Disclaimer: I don’t own the Outsiders… I just own the swim coach, Mr. Cratchett, Mr. McNally, Tracy, Kit Kat, the bastard that can’t speak proper English, Gonzo, and the dumbass cop

Tokyo’s Note: This is a what-if fic, like what if Darry, Sodapop, and Ponyboy had a sister…? hint hint

         I walked out the front door with several things on my mind. I’m surprised to see the black sky surrounding me. Then I realize, of course it would be this dark at 5:30 am. I shake off the silly thoughts running through my head as I begin walking to my high school aquatics center. The coach would really get on me this time if I were late, worse than Darry does with my homework. Oh yeah, I’m Katlyn Curtis. But everyone calls me Kit Kat. Dad came up with that name since I had insisted on painting my room with a cat theme with bedclothes in the same shade of orange that you find on the Kit Kat © bars’ package, when I was seven. Dad had a real sense of humor. I’m sixteen years old and I have two older brothers (Darrel and Sodapop) and one little brother (Ponyboy). Our parents passed away about a year ago in a car crash.

         A lot of the guys in the neighborhood think I’m a greaser like my brothers. Ok, so I hang out with some greasers, but that doesn’t make me one. And I’m not a Soc or hood either. I’m just the sister of three greasers. Ponyboy, my little brother is on the high school track, and me, I’m a swimmer. Darry and Sodapop never finished school. Two-Bit thinks it’s cool that I’m a fast swimmer. I mean, why wouldn’t I be? I’m small, thin and light, and I love the water. Sodapop and Steve can’t see how I don’t hate water by now. I’ve been swimming since I was inside my mother. And ain’t that the truth.

        I pass an old abandoned grocery store. Shuddering, I walk faster. I don’t like to go anywhere near there. Some perverted Socs raped a couple of my friends in that store. I was in hysterics when my best friend was raped. Darry had grabbed me by my shoulders and shook me a couple times yelling at me saying for me to get a hold of myself he even had the nerve to say that I was acting like a big baby. Two-Bit, Johnny, and Soda told him to lay off. Dally threatened to sabotage the next house Darry was scheduled to roof if he didn’t leave me be. Darry let me go and Soda came and helped me up.

Returning to present-day, I realized that I’m finally at the school. ‘Safe at last’ I thought. The coach rushed up to me.

                  “Katlyn,” she said, “I just got a call from your brother, Darry, he needs you at your house. Now.”

                  I pale, “W-why…? I-is he ok? W-what about Soda and P-pony?” I’m getting into hysterics again.

                  “He just said that he needs you at home, you are dismissed from your classes today. I’ll have one of your friends bring your school work by this afternoon.”

                  “Thanks coach,” I dashed off towards home.

         I didn’t notice that there were some Socs following me. Just as I was getting past the old grocery store, one of them grabbed me and pulled me into the alley beside the store.

                  “Whatcha doin’ round ‘ere greaser? Ain’t ya supposed ter be in school…?” He grinned toothily at me.

         The Soc let go of me as his buddies surrounded us. I turned to see the street. Dally was walking by! Dally! I grinned just as I launched myself between two of them. They made a mad dash to try and catch me. But since I spent so much time in the water, I was as slick as water…well, almost. I gave a short whistle to catch Dally’s attention. He stopped and looked at me. I grinned even wider. Dallas threw down his cigarette and caught me in his arms.

                  “Hey, Kit Kat. You finally ditched class without getting caught?”

                  “Naw, I’ll tell you later. Kay Dally?”                   “You got it, babe”

         Dallas and I turned to the Socs. I dropped my backpack and cracked my knuckles, getting ready to spring when Dally gave the signal. Only, he didn’t give the signal. He just shrugged and beckoned me to follow him. I grabbed my backpack and followed.

                  “You know why I didn’t give the signal Kit Kat?”

                  “No I don’t, are you gonna tell me Dally?”

                  “I don’t want you gettin’ mixed into all this greaser/Soc business”

         I bowed my head. What’s up with Dally? He usually doesn’t let a chance to whoop some Socs slip away like this, if I’m around or not.

                  “So, why ain’t cha in school?” I looked at Dally, his blonde hair falling in his eyes and around his elfish face.

                  “The coach said that Darry had called and needed me home right away. But now that I think of it, Darry never needed my help with anything before except with housework. So I guess that a Soc was able to disguise his voice to sound like Darry’s or…”

                  “Or what?”

                  “Can Two-Bit do impersonations well?”

                  “Yeah from what I’ve heard, why?”

                  “Ya think that Two-Bit imitated Darry and got me outta class today?”

                  “He could’ve”

                  “Well, I’m gonna stop at the house and make sure everything’s dandy and then, since the teachers have given me the day off, I’ll take it”

                  “If Darry finds out, he’ll be as mad as hell”

                  “So, it can’t be that bad”

         Little did I know, was when I got home Darry was madder then hell. He blew up at me when I walked in the door.

                  “WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING?!” Then through gritted teeth he said: “You…room…NOW…” before collapsing on the couch.

