Dallas Winston Has A Sister? (Outsiders Fanfic)

Still Cold

        I dashed in the house after Pony, slamming the door behind me and standing in the middle of the hallway, panting and soaking wet as a puddle formed around my feet from the water dripping off of me.  We had been at the DX with the guys after school when Pony said he had homework and started heading home, and since I was getting sick of Two-Bit's lame jokes, I went along with him just for something else to do.  It had started down pouring halfway to the Curtis's, and soon after it was a full-out storm, rain so hard you couldn't see, the wind bending tall trees nearly in half, and white veins of lightning splitting the black sky as thunder boomed and echoed.

        "We need to get out of these wet clothes," Pony said.  "Come on," he said, heading down the hall, and I followed, water squelching in my shoes and a trail of water droplets behind me.

        Pony stopped by the bathroom, grabbing two towels out of the cabinet and handing one to me and keeping the other for himself.  I was freezing cold, shivering and chattering my teeth, tensing up to try and make it stop.

        "Get those clothes off and I'll get you some dry ones when I'm changed, okay?" he said.

        "Yeah," I replied, stepping into the bathroom and shutting the door.  For once I didn't mind being told what to do, I was too cold to argue.

        My hands were shaking, which made peeling off my wet jacket difficult, but I managed.  I wrung it out over the sink and laid it over the side of the tub to dry, doing the same with my T-shirt, jeans, and socks.  I couldn't really wring out my shoes though.

        I dried my hair off and then ran a comb through it, it dried faster when it wasn't a tangled mess, and then wrapped the towel around my middle, forming a strapless fuzzy dress that went down to mid-thigh.  I crossed my arms over my chest, holding up the towel and trying to warm up.

        There was a knock at the door and I opened it, peeking my head around the corner.  It was Pony, wearing dry clothes though his hair was still wet, and holding a neatly folded pair of jeans and a T-shirt.

        "Sweatpants might fit you better, but I can't find any.  They must've gotten lost in the wash," he explained.

        "That's okay.  Thanks," I replied, taking the clothes from him.

        I slipped the jeans on, they were about two inches too long, and falling off my hips, but I just rolled up the cuffs and reminded myself to ask him for a belt later.  The plain gray T-shirt was a little baggy, but it fit me better than the ones I usually stole from Dally for pajamas. The clothes must've been Pony's, we were pretty close in size cause he was only a few inches taller than me and the same age.  I was still shivering, and despite the refreshing run through the rain, I was getting kind of tired.

        I found Pony in the kitchen, making hot chocolate.  He noticed my shivering as he handed me a full mug and asked, "You still cold?"

        "A little," I lied as we went into the living room, and he grabbed a blanket off an armchair and gave it to me before sitting next to me on the couch.

        We tried checking the weather, but the storm was so bad all we got was a bunch of static.  The phone rang and Pony got up to answer it, I was still cold despite the blanket wrapped around me and the almost empty still-warm mug clutched in my hands.  But I had stopped shaking by the time Pony came back.

        "That was Darry.  He just wanted to make sure we got home all right, cause he called Soda at the station.  Him and Steve and Johnny and Two-Bit are staying the night there, and Darry and Dally are gonna stay at work," he explained, telling me about the phone call.

        I didn't mind crashing at the Curtis's tonight, I'd done it before, and I was already practically falling asleep sitting up on the couch.

        Sounding curious, Ponyboy suddenly asked me, "Are you tired?"

        I nodded, like he couldn't see by how I was almost asleep anyways.

        "Still cold?"

        Again I nodded.

        "Hang on a sec," he said, and then got up, coming back a moment later with a thermometer in his hand.

        The minute I opened my mouth to ask what in the world he was doing, he shoved it in my mouth.  I didn't really feel like arguing, much less spitting it out like a baby who didn't like the food they were eating, so I let it hang from my lips, like Dally did when he was smoking a cigarette.

        A second later Pony pulled it out, glancing at it before looking at me and stating matter-of-factly, "You've got hypothermia."

        "Since when are you a doctor?" I retorted, and he replied,

        "I did a research paper on it in health."

        "Okay," I said, not sure of what else I was supposed to say to that, confused.

        He shrugged a shoulder indifferently and said almost casually, "I should bring you to a hospital, but obviously I can't do that.  We just need to bring your body temperature back up."

        "And what's it at?"

        "Eighty-five degrees," he said, and then probably noticed my half-closed eyes as I leaned back against the couch, falling asleep.  "You probably shouldn't go to sleep though," he added, sounding a little worried.

        "Why?" I mumbled, wishing he would just shut up and let me sleep.  I was really tired, I barely noticed the chill that was still running through my body.

        "Tara," he shook my shoulder.  His hand was warm even through the thick blanket I was snuggled in.

        "Hhhhmmm?" I said, hardly hearing his answer as I drifted off to sleep.

        I woke up with a start as I lifted my head off of Pony's shoulder, blinking my eyes.  I don't remember falling asleep like that, and I also don't remember falling asleep with all the rest of the gang in the house, but they were here now.  Grinning down at me where I was curled up in a blanket on the couch, right next to Ponyboy who had an arm around my shoulders and was still asleep.

        "Pony's got a girlfriend!" Two-Bit jeered, loud enough that Pony stirred, waking up and mumbling a,

        "What?"

        My cheeks flushed pink, and I definitely wasn't cold from hypothermia anymore.

        "It wasn't like that, and it won't be," I replied stiffly, trying to mask my embarrassment as I quickly got up, shoving the blanket off.

        It wasn't until Dally and I were home that I realized I was still wearing Pony's clothes, and all of my clothes were back at his house.