Ponyboy's okay. He is really okay! He had heard it over the phone, but somehow it was still unreal to him. He needed to see with his own eyes that Pony wasn't dead. But Darry had advised him not to come back early. And, Dallas had to admit that it was pretty sound advice.

But he had wanted to go back for what seemed so long, and he needed to go back. But now that he finally had a chance to actually get away, he just had to be given some good advice!

Why don't I just ignore the advice? Not like I listen to people anyway. Darry should know that by now. Yeah, he should ignore it. He should. Dallas Winston didn't listen to anybody. But, I've put Darry through so much already, with his little brother disappearing for a whole week, and then coming back sick, maybe dying. I can't just up and ignore him. Darry was already allowing Dallas to come back. He shouldn't press his luck any further.

"Hey Dallas, you finished with your call yet?" Lori peered in through the doorway at him.

Dallas instinctively got up out of his chair and headed out the room. "Yes," he muttered distractedly, his mind still racing through his thoughts.

"Was your dad mad?" she asked as he headed to the kitchen.

"My dad?" he repeated, not fully comprehending as he walked into the kitchen. "Oh. No, he-he was just glad that I was all right. And he was hoping that I could come home soon," he added subtly.

Jason was in the kitchen, hurriedly gulping down a quick breakfast. He had heard Lori's question, and Dallas's answer, and now he asked, "What would your dad be mad at you about?"

Lori answered for Dallas, "Oh, Dallas got into an argument with his father over his grades in school, and he went for a drive to cool down, got in an accident, and that's how he ended up here."

Jason snorted, and gazed at Dallas in amused disbelief. "You got in a fight with your father over grades?"

Dallas, for his part, was leaning against the counter, with a can of Pepsi in his hand. It seemed the Mathews family was as addicted to Pepsi as Ponyboy was. He stared back at Jason and answered, "What? You find that hard to believe?"

Jace silently laughed into his cup of coffee. "Oh no, I can totally see you upset over your grades."

Dallas silently agreed with Jason's sarcasm; it was hard to believe that he would care about grades. "I wasn't interested in the grades. My dad was."

Jason nodded as if that explained everything, but it was obvious he didn't believe a word of the story. Lori looked at him, baffled.

"You don't believe him Jason?"

Jason held up his hands in denial. "I just don't think he would get so upset about his grades, that's all." He gathered his dishes and walked over to put them on the counter. Standing only a few feet away from Dal he whispered, "I just think you would be able to come up with a better excuse than that."

Dallas glanced at him quizzically and opened his mouth to argue, but Jason cut him off. "Well, I got to get going. See ya this afternoon, Mom!"

"Bye Jason!" Lisa called as Jason sprinted to the door.

"Where's he going in such a hurry?" Dallas asked as he finished up his Pepsi.

"Baseball practice," Lori supplied as she started getting things out for breakfast.

Dallas rolled his eyes. That figures. "So, is Jason the star of the team?" Of course he would be. The socs had to be the stars of everything.

Lori shrugged her shoulders. "Well, the team's pretty good, so I guess you couldn't call him the star. He is a pretty good short stop, and he bats number four. So he's pretty important to the team."

"Number four? Is that good?"

Lisa turned to stare at him. "Is that good?! Number four batter is the best batter of the entire team!" Her voice took on an edge as she defended her little boy.

Dallas's voice took on a sarcastic tone. "Yeah, I should know that. My life just revolves around the high school baseball team." As he walked out of the room, he tossed his can into the trash.

Lori glanced over at her mom. The two women shared a smile, and Lori rolled her eyes in amusement.

"Hey, can I come in?" Lori's voice filtered through the doorway.

Dallas rolled his eyes in annoyance. He ignored her and went back to putting on his socks.

There were a few minutes of silence, and then Lori opened the door. She came in and stood awkwardly at the foot of the bed, watching Dallas.

"So, putting on your socks?" she asked lightly.

"My, you're observant," Dallas mocked as he walked over and got his shoes from the closet.

Lori sighed, but didn't respond to Dallas's remark. "Jason said you bought something for Carly. That was nice of you."

"Wasn't my idea."

"Well, still you bought something. That counts." She smiled at him. After another moment of silence she continued, "I brought you some stuff for you to wrap it with." She held up a sack filled with tissue paper and ribbons.

Dallas finished lacing up his shoes and stood up. "Hey, I already bought the stupid thing, I don't have to wrap it."

"Oh yes you do," she responded, throwing the bag to Dal. Dal caught it and threw it on the bed. Lori stared him down for a second, then tossed her head.

"Fine. I'll wrap it. You at least picked it out, that's something." She walked over to the bed. "What'd you get her?"

