Disclaimer I do not own The Outsiders and I have come to accept that no matter how sad it makes me

Long Time Coming - Part Two

"Can you explain it to me again how you ended up here?"

Two-Bit leaned back in his seat with a wide unabashed grin. "Well, officer Bishop was tellin' me that I had the right to remain silent… but I guess I just don't have the ability."

I had to hold back a groan of agreement as we pulled up to a stop sign. I had been able to hear him chattering and laughin' like some maniac from his cell as I did the paperwork upfront. Mimi was gonna owe me a drink or two by the time this was over. She had called me in a frustrated panic stuck at work at Zippy's unable to pick her son up. She said Two-Bit had been hauled in for harassing an officer outside of the local donut shop and general disrupting of the peace.

"That might be a valuable attribute to learn some day, Two-Bit," I told him seriously and he just cackled.

"Mrs. Curtis, if I ever learned that I wouldn't have any reason to be called Two-Bit and I'm awful fond of my name."

I threw him a skeptical sideways glance. "As fond as you are of getting harassed by the police?"

"I think I was doin' the harassing this time," he reasoned and I found myself agreeing with him once again. That boy was going to get himself in a load of trouble with his mouth if he didn't start watching himself soon. In fact, I already knew he was in for it later tonight when his mom would come to pick him up. For some reason, that cheered me up a little bit.

Mimi—her name was actually Mildred but Lord knows she hates that name almost as much as Keith hates his—and I were good friends and had been for years. We knew each other well and knew each other's kids even better. I figured that's why she called me. There weren't many people who she would risk her pride for to ask to go pick up Two-Bit and even fewer who would be willing to actually do it. I don't mind. I'd want her to do the same for my boys if I wasn't able to.

"I hope you enjoy explaining this to your mother when she gets off work tonight," I drawled and smirked a little at the thought of Two-Bit getting dragged out by his ear (it had happened once before).

"Oh, I will," he assured me confidently. "She'll probably get a kick out of it just as much as me. So, where're we headed? Can we stop and get a burger?"

I shook my head and grinned. "Oh no, Two-Bit. Don't go thinkin' you're gettin' off this easy. I'm under strict orders to keep you in the house, use you as a house slave and make sure you are present when your mother comes to pick you up tonight."

"Sh—" Two-Bit started to curse and I frowned at him sharply and he trailed off. "…oot." He slumped in his seat significantly and brought a hand up to absently scratch his long sideburns.

"I think we'll start off with the gutters. You can clean those out and then you can be on bathroom duty," I listed off trying to think of the dirtiest jobs in the house that needed to be done and that I could now thankfully avoid. If I was gonna have to keep Two-Bit around the house for the rest of the afternoon there was no way I was just gonna let him sit around doing nothing. Of course, I grinned to myself, I'd probably bake a cake today and give him a piece or two in gratitude because those bathrooms were somethin' awful.

The stocky fourteen year old, however, whistled low under his breath. "Mrs. C, you startin' a chain gang or somethin'?"

I knew he meant to make me laugh but for some reason I couldn't help but frown. I thought about how last year Darry got hauled in for the first time and how the older the boys seemed to get the more trouble they seemed to find. I would be lying if I said that they didn't worry me. I knew the kind of place we lived in, I knew what happened to most people who grow up here, I saw more kids head down wrong roads than I would like. I didn't want that for any of them. I wanted something better.

"I hope not, Two-Bit," I turned and looked at him for a long moment. "I hope not."

I sat out on the steps that night staring at the stars. The boys were inside working on homework and Darrel had taken an extra shift at work so he wouldn't be home for a long while yet. There was a train whistle going off in the distance and the symphony of summer crickets rose and fell like the ground was breathing in and out in and out. I stared at the sky lost in the twinkling lights and wonderin' how something so beautiful could seem so far away when I heard the latch on the front gate.

Dally sauntered through the gate and gave me a nod for a hello.

"Evenin' Dallas," I said softly and he stopped at the steps. I noticed how his shoulders were slouched and his thumbs hitched in his jean pockets. The scowl on his face was something fierce and I didn't say anything else, I just let him feel what he wanted to feel and waited until he was ready.

