Disclaimer: I don't own the Outsiders or the song "Cold Blooded".

A/N: Yes I'm using the song twice. Ahhh! This chapter is one of the shorter ones because it just got done a few minutes ago. The next few are more action packed.

You can't trust a cold blooded man. Girl, don't believe in his lies. Can't trust a cold blooded man. He'll love you and leave you alive. There's one thing you must understand. You can't trust a cold blooded man.

There are a few things I enjoy in life:

10.) Greasy burgers with extra grease

9.) Extra crispy French fries

8.) Western Movies

7.) Places where you don't have to wear shoes...or shirts

6.) Slashing tires

5.) Ice cold Cokes

4.) Sex

3.) Cigarettes

2.) Beer

1.) Horses

I have the top three things at my fingertips. The beer here is cheap and you can buy cigarettes by the carton. Just the smell of the horses can tie me over for a while. The security isn't tight here so I can sneak into the stables and get some carrots and apples in before the owners notice.

"Hey Dally!"

Soda and Steve have doubled dated since the beginning of time. I've always thought it was a cover up for something different until they got into actually having sex with the girls they took out and Steve got married. Some days I still like to have my doubts.

"Why are you over here all by yourself?"

She's from Kansas or Nebraska or someplace that's full of rednecks. She doesn't have a thick accident which makes her more attractive than before. Soda's always been into blondes with full figures and tight asses.

I see her all the time when I go in the Dingo. She's the new best friend apparently so there's a wonder what she knows. She's got a lot of sass in her and though I've never held a full conversation with her, I have a feeling she could pack a punch.

I let the smoke out and smirk. "Is it date night already?"

I notice how tightly Evie has her hand wrapped around Steve's like she thinks I'm going to steal him away from her. She's close to him and he's not pushing her away like before. I focus my attention on her stomach.

"Jen, will you come to the bathroom with me?" She shrugs and follows after her. Evie will do anything in her power to get away from me. I scare her a little and she doesn't like to show fear.

Steve slouches against the brick wall and lights a cigarette. "Damn, I've been wantin' one of these all night."

"Evie made him quit." Soda laughs and pulls out one of his own.

"Seemed pretty cozy back there, Stevie," I point out. "She ever get what she wanted?"

He gets a satisfied look as he releases the smoke. "Started workin' at some daycare. I figured that'd tie her over for a while. Maybe she'll realize that she hates kids. She's dropped it an' that's all I care about."

She's probably stopped taking the pills.

"How's Superman?" I ask Soda, noticing a less strained face. His color has gone back to normal - as normal as it can get after getting third degree burns on the majority of his skin.

He puts the stick out on the wall behind him. "He's in the hospital again. Probably 'till surgery. He likes it there better than at home anyway. They say it's gonna get worse before it gets better. He looks bad, man."

I can picture the flesh being eaten off his skin. I've never seen anyone with cancer before besides my old hag of a grandma my pops made me visit before she crooked. We only went there because she had some dough and he wanted it.

"Aye," I say. "How's the kid doing?"

He raises his eyebrows. I forget he's not considered a kid by anyone besides Steve anymore. "Ponyboy?" I nod. "He's fine...besides that whole Johnny thing. Hey, you haven't heard from him, have you?"

He called me the night he left that girl's house. I didn't blame him for wanting out. I never expected that thing to last long. He asked about the place I sent him and Pony a few years ago and wanted to know if there was another building around he could crash in. I gave him a few bucks to hold him over a while.

"Nope. Ain't heard a thing."

"Oh," he says, a little disappointed. "Why do you ask?"

I shrug and light up another cigarette. "You gotta watch that kid. Keep an eye on him and shit. He's at that age, ya know."

He nods but still looks puzzled. He doesn't ask and I'm glad, not that I'd tell him the truth. I may be a lot of things, but a rat I never was and never will be. It's my problem now and if I have to crack a few heads, I will.

It always smells like cough syrup and tears in this place, sorrow along with death.

"How ya doin'?" I ask as I step in. The room smells like tainted blood and cheap flowers and balloons. That's what everyone gets when they get sick. Like seeing a fucking balloon that says 'get well soon!' is going to cure cancer.

His eyes are sunk into his head. His skin looks like ice and every blue vein pops out of his frail thin skin. He's a husk of his former being. The guy was Superman. He didn't even resemble Superman's grandpa at this point.

Darry lifts his head up a little and smiles. "What's that?"

I flip over the bear and sneer. "What's it look like? A fucking diamond ring?"

