𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐧 , 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬

five.

MADELINE WINSTON

i slam the car door shut and walk up the front path quick enough to not have any of the boys on my tail. i pull open the front door, grabbing darry's attention who's sitting in the chair in the living room.

the newspaper drops out of his hands at the sight of me and he pops up to his feet, "what the hell happened?"

"cherry valance happened!" pony and johnny yell at the same time as they try to push their way through the door first.

"ow, you stepped on my shoe!" pony shoves johnny.

"get your foot out of my way then!"

"guys, just get inside." soda sighs, patiently waiting for pony to grab his shoe since it came off with johnny accidentally stepping on the back of it. steve is watching with a blank expression, and dallas' eyes are on me as he waits to get inside too.

i suddenly feel warmth spread over my body, my hands becoming sweaty and i can hear my heartbeat in my ears. the sound of the boys arguing over each other becomes drowned out as my eyes fall heavy and my knees go weak under me—pulling me to the ground.

the last thing i see is darry running to catch me from hitting the ground.

•

DALLAS WINSTON

"there." darry says, securing the bandage on madeline's face. "it's not bleedin' much anymore, but this should make it feel better. this happen a lot?" he looks up at me.

"uh—kinda. when she was younger she'd faint quite a bit. i never knew why. our mom would take care of her when it'd happen. thanks, darry." i step forward to lean down and pick madeline up, but he beats me to it.

"poor kid needs a bed to rest in, not the floor."

i stand there watching him walk up the stairs with her in his arms until he disappears on the second floor.

"come sit, dal." johnny says, patting the spot next to him on the couch.

with nothing else to do but listen to darry, i might as well listen to johnny too.

"so dally, how come you never told us you have a sister?" soda asks, leaning forward on his knees as he sits in the chair across from the couch.

"i guess i just ... never thought you guys would ever meet her? i thought maybe she'd stay up in new york her whole life."

we all sit around quietly until darry's footsteps are heard at the top of the stairs again. he quickly jogs down them, joining us in the living room.

"i put her down in pony's bed." he tells me. "speakin' of, pony you gotta get some rest; school tomorrow."

pony sighs, standing up from the couch so he can go to bed.

"hey pony, you're not sleeping in the same bed as my sister, right?" i call out.

"no, i sleep with soda now. tell madeline she can take my room." he says before taking the stairs two at a time.

"i should be gettin' outta here too." johnny decides.

"i'll go with you. if your parents are fighting tonight you can come stay at my place." steve offers, following johnny out the door.

"i'm gonna go sit with mad 'till she wakes up." i say, getting up as well.

•

MADELINE WINSTON

i wake up to a soft, cold breeze on my face. i feel the tightness of a bandage next to my eye where cherry knocked me.

upon opening my eyes, i find myself tucked in a bed, in a room i've never seen before.

"hey." dallas says, sitting beside the bed in a chair. "you passed out down in the living room. darry got the bleeding to stop from your lip and he fixed up your face." he points to my eye, cracking a smile. "well, he fixed it up as much as he could."

i smile too, "shut up, dallas."

i stop examining his face and let my eyes explore the rest of the room.

"it's pony's room." dallas says. "he sleeps with soda now though, so he wanted me to tell you that you can stay here for as long as you want."

"where do you stay?" i question.

"i live above a bar."

"is it any fun?"

"well, there's always parties downstairs so i'd say its got some fun." he bites the corner of his bottom lip. "so dad's dead?"

i nod, "he was shot right in front of me. i heard him arguing with someone outside on the sidewalk and by the time i made it down to the front door, the car drove off, shooting him right in the head. he'd stolen from work."

"i'm sorry you had to see that. i know you had it better with him than i ever did."

"not really." i mumble. "after you left he kind of turned everything over to me."

"how bad was it?" i can hear the tone change in dallas' voice.

"it was kind of like how he was with mom. we'd be arguing and he'd get real close. he'd stop yelling for a second, making me think it's all over and that he actually did love me, but then he'd finish it off with a blow to my cheek."

dallas' foot is tapping against the floor, i'm guessing to the same beat of his heart right now. he stands up from the chair and leans his head forward against the wall.

"dally?" i ask, becoming worried as i can hear his breathing turn heavy; in through his nose, out through his mouth.

it starts off with his finger tapping against the wall and then it turns into a heavy punch—and then another one.

"dallas!" my head pounds as i get out of bed too quickly. "dallas, stop!"

he lets out a cry as i grab his arm from throwing another punch into the wall.

"hey," i say softly, watching the tears leave his closed eyes and cascade down his cheeks.

"i'm sorry i left you there with him." he says as footsteps from downstairs come running up toward the room we're in. "i shouldn't have left you there with him, i shouldn't have left.

"you had to. you hated it there, you were taking it from him much longer than i ever did."

"if i would've stayed, i would've been there to protect you, or maybe we could've gotten out of there together."

"it's okay—"

"no it's not! i keep messin' up, i don't know how to be there for you! and now you hate me because i said some dumb shit about you and a soc!"

"madeline." soda whispers, startling me. he's standing in the doorframe with a worried expression.

"i'm sorry, man." dallas speaks up louder for soda to hear. "i'm sorry about your wall, i—"

"it's okay, dally." darry appears beside soda and heads into the room with us. "all that alcohol you drank tonight ain't helpin'. you needa go to sleep."

"yeah." dallas nods his head, eyes zoned out as he tries to recover from his strong emotions of tonight.

"you okay, madeline?" darry whispers.

"i'm okay." i assure him as i guide dallas to the bed. "i can take care of him."

darry nods his head as he watches dallas climb under the covers with shaky limbs, "yeah, but someone needs to take care of you. see you in the mornin'."