Disclaimer: I do not own The Outsiders D:

A/N: I edited this chapter and I have probably missed some mistakes, so feel free to point any out! This chapter is for Al; I miss my insomniac buddy! xo

XXX

December 19, 1963

Bucks was packed full of underage teens from Crawford territory all the way from across the river to King territory. For the most part Buck provided a middle ground for Tulsa's East side, a place where people could drink until they forgot their names or at least until they forgot the girl's name they were bringing upstairs with them. Admittedly, it got rough at times, fights broke out regularly and tension between rival gangs was always high. Fights almost always made it outside though because Buck wasn't too keen paying for repairs… Buck wasn't keen on paying for much of anything but those who fought inside were lucky to get back in let alone get served much of anything.

The thing about Buck's was that even if you came alone there would always be someone you knew already there. It was a good place to watch people, if you wanted to know anything about anyone Buck's was the place to find out what you wanted or needed to know or at least it was a start.

Leroy and Henry Bishop, two brothers that were a part of the Crawford Gang, they were the same age as Ben- you got along with them pretty good. Being only ten months a part they were as close as any brothers you'd ever seen. Where one was the other wasn't too far behind, they were complete opposites but it worked, they were hilarious to be around and didn't seem to take all the gang shit too seriously. They used to be River Kings, you knew that much, they were still friends with a lot of the Kings but you knew they got out because of the gang's involvement with pimping out women, it said a lot about them. You were sure the only reason they were involved with any gang nowadays was because they were good at what they did. It was the only thing they knew and they made a pretty penny; you didn't know what Wayne had them doing but you knew they wanted the money for their own reasons. Leroy had a baby girl with his girlfriend and Henry… well Henry liked the adventure.

The two of them were playing pool with two more from the many Wayne brought in but these two were more around your age, you've known them since freshmen year. Billy Sealy was an Indian that stopped going to school when he was fifteen, he didn't go to your school but you didn't blame him for dropping out, some of the stories he told about the school he was sent to were almost unbelievable. He was a lot taller then most fifteen year olds you knew, had dark skin and hair he definitely looked like an Indian which didn't bide well with a lot of people, including a lot that were in the gang. But you had his back, not that he needed it; he was really good with a knife, too good- you were glad he was on your side. And then there was Jay Nelson; he was a couple years older, his sister Kathy was in your grade. He was a good guy but Jesus Christ he gave most guys a good run for greasiest hood on the East side. The cooler was his second home; he really had no fear, and loved to fight as much as you did. Smart as a whip though, he probably could have ran his own gang if he wanted but he didn't have the patience, mostly he didn't want the work that came with it.

"Henry, we're stripes," Leroy said blandly as you leaned up against the wall, watching the pool game take place. Billy smirked as he lined up his shot.

"Since fucking when?" Henry slurred, looking at his brother. Leroy shook his head and watched as Billy started sinking ball after ball.

"Since the last time he told ya, genius," Jay laughed, coming back from the bar with five beer. Henry laughed and patted his brother apologetically; indifferent to the ten dollars they had on the game.

"Can it Jay, you only play when you can team up with Billy so you can make money without actually doing shit," Leroy quipped, taking a beer off of his hands.

"It ain't my fault I'm smart enough to team up with the best pool player in Oklahoma and not stupid enough to play against you brother's drunk ass," he grinned in satisfaction as Billy sunk the black eight ball in the top right pocket.

"Double or nothin'," Henry piped in, slamming down another ten. Leroy sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. Jay laughed again as he handed you a beer; Billy looking amused began to wrack them up again. Billy had always been quiet, you didn't know too much about him except that he had a huge family and the few stories he told about those reservation schools—what he does tell anyway, you can tell he doesn't care to talk about unless he can add how silly white people can be, which you really didn't disagree with.

"I think that pretty little blonde you like is at the bar Henry," Billy said as he pocketed one of the fives he had already won. "How long have you been after her now?

"Too long," Henry groaned as he took back his not yet lost money. "You two don't mind if I uh, take that back and go buy her a drink, right?"

"You're trying to get in bed with a priest's daughter?" Jay snickered when he looked at the girl who was now pretending to avoid eye contact with Henry. It was something only Henry would attempt; he loved the challenge and he hated church.

"She's here ain't she?" Henry said smugly as he made his way over to the bar.

"I got ten bucks he'll give up in one more week," you said, smirking at Henry's antics. Leroy chuckled before taking another sip of his beer.

"You have no faith Shepard, I'll give 'im another month before he gets bored," he said, leaning up against the wall beside you.

"You guys haven't been to church in awhile," Jay smirked, the smirk that never seemed to leave his face. "Those Catholic girls like to lead ya on like they're all curious and wanna rebel against the Holy Book itself. Real believable like - I say she drags this out for two more months… if he's lucky."

"Speaking from experience?" Billy piped in, pool cue still in one hand. He looked toward Henry and the girl he was after. "I bet he gets her in two weeks and manages to keep her around."

