D A L L A S

Dallas sticks his hands in his pockets, stuffing his feet against the damp pavement. It just got done raining awhile ago but everyone went inside as soon as it started.

The 17 year old boy though, he stayed outside and let the rain soak his clothes and his shoes, his hair. He was completely drenched from top to bottom.

Dallas was too busy thinking about what that kid, Ponyboy, had said to him. He said that someday he was going to be alone and that he'd regret being such a dick to everyone else.

Truth is, the kid was right. He was sick of wandering around by himself and be missed having a few friends around like when he was young.

When the 17 year old boy was around the age of ten in New York, he got caught up with a lot of bad things and his friends left him. Of course it made him sad but was he going to show it?

No, he wasn't because he was tougher than that. He became tougher so people wouldn't push him around anymore.

Dallas pushed people away whenever they wanted to help him or just plain ol' hang out with him. He pushed them away because he thought that's what he needed, he needed the feeling of being alone.

His emotions worked a little different than other people's. It had a bit of complexity to it.

This time, this time he wasn't going to screw anything up, even if he wasn't wanted here. He was going to make this right so he wouldn't have to be alone anymore.

Dallas takes a deep, shaky breath, knocking on the door with his shivering hands. The rain was freezing and now he realized how dumb it was to stand in the rain.

After a few moments, the door opens and there stands Ponyboy, the short, brunette boy. He glares at the older male and goes to shut the door again.

"Ponyboy, don't be so rude," Darry calls from inside. "Tell us who's there."

"Dallas from the rehab center," Ponyboy says bluntly, rolling his eyes. "Can I shut the door now, please?"

Darry sighs and walks over to the door, lightly moving Ponyboy out of his way. The younger boy watches as his brother opens the door a little wider.

"What do you think you're doing here," Darry asks.

"I-i... I-I dunno," Dallas mutters. "I-i just felt really bad and i-i did a lot of thinking... I'm sorry."

"You're sorry," Darry asks. "Really?"

Dallas nods his head slowly and looks at Darry with slightly widened, blue eyes. He genuinely felt bad for all those things he did and said to these people.

"Fine, come in," Darry says. "I'll grab you a change of clothes since you're soaking wet. Ponyboy, get him a towel to dry himself off."

The younger boy does as he's told and gets a towel, coming back quickly. Darry lets Dallas in and closes the door behind him.

Everyone's eyes were on him, it was almost frightening to Dallas. He liked attention but this time it just felt different.

"H-hey," Dallas murmurs out.

The other four boys scrunched up on the couch wave back in response. They all seemed so nervous for him to be in front of them and he didn't blame them.

Dallas uses the towel that the 14 year old gave him and dries off his soaked hair, leaving it damp and messy. He didn't care how he looked at the moment, he was just glad to be inside so he could try and make friends.

"So, Dallas," Keith starts with a small smirk. "What brings you here? Was it the promise of food or the kid's words about being lonely?"

"T-the second one," Dallas murmurs, his pale face going red in embarrassment.

"Well, I forgive you," Keith says. "I don't like holding grudges."

"M-me too," Johnny says after him, a gentle smile on his face.

Soda nods his head in agreement with Keith and Johnny, a small smile on his lips as well. The 17 year old boy starts to grin widely, dimples showing up.

"I guess I forgive you too," Ponyboy says, sighing loudly. "Only because I felt mean after I said those things."

"Course you did," Soda teases. "You ain't got a single mean bone in that tiny body of yours."

"I'm not tiny," Ponyboy whines. "I'm tall for my age."

"Maybe so but to me, you're still my tiny, baby brother," Soda says.

Ponyboy's face goes red in embarrassment, hiding his face in his hands. Johnny couldn't help but laugh at him playfully.

Steve looks at both of them, his body slightly shaking but it wasn't as bad as before. He wasn't sure if he should forgive Dallas or not, considering most of the bad things he's done, it was to him.

His green eyes stare at Dallas, almost scared. Before he even thought about forgiving him, he wanted, needed him to apologize.

Dallas looks at him and nods his head slightly, sighing. He had forgot how much of a dick he was to Steve.

"Steve, I'm sorry for all of those mean things I said to you and did to you," Dallas starts. "You don't have to forgive me but I'm giving the apology anyway."

Steve sighs softly, fidgeting with Soda's fingers because he was holding his hand before. He was nervous because all eyes were on him now.

"I-i... I-i forgive y-you," Steve mutters.

His voice wasn't as shaky as it was in rehab, it was almost just like the stuttering was from him behind nervous. This boy was already getting better.

"Thank you so much," Dallas says.

Darry comes back finally with a change of clothes, ushering him off to the bathroom. He left Dallas alone to change and he smiles a little.

"So, we all made one more friend," Darry asks.

A small chorus of 'yeah' came from the five boys. Darry was happy that these boys were finally clicking together.

A U T H O R S - N O T E

How was this?

I'm sorry it took me almost a month to update this but I've been really stressing out over school starting and I could never get motivation to write this. This took me an hour actually to write this so I'm happy with myself.

This update is for all of my friends who chose this story for me to update. I love you guys.

I hope you guys enjoyed. If so: vote, comment, and add to your library/reading list 💕