-1Alone

---

Sorry for not updating, I had a bad case of the flu and was unable to breath, and almost sent to the hospital…

Oh yeah, I don't own the Outsiders, S.E. Hinton does. But if I was around in the 60's… Yeah, well. Anyway.. Here it is.

---

Johnny opened the old door, and almost gasped when he saw what shape Dally was in. His white-blonde hair was plastered to his face, and he had dark circles under his eyes. He was shirtless, and near the side of his stomach, there was a gash, which was poorly bandaged. 'He probably did it himself,' Johnny thought glumly. His ice blue eyes looked up at Johnny, and he managed a small smirk. "Whatcha lookin' at me like that for, kid?"

Johnny closed the door and continued staring. "What..?" He started, but couldn't finish. Dallas frowned. "Oh," He said in his usual annoyed voice, and looked at the gash near his stomach. "I dunno.. It's weird. Last night after I got stabbed, the cut's been feelin' all weird, and it gave me a fever er sumthin'. Probably just a cold," He said, his eyes downcast on a pile of money he'd won at the rodeo a few days back.

Johnny sat down and fumbled with his fingers. "You know," He said quietly, "You should get that checked out. It could be infected. Maybe the switch the guy was using was rusty, and it had tetanus on it or something.."

Dallas growled. "Don't worry about me, kid. Worry about yourself." Johnny flinched, and looked across the room at some torn wallpaper, silent.

"Oh…" Dallas groaned, rubbing his temple. "Look, Johnny, I didn't mean to sound like that.." Johnny looked back up at him, and blinked.

"Look.. Here. I'll make a deal with you so you'll quit worryin' all the time."

Johnny rested his head on his hand and listened. "I'll wash it out tonight, and if it doesn't heal up soon, I'll visit the.. Doctor. I guess."

Johnny grinned, and stood up. "If you need anything Dallas, come over to the Curtis's." Dallas shrugged and stood up, and rubbed his head. "Man, the rooms spinning.." He started to walk, but slumped back down. Johnny frowned.

"Hey Dallas," He said silently.

"What kid?"

"Your beds the other way, you were headed for the wall."

Dallas just sat there with a sort of 'Oh' expression on his face.

Johnny kept back laughter and lightly picked Dallas's arms up and half dragged, half carried him to his bed, and pulled the covers over him. "I'll see you tomorrow," He said silently and started to walk out.

"Hey Johnny," He said in an odd tone, completely different from his usually gruff voice. Johnny looked back, staring concerned. "Yes?" There was a small silence, and Dally finally spoke up. "Could you stay a little longer?" Johnny stared for a few minutes, thinking this was a joke. But Dallas looked serious, and his voice held no hint of a lie. He nodded.

"Sure Dal," He said quietly, and sat on the edge of Dallas's bed.

"So.." Dallas started, "You want to talk or something? I haven't been able to sleep lately, and.." He stopped talking when he felt a cold hand hit his forehead. "Dal, are you running a fever? Maybe you should go to the hospital now," Johnny said worriedly.

Dallas rolled his eyes and shoved Johnny's hand off his forehead. "I'm not sick! Or… not that sick anyway," He said annoyed, and Johnny sat there motionless.

"What's wrong with me wanting to talk?" Dallas said venomously.

"Is…." Johnny said, thinking for a minute. "That a trick question?"

Dallas sighed, and wiped his forehead annoyed. He couldn't start yelling at the kid, so he sat there silently.

"So," Johnny said, a strange calmness to his voice. "What do you want to talk about?" He held back a small snicker, thinking about stupid stuff that giddy school girls talked about.

Dallas shrugged.

Johnny thought for a minute.

"So, why did you get in a fight with Shepard?"

Dallas shrugged again. "Probably something stupid.. I was to drunk to remember, anyway."

Johnny sighed, and stared at the carpet. This was getting boring.

"Oh yeah, you need to wash your cut out." Johnny said suddenly remembering the promise Dally made.

Dallas grumbled something along the lines of, "I'll do it later," And rolled onto his stomach.

Johnny sighed and flopped over on Dallas's bed.

Dallas moved his head sideways on his pillow, looking at Johnny. Johnny's face was still bruised from a few days ago when his dad got mad and drunk again. Dallas got more and more pissed off at that kid's dad everyday.

Johnny sensed he was being looked at and turned his head over to Dallas, cocking a brow. "What?" He said in his usual quiet voice.

Dallas almost felt like reaching his hand out toward Johnny's bruise.

He almost felt a tinge of something more than brotherly love for the boy..

But emptied the thoughts out of his head.

"Hey Johnny," He said quietly, averting his gaze from the sixteen year old.

Johnny looked over at him, confused. "Yeah?"

"You.. Shouldn't be here." He said quietly, and brushed his hair out of his face. "I'll see you around."

Johnny nodded, and got up off of the bed and walked toward the door.

He looked back for a minute, knowing something more could've happened. He put his hand on the doorknob and turned it, and left quietly.

Dallas sighed, resting underneath the covers. "Today.." He said to himself. "Just wasn't the right day. Maybe someday in the future.." and he slowly slid off into a dreamless sleep.

But what he didn't know is that the day would never come, and he would die alone.

-----

Meh.. I'm in a depressed mood, so I decided to end it this way. I doubt anyone will review because you'll all be ticked off, but this is where it ends. I'm going to start a new story though, with lots of chapters.. So look out for that.. I guess.