You looked at Henry, not seeing what Billy saw. Henry never stayed with a girl longer then he had to, he was more of a wham-bam-thank you ma'am type of guy. But it was Billy's ten bucks to lose; hopefully you were the one who was up thirty bucks by the end of it all.

"I can't even give my own brother that much credit," Leroy chuckled, patting Billy on the back. "I need to get back to the house, Beth is an early riser."

Leroy put his empty beer bottle down on the table. Beth was his ten-month-old daughter he had had with his high school sweetheart, Olivia. He was your only friend with a kid, he was a whole five years older then you but still imagining having kids at any point in your life was laughable. You liked kids enough but you never wanted to be responsible for your own, you had Angela and Curly to worry about and that was enough for one lifetime.

"I'll catch a ride," Jay said before finishing his beer. "My sister has a date with this Two-Bit character and I wanna scare the shit outta him."

You nodded in understanding before they made their way through the crowd. That's when you spotted her, Rita Mitchell. You saw her here more then anywhere else and you were beginning to wonder why. She looked like she belonged there though, her head held high, her hips swinging as she walked; it was hard not to look at her when she walked in a room. Her hair was a mess, like she'd just got out of someone's backseat, she had bright red lipstick on that matched the red lace bra that could be seen under her conveniently low-cut shirt. She looked good.

"She'll get you into trouble, Tim," Billy said, glancing at Rita. You nodded absentmindedly as you watched her make her way behind the bar as if she were right at home. She caught Buck's eye and managed to pull him away from paying customers, a feat not easily accomplished. Rita wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him into a hug, placed a kiss on his cheek and exchanged a few words before Buck nodded as Rita pulled out a brown bag out of her purse.

"Wayne ever threaten your family Billy?" you asked changing the subject, not taking your eyes off of Rita and what she was doing. The only reason why you were asking Billy was that you trusted him the most, aside from Marty who wasn't in the gang and his oh, so helpful reaction to anything gang related. Billy was quiet and kept to himself for the most part.

"No," he said grimly, in an almost angry voice. "Not mine but a lot of others. I would kill him." Looking toward him, not knowing if he was telling you to kill him or if it was what he would do. He smirked and shrugged as if to tell you he meant both.

"I'd kill him on the spot, no matter the consequence," he shrugged again. "And I think he knows that, he's not stupid."

No, he wasn't stupid. He had Rita running around doing God knows what, you watched as she made her way out from behind the bar, saying one last thing to Buck from over her shoulder before laughing and making her way toward Jeffery-Isaac, more commonly known as the Motorcycle Boy, a name that you thought was absolutely ridiculous so you opted out for calling him "hey you." He was the leader of a small gang called The Packers, it was caught in between Crawford turf and River King turf, and you really didn't blame him for not wanting either gang to take over his neighbourhood. They only had a couple blocks but they could fight and they were respected, and had alliance with both sides in order to stay alive as a gang. You always thought he was a little odd but he got the job done and he seemed smart enough even though he had just gotten kicked out of school for supposedly cheating.

"Did he threaten yours? Are you thinking about hurting Rita?" Billy asked, snapping you back to reality. You shook your head; the thought never seriously went through your head.

"Nah, that'd make me as bad as him," you told him, although you were unsure of where Rita stood; you wouldn't be able to hurt her even if you wanted to. Maybe you weren't capable of it, but maybe that was okay. You watched her as she continued to smile and nod at Jeffery-Isaac as he grew tenser.

"Unfortunately for Wayne, I think you and I have more in common then he knows," Billy stated before letting out a sigh. "If it comes down to picking sides Tim, I will have your back."

You looked back at him and gave him a nod, not saying that it'd happen or not but showing that you appreciated it. And you really did, not many people would side with you but there were a few you had in mind. A few that could be trusted with wanting Wayne Crawford dead and not changing their mind before it was too late. There was a knot in your stomach, thinking that way, wanting to kill someone. The thoughts just came and went now, there was no hesitation, you knew what you wanted and you wanted Crawford dead.

XXX

You watched Billy as he hustled some Tiger at pool; still nursing the half drank beer Jay had bought earlier that night. You were never much of a drinker, you liked to be in control of all situations, especially recently. And no one was in control while drunk. You had lost Rita in the crowd a while ago but as if it were magic there she was standing in front of you. She gave Billy a wave before turning toward you.

"How's that warm beer treatin' ya Shepard?" she asked, moving close enough that you could smell her perfume over the smell of cigarettes. "You're not the only one who keeps tabs," she winked as she ran her hand over yours before wrapping it around the neck of the bottle, taking it out of your hand and replacing it with a bourbon, neat. Buck had probably told her what you liked to drink, it made you wonder why she considered you important enough to ask though, currently it wasn't too hard to shrug off.

