A/N: Thanks for the reviews guys!

Disclaimer: I don't own You and Me or the Outsiders.

All of the things that I want to say just aren't coming out right. I'm tripping on words. You've got my head spinning. I don't know where to go from here.

"That bastard!" He threw a chair over, picked it up, and slammed it down. He'd been like this all day. He's drowned five beers, a half bottle of scotch, and that was during the time Randy was with him. He wasn't sure just how far he had gone in that short amount of time he was gone.

Randy tossed his cigarette in a trash bin. "Who?" He decided to play along.

"Winston!" Michael shouted. "Why is that kid in jail and not him?"

Rand propped his foot up against the wall and sighed. "Because he took that girl off in the woods and her momma called the cops."

"I know that!" Michael made a fist, his thumbnail going into his skin.

Randy sighed. His friend was drunk, angry, and completely unstable. The bartender was giving them a look that told Randy he needed to gather Michael up and get him home. That wasn't the plan though.

"Are we going to play pool or what?" Randy leaned over across the table, stick in hand. "Bet ya ten bucks I can sink that nine ball into the socket."

Michael wasn't paying attention. He could care less which also caught Randy's attention. Michael never turned away a bet. Instead though, he stood straight, his hair slicked back, and a fag in hand. He searched over the whole place again and again.

"Are you sure he's coming?" Randy asked.

Michael took a drag and said nothing.

Marilyn had been on Randy's case all day about this. Girl wouldn't drop any subject for anything, especially this one. She kept stirring things back up that Randy didn't want to remember. He didn't want to remember Sam's death either but that seemed to be the only thing he's friends wanted to talk about. He just wanted to let it rest. Let Sam rest.

Michael grabbed his pool stick and shot a ball near one of the holes. It rolled but never fell in. Michael hissed and slammed his stick down on the table and pouted.

"Maybe we should just get outta here." Randy took a step toward him.

Michael put out his fag in the ashtray and fished out another one. "You think those hippies are still in that empty room on the third floor next door?"

Randy shrugged. "Dunno. Why do you care?"

Michael flicked his lighter open and smiled. He flicked it shut and grabbed his wallet and opened it just so Randy could see the corners of the green paper. "Think they got some acid?"

Randy eyed the paper, trying to come up with a number. "Probably. Don't they always?"

Michael closed up his wallet and stuffed it back down in his trench coat. "Let's go."

Randy quietly followed him across the street and over two blocks. He didn't say a word as Michael led him up the fleet of stairs that had an obscene amount of blood and woman's unmentionables. He especially didn't say anything as he grabbed the butt cheeks of one of the dirty girls smoking a cigarette at the top of the stairs.

It was when they approached the door he finally opened his mouth, "Why do you want this stuff so bad anyhow?"

Michael shrugged and knocked hard three times. A skinny male opened the door for him. He had on a tie-die T-shit and a vest with beads on it. His hair came down past his shoulders and he smelled like grass.

He opened his arms wide. "Mikey! Welcome my friend."

Michael grinned at him and gently pushed Randy inside with him. The small room was filled with different kinds of people lying everywhere. Randy tried to keep his eyes on the small of Michaels back to keep from seeing anything he shouldn't have.

Michael led Randy into the back and stopped at the last door down the hall. He didn't even knock before he went inside.

There were three guys sitting in a circle. On the bed was a frail woman breast feeding her baby who couldn't have been more than a couple of months old. The woman didn't even seem like a woman. She looked fifteen at best.

Michael slapped hands with each one of the guys and introduced them all to Randy. Randy shook their hands and smiled like Michael had done. He didn't want to be in here. He should have taken Michael by the collar and led him out of that bar but he didn't. Like Sam, Michael always got his way.

Michael sat down at the foot of the bed and grabbed his wallet. "Who here has it?"

One of the guys winked and held up a finger. He got up and went over to the closet. He was heftier than the others. He looked older too, like he was the baby's grandfather or something.

He rose back up with a big brown paper bag in hand and gave it to Michael without another word.

Michael grinned and peaked into the bag. Once he was pleased with what was inside he handed the guy a twenty. "Keep the change fellas." He signaled Randy and headed for the door. "Nice doing business with you all."

Randy nor Michael said anything on the walk home. Randy hadn't taken his eyes off that bag Michael had a death grip on. If it was LSD he would have done it right there and given Randy some. No, this was something Michael didn't want Randy to see.

Randy, fed up with it, raced to Michaels side. "So what was that about? I thought we were getting some dope or something?"

Michael smirked and kept walking. "You over think things too much."

Randy cupped his shoulder. "Come on, what's in the bag, man?"

Michael brushed his hand off and sped up a little. "Mind your own business man. You can't handle this stuff. Trust me; I'm saving you a lot of trouble here. You've been off the wire since all this anyway. Sit back and let your best friend take care of ya."

Randy stopped in his tracks. His jaw dropped. His shock soon turned to anger. "Take care of me? You mean like Sam took care of us?"

"I'm taking care of us now," Michael hissed. "I'm doing what he was too afraid to do. You can either follow me Randy," he turned around facing Randy, "or get the hell out of the lime light."

