Author's Note: So this is for your reading pleasure. Finally up and ready to read, well almost. I'll probably come back later and delete it so I can proof read again and then post. I'm only home about 3 hours a day now, not counting sleeping hours, and I'm pretty tired ALL the time. So bare with me guys and I hope you like this pretty long chapter! I know I keep making it longer as in chapter wise but I think there are going to be about 2 or 3 more left:)

Blood shot eyes stared back at her. Ratty, greasy hair and a pale face.

She looked like shit, she realized, as she leaned over the sink closer towards the mirror. Her eyes were practically red all over and she looked like she hadn't seen a drop of sun in all her life. She was so pale, almost dead like. She shivered and stepped away from the mirror, turning the water on and splashing her face with cold water. It didn't help much, just sent another chill down her spine. She dried her face slowly, watching herself in the mirror intently.

She wasn't sure what she saw.

A deserter maybe. A fake, a flaw. She was just so unsure.

She shook her head and threw the towel across the bathroom, opening the door without a sound.

She peeked her head out, her eyes darting this way and that to try and make sure no one was there to catch her.

No one had stirred when she had left 10 minutes ago and no one had come running after her. She had somehow managed to escape getting hit by 2 cars, which could have only been considered a miracle. But now that she was back in the Curtis house, listening to the bitter nothings of the whole place, she wished she had been hit by one of those cars.

She wished she had been hit hard.

She turned down the hall, making her way towards the kitchen with all the stealth she possessed. Once she got there she turned her head to the right, getting a glimpse of the clock that was just barely illuminated by the moonlight coming from the window.

There was exactly 11 hours until the rumble (5:00 a.m) and she was already restless and couldn't sit still. She wasn't going to make it through the day if she didn't get it together.

Someone stirred in the living room and Maggie froze, waiting to see if one of the boys was going to get up and go to the bathroom, instead she heard the door slam. Her thoughts instantly turned to wondering if someone had left already, maybe Johnny.

But those thoughts were replaced when footsteps made there way towards the kitchen.

Maggie's hand instinctively went to her back pocket where she kept her switch blade, grabbing for it just in case.

She had a house full of greasers protecting her but that didn't mean she felt safe.

"God damn you!" she cursed as Tim swept through the door and stopped a few feet in front of her.

She could just faintly make out a smirk on his lips in the moonlight and realized his scar was visible too. She didn't know whether to be happy it was him or to be angry.

"One of my boys said they saw you out and about pretty early this morning." he whispered coolly, taking another step closer.

"You always get up this early?" she changed the subject quickly, sliding her switchblade back into her pocket and turning towards the sink to get a glass of water.

"Yeah." was his simple whispered replied. She shook her head but tensed when he took another step closer. He was just a foot away from her now. She didn't have to turn around to know that and their close proximity was giving her the chills.

"Listen…" he started before trailing off. Maggie turned after laying her glass back on the counter and looked at him. He was so close to her but she still couldn't see his face, and it bothered her.

"To what?" she questioned mockingly, trying to lighten the mood. "I don't hear anything."

He let out a low growl of annoyance and anger and on instinct Maggie took a step back.

She knew not to mess with the bull or she was going to get the horns, especially when it came to Tim. He had some pretty large horns...

"We never got to talk about that one time-"

"Don't worry about it." she cut him off, shaking her head and leaning back on the sink. "It's not a huge deal." she tried to convince him with a care free shrug, but from the way he stood she knew it hadn't worked.

He took a step forward a few seconds latter and Maggie was surprised when she felt the feel of his front side pushing against hers. She took in a sharp breath and looked up at him, questioning in her eyes even though he couldn't see it.

"I didn't mean for it to go that far." he told her, his face leaning in a bit more.

"Then why is it still going this far?" she questioned, her voice barely audible.

The lights snapped on and Maggie threw a hand up to shield herself from the sudden burst of it.

"This is...awkward..." Soda said as he stood in the doorway in his boxers and looked at Maggie and Tim, pressed up against each other. A dark figure appeared behind Soda and Soda turned to see who it was.

"Double awkward." he corrected himself as Dallas shoved his way passed him.

Dallas held a calm cold expression but both Tim and Maggie knew better.

"Save it for the rumble." Maggie warned him in a low voice, pushing Tim away from her and stepping towards Dallas. "Just save it." she told him again, planting her hands on his chest to push him away if need be.

Dallas didn't drop his glare on Tim and Maggie wondered what the hell he was thinking about. She could almost see it now.

Dallas thinking about how long Tim and her had being 'going at it' without him knowing it. And with Dallas, he would come up with the most disgusting thoughts he could.

"Don't think about it." she urged him, her hands grabbing his shirt in her fists. "You're just going to make yourself even angrier."

