I do not own The Outsiders or any of SE Hintons characters :)
The weekend came and went, along with Monday in a meaningless blur. On
Saturday Dally went to the ranch, but all he did was sit on Scribbles all
day, gazing out at the fields.
On Sunday he spent his half his day walking around town, chain smoking
all the cigarettes he swiped and avoiding everyone. The other half of
the day he spent locked in his room with Texas rotating between
staring at the roof and at the wall.
Monday came and he felt the need to escape the house, yet once he was
out all he wanted to do was go back in. Not even weed could bring him
out of his trance. It was like he died inside.
He barely slept anymore, and when he did he tossed and turned all night,
commonly waking up on the floor drenched in sweat. When he was awake
he couldn't find sleep in fear of the nightmares that came with it.
To say the least he was a wreck, so in the middle of the night when
Darry awoke to a crash only to find Dally standing guiltily in his
living room above what used to be a lamp he wasn't surprised.
"Dally, what are you doing man? It's the middle of the night. You
should be in bed." Lately he had been treating him more and more like
one of his brothers than his friend.
Dally looked up with wide eyes. His hair was a mess and Darry doubted
he had showered within the last week. Black bags hung under his eyes
and his body seemed more skinny and vulnerable than before making him
look sick. "I can't go to bed..."
Darry grabbed his shoulders and pushed him towards the kitchen. "Why
can't you sleep?"
Dally spun around wildly. "Because of the nightmares! I can't even
shut my eyes without seeing Johnny or him! I can't sleep! I'm acting
like Pony!" Darry shook his head as he spun Dally around pushed him
into the kitchen. It wasn't a good sight, seeing the most seemingly collected
one of the gang so out of his own control.
Darry pushed him in one of the chairs started boiling some water.
After he was done he made some tea and pushed one cup in front of Dally.
Dally cautiously took a sip of the liquid but spat it out and pushed
it away angrily. "What is this shit?" he exclaimed while grabbing a
beer from th fridge and returning to his seat.
Darry rolled his eyes. "Tea, it'll help yah sleep." Dally still didn't
drink any but Darry could see him stealing glances at it. "So what's
this about not being able to sleep?"
Dally shrugged. "None of your business."
Darry gave him 'the look'. "You broke a lamp in my house in the middle
of the night cause you couldn't sleep. It sorta is my business." And you look
like you just escaped a deranged serial killer he added in his head.
Dally slumped down in his seat and leaned his head back. "Its nothing
man. I can deal with it."
Darry sipped at his own tea slowly. "I think the fact that your in my
house awake in the middle of the night means you can't deal with it,
alone at least."
Dally blinked, keeping his eyes closed for a little too long. "Fine,
it's just every time I go to sleep, I wake up sweating and screaming.
There I said it." he waited for Darry to laugh, but it never happened.
He looked at him suspicously. Darry resisted the urge to grin when
Dally glared at him and managed to kept a serious face. "What? Have
you forgotten I live with Ponyboy."
Dally just kept looking at him. "Look, Dal, I don't care if you have
nightmares, you can tell me bout em, I won't judge you. Savvy?"
Dally sighed and looked at the roof. "Yeah, alright man. It's just, I
don't wanna fall asleep anymore, cause when I fall asleep, I see
things I don't wanna hafta see..."
Darry nodded. "Now, these things, are they things that have already
happened, or things that might happen?" Darry internally laughed at
himself, he sounded like a therapist.
Dally swirled his beer emotionlessly. "Both. At first that were all
stuff that had happened, like Johnny and New York, but now
their...different."
Darrys eyebrows edged together. "Different?"
Dally sighed. Just frickin tell him about it, he won't be able to
understand if you don't.
"At the beginning I was back in the church, and Johnny and Pony
were there, but I couldn't save them. But then Johnny would come
back, like some sorta zombie, and try to kill me. But he wasn't Johnny..
...he was a guy back in New York."
"But now, it's like I'm in the church, and flames are coming straight
for me, right? And I gotta choose which side to go on. One side
there's you guys and y'all just standing there, and on the other
there's Johnny, but I don't know if it's really him or the possessed
version."
"And then there these voices in my head, and their telling me to go
with Johnny, but I was too scared. So I just stand there while the
flames get closer and closer..."
It could've been his imagination but Darry swore he he saw Dally
shiver a bit. He rubbed his temples while he thought about it.
He was pretty sure that the first dream Dally described was just his
regret for not getting to Johnny fast enough. But the second
one...the second one seemed like if he was choosing life or death,
the gang being life and Johnny being death. It gave him the gruelling
reminder about what happened the night Johnny died.
"Dally, just remember one thing about these dreams." Once Dally looked
up at him warily he continued. "They ain't real, cause trust me, if
flames were headed straight for you we sure as hell wouldn't be
standing still. We'd be saving your ass"
Dally smiled a little and sipped cautiously at the cup of tea. Darry
laughed at the expression his face. "Here," he said grabbing the cup
and dumping down the drain then returning to his seat.
They sat in silence for a few more moments then Dally looked up to see
Darry staring penetratingly at his glass. Dally frowned. "What's up
superman?"
Darry glanced up startled. He began to say nothing but changed his
mind for an unknown reason. "It's Pony, his grades are slipping. I try
to push him, but I don't want to fight him. I try Dal, I really try,
but it's not working. I'm not mom or dad."
When he said that Dally heard something in his voice he hadn't heard
before. Longing. It was then he realized that through everything,
Darry had been strong. When his parents died, he didn't break down and
curse the world, he stood up and fought it, carrying his brothers and
the gang with him every step of the way. When Johnny and Pony ran off,
he kept the gang together, he held Soda when Sandy left, he helped him
when he couldn't find sleep. Through every challenge and block the
world had sent him, he plowed through it without shedding more than a
few tears. And although Darry may had not seemed to be as affected by
all the events, he had. But he stayed strong. He never complained. He
never cried. But he hurt all the same.
"Dar," he said softly, revising from calling him superman, "I think I
can do something to help Pony."
Darry looked up with a new gleam in his eye. "Really?"
"Yeah, sure, but I'll need your car. And some money," he added in
thoughtfully.
Darrys eyebrows burrowed together in confusion but nodded none the
less. If Dally thought he could help Pony, Darry would let him. But
then he remembered who he was talking about. "Its nothing illegal
right?"
"Of course," Dally scoffed looking offended.
Darry laughed sarcastically. "Whatever. I'm going back go bed. See yah
round."
Dally nodded and decided to try to find sleep once more. This time
though, it came eventually.
Hope you liked :)
Thanks to my reviewer xXmisingmeXx :)
Review!