Dallas walked over to the dresser and pulled the top drawer open. He picked up the dog and tossed it to Lori.

"Awww, he's so adorable. Look at him," she cooed. Dallas rolled his eyes as he walked out the door. Lori saw him leave and flew out of the room.

"Where are you going?" she asked him as he made his way to the front door.

"I'm going for a walk. Is that all right with you?"

"I'll go with you."

Dallas stopped and looked at her. Lori's green eyes sparkled in mirth, which he was pretty sure was directed at him. He wanted to tell her off, but he knew that to stay in the family's good graces he had to keep himself under control. He walked out the door and down the sidewalk.

Lori fell into step with him. "So, what do you want me to put on the card?"

"The card?" Dal questioned.

"Yeah, the card. You know that little piece of paper that tells the person how much you love them and wish them a happy birthday."

Dallas raised an eyebrow. "You want me to give your sister a card that says how much I love her?"

Lori grimaced. "No, to tell her happy birthday."

"Forget it."

"Come on. You don't even have to write it; just tell me what you want it to say."

Dallas kicked a rock. "Fine. Make it say.. to: the kid, from Dallas. Satisfied?" he started across the street. Lori grabbed his arm, checked both ways, then released him as they both walked across.

She picked up the conversation as they started up the next street. "To the kid? That's what you want it to say?"

"No, I don't care what it says. You put what you want." He picked up his pace to outdistance himself from her, keeping his eyes peeled for the slightest hint of some hoods. Even though he wasn't going to steal a car, it was always good to know where your possible allies could be found.

Lori ran to catch up with Dallas. As she caught up, Dallas flung a question at her. "Look, why are you following me around? Your mom gave us the day off because of Carly's birthday; you should be out doing whatever it is that you girls do. Why are you out walking with me?"

"Jason," she answered simply.

"Excuse me?"

"Jason," she repeated. "Last night when you came home from getting Carly's present he asked me to keep an eye on you while he was gone."

Jason, should have known. "And you think that means hounding every single step I take?"

Lori responded, "Jason specifically said to stick with you whenever you left the house. So that's what I'm doing. Sounds kind of strange doesn't it? Like he thinks you are going to run away or something." She laughed at the idea. "How could you run away with your ribs in the condition they're in."

Dallas found the last remark more irritating than the fact that Jason had his sister trail him. "For your information I could leave this place anytime I wanted. My ribs are in perfect condition."

Lori glanced at him skeptically, opened her mouth to say something, and then just rolled her eyes.

He took that as a challenge. "What, I can walk can't I?" he held out his arms to show off his steps.

"Yeah, sure you can walk. That doesn't prove anything."

"Yes it does," Dal insisted, "I'm perfectly fine now. Your dad should let me leave right now, instead of waiting for two whole weeks for me to get better. I'm fi-"

Lori took her hand and smacked him in the gut. Dallas stiffened and pressed his lips tightly together.

"Bet you that hurt," Lori smiled. "It helps having a father for a doctor; you know the exact spot in which to hit someone to cause them the most pain." She walked on, her shoulders shaking in laughter.

Dallas stood there, all his efforts focused on his mask. No pain on face, no pain in body movement. This didn't hurt. His mind insisted that, but his body screamed otherwise. All he wanted to do was to curl up around his injury and collapse on the pavement. But Winston had a quite a bit of pride and a whole bit of stubbornness. He took a step, and let his breath out in even, unhurried breaths.

Lori stood there, shaking her head disbelievingly at him. Dallas couldn't resist; he gave her a big smirk as he walked on by.

Lisa and Brian were bustling around the kitchen, making more noise than Lori and Lisa had earlier that day. Pots were clattering, water was steaming, and above all else you heard Lisa yelling.

"Carly! Come on, dinner's almost ready, dear! You'll miss your stew, your favorite, if you don't hurry. Now, come on!"

Dallas was in the kitchen watching them. From the moment Lori and he had gotten home, he hadn't moved very much. He had sat on the couch, devoting himself to the tv, and then to beating Carly at checkers, but there hadn't been that much movement after the morning walk.

He was growing tired of listening to the hustle and bustle of the kitchen, so he left. Lisa warned him on his way out though, to not be late for supper also. As he made his way to his bedroom to get some much needed quiet, he passed Carly in the hall. She was staring intently at herself in the hall mirror, and fiddling with her face.

It was the weird fiddling that made Dallas stop in his tracks. "What are you doing?" he asked.

Carly jumped. After seeing Dallas, she giggled nervously.

Dallas waited for the answer. "What are you doing?" he asked again.

