6.

Ponyboy was walking down the street; hair greased back, hands shoved into his pockets. He kicked a pile of dirt weakly, bored out of his mind. Nothing interesting had happened in what seemed like forever. He sighed a weary sigh and continued down the road to his home. It was getting late in June and school would be starting back soon-this thought only made Ponyboy even more lifeless. He strode down the road a little while longer until he came face to face with a group of Socs. One had short cropped hair and was wearing a bright red jacket. Ponyboy turned and started to head in the opposite direction fast, but he knew they had seen him. He could hear their laughter as they followed him. He swore under his breath and sped up, but they knew that they would follow him.

He dashed around another corner before turning to look over his shoulder.
Thud.
One of the Socs pounded into him and they both fell to the ground. Ponyboy landed hard on his back and the breath was knocked out of him. As he struggled to breathe he felt a searing pain on the top of his head. One of the Socs was pulling him by his hair. They slammed him powerfully into a fence on the side of the street. Ponyboy yelped in pain and the Socs laughed maliciously. Ponyboy looked up at the Soc who had hold of his head, his teeth gritted angrily. His eyes were watering from the pain, but he wasn't about to cry. The Soc with the red jacked smiled down at him. "Hiya Greaser!" he chimed nastily. "Nice hair you got here." He paused as if in thought for a moment. "Wonder what would happen if we ripped it off?" He questioned.

He pulled up on Ponyboy's hair, hauling Ponyboy to his feet. Ponyboy squirmed urgently against the Soc's grip. Then, to Ponyboy's surprise, the Soc let go. Ponyboy raised his eyes to look at the Soc, but was met by a fierce blow to face, causing him to stumble backwards. He raised his fist to fight back, though his eyesight was blurry, but was met by another punch to his stomach, then to his face again. He fell over backwards and heard the Socs laughing. He could hear them closing in and squeezed his eyes shut tightly in anticipation. But nothing happened.

Ponyboy opened his eyes and saw the silhouette of a person standing in front of him. Their head was inclined to the side. He could see the Soc standing in front of the other person, his arm still extended out and his hand still in a fist, looking shocked. Ponyboy's rescuer straightened themselves to look at the Soc. "I suggest you leave." A familiar voice snarled. The Socs looked taken aback for a moment, but regained their composure and turned to leave; the one in the red jacket mumbled an apology before running to catch up with his friends. "Kaitlyn?" Ponyboy asked nervously.

She turned around and smiled down at Ponyboy. Her left cheek was very bright red where the Soc had evidently hit her. She offered her hand to him and he took it gratefully. "You alright?" She asked him as he swayed on his feet.

"Yeah, I'm fine." He replied quietly, putting his hands back into his pocket. Kaitlyn smiled and opened her mouth to say something when another voice cut in.

"Hey, Ponyboy! Are you ok?" Dallas called as he jogged over to where Kaitlyn and Ponyboy stood. Kaitlyn's face immediately became enraged looking. "Are you sure you're ok?" She asked Ponyboy calmly. He nodded slowly, his head aching from being hit so hard. Kaitlyn smiled at him, threw a furious glance towards Dallas and walked away.

Dallas made it over to Ponyboy just as Kaitlyn walked away. "So I see she still hates me." He said miserably. Ponyboy nodded in agreement. Dallas had told him all about their fight the next day and Ponyboy didn't blame Kaitlyn for hating Dallas. But, Dallas had also confided in Ponyboy that he had lied, and he didn't really hate Kaitlyn. "Maybe you should go after her." Ponyboy suggested. Dallas didn't reply at first.

"You know what, your right." He finally agreed. He jogged after Kaitlyn, waving goodbye to Ponyboy over his shoulder.

He managed to catch up to Kaitlyn rather quickly and called out to her. She flinched a little, but continued walking. Dallas sighed exasperatedly before running after her. "Hey." He said, she ignored him. He ran until he was right beside her. "Hey." She just kept going. "Hey!" he yelled. She threw a quick glance at him, but didn't say anything. Dallas was getting irritated. He sped up, cut in front of her and place a hand on either of her shoulders, causing her to stop. She glared up at him. "I'm not going to talk to you." She stated plainly.

"Why not?" He asked.

