Ok, folks... I got a few reviews that made me go back and take a look at this last chapter- it did kind of sound like an ending, didn't it? I didn't intend that at all... my appologies! Unless you guys are ready for it to be over... (please say you're not, I have a little more to tell!) I have a much more interesting ending than that in mind. This is what happens when I don't leave you with a cliff hanger! Any how...

I do not own The Outsiders!

Johnny leaned tiredly against Dally's shoulder. He was trying desperately to control the tears falling out of his eyes, but he was failing miserably. You just didn't cry in front of Dallas Winston. But so much had happened... he was so disoriented and overwhelmed. He couldn't concentrate long enough to regain his composure before another horrifying memory clouded his mind and swept over him like a wave. 16 years of abuse, neglect and now lies had all come to the surface at once and on top of that, he had watched his father shoot his mother and then Dally. And then while his father was aiming a gun at his head, someone had killed him, too. His father... Johnny had to keep reminding himself that Robert wasn't even his real father. Johnny had dealt with a lot of things in his short life, but this was just too much all at once. And he just felt so lousy. His lungs ached, his stomach hurt, he was bruised and cut up and he was burning up with fever and freezing at the same time. He couldn't help crying in front of Dally. He just couldn't help it.

Surprisingly, though, Dally seemed uncharacteristicly... understanding. He wasn't telling Johnny to stop or to pull himself together. He was just sitting there... letting Johnny lean on him and talking softly to him in a tone Johnny had never heard him use. And for this, Johnny was grateful. He needed someone with him right then to just be there. Someone he trusted, because he certainly didn't know if he trusted any of the people downstairs. If Dally hadn't been there, Johnny didn't know what he would have done. Or worse, if Dally had gotten shot... He clenched his eyes shut again and surpressed another sob. He was so glad he'd been able to tell Dally that he hadn't meant all the terrible things he'd said. He knew Dally hadn't kept the secret to hurt him. He'd been protecting him, like he always did. But the others...

Johnny took a deep breath, forcing back more tears. "They all lied..." he said softly.

"Nobody meant for you to get hurt, kid. Or for anyone to get hurt, for that matter. Especially not you. We were all just trying to protect you."

"Only you were." Johnny mumbled. "Not them."

"Johnny, there's a lot more to it than you understand yet. And I promise, I'll tell you everything after you get some rest."

But Johnny had decided that he was not sleeping. He was not going to dream about Dally getting shot again. It was one thing to remember it when Dally was sitting right next to him, but dreaming it was just too real.

Johnny sat there for a long time. The storm outside raged, and the winds blew, shaking the panes of glass in the windows. Dally just held him, speaking softly and reassuringly to him. Johnny had tucked his head under Dally's chin. Slowly, the tears stopped coming and finally, he started to settle down. Johnny sat back and dried his eyes. "Sorry," he said softly.

"Hey," Dally scolded. " Quit sayin' that! You've been through hell. It's ok." He could see Johnny shivering. "You cold, buddy?" Dally asked doubtfully. Johnny was burning with fever and Dally couldn't imagine that he would be cold.

Johnny nodded. "Yeah, I'm freezing... I think... I don't know," he said, his voice faltering. "I don't feel good."

"Yeah, I know you don't," Dally said getting up off the bed. He took Johnny's shoulders and guided him down to the pillow. "C'mon, lie down. Where are you hurtin' kid?" he asked putting his hand gently on Johnny's stomach.

"Everywhere," Johnny responded tiredly.

I know what that feels like, Dally thought as he brought the blankets up to Johnny's chin. He had started to become very aware of the fact that probably a lot of Johnny's emotional state was due to being sick. Very, very sick.

"You're gonna be ok... you've probably got chills. You're real sick, Johnnycake. You just need some rest," Dally said soothingly, hoping to calm Johnny down. He was so overwrought. And understandably so. In fact, considering the circumstances, Dally figured Johnny was doing better than he would have expected.

But then Johnny threw another curveball.