He laughs and slowly picks it up once I sit it down on the bed beside him. "Stealing in a fucking hospital. I'd imagine the devil's keeping your seat warm for you?" He flips it over. "Congratulations? It's a boy?"

I shrug. "When you're grabbin' an' goin', you don't have time to look at the prize."

He shakes his head. "I'd imagine not."

What do you do in a hospital room for hours a day? I couldn't take it the few times I've been and that's why I refuse to go and would rather patch up myself. I can see a collection of books by his bed stand. Pony's I'm guessing. Darry never seemed like the reader to me. He always had to be moving and working.

Once something big like this hits, I'm sure you have to change and try new things. I know if I ever heard the C word, I'd grab the nearest gun and go out the easy way. There's no way I'd get like this.

"Ain't seen you since you got out." He stops and coughs into a tissue that's covered in blood. "Looks like you gained all the muscle I've lost, huh?"

They could at least put a TV in here. There's a lady that comes around with a rack of ratty old books that no one ever wants. She smells like the old candy grandmas are always trying to give you. There's a Bible in the drawer but it's only there to gather dust. I'm sure people like Darry read it from cover to cover. That's the only time when people care - when they're dying.

"I'm surprised you're not at that big party." He coughs out more blood specs. "I tried to get Soda to keep an eye on Danni and Pone but he's still a stupid kid. I forget that sometimes."

"Yeah, I may make a visit."

He nods and holds back another disgusting cough. "Tell me if you see 'em. Soda ain't got eyes like I do."

There's a knock on the door and the tall blonde comes in with a plate of chocolate cake and cups of coffee. I didn't notice the sheets and pillow on the ground until now. I should have known she'd be here.

"Oh, Dally," she says. "You look good. You want some cake?"

I shake my head. "No thanks." I watch as she sits them down on the table. She picks up Darry's dirty tissues and gives him some new clean ones. She helps him lift his head up to take some sips of coffee.

"Thanks," he says. "Can you call and see if Soda's home yet?"

She nods and gives me a small smile as she leaves. "It was nice seeing you."

I notice her stomach as she walks by. She held it when she came in though it's flatter than ever. It doesn't take a genius to figure out why Darry was so keen on getting treatment so suddenly.

"We gonna have a little Superman runnin' around?"

He grins a little and watches the place where she left. "I suppose so. How old am I?"

"Twenty-one."

He nods. He lets his head fall back and he rests his eyes for a while. I almost leave but then they shoot back open. "I've always wanted a wife like her...I always wanted her to be my wife."

A few minutes later I say my good byes once I notice him drifting off. I shake my head once I'm outside. He's always wanted a wife. He didn't say anything about a kid.

"Where have you been all my life?"

I face her and she lets out a loud giggle. She's put away more drinks than her body weight and she's not hiding any of it. Still, as drunken as she is, she looks the same as always. A dark disturbed Barbie doll.

"One of them mine?" I ask, taking one of her drinks. I take a big gulp and scan the area.

The house used to be Dale's grandpappie's. There's a secret door in the basement that leads to a gun room/panic room/wine room/sex palace. There's over twenty rooms spread out through the three floors. He figured this would make it harder for people to find him if something were to go wrong.

Even the house couldn't save Drug Master Dale senior. His brains were blown out on top of the basement stairs. Story has it that he still roams around in the secret room and jacks off to Bing Crosby.

"You're late." Mega's slimy ass comes over, drooling and foaming from the mouth. "D-Dale's been askin'."

I take another sip. "Had a visit to make."

"He really wants to talk to you," he stammers on. Carmen is humping against my arm. "S'I think something's big gonna be planned. You know Maggot called him, right? Yeah, late last night."

"What did he say?"

He shrugs but only uses the one shoulder. His eye is twitching like it normally does when he's nervous. I ignore him and get out a cigarette and try to clear my head for a minute. Maggot could have wanted anything. He always wanted something but rarely makes house calls himself unless something big was going down.

Maggot and I go way back. He was a regular New York kid who just wanted to be seen. He's a couple of years older than me. He never lets me forget that either though we were in the same class in school. He went to school every day. Never missed. He was a good old boy for a while.

We were just kids, poking dead rats on the street with sticks, getting kicked out of bakeries, stealing Salome from the deli across from his house. Life couldn't have gotten any better for us.

We were just kids.

Thing with kids is: they grow up. They're forced to.