         I stared at Darry for a minute. Sodapop and Darry glared at me. ‘Shit,’ I thought, ‘they’re acting as if I had murdered somebody’ I trudged upstairs and into my bedroom. I shut the door once I was inside. I threw myself on my bed and stared at the ceiling. Someone opened my door, which coincidentally, happened to be Pony.

                  “You are in soo much trouble Katlyn …”

                  “What the hell your god damned problem?”

                  “What?”

         I was getting pissed.

                  “You people are acting as if I murdered somebody when I was given the day off because of a stupid prank someone pulled that got me out of school!”

         Pony stared at me, I didn’t care so I grabbed my backpack and walked out into the hall. I skipped a couple of stairs as I went down. I was just about out of the hall when Darry stood in front of me blocking the path to outside.

                  “Where the hell do you think you’re going?” Darry glared menacingly at me.

                  “Out” I said simply.

                  “No you’re not”

                  “Well, just try and stop me”

         I brushed passed my brother and walked outside. I knew that I wouldn’t be sleeping in that house for a while, but come to think of it, sleeping under the stars in the lot sounded really pleasant to me. So, I walked towards the lot. It was a really comfortable night. The sun setting in the horizon, a gentle breeze playing with my hair, I loved it. It was the best.

         I walked into the lot. There were some trees around it, one of which held a tree house Dad and I had made a long time ago. I climbed up the rope ladder into the tree house. I then dropped my backpack and sat on the cot. Okay, so I wasn’t exactly sleeping under the stars, but it was much cozier here that it was at home. I lay back onto the cot and drifted into a dreamless sleep.

         I woke up the next morning to find Dally sitting on the edge of the cot watching me. I sat up and grinned at him.

                  “Morning Dally”

                  “Good morning, sorry if I got you in trouble yesterday with Darry”

                  “You didn’t he’s just mad that I skipped school yesterday.

                  “Oh, ok” Dally looked away and started fidgeting on the cot.

         I placed my small hand on his large one. He turned and looked at me.

                  “Dally, what’s the matter?” I asked softly.

                  “Well, you see… What I mean to say is…. I mean….” He kept stumbling over words. I swear I saw a light shade of pink touch his cheeks. I thought for a minute then, I whispered: “Would this make it easier?” as I leaned in and gently kissed his lips. Wow, I’ve waited a long time to do that, and was it wow.

         I pulled back and grinned. Dally was stunned. He just sat there, staring at me.

                  “Well?” I said. “Did that help?”

         Dally nodded his head and grinned. We leaned in again. Dallas and I sat in that lip-lock for a while until someone, namely Two-Bit, walked in and ‘politely’ cleared his throat. Dally and I parted.

                  “Howdy, Two-Bit!” Dally grinned, I just sat there blushing.

                  “It’s a good thing I ain’t Darry, huh?”

         For some odd reason, I started laughing. It was a good thing that he wasn’t Darry, ‘cause if Darry had walked in instead of Two-Bit, I’d get another earful. Mind you when I walk out on Darry and them, I usually get two to three earfuls and seven to ten lectures for ‘how dangerous it is at night for a girl like me.’ Dally and Two-Bit grinned. They remembered the last time I had walked out on Darry too.

FLASH BACK

         The gang was at our house. I walked into the house with a note from my physics teacher. I handed it to Darry and proceeded to my room. Darry stopped me.

                  “What’s this?” he asked.

                  “A note from my physics teacher about me forgetting to bring in my essay this morning…” I said as if it was the simplest thing on earth.

                  “What?!”

                  “Dude, Darry cool your jets, I came home during break and got it for him.”

                  “That doesn’t matter! You were supposed to have it with you when you left the house this morning!”

                  “Darry, back off! Ok? Gonzo just took five points off for being late.”

                  “Go to your room NOW,” Darry growled.

                  “Fine.”

         I was in my room for about two and a half hours. I finished what little homework I had from Gonzo. He’s really Mr. Gonzales but he lets us call him Gonzo. I grabbed my purse off of the hook on my door and walked out of my room and down stairs. I passed Darry in the living room.

                  “Where do you think you’re going?”

                  “To get something to eat,” I turned to the guys, “Ya’ll want to come?”

                  “Sounds like fun to me,” Steve said getting up and grabbing his coat.

                  “Same here. Besides I could do with gettin’ a few kicks,” Two-Bit said.

                  “Yeah, count me in too,” Johnny said.

                  “Ditto,” Dally said getting up.

                  “Darry? Pony, Soda? How about you guys?”

                  “Sorry sis, meeting Sandy in a bit,” Sodapop said, “thanks for the offer though,”

                  “No prob. Pony, Darry?” I tried again.

         Ponyboy looked at Darry. Then he shook his head ‘no.’ I shrugged muttering, “Suit yourself.” Darry also declined. But before I was able to get out the door, he said:

                  “You aren’t going anywhere Katlyn Christine Curtis.” I told you dad had a sense of humor. He came up with my name having a… what’s it called…oh yeah! Alliteration. Darry grabbed my wrist and held it tight when I tried to walk past him.

                  “Would you mind letting go of me, Darrel?”

