Hello all sorry for the delay in updating!

Italic's are flashback

This chapter may be one of the longest I've ever wrote, but I'm not sure. Please read and review! I love reviews they make me smile and put me in a writing mood! So review and I'll update sooner, I promise!

Enjoy!

The last week had been the hardest week of my life. It went way beyond anything I'd ever tried to do, anything I'd ever imagined doing. It went beyond…everything.

Angie, as she insisted being called, had walked me home after my chat with Tim.

"Are you going to tell them?" Angie asked as we walked slowly back to the Curtis's house. Neither of us was in a hurry, as we had too much to talk about.

"Tell who?" I questioned without thinking. I didn't have many "thems" in my life—I should have known the answer instantly.

"The Curtis's! Are you gonna tell them you plan to fight Sylvia?" Angie asked again, incredibly patient with me.

"No," I said instantly, without a trace of doubt.

"That's probably for the best…they'd try and stop you," Angie said quietly.

I knew she was right. I loved my new family and they only wanted what was best for me, but they would try and talk me out of this at every turn.

"You know you're going to have to lie to them right?" Angie questioned with a sigh and a glance at me.

"I know, and I've never done that before, but I have to they wouldn't understand why I have to fight her. They just wouldn't get it," I said, sadness creeping into my voice.

"Are you going to be able to lie to them, convincingly?" Angie wondered aloud.

"I don't have a choice," I said with a miserable finality in my voice.

That's what I'd been doing all week. I did my chores in the morning right after they all left for work or school. I told Two-bit I didn't want him around in the mornings because he distracted me. I'd felt horrible after telling him, I'd seen the quick flash of hurt in his eyes, but he'd agreed.

Gone were the days of getting extra sleep—after I finished my chores Angie came over and we practiced fighting. I don't know what I had assumed we'd use to practice…but I never imagined we'd be fighting each other.

I had bruises on my knuckles from practicing with Angie, bruises of all colors and shapes on my arms, stomach, and legs, my backside hurt beyond belief from all the knock-downs I'd taken from Angie. I'd taken to wearing long shirts and pants to cover my marks. I even had a bruise on my cheek that I covered with heavy makeup, and I even wore it to bed, in case someone came to check on me.

I avoided the Curtis's at all costs. I cooked their dinner and put it in the fridge, but I was in bed, or at least my room, by the time they all got home. I told them I was sick and I didn't want to be disturbed. They knew something was going on with me, they just didn't know what.

"She's not acting right, Darry, something's wrong with her," Soda said one night as I crept silently out of my room towards the bathroom.

"I know Soda, but what are we supposed to do until she asks for help?" Darry said with a sigh. "We can't force her to tell us if she doesn't want to, that won't fix a thing."

"Maybe everything's finally catching up to her," Pony said quietly.

"What do you mean, Pony?" Soda asked, sounding shocked.

"Well she's been doing really well, talking, socializing, her relationship with Dally… maybe it's all too much change too fast, and it's just catching up to her. I mean, she didn't really have time to adjust. We kinda just threw her into our lives and expected her to float. Maybe it's all catching up to her and she needs time to adjust," Pony said with wisdom beyond his years.

Darry and Soda had eventually agreed with Pony; they all thought I need time to adjust and didn't want to rush me, so I was left alone.

The biggest heartbreak I was dealing with since I agreed to train with Angie was Dally. He came by every day wanting to see me, and every day Darry told him I wasn't seeing anyone. He tried to come by during the day, but I locked the doors and hid with Angie in my room until he left.

He'd talked to Darry numerous times, but I was never able to listen. I was too afraid of being caught. I was grateful to Darry, though, for keeping him away. I knew it had to be hard to turn down his friend for me, but he did it over and over again without fail, when even I felt like caving in. I'd known it would be hard to do this to Dally, but the reality of it was so much harder than I'd thought.

"What are you going to do about him?" Angie asked after a hesitant pause, after we finally let ourselves out of my room from another bout of hiding.

"I hadn't thought about that," I answered quietly.

