A/N: Thank you all SOOOOO much for reviewing! (Hugs all of her reviewers)

Reviewers: Can't… breathe…Liz… let… let GO!

Liz: No! (Grins and hugs tighter)

Reviewers: (Suffocate and die)

Liz: … oops… (laughs nervously)

A/N Strikes Back: This chapter mostly revolves around the main pairings in the story: Tim/Dally, Bryon/Angela and Alicia/OMC. While there is very little actual Angela/Bryon, but they talk on the phone and have a date together. BTW: I don't remember the name of Ponyboy's school, so I made one up.

Disclaimer: I only own the plot, Alicia and all the characters you don't recognize. Angela, Curly, Tim and Co. belong to S.E. Hinton

Light blazed through the window. Tim's eyes opened slowly. He blinked three times and shielded the light from his face. Tim rolled over and looked at Dally. The usually hard lines in his face were smoothed in sleep and he looked younger than sixteen. Tim lifted his hand and touched the boy's face. Dally's eyes fluttered open and, seeing Tim, he smiled.

"Morning." Dally whispered. The younger greaser wrapped his arms around Tim and pulled himself close to him. Dally buried his face in Tim's black hair and inhaled. Tim smelled like leather, cigarette smoke and pine. He kissed Tim's curls and rested his head on his shoulder. Soon, Dally's breathing was slow and even. Tim knew he had fallen back asleep.

Slowly, the older greaser untangled himself from Dally's embrace. He found his shirt on the floor and pulled it on. His leather jacket had been tossed carelessly into a chair and he grabbed it. He walked back to the bed and gently kissed Dally's cheek. Casting one last loving glance at Dally's sleeping form, he walked quietly out of the room.

The door to the Shepard home opened and closed with a soft click. Tim saw Alicia asleep on the couch. She was lying on her back with one of her arms hanging off and her fingers grazed the floor. She was covered with one blanket that exposed her feet. Her eyes were closed and she was smiling.

Angela was asleep in their large armchair. She was curled up in a ball with a blanket around her shoulders and one on her lap. Her head was resting on a small pillow. She sighed softly and murmured something.

Tim walked over to Alicia and pulled the blanket down over her feet. He heard her moving. "What time is it?" She asked, groggily.

"'Round eight."

She opened one eye and smiled. "Did you have fun at the party last night?"

"It was all right."

"Dally was there. He disappeared around eight. Funny thing is, so did you."

"Yeah, we hung out for a while…"

"Where were you?" She demanded.

"None of your business." He snapped. "Where did Angela go with that Bryon kid? And where were you half of the party?"

"I was sitting on the couch with a girl from my school! You can ask Angela!"

"Ask Angela what?" Alicia's outburst had woken Angela. She sat up and blinked. "God, can you be any louder?" She rubbed her eyes and yawned.

"Where was Alicia during the party?" Tim was pretty pissed.

"I dunno. She was sitting with some girl from our school, Rachel or something."

"And where were you?" Tim rounded on Angela.

For a moment, she looked amazed. "I was with Bryon. We went for a walk, I swear, Tim. So don't go talkin' my ears off about how dead he is, because we didn't have sex or anything."

Alicia burrowed down under her blanket. "Honestly, Tim, when did you start caring about Angel and me? We're good girls. We don't whore ourselves." She yawned.

Alicia's definition of "good" was to not have sex. She didn't care that she drank, smoked, stole and swore enough to put a sailor to shame.

"Yeah, Tim, we're good girls. Now please go away; I'm tired."

As Tim climbed the stairs, he wondered why all of a sudden he did care about his sisters. Under normal circumstances, he would have never pulled a blanket down over Alicia's feet, or yelled at Angela because she had a boyfriend. Maybe it was because he didn't sleep much last night. Was he going to turn into one of those annoying older brothers that worried about their younger siblings? Was it because he was happy about having Dally? Tim shook his head and cautiously opened the door to his parents' room. They were sound asleep. The door to Curly's room was open and he peered inside. Curly was asleep, too. Tim issued a sigh a relief. No one heard him come home. If anyone did, he would have had an earful of, "You're such a bad influence, Timothy! Do you even stop and think about your brother and sisters?" And it was even worse when his mother cussed him out in Spanish.

