A/N: I've never felt more inspired to write than I have been during these past few days. The Outsiders gives me inspiration like no other fandom has before. Ideas have been flooding into my brain at such a fast rate that I haven't had time to stop and think about them, except this one. Linkin Park is also very inspirational!

Warning: Shounen-ai and swearing. Also, since my memory is a little fuzzy, some minor (I hope) details will be off. OOCness may also make itself present, though I hope it's not too much and is bareable.

Notes: I tweaked things a little bit after Darry slapped Pony. Instead of running to Johnny, he runs to someone else instead.

Pairing: Dally/Pony.

Enjoy!

Safe in his arms

Faster, run faster, faster still. Just keep on running until your mind reaches a haze and forgets the events that just happened. Forget that your older brother just slapped you, forget that he yelled at you, and forget all the hateful words thrown between you. Just forget every single action and word that was thrown because of your stupidity.

That's all that was running through my mind as I ran farther and farther away from my house. Darry and I had our arguments, but none of them reached this kind of magnitude. Hateful words were thrown, yeah, but never fists. My face was still aching from the slap that my oldest brother had given me. Even though he told me to stop when I ran out of the house, I couldn't. I just ran and ran, until eventually I stopped in front of a house. It sounded like there was a party going on in there…

"Hey, this isn't the place for kids. Why don't you run along?" A harsh voice spoke, and I looked up. I didn't recognize the guy, but he looked pretty tuff and mean. "You heard me, scram!"

I wasn't in the mood to fight with anyone, so I just turned on my heel and prepared to walk off when I heard someone say "Hey, leave the kid alone, ya hear?"

I turned my head, blinking in surprise when I saw none other than Dallas Winston standing at the door, shirtless and a cigarette in his hand. He gave the guy a "friendly" warning, and then ushered me into the house. "What the hell happened to you, Pone? Did ya trip and fall or somethin'?"

I realized that Dally was talking about my face, so I shook my head and averted my eyes to the floor. I was sure the toughest and meanest member of our gang didn't want to hear about the fight Darry and I had, but he surprised me when his hand forcefully grabbed my chin and lifted my face up so our eyes were level. Those icy blue eyes held an emotion I rarely saw…concern. Sure, the ice was still there, but the warmth, no matter how small it was, was behind that ice.

I tried to move my face so that I wasn't staring Dally in the eyes, but his grip on my chin tightened, preventing me from even moving the smallest inch. "Kid, I'm not lettin' you go until you tell me what the hell happened. Look at ya; you're shaking like a leaf. Now, you're comin' with me and tellin' me what exactly is goin' on."

I would have objected, but Dally was literally dragging me up the stairs. When one of his friends yelled that I was a little young to have fun with, Dally just said "Hey, fuck off!" while continuing to drag me. It comforted me. Not what he said, but the protective edge to his voice when he spoke those words. He kicked open a door to a bedroom that wasn't occupied, shoved me down on the bed, and took a drag on his cigarette. "Now kid, tell me what exactly happened to ya."

I looked at the floor once again, because I honestly didn't think Dallas Winston wanted to hear about my family problems, despite what he was doing for me right now. He probably just did this because he didn't want to send me back out to probably get jumped by the Socs. Even though he was the coldest and meanest member of our gang, no one wanted to fight Darry when he was mad. He would give even Dally a challenge, something that the icy eyed blonde recognized for himself so did his best to stay off of Darry's bad side.

Once again, I felt that same hand go under my chin and make me look into Dally's eyes, but this time it was more forceful. I could see the annoyance slowly growing in those icy depths, but the concern was still there…maybe even stronger than before. "Kid, somethin' obviously bad happened. I'm not doin' this because I feel like I have to. I'm doing this because I'm worried about what exactly happened to shake ya up so bad. You're a strong kid, and it takes a lot to shake ya up. So start talking before I force ya to talk."

Dally flashed me a cocky grin at that, which caused me to blush yet smile at the same time. Who knew ol' Dal could have a heart, I thought to myself, and then, taking a shaky breath, I told Dally the whole story. About how I fell asleep with Johnny looking at the stars, how Darry got mad at me, how we argued, and then he hit me. Finally, I ended my story with how I just wanted to run away and somehow found myself to where I was right now.