"I want to go home... " Johnny said quietly, a tear escaping the corner of his eye.

Dally didn't know what to say to that. Johnny couldn't go home now. If Dally took him back to Tulsa, they'd send social services after him. Dally felt like someone was ripping his heart out. "Johnny, " he whispered. "You know what? Why don't we talk about this tomorrow, when you're feeling better... You're so sick right now, buddy. You need to get some sleep."

"No!" Johnny said sounding frantic, suddenly sitting up. "No, please, Dally I... I don't want to sleep..."

"Hey, shhh...take it easy, kid. I ain't gonna make you do anything you don't want to do. But you're so tired, Johnnycake... don't you want to lie down for a little while?"

Johnny shook his head.

"Why not?" Dally asked soflty, pushing Johnny's hair back. It didn't hang down and cover his eyes as much anymore. Dally did it out of habit.

Johnny was silent for a moment. Then Dally remembered how Johnny had awakened in the first place.

"Have you been having bad dreams?" he whispered.

Johnny nodded.

"About... about your parents?"

"No..." Johnny looked at him, his eyes filled with terror and saddness. "About you." Another loud clap of thunder made him jump.

Dally was getting worried about him. Every clap of thunder made him cringe. He would squeeze his eyes shut and look almost like he was trying to force a thought or a memory from his mind. He looked desperately afraid, almost paniced, like he wanted to get out of the room.

"Hey, it's all right, it's just a noise..." Dally hesitantly moved closer to him again, putting an arm around him so that Johnny was able to lean against him. Dally knew he was in for a long night, but he didn't care. Just being able to feel Johnny breathe, knowing he was alive was all he cared about. He looked totally exhausted and Dally figured whether he wanted to go to sleep or not, he would if he got comfortable enough.

Johnny tried to pull himself together again.

"Tell me what you were dreaming about... you said it was about me?"

Johnny nodded and let out a quivering breath. His black eyes became very serious and he lifted his head and looked intently at Dallas. "Yeah, I keep having this dream over and over that..." he sucked in his breath, like he was having trouble even thinking about the dream.

"It's all right... that what?" Dally whispered.

Johnny swallowed hard. "That you...get killed. I keep seeing it hapen and I can't get it out of my head...I...I dream it over and over and it's so real. More real than any dream I've ever had... I woke up a few times before you came back, and I really thought..."

Johnny trailed off, but Dally knew what he was going to say.

"I kept asking where you were and they said they were looking for you... Nobody knew where you were and then I thought maybe they just weren't going to tell me that you were-" Johnny couldn't get the rest of the sentence out.

"Ok... it's all right..." Dally whispered.

"That's why..." Johnny tried to continue, but he was starting to cry again. "...everytime I hear the thunder, it just sounds like..."

"Shhh... ok...everything's all right..." Dally put his hand on the side of Johnny's face and the minute he touched him, Johnny just broke down again. Dally pulled him against his shoulder.

"I don't want something to happen to you..." Johnny said through tears.

Aside from being very concerned about Johnny's emotional state, Dally was somewhat touched that anyone would care so much about his safety. "Nothing's gonna happen to me, Johnnycake. I'm gonna stay right here."

"I really hate the th..thunder-"

"I know... I know you do... It's ok..,."

"And I don't want to... go to sleep because I.. I'm just afraid that if I close my eyes..." he struggled to get the words out. They ended up coming out in a whisper. "You'll be gone."

"Aww, Johnnycake..." he stroked Johnny's hair lightly. "C'mon, kiddo. That won't happen. I ain't goin' anyhwere. All right?" He couldn't stand to see Johnny so upset. "Listen..." Dally got down on the floor in front of Johnny and took both of his hands. "I want you to take a deep breath for me, buddy, all right? C'mon... there you go," Dally whispered as Johnny did as he was told. Dally wiped a tear off his cheek. "Now do it again... that's it..."

Johnny's breathing slowed slightly and his shaking diminished, but he was still visibly frightened and terribly upset.

