CHAPTER 10

"So does Johnny know I'm back in town yet, or have you not told him?" Dally asked as we pulled up to order our food.

I shrugged, "If he knows, I wasn't the one to tell him. Then again, so far only Pony, Soda, and… Actually, I guess that's it."

"Alright. What do you want?"

I lowered my head, "Excuse me?"

He rolled his eyes, "To eat?"

"Oh." I sat back in my seat, "Uh, just get me a shake and some fries." I replied, a little embarrassed.

He sighed, then smiled at me. He kissed my forehead, "Alrighty then." That made me feel better.

He ordered the food and then we sped off down the street. He looked a little bothered, like there was something he wanted to tell me.

I ignored it for a minute, just continuing to dip my fries in my shake (It's relleh good if you haven't tried it before). I looked out the window as I watched a couple teenagers walk by. One of them stopped and kissed the other. I sighed silently to myself as he moved his hands down to her hips. We passed them before I could see anything more.

I could feel Dally's eyes branded on me as he spoke, "Are you alright, Danielle?"

I gasped as I turned to him a bit off guard, "Yeah." I bit my lip, "Yeah, everything's fine."

No it wasn't. I don't know what it was with those teenagers, but it corrupted something inside of me. Something that I didn't want to face…

He sighed loudly, "Are you sure? 'Cause if there is, just tell me and I'll fix it."

I looked up at him, "No. No, there's nothing wrong." I leaned in and kissed his cheek, hoping that he'd just drop the subject.

He snickered, "Okay."

I smiled as I looked at him. I loved seeing him calm… It sure made a difference in both of our lives.

"So, where're we going?" I asked him with a grin.

He glanced over at me, "Well, I was thinking your place," he said as I rolled my eyes, "but we can go wherever you want."

I smiled in flattery, "Okay. Is there some way we could go back to Buck's?"

He chuckled, "I thought you hated going to Buck's because of the little creep."

I crossed my arms, "That little creep needs to get over himself. Now are we going or not?"

He slammed on the breaks as we pulled up to a stop sign, "Are you sure you want to?" He asked in concern. He felt around on my cheek, sourcing me to tremble a bit.

I looked up at him from his hands, still caressing along my face, "Positive."

He took his eyes off of me, allowing me to breathe. I couldn't take it anymore! I just wanted to kiss him till my lips fell off! I licked my lips as I yelled at him, "Floor it!"

He raised his eyebrows in satisfaction as he looked back at the road and hit the gas like it was a nail being hammered into the wall. He yelled like an idiot as we sped off to Buck's.

When we got to Buck's, we didn't knock on the door, we just barged in and charged upstairs. As we reached the top of the stair case, I noticed out of the corner of my eye, two teenagers making out. I turned my attention toward them as Dally opened the door. My heart sank below sea level as I made the sickening realization that I knew who it was.

I swallowed bravely, "Gwen? James?" I paused in utter shock.

Gwen stopped and looked over at me wide-eyed, "Uh… It's not what you think, Dani. It's not, really!"

I shook my head and let out a puff, "You bitch…" I could barely look at her without getting a sick feeling in my stomach. "So this? This is what Pony gets? For dealing with your pathetic, attention-whore, needy, bratty little ass for… how long?" I shrugged, "Three years almost?"

"No, Dani, please! Just listen to me!" She stepped toward me.

I pushed her away, "No. Don't even—don't even look at me! You are disgusting. You are a disgusting little whore. An ungrateful, disgusting little whore at that." I followed Dally into the bedroom. All I remember was seeing her eyes filled with sadness and discouragement before Dally slammed the door shut.

Immediately after closing the door, Dally grabbed me by my shoulders and started kissing my neck. It felt good, don't get me wrong, but I wasn't in the mood…

I pushed him off, "Really, dude?!"

"What's the matter? Just earlier, you acted almost like you were ready to devour me." He said, ending his statement with a slight smirk.

I rolled my eyes, "Did you not just see that?! Gwendolyn is still cheating on Ponyboy…" I couldn't believe those words were coming out of my mouth. "Gwendolyn's cheating on Ponyboy…" I started to feel sick. My heart started pounding. My lips were suddenly dry. My head was throbbing—throbbing so much it could've caused an earthquake! "What's happening?" I asked, looking in Dally's direction.

"What do you mean?" He asked, kneeling down on the floor next me, "Are you okay?"

I love him, but all I wanted to do then was scream in his face "Does it look like I'm okay?!"

"I don't know. I think I'll be okay, though." I'm the worst liar…

Dally stared me in the eyes, intimidating me. "Tell me the truth. Are you okay?"