Tim walked into his room. He threw his jacket onto the floor and exchanged his jeans for a pair of plaid pajama bottoms. Tim crawled into bed, laid his head on his pillow and was instantly asleep.

When Tim opened his eyes again, it was warmer and brighter. He stumbled downstairs and into the kitchen. Alicia and Angela were dressed and at the kitchen table. Alicia was in a green shirt, baggy black pants that Tim was positive had once belonged to Curly and black boots. Her hair was in a long braid over her shoulder. Angela was in a white skirt, a tight red top and red sandals. Her hair was pulled into a high ponytail. "Morning, Timmy." Angela smiled, broadly.

Tim grunted in response.

"Mom and Dad are at work. Curly's already left." Angela said. She stood and went to the refrigerator. "Ali, we're out of milk."

"So?"

Angela rolled her eyes. "So can you go down to the store and get some?"

"Fine." Alicia got to her feet and walked to the vase on top of the refrigerator. Her parents usually kept money in it if they ran out of something. She grabbed a handful of change and walked out the door.

The bright sun beat down on Alicia's head, hot and blazing. Her steel-toed black boots clunked on the ground, two sizes too big for her and her baggy pants swished behind her. As she walked on the cracked sidewalk, past the run-down houses, she counted the change. "One, two, three, oh, that's a nickel, so that makes eight, nine, another nickel, fourteen…" She trailed off when she heard a noise in front of her.

Three Socs were circled around something. When she moved closer, she saw it was a boy. The boy had obviously tried to defend himself because one of the Socs was getting a black eye, but now they had cornered him. The boy was huddled on the ground and the one with a black eye kicked him hard.

Now Alicia was mad. She liked to play fair. To outnumber someone was one thing. But to outnumber them and kick them when they were down was downright wrong in her eyes. She wasn't one to spontaneously jump into a fight, but this was too much for her to bear.

"Leave him the fuck alone!" She shouted. Shoving the change into her pocket, she clenched her fists at her sides.

The Socs looked at her. Black-eye laughed. "And who are you?"

"What difference does that make? Leave him the fuck alone or I'll kick your ass!" Oh, Christ they're gonna kill me. She thought. All of them were quite tall and big with muscles as big as footballs. Alicia was small and skinny.

They laughed again. "I'd like to see you try." One of the Socs walked toward her. "Like you could even dream of kicking my ass." He threw a punch at her head. Alicia ducked and punched him in the face. Her heart was beating so fast it felt like it was going to beat itself out of her chest. The Soc was clutching his nose. Alicia looked at her hand. There was blood on her knuckles. He stumbled back to his friends.

The other two looked at her, stunned, and ran at her. Alicia took a deep breath. Oh, God, motherfucker, shit, what the hell did I get myself into? The first one grabbed her around the waist and Black-Eye and Nose-Bleed cracked their knuckles. Shit. As Black-Eye walked toward her, she kicked. Her foot hit him squarely in the groin. She kicked again; her foot struck him in the stomach. He fell over.

Using a free arm, she punched the guy holding her in the mouth. He released her and grabbed his mouth. She kicked him in the stomach. While he was doubled-over, she kneed him in the face. Nose-Bleed ran at her, blood running down his face. He grabbed her by the hair. Alicia jerked away and she felt some of her hair rip out. He stood, triumphant, holding a chunk of her hair. She sprinted as fast as she could at him and punched his stomach. A split second later, he retaliated by punching her face. She could feel her lip breaking and swelling. Black-Eye kicked her from behind, and she fell.

One of them kicked her, hard in the stomach. She groaned. Another punched her in the face. As they proceeded to beat the shit out of her, she curled up, trying to shield their blows. The kid she'd tried to help was unconscious it seemed. His face was swollen and bruised. He's in worse shape than me. I can still fight.

She jumped to her feet and charged at Nose-Bleed. She swung her foot up and kicked him in the stomach. Then she slammed her foot on his and kicked him in the groin. She spun around and grabbed the one that had grabbed her. She wrapped an arm around his neck and got him in a headlock. Making a fist, she punched him in the face and kicked him in the stomach. Black-Eye came at her. She kicked him once more in the stomach and slammed on his foot.