"Why not?" she asked heatedly, her voice rising as she went. "Why not? Dallas are you crazy? You know why! You hate me remember? OR DID THAT NOT EVEN HAPPEN FOR YOU? WHAT DO YOU NEED NOW? I'M NOT GOING TO LET YOU USE ME AGAIN, I'M THROUGH WITH YOU DALLAS WINSTON!" She finished her rant, breathing heavily from yelling.

"I know…I- I was lying though, I don't hate you." He said quietly.

"Then why would you tell me that? Come on, Dallas, you're just playing with me again!"

"No, I'm not." Dallas looked into her eyes. "I know it sounds stupid, but I had to lie to you-"

"Why?" Kaitlyn interrupted. "Why would you have had to lie to me?"

"I… I don't want to talk about it." He said guardedly.

"Dallas Winston, you make absolutely no sense at all. Look, you hurt me when you said you hated me, and now you think you can just waltz on in here and apologize? No. Just, stop trying to talk to me."

"But-"

"No buts! Dallas, you hate me! Just leave me alone!" She yelled and walked in the opposite direction. She crossed her arms and groaned angrily as she stormed off. But Dallas followed her. "Wait!" He grabbed her by the shoulder and turned her to face him. Kaitlyn spun and punched him square in the face. Her eyes widened in surprise at herself. Dallas' hand was on his now aching nose. They stared at each other in silence for a few seconds, and then Dallas moved in quickly and pressed his lips to Kaitlyn's. Her eyes widened even more and she was briefly stunned, but she came to her senses and pushed him off. He stared at her; his nose was starting to bleed now.

"What was that for?" She demanded.

Dallas took a sharp breath. "The only reason that I said I hated you….Was because I don't. I...I guess I'm just afraid of getting too close to anyone, I…I'm afraid of being hurt." He added the last part on reluctantly. Not only did he feel weird about talking about his feeling in general, but especially the ones that made him sound weak.

Kaitlyn was staring at him disbelievingly. "So, what does this mean?" she asked quietly.

Dallas inhaled deeply. "Look, I'm not exactly good at talking about my feeling and stuff. I'm not sure, but I think it means…I love you." His last few words hung in the air for a few intense seconds. He couldn't believe he'd said it. Did he love Kaitlyn? He hadn't really loved anyone before, so he wasn't sure if that was what the feeling inside of him was. Kaitlyn blinked perplexedly up at him. "So first you hate me, and then you love me…" She trailed off, unable to find anything to say. Dallas took a step towards her and Kaitlyn lashed out, slapping him right across his left cheek. Her breath was coming out uneven and she looked almost in pain. Dallas' expression was very similar. "I'm-I'm sorry. I'll leave you alone then." He said, his voice sounding thick, and went to turn away. "No wait!" Kaitlyn called.

Before she could even think to stop herself, she threw herself at him, wrapped her arms around his neck, and planted her lips firmly on his. Dallas was stupefied and for a moment didn't move. But, once he was thinking clearly he fixed his hands around her waist and kissed her back.

They stayed liked that for a few more moments before Kaitlyn pulled back and started coughing and spitting. "What?" Dallas asked confusedly. She looked up at him, her eyes narrowed.

"Your nose." Was all she said. Dallas had forgotten that his nose was bleeding, and the red on Kaitlyn's mouth explained it all. She sighed and removed her jacket, handing it to Dallas who took it appreciatively and pressed it against his nose. "You know, this is starting to be a habit." She said miserably, but with a smile on her face. Dallas chuckled quietly.

"Yeah I know." He said smiling back at her. Kaitlyn's smile, however, had evaporated and was replaced with an intense look. "What?" He asked anxiously.

"So what does this mean…For us I mean?" She asked him delicately.

He looked at her, perplexed, and then comprehension dawned on his face. But he merely said, "Oh, that."

"Not quite the answer I was looking for, Dallas." She said indignantly.

Dallas sighed tiredly. "I don't know."

"Well, that's helpful. She said sarcastically.

"Hey I'm thinking here alright!" Dallas exclaimed

"Ok, ok. Just don't hurt yourself." She murmured.

Dallas gawked at her for a moment, then he started to laugh, quietly at first, then it grew until he was doubled up in a fit of laughter. Kaitlyn wasn't sure what she had said that was so funny; but watching him laugh so much made her laugh as well. Soon they were both in hysterics, and Dallas had tears in his eyes from laughing. Their laughing died down eventually and they just stood there smiling at each other. "Well," Kaitlyn said turning from Dallas and looking up the street. "This is a pleasant change."

"What's a pleasant change?" Asked Dallas.

