Dallas Winston Has A Sister? (Outsiders Fanfic)

Secrets In the Night

(This one's for Sammi (a.k.a. Kate))  Also, note to readers, Pony has a major crush on Tara but she doesn't know.

        When you walked in the house, it was dark, all the lights were out.  But there was enough light coming through the windows from the headlights of an occasional passing car, the light dancing along the floor and over the furniture and across the walls.  It illuminated the jackets and shoes strewn all over the floor and across the furniture.  Most of the shoes, Converses and dirty work boots, were piled by the door, though there was a pair of shoes on the coffee table and a pair of cowboy boots thrown on one of the armchairs. 

        Leather and jean jackets were tossed across basically every piece of furniture too, or had been tossed across them before falling on the floor.  There was one on the armchair, one on the floor next to the other armchair, two on the back of the couch, one on a chair pulled out from the table in the kitchen, and there were four on the kitchen table, though one had fallen on the floor by now.

        The house was a mess, but that might have something to do with the raging storm outside and the six extra people that had crashed there tonight.

        Two-Bit Matthews was sprawled on the couch, snoring.  Down the hall and to the left was Darrel Curtis's bedroom, he had the bed and Dallas Winston was on the floor, laying on his back with a blanket thrown across his middle.  He was also snoring lightly.

        The next bedroom over, directly at the end of the hall before it split to the left and right, had four boys sleeping in it.  It was Sodapop and Ponyboy Curtis's-Darry's brothers-bedroom.  They were in the bed, and on one side, wrapped up in a blanket and snuggling with a pillow was Johnny Cade.  At the foot of the bed was Steve Randle, on his stomach with his face smushed into the pillow.  He was drooling and snoring, a blanket tangled around his feet. 

        Sodapop smiled to himself in his sleep and rolled over, throwing an arm across Ponyboy.  Ponyboy was mumbling to himself, and though most of it was gibberish, you could clearly hear two words, ".......love......Tara....."

        Johnny squirmed in his sleep and a small smile crossed his face as he sighed happily, "Kate."

        The last bedroom, to the right of the hallway, had been Darry, Soda, and Pony's parents room.  It had been almost a year since their parents had died, the three brother's had all gone in there a few times unbeknownst to each other. 

        Tara Winston, Dally's little sister, and Katarina Mathews, Two-Bit's little sister, were sleeping back-to-back in the large bed.  Darry, Soda, and Pony had all warned the two girls that they weren't allowed to touch anything but the bed, and they had listened.

        Kate mumbled, "Johnny," dreamily in her sleep and then her lips puckered into a kissy face before she rolled over onto her back. Tara's face suddenly contorted into a fearful, almost mad expression, and she mumbled angrily to herself, restlessly moving about on the bed. 

        At the same exact moment, Tara and Ponyboy both sat up with a gasp, scared and breathless over whatever they had been dreaming.  But neither could tell the other was awake, being a room away with two closed doors in between, and both settled back down, laying awake for hours before drifting back to sleep.