Author's Note:

Hello my lovely readers! I would just like to take this moment to thank you all for continuing to read my story, and for your wonderful reviews. I also wanted to apologize for being on hiatus for so long- with school, my job, and my recent holiday laziness, my schedule has been pretty hectic. But, I promise to remain loyal to you all when I say that I WILL keep up with the writing more often than usual. This chapter is a little less 'action-packed', it does contain a lot of dialogue, however I guess one could call it a "transitional chapter" (I don't know, I like giving my writing techniques special names to make myself sound cooler). Bottom line: So sorry for the wait...here's your next chapter...and please feel free to review, comment, and especially make suggestions for what you'de like to see happen next for Dallas and Cherry! Thanks so much!

Dallas awoke the next morning from the sun's light shining through a high window, just beside his dresser. As he began to shut his eyes once again, he realized that he could feel the texture of Cherry's skin beneath his fingers. His hand cradled the side of her waist, as she rested her cheek upon the side of his chest, while their legs remained intertwined with one another. Dallas inhaled deeply, then exhaled. He could feel the breeze from outside entering the room, rushing through the sheets, giving him the chills. He tucked his face inward towards Cherry's soft hair, and he felt warm again. While he could barely stay awake, he could still hear the sound of a door slamming from downstairs, and began noticing that Kris was probably opening up the bar, which meant it was past eleven o'clock in the morning. He then heard whistling, and then he could immediately tell that it was Kris humming a tune.

Dallas slowly separated himself from Cherry, made his way out of his bed, and began to put his clothes on. He was rushed, only because today was his first day working at The Shack, a restaurant that Kris' brother owned, and was nice enough to offer Dallas a job. The last thing he wanted to do was mess up his chances. Once he was dressed, he walked towards the door, and looked once more back at Cherry, who was sound asleep. Feeling slightly guilty for leaving her alone to wake up, he quietly walked over beside the bed, and leaned in as he kissed her lightly on her cheek, just below her eye. As Cherry began to open her eyes, Dallas smiled as he said, "Ay sweetheart, I'm runnin' late for this job I landed, you don't mind do ya'?"

Cherry sighed in surprise with a raised eyebrow, "You got a job?"

"I don't know how, but I did!" Dallas laughed with a shrug, as he backed up from the bed with a smile.

They continued to look at each other as Dallas slowly made his way towards the door. Cherry jokingly repeated, "A job?"

"A job!"

"You got a job?"

"A job!"

Cherry yelled, "Hurray, a job!"

Dallas laughed and playfully said, "Love you Cherry," as he waved her one last goodbye.

Cherry jokingly blew a kiss and watched Dallas rush out of the doorway and down the stairs.

Dallas arrived about two minutes late to work. As he walked into the empty restaurant, he immediately obtained sight of the man whom he had been looking for; or perhaps, the man who had been looking for him.

"You Dallas?" the man grunted. He was young, maybe in his late twenties', but he possessed an awful look of cockiness, something that Dallas could barely handle. He immediately walked towards Dallas, holding a stack of envelopes.

"Yeah, sorry I'm late." Dallas harshly replied. He didn't like being looked down upon, especially as the man was doing at that very moment.

"I don't know where the hell you came from, boy," the man continued, "But 'round where I'm from, if you're late, you're gone. No exceptions. Unless you got a hand fulla' paychecks to give out, don't plan on ever being late around here again. You hear me, kid?"

Dallas nearly grunted as he glared towards the man, watching him hand out envelopes to the waiters and waitresses that approached him. Dallas had the urge to tell the man off, show him who was really in charge of Dallas Winston. However, the sight of those paychecks were just enough to keep him quiet for the next few minutes.

"Follow me." the man glanced back at Dallas, and then continued to turn his back towards him, leading Dallas to his office.

As the two walked inside the back room, Dallas couldn't help but wonder if he had even wanted to work for this man. He was already annoyed as it was; he didn't want anymore attitude, or any more trouble for that matter. "Shut the door, please," the man spoke as he sat at his desk, "and sit down."

Dallas sat in the chair in front of his desk. After a rough silence, along with a few shuffles of papers, the man finally spoke, "Now, maybe a more proper introduction; I'm Sal. You don't need to go an' make anything formal around here, the folks just call me Sal. Not 'Mister', and not 'Boss.' Sal is just fine."

"Alright.." Dallas nodded, raising his tone almost as if it were a question.

"Pretty straight forward stuff," Sal continued, "Wash dishes, smile at the customers, clean tables, sweep floors. When you've worked long enough, y'might even learn how to work the bar. Pay check comes every two weeks. Any questions for me?"

Dallas raised an eyebrow to this. This guy's full of it, Dallas thought. Dallas didn't appreciate Sal's cutting-edge sense of delivery; but money was money. And if money meant helping Cherry, helping the baby, then it was gold. A golden opportunity that Dallas had finally had at his fingertips.