                  “I SAID you’re not going.”

                  ”Yes well, I say that you’d better let go of me.”

                  “…”

                  “Well? Are you going to let go of me? Or should I call the cops, but wait, I shouldn’t do that because that would land Pony and Soda in a boys’ home whilst I be thrown into a girls’ home. And you don’t want that to happen because didn’t you promise mom and dad to take care of us?” I hit a nerve, the guys saw it too.

         Darry let go of me and I walked out the front door. I was outside the front gate when I turned back and yelled to Darry: “OKAY SPACE MAN, I LOVE YOU BUH-BYE!” and waved my hand furiously. Two-Bit broke down into laughter. I started to chuckle a bit. I couldn’t stay mad at Darry and this showed it.

END FLASHBACK

         Dally and Two-Bit left while I changed. I came out fully dressed in a sapphire blue midriff and a pair of denim flares. My auburn hair was partially pulled back in a sapphire scrunchi. Dally stared at me. I just raised my eyebrows.

                  “Dally, I’m appalled at you!”

                  “What did I do?!” Dally cried.

“You’re acting as if you were expecting something less with what I’m wearing,” I said.

                  “Well, was it too much to say that I was hoping for something a little skimpier?”

                  “Dallas Winston!”

                  “That’s me”

         I gave him a playful glare before throwing my backpack down to the ground and hopping over the railing on the ‘porch’ of the tree house. I landed gracefully on the ground.

                  “Damn, Kit Kat. You’re like some swan princess or something” Two-Bit said.

                  “Yeah she is isn’t she?”

                  “You got it Dally. Hey Katlyn, how about goin’ to the Nightly Double with me on Saturday. Just us two, the dark, sitting together….” Two-Bit got a dreamy look on his face.

                  “Hey, hold on partner, Kit Kat isn’t up for grabs” Dally said.

                  “Yeah? And why not?” Two-Bit turned to Dally.

                  “’Cause, she’s mine” Dally said, wrapping his arms around my waist.

         Two-Bit smiled one of his one thousand watt smiles. Just then, Darry came running up to me.

                  “Kit Kat,” he said, “We need to talk, NOW.”

                  “Sure, whatever Darry,” I said.

                  “Would you mind getting your paws off of my sister, Dallas” Darry growled, noticing Dally’s arms around my waist. Dally quickly let go of me.

                  “Kit Kat, come on”

         Darry and I walked away from Two-Bit and Dally. He started talking to me about how much I’ve disappointed him. ‘Disappointed him?! How can he say that?! I wouldn’t have left if he hadn’t blown up on me when I accepted the offer of having the day off! I mean I finished all of my work!’ I wasn’t really paying attention to Darry after that.

         As it turned out, I was grounded for a couple of weeks. Well, a couple couldn’t exactly describe the length of my punishment, I was grounded for about two months. It really sucked. By the time I was able to leave the house for my own pleasure, Ponyboy had gotten beat up by some Socs.

         Dally came by and asked if I wanted to go to the Nightly Double with him and Johnny and Pony. I said I would. We met up with Cherry Valance and her friend Marcia. Like usual, Dally went off and made a fool of himself, what with him saying all this crap about the girls and getting Cokes for them only to have Cherry pour it in his hair. Then he went off and fought with Tim Shepard for slashing his tires. Dally had a wild spirit, yes siree, bub. We went over to Buck Merril’s place after Dally got some ribs cracked.

         Carefully, I wrapped some bandage around his waist, Tim Shepard could really hit hard if he had to. And I guess he had to since Dally slashed his tires. Once I had the bandages taped to where they wouldn’t fall off of him, Dally slipped his white T-shirt back on and laid himself on the bed.

                  “Dally,”  I said. “I don’t know about you, but I’ve got a bad feeling that something’s gonna happen tonight.”

         Dally looked at me.

                  “I know,” he said, “I’ve got that same gut feeling…”

         Then I laid down beside him and rested my head on his chest. His arm came around my back and his hand lay on my waist. I scooted closer to him. Hank Williams blared outside our room.

                  “I love you, Kit Kat” Dally whispered into my ear.

                  “I love you too, Dally,” I whispered back before drifting off into sleep.

         I wasn’t asleep long when Buck came into our room.

                  “Dallas, there’s some kids here, they say they’re Pony and Johnny, they need to talk to you” he said before shutting the door.

         Groggily, I got up. I closed my eyes and put my hand to my forehead.

                  “Dally? What’s goin’ on?” I asked him still half asleep.

                  “Something’s up with Pony and Johnny”

         Pony and Johnny. That jolted me awake. Something was wrong I knew it. I pulled on my sweater and walked out the door after Dally. Only when Dally went to the front door, I stayed behind by the mini bar incase I needed to call Darry and Soda. I caught bits of their conversation.

                  “…I knifed a Soc…”

                  “…Good for you…”

                  “…We figured you could get us outta this…”

                  “…I was in the bedroom…”

         Pony’s ears went red, real red.

                  “…Glory, but your ears can get red, Ponyboy…”

         He was explaining something to my baby brother. Dallas looked at Pony for a minute.

