Disclaimer-The Outsiders? Not Mine! These Characters? Not Mine!
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When Dally woke up the next morning all the Curtis's had already left for school or work. He hoped Darry would remember to get that prescription filled. The clock sitting on top of the television said that it was noon, but Dally didn't feel like he'd slept at all. Everything hurt. His side most of all, but his ribs and even his head were aching too. Tim could really pack a punch.
As if on cue, Tim strode through the door not even bothering to knock.
"Hey Dallas, good to see you awake."
Dally pulled himself up into a semi-upright position. The blanket and Soda's tee-shirt fell from his chest. He knew that Tim was looking.
"So you ready to kiss and make up?"
"No," Dally replied bluntly.
Tim sat down on the couch next to Dally. He really didn't want to be forced to go into mushy-girly apology mode, but he supposed Dally was worth it.
"Look, Dal, I said I was sorry and I am. Really sorry. I shouldn't have been messing around with your girl while you was in the cooler."
Dally was silent. He'd like to pretend that he was just upset because it was about Sylvia, but that just wasn't true.
"It wasn't that it was my girl," he said finally.
Tim nodded. "I'm sorry that I was messing around at all. I swear it was only a one time thing."
"And that makes it okay?"
"Come on Dally don't be like that…"
"Like what Tim? Like a girl you mean? Just because I'm a bit hurt doesn't mean I'm being a girl. You cheated on me and you expect me to not care?"
Tim didn't point out that having both a boyfriend and a girlfriend at the same time probably constituted cheating as well.
"I'm sorry."
"You already said that," Dally was unrelenting.
"I mean it. Look, Dally, it isn't just about the sex or anything either. I really like you. A lot."
Tim could almost see a little grin starting on Dally's face.
"I mean shit. I could get the sex anywhere."
Dally laughed then and Tim breathed a sigh of relief.
"Don't kid yourself," Dally said, but it was obvious he wasn't really angry anymore.
Tim leaned over and kissed Dally firmly on the lips. After a minute, Dally was returning the kiss. Tim wished they could do more, but he didn't want to risk hurting the younger boy. Besides, just because Dally wasn't actually mad at him didn't mean necessarily that Dally was willing to sleep with him again yet.
Tim put his arm around Dally's bare shoulder and pulled him close to him.
"Curly's gonna pay the hospital bills," Tim said suddenly. "And he says he real sorry." Well Curly hadn't actually said that, but Tim was sure he was thinking it, maybe.
"I'd have him write you a nice apology note, but he don't know how to write yet."
Dally laughed. He knew Curly hated him. He didn't care. He wasn't too fond of the younger Shepard brother himself.
"He'll pay the hospital bill though?" Dally asked, relieved. He'd had no idea how was going to manage that. He didn't know how Curly would manage it either actually.
Curly was in a very bad mood. He was in school for one thing. That alone was enough to put him in a bad mood. And then there was that whole thing with Dally. Curly had no idea where he was going to get the money from. He wondered if he could mug people for it. Maybe he could mug Dally. That seemed like a good idea to him, but he had a feeling Tim would get all bent out of shape if he heard about it. Curly couldn't see why Tim liked Dally. He was just an ugly dime store hood. Well so was Tim, but that wasn't the point.
Curly was sitting in the school cafeteria sulking when Ponyboy spotted him.
"Hey," he said brightly, sitting down next to Curly.
"Hey."
"Dally'll be fine. He was real lucky you guys found him."
"Yeah, tell me about it," Curly agreed.
"You guys left before he could thank you though."
"Well, see Ponyboy, that's just the kind of heroes me and Tim are. We like it best if the person we saved doesn't even know that it was us that saved them. Like this one time there was a little old lady trying to cross the street, and I helped her across but I hit her over the head so she wouldn't see me and know that I was the one who helped her. I need no thanks for my good deeds."
"Um, right…" Ponyboy said deciding it wasn't worth it to question Curly's story. Accuracy never had been a strong point in Curly's tales. Ponyboy hoped the old woman had been okay though. This was definitely the reason he never tried to talk to Curly about things like sunsets. Curly didn't even have a handle on regular conversation yet.
"Dally's crashing over at my house if you wanted to stop by and see him or something. You probably shouldn't hit him over the head though."
That actually sounded pretty tempting to Curly. Hitting Dally, not visiting with him that was.
"When will people start coming home?" Tim asked. The last thing he wanted was to get caught making-out with Dally.
"Probably soon."
"Well we could go back to my house, but you probably shouldn't be walking and for some reason all the tires on my car are flat. It's the damnedest thing."
"Anyway, I don't feel like giving Curly a chance to finish the job. Once I'm feeling better me and old Curly are gonna sit down and have a little chat though."
Tim nodded. He'd expected that. It was only fair. He knew Curly was probably expecting it too. Well then again maybe not. Curly really wasn't all that bright.
"Hey Tim," Dally said suddenly. "Do you like want this?" Dally handed Tim the ring that he'd previously given to Sylvia.
Tim had to bite back a laugh. "Dallas Winston, are you asking me to go steady?"
Dally blushed. "Aw forget. Give it back."
Tim shook his head grinning. "I like it." He put the ring onto his pinky, the only finger it would fit. "It's cute."
Dally smiled. He'd always wanted to Tim to have that ring. When he'd seen it on that drunk senior that had been his first thought, how nice it would look on Tim.
"I'll tell people that I thought yours was tuff, so I went out and found a matching one," Tim said.
"I'll tell people I lost mine," Dally said.
Tim smiled. "You gonna get another girlfriend?" He asked.
Dally shook his head. "Too much work. And Sylvia was always bitching at me for drinking or fighting or something. Drove me crazy."
Tim nodded. He hadn't minded that Dally was going out with Sylvia. He knew that she didn't mean much too him, but he liked the idea of having Dally all to himself.