"Like I don't have a right to be?" he questioned suddenly, breaking his glare on Tim to turn it to Maggie.

"Dallas…" she warned before trailing off. "Save it for the rumble." she told him again. "Besides, you're going to wake everyone else up."

"We're already up." a voice said, right before Darry stepped into the kitchen followed by Steve. Maggie gave a strangled sigh and let herself drop into a wooden chair at the table. Her head was already aching for all the promises of mishap the day held and she found herself wanting to crawl back into bed and not come out.

"I hate this!" she whined as she buried her face in her hands.

"Well, Maggie was the first one up." Soda said cheerily and Maggie knew he was just trying to lighten the mood...by making her fix breakfast.

"That is so not going to work on me, Soda." Maggie snapped as she flipped a few pieces of stay hair out of her face. "Making me make breakfast is not going to lighten the situation."

"Yes it is." Pony agreed from the doorway, wearing a rare smirk that he never showed. Maggie almost smiled back at him. Almost.

"I hate you all so much right now." she told them as she looked from one to the other. When she got to Tim she took him in. His flaring muscles and his black muscle shirt, his hair and his non-shaven face.

He looks so yummy, she thought, almost licking her lips. And then she caught herself and instead looked him in the eye. He held the same desire she held for him and she knew it.

Too bad I can't act on it, she thought as she lifted herself out of the chair and stepped over to the refrigerator.

"I hope ya'll know I feel like a house maid." she called after the gang as they walked back to the living room.

"Yeah. Yeah." Two Bit called.

Maggie scoffed and cursed under her breath at them as she pulled out the eggs and all but slammed them on the counter.

It was going to be a long day.

"Darry! Where's your old leather jacket?" Maggie yelled as she stuck her head out of Darry's closet. She couldn't remember the last place she had seen that stupid thing and now that she was looking for it, it had disappeared.

Why, she thought dramatically.

"Who cares? It's not like you have to look good for a rumble." Steve snapped as he walked past the door.

"No, you're right. I have to look tuff." she back at him hotly. She huffed and turned back to the closet throwing clothes this way and that as she looked for it.

She had exactly 10 minutes to get ready and despite Darry and Pony's protesting she had refused to get ready before then. It had been such a long day and she thought the last 10 minutes would drag on forever, but now that they were there they were going by like a snap of a finger.

"I found you, you little devil!" she snapped as she yanked the old leather jacket out of an old tattered box. She slowly pushed herself off her knees and shook the jacket out, coughing when dust flew everywhere. She pulled it on hastily and then rushed out of the room.

A few seconds later though she ran back, snapped off the light and then ran to the bathroom, barging in on whoever was in it.

"Sorry." she told Dallas, reaching around him to grab a brush and a hair tie. He looked at her like she was crazy but she ignored it and instead pulled her hair into a tight, sloppy ponytail.

"Good enough." she muttered.

"Hey, you guys. I think we should prey before we go." Pony said, sounding a bit nervous as he told them.

"Oh come on, Pony." Steve said; his voice filled with amusement and annoyance. "You can't honestly tell me you believe in all that faith shit."

"Steve." Maggie said, trying to hide her smile. "You're not supposed to use 'faith' and 'shit' in the same sentence." she told him.

"Too late." he replied with a smirk.

"You'll go to hell." Maggie said in a mock sing song voice.

"Shoot." Two Bit said from over by the corner where he sat chugging a beer before the rumble. "The day Steve Randle goes to heaven is the day I got to hell." he told him before howling with laughter.

"Congrats, Steve," Maggie started, turning back to the guy on her right, "you're going to heaven."

"Hey!" Two Bit hollered, feigning hurt.

"Hey!" Darry warned as he tried to stop smiling. "Let's take this seriously. If Pony wants to prey, we can prey."

"Nah, its alright. Ya'll have done everything possible to make fun of me." Pony snapped with the shake of his head and a glare.

"Oh, come on, Pony." Soda said, laying his extra large eyes on Pony. Maggie knew Soda was giving him the puppy dog look and Maggie thanked god she wasn't on the receiving end of it. No one could get away from Soda's puppy dog look, not even Darry.

"Ok." Pony finally agreed, finally breaking down and bowing his head. Maggie followed his lead a few seconds later and everyone else started to do the same. When Maggie looked up and noticed Steve didn't have his head bowed she elbowed him, hard, in the stomach. Some sort of sound escaped him and a second later his head was bowed even though he was cursing under his breath.

It was short and sweet. A simple 'God, protect us' type of prayer but Maggie didn't mind. A prayer was a prayer either way and at least all the guys had prayed too.

They were out the door 5 minutes later, Steve and Two Bit and Soda hollering and making a racket as they ran down the street. It was the typical ritual for a rumble but Maggie still didn't think that it felt right. Something was going to go wrong. She could feel it in her bones.