Dallas leaned back in his chair, "Yeah, when can I start?"

"Hey, Dal!" Johnny waved Dallas over as he began to watch him walk towards him. Johnny, Sodapop, Ponyboy and Two-Bit were talking in Ponyboy's backyard. Dallas had just got off work, which he had been attending to for about three weeks now. "What's up, guys." Dallas grunted. While Dallas greeted the gang, Ponyboy teased him jokingly, "Look who it is, Mr. Workin' boy's here."

They all laughed as Dallas lit up a cigarette. "How's it feel to finally be earnin' clean cash, Dal?" Two-Bit asked.

"It pays off," Dallas nodded, "Ay, you guys oughta' come by the Shack tomorrow, they're havin' some kind of annual gig they do there. Apparently the whole town goes to these things, free food and everythin'."

Sodapop and Two-Bit's eyes widened at the sound of free food.

"Oh no you're talking 'bout the Shack's Brick-house Benefit, right? Nah, Dally that ain't free." Sodapop replied.

"Aw, you don't say!" Two-Bit shuddered after getting his hopes up.

"It ain't cheap, neither." Sodapop added.

"Nah, nah. It costs money to get in but I can bring people for free. Just tell them you're with me."

The four of them cheered in response to Dallas' news. Dallas nodded, muttering, "Yeah, yeah, but just you guys, got it? I can't be responsible for bringin' the whole damn side of town to this thing."

As the gang began walking, Ponyboy asked Dallas a question.

"You aren't gonna bring Cherry, Dal?"

Dallas smiled at the mentioning of Cherry's name. He remained nervous, however. Dallas was always afraid of becoming off guard, and accidentally bringing up the news of Cherry's pregnancy. He often had to remind himself that Cherry and her family were the only one's that knew, and that it was to stay that way for as long as possible.

Finally, Dallas responded, "Nah, don't need to. Her family goes every year, they're already bringin' her."

By this time, after a few weeks had passed since Dallas had been hired, Cherry's parents had agreed to take her back into their home. Even though they had remained on horrible terms, Cherry was still their "little girl", and naturally they had begun to feel lost without her in their presence.

As Dallas explained to Ponyboy about Cherry's parents bringing her as a guest, he began to realize how much trouble he was about to be in. Dallas had still never met Cherry's parents once, not even after Cherry had told them that he was the father of their baby. This was going to be an awfully interesting turn out for both Dallas and Cherry.

As the gang walked out of the drive-in after seeing a movie, Johnny said, "Well, I guess I'de better get goin'. So Dal, about tomorrow? Will I see you 'round?"

"Yeah, I'm sure. I'll be working', but I'll see ya." Johnny nodded. And with his hands in his pockets, he said, "See ya'll tomorrow," and turned to walk down the alley that led him home. Just as he began walking, he heard the faded voices of Sodapop, Ponyboy, and Two-bit, just faintly disappearing behind him. Suddenly, however, he was startled by the sound of close footsteps.

He then heard a, "Hey Johnny, man. Wait up." from a very familiar voice. He turned around to see that it was only Dallas, speeding up to catch up to him.

"You goin' home?" Dallas asked as he finally caught up, side by side. Johnny, as he continued to walk, replied with a grin, "Yeah, if that's what you'd like to call it."

Johnny may or may not have known it, but Dallas loved the kid. Johnny was Dallas' greatest pal. Something about him just made Dallas respect him so much. Perhaps it was his loyal sense of originality. Or, maybe he saw something in Johnny that reminded him of himself. Either way, Dallas loved talking to Johnny, especially one on one, like he was doing at that very moment. It almost made Dallas feel as if each word spoken out of Johnny's mouth was a rare finding; like he was discovering a little bit more about Johnny each time. It was like a father getting to know his grown son for the first time.

"Look, Johnny, I could use your help." Dallas finally stated.

The streets were silent, and the sidewalks were paved with the echoing sounds of Dallas and Johnny's footsteps, hitting and scuffing the cement.

Johnny looked puzzled, "Help? Yeah, sure Dal, whatever you need. I'm here." He seemed to be slightly surprised at Dallas' request.

Dallas took a slight pause to think as they continued walking. He thought about Johnny, contemplating on if he should speak any further on the subject. He went with his gut feeling.

"Cherry's pregnant, Johnny." Johnny took slower steps, and then continued at his steady pace. His eyes widened in awe, and he nearly choked on his own saliva. "Wha-what?" he stumbled.

Dallas just nodded, staring at the path straight ahead of him. He expected such a reaction, but he knew he could trust Johnny. Just to make sure, however, he continued while leaning over to point at him with a stern finger, "But not a word out of that damn mouth of yours, you got that? Cherry hasn't even told her friends about this-at least, I don't think."

"Wait, so are you….are you the-"

"Yeah, yeah alright? It was me, guilty. I did it. Jesus, kid, what's a'matter with you? You think I'de just let other people impregnate my girlfriend for kicks?" Dallas raised his voice.