I swallowed and stood up, "I don't think so…" I turned away nervously.

He nodded, "Okay, what is it that I can do to help?" He grabbed my hands, "Do you need me to get you to the hospital?" He asked in a concerned way.

I sighed, "No," I looked up at him, "I just need some comfort."

He smiled, "Then you came to the right person." He continued, "What do you need me to do?"

I laughed so hard in my head. He was acting like the love doctor or something.

I grinned as I laid myself down on the bed, "You know the drill." I explained, "Just take it easy on me, though."

He looked like he had struck gold, "Alrighty then," he climbed on top of me and hovered above me, "first time?"

I nodded with a big smile, knowing he'd be pleased by that. "Yep. Hopefully it's worth it…"

He frowned playfully as he unbuttoned his jeans, "Oh it will be, I promise."

I tilted my head, "Oh, will it?" I grabbed his neck with one hand and pulled myself to kiss him. "I don't doubt that."

He snickered as he began to slide his fingers up my blouse. His hands felt amazing against my skin. I can't even imagine what it'll be like when we… you know…

-ONE HOUR LATER-

I was panting as I laid beside Dally in exhaustion. Sex was nothing like I thought it would be. I imagined it to be scary. I imagined it to make you feel dirty or like a slut, but it didn't. It actually made me feel better about myself, knowing that people won't bug me about being a virgin or won't bug me about having no sexual experience…

Besides, it's human nature. Most people don't last a virgin till they're married anyway, so I guess it isn't the worst thing.

Dally sat up and stared at me, "You okay, kid?" He was breathing pretty heavily.

I smiled smartly, "Why wouldn't I be?" I scooted closer to him.

"Just making sure I didn't do anything I shouldn't have. We good?" He asked again with a smirk.

I put my hand on his chest and stared into his eyes, "Couldn't be better."

He pulled me closer and kissed my forehead. He laughed a little, "So… How was it?"

I rolled my eyes, "Well, I'll tell you that this does change everything. You just took my virginity, so clearly you know that you can't leave me, right?"

He tilted his head and shrugged, "I could…" I scolded him as he sighed, "But that would make me an asshole, wouldn't it?"

I laughed as I stood up and slipped on my jeans. He was an asshole…And I loved him. So much.

As I slipped my blouse back on, I felt Dally's eyes on me. I turned back to him as I buttoned it up, "What're you looking at, perve?" I smirked at him jokingly.

He tilted his head, "Can I just say that you look nice without your clothes on? I mean really, Ya do."

I rolled my eyes with a flattering smile, "Thank you. You ain't so bad looking yourself, Winston."

He laid back on the bed with a triumphant grin on his face, "Thanks, babe. I'm sure you know very well that we can't tell nobody about this, right?"

I snickered, "Well, why not? I mean, dude, people have been bugging me about being a virgin since you left." He sighed loudly, I bet thinking he was gonna start a fight with me. I froze and thought for a long second before asking, "You aren't gonna leave me again, right?"

He sighed loudly again. I knew what that meant. "No," he said strongly, then faded into a mumble, "at least I don't plan to…"

I pointed my finger in his face in anger, "Hey, I heard that! What do you mean you don't 'plan' to?!"

He rolled his head back, looking annoyed. "I don't know, Dani. I might have to," he stood up and placed his hands on my waist, "you know I don't want to. But I might have to."

I pushed him away, "Please, Dally," I felt tears forming in my eyes, "tell me. I can't keep doing this with you. I'm tired of hearing that our relationship might be at risk. Tell me now, before I get my hopes up." I looked into his eyes as my vision got blurry from the tears.

He stared at me and snickered, "You don't have to worry," he said, "I know that nothing's gonna stand in the way of me having you in my arms."

I glared at him, "That's not answering my question, dammit! Tell me the truth. What is it that is making you so unavailable? What is it that made you leave me? Was it me? I can't keep going on like this. Answer me, or I'm outta here and—and I'll never come back!" I threatened him, breathing heavily in frustration.

He rolled his head back again, "Please baby, don't act like that." He grinned dangerously, "C'mon, I bet I can make you stay."

I crossed my arms. I was furious now! "Dallas, I mean it. Tell me or I'm done. I'd really hate to, but if you don't answer me, you kinda leave me no choice…"

"Why does it matter?!" He shouted as he pulled on his jeans. "I mean, really? Why is it so important to you?! As if you really cared about me…"

I gasped in disbelief. I could not believe he'd be so…stupid! Cruel! And most of all, mean. I thought he was different… "Really?" I felt a tear run down my face, "Is that what you think? That I don't care? Well I'll tell ya something, Dallas Winston; I'm only asking because I'm concerned about the only person I truly love intimately. That's a big deal!"

