𝐉𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐀𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐒𝐨𝐜 | 𝐃𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐬 𝐖𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐧 𝐱 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫

Chapter 77 - Murder

The room was silent, cold as the night breeze came through the cracked window. Dallas's head was laid on my chest as I played with his thick dark hair, twirling strands around my index finger. I sighed as I relaxed, sinking more into the bed, my head wrapped with thoughts.

I thought in that moment, that I didn't want to see anyone or do anything, I felt to sad, to tired. In fact, I felt as if I never wanted to leave Dallas's bed. I wanted to stay there forever, playing with his hair in the silence of the night, so I figured I'd ask him if I could stay.

"Can I ask you something?" I spoke up, breaking the silence. He tilted his head towards me, the whites of his eyes becoming large as he tried his best look up to me without changing his position. "Sure doll." He answered in almost a whisper. "Can I stay here for awhile?" I asked, sighing and sinking more into the mattress. He smiled faintly. "Sure." He replied. I smiled at him before he tilted his head back down. I began playing with his hair again, my eyelids slowly growing heavier with every passing minute until I finally fell asleep. 

~

I woke up, feeling overwhelmingly tired, my face, lips, and eyes felt dry. The only sound I heard was Dallas snoring loudly, his head still placed gently on my chest, his arms wrapping around my torso. I smiled at the sight of his sleeping face, his lips parted slightly and his eyes closed softly, he looked peaceful. I watched as his head slightly moved up and down with every breath he took. I once again began playing with his hair, picking out strands and focusing closely on them as they wrapped loosely around my index finger.

The room was still dark. I looked around, the moonlight shined through the boards on the window, illuminating the rough, uneven floor boards. I looked up to the clock which had been hard to read, I squinted my eyes in order to decipher what time it was. The clock read 2:17. I sighed at the sight as I rested my head on the pillow and closed my eyes.

Right as I began to fall back into deep sleep, I heard the door slam open. I felt Dallas jump up as I did the same. We jerked our heads around in order to face the door,  looking intently to see Buck standing in the door frame, his hand gripped around the shiny copper door knob. "Sorry. Was I interrupting something?" He asked, pointing to both of us with confusion. "Just trying to sleep." Dallas replied as he shuffled around me to sit on the edge of the bed. He ran his rough hand through his hair as he stood up, beginning to walk over to Buck.

"Ya need something Buck?" He asked in a yawn. "Yeah uh, two small guys are here to see you. Go by the names Ponyboy and Johnny." Buck responded. I sat with confusion, wondering why Pony and Johnny were at Bucks so late in the night, or why they were even there in the first place. 

"I tell you, Ponyboy is one odd name. Never heard it once." Buck made clear as Dallas brushed past him and began to walk down the hall with no words. I sat still in the bed as both Buck and Dallas left my sight. I sunk into the mattress as I placed my hands behind me, putting all my weight on them.

Soon enough, Dallas came through the door, Pony and Johnny following close behind. Dallas muttered curses under his breath as he began rummaging through the old chestnut dresser that sat in the corner of his room.

I looked closely at Pony and Johnny. Pony looked drenched, he was shivering as he came in, his arms were covered in goosebumps, and his cheeks were tear stained. I was bewildered at the sight but decided to let it be. Johnny, who was shivering like Pony, looked nervous, his eyes wide and his face looked pale as a ghost.

Both Pony and Johnny looked over to me, confusion in their eyes as they sat down on the bed next to me, yet they mentioned nothing about my being there.

Some of this part was written by S.E Hinton, not me.

"For Christ sakes Pony, take that sweatshirt off." Dallas demanded as he threw him a somewhat clean towel. Pony did as Dallas told him too, taking off his soaking wet sweatshirt to reveal his pale, goosebump covered skin.

"Dry off and wait here." Dallas said, walking into the hallway and out of sight. Pony looked to me, his teeth chattering. "W-what are y-you doing here?" He stammered. Right as I was about to describe to him why in the world I was in Dallas's bedroom, Dallas came walking back in, a gun, money, and a plaid button down shirt in hand. He closed the door behind him.

"Here." Dallas handed Pony a roll of cash and gave Johnny the gun. I was confused, but stayed silent. "That's all I could get outta Buck tonight." He said as Pony unrolled the money, revealing about fifty dollars. Johnny, investigating the gun, had pointed it at Dallas. "Good lord Johnny don't point that thing at me, its loaded." Dallas demanded as he pushed the gun down with his hand. "Sorry." Johnny muttered.

"Here." Dallas said loudly, throwing the shirt to Pony. "It's Bucks. You two ain't the same size, but anything's better than that wet sweatshirt ya had on." He continued. "And take this, it'll get cold where you're headed." Dallas threw him his leather jacket.

"Pony?" Dallas looked to Pony curiously as he sat down next to him. Pony looked up to him, still shaking. "Darry and Soda know about all this?" Dallas asked. "No..." Pony trailed off. Once again I sat in uncertainty, but stayed silent. "Well I ain't gonna be the one to tell Darry or else I get my head busted." He stated, scratching his head. "Then don't tell 'em!" Pony snapped. "Alright alright." Dallas said. "Jesus Christ." He muttered.

"Anyway..." Dally trailed off as Pony began buttoning up Bucks large shirt. "Ya need to hop on the three fifteen freight to Windrixville." Dallas instructed. "There's an old abandoned church on top of Jay mountain. There's an old pump in the back so you won't have to worry about water. Buy a weeks supply of food as soon as you get there, this morning, before the story gets out, and then don't so much as stick your noses out the door. Ya hear me?" Dallas demanded. Pony and Johnny nodded their heads in understanding. "I'll come up as soon as I think it's clear." He continued. We all awkwardly sat silent for awhile, hearing occasional curses from under Dallas's breath.

"Man..." Dally trailed off, breaking the silence. "I thought New York  was the only place I could get mixed up in a murder rap." He finished as he sighed. My eyes widened at his words and Johnny made a small squeaking sound. Murder?!