Disclaimer: I don't own the Outsiders or Keeping the Moon.
oOoDancingQueenoOo: I hope you like this chapter too!
Banana4422: I'm happy too. I hope you like this chapter.
Lovewrite45: I'm glad you like it. I hope you enjoy this chapter too.
ZELINDA: I've never been kissed either so you aren't alone. I know it is annoying when people figure out you like someone. But Roxie's naïve like that, so she doesn't notice things like that. I think you'll like what happens during the eclipse.
DramaticAngel: Thank you. I hope you like this chapter.
Babygurl33: I love you reviewing my story too. LOL. And yes he does have a thing for her. But you already knew that didn't you? Major things happen the night of that eclipse so I have to build up to it!
TWbasketcase: Thank you. I'm sad for Ponyboy too. He's still going to be a little sad at the end but I'm writing a story that's kind of a sequel to this one so I'll try to make him happy in that. Roxie was like his first crush and those are always hard. Roxie and Dally are like polar opposites, it's kind of funny but opposites attract (according to the song). I have never seen Drugstore Cowboy…I might have to check that out. I like Judd in the Breakfast Club…not so much in St. Elmo's Fire but Rob Lowe and Andrew McCarthy are in that movie so they kind of take away from him. And Emilio too! Did you know they might be making a Mighty Ducks 4? I may have to just go see it or rent it just to watch him. Ha-ha. I like your long reviews, they rock. Update your Breakfast Club fics soon. I hope you like this chapter, there's some Roxie and Dally stuff going on in it.
Author's Note: I love summer vacation. I can stay up all night writing if I want to. In addition to this I am also working on my sequel kind of thing to this story. It's called Black Roses Red and will be posted after this story is finished. It's about a new girl who moves to Tulsa and becomes a Soc but then she falls in love with Soda and all sorts of stuff happens between the Socs and greasers because of it. I don't have it all totally planned out yet (I never do that, I just know the beginning and the end). I say that it's kind of a sequel because Roxie is in it. She doesn't have a big part but she's there. And so are Trisha and Olivia and it refers to some of the stuff that happens in this story. But it's mostly about the new girl and Sodapop. That's why I had to have Sandy break up with Soda, so he can fall in love with the new girl. So I wasn't being mean to him for no reason. I hope you like this chapter. Someone gets hurt and there's a tiny bit of fluff at the end.
Warning: I use the f-word in here just to warn you. I usually keep the swearing down to a minimum but the line that it's in just doesn't work without it. So don't say I didn't warn you.
Chapter Fourteen
The eclipse was in a week. That meant that I had two weeks before I'd be getting on an airplane again to go home to Ohio. I'd have to suck up my courage and tell Dally before I left or I would spend the rest of my life kicking myself, I just knew it.
I was out walking one afternoon. Ponyboy was still a bit sour with me so I steered clear of the Curtis's house for a while. That meant that most of my time was spent with Trisha and Olivia. Olivia had finally come out of her room but mainly because Darry had taken all the locks off the doors in the house so she couldn't lock herself in anymore. She mainly slumped about, listening to that stupid love song over and over again and eating pints of ice cream.
I was about a block from home when I saw him. Dally was strolling up the sidewalk with a cigarette in his mouth and his hands stuffed in his pockets. It was too hot for that leather jacket of his but he was still tough looking. It's hard to believe he's sweet under that hard exterior.
He looked up when he saw me coming, some of his white blonde hair falling to his eyes. He took the cigarette out of his mouth and tossed it on the ground, grinding it under his shoe.
"Hey," he said smiling. It wasn't a grin like Soda's. Soda gives his smiles away for free to everyone he meets. And while those smiles were a good pick-me-up when you were having a bad day Dally's were more special because he hardly ever grinned.
"Hi Dally." I mumbled softly. He looked at me quizzically but didn't say anything. He turned so we were walking the same direction. I remember back to the day Trisha had dyed my hair. Dally had walked me home that night, and we were silent just as we were now. Back then I had felt the silence awkward but now I was quite comfortable just to be near him.
"Roxie?" a boy asked. Dally and I had wandered into the center of town and a guy who was standing in front of the drug store was calling my name. I looked over and saw that it was Josh, the hand-stamper from the fair. Dally clenched his fists and muttered something inaudible under his breath as Josh hurried up to us.
"Hey." I said, nodding to Josh. He smiled.
"You disappeared so quickly that night of the fair. I thought I wouldn't see you again this summer. I didn't even get your number." Josh said. Dally snorted as he lit himself a cigarette. I wasn't the only one who noticed; Josh had looked over at Dally and narrowed his eyes.
"Do you have a problem buddy?"
"Yeah, I do. Why would a Soc like you ever think you would have a chance with Roxie?" Dally asked, blowing a smoke ring. I glanced back to Josh and studied him. Was he a Soc? I hadn't had much experience with the Socs. I only knew what I had heard from the guys in the gang.