"Surely I'm not the only person you—"

"No! Shut up," I cut him off, knowing he'd get pissed of, "I don't think it's getting through your skull that you're the one person I've waited for for how long? An entire year and eight months, was it? I reserved myself for you, the person I love, and now I guess I realize how much of a big fucking mistake that was!" I snatched my jacket off the ground and swung the door open. I couldn't even believe what I was doing. Why did this have to happen?!

"Wait," he exclaimed, "don't leave me, Dani. Please, I'll do anything… I'll—I'll tell you. If that's what it'll take, I'll do it."

My frown began to transition into a slight grin as I turned around. I bit my lip, "Then tell me." I felt so powerful in that moment.

He took a deep breath, then pulled me inside, closing the door behind me. He gently guided me to the bed and I sat down. He licked his lips, "What's worse to you? Losing me or knowing that someone has been trying to take me from you?"

I shook my head in a way that told him I was angry and he knew why. I swallowed, "Sylvia." I laughed in a way that told him I was really angry. I looked up at him, "Right? I mean that note should've explained everything…but I guess I was too blind, huh?"

He kneeled down next to me quickly to calm me down, "Yes. But understand that I didn't fool around with her or anything!"

I sighed with my arms crossed, "I believe you." No I didn't. He fools around with a lot of girls.

"You do?" He asked me with a smile.

I couldn't resist his smile or his eyes. Plus, I loved him too much to let her get in the way of us. "Yes, now don't give me a reason not to." I leaned in and pressed my nose against his.

He chuckled as he grabbed ahold of my hand, "I love you too much to fool around with some other girl, you know that, don't ya?"

I rolled my eyes with a grin, "I guess so," I paused for a second before leaning in farther and kissing him. I hated that I couldn't be mad at him, 'cause boy was I wanting to put my foot down on his actions!

He broke up the kiss abruptly and stood up from the bed. He walked over to the dresser and rummaged through the drawers. It kind of reminded me of that one day I came over. He pulled out a shirt and pulled it over himself, then continued to search the drawers. He finally pulled out a neck chain and inspected it as he walked over to me. "Do you think this'll work?" He asked me with a smile.

I looked at it and grinned, "Yeah. I mean, it'll do." I joked. "Yeah, it's perfect."

The look in his eyes was like nothing I've ever seen before coming from him. His eyes were brighter, more sparkly, more kind than he'd ever shown before. I was glad that I was the one he was looking at when he had that look in his eyes. He then slid his ring onto the chain and opened the clasp. He nodded at me, "May I?"

I bit my lip, "You may."

He then reached around my neck and closed the clasp. He then slid his hands down my neck and to my chest. I felt my heart racing as he kissed my chest. He continued for a minute before I had to push him off. "Calm down," I remember saying, "it's not like we're going to have sex like this every 15 minutes…"

"We could," he said, "it just might not be healthy." He chuckled.

I laughed too, "Yeah, I'm sure of it." I said looking up at him. I then walked over to the window because I heard 3 car doors opening in unison and I thought 'Who the hell would be coming at 1:00? It's not even dark…'

Dally straightened up, "Is everything okay?"

"You seem to like that question a lot, Dal." I laughed, "Yeah, I'm fine but who would be coming over to Buck's at this time of day? That seems kinda funny to me."

Dally wrapped his arms around me from behind me, "Maybe it's your brother, ready to murder me." He joked around with a ghost-like voice.

"He'll want to if he knows what we just did." I chuckled, "Then again, I heard what you said; 'I'm sure you know very well we can't tell nobody about this.'" I laughed, turning my head to his.

He immediately greeted me with a little kiss. He relaxed and stated, "You do a very good impression of me. That's my girl. I'm glad I can officially say that now."

I relaxed my head on his chest behind me, "I like the way it sounds. It sure shows ownership, and I'm okay with it when it comes to you." I said in a whispering tone.

"That's good." He said with his fingers massaging my hands, "'Cause you're mine. And I'll do anything if it means I can have you with me. I'd kill if it meant you were to stay with me." He swallowed, "Without you, I'm a goner. I would've killed myself already hadn't it been for you and Johnny."

I felt so happy. Just the way he loved Johnny and I made me feel safe and collected. I was already considering marriage in my head… That's how much I loved him.

