Shout out to Little Miss Michelle for asking me to please return, it's been like... 2 years since I wrote for this story. Hope it's enjoyable even though there's not much Dally or Soda bonding in this one.

CH 13

The cool darkness of the movie theater was a blessing. The Tulsa sun was high in the sky again, and I wasn't born with a skin tone that agreed with too much exposure to it. Ponyboy and Johnny sat with me, watching movie after movie, not bothering to leave the theater between shows. The trick was hiding when the room was being checked for stragglers, which was an easy feat when the employees didn't care enough to look down every row. So after spending the better half of the day viewing three movies for the price of one, stepping out into the daylight again was rough.

I used my arm to create shade over my eyes as I frowned at my companions, if it wasn't for Pony's rumbling stomach I wouldn't leave the comfort of the pictures until the sun went down. The past few days I had taken refuge inside the Curtis home and the movie theater, not wanting to face my angry cousin. The day after Bob saw me with Tulsa's bad boy, Cherry exploded.

Busting into my room as the day was starting, Cherry made her opinion known loud and clear. "I can't believe you would be so stupid! Do you know what those boys do!?" Cherry stared at me expectantly, eyes wide with rage. I glared back defiantly, not wanting to have this discussion. Even though the boys seemed to be kind at heart, I knew the things they did at times weren't good.

Realizing I wasn't going to speak up she continued, her manic stare fixating on her fingers as she counted off, "they drink, fight, steal, some of those hood rats probably even smack their girls around, lord knows they don't care about a thing but themselves."

I snorted, causing her eyes to snap back to me. My temper rising with hers I started firing back, wanting to defend the friendships I was making, "what's your excuse for Bob and all his friends then? All they do is drive drunk and look for people to jump, Linda's boyfriend ran around cheating, but only after constantly threatening her that if she cheated she'd regret it! The only differences between the guys you hang out with and the ones I do is that your friends have money, and the friends I've made have only ever be kind to me while your friends have only ever insulted and groped me."

Having nothing to say to match my rambling, Cherry hit below the belt before storming out of the room, "You're driving me crazy! No wonder you mom ended up the way she did."

For as much as she hated who I was spending time with, Sheri knew she over stepped a line. As her own way of apologizing she kept her opinions to her self over the last few days. Even if we weren't shouting at each other, being in the same room was still uncomfortable so I took every chance I got to leave the house. Today that meant following my two youngest friends around town.

Two-Bit must have mentioned what side of town my home was located, because Ponyboy and Johnny went from previously refusing my money to hesitantly accepting my offer to pay for our food at the Dingo. Pony even asked me to spot him a few dollars in order to get take out for his brother. I was more than happy to help, especially since it meant having something else to eat up time. By the time we finished walking to the DX station, the sun was finally starting to be less abrasive as it neared 6 o'clock.

"Well looky here, the cat's dragged in some rats!" Steve closed the hood of the beat up car he was working on, talking so loudly that the few people hanging around the shop all looked up to see what he was referring to. I blushed, trying to ignore the stares. Luckily, they must have seen so many commotions in this town that a mechanic calling out wouldn't be too interesting.

He continued to press once he walked closer to us, a sort of mocking humor to his tone, "I don't see four wheels under your asses, so what are ya doing here?"

Pony spoke up, with more assertion than he usually had, "here to bring Soda something to eat."

"Well, leave it to beaver," Steve sneered, insinuating Ponyboy was trying too hard to be wholesome, " your brother's outback taking a break with Sandy."

Pony grumbled out a thanks before heading back, leaving Johnny and me behind with Steve. Steve's gaze followed Ponyboy for a moment, long enough for me to wonder why he would be so hostile towards his best friends sibling.

Instead of dwelling in the clear cloud of mutual dislike between Soda's best friend and brother, Johnny started up conversation without paying much mind to the tension, "What's goin' on? Anythin' excitin'?"

The oil covered mechanic shrugged, as if shaking off his previous thoughts, before perking up to answer the question. "Down at the lake tonight, there's gonna be a party, and even better, we wont have'ta worry about no Soc's showing up."