The floor became a magnet for my eyes as I found myself staring at it once again, but all of a sudden I felt an arm slink around my shoulders and pulled against a hard chest. "Kid, that ain't your fault. You and Johnnycakes love stargazin', and it's so late that you were bound to fall asleep. I can understand where Superman is comin' from, but to hit ya, that's…" I felt Dally clench his fist on my shoulder, and when I looked at his face, I could see a rage that meant if you were on the receiving end, you were probably in some serious shit. In this case, it was my older brother, Darry. Even though Dally was wary of him, he could still put up a decent fight against him.

"Dal, it's okay." I murmured softly, causing the icy eyed greaser to stare at me with a look I couldn't quite identify. "I know that Darry meant well, but he never hit me before and I was just scared…so I ran. I'll be fine now, so I should let ya go back to your—"

I was silenced when Dally gently pressed his lips against my own. My eyes widened in shock, because I had never been kissed before save for the odd peck on the cheek from Soda. I didn't know how to react, but before I could even respond, Dally pulled away. I saw one of the rarest sights in the world; Dallas Winston, the toughest, coldest, and meanest greaser I've ever met, was blushing. Mind you, it wasn't like he was a strawberry, but the pink tint was only noticeable if you looked really closely at his face.

"Shit kid, I'm sorry." Dally apologized, his eyes averting to the window. "I just wanted to shut ya up and that was the first method that came to my head…" I felt hurt at that, and I guess it showed on my face because the icy eyed blonde quickly said, "That wasn't the only reason, Pone. I did that because…I wanted to for a while." Confusion went across my face, which caused Dally to sigh, grab my head in a headlock, and say, "You're supposed to be the brighter one, kid!"

"Hey, knock it off!" I tried to say in a stern tone, but I failed miserably when I started laughing. "The only reason I can think of would be because ya like me, but…" Seeing Dally nod, my eyes widened. "You…like me?"

"Shit, you make it sound like a bad thing." Dally muttered, but his face took away the harshness that the sentence was supposed to hold. A goofy smirk was on his face, making him look adorable…wait, adorable? I felt my face heat up, which caused Dally to quirk an eyebrow (something he stole from Two-Bit) and ask "What's the blush for, Pone?"

Think of an excuse, think of an excuse… My mind demanded, but I couldn't think of any excuse that sounded half decent. I could say that it was hot in the room, which it was, but I could see from the smirk on Dally's face that he wasn't gonna fall for that one. So, I said the truth. "I thought that you looked adorable with that smirk on your face."

I blushed even more, which made the smirk on the icy eyed blonde's face broaden. "That ain't a bad thing, kid. In fact, it's a very good thing." He pulled me against him once again, one of his hands wandering to run itself through my messy hair. "C'mon, you look beat. How about we sleep up here for tonight and confront Superman tomorrow, huh?"

I blinked rapidly at this. Dallas Winston…was offering to sleep with me instead of going to a party? I seriously had to write this down somewhere so I knew that it actually happened. Then again, there was another meaning besides just sleeping. However, when I saw the look on Dally's face, which was warm instead of ice cold, I realized that he meant sleeping as in actually catching some z's.

I yawned, and it was at that moment I realized how tired I was. Even after sleeping for a few hours with Johnny in the lot, I felt worn out after tonight's events and all the running I did. Dally gently placed me on the bed, ruffled my hair, and put the blankets over me. I asked him where he was going, to which he replied, "Just tellin' the guys I'll be up here for tonight and if they disturb us, I'll kick their asses."

I smiled at that, 'cause it wouldn't be Dally unless he hadn't said some violent thing in one night. I cuddled under the covers and drifted off to sleep in a few seconds, my mind content.

I heard the lights flick off through my dreamy slumber, some cussing, and then footsteps coming back upstairs. The door creaked open, and although it was cold for a few seconds, I was immediately warm again thanks to the arms wrapped around me.

I buried my face in Dally's chest as I continued to sleep. I knew that, even if it was only for tonight, I was safe in his arms.

Yes, some drama mixed in with cutesy stuff at the end. I haven't written something this fluffy in what feels like years. Hope you guys liked this big ball of fluff. I know I sure had fun writing it!