"S'I got some stuff upstairs." Mega's still twitching and scratching himself like a mental patient. His leather jacket has got pieces of vomit on it and it smells like cat piss.

I take a step back from him as Carmen whines, "I want some."

"No you don't."

Mega laughs and bats his eyelashes like a little girl. "C'mon D-Dally. Y-You scared or somethin'?"

I roll my eyes and continue to smoke until there's nothing left. It's cold out here in the backyard. It's April and it still doesn't feel like spring out yet. Not even the alcohol can warm me up. I should have brought a jacket.

Carmen tugs on me over and over again like a kid in the grocery store and she wants candy and I don't want to give it to her. "Let's go! It's dumb out here. Just a bunch of tramps who can't hold their liquor."

Inside isn't any better than outside. There are a bunch of whores here whom I've never seen. They're all really skinny and have patches of hair that's really thin. They're passing around drugs and falling all over themselves.

I keep an eye out for the people I promised to look for.

The room Mega takes us to smells like urine. There are a bunch of guys just sitting around. In the middle is a big black guy. He looks like a fucking truck and sits on his hands like he can't hear the people next to him snicker and make jokes.

I nod as a sign of hello and he does the same. I've always found it necessary to make friends with people who look like him - size not color. I don't see what the big deal really is. I never have. I wouldn't give a shit if he was purple or green. He could come in handy at some point.

"Where are they?" Carmen asks, impatient. She's stroking my arm gently and rubbing the back of her hand down my leg. She's humming in my ear and saying sexy things once everyone's heads are turned.

Mega pulls out a brown paper bag and lays it out on the little table in front of us. Carmen snatches it like it's a bag of candy.

"What's your name?" I ask the big guy.

The boys around him stop whispering and pay attention. "Clarence James. You?"

"Dallas. Dallas Winston."

Carmen pulls out the treats. Inside is a box full of powder, a dollar bill, and a playing card. She dumps out the powder and begins cutting it up with the card. She's done this before and it doesn't surprise me.

She rolls up the dollar and snorts up the powder. She rubs her nose after and lets out a loud sigh.

She strokes my neck and starts pushing her tongue into my mouth. She puts the dollar in my hand and tells me again how horny the coke makes her feel. She says there's an empty room next door. She saw it on the way up.

I stare at the rolled up dollar. Clarence gives me a warning look and quietly shakes his head.

"It'll make you fuck like Superman," she whispers in my ear. Her hands inches up my thigh. "Faster than a speeding bullet."

I twist the dollar around in my hand and then put it up to my nose, snorting up the line.

She lifts my shirt up with her teeth then pulls it off and I'm hoping she notices my body, chest, and abs, but she's busy unbuttoning my jeans and ripping them down with my underwear and pulling them down to my ankles.

It's just me now, completely nude, and her, working over my body with her sweet lips and tongue. She actually starts sucking and biting my nipples.

I try taking her clothes off but when I reach for the strap of her bra, she pulls away.

She stands up on the bed and gives me a striptease. She takes the pins out of her hair and lets it fall past her shoulders and shakes her head, letting it flow freely. She takes off all her clothing, slowly, seductively.

She blows a kiss at me once she's complete nude.

She lays her naked body on mine. She's circling her hips and letting out catlike noises and I swear she's purring like a kitten. How do you even purr?

All I can see is her boobs. How big they are and how they keep bobbing up and down as she parts from me and bounces on the bed. She starts biting me. Hard. I push her a little, but she comes back for more.

She goes down between my legs and I can feel the insides of her mouth. I let out a satisfied sigh and think of the last time this happened. The jail is always full of hopeless romantics getting romantic with themselves at night. There are never any slutty nurses to come around.

Once she's done, she slowly comes back up, licking my stomach until she gets to my mouth. She's smiling. That little girl smile that all girls do when they know they're about to get what they want. Then I feel something grab me by the balls. She squeezes really hard and laughs like it's funny and it's supposed to turn me on but all I want to do is throw her off.

"Are you ready yet?" she whispers into my ear. Her breath is hot and sticky.

I kiss her all across her neck and face and try again. I rest my hand on her huge breasts and push her body down on mine. "I'm always ready, sweets."

You can't trust a cold blooded lover. You can't trust a cold blooded slave. You can't trust a cold blooded other. In the end they'll just drive you insane. There's one thing you must understand. You can't trust a cold blooded. Can't trust a cold blooded...

A/N: Ghost in the Water should be updated on Thursday or Wednesday. If you haven't checked the story out yet, please do!

Thank you for reading and please review. :)