                  “…Are you wet?…”

                  “Y-y-yes-s”

                  “Glory Halleluiah! You’ll die of pneumonia ‘fore the cops get you”

         Dally pulled Pony in and motioned Johnny to follow. I ran to Buck for a second.

                  “Buck, can you lend me a shirt, my brother’s soaking wet”

                  “Sure kid, here”

                  “Gee, thanks Buck”

         I dashed off to Dally. He was coming over to get a shirt from Buck.

                  “I’m one step ahead of you Dally” I said as I tossed him the shirt.

                  “You sure are quick, doll”

                  “That’s why God made me a woman and gave me brains”

         Dally kissed me and ran back to the room with the shirt for Pony. I didn’t pay attention to what they were talking about. All I noticed was Dally coming to get some money from Buck and giving it to them along with a heater. ‘A gun?’ I thought, ‘holy crap. Those two must of gotten into some really deep shit if they need a gun.’ I snapped out of my contemplation when Dally was ushering them out the door saying:      

                  “Git goin’!” he messed up Johnny’s hair and whispered something to him, before the two ran off into the night.

         And that was the last time I’d see my brother for the next five days…

         Dally was gone for a couple of days. Darry had let him spend the night for a day or so during the week. On the fifth day that Pony and Johnny were gone, I woke up to find an envelope sitting on my dresser. I got up and slit it open. There was Dally’s ring and a letter inside. It read:

                  ‘Dear Kit Kat,

         By the time you find this, I’ll be out of town already. But I want you to know that I love you no matter what. I’m thinking of you every minute that passes. When I come home, Pony and Johnny will be with me. I don’t know how long it’ll take for me to get them back safely, but I’ll do my best to come back to you as soon as I can.

         I’ve left my ring here for you. I want you to have it for as long as we’re going out. I give it to all the girls I go out with, with most of them they don’t know why, and I don’t necessarily do either, I just give it to them to hold onto. Please stay true to me Katlyn Christine Curtis.

                                                               Yours forever,

                                                                        Dally’

 I fingered the ring for a minute then opened up mom’s jewelry box and selected a fine gold chain to wear the ring on, since it was too big for my small fingers. I put it around my neck and clasped the ends together. I went to the living room and sat waiting for Dally to come ringing the bell with Johnny and Ponyboy. I was worried sick about my baby brother. I knew he didn’t really care for me, no one really did ‘sides Mom and Dad. Once they died, I didn’t have anyone left then, I sort of got some friends, but they all got beat up and/or raped by Socs, then their parents moved away from the whole greaser/Soc area of town. So, I didn’t really have many friends. Then Dally came along and we sort of hooked up. Darry was furious with me when he found out. Soda could care less. He’s got his own problems what with Sandy running off on him after he asked her if she’d marry him.

I was getting myself sick, and I knew it. The only time I had color in my face was when I put make-up on or if I just got back from swim. I was getting skinnier too; I used to be a size six, now I’m wearing a size five. Dally’d have a fit when he sees me. I drifted off into a dreamless, yet uneasy sleep.

                  “Kit Kat, Katlyn, wake up! Pony’s home” Darry shook me awake.

                  “Wha-? Ponyboy? Where is he?”

                  “He’s in the hospital, there was a fire in an old church, him, Dally and Johnny got some kids out of there. Dally and Johnny aren’t so good, sis.” Soda said.

         I paled even more. A fire? My God, they’d better be all right. Soda helped me out to the car. I was sitting in the back seat like an empty shell. I fingered Dally’s ring that was on the chain around my neck. Once we got to the hospital, Soda ran to the waiting room to find Ponyboy. Darry and I were right behind him.

         Ponyboy came running up to Soda. They embraced for a bit then Pony turned to Darry. He stood there staring at him for a little bit.

                  “Darry!” he yelled and ran to our big brother. “Darry, I’m sorry…”

                  “Oh, Pony, I thought we’d lost you…like Mom and Dad…”

         Pony didn’t give me a second glance, well, that would be hard considering that he didn’t even give me a first glance. But it didn’t matter. Pony was home, Johnny was home and so was Dally. Darry led Pony to some seats. Soda paused as he saw silent tears running down my face.

                  “Hey, kiddo you’ll be fine, don’t worry, Pony’ll realize you’re around by the time we get home” Soda’s words were comforting, but I knew that it was just a load of crap. Pony could care less if I was on my deathbed worrying over him.

         We waited in the waiting room for the news of Dally and Johnny. Reporters came and started pestering Pony for answers to their questions. Soda tried to lighten things up a bit by grabbing a guy’s press hat and another’s camera and walk around interviewing everyone. He came to me and pretended to be a total stranger.

                  “Hello, miss” he said all formal-like.

                  “Hello, Mr. Reporter-Dude” I smiled.

                  “Can you tell me what a beautiful young lady like yourself is doing in a hospital like this?”

                  “I was worried sick about my little brother, boyfriend, and buddy, so I came over here to check up on ‘em,” I said with a thousand watt smile.

                  “Splendid, splendid!” Sodapop laughed.

