That night, around 6:30 PM, I wake up in the hospital next to Leesha. She must have fallen asleep and not woken up until I did. When I asked her, though, she said she didn't want to leave me alone.

"I have Dallas," I say to her, letting my best friend know that if she wants to go back to my place and get a little rest or whatever, I won't be too lonely.

"Yeah, but he's Dallas. You really want to spend time with him?" She jokes. I laugh, saying no, but really I want to talk to him more about Johnny.

"The hell did I ever do to you two?" Dallas asks, glaring at Leesha.

"You almost killed Ana," she said, faking the grudge in her voice. 

"I am offended that you would think I would do that. It was not my fucking fault," Dallas says, but you can tell it was only half joking.

"Hate to say it," I cut in, "But when you're drunk and driving on the wrong side of the road, Dal, it's your fault." Ieesha smiles at me, laughing.

"God, he sure is an idiot," she mumbles.

"Don't think I didn't hear that, Leesha. And anyways, I was distracted at the time. You can't call me an idiot!" Dally yells at her. It's come to the point where I can't tell if this is a real argument or not.

"How were you distracted?" Leesha asks him.

"Talking to Ana," he plays it down.

"'Bout what?" My nosy friend asks.

"Damn it, girl, does it really matter?" He asks. He could never say no to her. She shrugs, laughing.

"Jeez, I was just curious, Dal. Don't get your panties in a twist!" She says. Then stops, making a weird face.

"Panties in a twist? Did I really just say that?" She asks me. I nod, laughing hysterically.

"Hate to say it, but you did," I inform her.

"Damn," she laughs. Then looks to Dallas.

"So? You gonna tell me?" She asks.

"Do I have to?" He responds. Leesha smiles, looking proud of herself.

"Oh you know you do." Dally, surprisingly, brings himself to laugh at the situation.

"Fine... I was admitting to Ana that I'm.... That I'm..." He starts. Why can't he say it now if he just said it to me this morning?

"What the hell are you, Dallas? I don't got all day!" She yells. He laughs.

"Gotcha," is all he responds.

"If you don't tell her, I will, Dal," I say. He glares at me.

"Fine. I was telling Annalise about the guy that I think I might like," he mumbles. Leesha squeals, folding her hands in front of her and squeezing them.

"Really?" She asks excitedly. Dally nods, obviously embarrassed.

"Is it Johnny Cade? Please tell me it's Johnny. Ever since I met the two of you I thought you'd be perfect together!" She declares, talking so quickly I almost can't understand her. She only does this when she's really excited, so I put a hand on her shoulder to calm her.

"Is she making fun of me?" Dallas asks me. I look her over.

"No... I don't think so," I tell him. And I know she's not. She's always excited when she meets people like her, and anyways, she did say that last year at the funeral. I just didn't believe her at the time.

"So, we have to talk about this! Why is no one talking about this?" Leesha screeches. Before anyone can respond, a man, who I assume is Dally's and my doctor, walks in.

"I hate to interrupt, but I though you'd just like to know that you can go home. Annalise, I've called your brother to pick you up. He'll be here shortly. How are you feeling?" He asks. I shrug.

"If we're being honest, pretty shitty, but I'm holding up," I tell him, then look to Dallas.

"I'm all good, man." He smiles. Unless he has a concussion like me, he doesn't look like he has any injuries.

"Wonderful," the doctor says. Then he leaves without another word.

"I'm not surprised you're 'all good', Dal. You look like you've got noting," Leesha says, smiling at him good-natured manner and basically reading my mind. Without a verbal response, Dallas opens his buttoned shirt, showing us his taped up ribs. I gasp.

"God, that's gotta be painful," I exclaim.

"Ain't too bad. I've broken ribs before. How's your head doin'?" He asks. I just shrug, and wait for Darry, who doesn't come for another hour. When he gets here, Ponyboy is in tail.

"I told you to stay home, Ponyboy! Stop pestering me, for god sakes!" Darry yells at my little brother.

"I'm not pestering, Darry, jeez! I just wanted to see Ana!" Like a little boy, Ponyboy pouts. I roll my eyes as I watch him walk over to me.

"Hey," I say to him, standing up, with Leesha's help.

"Hi," he says, standing still. Still feeling a bit weak, I slowly stand up and hug him as tightly as I can muster.

"Are you okay?" He asks. My heart swells three times the size as I realize that he really does care. I kiss his forehead, which is hard to do, since he's almost taller than me now.

"I'm fine, Pony. Your idiot friend almost got us both killed, but I'm okay," I say, pointing to Dallas. Ieesha laughs hysterically, but Dallas looks annoyed.

"God, how many times do I have to tell you that this wasn't my fault?!" He asks. Ghawd.

"Until it stops being your fault," Leesha says. I roll my eyes as their argument starts to get old.

"C'mon guys, let's get out of here," I say, letting go of my brother. We all walk out, Dallas cringing a bit every time he moved because of his ribs, and piled into Darry's truck.

A/N: Filler, filler, filler x10 before we get to the real drama. Don't stop reading yet. Any predictions for what's going to happen? Anything you want to happen that you'd like me to add in? I want to know! Message me or comment (: -Katy