Alicia laughed as she saw the Socs run. They scrambled down an alley and turned the corner, sprinting like the hosts of hell were after them. She stumbled over to the kid. He wasn't really a kid, she decided. He was about her age with shaggy dark hair and pale skin. He was wearing a plain white shirt and jeans. He was okay-looking, but very scrawny with thin limbs and big hands. She reached out and gently touched his face. His eyes opened. He had very pretty eyes; they were soft brown with long dark lashes. She smiled at him. "Hey."

He blinked. "Are they gone?" He saw her injuries. "Did they beat you up, too?"

"Yeah, they got me pretty bad, the fuckers. But, don't worry, I chased them away."

"You? But you're a girl!" His eyes widen in disbelief.

She scowled. "So? Just because I'm a girl doesn't mean I can't fight."

"But… but you're small and they were all big. How'd ya do it?"

"I fought them. I kicked them and punched them." She lifted her foot, revealing her boots. "Steel-toed boots hurt like hell to be kicked in, let me tell you."

The boy raised an eyebrow. "What's your name?"

"Alicia Shepard."

His eyes widened. "Shepard? Your last name's Shepard? Are you related to Tim and Curly Shepard?"

She rolled her eyes. "As much as I hate to admit it, I am related to them. They're my brothers. And a real pain in the ass to be blatantly honest. Who're you?"

"Travis Williams. So, did Tim teach you to fight?"

"Yeah, he taught me and my sister, Angela. She doesn't really like to fight too much, though. I've been in fights all my life. Now do you believe that I can fight? Or do I need to prove it to ya?"

Travis shrugged. "I guess. Someday you'll have to prove it to me, though. Once we're not as fucked up."

Alicia stood and helped him shakily to his feet. "Here, I'll walk you home if you come to the store with me. You look pretty messed up."

"Thanks." He put an arm around her shoulders and leaned heavily on her. "What do you need at the store?"

"Gotta get some milk. Walk with me; don't worry, I'll walk slow." Together, they hobbled down the street. Passerby stopped and stared at the small, dark girl supporting the tall boy. "We're almost there." Five minutes later, they were walking down the Dairy aisle in the grocery store. Alicia grabbed a half-gallon of milk and they shuffled to the cashier. He raised his eyebrows at them but didn't say anything.

"So, where do you live?" She asked when they got out of the store.

"Division Street."

"Really? That's two streets away from my house. Where do you go to school?"

"Jefferson."

"That's where I go, too. What grade are you in?"

"Tenth. You?"

"Oh, I'm in ninth." She looked sad for a moment. Angela's dated guys older than her before, why shouldn't I? She shook her head. Why was she thinking about dating this guy? She barely knew him.

"Oh." They were silent for a moment. Alicia looked at the side of his face. He had a nice profile, she decided. Overall, he was nice-looking, but he probably looked better when he wasn't all beat-up like this. They tottered down the street in silence. Alicia was getting uncomfortable.

"So… why'd they beat you up?"

"I don't know. I was just walking along, minding my own business, and they get outa the car and start beating me. Then I socked one guy and it got worse."

"I'm sorry."

"Aw, don't be. We lowlifes just hafta stick together."

"We aren't lowlifes." She said, surprised. "We're people, just like they are."

"To them we are lowlifes. We're the scum on the soles of their shoes."

They were now going down Division. Travis stopped her in front of a small, white house. There were five kids in the front yard. Three boys and two girls. None of them could have been over the age of six. They stood and ran at him. "Travis! Mommy, Travis is home!" One of the girls cried.

Travis turned and looked at her. He smiled and waved. "Thank you!" He called.

"No problem!" She grinned back at him. As she walked home, there was a new spring in her step. She had a new crush.

The moment Alicia walked in the door, she wished she hadn't. She was greeted to the lovely sound of Tim yelling his head off at her. His voice, already very loud,seemed to project when he was pissed. "What took you so long, why do you have a fat lip, where the fuck did you go, who did this to you…" On and on.

"I got in a fight on the way there, I'm fucking sorry!" She yelled over Tim.

"Who'd you get in a fight with?" Tim shouted.

"Some Socs, but I'm fine!"

"Who were they?"

"Jesus Christ, Tim, you don't have to yell!" Angela had come downstairs. The fighting stopped. "Just let her tell the story, then decide if you need to freak out about it." She rubbed her temples. "Good God."