         He gave the reporters their stuff back and then tried to lift the cop’s gun. When the cop caught him, Soda grinned so big, the cop couldn’t help from grinning himself. But soon, like all good movies had to end, Soda himself got bored of the reporters and cops, he laid down along the seats and rested his head in Darry’s lap. Me, I stood as close as I could to Dally’s room.

         A nurse came and told us that we could see Dally. I was the first in the room. He didn’t look too hot. I sat in a chair next to his bed. Slowly, he began to open his eyes.

                  “Hey, sweetie,” I greeted him.

                  “Hey, yourself. How’s Pony?”

                  “Okay, I guess…”

                  “What do you mean ‘you guess’?”

                  “We, as in Darry, Soda, and me, came to pick Ponyboy up. He practically threw himself at Soda. They held onto each other for a while, then Pony turned to Darry. He ran and said to Darry: ‘Darry, Darry I’m sorry…’ and started squeezing the daylights out of him. He didn’t give me a second glance…” I said as a fresh batch of tears came over me. “Dally, I’m sorry this isn’t usually like me…”

                  “Hey, it’s ok, you’ve got a reason to be upset”

                  “Oh, Dally! It’s not that, it’s just I thought that I’d lost you guys” I stood up and wrapped my arms around him. “You’d better get some rest, Dally,” I gave him a quick kiss and brushed his bangs out of his eyes. “I’ll come back tomorrow. Besides, the Curtis brothers want to see you too.” I whispered.

                  “Ok, babe. See you tomorrow”

         Darry, Pony, and Soda came in to see Dally as I left. We spent the next couple of days drifting in and out of the hospital, visiting Johnny, getting Dally some follow-ups. I had over heard the guys talking one day, they had said that there was going to be a rumble between us and the Socs. Ok, so now I considered myself a greaser, big deal. The guys were ready, when I say guys I mean, Darry, Soda, Two-Bit, and Steve. Dally wasn’t exactly, and the same went for Pony but those two were as thickheaded as a piece of lead. Johnny definitely couldn’t fight. I was going along with them, because a girl might be some help in a skin fight. God gave us nails didn’t he? Well, He never told us how to use ‘em so, as I say : A girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do.

         Finally, seven o’clock came and we got out to the lot. I stood beside Dally, with his arm around my waist, holding him up. Some words were exchanged and Paul Holden walked up to Darry, who used to lead the football team, and said: “I’ll take you on.” Then, the fight began. Dally launched himself at a Soc nearby. I backed up a bit so as not to get in their way. The Soc that had intentions of raping me, the day I cut class, walked up to me and said:

                  “Well, well, ain’t it the greaser broad that cut school”

                  “I’ll be damned, it’s the bastard Soc that can’t even speak proper English…”

         His face flushed with anger as he threw a punch at me. I ducked under his swinging arm and uppercut him in his stomach. Oh, yeah, I forgot to tell you earlier, my dad gave me karate lessons when I was six. He tried to hit me again, like before I dodged it. I swung at him for a second time, but he blocked it and grabbed my wrists. I grinned and front kicked him in that tender area that all little boys have. He kneeled over and I knocked him fully to the ground.

         A tall Soc was beating Pony pretty good. I felt anger well up within me, as I lunged at the monster. He fell off of Pony and started fighting with me. Pony ran off to help Dally.

                  “Why’d you do that greaser?” he growled.

                  “Nobody is allowed to beat up on my little brother,” I said, using the same strategy as before.

                  “Whoo-ee! Look at those cowards run!” I heard Two-Bit yell as the Socs ran away.

         Dally led Pony to his car. I knew where they were going and had a short cut of my own. I ran through the bushes behind the lot and jumped someone’s fence. Mr. Cratchett, the old guy that squawked at us for getting the football out of his yard, waved his cane in the air and hollered at me to “Git on outta ma’ yard!” I did too; I popped the next fence and ran to the hospital. Dally and Pony weren’t there yet. The fuzz, because of how Dally drives, probably stopped them and that delayed them. I ran into Johnny’s room. He was as white as the linen he was laying on.

                  “Hey Johnnypie” I said.

                  “Howdy, cough Kit Kat Bar cough”

                  “Shhh, don’t talk, Dally and Pony are comin’”

                  “I ain’t gonna die, Kit Kat. I ain’t gonna die”

                  “What? What are you talking about?”

                  “They’s gonna try this new surgery on me. It might work Kit Kat, I might live and be able to walk again”

                  “Oh, Johnny, that’s swell, real swell, but save the talking for Dally and Pony, Kay?”

                  “Sure”

         Pony and Dally came in. I whispered to Dally that I’d wait outside. Dally nodded and preceded to tell Johnny about whooping the Socs. I heard Johnny cough, and then Dally’s swear. I couldn’t peek into the room to see if everything was ok, because Dally ran out of the hospital room and followed a minute or so later by Ponyboy. I looked in to see Johnny’s eyes flutter open. ‘Holy shit,’ I thought, ‘Dally and Pony must of thought that Johnny died on them.’ Knowing Dally, I ran straight to the Police Station. When they’d get a call about Dally, I was gonna go with them.