"Here," Dally said, standing up again and pulling the blankets that had fallen down back up around Johnny's shoulders. "Keep these around you. We gotta keep you warm. Now look, "he sighed. "A lot of stuff's been going on... A lot of really hard things... Hey, c'mon-"He stopped for a second as Johnny hung his head again. He squeezed Johnny's shoulder. "You're probably going to have bad dreams, you know? It'll be ok. It's nothing to worry about."

Johnny didn't say anything.

Dally sighed. He chewed on his lip for a moment and then hesitantly, he said. "I got pretty scared too, ya know."

Johnny looked at him. "You did?"

Dally nodded.

"Why? You mean when you got shot?"

Dally laughed a little. "No. Not when I got shot. I saw you go in the water and you weren't swimming, I think you got knocked out or something. And then I tried to go after you, but I kind of got sucked down stream 'cause I couldn't swim either with my arm and all. Anyway, when I woke up on the river bank, I didn't know where you were. I kinda thought that maybe you didn't make it. And... it really... scared me, you know?" Dally swallowed. He felt so strange telling anyone that something had scared him, but Johnny seemed to be responding. He seemed less terrified, so Dally continued. "So... it's ok, see? We're both all right now and everything's gonna be fine... you don't have to be scared anymore. Is that the only thing that's got you all spooked? Thinking I got shot?"

"Mostly... And... about my parents..." Johnny didn't look like he was quite ready to talk about that yet. "I really want to go home... " Johnny whispered, his eyes pleading.

Dally's heart sank again. "I know, kid. I know." But he also knew that was impossible.

Johnny tried to steady his breathing. Finally, he asked in almost a whisper, "Can... can you stay in here tonight? I'm...really scared."

Dally hugged him. He couldn't even answer him because one word out of his mouth would open the flood gates. He was not going to cry in front of Johnny. Not right now. He took a few deep breaths to steady himself. Then he ruffled Johnny's hair, sat back down beside him and leaned back against the headboard. "C'mere," he motioned to Johnny.

Johnny laid down and put his head on Dally's shoulder.

"If I stay in here, do you promise to go to sleep?" Dally said, having no intention of leaving even if the kid said no.

There was a long pause. "I guess."

"All right, I guess I can stay then. 'Cause I am damn tired- I'm sleeping!"

There was a long silence. Dally could tell Johnny was thinking hard about something and not trying to sleep."So..." he said finally, his voice soft and uncertain. "Is Will... really my dad?"

"Yeah, I guess so."

There was another long silence. "How did... how did you know?"

Dally stomach lurched. He didn't want to talk about how he had known and how he had chosen to not tell Johnny. That was a raw wound that he really wanted to leave alone, but he figured he owed Johnny that much. "Well...I was flipping through the photo albums. I was looking at that picture of your grandmother's second husband. You look just like him. So do Wendy and Will. Matt too. And he wasn't Robert's father, that other guy was. You know, the creepy lookin' one."

"Yeah, Charles Hamilton."

"Yeah, him. So I guess I just.. kind of figured it out."

Johnny's voice was getting softer and Dally hoped he was close to falling asleep.

"Dal?"

"Hmm?"

"Do you think Will knew?"

"I don't know, kid. I don't really think he did." Now go to sleep! Dally thought as he closed his eyes again, hoping that would be the end of the questioning.

"Why not?"

"I thought you were gonna try to sleep..." Dally whispered.

Johnny didn't answer him.

Dally sighed. "Will had a lot of stuff happen to him. He was young and stupid and he probably just never thought about it, Johnny. Look, I know you've got a ton of questions, but you need to get some rest. You gotta get better, kid. I promise, I'll answer all your questions in the morning and anything I can't answer I will find out for you if you really want to know, all right?"

Another pause.

"Yeah... all right."

"Go to sleep, baby brother..." Dally said running his hand over Johnny's hair. "Everything's gonna be all right." he wasn't sure he believed himself.