"Us laughing instead of arguing." She said joyously. "So, now what?" She asked, turning back to face Dallas.

"Well, it's only five; wanna go grab something to eat?"

"Sure!" Kaitlyn replied.

"Alright then." Dallas said. "Let's go."

They started off down the street and Kaitlyn slipped her and into Dallas'. The pair walked hand in hand to a little restaurant called Dan's Burgers-N-Stuff. People stared at them shamelessly, not even bothering to conceal their surprise at the odd duo. They went up to the counter, ordered their food, then went to sit together in a booth in the back of the restaurant. They ate their food, chatting merrily and laughing loudly. At one point they were taking turns throwing fries into each other's mouth.

"Uh, I'll be right back; I need to use the bathroom." Dallas said abruptly, standing up and walking off.

"Oh, ok." Kaitlyn said quietly as he walked away. She looked down and started to eat a fry, stealing some of Dallas' ketchup. Someone cleared their throat beside her and Kaitlyn looked up to see an anxious looking middle aged woman with graying hair and a big handbag hanging off her arm looking down at her. "Do you have a moment?" The woman asked nervously.

"Yeah, sure." Kaitlyn replied curiously as the woman made to take Dallas' seat but looked at it as if it were going to burst to life and eat her. "It's not infected." Kaitlyn said heatedly. The woman finally sat down and glanced apprehensively around her. "W-Will he be back soon?" The woman asked timidly, shifting in the seat.

"I don't know." Kaitlyn replied bitterly eating another fry.

"Do you know who that is?" The woman asked looking very serious.

"Yeah he's Dallas Win-"

"No no girl, I mean do you know who he really is?" The woman asked, clenching and unclenching her handbag. "Like, did you know that he used to live in New York?" She asked.

"Yeah, so?" Kaitlyn replied, but she hadn't known that Dallas was from New York, but then again that topic never really came up in a conversation.

"Well when he lived there he was in a gang!" The woman replied exasperatedly. "I heard he did all kinds of bad things up there!"

Kaitlyn stared at the woman, unsure of what to say. She furrowed her brow in thought and the woman continued. "I mean, he's even been to jail, and not just once, multiple times!" She looked grimly at Kaitlyn before going on. "Now, I'm just saying, but I don't that he's exactly the right company for a lovely young lady such as yourself-"

"Why not?" Kaitlyn interrupted, looking coldly at the woman who was still gripping her handbag.

"Well, just look at his reputation, look at what he's done!" the woman whispered severely, leaning in towards Kaitlyn.

Kaitlyn sighed wearily and fixed the woman with a serious look. "Look, people make mistakes, but you can't just look at what people have done, you gotta look at the good things that they're capable of, and help them to see them too." She explained quietly.

"So," the woman said, her voice sounding forcedly calm "you think that you can what, help him turn his life around or something, him?"

"That's the general idea, yeah." Kaitlyn replied evenly, taking another fry and dipping in Dallas' ketchup; smiling triumphantly when the woman cringed.

"Well, I'll tell you this, it's a lost cause! You can't change filth like that!" the woman snapped angrily before standing up and storming away. Kaitlyn looked after the woman for a moment then looked down at her food and shook her head in confusion before continuing to eat.

A pair of hands grabbed her shoulders and she started, but turned to see Dallas smiling down at her. "Gotcha." He said before sitting down. "Sorry I took so long; the line was almost out of the door." He said, smiling at her as he started to eat again.

"Hey, Dallas, how come you never told me you used to live in New York?" She asked, looking into his eyes.

Dallas held her gaze. "Never came up I guess." He said calmly, but his face had grown stony and he mashed some fries angrily into his ketchup.

Kaitlyn decided to drop it for now, but she wondered why he didn't want to talk about it so much. She decided to change the subject to brighten the now dismal mood. "So…Tell me about your family." She said smiling at him as he crammed his mouth full of french-fries. "Not really much to talk about there." He said thickly, his mouth still full of food. "My dad's an ass, and I don't know my mom."

"Oh." Kaitlyn looked at the ground. She felt as if she had made the mood even more grim.

"So, what about you?" Dallas asked, taking a sip of his drink.

"Well, I've got an older sister and a younger brother. Then there's my mom and my dad, but you've met them." She replied. Her and her family had always been very close.

