A/N: Hey y'all, sorry 'bout not havin' this chapter up yesterday.

Now, without further ado...

Dallas stares up at the ceiling in his room at Buck's, tryin' not to think of what's to come. He left enough 'evidence' behind at the park for the fuzz to think that he's the murderer.

It wasn't murder!

Dally sighs and rolls over onto his side. His eyes scan the small room, taking in every detail. The way the old towel that he uses as a curtain is pulled down over the only window, blocking the moonlight from reaching the room. The old dresser in the corner that's currently holding his meager possessions. Some of his dirty clothes thrown haphazardly across the room because he was too lazy to pick them up. His leather jacket hanging off the door knob.

Dally had left the door opened just a crack. A thin shaft of light comes in from the hallway, accompanied some Hank Williams song that Buck's blasting downstairs.

Dallas frowns as sadness sweeps over him. This might be the last time he ever sees this place, the last time he ever has to deal with Buck's terrible taste in music.

He pushes himself off of the bed and stumbles over to the dresser. He rumages through the top drawer until he finds a small framed picture. Dallas brings it into the light and smiles slightly.

Mrs. Curtis had given it to him after he had managed to stay out of trouble for a week. He still remembers when it was taken. Mrs. C had bribed the boys into taking the picture with homemade chocolate cake. It worked surprisingly well, but then again, Mrs. Curtis's chocolate cake was to die for.

Dally's only 15 in the picture. He had managed to catch 14-year-old Johnny in a headlock just as Mrs. C took the picture. The photo actually came out pretty good. The gang are all smiling, they didn't have a care in the world.

It shoulda stayed that way.

Darry shouldn't have had to give up on his dreams of football and college and be forced to work like a dog to keep what's left of his family together. Sodapop shouldn't have dropped out of school to help Darry keep up with the bills. Ponyboy shouldn't be haunted by unknown demons every night.

And then there's the others. Two-Bit, hiding any pain behind that grin of his and some witty remark. Steve, starting to lose faith that there's any good in the world. And Johnny, poor little Johnnycake, gettin' beat by his ol' man three day out of the week and being jumped by some stuck-up, over-privileged soc on the other days.

That's why I'm doin' this. It wouldn't be fair for the state to tear apart the Curtis brothers because Pony was an 'accomplice'. And it wouldn't be fair for Johnny to be sentenced to the electric chair for defending his friend.

A loud banging downstairs drags Dallas out of his thoughts. He takes the photo out of the frame. He grabs a pen and quickly writes something on the back of the picture.

Dally can now hear someone running up the stairs, towards his room. He carefully puts the picture back in the frame and places it in the top drawer of the dresser.

Dallas turns around just as his bedroom door is thrown open. He leans against his dresser and smirks, "Hello Officer McCarthy."

A special thanks goes to:

Lovetoread75

woottonshelby13

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