She giggled, and her cheeks reddened. "I w-w-was trying to raise my eyebrow, like you do Dallas! Can you teach me?" she added hopefully.

"Raise your eyebrow?" he repeated, confused.

"Yeah," she turned back to the mirror, "you always raise one eyebrow, and I– can't – do – it," she raised and lowered her eyebrows, hands up to keep one of them down.

"Carly, dinner!" Lisa's voice snapped from the kitchen.

"Coming, Mom!" Carly ran over to the dining room.

Dallas sighed. Well, so much for my peace and quiet. He turned to go to the dining room, but paused and glanced in at the mirror. He stared at himself, and slowly raised an eyebrow. She can't do that? That's easy!

"Presents!" Carly exclaimed, "Everybody in the living room for presents!!"

Everyone followed Carly's command and got up and made their way to the living room. As they walked, Dallas stepped to Jason's side.

"You had your sister follow me around?" he whispered fiercely.

Jason didn't bat an eye. "Of course. I told you in the car I didn't trust you."

They walked into the room, and sat down next to each other on the couch. "But I gave you my knife. You can trust me now."

"Just because I have your knife doesn't mean you can't get one somewhere else," Jason whispered back. He kept his attention on Carly who was excitedly tearing through present after present.

Dal digested that for a moment. "So you thought that I would try to find those hoods, didn't you?"

"If sis hadn't followed you, would you have looked for your friends?"

Dallas didn't answer, and finally Jason glanced at him. He nodded and turned back to Carly, who was now squealing over another present.

"Oh, look at this one! Where's the card? Oh, here it is. To the kid, from Dallas," Dallas shot Lori a death glare. Lori just smiled innocently. "Oh, Dallas I knew you would get me something, I just knew it! I told you Mom!"

She ripped the tissue paper out of the bag and dug her hands deep into the sack, clawing to get to the contents. She pulled the little dog out with a squeal. "It's so cute!!! Aww, I love it!" She wrapped her arms around it and held it close to her chest.

Dallas felt a peculiar surge of pride; Carly liked his present better than all the others. That would show them. He crossed his arms, leaned back on the couch, and put his legs up on the coffee table.

Carly finished hugging the dog and held him up for a closer inspection. "I think I'm going to name him...Tex. Yeah, Tex." She nodded in appreciation of the name.

Lisa leaned forward out of her chair and picked up the dog. "Why Tex sweety?"

Carly huffed as if it was obvious. "Mom, Dallas gave it to me." After all of them looked at her strangely she went on to explain, "Tex, Texas. Dallas, Texas. Come on, people!" She snatched her dog back from Lisa and ran over to Dallas.

She hopped on the couch and immediately wrapped her arms around Dallas's neck. Dallas abruptly sat up, his feet off the table. The hug caught him off guard, and for a moment he was completely shocked. But before the shock had time to wear off and he could push her away, Carly let go and walked back to her pile of present and tore into the next one.

Dallas sat frozen, his face registering his astonishment. Jason watched him, and a big grin spread across his face. Dal felt him watching, and he schooled his features back to calm. He turned around to glare at him. Jason grinned even wider, and he crossed his arms and put his feet on the table, mimicking Dallas from just a few minutes before.

Dallas glared at him, and a gleam crept into his eyes. Raising his hand he whacked Jason in the gut, causing Jason to lean forward gasping for breath. Dal gazed over at Lori who sat watching them in amusement. She gave him a sly smile, and he leaned back coolly, even as Jason whacked him right back, causing him to take stifle a groan of his own.

A week and a day! I'm so sorry, I meant for this to be up in five days, but it's not like I didn't warn you. And now I need to give you a big thank you! Sixty reviews! That is incredible! I am so...so honored and shocked and extremely happy! Thank you, thank you!!!

Well, won't let me put the ..... into the story so I have to stick wit the . Sorry about that.

Okay, in answer to a question, I think the day that Dallas called Darry was on a Tuesday. I don't have the book, so please correct me if I'm wrong. But didn't Darry in the book say that Pony fainted on a Saturday and now it's Tuesday? Or something like that. Again, please tell me if I'm wrong. I need to know that!

ER Monkey, Burner of Cookies- And the honor of first reviewer goes to...you! Thanks for the review. And yes, you definitely have a tone. But thanks anyway for the review! =)

Jessie13- I'm glad you liked the chapter. Dallas was pretty funny giving the cop Two-Bit's name. You never know when knowing somebody's name could come in handy. Thanks for the review!