                  “Hey, kid,” A cop said, “Whatcha doing here?”

                  “Waiting for a call about Dally,” I said. “If you guys get a call, can I come with, I know what he might do.”

                  “Why do you care so much about that delinquent?”

                  “I just do”

         He nodded and said that he’d be the first cop on the scene if Dally tried to do anything. And sure enough, not even ten minutes after I asked the cop if I could go with him to get Dally, there was a call on the radio about Dally robbing a Stop-N-Go. (A/N- Stop-N-Go is a gas station we have these all over Texas, I don’t know if it’s in any other states but that seemed more logical than Texaco) I hopped into the cop’s car. I saw Dally dash across the lot. He was reaching into his pocket for something; he was trying to get his ‘bluffer’ as I called it.

                  “Can you patch the radio in to the other cops that are gonna try and stop Dally?”

                  “Think so, why kid?”

                  “Don’t ask, just tell them to hold their fire, and can I borrow your gun, I think I can stop Dally without anyone getting hurt”

                  “All right, here” he handed me the semi-automatic (A/N- Yes I know stupid cop, giving a sixteen-year-old girl a semi-automatic…).

          I jumped out of the car and ran after Dally.

                  “DALLY!” I screamed. “DALLY STOP!”

         Dally slowed down a bit.

                  “Kit Kat?”

                  “Dally, if you don’t stop, I’ll put the cop’s gun to my head and fire. I swear I will” to show I wasn’t joking, I put the barrel to my head. Dally got the picture and stopped.

                  “Kit Kat, don’t”

                  “Then don’t do anything to kill yourself”

                  “But Johnny’s dead—“

                  “No he isn’t!”

                  “What are you talking about? I saw him die!”

                  “Johnny just blacked out, you and Pony thought he had died! He’s in the hospital right now, going into surgery!”

                  “You mean…?”

                  “Yes! Johnny’s gonna live and he might be able to walk again!"

         Dally dropped the carton of beer and the bluff heater on the ground and grabbed me. I pulled the gun away from my head and wrapped my arms around his neck, still clutching the handgun. I stood on my tiptoes and buried my face into his shoulder. He in turn, hid his face in my soft auburn hair.

                  “Please Dally, please don’t do that again”

                  “I won’t, I promise I won’t”

         Darry came up and took the cop’s gun from my hand, I was surprised it hadn’t fallen to the ground already, I was only holding onto it by a finger. I could’ve stayed like that forever, just clinging onto Dally, but the cops came and put handcuffs on him. Two-Bit came and pulled me off of him. I tried to break away, but he held onto me really tight. I started to feel hot, sticky tears run down my face.  Sobs began to rack my body. Soda came and held me close, smoothing down my hair, rocking back and forth, just like Mom did when I was upset. My sobs subsided to hiccups and finally to sniffles. I was still crying though, my Dallas was being taken away. He wasn’t Sylvia’s Dally or Cherry’s Dally; he was my Dally.  My Dallas Winston was being hauled off by the cops.

         Johnny came out of surgery with a full recovery. He wasn’t able to walk yet, but that would take time. So right now he was in a wheel chair or occasionally he used crutches, but it was hard for him. He was also staying with Darry, Pony, Soda and me. Johnny was in Soda’s old room. Or occasionally he had to stay in Pony and Soda’s room. Soda would stay with him and Pony would come share a bed with me. And don’t get any perverted ideas in your head; it was the same as if I were taking Soda’s place when Pony shared a bed with him.

Pony and me even got our little misunderstanding patched up. It felt a lot better to have my brothers not hating me all of the time. Dally was out of prison for the robbery and giving Pony and Johnny the gun when they ran away. My room is still the same it was a when I was six. The cat theme and Kit Kat Bar package orange, I call it. Pony’s grown some; he used to be two inches shorter than me, when I was 5’6”, now he’s 6 foot. But I’ve grown some too, I’ve just hit 5’9 ½”.

Dallas came by one afternoon. When I heard is voice outside the door, I tore from the living room to the front door. I swung the door open to see his dazzling grin. He stepped back as I opened the screen door. He wouldn’t come in; he just kept looking at me. Finally, he said:

                  “Well? Don’t I get a ‘Welcome Back Kiss’?”

                      “Maybe, maybe not…” I tried to look serious but my smile blew my ‘disguise.’

         Dally grabbed me around my waist and drew me to him. I looked into his eyes. They weren’t hard and cold anymore, they were soft and warm. Then, he pressed his lips to mine. ‘Sweet bliss,’ I thought. It was good to be in his arms again.        

                  “Ah-HEM!” Darry cleared his throat behind us.

                  “Mmm…yes?” I smiled to my brother.

                  “Aren’t you going to invite Dally in? Or are you going to stand there making out or what?”

                  “Those are our only two options?”

         Darry smiled.

                  “Come on sis, inside”

         I grinned and dragged Dally inside. Soda, Pony and Johnny all leapt up when they saw Dally. Johnny was walking again and he walked as fast as possible to Dally.