He didn't say any more as he turned back around and kept walking.

Randy eyed his friend, his hands clinched. He knew where he stood, and like the good little soldier he was, he followed. He always did.

Dally stood, leaning on the fence at the top of the hill, a beer in his hand. This was the life. If his leg wasn't bummed and he was in shape, he'd be right down there on those big bulls's back. He would show all these pussies who the king down here was.

He took a sip of his beer and chuckled as one of the guys scrambled out of the pin and over the gate. Damn. If only he was in shape.

"Winston."

Dally knew that voice better than anyone's. How he'd heard it scream for mercy many nights. How he'd heard it scream and curse with anger. He didn't think he'd hear that voice for a while. He was actually beginning to get lonely without it.

"Well look who has come out of the rabbit hole." Dally strolled over to him, a big smile on his face. He pointed to the side of his face. "Nice little scar you got there, Timmy."

Tim knocked his hand out of the way and grunted. "Yeah, nice to see you too, Winston."

Dally's big fat smile couldn't fade. "What you doin' all the way down here? Don't tell me you jumped a fence or dropped the soap in the shower again."

Tim handed him a cigarette and shook his head. "Good behavior." He looked up and smirked. "'Member that?"

Dally shook his head and leaned back over on the fence. He grabbed his popcorn off the floor and stuffed a handful into his mouth. Tim joined him at his side and puffed his weed. "Should I ask where the misses is?"

Dally snickered and took another handful and put it in his mouth. "How long where you in the playpen anyhow?"

Tim counted on his fingers. "Five months...fuck."

Dally looked up and gave him a playful grin. "Make any new friends?"

Tim was too tired to put up a fight tonight, especially with Winston. He was itching to by golly. He'd missed those days. He was planning a good one. He knew Dallas wouldn't turn that down either.

"You and Dan still together I hear." He blew smoke out of the corner of his mouth. "How's she?"

Dally crumbled up the empty bag and chucked it in the trash. "Dandy." He raised up his fag and took a long drag. "Should be askin' 'bout you."

Tim didn't say anything. He hadn't since it happened. At the Pen they sent him to see some big hot Whig who thought she was something just sitting there, pretending to know how he felt and out of everything else, thinking she knew what his problem was. Damned bitch she was.

Tim had taken off a few weeks after they threw Angel's ashes. No one had seen or heard from him or knew where he went. Curly was hunting the town every night like a stray dog looking for him when he finally ran into Dally and he joined in on the case. They found Tim down near the border, hitting on some Mexican. It took both Dally and Curly just to pull Tim off of him.

They got him to Dal's apartment and came to find out just how crazed Timothy Shepard really was. He was so high on every kind of meds and drugs that they couldn't even get him to sit straight. After a few days of being locked in the bathroom (Dally's idea) he finally came to and Curly was all packed and ready to get him home and safe so they could be a "normal" family again.

The moment they got back, the cops were waiting at Timmy's door with a warrant for assault, battery, and all kinds of other charges for narcotics and one for indecent exposer. Tim didn't put up much of a fight when they took him away. Dally thought he was happy in a way just to be gone from all this mess. To have a break.

It wasn't the first time Dally had seen Curly cry. Hell, he'd seen it a lot. If you have Tim as an older brother, there has to be a lot of crying involved. It took two months before the kid calmed down. He had a girlfriend now. Some chick he met a couple towns over. She had a scary resemblance to Angel that no one understood.

"Timothy!" a thick accented guy shouted.

Dally and Tim turned around as a little dark haired man waved at them and then started jogging towards them. "Who the fuck-"

Tim grabbed hold of Dally's collar. "You say anything and I swear I'll bust your head in."

The little guy reached them, out of breath. "Heya boys!" He had a big goofy grin on his face that Dally had to laugh at. "What wes up to?"

Tim groaned and shoved his hands in his pockets. "Bull ridin' Jac. Remember? I told you that's why we were here."

Dally's ears rose at the name and he began to pay attention here. He leaned forward, friendly offering his hand to the stranger. "Dallas Winston, kid. You would be?"

Jac happily shook Dally's hand, his grin still on. "Jac! I'm a friend of Timothy's."

"Tim," Tim growled with a groan.

"Oh 'dats right!" Jac said with a wave. "I'm sorry lad. I'll get it right soon enough."

Tim rolled his eyes while Dally laughed his head off. He was beginning to like this kid. Tim pulled out a one from his billfold and handed it to Jac. "Go buy ya some popcorn and a Coke, Jac. It's right over there."

Jac looked to where he was pointing, his eyes lighting up like a kid in a candy store. "Popcorn! Oh thank you Tim!" And with that he raced over to the big line on the other side of the lot.

Dally sneered and leaned back over the fence. "That who I think it is?"

Tim scowled as his eyes still followed Jac. "If you say anything Winston I swear to God that little girlfriend of yours won't have anything else left to grab."

Dally chuckled. He wasn't afraid of Tim and especially not Danni but he wasn't itching to get into this whorl of a mess. That one they can fight out amongst them. It was going to be a good one though. He'd have to get good seats and a bag of popcorn to that.