Dally was a fighter, born and raised. He would probably see the signs of fighting that showed on my body, ones the others missed. Plus, I was still upset he hadn't mentioned his ex, and because of that, I wasn't sure how much I wanted to see him.

"I don't know, but I don't think I'm gonna spend a lot of time around him," I answered eventually and I felt a pain in my heart as I said the words.

I didn't realize then how much I would miss him. I wanted to see him so bad, but I couldn't. I didn't know if I could lie to him.

Today, when Angie came over, she told me tonight that we were going to watch a fight between these two rival gangs. She said I needed to see how a real fight went.

When evening came, I got dressed and opened my door a crack, listened for noises. They were all still out there, laugh and joking about something. I knew I couldn't leave through the door. I walked over to my window and opened it. Taking a deep breath, I went out the window, landing hard on the ground. My body groaned from all the bruises I already had.

I started down the sidewalk, my body throbbing, but I ignored it, remembering what Angie had said when I'd complained about the pain.

"Look Rachel. We're not doing this for fun. Do you think I want to do this?" Angie asked anger radiating off her.

"No. I know you don't," I answered quietly.

"Were doing this because you want Dally to stay yours. And has that changed?" Angie questioned.

"No," I replied.

"Then shut the hell up. Every time you feel the pain, think about Dally and how much you want him," Angie said fiercely.

So that's what I did now. I thought about Dally and how he made me feel, how amazing I felt around him.

After Angie told me about the fight that we were going to watch, I'd gotten worried what if I run into the Curtis's, Dally or god forbid Sylvia.

"The Curtis's like fights, but only when they're in them. Plus they're worried about you, so I don't think any of them will be there. But if you're seriously worried come over to my place early and I'll dress you up so you won't stand out so much" Angie said hardly concerned at all.

"Dally I'm not sure about, but Tim thinks with you not seeing him that he'll be a Buck's getting drunk."

"Sylvia won't be there she likes to party not watch people beat the hell out of each other."

I finally arrived at Angie's place. I rang the doorbell and Angie answered on the first ring. Grabbing my arm, thankfully not on a bruise, she pulled me in and rushed me up stairs.

"What's going on?" I asked, concerned something had changed.

"Nothing, we just have to hurry, Tim said he'd give us a ride since he's going, too, as long as were ready in half an hour," Angie said hurriedly, shoving me into her room.

"Oh," I replied, feeling a little better—we wouldn't be walking this late at night.

"I already picked out your outfit," Angie started, "Hurry up and get dressed so I can do your hair and makeup."

It took a while to do the hair and makeup, but afterwards I looked like a normal greaser, not a mute orphan. I wasn't comfortable in the least, but I couldn't help but wonder if Dally would like me better this way.

"Come on, hurry, Tim's home, we gotta go!" Angie babbled, grabbing my arm again, this time right on a bruise, and pulling me down the stairs. I didn't say anything. I just bit my lip and thought about Dally.

I missed him so much.

It seemed like it was only seconds but suddenly we were at the fight, which was in a park filled with greasers. If I had been nervous before, then I was one hundred times worse when we actually got there.

The fight went quick. Tim stayed by us for the most part—occasionally he would walk away, but he kept his eyes trained on us. I didn't think that was because of Angie. She could handle herself. I felt he was watching us because he didn't want anything to happen to me

Because then, he'd have to deal with Dally.

The fight was fierce—they just kept throwing punches at each other. They didn't back down. I wasn't sure even with Angie's training if I could do that. My worry must have shown on my face, because suddenly Tim was beside me.

"Angie wanted you to see a real fight, but you should know your fight with Sylvia won't be like this. It won't last near as long," Tim said, trying to comfort me.

I nodded.

Suddenly Tim tensed beside me. I looked up at him, tearing my eyes away from the fight.

"Dally," Tim said quietly.

"What? He's here?" I questioned, looking around, but I was too short to see around the crowd.

"Yep," Tim said, becoming tenser.

"Did he see you?" I asked, my voice full of worry.

