Tuff Chaser (The Outsiders FF)

Chapter Thirty

DUN DUN DUN DUN. LAST CHAPTER OF THE STORY. I'm slightly depressed and happy at the same time. Please enjoy and make sure you vote/comment on your favourite parts! aaaaaand please read the notes at the end of the chapter. ;D The beautiful song on the side is When You're Gone by Avril Lavigne and I just thought it was appropriate.  

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Chapter Thirty 

Tammy's POV

I ran until I couldn't breathe anymore. Slumping down onto the grass, I wiped my face with my hand and was horrified to find that I was crying. I couldn't remember the last time I cried. I was shaking like a leaf and my breaths were coming in short smothered gasps. Calm down, I told myself. He's only a boy. But no matter how hard I tried to persuade myself, the image of him and the blonde kept its presence in my mind.  

I hugged my legs and listened to the insects in the trees. There was a siren wailing in the distance and I suddenly realized I had nowhere to go for the night. Buck's party would probably continue into the wee hours of the morning, I couldn't face any of the Greasers and I had no idea where Cherry or Marcia lived.  

"Hey!" 

I looked up. A lanky boy smoking a cigarette was slouching against a tree a couple of feet away. He was familiar looking, but I couldn't place where I'd seen him before.  

"You're Tammy, right? I'm Curly. You remember me?" 

He was the kid who punched Dally's jaw on our last night in Tulsa. No, don't think about Dally, I reminded myself.  

"It ain't safe for a pretty girl like you to be out on the streets at this time of night. Where's Dally?" 

"Not here. Don't go get him either," I hissed.  

He seemed to sense the hostility in my voice. "I don't think you'd be comfortable with us Shepard boys. How about I walk you to Darry's?" 

I started to shake my head, but then I thought Darry would be alright. Just as long as I didn't see or talk to any of the others.  

"Okay," I whispered shakily, and we walked in silence to the Curtis house.  

The door opened an inch and a sliver of yellow light came through the crack. Sodapop poked his head through. I recoiled and he opened his mouth to say something before he closed it again after seeing my death glare.  

"Darry!" he called over his shoulder. Within a few moments, Darry had appeared, and Curly whispered my situation to him. He looked at me expressionlessly, then beckoned for me to come in. I followed after him as he closed the door.  

"Go to my room, I'll be right there," he instructed.  

I wandered down the hallway as quietly as I could, entered Darry's impeccably tidy bedroom and shut the door slowly behind me.  

True to his word, he arrived a few minutes later with a cup of steaming hot chocolate. Handing it to me, he plonked down on his bed. "What happened?" 

"What?" I asked, even though I was painfully aware of what he was referring to.  

"Between you and Dallas." 

I sighed. "I go to visit a relative for a week, I come back and I catch him making out with some other girl!" I cried.  

He only nodded. "Sounds like him." 

My mouth fell open. "Are you saying that he was lying to me this whole time?" Heat was bubbling up inside me and my voice was getting squeaky.  

"No, no, no," Darry said quickly. "He loved you alright. Didn't you see what he sacrificed for you? I think you've had a bigger impact on him than anyone else ever has."