He lay there for a long time, listening to Johnny's breathing. He could feel little wet tears soaking through his t-shirt. Then he heard Johnny's breathing get slow and steady. Dally stayed awake for a few minutes after that. Thinking, planning, trying to figure out what to do.

For a moment, he almost laughed. What would all the boys back on the East side of Tulsa say if they could see him now? His reputation as one of the toughest hoods in town would be gone. He was talking civily with adults, he was trying to rationally sort out domestic family issues, and now he was sleeping beside the second youngest of his gang to keep away his nightmares. And he had cried! What had happened to him?

He thought of Soda who had to sleep next to Ponyboy every night for the same reason and no one thinks any less of him. And at this point, he didn't care what anyone thought. Because Dallas Winston had finally come face to face with something that had truly terrified him. Something that made him feel as small and afraid as Johnny felt right now. And quite frankly, he didn't want to sleep alone tonight either. He could now very plainly see life from Ponyboy's eyes. His nightmares had started after he had lost someone close to him. Dally had gotten a glimpse of that world and if that was what Ponyboy went through every night, well then Dally had a whole new respect for that kid.

It wasn't long before Dally gave in to his own exhaustion and fell asleep.

Downstairs, the front door flew open and Tom came rushing in. Wendy met him in the foyer.

"He's upstairs," she smiled through her tears. "He's with Johnny."

Tom took the stairs two at a time. He opened the door quietly and saw the two boys curled up next to eachother, sound asleep. Johnny was wrapped up in the blankets, his head tucked under Dally's chin and his face nuzzled into Dally's t-shirt. Dally was stretched out on top of the covers, one arm was bandaged at the shoulder, the other arm was wrapped protectively around Johnny. Both of them looked fairly peaceful, Tom thought, considering all that had gone on.

Tom smiled as he walked up to them. He touched Dally's hair gently. "You gave us quite a scare, there, old boy," he whispered.

Dally sighed in his sleep.

Tom pulled a blanket off a nearby chair and covered Dally with it. Then he put another log on the fire and sneaked quietly out of the room.

"You'd never know they came right off the city streets looking at them now, would you?"

Wendy just looked past Tom at the two boys, her eyes full of worry and saddness.

"They'll be ok," Tom promised.

Wendy looked at him and nodded, still looking sad.

Tom put his arm around her and led her to their room. "Where's your mom?"

"She's in her room. She said she needed some time alone. I hope she finally went to sleep."

"How's Will?"

Wendy hung her head. "He's... he's devastated. I tried to talk to him, but he just wouldn't..."

"Give him some time. He'll be all right too. How are you?" He asked turning her around to look at her.

Wendy's face crumpled and she just started to cry. "Oh, Tom... I just want to hold them all... I feel so helpless. But I'm so glad those boys are ok."

Tom hugged her. "C'mon, we need to get some rest or we'll be of no help to any of them."

Wendy looked back at the room down the hall.

Tom smiled. "Go on... go kiss them goodnight, but don't wake them up!"

She smiled tearfully at him and made her way down the hall.

She tiptoed up to the bed and gave both boys a kiss on the forhead and then mede her way back down the hall.

Dally slept until about 4 in the morning. He awoke in a somewhat conflicted state. Someone had covered him with a blanket, Johnny was sleeping (finally) peacefully beside him, the fire was still glowing and he felt so warm and comfortable where he was. Except for one thing- his shoulder was screaming with pain. The pain won out after a moment or two and he carefully slid his arm out from under Johnny and headed back across the hall to Johnny's room where he'd left the pain pills the doctor had given him. A quiet sniffling sound from downstairs caught his attention. He tried to ignore it. He knew it was Wendy.

He took one of the pills with some water from the bathroom and headed back to bed, but he couldn't quite keep from stopping in the middle of the hall. Then he walked over and put one foot on the top step.

What are you doing? What are you going to say to her? He asked himself. He couldn't figure out how he kept purposely putting himself in these situations, but somehow, he managed to do it.

She sat wrapped in a blanket and surrounded by wadded up tissues and a glass of wine.