"Listen greaser, I have as much right to talk to her as you do." Josh said. Dally's eyes flashed at the word greaser. I knew the boys called themselves greasers when they were joking around but to have a Soc call them a greaser was different. It was meant as an insult. "And if you have a problem with that you can answer to me and my friends, they're in the drug store, but they can come out in a minute if I yell for them."
"Oh I'm so scared," Dally said rolling his eyes. I bit my lip. Dally had always tried to keep his temper around me. Except for that time Evie had called me a freak he hadn't even come close to being violent with anyone around me but I knew that when he was angry Dally was not a guy you would want to be around.
"Dally," I said but he didn't hear me. Josh was looking like he regretted what he had said. Dally's eyes were blazing and he threw his cigarette on the ground and grinded it under his shoe in a menacing way.
When Dally started towards Josh I felt my body move forward the way it did when Dally was doing it to Evie. "Don't! He's not worth it!" I shouted moving in between them to break them up.
All I can remember happening was Josh pushing me aside. He probably hadn't meant to do it hard but I lost my balance and fell off the curb and on to the street. I remembered the hard crash as I hit the pavement on my right shoulder and head and then everything went dark.
My head really hurt, that was my first thought. As my eyes fluttered open I realized I was in Aunt Candace's living room on the plaid sofa. I could hear murmuring voices in the kitchen as I tried to sit up.
"Thank God!" someone beside me muttered. I turned me head to see Dally sitting in the armchair that had been pulled over next to the couch. He looked banged up, his lip was split open and it was red from where the blood had dried. He also had a black eye but he was smiling and looked relieved. "Roxie, can you hear me?"
"Yea," I said softly. "What happened to me Dally?"
"That fucking Soc pushed you off the curb and you took quite the header." Dally said. "Damn Soc. He didn't even care you were lying on the ground, he just punched me. Luckily he ran off when I pulled out my blade. Then I carried you back here. Your aunt says you don't need to go to the hospital. We were worried you had a concussion but I think you just blacked out a little there. You'll be fine."
"But Aunt Candace doesn't like you. I wasn't even supposed to be near you," I mumbled. Dally grinned.
"She was pretty forgiving when she realized I had gotten that Soc back for hurting you," he said. I tried to sit up again. With Dally's help I was able to. I reached up and felt that I had a bandage on my forehead. My shoulder was a little sore when I moved it but it was mostly my head that hurt. It felt like it had split in two.
"ROXIE!" Aunt Candace cried as she entered the room. She flung herself on me, giving me the biggest hug I have ever received. I patted her on the shoulder and raised my eyebrows at Dally as Ponyboy, Johnny, Soda, Steve, Two-Bit, Trish, Olivia, and Darry entered the room too. They all took turns hugging and fussing over me.
"Olivia, you left your house!" I said in a surprised tone.
She smiled. "Of course. When Johnny and Ponyboy came to tell us you were hurt I had to come and see if you were okay." I smiled back at her. I glanced over at Darry and saw that he was smiling too. He looked relieved but somehow I knew that it just wasn't because I was alright. He kept glancing at Olivia when he thought no one was looking.
"That damn Soc. If I had been there he wouldn't have any teeth left. Nobody hurts Foxy Roxy like that." Two-Bit said punching his fist into his hand. I laughed and didn't object to the nickname that he had given me what seemed like ages ago.
"You had us mighty worried Roxie. I thought I'd never be able to say I'm sorry for the way I acted the other day." Ponyboy said smiling. I smiled back, glad we were friends again.
Aunt Candace had invited everybody over for dinner, as sort of a celebration that I was alright. Everybody but Dally left after the dinner. Before she left Trisha looked over at Dally and then winked at me.
Aunt Candace was in the kitchen doing the dishes so Dally and I were alone in the living room watching I Love Lucy, it was my favorite one, the one where they go to the chocolate factory, but I couldn't really enjoy it because I was conscious of the fact that Dally was sitting right beside me.
"You sure had me scared Roxie." Dally said. I looked over at him in wonderment. Dally wasn't supposed to care about anyone other than himself and here he was saying that I had scared him.
"I thought you didn't get scared." I said trying to play it cool. Dally chuckled under his breath and gently brushed my bangs out of my eyes. I wished he would have left his hand there but he didn't. The minute he realized what he was doing he jerked away and turned his attention back to the TV.
I sighed; there was no way I could tell Dally tonight. Too much had happened and my head still really hurt. I glanced over to the newspaper on the coffee table and read the date. The eclipse was in five days. I would tell him then, I decided.
Yea…I don't know if you really can get that hurt falling off the curb but let's just pretend you can for the sake of the story okay? The next chapter will be the beginning of the night of the eclipse. So exciting! Then there will probably be one more chapter after that one, just to wrap things up and then the story is finished :tear:.