The next morning Ponyboy awoke to find himself wrapped in someone's arms. "Dally?" he said. Then he realized that he was actually enveloped in the arms of the brother, Sodapop. 'Oh God,' he thought wildly, 'What if I've revealed my secret crush on Dally to Soda by imagining that I was wrapped in his thin, yet strong; girlish, yet masculine arms? That would be terrible. Glory…' he started humming "Battle Hymn of the Republic" as he thought. After a lot of humming, he finally realized that Soda was asleep. This made him cheer up considerably and he decided to get up and make breakfast.

Meanwhile, off wherever Dally resides, Dally was making some toast and coffee. Just then Tim walked into the kitchen through the back screen door. "Hiya, Dally!" he said cheerfully.

"Hiya?" asked Dally, shaking his head miserably.

"What're you making?" asked the…other person.

"What does it look like?" asked Dally.

"Toast," said Tim.

"You're a genius, you know that? A real genius," Dally replied.

Just then Tim burst into tears, "Oh Dally," he cried, "I'm so depressed!"

"Yes, I can see that," Dally stated. "You're crying all over my toast."

"Sorry," Tim sobbed, wiping his eyes on the tail of Dally's shirt. "It's just that…my parents told me that I'm a good for nothin' greaser and it made me really sad."

"But Tim," Dally said reasonably, "you are a good for nothin' greaser."

Tim started crying even harder. "Don't you think I could make something with my life?"

"…I suppose. But, you know, you're not just a greaser. You're also a really tough," he thought the better of calling the weeping person in his kitchen tough, "that is to say, you're a gang leader."

"That means a lot to me Dal."

"Great…" Dally glanced around uncomfortably and then removed his tear soaked shirt.

"Oh God," Tim muttered, staring at Dally's unclothed torso through his wet eyelashes.

"What?" asked Dally. And then he realized that Tim was staring at him. He had no time to react before the gang leader kissed him passionately on the mouth. He pushed frantically against Tim, unable to free himself, and soon he was pinned to the sofa in the next room. Desperate to get away, he gave one final push. Surprisingly enough, it proved to be enough to allow him to dash away from Tim and out of the house.

He ran as fast as he could, not really caring where he went. Soon, however, he found himself at the Curtis' house. He couldn't decide how he felt about that, since it'd be easy for Tim to find him there. He decided not to think about it too much and dashed inside. Once inside, he found Ponyboy sitting on the sofa, being hugged by Sodapop. "What's going on here?" he asked, feeling incredibly depressed.

"Pony had a nightmare," said Soda.

"I see," Dally replied. "Well, can I hang out here for a little while? My…uh…dad is in a really bad mood."

"Yeah, sure, have a seat," said the amazingly attractive greaser.

"Thanks," said Dally, sitting down. The three of them sat around in the living room for awhile without talking and soon Dally became desperate for something to say, "So, Ponyboy," he began, "How are you feeling?"

Pony boy's eyes twitched uncomfortably and he said with some edge in his voice, "Great, Dal, just great."

"Fantastic," said Dally. Then he fell asleep.

"Hey would ya look at that," said Soda. "Dally's asleep."

"So he is," said Ponyboy, wondering why that fact intrigued his older brother so much. Then he said, "Darry's gonna be home soon. We'd better hide him."

"Why do we need to hide him from Darry?" Soda asked.

"We just do!" said Ponyboy.

Soda just crossed his arms and stared at Ponyboy.

In approximately that moment, Mike came running into the room. "Oh, Dally!" she said, despite her insistence on being a tomboy, "I've missed you so much!" She then proceeded to sit on his lap and kiss him ferociously.

Soon, Dally awoke and was considerably disappointed to find the girl on his lap. "Can't anyone keep their hands off me today?" he said.

"Wha…who else has had their hands on you?" Mike demanded angrily.

"No one," Dally said, sounding incredibly guilty.

"I know you're lying," she said, pulling out a switchblade and brandishing it near his throat.

"Put that away," he said calmly. "Don't be a moron."

She pressed the tip of the knife against the soft hollow under his chin, "I'm going to ask you one more time, Dallas, who've you been with besides me?"

He grinned, "Practically everyone."

"Damn it!" she cried, slashing at his face with the knife.

"What's the matter?" he asked, clutching his bleeding temple. "I thought you were gonna cut my throat. I guess you just don't have the strength to back up your threats." The he turned to Pony and Soda, who had been staring at each other angrily throughout the entire unpleasant episode, "Would you mind getting her off me."

They quickly dispatched the irritating person and went about their normal routine.