                  “Hey Johnnycakes! How’s it goin’?”
                  “Great Dally just great!”

         I dragged my brothers out of the living room so they could catch up on old times. Well, times weren’t really that old. But hey, they had some serious catching up to do. I spotted Pony trying to eavesdrop on them and grabbed him by the ear.

                  “Baby brother, I wouldn’t do that if I were you…”

                  “Ok, I’m outta here”

         Pony dashed off to his room. I laughed and went to my room to finish my homework. My pine desk was cluttered with papers. You could hardly find my physics textbook, which was as close as you could get to the top of the pile. I shoved some papers off of my desk and began to write my physics essay.

:Let’s skip to 5 years down the road:

                  “Darry! Have you seen my duster?” I yelled through the house.

                  “Check my closet, it might be in there since I ironed!” Darry yelled back to me.

         I checked in his closet. And sure enough, my duster was in his closet. And it wasn’t leather or anything, so it was ok to iron. I yelled my thanks to Darry as I ran out the door to get to work.

         I’m twenty-one now, and I work as a waitress in one of those fancy restaurants. Dally and I are still going out, five years straight. I was able to finish college with full honors last May. Oh, did I tell you that Soda got a new girlfriend and that he won’t shut up about her, even in his sleep? I can tell that he’s got it bad for her, worse than he had for Sandy. Darry got a better job and now works from eight till three-thirty as a contractor for one of those major corporations that I can never remember the name of. Pony’s in college and Dally is finishing up in a couple of days. Johnny decided to go against school and he’s got a good job as manager at the DX. Two-Bit finally got a job as a stand up comedian at one of those nightclubs downtown. Steve is working at an auto mechanics shop with Sodapop. Dally is working at the DX and the Dingo to pay for college, although I help him out from time to time.

         I stopped by Dally’s apartment to give him a wake up call. I slipped the key in the door and turned it. Quietly, I opened the door and slipped in. After I hung up my duster and set my purse on the counter, I tiptoed into Dally’s room. Shirtless and twisted up in the bed sheets, I can’t help but want to take a picture, but knowing the consequences, I decided not to.

         I walked up to his bed and sat down softly. He was lying on his back with his right arm slightly bent and his hand clutching a pillow. His left arm is resting on his stomach. The blonde-white wisps of hair were falling in his face and eyes. Out of instinct, I brushed them out of his face. Dally’s eyes fluttered open and I see his crystal blue eyes staring at me.

                  “Hey you” He said

                  “Hey yourself” I leaned down and give him a kiss.

                  “Ain’t cha supposed to be at work?”
                  “I’ve got thirty-five minutes, I’ll be fine”

                  “Kay. Want me to come over once my classes today are done?”

                  “When do you get off?”

                  “Ummm…. Around noon I think, since it is my last day of school before graduation”

                  “Kay, I get off at eleven today so, I’ll come by the college around twelve”

                  “The guys there are gonna be jealous…”

                  “Let ‘em be jealous for you getting a hot chick like me” I grinned at him.

                  “Kay I’ll see you around”

         I leaned down and kissed him again.

                  “Bye love”

         I got up and with a last look at Dally I walked into the kitchen and grabbed my purse off the counter and my duster off of the coat rack. I locked the door after I was outside his apartment. I was ten minutes away from the restaurant.

                  “There you are Miss Curtis. I was starting to wonder if you’d come in at all today,” my boss says as I walk in.

                  “Sorry, Mr. McNally, I’ll try not to have it happen again”

                  “Perfectly understandable Miss Curtis. This is totally off the subject but would you consider going to the Nightly Double with me tonight?”

                  “What? I’m sorry, but did you just ask me out?”

                  “Well, yes. I did…”

                  “I can’t”

                  “What? Why not?”

                  “I already have a boyfriend and I’m not willing to give him up just for you”

                  “Whom are you going out with?”

         My friend Tracy walks by and said:

                  “You don’t know that she’s been going out with THE Dallas Winston for five years straight? What rock have you been living under?”

                  “You’re going out with Dallas Winston?”

                  “Yeah, I’m going out with Dally. Is there some problem with that?”

                  “No, no. You’d better start work” With that he walked off.

                  “Gosh, what a jackass” someone said behind me.

                  “Two-Bit Matthews, you shut up about my boss, he’ll fire me if he hears you saying that.”

                  “Why?”

                  “Because he knows that you and I are friends! And he’s a little sore at me for turning him down”

                  “Oh, right”

                  “I need to start working, How may I help you Two-Bit?”

                  “Table for one please”

                  “Right this way sir”

         I led Two-Bit to a table and gave him a menu. I left for about ten minutes and came back to take his order.

                  “I would like the Spanish Omelet with a side of hash browns”

                  “Spanish Omelet with a side of hash browns, alright, would you like anything to drink with that?”

                  “Coffee, black”

                  “All right sir, I’ll be back with your coffee in a minute”

         I came back with Two-Bit’s coffee after I put his order in. I had seven more costumers for the rest of the morning. Finally, eleven came and I packed my stuff up and walked home to get a change of clothes. It was pretty boring bumming around the house, waiting for noon to come.

