By the next day, Cherry had forced herself to completely discard of any feelings for Dallas Winston whatsoever, good or bad. She knew that thinking of a guy like Dallas was a waste of time, especially since she knew Dallas wouldn't take a second out of his day to talk to her voluntarily.

Meanwhile, Cherry was spending her day babysitting for a family friend's two kids. She loved them, for she'd been watching over them for a few years now, but every now and then she'd become very antsy due to their lack of ability to stay amused while at home. Finally having enough of the unbearable screams and shouts inside the house, she agreed to take them out. She called up Marcia to keep her entertained while they all went out for playing time.

At this time it was about 5:30, late afternoon, but it was fairly light out for such an hour. A smile had finally grown upon Cherry's face when she saw Marcia walking towards her and the kids from the distance. She waved her over.

"How much longer are you gunna be watching these kids?" Marcia asked.

Cherry looked back at the two, chasing each other around with their obliviousness. "About fifteen minutes. They just wanted to go out for a little bit, I thought I'de be generous for once." They both laughed.

As minutes passed, Cherry and Marcia drove the kids back home, and continued to drive back towards where they came from. Then out of nowhere, Marcia pleaded, "Did you wanna go visit the boys?" Cherry continued driving, while remaining puzzled.

"Who do you mean?...Ponyboy and Johnny?" she asked.

"No, I mean, the other boys. Like...-"

"-Like Two-Bit?" Cherry asked with a smile. She knew Marcia had a little thing for that boy. Marcia always fell for the guys with jokes.

Marcia giggled when she heard this. She nodded. Cherry added, "Sure, sure. And do you know where these 'boys' are? Or should I say do you know where this Two-Bit is?"

She nodded once again, "Yes. He told me he'd be at the walk way by the Dingo. The one next to the parking lot and the street corner?"

Cherry, holding a grin on her face, sighed in surrender as she began to drive towards Two-Bit's location. Marcia continued to look out the window with a glow and a grin.

The day began to lose its light as the girls parked the car in the lot. Cherry and Marcia stepped out, Marcia of course was all smiles, while Cherry acted as the hawk, searching the night with her eyes, wondering where Two-Bit was, and who else was in sight. They both saw Two-Bit in the distance waving them over, while they could hear his loud cackle at the same time. Also visible, was a group of about four to five guys behind him. They were obviously all greasers, as the girls presumed, and they were correct.

The closer the girls got, however, the more Cherry's stomach turned; Dallas was in the group. And there he stood, leaning up against the eight-foot gate smoking his signature cigaret, cackling his short and sweet laugh with the guys. Marcia looked at Cherry with her "oh no" face. Cherry knew how much Two-Bit secretly meant to Marcia, so she nodded in approval, and gave the 'okay' for Marcia to make her move. Cherry wasn't afraid of no greaser. She could manage. Could she?

"Well, if it isn't the two most beautiful girls on the planet!" exclaimed Two-Bit. He cut in the middle of the two, as he wrapped his arms around both Cherry and Marcia. He leaned into Marcia's ear and said, "And how are YOUUUU, sweet thing?" which made Marcia want to scream and laugh with excitement. Cherry broke off the love chain and walked towards the car slowly. She suddenly felt a low, raspy voice that sounded awfully close, like it was coming from right behind her. "Hey, ginger. Wanna come with us?"

Already deeply offended, she turned around only to see a greaser she had neither met nor seen before. She gave give a long, hard look that clearly he had never been used to seeing. "Hey, relax! I'm just tryin' to be polite and all! Come on, come on over here. How 'bout I get to know you a little better, yeah?"

His hand pulled her closer towards him, leaving them chest to chest. She immediately pulled back, "Get your hands off of me."

"Hey, hey, hey..." he pulled in closer, "What's the matter? It's 'cause you're lonely tonight, huh? Your friend's having some fun, you don't have to be lonely tonight sweetheart," he grabbed her by the arm and pulled her in harder, with a more aggressive movement.

Cherry could no longer handle this. Maybe with Dallas it wasn't as bad, because at least he had some respect, and looks. This greaser was all grease, and nothing but grease. She finally blew up.

"I told you to get, your hands, OFF of me!" She pushed him back, causing him to spill the drink he was holding.

"Look, ginger, nobody touches me like that unless it's in bed you understand? I-" he grabbed her by the hair and pulled her in closer, moving in like he was about to kiss her. Cherry was fuming, and she pushed and kicked and did whatever she could to get the message out.

All of a sudden, she heard another voice from the group, "Ay, wise ass, don't touch her"

The greaser stopped harassing Cherry to look over at him; it was Dallas.

"Dally, don't waste your time," the greaser spoke towards him. Then he continued to mutter, "Dumb broad's not worth the fight.."

Dallas saw how frazzled Cherry looked, and then he turned towards his fellow greaser, all within one second, and punched him. Right in the face.

"What the hell, Dally?"he asked while clenching his jaw, walking away.

"Don't fucking touch her" he snapped right back. Cherry couldn't help but smile only slightly. Although she had always hated fights, that was just something she had never thought she'd see before. Dallas Winston defending Cherry? She couldn't help but feel that this was nothing short of ironic; Dallas had just been treating her like that greaser did only a few days ago, and the only person she had to defend herself, was herself.

Dallas didn't walk closer to her, he knew she was in an upset mood. Instead, he continued to stand about two feet away from her, looking at her, looking at her petite body frame but also seeing her anger coming out like light through her eyes. He stared at her, and then continued to whip out his lighter and relight his cigaret. "Sorry about that." he finally said, calmly. Cherry didn't really know what to say. She was flattered. And she hated it, too. He continued on, "See around here Red, I'm the gentleman."

Cherry smiled, and she tried to hide it before Dallas could look up and see. But it was too late, he already noticed her grinning from ear to ear. Dallas blew out smoke and looked at Cherry. He never really saw her smile like that before. A genuine smile. Man, this broad's confusing, he thought. Dallas always thought he could read girls like a book. He manipulated, because love was ruined for him. But Cherry, Cherry was a hard girl to read. And he liked that, except it only made it harder for him.

"Thank you," Cherry finally spoke, "I guess you are." Dallas threw back a small grin, and then looked back at the guys.

"So, are you going to leave your friend here or what?" he asked.

"What? Oh, yeah. She wanted to visit Two-Bit. I drove my car here, so I'll be on my way home."

"Oh," Dallas paused and looked at the ground, "Well I guess drive safely, Red."

Cherry nodded, and turned to walk towards the car. As she walked, she started realizing that he didn't really want the night to end just yet. She wanted more.

Dallas didn't even budge once Cherry walked towards her car. He only stood there, watching her walk. He really liked the way she kept herself inside, like she didn't really need to prove anything. She was just...Cherry Valence. The girl that everybody loved. Not me, though, he thought. Dallas would never love anybody for as long as he lived.

After thinking about it, Cherry stopped in her place and turned around, towards Dallas.

"Dallas?" she projected slightly.

Dallas raised his eye brows with an unexpected, "Yeah?"

"Would you like to buy me a Coke?"

This drew a big smile on Dallas' face. "Yeah, you're tough enough Red."