one of them

twenty-six

DJ's POV

My mouth dropped to the floor. "You knew?" I yelled standing up.

"It makes sense! I swore I heard your voice from the bathroom when Johnny killed Bob! And I noticed you at the top of the stairs, but I wasn't sure!" He stood up with me. "You've been with Dally! Which is why he let you see him at the hospital, you've been with him all this time!"

I stood there, speechless.

"Come on, Pony. Don't be ridiculous." Soda said. I still couldn't move. "Ridiculous... right?"

"I-" Words could barely leave my mouth. It felt so dry. I sat back down calmly. "Well, shit, Ponyboy. I wanted to say it..."

"Ha! I knew it!" He said in excitement.

"You were actually with Dallas? At Bucks?" Soda asked.

Ooh... reality check.

"Uhh... yeah. He ran into me after ma and dad's funeral and didn't want me to walk home alone at night. So he took me back and I sat there and some guy bought be a drink so then he didn't want me to get in trouble with you guys. And then it kinda became a weekly thing."

"Please tell me you aren't pregnant." Darry said.

I spit out my water and coughed. "What? No! No, I'm not pregnant and I haven't been and that is NOT something happening now or anytime soon!" I yelled.

"Just had to ask."

That was a different response than what I expected, though.

"Why?" I asked out of curiosity.

"Why else would you tell us?" He asked standing up and putting his dishes in the sink.

"I mean, figured it was a good time. Pony was askin' about Dal and Soda was kinda upset I haven't been very honest about anything." I said following him to the kitchen.

Darry watched the door close behind me. He looked back at me. "So what's next?" He said softly.

"Huh? Whaddya mean?"

"I mean, you told us about Dallas and you for a reason. You know he's in for the next five months, right?"

"Yeah... I know..."

"So, you guys are just... hanging out?" He asked awkwardly.

"We were..." I mumbled. "But umm... we kinda talked a bit and once he gets out we're just gonna kinda see where things go."

"I don't think it's a good idea." He said.

"I figured... I know I haven't been very honest lately and I need to work on that. And I miss you guys and our family as it was. But I need you to know that my gut is telling me this is a good decision. It might not be anything, but I have to try."

"Are we talkin' about the same Dallas Winston?"

I grinned slightly. "Yeah. But, Darry, you gotta trust me on this one. And you have no right to, but I think we view him harsher than we should."

He sighed. "I'm not gonna stop you. I'm not even gonna try. But I'm telling you now, he does anything and I mean anything, I'm gonna beat his ass."

I laughed slightly and he grinned. "I think this is gonna be a good idea. But don't worry. I'll keep that in mind."

He hugged me and I hugged back. Sodapop and Ponyboy walked in the kitchen. "Not without us!" Soda yelled.

I laughed as they had me in the center of their group hug. Even Darry laughed a bit.

Yeah. Things were gonna change.

-

I told Two and Steve the next morning when they came over. I left out a few details. Minor ones. I couldn't bear to handle Two's jokes if he found out what Dallas and I were doing.

I'd never hear the end of it.

Not that he wouldn't find out, but this current moment was not the move for me.

Then I figured I'd head to the hospital and tell Johnny.

I walked over there, sighed myself in, and walked inside. "Hey, Johnny."

"Hey, DJ." He said stretching his arms slightly.

"Wow, Johnny! You're looking way better than before."

"I feel better." He said with a slight smile.

I grinned a bit. "You hear anything about Dallas?" I asked out of curiosity before I told him anything.

"Heard some nurses saying he was hauled in. Which seemed weird from what I knew before."

"Yeah. It is pretty weird. That's actually the reason I came here. Figured you deserved to know."

"Oh?"

"I actually kinda know a lot more than you think. I'm gonna say it bluntly to avoid awkwardness, like I did with my brothers. And you're not biologically related to me so I feel as if it'll be less weird, if that makes senses." He cocked an eyebrow. "I've been hooking up with Dallas since my parents died."

It was quick and easy.

Well... It was quick.

"What...?" He asked dumbly.

"It happened so fast. And we kept up with it. He basically had the nurses lie about everything so that we didn't think he was alive. He was awake and he let me in to see him. But he still pretended he was asleep and I basically confessed to him everything I've been thinking and that boosted him to get out of here sooner. Scared the shit out of me at my window that night, I thought I was delusional, we went for a walk and just talked. So after he gets out of the cooler, we're goin' on a date... I think..."

He stared at me blankly. "Hold on, you and Dallas were hooking up, you, I'm guessing, wanted something different, but didn't know how to tell him so you kept going with it, then you thought he couldn't hear you so you said it and he confronted you about it, and you agreed?"

"Pretty much spot on, yeah."

I did manage to explain in some more details to him, but again, left out some explicit items of the story.

He seemed shocked.

I would be too.

"Wow. Dallas Winston fell for a girl." We both laughed. "I'm happy for ya, Deej. Really, I am."

"Thanks, Johnny."

I smiled. We talked a bit more about other casual things. How life would be moving forward. His parents. His recovery.

Stuff that I know he wanted to get off his chest.

Even though Dallas was gonna be locked up for almost a half a year, I was happy.

I felt good.