Alicia took a deep breath. "I was on my way to the store when I saw these Socs beating on some kid. He was on the ground and there was one of him and three of them and they were kicking him while he was on the fucking ground. And that's not fair, so I stepped in and they started beating me, but then I kicked their sorry asses. So I helped the kid and we went to the store together and then I walked him home."

"That's it? You saved some loser, got in a fight, went to the store, took him home and then came back?" Tim laughed. "Alicia, you've got to let people fight their own battles."

"What about when we fought the Socs the other night for Curly, Tim? It was all your idea, but it wasn't you that they beat up."

"That's different-" Tim began to protest, but Alicia cut him off.

"No, it's really not. You still fought someone else's battle for them. Tim, you are such a fucking hypocrite. You can say, 'well I knew him,' but it's the principle of the matter."

Angela laughed. "She's got you there, Tim."

Tim scowled at her. "But, Alicia, that's not the point-"

"Then what is the point, Tim? The fact that I'm right, you're wrong and you can't accept it? Sometimes people can't fight for themselves. If everyone just sat back and watched others struggle, then this world would be even more fucked up than it already is." With those words, she tossed her hair back and walked upstairs, leaving a very irate Tim behind her.

Angelahad beenlistening to their argumentwhile lounging onthe couch when the phone rang. She grabbed it before Tim did. When he was pissed, he tended to yell on the phone, scaring the shit out of the poor guy who was calling. "Yeah?"

"Angela?"

The girl's face brightened. "Oh… hi, Bryon. What're you doing?"

"Nothing much… er, Angela, wanna… wanna go out tonight?"

Angela giggled. "Sure. I'd love to."

He sounded relieved. "Cool. I'll pick you up around six?"

She giggled again. "Sure. I'll be ready."

Tim was sitting in the armchair when Angela hung up. "I have a date tonight!" She squealed when she hung up.

"With who?"

"Bryon." Angela ran up to her room, giggling and singing to herself.

Tim rolled his eyes and leaned his head back in the chair. He began to think about Dally. An unfamiliar, but not unpleasant, feeling swept over Tim. He'd never felt like it about a girl before. It felt nice. Closing his eyes, he imagined Dally and him. Dally had his arms around Tim and they were so close… Dally kissed him and pulled off his shirt. Then Dally removed Tim's with that sexy half-smile that Tim always loved. Dally's hands were moving lower, they were all over Tim's stomach, the were grazing the top of Tim's jeans. Now his fingers were working with the zipper. He unzipped them and pulled off the jeans. They were just about to pull off the boxers…

It had to be that exact moment when Curly came through the door.

"Hey, Tim, you're home!" Curly shouted, interrupting Tim's little X-rated fantasy.

"Damnit, Curly!" Tim was so surprised, he almost fell out of his chair.

"Where were you, man? Angel and Ali came home alone."

"I, uh, had sex with a chick at Buck's house and fell asleep with her…" Tim replied, thinking fast.

"Really? Who was it?"

Tim shrugged. "I don't know. Where were you? I came home, went to bed, woke up and you were gone."

"I was with the gang. They wanted to know where you were."

Tim raised an eyebrow. "Where'd you say I was?"

Curly shrugged. "I forget. What's on TV?" He turned the television on and sat down.

Tim rolled his eyes. Typical Curly. Forget everything important and watch TV. The older Shepard got up and went to his room, where he could continue fantasizing without any interruptions.

LAST A/N: Ooh, naughty Tim! (Imagines kinky Tim/Dally sex) (Excuse me, I have to go take a cold shower and 30 mile jog…) Once again, thank you for all the nice reviews! If you wanna see how this fic is progressing, go to my LJ- w. w. w. l i v e j o u r n a l . c o m / u s e r s / e v i l t e d d y b e a r 4 0 / Just take out all the spaces. All you have to do is shift through all my angst and whining and there'll be something along the lines of: Outsiders fic updates. And, if you want to, leave a comment along the lines of: Jesus Christ, Liz, update this bloody fic or I'll confiscate your The Killers CD. (Realizes what she's just said.) NOOOOOOO! Not my CD! (Sobs in the corner) Please review! It gives me encouragement to continue! (Whimpers and hugs her CD)

 The Killers