The Writing on the Walls

Chapter Eight

I open my eyes to Dallas not there. Hm. I sit up and head into my bathroom to brush my teeth. When I finish I pull the white, fluffy blanket from my bed and wrap it around myself as I waddle out of the room.
"You look like a pre-schooler wrapped in a blanket like that." He says with a chuckle.
"Thanks." I mumble. I rub my eyes as I pour myself a cup of coffee and sit down on the couch.
"When did you get up?" I ask Dallas with a yawn. He sits on the couch watching the TV. He looks so bored.
"Like twenty minutes ago." He says with a shrug. I nod and sip my coffee.
"What are we doing today?"
"I don't know. I was just going to head over to the Curtis' to see what they were doing."
"Okay, I'll go get dressed." I say while heading into my room. I open my closet and pull out an alright outfit(outfit above is what she's wearing). I get dressed and head out of my room.
"Dallas, time to go." I say while kissing my mom's cheek.
"No. You are not wearing that out in public." Dallas says while pulling me back to my mom.
"Miss Reynolds, tell her she can't go out like this." Dallas says with a hand on his hip.
"What? She looks like she normally does." My mom says with a shrug.
"No, guys will be staring at you and it's just not a good idea." Dallas says with the shake of his head.
"Please, Dallas." I pout while gripping his arm.
"Alright." He says with a sigh. He waves good bye to my mom before we walk outside.
"I don't like this. I mean, I like it a lot, but I don't want other guys seeing it so keep that sweater on all day." I blush briefly at his comment before stepping inside the Curtis' house.
"Good morning, Princess." Two-Bit says while wrapping an arm around my waist and kissing my cheek briefly.
"Morning." I giggle.
"See, it's that outfit. I told you that guys would be getting excited." Dallas scolds.
"No, you will be getting excited." I say while patting his shoulder and sitting next to Pony on the couch.
"What have you been up to, kid? We haven't hung out much lately." I say while resting my arm on his shoulder.
"I'm alright. What about you?"
"Marvelous." I say with a cheeky grin. Pony flashes a grin of his own and shakes his head. I hop off the couch and into the kitchen to see Darry already a slave to his bills. It's a Saturday! He should be out having fun.
"Darry, at least wait until noon to start stressing." I say while wrapping my arms around his neck and leaning over his shoulders.
"Sorry, Chrissy. I just want to get it out of the way."
"I understand. Anything I can do?"
"Yeah, keep those boys from getting into trouble."
"I'll try." I say before walking out of the kitchen and back into the living room. Two-Bit stands by the phone with a grin on his face. What's new? When he hangs up he pulls on his coat and heads to the door.
"Where you going?" I ask.
"I got me a girl." He says before walking out of the house. Hm, Two-Bit finds love before me. I honestly didn't see that coming.
"Where is Two-Bit going?" Johnny asks while walking up to me.
"He said he's got a girl. I dunno." I shrug while giving Johnny a soft pat on the shoulder. I move back into the couch between Pony and Dallas just like the night before. I rest my head against Pony while Dallas talks up to Soda.
"Hey, Pony. How about we go do something?" I ask Pony.
"Alright." He says while standing up. I follow him outside.
"So you and Dallas, aye?" Pony asks with a smirk.
"What? No! Why would you think that?" A faint blush rising to my cheeks at the thought of Dallas and me being more than friends.
"I only assumed. You guys have been joint at the hip and awfully lovey-dovey with each other." Pony says while wiggling his eyebrows at me.
"No! We're just friends. Promise." I say with a soft laugh.
"Whatever you say." He says while nudging me softly. I laugh while nudging him back but stop when I hear a car slow next to us.
"Hey look, it's a couple of love bird greasers."
"Get the gang. Run fast." I say before a couple Socs get out of the car. Pony sprints down the street but the Socs don't run after him. They just watch with amused grins.
"It's okay. We didn't want him anyway." I don't recognize these guys from anywhere. They must not be big names like Bob or even Randy.
"Leave me alone." I hiss. Their leader just lets out a soft chuckle and grips my hips. I throw my hardest punch straight for his jaw and cringe when I hear the soft click of his teeth slamming together. The rest of his gang throws a few punches at me and holds me against the chain link fence. I cry out for help and scream as loud as I can while the leader starts trying to unzip my skirt. Dallas was right. I shouldn't have worn this. I fight against their arms but stop when I see Dallas come crashing down on the leader. The rest of the gang comes up a few seconds later and takes down the rest of them until they scurry back into their car. When they're all gone Dallas is standing in front of me, his eyes wide and concern filled.
"Did they get anywhere?" Dallas asks while running his fingers over the light bruises on my jaw.
"No." I say while shaking my head and closing my eyes. I hear the rest of the gang turn away and slowly start walking back to the Curtis house, knowing I need a minute to process what just happened. I collapse into Dallas' arms and break out into sobs. I hate crying in front of people, but I just need Dallas to hold me just this once.
"Y-You were right. I s-shouldn't have worn this. I'm sorry." I say between sobs. Dallas holds me tight against him as I cry onto his leather jacket. He smells like cigarettes and the forest. I never thought that smell could be as welcoming as it is now.
"It's okay. You're safe now." He says while rubbing my back. My tears soon slow and blink my eyes to get the blur from them.
"Thank you." I say to him while kissing his cheek.
"Come on, let's get you cleaned up." He says while wrapping an arm around my shoulders and guiding me back to the Curtis'. Something in the say Dallas carried himself changed today. He no longer looked as mean and tough. He looked more broken and scared than ever. I don't think anyone noticed. But I did.