Johnny looked at him skeptically but I didn't understand why he would need to clarify that. From what I could tell it wasn't common for the two sides of town to share a party. Steve noticed my confusion, "everyone in town likes to party at the lake, so pretty often we're stuck sharing, but as usual the Soc's act like they own everything and it leads to fighting. But word has it, most of em' will be at a house party instead this time 'round."

Johnny chuckled, a sound so soft it could be easily missed if the gas station's waiting customers were just slightly louder, "Don't ya'll ever stop partying?"

The remnants of a sour expression left Steve's face, replaced with eyes of mischief and a crooked smile, "ain't no rest for the wicked," he winked before his lips fell back into a harder line, "I'm guessing you won't be there, huh? Seeing how you won't leave the brat behind."

Johnny glanced at his friend, but was only able to hold the eye contact for a brief moment, he tensed for the time and inhaled. It was clear he wanted to protest against the opinion that Ponyboy wasn't good company, but the inhale simply turned into a sigh. "I'm not much into partying, ya know? Too loud."

Realizing there was no changing each others minds, Steve redirected the conversation towards my plans for the evening, "How about it? You wanna come? It'd be a hell of a time to watch you fight with some of the local girls again." His lopsided grin returned, clearly trying to get a reaction out of me.

I found it to be perfect timing for Ponyboy to return from his food delivery and thus ending the topic of a party, because as much as I enjoyed being included and having a fun time, I didn't really have it in me today.

I continued to follow the boys around, which mostly just meant walking around town, skipping rocks, and talking until our stomachs told us it was time to seek out food again. Unsurprisingly, we ended up at the Curtis house just as it was getting too dark to keep wondering around. Dary gave a small speech to Pony about making sure he didn't get home too late, especially when he would be too tired from work to run all over town looking for him.

He clearly worried about Pony, even if the younger brother didn't see it that way, but if Darrel was worried about sharing his home then he hid it well; he would scold the boys for being too messy, or too rough on the furniture, but he never asked for a cent towards food or bills. I assumed that if I ever tried to offer money that it would be rejected anyways, after all what hard working man wants to take money from a young girl with an allowance. Instead of insulting him with the offer of money, I made sure to help with the dinner cleanup any night that I was there. Today though, there wasn't much mess to help with. Instead of the usual tornado that came with the group of boys, tonight was just Darry, Johnny, Pony and myself.

It was a little too quiet compared to other nights, but as much as I wasn't feeling up to partying I was even less in the mood to go home. So even after Darry went to bed and the television stopped playing anything worth watching, I stayed. The three of us set up the coffee table and recliner in a way that it was comfortable to play cards, the boys never complaining about how few games I knew. Because of me, we were limited to "Go Fish" and "War".

While shuffling the cards to start a new round, Ponyboy cut through the silence with a rushed out question, as if he was nervous about asking, "So, when school starts, are you going to say hi in the hall?"

I paused and stared down at the floor, I understood the meaning behind his question, the implication that because of my family's money that when the time came to be around other rich kids and in front of well-to-do adults that I wouldn't want to be associated with them. I must have taken too long to respond because Pony threw down his cards with a huff, misunderstanding my pause as a no.

"Wait, Pony, it's not that, of course I'm still going to be your friend. I just," I took a breath and tucked back the hair that had fallen in my face, "hadn't thought about the school year, I was kind of hoping being here was just going to be for the summer. I'm living with my aunt and uncle now because my parents..." I wasn't sure how to word the rest. As usual, I never knew how much information to give before it became too much.

They waited patiently for me to finish, "My parents are sorting some stuff out I guess. My mom is, I don't know." I gave a weak excuse for a smile and returned to their question, "But yeah, I think I might be here, and no, we're not going to stop being friends."

I laughed, clearly confusing the boys with my switch in mood. "Other than my cousin, you lot are my only friends in all of Tulsa, who else am I going to say hi to in school?"