         I glanced at the clock on the mantle. 11:45 it read. I got up and headed over to the college campus. Dally sat at one of the concrete picnic tables. Ok, so he wasn’t sitting at one he was sitting on one. I grinned and walked over to him. He pretended to be angry with me.

                  “You’re late”

                  “Really? It’s only 12:01 now,”

                  “I know, you said you’d be here at noon”

                  “I’m sorry Dally, traffic on the sidewalk is heavy this time of day”

                  “That’s ok, babe”

         I grinned and gave Dally a kiss. Some senior guys looked at me and then at Dally. One had said:

                  “THIS is your girl Dallas?”

                  “Hell yeah I’m his girl!” I said.

                  “Crap”

         I shrugged and walked off with Dally. We were wandering around town; Dally had his arm coming around my back to where his left arm was resting on my hip. I slipped my arm around his back and was holding onto his right side with my hand. My head was leaning against his chest. The entire day we spent just milling around. By the time sunset came, we were in a pretty little park close to home.

          The sun wasn’t even two-quarters below the horizon when Dally spun me around and took me by the hand.

                  “Kit Kat?”

                  “Yes Dally?”
                  “We’ve been going out for five years now right?”

                  “Yes”
                  “Well, I wanted to ask you something”

         He got down on one knee and looked into my eyes as he got something from his pocket. (A/N- Shut up, I know what you’re thinking: Oh soo clichéd… Well my romance side is kicking in now so deal with it!!)

                  “Katlyn Christine Curtis, will you marry me?”

         I felt the tears well up in my eyes.

                  “Oh, yes, Dally. Yes!” I cried.

         Dally grinned and slipped the ring on my finger. He stood up and wrapped me in his arms. I buried my face into his chest and started crying I was so happy.

                  “So,” he said jokingly, “when do we start planning?”

         I looked up at him.

                  “Whenever you want”

         So two weeks after his graduation we were planning our wedding. I was working double shifts to make sure that Dally and I could pay for our wedding. We had figured out where it was going to be, who the bridesmaids and the groomsmen were going to be, what colors we would wear, but we couldn’t figure out who was going to give me away. Traditionally, Daddy would have. But since he and Mom have been dead for about six years. Then it hit me.

                  “Dally, I know who we can have to give me away!”

                  “You do? Who? And don’t say Two-Bit, I don’t want him to start acting weird and run away taking you with him”

                  “It’s not Two-Bit, it’ll be Darry”

                  “Darry?”

                  “Yes, it’ll be perfect. Darry can give me away”

                  “On second thought I’d rather have Two-Bit run away taking you with him…”

                  “Dally. Come on, traditionally it would be Daddy who would walk me down the isle and give me away. But since Daddy is in no shape to do something like that, Darry is the next best”

                  “Ok, so Darry will give you away”

         We had the wedding planned it would be perfect. I would wear a baby blue sundress with angel wing sleeves, my bridesmaids would wear the same type of dresses only they would be lavender, Dally would wear a three-piece suit and so would the groomsmen. Our wedding would be held in the park where Dally proposed to me, at sunset. Nothing could go wrong. Nothing.

         My maid of honor was Tracy. My other bridesmaids would be Angela Shepard and my other friend Susan. Dally’s Best Man would be Johnny, and the groomsmen would be Two-Bit and Tim Shepard.

         Finally, my wedding day came. I was basically doing the jitterbug in my shoes I was so nervous. ‘Johnny better not loose the rings’ I thought. The music started and Susan and Tim started walking down the isle, followed by Angela and Two-Bit and after them came Tracy and Johnny. Dally was already down there. He looked as nervous as I felt.

                  “Ready?” Darry came up behind and spooked me.

                  “Darry don’t you do that again…”

         Darry walked on my right as we walked down the isle. ‘Just smile and nod’ I repeated to myself. I was standing in front of Dally when the pastor spoke bringing me back to reality.

                  “Who will give the bride away?”

                  “Her brothers and I do” Darry placed my hand in Dally’s.

         My eyes grew wide, knowing that there was no turning back now. Well, there was, but I wasn’t going to scream out that I couldn’t do this and run out of the church and avoid all contact with everyone for ten years. No, I was going to marry Dallas Winston. No ifs ands or buts about it.

         The entire ceremony was a blur. I just remember staring into Dally’s eyes and saying “I do” at the right time, slipping the gold band on his finger, kissing him after he slipped one on my finger, and the pastor saying to the congregation:

                  “I present to you, Mr. and Mrs. Dallas and Katlyn Winston!”

           I knew that was the happiest girl on earth, just because I said two words. And Dally would never ceased to amaze me. In two years time I was calling Dally from the bottom of the stairs in our house, he was running down and hanging onto the banister asking me what was wrong. All I said was: “It’s time” and he immediately jumped to the bottom of the stairs and scooped me up in his arms and ran to the car. I sat through seven hours of labor just to get little Sara and Dally Jr. out of me. I was as happy as can be (Not counting the fact that the drugs the doctors gave me made me a little giddy)