Author's Note:

Hey hey peeps! THANKS TO MY REVIEWERS!That's all I have to say, lol:D

1 Month Later

Maggie snuck around to the back part of the Dingo. Or more preferably where they put their garbage.

After meeting Dally and all the rest of the guys Maggie used their ice and then fled. She hadn't seen any of them since then.

She rummaged around through the garbage trying to find something to her liking. Buck had kicked her out after finding out her sister had left her, saying that his house was no place for a thirteen year old to be living and that if Maggie wanted a home she should go to one of those girls home's for orphans. Maggie had replied with a simple "Fuck that" and stormed out, taking only her winter coat and an extra pair of jeans. Her extra pair of jeans had been long since dirtied and holed and were no longer worth wearing so she threw them out and refrained to just using one pair of jeans. She kept with the same shirt most of the time. Sometimes she went and stole a shirt out of a soc's shopping bag while they weren't looking, but not very often.

She sighed when she didn't find anything. She hadn't really eaten anything for about 2 days now. All she could get her hands on was a stolen pop once a week. Maggie pulled her coat tighter to her body and pushed her hair out of her eyes before walking back to the front of the Dingo. She was looking down, trying to think of another place that might have something good for her to eat when she ran into someone. The person was rather tall and muscular and Maggie stumbled and started to take a plunge to the ground, but luckily she was caught right before she did.

She corrected her self and pulled her coat tighter around her yet again. Then she took the time to look up to who she had bumped into. And low and behold there stood Dallas Winston right in front of her.

"Maggie." he said somewhat puzzled but sure that it was her. She shook her head hesitantly, she really didn't want him to know how she was living. "Where ya been, kid?" he asked her throwing an arm over he shoulder.

"Around." she answered softly, still looking at her feet. If she could have she would have been blushing. Her face had smudges of dirt and her hair was dis helved and tide back in a sloppy note at the back of her neck. You could barely tell she was a girl by the way she was dressed in her baggy, holey, and dirty clothes. Which made her all the more stunned that Dally had recognized her.

He didn't reply but instead let her go so he could get a look at her. "How longs it been?" he asked after a while of looking her up and down. His face now took a disgusted form.

"A month." she answered simply, still not meeting his gaze. She could feel him nodding thought he didn't say anything.

"You hungry?" he asked after a few seconds. STARVED, was what Maggie wanted to reply with but she decided against it and shook her head instead. He nodded again and lead her inside.

"So, where ya been living?" Dally asked as they started in on their newly arrived food.

"Here, there." Maggie answered between huge bites full of cheeseburger.

"On the streets?" he asked, seriousness was filling his voice which made Maggie look up. It seemed for some reason he was almost worried about her. Maggie nodded her head slowly before taking another bite of food.

Dallas on the other hand was kicking himself for the hundredth time after meeting Maggie. Why was he even caring about this kid? She was thirteen she could take care of herself. Obviously not, his mind shouted at him as he watched her shovel food down her throat and take a gulp of coke. He took a bite of his own cheeseburger, still contemplating on why he cared about this girl. Why he was bothering and even spending his money on her.

Dally walked out with her after paying the bill and stopped suddenly.

"What do you say you sleep at the Curtis' tonight?" he asked suddenly, surprising even himself as the words rolled off of his tounge.

Maggie thought about it for a while, not knowing what to do. She had already met the Curtis' and knew who they were and sleeping on their couch would help her out tremendously physically even if it was for one night. She could get a lot more sleep then she had been getting which would give her more energy to carry out the rest of the week.

She nodded. "Thanks." she said quietly, not knowing what else to say. He simply nodded at her and they started walking in the direction of the Curtis house. Maggie walked beside Dally a confused look on her face. Where was his car?

"Where's your car?" she asked suddenly. Dally looked over at her for a couple of seconds before answering.

"Buck's car, not mine." was all he said. Maggie nodded, not really taking notice to the harshness in his voice. She was too used to people's harshness by now, especially since she was homeless and only 13. People often looked down on her as worthless child who just didn't have any parents. But she didn't mind anymore. She made the best of it and channeled her anger and used it so she could survive another week longer. She was already sad enough about losing all her hard earned muscle she didn't want to worry about losing her life because her body had nothing else to eat off of once everything else was gone.