Dally walked up and stopped a few feet from her. "Hey... What are you doing up?" he whispered in mild exasperation.

Wendy looked up, surprised. Her eyes were red and puffy and she looked like she'd been crying for hours. But behind the almost painful-to-look-at reddness, Dally could still see a little bit of Johnny in those eyes and maybe that was why he felt such sympathy. Or maybe it was because in just a few short weeks, that woman had become almost a mother to him.

He got down beside her on the couch and she tried to smile. She put her hand on Dally's arm. He allowed it, and even went so far as to actually take her hand, just for a second.

"He's ok." Dally said, trying to sound reassuring.

Wendy nodded, but looked visibly relieved. She sniffled again.

"Are you ok?" she asked.

"Yeah. I'm fine." Dally looked down.

"I'm glad you're staying with him. He really needs you, he's so shaken up..."

"He'll get through this..."

"He shouldn't have to!" Wendy choked out desperately. "Why, Dally? We were trying to help him and look what a mess we ended up in... we came so close to losing him. Why would God let something like this happen?"

Dally looked at her, shocked. No one had ever asked him a question like that before. And had they asked, they would have only gotten an apathetic response. But now, something inside him had changed... something inside of him felt humbled, grateful to be alive. Even more grateful that Johnny was alive.

He considered his words carefully. He certainly was not one to ask about God. And he wasn't sure if Wendy was really asking, or if she was just wondering out loud. But he answered anyway. "I don't know... He's God. He does weird things. I... I heard someone say that once." he added when Wendy looked at him funny.

And then she actually laughed. "Yes, you're right, Dally. He does... work in mysterious ways."

Dally thought perhaps he should elaborate. "I guess what I'm saying is, yeah, we almost lost him, but we didn't." Dally let out a small laugh. "You don't know... you can't see it can you? You have helped him. You don't know what you got him out of. Johnny wasn't gonna make it out of Tulsa. I don't know, I just... always had this... feeling, you know? Like something really bad was gonna happen if he stayed there much longer. He was gonna die young. We both were." Dally gazed at the carpet.

Wendy's eyes widened.

"I mean, maybe not literally. But, you know, like his spirit. Or maybe literally," Dally said thinking about it more now. "Things were really bad. Maybe I'm crazy, I don't know. But I really think him coming here... saved his life somehow."

Wendy expression changed slightly. She looked gratefully at Dally. "Do you really believe that?"

Dally looked her right in the eye. "Yeah, I do."

She smiled through her tears and looked down at the tissue she was holding. "Do you think... do you think he'll forgive me? Us?"

"I know he will."

"How?"

Dally shrugged. "Because he's Johnny."

Wendy let out a little laugh. "Yes. He's Johnny all right. And I love him. Dally, I love him as though he were my own child. I... don't think he knows that."

Dally thought a moment. "He doesn't know what that's like. So, no... he probably doesn't know."

Wendy looked devastated.

"Hey..don't worry, he'll learn. You've already come a long way with him."

"I just feel like we've gone backwards." Wendy said shaking her head. "Well, you go on back up to bed. You need your rest."

Feeling he had done about all he could do, Dally stood and headed back to the stairs.

"Dally?"

He turned.

Wendy looked at him and with all the sincerity and kindness she had, said, "I'm so glad you're here."

Dally face softened for a moment. He looked at her the way he looked at Johnny sometimes and she knew she'd broken through the last layer of his shell. "Get some sleep," Dally said quietly and continued up the stairs.

In the morning, the sun shone through the window, signaling the end of the storm and the beginning of a new day. Johnny was still asleep and so was Dally's arm. He'd gone back up to stay with Johnny as he'd promised and the minute he had layed down, Johnny had curled up and found his shoulder again. Fortunately, he was sleeping on the side of the good shoulder.

As gently as he could, he pulled his arm out from under Johnny's head.

Johnny sat up and sucked in his breath, his eyes wild with fear.

"Easy, Johnnycake... it's ok."

Johnny looked at him a moment, trying to decide if he was dreaming or not.

