Disclaimer: I only own people you're not familiar with (i.e. Bleu, her parents, Pete, etc etc etc)

OMG thank you for the reviews! I wuv getting them! You are all so nice!! Just for that I'm going to write write write and update update update! LOL! OK anyways on with the story!

~*~*~*~*~*~*~Chapter 15: Bitter Acknowledgments~*~*~*~*~*~*~

I slowly looked him in the eye. "How?"

Soda glanced around cautiously. "I overheard Dallas one night. He hid Tim and Pete up in an old abandoned church in Windrixville."

"Well what are you waiting for? Let's go!" Soda and I grinned as he started up the engine.

"Dally said that he'd go up there once the story dies down to get them," Soda shouted over the engine, "So he won't be up there to see us."

A couple minutes later we parked the car near the church and hopped out. It was dead silent, and for a minute I thought Soda found the wrong church. But then I heard Tim's irreplaceable cackle and I knew Soda was right. I grinned at Soda and he ruffled my hair. We walked up to the church entrance, then stood there dumbfounded. Were we just gonna knock on the door and invite ourselves in?

Thankfully we didn't need to think about it any further because Tim swung open the door. He looked up at us and nearly fainted.

He cursed and asked, "God Almighty, what in the hell are you two doing here?"

"I don't think 'God Almighty' and 'hell' should belong in the same sentence," Soda said, cracking a grin.

I tried not to laugh as Tim stared at Soda with an incredulous expression. He just shook his head at us and pulled us inside.

Pete saw us and nodded, lighting a cigarette.

"Ya know, Dallas is gonna have your heads for dinner if he finds y'all up here," Tim observed, sitting down on one of the old pews.

Soda rubbed the back of his head and I tensed. "I don't give a damn what Dally does," I spat, "He tried to disparage me enough-"

"English, please," Tim interrupted.

"Oh. Sorry. Dally tried to criticize me enough," -Tim grinned at me- "so that I would stop bugging him about where you were." I told him what happened with Cherry.

"Aw, hell Bleu. You know he loves you! He, Ponyboy and your cousin met Cherry at the movies yesterday! It ain't like they made out or anything…"

Pete broke in the conversation. "Pony said that he tried to make a move on her when Johnny stopped him. Dallas got all pissed off, but he didn't do nothing about it. Just walked off and slashed Tim's tires." He saw the look on my face and quickly added, "He only made a move to tick her off cuz she was a Soc."

"Yeah the no-good bastard slashed my goddamn tires," Tim growled, and I understood why he gave that comment at the park about Dally having a broken rib. "But then again," he sighed, "he did give us this hideout."

"Yeah," Pete agreed, "If it wasn't for him I'd be spending another 10 years in prison."

"Were you in before?" I asked, and he nodded.

"Hey, Bleu, I'll talk to him for you ok?" Tim offered.

I smiled. "Yeah, sure, thanks Tim."

"So, Tim, why are you hiding up here anyway?" Soda asked, curiously. It suddenly hit me that he knew where they were hiding, but he didn't know why. Soda and Darry went into the kitchen when Two-Bit told us the news.

Tim's face darkened. "Those"-he called the Socs a few names that made me cringe-"Socs killed my baby sister's boyfriend. Bob, the one I knifed, ordered it. He and his damn gang bust into Buck's place looking for trouble and murdered Rick." He glanced at me and added, "Angela told me after you left."

He turned away. "I just had to get back at those bastards. NO ONE," he yelled, slamming his fist into the pew, "NO ONE hurts my family!"

Suddenly I heard the church door swing open. As soon as I saw Dally's face, I wish I were anywhere but here.

He exploded. "What the hell are you two doing here?" he roared, stomping over to us.

"Dude! You stoned or something? You gave us this hideout!" Pete said, oblivious.

Dally narrowed his eyebrows and threw a piece of wood at Pete. "You moron!" he yelled, "Not you, THEM!" he pointed to Soda and I as if we were unwanted pests.

Soda made a noise in his throat that reminded me of a frightened guinea pig. "Dally," I gulped, "It's not Soda's fault; it's mine."

All at once I saw re-caps of everything that had happened since I came. I was the cause of Two-Bit and Dally fighting each other; I had encouraged another fight between my aunt and uncle; I had made Dally, Johnny's idol, get mad at him; I had probably annoyed Darry to pieces staying at his house 24/7…and most of all I was the cause of my father murdering my mother.

I fell to my knees. I had always tried to lie to myself; convince myself that I had nothing to do with it. Now I finally admitted that indeed, I was the cause of everything.

I burst into tears and buried my face in my hands. I couldn't believe I had caused so much pain. I wish I were never born! I thought angrily, and stood up and ran out of the church.

Awww! Poor Bleu! Oooh, I wonder what's going to happen next! Tee heehee! As I understand it, most of you want Bleu to hook up with Dally? Correct? Yes? No? Maybe so? Hmm…well let me know okies? Thanks!