Lot was packed already when they finally got there and Maggie could make out a few familiar faces. One of which she had never seen at a rumble in all her Tulsa days.

Maggie pulled Angel into a tight hug, wondering what on earth Tim was thinking letting her come. She was the same age as Maggie, yeah, but she just wasn't strong like Maggie was. Not strong like any of the girls there. And even if she was it wouldn't matter. Tim would have usually had her locked in a room to keep her from going.

"What the hell are you doin' here, Angel?" a commanding, cold voice questioned. Maggie raised an eyebrow at Angel who had apparently come without Tim's permission at all.

"You're supposed to be in Texas!" he went on as he stalked up to the two girls and grabbed Angel roughly by the arm.

"Why can't I fight, Tim?" Angel shrieked at her older brother as she tried to wriggle out of his grasp. "Maggie gets to fight!" she continued to protest.

"Maggie's not my responsibility!" Tim growled as his grip tightened even more.

"Bullshit she's not!" Angel squealed angrily before swinging a fist at Tim. "You're in love with her and you know it! It tares you apart to see her in this rumble!"

Tim's glare became even icier, if that was humanly possible and suddenly he was dragging Angel away, cursing under his breath.

Maggie just stood dumbstruck. Not sure whether to shake it off or to actually think it meant something. Her heart pounded in her chest but she couldn't tell if it was because of the recent developments with Tim or if it was because of the impending rumble that was about to go down in about 5 minutes.

It seemed to be going in slow motion, like an old western movie when one of the main characters was about to get shot. And Maggie knew that in some way it would end up with one of the main characters getting shot, or stabbed, or…something. She just didn't know who it was going to be and she was going to do everything in her power to stop it.

If she could.

She couldn't have things ended up the way they had last time. She wouldn't be able to handle it, not again.

She took in a short breath and turned towards Darry who was staring back at the rest of them with grim eyes and a sad smile.

They could hear the cars and the shouts of the socs as they made there way down the street, but they weren't fighting the socs, not this time. Maggie would have given anything if they were, because that would almost guarantee a fair rumble. It would also guarantee everyone getting out alive.

"Alright," Darry started, his eyes darting from one person to the next. "We need to focus. Anything going on in your life put it aside. Its rumble time." a few of the boys let out a holler or two and Maggie raised her eyebrow at them. She knew they were only trying to get pumped up for anything thrown there way, but it still felt a bit wrong. To be yelling and screaming when one of there friends might be dieing in 10 minutes.

It wasn't right, it wasn't morally right maybe, but it was all the greasers had ever known, and they were going to stick to what they knew.

Maggie let out a breath as more yells filled the lot. This time, she knew it was that stupid new gang. She couldn't believe she was here. She couldn't believe this was happening.

Denial. That's what it was. She realized it now. She was standing there and it was happening. She didn't have enough time to deny it.

"You ready?" Maggie turned around, coming face to face with Tim again. She furrowed an eyebrow and confusion as she looked around the lot, trying to find Angel.

"Where's Angel?" she questioned, finally locking eyes with Tim.

"Where do you think?" he answered with a slight smirk. "I sent her home. She can't be here. I won't let her be."

Maggie nodded slowly in understanding and her face slowly started to darken as she remembered Angel's earlier words about Tim. She could feel a blush starting to creep its way up into her cheeks and she looked away hurriedly.

"Can I talk to you?" he asked. His voice was low and raspy and the expression on his face said he meant business. It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out he wanted to talk about what Angel said, too.

Maggie followed towards the road where he stopped and turned towards her. His eyes were glinting from the fire in the lot and for a second he almost looked sad.

"About what Angel said…" he trailed off and his hand went to rub the back of his neck. Maggie didn't know whether to tell him it didn't matter or to stand there until he got it out.

Her breath hitched in her throat though, with anticipation and she couldn't help her heart from speeding up. Her body, her heart, was telling her she wanted him to say it but her mind was telling her she didn't. She couldn't handle it, especially before a rumble, but what did that matter? As long as she heard the words. Right?

He let out a sigh, just a sigh. He didn't under a word, just sighed.

Maggie's heart fell and she thought she might pass out from rejection.

Why did I even get my hopes up, she wondered as she nodded in Tim's direction and started back over to the lot. It was stupid of her to think he was actually going to say those words to her. It was Tim Shepard after all. He was just like Dallas, incapable of loving or feeling any emotion besides pain. Tim Shepard was a typical hood, and Maggie was stupid for thinking otherwise.

Her breath hitched for about the millionth time that night as she was pulled back and the next thing she knew Tim's lips were crashing down on hers hungrily and his arms were wrapped around her waist, pulling her closer to him.

She moaned into his mouth and leaned even harder against him, accepting his kiss and returning it with full force. This was better then those words…so much better.