"I'm just going to go get something to eat, I'm starved!"

Johnny just stared.

"You ok?" Dally felt his head. Still a little hot, but definitely better.

Johnny nodded and closed his eyes.

"You want anything?"

Johnny opened his eyes and looked at him. He shook his head.

Dally's stomach sank. That "look" was back. The look that said 'I've hit rock bottom. I've got nothing left.' He'd seen that look in Johnny's eyes before and it was not good.

"Ok. Go on back to sleep, now. I'll be back in a little while."

Dally went down to the kitchen to find some food. He would eventually have to figure out how to deal with Johnny, but right now, he had to deal with his stomach.

It was about 7:30 and surprisingly, no one else seemed to be up yet, but then he saw Tom and Will outside looking at the remains of the burned barn.

Dally found a bowl and some cereal and plopped down at the kitchen table. He looked out the window as he ate. In the back of his mind, he knew this would be his last moment of peace for a while. For him, things were black and white. In Dally's eyes, the world was a better place without Robert and Maria Cade. He had no regrets that they were gone. His arm would heal, the barn would be rebuilt and Johnny was safe. Nothing else mattered.

But this was not his world and he knew there would be more to it than that. There would be more talks with the police, there would be a funeral, there would be articles in the paper. There was going to be a lot for Johnny to deal with and he was already not handling things very well. Dally knew it from the look in Johnny's eyes.

And, not that he felt it was any of his responsibility, but he figured Will was probably a mess too. He'd already seen the condition Wendy was in. Grandma Cade and Tom would probably be the most likely to pull through. Part of him was thinking about when he should head back to Tulsa. This wasn't his home, no one had asked him to stay. But he figured he'd stick around to help out a bit more, at least for a little while.

(NOT THE END!)

To the reviewers:

Chicita: What a creative and unusual reviews you give... always fun to read! Have you been into the caffine? Tsk tsk! What's really funny is when you were saying "Will really is his father" I was actually thinking the line that you wrote in for me almost word for word! I laughed when I scrolled down and read my own thoughts! Thank you for all your comments. They are very much enjoyed and appreciated. I hope you liked this chapter!

Kimmerkay: Thanks for the comments. I like to hear what you think about different parts of the story. And I'm glad you found a likeable side of Dally in chapter 42. Hopefully you will find him even more likeable by the end of the story. I do have plans for some Darry parts coming up eventually -I saw you mention once that you really like Darry stories!

WhatGraceHasGiven: Whoa! You HAVE been gone a while if this only had 30 chapters last time you were on. I am SO glad you're still reading. I would be very sad not to hear from you any more. Hope you enjoyed this!

Lisa1990: Thanks for reading and reviewing! I appreciate it! Good luck with your stories... if you don't feel like one is going anywhere, just take a break from it for a while. Something might come to you when you leave it alone for too long. That's how this one-shot became 43 chapters long and still counting.

Hahukum Konn: Blown away by "Twilight's End"- just fabulous. Thanks for reviewing and NO! This is not the end! Sorry I wrote it that way. Hope you want to hear some more!

fire stormwing: Thank you! I am always so excited when someone tells me they were moved to tears! I had a lot of fun writing that last chapter. Also glad that you commented on the songs... I always wonder if they work or not. A lot of the chapters are so deeply inspired by songs that I feel like I can't leave them out. In fact, a certain song inspired a whole section of this story that I will mention later... don't want to give too much away!

JamesDeanismygod: Thanks so much for your reviews! I am glad you liked the last chapter. I had a lot of fun writing it... I like to make Dally's soft spot for Johnny peek out every now and then.

Booklover: Hope you got a chance to check out ch. 44, I think you will enjoy it. And yes, we have to see how Johnny will deal with all this, that's why the story just can't be over yet!

Alba Rosa : Thank you! I know you don't do a lot of reviewing from your bio, so I do truly appreciate you taking the time to write to me! I need to know that people are reading this and enjoying it... it helps me write. So thank you VERY much!