"Sorry, I was just checkin'."

Dallas had never really thought about what would happen once the baby was actually born. It wasn't until about a day ago that he had finally realized that in about a few months, a little kid was going to be running around; a little kid that Dallas and Cherry brought into the world themselves. Not that Dallas had actually ever created a dream or a future for himself, but what exactly was to become of his future now? Would he raise the child? Would this mean that he would fall into his father's footsteps? No, that was the very last thing that Dallas had ever wanted. Dallas had hated his father from the very beginning, and he never wanted to become a hypocritical person. What kind of man would he be if he had turned into the very man he had hated for eighteen years?

Johnny and Dallas had finally approached a few yards away from Johnny's house. The night had been unusually quiet, which had surprised Johnny, considering the fact that the dark hours were usually tainted with loud noises of the fights that had constantly occurred in his home. Johnny finally turned to Dallas and spoke, "That Cherry's a sweet girl, Dal. I hope this don't mean you'll be leavin' her."

Dallas shook his head, "Nah, nah. I'm-" Dallas paused for a short moment. He glared into the street lights that blinked down street in front of him. Johnny watched Dallas, waiting for a response, as Dallas seemed to be dozing off into a frenzy of deep thought. With his hands in his pockets, Dallas walked over to the side of the curb to sit down.

"You don't mind if I keep you 'round for a bit do ya'?" he asked with a lowered voice.

"No, Dal. Not at all." Johnny walked over to sit down next to him. Johnny approached this opportunity with caution; for Dallas was never commonly known for deep conversation.

Dallas took a deep breath, and then exhaled. He began to light a cigarette, but then hesitated and threw it across the street. Something had shaken Dallas that very moment, and not even Dallas could figure out what it was that had brought him to such discouragement.

"I get these moments, Johnny," Dallas began muttering softly, almost as if he were talking to himself, "these moments when I just wanna walk away from it. And it gets-it just drives me mad, really."

Johnny had always felt slightly vulnerable when it came to having conversations with Dallas; everything was a test. You had two choices when it came for giving Dallas a clean, cut answer: Either he was looking for your true opinion, or he just needed someone to agree with him. Usually it always ended up being the second one, even though Dallas had never really noticed that it worked out this way.

"I'm sure everybody thinks like that at first, Dal. Cherry probably thinks the same, except-well, it'd be impossible for her to walk away from it, obviously."

Dallas lowered his eyebrows, "Ay, wise ass, you think I don't know that? That's the whole fuckin' problem! She can't walk away form this, but I can. And what the hell am I s'posed to do when this whole plan comes through?" He then continued, "A year from now, who the fuck knows, there'll be a little red-headed Dally Junior runnin' around this fucked up place" Dallas laughed to himself as he lowered his head, " What a great mix. Half Soc, half Greaser. A real trip." Dallas shook his head as he lit a new cigarette, once again.

Dallas and Johnny allowed the silence to take over for the next two minutes, before Dallas sprung up from his seat. "Okay, okay, better let you get home. You need me to pick you up tomorrow?" Dallas reached out a hand towards Johnny, who was still sitting. Johnny grabbed Dallas' arm as he pulled him up from the ground, and sighed.

Johnny replied, "Nah, no need for that. I'll catch a ride with the others, you best be gettin' to work on time, without us."

Dallas asked, "You sure? It's no trouble, besides, you're on the way."

"Nah, nah, it's cool, man. Thanks a lot though."

Dallas let out a loud grunt as he playfully locked Johnny in a headlock with his left arm, while he simultaneously messed with Johnny's hair with his right. Dallas messed with Johnny an awful lot, only because he felt like Johnny was a younger brother to him. Dallas could rarely find a genuine relationship with anyone he knew, especially like the one he had with Johnny. Or even Cherry, for that matter.

Dallas growled as he pushed Johnny away, "Alright, alright. Now scram, kid!"

Johnny laughed as he walked towards his house, "See you tomorrow!"

As Dallas walked back towards his car, which was parked a few blocks away, he began to think of what was to become of the next day. For the very first time in his life, he had actually come across a predicament in which he couldn't figure out how he would react. Dallas, having been in several uncomfortable and frightening situations in his life, had always been aware; not only aware, but prepared. No matter what was coming, Dallas was prepared. But for some reason, Dallas had felt unprepared for what he would say to Cherry's parents at the benefit. Or should he say anything at all? No, don't be ridiculous, of course he would say something. It's nearly a miracle that Cherry's parents haven't already tracked him down by now.

Whether Dallas liked it or not, his past few weeks were heavily loaded with "first's". His first love, first pregnancy (let's hope), first apology, first moment of weakness, first job, first signs of 'going soft'…the list goes on and on. The more Dallas had analyzed the situation, the more he had come closer and closer to the arrival of his conclusion: Cherry was changing Dallas' life completely.