That's when all of a sudden we heard a big bang on the door. It startled me and I practically jumped into Dally's arms when I heard it. He just gave me a short hug and walked over to the door, "Who is it and what do y—"

"Dallas Winston, you son of a bitch, open up!" I could hear the voice echoing through the house. I knew who it was, too.

Dally opened the door and met the fist of a very angry Johnny. I rushed to Dal's side as Johnny watched. "How dare you come back all of the sudden! Do you know how much pain you caused Danielle?!" He screamed at him as I helped him up. "Huh?!" He pushed him back with his teeth gritted. Johnny had toughened up a lot since Dal left.

Dally looked at him with a look of confusion, "I came back, didn't I?!"

Johnny stepped closer and started shouting in Dally's face again, "You are a piece of shit, Dallas Winston! Don't touch my kid sister if you wanna live to be 19!" He shouted as he split us apart, pushing Dally back to the wall and me to his side. He then grabbed my hand and forcefully said, "Let's go."

I tried to pry his fingers off, but I couldn't. He was too strong now. "Johnny, let go!" I screamed in his ear, "Please let go of me, Johnny!" I was practically about to bluff out "RAPE!" but I couldn't see myself saying that, not even about someone dragging me away from my boyfriend like he was. "Johnny, let me go!" I howled as he shoved me into his car, where Ponyboy and Sodapop were standing patiently beside.

He slammed the door in my face before I could scream at him again for being a psychopath. All three of them got in and shut the doors. Johnny looked absolutely ready to kill. "What the hell do you think you're doing?!"

I crossed my arms, "What's you're problem with Dal?! He's good to me and he doesn't drag me away from people when I'm having a nice time!" I raised my voice as I stated angrily.

Ponyboy sat quietly next to Soda as Soda began to shout, "I thought I got rid of him yesterday after that whole thing here. Why did you go after him?!"

I scrunched up my nose, "Is it any of your business?! God, no. What's it to you anyways?! He is my boyfriend after all!"

Ponyboy looked like he was losing his temper very quickly as Soda spoke again. "He left you for 2 entire damn years, Dani! He's not the type of person I'd trust if I were you."

I took a deep breath and felt a tear run down my cheek, "I trust him, okay? And it's none of your business, okay? Besides," I glared at Johnny, "he told me he left because he wanted to respect your wishes of us not being together. Said he thought it'd be too hard to keep himself away from me." I felt myself starting to blush a little bit.

Ponyboy jumped up, "Good. Hope you guys are happy together." He leaps across my lap and out of the car.

What the hell? I thought. Pony has never done something like that. I've never seen him bolt out like he did.

I watched as he ran off into the distance. Soda was about to get out when I stopped him, "I'll get him." I sighed and ran out after him.

I ran and ran and ran, still not able to catch up to him. "Not fair!" I screamed, "You're on the track team! Get back here!" I continued to run until I was out of breath. "Pony!" I screamed as loud as I could, "Wait!"

He turned back as he proceeded. He must've realized how awful I felt, because he walked back over to me with a concerned look on his face. "Are you okay?" He asked me as he grabbed my arm.

I chuckled in between gasps, "Yeah. I'm fine… I think." I put my hands on my knees in exhaustion.

"I'm sorry that I'm a pain in the ass."

I huffed and puffed once more before replying, "Yeah, it's okay. I'm used to it being your best friend, right?"

He punched my arm, "Hey!"

I gave him a duck face and responded, "I'm kidding, Pony." We both chuckled. "But seriously."

It was dead silent then. I couldn't stand it. He just began to pick the stickers out of his sneakers.

I swallowed as I stared at him, "Why did you run off like that?"

He looked up at me for a second before looking back at his shoes and picking more stickers off. "Why? It's nothing amusing."

I bit my gum, "Stop it, will ya? You ran off and said 'Hope you guys are happy together.' What the hell is that supposed to mean?!" I crossed my arms in a demanding way.

"Well who cares?" He flicked away one last sticker and stood up. He began to walk past me before I stopped him.

"Pony." I grabbed his arm, "I can't help if you don't tell me what's wrong. What is bothering you? Is it… Dally?" I shook my head, trying to wrap my head around his feelings.

He rolled his head back, "Let's see, is it Dally? Yeah. Yeah, it is."

I shook my head quickly, "What is it then? What's bothering you about Dally?"

He shrugged, "Well, let's see… He left you heartbroken; he didn't even write; he's almost 19 years old while you're still 16; he's an asshole… There's an entire list of things wrong with Danilly!"