Beth- Thanks for your reviews and e-mails. They help me out so much. Yeah, I thought having an original character would be different than other stories. Your story is great, and I know other people are enjoying reading them too. I hope you continue writing your stories. They're wonderful! Thanks for pointing out those things I forgot in the last chapter. Oops...=)

CinderBrat- Well, I don't know if I've ever seen a 1966 Triumph 20, but if it has that bumper sticker on it, I'm sure it's lovely! =) I'm sorry it wasn't Tim, but I never thought of it being him. Thank you for that compliment. I know what you mean; some stories he breaks down so fast you don't even need more than one chapter, and then those others you finally just stop reading. I hope I stay at the right pace, please tell me if you think I'm rushing, because I don't think I'm taking that long. He is starting to slowly crumble, just like a cookie, you're right! Never thought about it that way. You know, I just realized something. For me, naming my characters is the hardest part. I have to go on the Internet for a list of popular names to try to find names that are believable. And I think I Cliff's last name, Anderson, is the same as Randy. Oops! Don't tell anybody, please!!!

bitterspirit- Aw, that's okay, as long as you review after this. =) Really, thanks for the review. You really think I've kept the closest to his character? That's so cool! Yeah, I liked how he stood up for Jason too. Yep, I bet Carly has a crush on him. But she would be a fool not to, right? Yes, I don't like authors who take forever to give the details. I must confess, I just scroll on down to get to the action. I'm thrilled you like my style. That's a big compliment for an author. Oh, man! Whoa!! That is...one mighty big compliment. In the top three of your favorite stories on all of !! Oh, boy! Thank you so much!!! I pray I don't let you down! =) And thanks for being understanding about me not updating soon. I appreciate that as well!

CiCi- Oh, that's okay. I hope your computer is okay now. I'm so happy that you liked it! Thanks for the review! =)

steves-girl- I'm glad you think it was worth the wait. I hope your trouble of getting on the computer is over now. =) Thanks for taking the time to review all the chapters! That is amazing! Thank you so much, you have really contributed to getting this story to sixty reviews. Sixty reviews, can you imagine? I'm still having trouble believing it myself.

Tensleep- another person who has reviewed every single chapter! You two guys are amazing. Thank you. Man, I'm so glad you thought Dallas's description of hoods was okay, that was a little scary. I didn't want to write a description that some people would say was totally wrong. Yeah, I wanted to wait until the right moment to use Two-Bit's name. I hope you didn't get frustrated with me. Hope you had fun doing your chores! =) Thanks for all your reviews!

Oblivious Misconception- Wow, thanks for the review! Well, the funny thing is, I completely agree with you. I don't read stories that have too many original characters, and here I am writing an entire family! Man, thanks for those compliments! And I'm very glad you think I've kept him in character, I've tried very hard to keep him as close as possible. It does seem that Jason is looking out for Dallas. And he does know some pretty bad things about Dallas, without knowing the good things. Thank you for that compliment about Darry's phone number. You almost made me sound like an artist, weird huh? I can't draw a stick figure to save my life! Anyway, thank you so much for that review! Oh, question: what made you come back to this story? Because you said you skipped over it before, I wonder what made you start reading it? Thanks again!

crimson cutie- Thanks for reviewing again! And if you don't like reviewing as you said, than this review means twice as much! So thanks! Yes, you were right about the hoods; I told you you were a good guesser. Oh no, Dallas didn't try to cover up his attitude one bit. Yes, you're right, Dallas wouldn't normally take anybody's advice. But I think he feels guilty for putting the gang through so much, that he is so grateful they don't hate him, he'll take their advice. At least for the time being. Thank you for taking the time to write that review. You keep me on my toes, trying to fix those little mistakes you help point out. Thanks for doing that!

MissLKid- Ahah, I see. Yeah, she could probably get very annoying. But deep in your heart, you know you love her. Right? Right? Sure. Well, the rodeo is actually a true thing. I got that information from Robot In Disguise. McAlester has a prison, McAlester Prison, and they do have an all-prison rodeo. So it is factual. Thanks for the review!

Robot In Disguise- You didn't see it coming? That's funny! Okay, Soda said that Pony woke up that morning. Steve said, let me get the right wording here, "They told Darry to call them as soon as Ponyboy woke up; he hasn't yet." The he Steve is referring to is Darry. Darry hasn't called the cops yet. He's showing some defiance against the fuzz. But you're right it is confusing. I need to go and change that. Thanks for alerting me to that!!

Thanks everybody for all your reviews. I can't believe it. Thank you so, so, so, much!!! I love you guys. I feel kind of guilty saying it now, but please review. I know, I know, sixty reviews, I should be satisfied already. But I'm addicted. I need to know what you think of my chapters. So please review! And thank you so much! Have a great day!