Dallas and Maggie walked the rest of the way in silence both thinking about different things and sparing each other a glance every now and then. Dallas just so he could see just how skinny Maggie had gotten in one month and trying to contemplate how often she did get something to eat. Maggie thinking about everything that had happened to her in her life and trying to decide she if she was fortunate that she met Dallas or the total opposite.

When they finally reached the Curtis house Maggie was ready to go to sleep as soon as possible, her energy quickly faded now a days.

She followed Dallas up the stairs and into the familiar house and looked around to find all of the guys sitting inside again.

"Hey, Dally." they all grumbled not bothering to look up again.

"What's that smell?" Steve asked suddenly, and for the first time in about 10 years Maggie's face flushed red. The 6 boys face's shot up and looked at Dally, all turned wide-eyed when they saw Maggie.

"You guys remember Maggie right?" Dally asked, gesturing towards Maggie. They all nodded, except Pony who hopped up and eloped Maggie in a hug. She hesitated after a while but slowly relaxed.

Pony and her had talked a lot when she had come there a month ago. They had talked about everything, including how their parents had died. They also talked about Maggie's sister and Pony's brothers. And what life was like for Johnny living at home with his parents. Pony had become Maggie's first friend in about 2 years.

Maggie finally returned the hug and then they both let go, both flushing at all the guys' gocking eyes. Darry cleared his throat to et everyone's attention.

"You wanna take a shower and borrow some of Pony's clothes?" he asked her a warm smile gracing his face. Maggie nodded thankfully but didn't return the smile. Soda jumped up flashed Maggie his happy-go-lucky smile before disappearing into his and Pony's room. A couple minutes later he emerged with a pair of Pony's jeans and a tee shirt. She nodded thankfully at him and left for the bathroom. She flipped on the light and looked around the bathroom. It was small but clean. She threw her change of clothes down in the corner and then realized something. She didn't have any clean underwear. Just when she was about to leave to ask for some there was a knock on the door.

She answered it to see Pony standing on the other side, blushing slightly. She looked at him waiting for him to speak but he only held out a pair of boxers. She nodded and took them and watched as he walked back down the hall way to the living room. Maggie softly shut the door and turned around, throwing the boxers with the other clothes on the floor. She walked to the shower and started the water keeping one hand under it so she could adjust it to the right temperature. Once she was satisfied she took all her clothes off and jumped in.

The shower was nice getting to bathe again was more then enough for Maggie, but she even got a good meal to go along with it. And probably another good meal in the morning. She jumped out again, pulling a towel around herself. She dried herself off before dressing and walking back to the living room.

She looked around at the remaining people in the room. Dally was sitting on the couch watching smoking a cigarette and looking at nothing, Darry was sitting in his big chair reading a book, and Soda and Steve were playing cards. She walked all the way into the room and sat down on the couch next to Dally. He looked up at her for a minute before glancing at Darry who was looking right back at him.

"So, Maggie," Darry began and Maggie couldn't resist but to roll her eyes. "What were you doing on the streets?"

Maggie didn't hesitate before answering, "Buck kicked me out after finding out my sister left me, saying that his house was no place for a 13 year old not even if it was the only place I could live." Darry nodded, he really had no idea what to do with this girl.

"So you lived a month on the streets? What did you eat where did you sleep?" he continued questioning her. By this time Soda and Steve had stopped playing to hear what Maggie had to say.

Maggie sighed and looked down, remembered where all she had slept in the last month and what she had ate. "I slept here and there. Where ever I was at the time when I got tired. I ate out of garbage cans most of the time. The Dingo, Jay's. Anywhere I could get that had something at least half decent. I didn't find much very often though..." she trailed off, thinking they could piece everything together by themselves. She looked up at them all, their faces were filled with disgust and wonderment.

"But your only 13." Soda said, his mind wondered what he would have done if he found out Pony had to do all those things, if he himself had to do all those things.

Maggie shrugged, "You guys of all people should know some of us have to grow up earlier then others. It was just my time is all."

