Author's Note: I don't own any of these characters except for Tish.
Once outside the Drive-inn Cherry called to Dallas out of breath. He turned around and looked at her angrily.
"What are you doing?," he asked accusingly.
"Nothing. I'm just making friends," Cherry stumbled through her words as she tried to defend herself.
"Friends? You want to be friends all of a sudden?"
"Yeah."
"Where were you when Johnny was getting jumped by your boyfriend?"
"I didn't realize then."
"Realize what?"
"That we're not that different."
Dallas couldn't help but smile at her, then he turned around and kept walking. "Where are you going?," she called to him.
"I'll catch you later," Dallas said.
Cherry felt more at ease as she watched him walk away. She did not want him to go but she knew she would see him later.
Dallas headed toward Buck Merril's house. Coming out onto the street Buck's place was on, he turned the corner and ran into Tim Shepard.
"Hey, Dal," TIm said as he reached out both hands and pushed him back. Dallas regained his balance and tried to hit Tim when someone grabbed him from behind. He struggled to free himself when Tim hit him hard in the jaw. He hit him twice more and then whoever held Dallas let him drop to the ground.
Half conscious, dal heard voices. More than two, maybe three, no four. There were four of them. He couldn't make out what they were saying because Tim had hit him in his left ear and all he heard was a deafening ring. He cracked open his eyelids in time to see someone's boot headed towards his face. He couldn't breath and realized it was because someone was kicking him in the chest. He felt something hit the back of his head and heard a large crack as stars entered his vision and then everything was black.
"C'mon, I'm done with this soc," Tim said and then he spit at Dal.
The next thing Dallas saw was flashing lights. He could barely open his eyes but he felt like he was floating. He closed his eyes for what seemed like a minute and when he opened them again he was inside.
"He's awake." Dallas heard a familiar voice speaking. Then he saw Darrel Curtis' face.
"Dallas, are you okay?," Darrel spoke loudly and his voice pounded in Dal's head.
"What do you mean?," Dallas answered back mumbling. He wasn't even sure what he was saying. Dallas tried to sit up but he felt a searing pain in his chest and suddenly he was dizzy. He must have made some noise of pain because Darrel had a panicked look on his face and called for a nurse.
"What happened?," Dallas asked as the nurse took his vitals.
"You got jumped. Do you remember?," Two-bit spoke and Dallas realized he was in the room for the first time.
"No," Dallas answered. His face felt heavy and he reached to touch it. The nurse stopped him.
"Don't touch the stitches, dear," she said.
"Stitches?," Dallas asked, alarmed, "What stitches?"
"We had to put 30 stitches in your face. You also have two broken ribs and a concussion, the nurse interjected.
"Do you have a mirror?," Dal asked her.
"Hang on." She disappeared into the next room for a minute. When she came back she handed him a small mirror that must have been from her purse.
Dallas opened it and looked. He had stitches across his left eyebrow and his forehead where he had been kicked. He had more over his right cheekbone and on his chin. Both of his eyes were black. He handed her back the mirror without saying anything.
"Do you remember who it was Dal?," Two-bit asked.
"No," Dal answered.
"What's the last thing you remember?"
Dal thought back and remembered talking to Cherry and then leaving to walk to Buck's. He remembered turning the corner and running into someone. He saw Tim Shepard's face. The whole thing was rushing back to him. He felt sick when he remembered being kicked repeatedly. He remembered seeing Curly too but he had the feeling that Curly was there for another reason….Tish.
"It was Tim," Dal said.
"That's what we thought," Darrel sighed.