Finally after some deliberation he moved to my side and sat down next to me extending one long leg. He dug in his jacket and pulled out a pack of Kools tapping one out and offering it to me silently. I grinned in spite of myself and took it. I didn't smoke often but sometimes I did with Dallas. It was always an effort though to smoke a Kool but I did it because he offered and Dallas Winston doesn't offer something without it being significant.

I let him light the cigarette for me and watched him light his own. We sat there in silence, my gaze going back up to the sky and his glaring hard on the ground.

"So, him too, huh?"

I didn't turn and look at him but simply blew out my smoke and tried to keep the grimace from the taste off my face. I had a feeling he would be stopping by tonight.

"Yeah," I said as my eyes drew slowly back down from the stars to the run down neighborhood around me. "Him too."

"You dig okay," Dally said after a brief silence and I grinned flicking my ashes to the ground as he got up suddenly and headed inside to go get some of the leftovers we had from dinner. The moment the screen door closed I stomped out the cigarette and wrinkled my nose at it.

I knew it would be coming. I just wished it would be later rather than sooner.

I was surprised that Dallas called the house for his one phone call but the longer I thought about it the more I realized that he just didn't have anyone else to call and the longer I thought about that the more upset I got. Darrel had put up a little bit of a fuss when I went for the keys but I gave him a withering look. Maybe he didn't understand, but I had to do this. I had to—it was almost like Dally was challenging me.

More like mocking me because I was sure as shootin' he had no expectation for me to show up whatsoever. Well, I thought, time to prove him wrong.

Marching right into the station and not entirely liking the fact that I had been here only just over two weeks ago to pick up Two-Bit, I made for the front desk. Officer Garrels saw me coming and raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Hey Mrs. Curtis, what can I help you with?"

I wasted no time. "I'm here for Dallas Winston."

"You're joshing me."

"No, I ain't," I ground my teeth. "Can you go get him, please?"

"Well, he's in the holding tank drunk as a skunk—mean, too. We hauled in him so that he'd not get himself into worse trouble… Are you sure you don't want him to just stay here and cool off tonight?"

I glared at Officer Garrels and shook my head not trusting my mouth if I were to open it. I wasn't going to leave Dallas—of all people—here overnight. There was no way I could do that. Officer Garrels seemed to finally accept that I would not be leaving without Dally and he went back to get him. I heard his last name shouted and an incensed Dally shouted, "What!" right back. Glory, he sounded angry as all get out tonight. I had no idea what got him in this mood but I prepared myself for what was about to come through those doors.

And yet when they opened and Dally came stumbling through, his blue eyes blazing and red and narrowed into angry little slits, I knew it was going to be a long night. His gaze was honed in on Officer Garrels and I cleared my throat. Even as soused as he was, I was surprised by the way his eyes snapped right to me. His reaction was almost immediate and he scoffed.

"What the f—" he cursed loudly and if I hadn't already smelled the stench of alcohol drenching him through and through this would have been my first clue to just how drunk he had gotten himself. Dallas was usually real good about watching his language around me and now he didn't seem to have that filter. Pointing an accusing finger in my direction, Dally sneered, "What are you doin' here?"

Officer Garrels was watching us closely as if to make sure Dally didn't attack me. I almost scoffed at that. Despite all of his talk and attitude, I had never felt truly afraid of Dally. Afraid for him, yes, of him? No. "I'm here to get you, Dallas."

"You've gotta be kiddin' me." He muttered angrily.

"That's what I said," Officer Garrels piped up from behind him and I moved before Dally did anything stupid. Well, before he did anything stupider.

"Come on, it's gettin' late," I said and my hand hovered near his arm. I knew how he was about people touching him without his permission and had to forcibly hold myself back. If I grabbed him he would definitely choose to stay here tonight just out of spite of being forced to do something. I couldn't help but be amazed though at the heat I felt coming off of his skin. I didn't have a clue how he wasn't sweatin' buckets right now.

"Whatever," Dallas growled but he still followed me out to the car.