"Speaking of tabs, you keep company with some pretty interesting people," you commented, pretending to be interested in the pool game that was still going on. She was a really good distraction and if she weren't dating Ben, you would've been more then happy to take advantage of the opportunity.

"I keep company with the right people, Tim," she smirked, saying your name in a way that caught your attention enough to get you to look back down at her. She was implying something, other then you were somehow the right person to be talking to. It was like she was speaking in code and you would only find out what she was talking about when it happened.

"Does your flattery work on everyone?" you chuckled, taking a sip of the bourbon. She noticed Billy staring daggers at her; she smirked before taking a small step back.

"Mostly," she shrugged as she ran her fingertips across your chest before sitting on the barstool beside you.

"You know, we have a lot in common," she said before taking a sip of her drink. You couldn't help but let out a chuckle, even if Rita knew anything about you, the similarities between the two of you were transparent. She finished the rest of her drink in one gulp and nodded slightly.

"Family," she said, pausing, waiting for you to say something. Without saying anything, you let her continue to the point she obviously wanted to make. "You'd let me know if anything horrible was about to happen to my brother, wouldn't you?"

Last you checked Rita hated Wayne and Ben seemed to confirm that. But now she was pretty much asking you to watch his back. Did they both suspect Ben was up to something? He had never mentioned anything about it to you, but you knew he wasn't the biggest fan of Wayne either and that Wayne more then suspected Ben of something. So, was Rita dating him to get information to protect her brother? You had no fucking clue.

"I think he really does trust you, ya know… at least more then he trusts most people," she continued as if this wasn't news to you. You finished the rest of your drink, mainly because you didn't understand where all of this was coming from. Maybe Wayne had sent her to feed you bullshit so you'd do what he had asked of you.

"People like Ben?" you asked. It wasn't much of a question but more of confirmation to where exactly Rita Mitchell stood. You were surprised when she nodded, you sighed before mumbling under your breath. The way Ben was with her, you had thought she'd choose him before her brother.

"People aren't always as they seem Shepard," she said to you as she got up to leave, looking almost apologetic.

XXX

There was no way you were sleeping when you got home that night. There was too much shit spinning around in your head. Maybe Marty was right about this gang shit. There was so much drama within the gang itself it felt like high school. You didn't know where anyone stood; not Rita, the Bishop brothers or Billy… well, maybe Billy. Who was against Wayne? Who was against Ben? Who the fuck exactly knew about it?

You sighed and turned down the T.V. low enough so you wouldn't wake anyone up. Jesus, you really had no clue what you were really up against. For all you knew you could wind up dead. You squeezed the bridge of your nose, feeling a headache coming on you dry swallowed the four Tylenol you snagged before you sat down. Hearing the third step squeak, you glanced up and saw Angela staring at you with teddy bear in hand.

"You have a nightmare?" you asked. Angela had had bad nightmares when she was younger, and even now, going on eleven she'd wake screaming or crying. She nodded and wiped at her eyes before you patted the spot on the sofa beside you. She ran down the stairs as if a monster was chasing and jumped onto the seat beside you, assuming it was just in case there were monster under the sofa.

She rested her head in your lap as you both watched a rerun of Star Trek. You couldn't just sit around and let people fuck with you. You had to do something; you just had to figure out what.

"I love you, Timmy," Angela mumbled, half asleep. You exhaled the breath you didn't realize you were holding; it was too late to turn back now.

"I know, kiddo," you told her, resting you head on the back of the sofa, finally closing your eyes.

XXX

December 20, 1963

"So the fucker just offered you second in command? Just like that? The fifteen year old, new kid? Sounds fucked up, man," Dallas said as he took a drag of his cigarette.

This was the response you got after telling Dallas everything that had happened the last few days. He wasn't wrong though; it was odd. You hardly knew Wayne; you hadn't given him a reason not to trust you but you haven't done much of anything for him not to.

"Maybe all of them are just fuckin' with you man," he shrugged, not offering any useful advice. You had thought about it though, maybe it was all one giant test but you didn't see much of a benefit for all the work it took. You sighed and flicked your cigarette butt onto the road before shoving your hands into your jacket pockets.

"I think they're all trying to fuck each other over, I just don't know who's side to take no more," you shrugged. The upside to having Dallas Winston as a good friend was that you could go from asking for advice-which somehow manged to be good advice-to starting a fight out of boredom, and still come out as friends in the end. Fights with Dallas were the only ones where you fought fair. An unusual friendship, but one of the best you had.

"Shit Shepard, you don't take no ones side but your own," Dallas said with a smirk. Someone told you once that, trust took years to gain and seconds to lose. There wasn't anything more true then that and that didn't just apply to you but everyone. So was Wayne using you to get at Ben? Probably. Was Ben using you to get at Wayne? Most likely. And Rita? Rita was a broad that used what she had to get what she wanted. Whose side was she on? She was on her side, where her loyalties lie would forever remain a question.

In the end everyone was out for themselves.

XXX

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