffled and walked over to Hailey, picking her up and walking out quickly. Pony looked at Johnny surprised and the two shared a look before getting up and walking to the main house, where they saw Darry angrily chopping wood.

"Darry?" Pony asked softly and he stopped, looking over. Pony noticed the two empty cans of beer and thought that Darry probably chugged them back once Violet had left the argument.

"What?" He asked sharply and Pony swallowed hard, looking over at Johnny. Scout ran over and sat obediently beside Pony and Darry looked at the small puppy.

"Violet left me. She took the kids and left. Said she wanted a break or something." He said gruffly, reaching for another can of beer sitting in the grass.

"Darry… A break doesn't necessarily mean a bad thing," Johnny tried softly but Darry shook his head.

"I fucked up. I fucked it all up." He said, letting out a deep breath and dropping the axe by his foot.

Violet drove to her parents' house, located in the heart of Tulsa teary eyed the whole way. She saw her mom just getting out of her car and walking to the trunk to grab groceries, looking over when Violet pulled up. She put the bag back down and walked over to Violet's truck, taking Hailey.

"What's going on Violet?" She asked worriedly, moving some of Hailey's hair out of her face.

"I… I left Darry. We're taking a break for now Mom," Violet said quietly, watching as Darrel moved around in her arms.

"Honey, why? What happened?" She asked softly, placing a hand on Violet's back and leading her into the house.

"He's just been… Working so much more than he said he would and he's just been so moody lately. I just don't understand why he's working so much. He's always "at the office" now and his job is to work from home. He's always irritable and we're not short on money, so I decided maybe a break would be good for us. It was wearing us down and it was wearing everyone else down that were around us." Her mother nodded understandingly.

"Alright honey, you and the kids are welcome to stay here okay?" Her mother said and she nodded gratefully, and her mother took Hailey into the spare bedroom and laid her down on the bed, tucking her in. She came back out to see Violet bouncing Darrel lightly. Her mother smiled lightly,

"We only have a twin size bed in the spare room right now honey," Violet smiled and shook her head,

"That's alright; I can stay on the couch. As long as Hailey has a bed it doesn't matter to me."

"I'll pick up a crib for Darrel tomorrow okay?" She said softly and Violet nodded, hugging her mom.

"Thanks Mom… Hopefully we won't be here long. I'm going to call Maryann tonight and let her know I'll be going into work tomorrow…"

"Alright, I'll watch the kids for you okay?" She offered and Violet nodded,

"Thanks mom, that's perfect. I need to go home and grab some of my clothes tonight or tomorrow." Her mom nodded and walked into the kitchen to start to prepare dinner. Violet walked out to the front porch on her mother's house and took a seat on the porch swing, rubbing her son's back as he slept against her. She watched as cars drove by, mothers and fathers walked with their young children, teenagers walked by with their dogs.

She saw a familiar face walk by and she waved when she saw Shay smile at her. Violet waved smiling and stood up, walking over to Shay when she saw the girl stop.

"Hello Shay, I didn't know you came to this part of town." Violet said and Shay smiled,

"Yeah, I came into town with my dad this morning and I went to school."

"School? Dallas never mentioned anything about school?" She said and Shay nodded smiling,

"Yeah, I go to Oklahoma University. I'm in my first year for engineering." Violet went wide eyed.

"Wow! That's awesome!" Shay nodded and the two continued to talk small talk, until Shay mentioned that her father was the chief of police in Tulsa.

"He's… chief of police?" Violet questioned and she nodded to confirm.

"Yes, he's been the chief for almost twenty years now."

"So I'm guessing he knows all about Dallas?" Shay sighed and nodded,

"Yes… He does. I know all about his police record and everything the police know I know. But I didn't let him know that because to me, none of that matters to me. I don't care about his record… Because I know that isn't him. The way he acts is clear to me, he's got a reason behind everything he does and I can find a decent one that I believe. Since I've been with Dallas he hasn't been thrown back into jail, and he hasn't been convicted of any crimes." Shay said, smiling dreamily.

Violet smiled at her, noting her dreamy smile, "You really like him, don't you?" Shay nodded, shifting her bag that was sitting on her shoulders,

"Well, if you haven't figured out, Dallas isn't the type that will share his feelings easily. I've known him for a little while and I know he is a good man. I know that if you treat him with respect and don't go around behind his back, he'll try his best to do the same for you." Shay nodded and said goodbye as the bus started to approach them. Violet turned and watched her run across the street and climb on the bus, and she waved at her once the bus drove away.

However when the bus rolled away, she noticed a figure standing there, jeans and a dark tee shirt was what he was wearing, and he had a tribal tattoo on his bicep, half visible under the sleeve.

"K-Kessler." Violet whispered fearfully.