"You wanna lay down in the backseat?" I asked as I unlocked the car. "Might be more comfortable." Dally didn't answer me, he just grunted and crawled in the back flopping down hard. I went around the front and got in quick. "Let me know if you start to feel sick and I'll pull over real fast, okay?"

Another grunt and I started the car. I thought back to how different this silence was from how my drive back with Darry had been a year ago. I hated that Dallas did this to himself.

We were about half way home when Dallas mumbled from the backseat, "Where's Mr. C?"

"With the boys at home."

He struggled as he sat up and found my eyes in the rear view mirror. He squinted at me, confusion coloring his face. "Shouldn't this be the other way 'round?"

"Dallas, I wanted to come get you." I told him hoping he wouldn't make me say it because with how ornery he was tonight that wouldn't do either of us any good.

"Why?" He asked blearily. "Why'd you come pick me up?"

Because someone should I almost said but thankfully I bit my tongue before the words got out. Instead I kept quiet thinking over what to say.

"You ever think that maybe I wanted to stay in there—huh?"

My eyes flickered over to the rear view mirror and met his bitter blues. I spoke carefully, "No one wants to sleep in a cell, Dally."

"Yeah, well maybe it'd be more welcoming than my old man's place," he muttered and then put his hand on the passenger seat and leaned forward. I fought to keep my face from screwing up over the rank smell of whiskey on him. I did, however, catch the bloodied knuckles on his hand. I knew what bloodied knuckles without anything to show for it meant, I'd seen my own boys punch walls plenty of times in their frustration.

Dallas must have caught my glance because the next thing I knew he moved his hand out of sight and leaned back. "You coulda left me. Wouldn't been the first time and I ain't scared of jail."

You should be, I thought. Dear God, you should be. But you just don't tell Dallas Winston things like that. Half the time I felt like I was walking a tightrope with him, tryin' to figure out and learn what and where to walk.

We finally reach the house and I put the car in park and turn around in my seat to look back at him. He still had an awful scowl on his face and he glared out the window trying to keep away from my gaze.

"I know you're not scared, Dallas. You're tough. But I couldn't just leave you there overnight." His eyes snapped to mine, brilliant, bold, and burning. I knew he was remembering a conversation in the middle of the night in my kitchen and I remembered it too. Refusing to look away from him I watched as his breathing started to change—it was a little harsher and a lot faster. His jaw tightened and he swallowed once and the motion was hard, like he was trying to get a big piece of food down his throat.

What I would have given to hug him at that moment but something told me that would set him off—and not in a good way. It was that swallow that had me asking my next question instead.

"Did they feed you in there?" He shook his head and I nodded firmly because I wasn't going to give him an option. "Well, you're staying for dinner."

Dally seemed to accept that okay and I got out of the car. He opened his door and I waited nearby to see if he needed any help. I would have offered right away but I knew boys and their pride about silly things like this. So I waited and hovered. When I saw that he was able to pull himself out I started for the gate only to have his voice stop me.

"Mrs. Curtis?" I turned back and looked at him. Dally's voice was a lot rougher and he leaned back against the car looking down the street nonchalantly. "Thanks for comin' to get me."

It was my turn to swallow painfully and hard. "You're welcome, Dallas. Come on," I sniffed quickly. "Let's get inside 'fore all the food is gone."

His footsteps trailed closely behind me and I couldn't really explain it but it felt like something deepened between me and him, something unseen shifting under our skin. It was like I made it past some kind of invisible barrier, one that I had been running into face first for all these years and was now finally on the other side. Of course, that meant that I'd probably have to learn a whole new set of rules and I hardly knew how the old ones worked. But when Dallas sat down at the table, still drunk but having lost his scowl, and looked at me with eyes that were far more exhausted and far more vulnerable than I had ever seen them, I realized that this moment had been a long time coming and that Dallas Winston was completely worth every bit of the trouble it took to get here.

AN: Wow, this ended up being a lot more involved than what I had originally intended, but this little sucker would simply not leave me alone. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed my first dip into the Outsiders. There may be more to come from Mrs. Curtis and Dallas just because I like them way too much.