My mouth dropped open in shock, "First of all, you left me heartbroken before he did, so really dude?! Secondly, does it look like I care how old he is? I love him and nothing's gonna change that. Oh and lastly, but not least, he's an asshole. Okay, I hate to break to you, but we're all assholes sometimes. Even you, even Sodapop, the nicest boy like ever… Even Johnny. So don't act like this is just a Dally thing, 'cause it ain't."

Ponyboy took a deep breath, "You're right, okay? You're right," he looked deep into my eyes, "but listen to me," he licked his lips, "if Dally hurts you, I'm not gonna hold back on saying 'I told ya so', okay?"

I rolled my eyes, "He's not gonna hurt me, Pony." I glanced back at Buck's house in the distance, "He loves me."

Pony looked like he was gonna throw up, "Yeah. Let's just get back to the car, alright?"

I giggled and nodded, "Okay." I said.

As we approached the car, Johnny hopped out with a downcast look on his face. He stared at me with a great big frown. "Dani," he all of the sudden said, "I'm sorry for acting like that toward Dal." I puffed a big breath as he continued to apologize, "It wasn't my place to have told you that stuff a couple of years ago. I know you can't forgive me for all of that, and I just—I'm sorry."

I stood there for a minute and thought, sulking at him. I knew that Johnny didn't intend any harm with Dally and I. He was just looking out for me.

I ran to his side with a tear running down my cheek. I pulled him into a hug and squeezed him tightly. "I do forgive you, Johnny. I just want my brother to trust me and the people I care about. Especially Dally." He squeezed me tighter than ever, "I just don't want my sister to get hurt. Especially not by Dallas Winston, who used to be my best buddy."

I rolled my eyes as I stepped back, "Why can't it be like that again? I mean, you just need to hang out more. You don't have to be 'B.F.F.s' but it would mean a lot to me if you started to warm up to the idea of us."

He crossed his arms, "Pony, get in the car." He turned back to me, "I still don't know…"

"C'mon," I grabbed his hand, "Please. Pleeeeassseee!" I gave him my best puppy dog eyes, "Pwetty pwease?"

A grin started to creep upon his face. I needed to crack him! He needed to listen to me!

"Pleeeeeasssee!" I screamed in his ear, making him flinch.

"Fiiiineeee!" He screamed, "I will, just stahhhp yelling in my ear!"

I wore an evil grin as I got in the front seat of his car. "Who wants some tunes?" I asked generously.

I looked back at Pony and he had a dangerous grin on his face. I knew that grin. It was code for…

"The Monkees!" We screamed in unison, Soda and Johnny wincing at how loud we shrieked.

"Ahem," I said as I popped the record into the car record player Johnny had installed when he got his car.

Pony and I started to laugh as we started to sing, "Here we come, walking down the street… We get the funniest looks from everyone we meet…"

Soda joined in with us, "Hey, hey, we're the Monkees! And people say we monkey around… but we're too busy singing to put anybody down…"

We sang it all the way back to the Curtis house, and boy was it fun! Johnny barely sang until the end, but it was still fun. Yep, that was my second favorite song by them.

As we pulled up to the Curtis house, I didn't see Steve's car parked beside it. I turned to Soda and asked him, "Where's Steve? Haven't seen him for a couple of days. Is he with—"

"Evie? Yeah. They went off to New Jersey for the weekend." Soda replied, not letting me finish my question.

I shook my head, "Again? Man, they're always gone."

Pony nodded, "Yeah," he pointed, "and look, he left his DX shirt on the front porch."

I glanced from Pony's finger to the front porch, and sure enough, he left it laying there. "That's weird. I mean, maybe not for Stevieboy, but weird for normal beings." I laughed, as did Pony.

"Hey!" Soda snapped at us, "Knock it off, you two."

I straightened my face before sassing off, "Sorry, dad." I smiled at my smart comment as I leaped out of the car. Pony climbed out after me, then Soda climbed out after Johnny.

Pony and I walked into the house and sat down on the couch. I expected Johnny and Soda to file in right after we did, but surprisingly they didn't.

"So," Pony broke the short silence, "why were you over at Dal's today?"

I gently pounded at my legs in boredom, "Is it illegal to visit my boyfriend?" I asked him a bit defensively.

"Well, in your case, it actually is." He rubbed the back of his neck thoughtfully.

I smiled, "Yeah, I guess so…" I bit my lip innocently, "But I guess I like that about Dally. He doesn't care as long as we're together."

Ponyboy smirked, "You really love him, huh?"

I took a deep breath and exhaled, "Yes," I nodded, "and it's hard for me to picture my life without him." I felt my heart start pounding. A world without him, I thought to myself, is a world I wouldn't want to be a part of.