"Still though, Maggie. You have a perfectly capable sister. Its not your fault she decided to marry a soc bastard. You shouldn't have to be punished for it." Darry added.

"Well I am. And its not going to do me any good, your pity, won't do me any good!" Maggie snapped suddenly, she had no idea where he newly found anger had come from. Probably something that had been bottled up that she was just waiting to unleash on someone.

Darry shook his head. "I'm not pitting you. I'm trying to decide what to do with you. Your 13 years old for christs sakes! You have to go to school, you have to be fed and clothed. You have to be loved, like any other normal kid." Maggie didn't say anything, only sat there. She hadn't had those things for over a year now and she wasn't planning on getting them anytime soon. Especially since she was still homeless.

"I know all this, Darry. But I got no place to get it all." she said finally, she was looking down at her bare feet, trying to make sure no one could catch sight of her tears. She hadn't cried since Dally had found her in the hall way at Buck's.

"Your gonna stay here for while." Darry said softly but sternly. Maggie threw her head up ready to protest but he cut her off. "Just until we can get things sorted out. Maybe find someplace for you to stay. You can wear some of Pony's clothes and go to school with him. We can feed you and everything but you will have to do some chores." he added the last part as if he was speaking to one of his brothers, almost warning her that if she didn't there would be hell to pay.

Maggie nodded, she wasn't sure if she was suppose to be happy or content. She didn't want to take away from them though. She didn't want to intrude on their lives just because she didn't have a very good one. Darry nodded to her again and smiled. He got to his feet and pulled her into a hug unexpectingly. She wiggled a bit, thinking it was a bit awkward having this huge guy hugging her, not to mention the fact that he was 20. But after about a minute she hugged him back thankfully. He was, after all, giving her a home for however long it took.

Darry let go of her and smiled one last time before heading to his bedroom to get some sleep, which left Maggie in the living room with Steve, Soda, and Dally.

"Welcome to the family!" Soda joked as he also hugged her, this time Maggie returned it and afterwards Soda too headed off to bed. Maggie stared at Steve and then at Dally who both just sat there, staring into nothing.

"We're all gonna have to fight for the couch." Steve stated out of the blue.

"Your staying here tonight?" Dally asked, pointing at him with his index finer. Steve nodded.

"You are?" Steve asked him in return. Dally simply nodded and looked to Maggie.

"She's the youngest." Dally said pointing to her and looking at Steve. Steve nodded.

"Not to mention she's a girl." Steve added matter of factly.

"Does that mean I get the couch?" Maggie asked, excitement filling her voice. Steve and Dally looked at each other and then grinned evilly. Maggie just stared between them not knowing what was going on.

"No!" they both cried at the same time as they bolted for the couch and the chair. Maggie just stared dumbfounded at the places that Steve and Dally had just been before turning around to see them both getting comfortable, Steve was on the couch and Dally was in the chair. She sighed frustratingly and grabbed a near by pillow and blanket.

"Shut the light off will ya?" Steve growled even though he had a stupid smile on his face. Maggie scowled at him even though his eyes were already closed and flicked off the light before trying to make herself as comfortable as possible. It took her near an hour to finally get to sleep. Even then she kept waking up in the middle of the night and getting all panicked and frightened because she couldn't remember where she was.

She grumbled when everyone around her starting getting up and getting ready for work, she still wasn't very rested.

"What's your problem?" Steve asked jokingly as Maggie glared at him for bumping into her. She shook her head tiredly and looked around. Two Bit and Johnny had yet to arrive.

"What'd you eat for breakfast?" Darry called from the kitchen where he was preparing breakfast. Maggie shrugged, she hadn't eaten breakfast in she didn't know how long.

"Eggs and bacon alright?" he asked after a few minutes of waiting for her to give a real answer. She smiled and shook her head, trying to remember what bacon tasted like. Maggie looked up when Soda walked into the kitchen, water still dripping from his hair his work shirt hanging open unbuttoned. He smiled his happy go lucky smile at her and proceeded to the refrigerator where he pulled out the milk, chocolate syrup, and grape jelly. She raised an eyebrow at him and he just shrugged.