"He know?" Dally asked. Tim blew out smoke. Of course he didn't know. "She's gonna kill you man."

"I hear you're the new hot topic on over in Tulsa," Tim said with a smirk, changing the subject. "You're the topic at all the finest's dinner tables."

Dally chewed on some gum. "Could say that."

Tim got out another smoke. "You better watch yourself...What's this I hear 'bout your baby brother coming all the way down here and then runnin' off with Matthew's kid sister?"

Dally blew a bubble and let it pop across his lips. "That pretty much tells it all."

Tim eyed the long line where Jac was, keeping a look out for him. "Just take care of yourself Winston. We lose too many people. Don't want it to be your blood I'm scrappin' off the road next."

Dally laughed. "I cannot die, Shepard. Don't forget that."

Sarah flipped through all five channels ten times and found nothing we were interested in. "What about this one?" she asked, pointing to the dancing duck.

I shook my head. "Turn it back to that fat guy."

She leaned forward and flipped the channel again. It was freezing outside and it had started hailing. The weather had been horrible here lately which wasn't a bad thing considering Darry has made sure we can't go anywhere unless someone is with us for two weeks.

"Danni, when do you work again?" Darry asked from the kitchen.

"Tuesday I think. Mrs. Adderson has cut back everyone's hours. She says she's thinking about closing for the winter."

I could hear Darry puff out a breath of air and mark some things down on the calendar in front of him. He snapped the lid back on the marker and rose up. "I gotta head to work. Will you two be okay here?"

Sarah nodded and shot him a smile. I did the same, minus the smile. "I'll cook dinner."

He opened the door, causing Two-Bit and Johnny to run inside yelling, "Pony, the movie starts in ten minutes and I got the engine runnin'. Baby don't like the cold!"

Darry grabbed his cap and slipped by them and out the door.

"Hey, Johnny." Sarah waved and then changed the channel again. Johnny unburied his hands from his coat pocket and waved back.

"Hey, Danni-Bear," Two-Bit flopped down on the sofa beside me. "You and Dal goin' to the rodeo with us Saturday night?"

I made a face. It was that time of year again which only meant one thing, "What rodeo?"

Johnny took a step closer to us, his hands still locked in place inside his pockets. "Everyone's goin'. Darry and Kathy and Soda and Steve and Evie and Pony."

Two-Bit's eyes went to Sarah. "Who's this pretty lady?" Two-Bit removed his arm from around me and crawled over to Sarah on the floor. "What's your name, sweetcheeks?"

Sarah nervously smiled at him and tucked her hair behind her ear. "Sarah."

Johnny looked up the stairs and thought about yelling again at Ponyboy to hurry up. I sat and watched Sarah awkwardly try and shoo Two-Bit away. "Johnny, are you going to the rodeo?"

"Yeah."

I gazed down at Sarah as she inched farther and farther away. "Maybe you and Sarah can go together." Sarah looked up. "You've been talkin' about seeing one since you got here, right?"

Two-Bit stopped and caught Johnny's eye. His lips curled and he backed off immediately. "Yeah, Johnny, man! You like sweetcheeks?"

"Sarah," she correct quietly. She turned her head towards Johnny. "You wanna?"

Pony appeared at the foot of the steps, shoving his arms into his jacket and eagerly heading to the door. "We goin'?"

"Shhh!" I hissed.

"Hold up," Two-Bit held his hand up. "Playin' match maker here."

Sarah's stare didn't break but Johnny was looking at everything but her. "You don't have to if you just wanna go with your friends."

Johnny nervously looked at Pony who just shrugged. He turned back to Sarah. "If you wanna, th-that's cool."

Two-Bit slapped Johnny on the back and whopped with joy. "Yeah, Johnnycakes!"

Sarah giggled as the Two-Bit kept going on and on to Johnny as they left. He was cheering on the guy who just got the girl he wanted. If it was anyone other than his friend, he'd have his balls in hand. Two-Bit would never step on any of his buddy's toes though. None of them would.

"You excited?" I asked Sarah.

She beamed. "You're going too right? Please, Danni! It's my first date and you have to-"

My eyes opened up. "Your first date?" Her face dropped. "You've never been on a date before?"

She shook her head and stared at the floor. I regretted saying that. "We moved so much I never got the chance to. I was really close one time but Mom got sick and I had to stay home."

Her face was sad, like I had learned it did whenever we talked about her mother. I slid on down to the floor and sat beside her. "Well, this will be fun then."

She looked back up, her friendly eyes sparkled. She was incapable of not smiling. "You're going! We can go shopping together!" She jumped off the floor and grabbed her jacket from the couch. "I'll call you about it tomorrow okay?"

I laughed. "Okay, Sarah."

Sarah. Johnny man you have no idea what you got yourself into my friend. You have no idea.

Cause it's you and me and all other people with nothing to do. Nothing to prove. And it's you and me and all other people. And I don't know why, I can't keep my eyes off of you.

A/N: Cheers for having Tim back! I hope you all are as happy as I am about it. ;) What did ya'll think about Tim and Dally's talk? Any predictions up your sleeves? Primarily who Jac is?