They smiled, it seemed to warm them as much as it warmed me to think of the friendship continuing. Johnny grinned and began to speak, but was instantly stopped by the door being flung open. All our heads snapped in the direction of the disturbance, seeing the older boys standing there wasn't surprising, but seeing Dally with his arm around Soda, face swelling, was something I didn't think I would ever see with how tough he was.

We jumped to our feet, abandoning the cards. Pony had the clear head to move the coffee table out of the way so Soda wouldn't trip while helping Dallas over to the couch. I darted out of the room while the boys settled in, when I returned with a towel full of ice Johnny was sitting on the table, leaning towards Dally with concern etched on his features. Soda and Pony were out of sight, and Two-Bit had taken over the recliner.

Dally was in the middle of telling Johnny not to worry because the other guy looked worse when I knelt in front of the couch and began to gently place the ice on his face.

He pushed my hand away, "That's pussy stuff."

I scoffed in disbelief, "it's not weak to take care of yourself, you were in the fight, what more do you have to prove?"

He turned away from me and towards the boys, as if communicated with them that he was irritated with me, and looked back, shaking his head at the notion, " I don't have'ta prove nothing."

"Good, then ice your face." I placed the towel back onto his cheek, he stared at me without protesting my help this time. I wasn't sure why making eye contact with him paused my breathing, but knowing he wasn't going to push my hand away made me smile slightly.

When Two-bit spoke, it almost felt like he was interrupting a private moment, which was silly to feel when in a room filled with people, "its a good excuse to have little cat as a nurse."

I looked back to the room, noticing everyone was present again. Everyone in the room seemed to relax a bit when Dally began to go along with Two-bit's teasing, "you just wanna be close to me Red?"

I dared to look him in the eyes again, trying not to smile too largely at my own comedy, "not with your face so swollen that you look like a poster for a monster movie." Two-bit's laughter echoed in the room, making Dally's unwavering stare easier to manage as I commanded him, "Give me your hand."

He smirked and placed his hand onto his chest for me to reach it better to move the ice to the bruising knuckles, "Keep actin' like that, people are gonna think you're my old lady."

My heart jumped at Dally's suggestion, and I was once again thankful that Two-bit couldn't stay serious, "Kitty and Dally sitting in a tree, nagging each other end-less-ly." I turned and stuck my tongue out at him and blew, making a completely unflattering noise in his direction. He just laughed.

Johnny tried to steer the conversation back towards what happened and why, but between Two-bits theatrics and Dallas's lack of interest in elaborating it was difficult to get a full picture, especially when some of the names involved didn't ring any bells for me. The gist of it though seemed to be that someone was running their mouth in a way Dally didn't like, it was just unclear about what or who, which was a good enough reason to get in a fight with them. From the sounds of it, even after multiple glasses of whiskey, Dally was still able to get the upper hand but only after taking a few good hits to the face.

As the story came to an end, it was clear that everyone was ready to wind down for the night, and as usual I didn't want to leave but knew I should. I stood up from my spot next to the couch and announced that it was time for me to get going, which made the boys look at me like I had grown two heads. I guess it still didn't register to me how far and how dangerous the walk home could be, but I understood when I saw their expressions. I just felt bad asking them for protection, even when they offered without me having to vocalizing my worries.

Dally stood up, making sure to groan dramatically, "Damn red, gonna make my busted up ass walk around, some nurse you are." His tone was just light enough that I could tell he was joking, that he didn't really mind the task of walking me home.

I laughed even though my face tinted pink from the embarrassment of needing help, Dally rarely seemed to joke around so when he did it was somehow more amusing.

I countered, "Do you need me to grab some ice for your butt too?"

He smirked down at me, mischief written on his face making it clear that he could twist it into something sexual if he wanted to, but he just shook his head and turned his attention to Johnny and Two-bit before asking if they were coming too.

In the end, the boys decided that it'd be alright to split ways, with Two-bit walking Johnny home since they lived near each other, and Dally walking me since he was the most likely to be able to win a fight with no backup if trouble happened once we got to the up scale side of town. Maybe it was silly, but the realization that I would be alone with Dally was almost as nerve wracking as the dangerous streets made me feel.