But wait… There's more!

Disclaimer: I don't own them, I don't own The Outsiders. I guess I own that trampy minor character that was making out with Dally in the last chapter. But I don't really like her enough to claim her as mine. If any of you want her you can have her.

A Place to Crash

Chapter 7

"So y'all been doing some bonding lately?" Two Bit asked, grinning.

"Huh?" Dally said, confused and annoyed that Two Bit was obviously making fun of him.

Two Bit laughed. "Don't give me that. You and Johnny was practically making out a week ago."

"He was sick," Johnny objected softly. "And…" he couldn't think of anything else to say.

"Get lost Matthews," Dally commanded.

Two Bit walked off laughing. He didn't seriously think that there was something going on between Dally and Johnny, but it sure was funny to harass Dally about it.

"So that wasn't a dream," Dally mussed. "Look, Johnnycakes, um whatever happened, it was just like um…"

"An accident?" Johnny suggested, swiveling on his stool so he was facing Dally.

"Yeah, an accident. And it wasn't like a sexual thing, I mean Soda and Pony hug and whatever 'cause they're brothers. It was like that sorta." Dally was more than willing to try and convince himself of that.

"Yeah, I know," Johnny agreed. "We're friends."

"Exactly. Okay, good. So um you ready to go?"

Johnny nodded, throwing out what was left of his coke and they headed out.

They were both walking silently, lost in their own thoughts.

They got to the corner of Picket and Sutton and were about to go their separate

ways.

"There's a party over at Buck's tonight." Dally said suddenly.

"There's a party there every night."

"Yeah. So I was gonna go over if you and Pony wanna come…"

"Ponyboy can't. It's a school night, and Darry won't let him near Buck's."

"Oh yeah." Dally had already known that. "Well you wanna come?"

"Okay." Johnny grinned, relieved that Dally wasn't freaked out about Two Bit or any of that. Two Bit had definitely made it sound much worse than it was. They hadn't been practically making out. Well maybe but…

"So I'll see ya back here at six or so?"

Yeah, see ya Dally."

Dally watched as Johnny walked away. That had been really stupid. What he should be doing was trying to avoid Johnny until he could figure things out a little, but here he was asking the younger boy to hang out with him more. Dally shook his head and walked home. His father was already there when he got in, waiting for him.

"Sit down boy."

Dally sighed, trying to remember what he'd done wrong lately that his dad might be upset about. He flopped down onto the couch, careful not to sit too near his father.

"Now you see, there comes a point in every man's life where he decides that he needs for freedom, some independence and maybe he meets someone he loves and wants to be with," Mr. Winston began.

Dally stared confused. Was his father actually trying to give advice? Was this some version of the birds and bees speech, obviously it was a bit late, but it was a nice thought.

"And I've reached that point in my life." Mr. Winston said smiling. "I met this girl down at the unemployment office today, and well we hit it off. It would be a bit awkward all three of us living here though, so, your stuff is all packed for you.

"Oh." It wasn't really all that surprising Dally supposed. His father had tolerated him pretty well for the past year or two. (Of course they'd been taking turns going to jail during that time so it wasn't as if they actually had to live together much.)

The door opened then and who should walk in but the brunette from the night before. She already had her arms around Mr. Winston when she saw Dally there. She froze for a minute.

Eww, Dally thought, that was just creepy. "Yeah, I'll go get my stuff." It wasn't like he had that much stuff worth taking, and half of it he was already wearing. He had his cigs, a lighter and a blade already on him, not to mention a shirt and jeans. He grabbed his leather jacket an extra pair of jeans and another white tee-shirt and walked out the door.

He couldn't even manage to be mad about it. It was all so ridiculous. It wasn't like he cared, he reminded himself. It was just going to be inconvenient trying to find a place to stay for a few days. He could sleep at Buck's for a few nights, but he knew that the big cowboy would eventually kick him out. He didn't like imposing on the Curtis's anymore than necessary, but he had a feeling that was where he was going to end up, at least until he could gather up the money for a deposit on an apartment. And he still had that hospital bill to pay off. Shit.

Dally sat down on the curb. He didn't have anywhere to go and it would be another hour until he had to meet up with Johnny. He pulled out his cancer sticks and began smoking. He usually didn't smoke all that much. But he was worried and before he knew it half the pack was gone. Great, now I gotta buy more smokes too, Dally thought. He wished he'd had something other than that coke from earlier in his stomach.

He reluctantly got up, still carrying his change of clothes with him. Johnny was already there when Dally got to Picket and Sutton. He looked at Dally's extra baggage with some surprise. "You moving out?"

Dally shrugged. "My old man kicked me out. For good this time I think. Don't matter. I'll stay with Buck or Darry or something."

He could see the sympathy in Johnny's eyes. "I really don't give a shit kid. Don't look so sorry for me."

They walked over to Buck's in silence.

Dally didn't bother ringing the bell, he just walked in, gesturing for Johnny to follow him. It was early still and not that crowded. Buck saw them immediately and came over.

"Why you got yerself extra clothes there Dallas? You ain't moving in. So don't get no stupid ideas."

"Just for the night Buck, don't worry."

"You ain't never brought extra clothes to spend the night before."

"I don't usually plan on spending the night. It just kinda happens."

""Cause my parties are that damn good!" Buck exclaimed, making sure everyone around them heard that. "Somebody turn on that record player! Yeee-haw!"

Dally wrinkled his nose. "Feel like giving me a few dollars?"

"No. You still ain't paid me back from the last time I loaned you money."

"Don't think of it as a loan. Think of it as a gift."

Buck laughed and handed Dally 20 dollars. "Only because I like you. And don't you come looking for more."

Things were starting to get a bit louder and the crowd was coming in. Buck wandered off to entertain his other guests.

Dally grabbed two beers and sat down in the closest chair. Johnny obediently sat down next to him.

"Want one?" Dally offered, gesturing to the beers.

Johnny shook his head.

Dally shrugged and drank them both.

Johnny wasn't too sure why people thought that parties at Buck's were so great. The music was awful, Buck himself was pretty rude, and the majority of the guests ended up passed out before 2am.

About an hour later, Dally was still drinking. Johnny had lost count of how many bottles he'd had. He noticed Dally starring at a girl. The girl was pretty, beautiful by most standards. She had long dark hair and dark skin. She actually looked like she could be related to the Shepards. A cousin or something maybe.

"Who is she?" Johnny asked. Trying to convince himself that he wasn't jealous.

Dally glared. "The little tramp living with my father. It's nasty man. You know who she was with last night?"

Johnny shook his head. He hadn't known that Dally's father was living with someone.

"Me!" Dally exclaimed.

Johnny stared, impressed. "Wow."

"No shit wow." Dally sighed and cracked open another beer.

The girl was hanging all over Buck. Dally shook his head, disgusted. Sometimes he really really disliked women.