"See us, you mean. He's coming this way; move," Tim said grabbing my arm and taking me away from the crowd watching the fight. Angie noticed our movements and began to follow us.

"Tim." Dally's voice was like ice. Tim stopped.

"Dally?" Tim said his voice unsure.

"Someone better explain what's going on. Now." His voice was dead and cold. I desperately tried to meet his eyes, but they were trained on Tim. I realized suddenly why Tim had moved us away from the fight. So we didn't draw a crowd.

"Dally, look. I can explain everything," Tim started, but stopped when he saw Dally's continued hateful glare. This was getting bad—really bad. I had to do something. Tim had only been trying to help me.

"Dally can we go back to your place? I promise I can explain everything," I said suddenly, causing both Tim and Dally to focus on me. Dally's eyes softened slightly but then became ice cold again.

"Fine. Tim, you're driving us." Dally spoke and his word became law. Tim nodded quickly and grabbed my arm again.

"Tim, you always joke about fighting Dally, why are you so…" I trailed off not, wanting to say 'scared' but unable to think of another word.

"That's just shit we do, fuck with each other, neither of us get hurt to bad. But this…this is Dally furious, and sometimes he lets go and can't stop himself. I don't want to be on the receiving end of that." Tim said quietly, and I understood.

Dally had been in jail for almost beating a man to death, among other things. That must have been a time like this.

"Rachel, if you're not with him you better walk beside me," Dally said from behind us. Both Tim and Angie froze. Tim slowly let go of my arm and kept walking. They continued to talk quietly with each other.

I turned and walked back toward Dally. I started to say something, but was stopped suddenly but Dally's voice.

"Not now," Dally said grabbing my arm very tightly, right on a bruise, causing me to whimper slightly.

As soon as the noise escaped from my lips Dally froze, turned and looked at me, his eyes softening slightly again. This time they stayed that way. He removed his hand and continued to walk. I quickly followed. When we got to the car, Tim was in the driver's seat, Angie in the back. They both looked tense. Dally motioned me into the back and sat in the front passenger seat. Tim started the car and we were off.

Tim drove faster than I'd ever seen him drive. He stayed tense on the wheel. We arrived at Buck's, where Dally rented a room, in minutes—or at least it felt that way.

Dally got out and motioned for me to follow. As tense and dare I even say scared Tim and Angie seemed to be, I couldn't feel an inch of worry. I knew deep down that Dally wouldn't hurt me.

Or at least I hoped.

"Angie?" Dally said, speaking into the car.

Angie looked up, eyes wide.

"You know where my room is?" Dally asked, his voice sending chills down my spine. I had never seen him so cold, so cut off from his emotions.

Angie nodded.

"Take Rachel up there, would you?" he commanded, throwing her his key.

Angie caught it and got out of the car, reaching for my hand and pulling me away from Dally and Tim. I really wanted to stay, to say something to stop Dally from hurting Tim. It was like Angie could hear my thoughts, because suddenly she stopped and spoke quietly to me.

"Don't. Just…don't."

Then she continued to drag me towards Buck's. I kept glancing over my shoulders—Dally and Tim were facing off. Suddenly Dally threw a punch that clipped Tim right in the jaw. The punch held so much force that Tim almost flew back onto his car. I turned my head quickly. I didn't want to watch what happened next.

Angie rushed us up the stairs and into Dally's room. I took a second to look around. It was exactly the same as the last time I had been there.

"Rachel, I'm so sorry this happened," Angie said, and I could hear how sorry she was. I felt bad.

"Angie, this isn't your fault. You and Tim were just trying to help me and I'll tell Dally that. I'm gonna tell him everything," I said, suddenly certain.

"Good luck," Angie said with a deep sigh.

"Thanks." I was trying not to become nervous.

"I'll swing by the house tomorrow to see what happened. If you need to get away from Dally tonight just have Buck call us. I'll call the Curtis's and tell them you're staying at my house, but you're gonna have to explain to them when you go home," Angie said.

I nodded. I could hear someone stomping up the steps, and instantly I knew it was Dally. Angie became nervous again.