"I never really needed family." Said Dallas unexpectedly. Kaitlyn looked up at him curiously. "Ever since I was a kid I was on my own," He continued "I was out on the streets, and didn't have or need nobody. I was twelve when I first went to jail. Yeah, I know that's young." He added when he saw Kaitlyn surprised face.

"But then I moved here, and I met the gang. They're all good guys." He paused for a moment and Kaitlyn was unsure if he was going to continue.

"I don't even need a home really." He said quietly. "If I go there, my dad is a big jerk to me. I don't ever stay there; I just crash where I can. But, I sort of wish I had somewhere that I could call home. I…I don't even know why I'm saying this." He said suddenly, he was gripping his cup tightly.

"Dallas, it's ok. You…You can talk to me. If you want that is." She told him carefully, but this only seemed to make it worse.

"I don't need to talk to anyone about how I feel!" He snapped. "I'm fine. I'm tough, and I don't need anybody!" He had squeezed his cup so hard that it burst in his hands, sending Coca-Cola all over the table. "Damn." Dallas whispered, "I'll go get some napkins, sorry." He mumbled as he stood up and walked away. Kaitlyn covered her face with her hands and sighed. What had happened? They were getting along so great and then, this. Dallas was a very confusing person. She was starting to feel drained from the crazy day, but was confident that it couldn't get any wilder.

She raised her face out of her hands when she heard Dallas arrive. He moped up his mess sullenly with some napkins. When he was finished, he threw the sodden napkins their food tray and went to dump it. He came back to the table but didn't say anything for a while, but he didn't sit down either. "You ready to go? I can take you home if you want." he asked quietly after a few awkward moments of silence.

"Sure" Kaitlyn replied, getting to her feet and leading the way out of the little restaurant. They walked in silence for a while. Kaitlyn had to try very hard to ignore the blatant pointing at whispering. Why did people in this place have to have such a problem with others? As they walked, Kaitlyn threw a glance at Dallas. He looked angry and refused to even look in Kaitlyn's direction. She sighed and looked down at the ground. Then, she carefully slipped her hand into Dallas'. He looked down, surprise unwillingly painting his face. But, he controlled himself and looked back up, but seemed less angry all together.

They finally made it back to Kaitlyn's house and stopped on the front porch. Kaitlyn turned to face Dallas and was relieved to see that his face was now relaxed. "So," she said, smiling tentatively "today was…Interesting. Not that I didn't have any fun, though I didn't exactly enjoy getting punched in the face." She added.

Dallas chuckled and smiled down at her. "Well, did you at least enjoy this part?" he asked before leaning in and kissing her again. They broke apart after a few moments. Kaitlyn smiled up at him. "Yeah, that part was alright." She replied. He smiled at her for a second the turned on his heels and jogged off. "See ya around!" He called over his shoulder. Kaitlyn smiled and waved before heading into the house, her still bloody jacket in tow. She managed to sneak in in the washer without being caught. "Kaitlyn," her mother called from the kitchen. "Dinner will be ready in a few minutes."

"Oh, sorry mom, but a friend and I ate at a burger place just a bit ago." Kaitlyn called back. She heard her mother mutter something about ungratefulness, but let Kaitlyn escape to her bedroom.

Once there, Kaitlyn slipped off her shoes. She remembered the last time she had come home after seeing Dallas; she had been in a much unhappier state then. She dropped onto her bed and stayed there, staring at the ceiling for a moment before rolling onto her stomach. She lay face down in the sheets, thinking the whole day over. Dallas had confused her immensely. One minute he was kind and sweet, the next he was cruel and hateful, then he changed again. She could tell that he was a bit unstable. But from what he'd told her, his family wasn't exactly stable either.

Then she started thinking about that woman, and what she'd told her. Did she really hope to change Dallas? Was there any hope? She knew that she had to try, for his sake. She pushed herself off her bed and walked over to her bathroom. She showered and brushed her teeth and hair before heading back to her bedroom. She flicked the lights off and lay back down on her bed where she quickly fell asleep.

Clank, Clank. Kaitlyn sat up in her bed. She looked over at her clock. It read 12:01am. Clank, Clank. Kaitlyn head the noise again. She looked over to her window to where the sound seemed to be coming from. Clank. A rock hit the window. Kaitlyn opened the window apprehensively. The night air rushed in and caused her nightgown to billow out around her.

She looked down and saw someone standing in her yard, rock in hand. Their blonde hair was illuminated in the moonlight. "Hey there sleeping beauty!"