"I gotta go check on Tim," Angie said quickly, handing me Dally's key before leaving the room.

I let out a deep breath—how could all of this turn out so badly? I walked to the window and looking out. I felt someone watching me and turned.

Dally stood in the doorway, looking very angry. He closed the door and slipped off his jacket before opening the beer I hadn't noticed he'd brought up.

"Is Tim okay?" I couldn't help but question.

"Rachel…right now you don't want to be mentioning him to me, you better just start explaining," Dally said, his voice all edges. I knew I had to tread carefully—he thought I was with Tim.

"I don't even know where to start," I said. So much had happened this week, so much had changed.

"How about why you're suddenly friends with Angie? Or why you have been saying you're sick to everyone? Have you been sneaking out to see Tim the whole time? Or why you were at the fight? Why are you dressed like that? Rachel, what is going on with you?" Dally asked his voice rising with each question.

And suddenly, I knew I had to start with Sylvia.

"About a week ago someone swung by the house. It was Sylvia, asking where her boyfriend was," I said, and I watched Dally take in the words before slamming his fist into the wall in anger.

"So what? You thought I was cheating on you, so you cheated on me with Tim?" Dally yelled in anger, the pain from punching the wall not even fazing him.

"No. I wanted to know if you were, so I went to ask Tim. I didn't know if I could trust you or the Curtis's, so I asked Tim. He's never lied to me," I said quietly.

"I've never lied to you either! Why couldn't you just ask me?" Dally asked his voice pained from my lack of trust.

"Dally, you have to understand," I said taking a step towards him causing him to take a step back.

"Understand what?" he questioned, his voice low.

"Ever since I can remember, anytime Soda told me about you, long before my Grandma died, it was always about the trouble you caused, the girls you would see, that you saw them, sometimes more than one at once. But when we started this," I said moving my hand between Dally and I, "I took a chance. I figured since there was no reason to doubt you I wouldn't."

I took a deep breath. "But when she came to the door, I was crushed. All the fears I didn't let enter my head before did and I didn't want to lose you. I was afraid the Curtis's would try and protect me even if they had to lie, so I went to Tim." I finished with a wavering voice and looked at him.

Dally was standing, leaning against his dresser, beer in hand, head to the side, not watching me, simply processing my words. I couldn't believe everything was crashing down around me—I felt so lost. I wrapped my arms around myself, wishing they were Dally's arms.

"Go on," Dally said, and I could have screamed, knowing how badly this was all going.

"Tim told me about you and Sylvia and your history and how she always stopped at nothing to get you back. Tim said that if I wanted to keep you as mine I would have to fight her," I said tears slipping down my cheek.

"Who said I want to be yours?" Dally asked cruelly, suddenly, and I bit back a sob that rose up in my throat. He sighed loudly. "Continue."

"Tim got Angie to agree to help me train. So I did my chores in the morning and Angie came over during the day. I told Two-bit he was distracting me and not to come over, so me and Angie practiced, and then at night I said I wasn't feeling well, and everyone left me alone." I spoke quickly, not allowing myself time to cry in between words.

It felt like an eternity before Dally spoke again. I couldn't stop the sobs that kept rising, though I tried.

"What I don't understand is why you didn't just come to me about all this," Dally finally said, sounding exasperated.

"Because I wanted to be a normal greaser girl like the kind you normally go for, and they would be able to take care of themselves," I answered honestly. I didn't know where all these answers were coming from, but they felt true to me.

"Why would you think I would want them? Don't you realize it's what makes you different that attracts me to you the most?" Dally said quietly, looking down.

"Why didn't you ever say that before?" I asked instantly, outraged.

"I thought it went without saying," Dally said, finally looking at me.

"I did everything so I wouldn't lose you and now when it's all crashed down, I lost you anyway," I said hopelessly, as the tears began to start again.

"I just need to think" Dally said suddenly standing straight and heading for the door.

I couldn't watch him leave, so quickly shut my eyes tightly, all I head was the bedroom door slam and my tears began again.