Hey, this is shady stays gold, otherwise known as Shady. :) I have an Outsiders forum that needs people, so I would appreciate if you checked it out.

Instead of just robbing a store, Dally does something else after Johnny's death- and gets caught by the fuzz. (I know that the word 'rape' wasn't valid back then, but if I just kept saying 'sexual assault' it'd sound like Dally was a Soc.)

EDIT: This chapter has been edited.

"When the days are cold
And the cards all fold
And the saints we see
Are all made of gold..."

-from "Demons" by Imagine Dragons

"Mr. Winston," said the reporter, her elaborately painted nails clicking against her clipboard. "I'd like you to describe what was going through your head during the... incident."

The cold metal of the handcuffs strained against Dally's clenched fists. He fought to keep his face emotionless, but if you looked close you could see the pain in his eyes. Pain and anger, bottled up, weighing heavy on his shoulders.

"Mr. Winston," repeated the reporter quietly. Dally's head swam as he tried to find the right words for what he was feeling.

"I just... I didn't know what the fuck I..." Dally stammered. Why now, of all the many times he'd answered this very question, did he choke up? He knew what he did. He knew it was horrible and wrong. He knew it was no one's fault but his own. But he just couldn't say what he was thinking aloud. "It wasn't her fault and I wasn't thinking," he finally remembered. He'd said that line so many times it was branded into his memory.

"But that doesn't answer my question" was what the reporter would say. Dally knew. That's what everyone said after he said his line.

Surprisingly, she didn't say that. Instead, she cleared her throat and said, "Mr. Winston, how do you feel now?" The question make Dally freeze. None of the reporters had asked him that. He didn't disguise the truth at all, and said,

"I feel like shit."

A towheaded, angry greaser boy was sure to attract suspicion. Especially if his name was Dallas Winston. Sure enough, the store manager kept looking up at him fearfully like the greaser was going to knock him to next week.

He didn't do that. He did worse. Dallas pulled a gun out of the waistband of his pants and screamed, "Give me all the money ya got in this place!" And of course, the manager practically shit himself. He handed Dally every penny he had, including the money in his own wallet. Dally saw the people in the drugstore staring at him. He pointed his gun at the chest of a middle-aged lady who had been looking at him. "If any of ya call the fuzz I'll shoot!" he yelled. He looked insane as he shoved his way out the door.

Dally slammed the door of the drugstore shut with a clatter that caused the owner to come to the door and shout, "Get back here, hood!" Instead, Dally just walked faster down the dark street.

He had a terrible headache. It felt like someone was taking a baseball bat to his brain. An image of Johnny lying on the ground near the church screaming at the top of his lungs for God to just kill him flashed through Dally's mind. Dally felt tears coming on, and in case there were Socs watching, poked himself in the eye to have a real reason to cry.

After that, as he walked down the lonely street, he just let the tears flow.

Why am I crying? Dally dimly wondered. I haven't cried since I was a little kid. Dally tried to force himself to regain his composure. He stood in front of the glass windows of a small diner. His own reflection scared him. His face was blotchy and there were tear stains on his cheeks. He closed his eyes and took a shuddering breath. Eventually, he stopped crying.

Everything's fine. Forget about it. Just keep your fucking head up and forget about it.

Dally heard a sound like footsteps behind him and whirled around, opening his eyes. He got ready to fight, but there was no Socs to fight. There was only Cherry Valance, standing outside the diner. "Dallas?" she asks quietly. "Are you all right?" Dally's face hardened. Of course he was all right. One of his fucking friends had just died! And of course, it had to be Johnny, the boy Dally cared for like a little brother...

"I'm fine," he snapped at Cherry. "Go away." She looked hurt, but stubbornly stood her ground.

"No," she said simply. "You need help." That was a low blow. Dally never needed help. He had always been just fine on his own. "You don't look so... stable, Dallas." Dally looked at his reflection, trying to keep from spewing cuss words. But he admitted, he did look a little unhinged.

"I look fine," he snarled at her. His hands gained a life of their own, and reached into his pocket, found his heater. "If ya'd just seen what I seen ya'd be a fucking wreck." Cherry flinched and backed down the sidewalk about a foot.

"It's about that little quiet kid, right?" Cherry asks quietly. "John-"

"Shut up!" Dally screamed at her. He had started to cry again. "Don't talk about him!" His face had crumpled, and tears trickled down his cheeks. Cherry looked at him sadly. Dally couldn't stand that look. He wanted people to look at him with wide eyes and terrified faces.

"How about I take you to the hospital?" asked Cherry. "Maybe if you lie down some you'll feel better." Dally's hands tightened around his heater. Was that what Cherry's Socy bitch of a mother said to her whenever she was sick? 'Here, Cherry. Let's just get you a wet washcloth and put it on your forehead. Lie down for a while and you'll feel better.' Dally's blood boiled, but he was still crying.

After all, what do the doctors and nurses do when you die in their hospital? Would they call a funeral home or something? Had anyone but him and Ponyboy figured out Johnny was dead? Was his body just lying there on those sheets, head lolled to the side, mouth slightly open like Dally left him? If Dally went to the hospital, would he be able to smell the corpse from his hospital room? What would it even smell like? Death, sweat, hair grease, fire, smoke, and burn medicine, he figured.

The gun shook in Dally's hands as he gagged. Cherry looked at him, realizing something. She gasped and her hands flew to her mouth. "He's not de-"

"SHUT THE FUCK UP!" Dally bellowed at her. He dropped his gun and took a swing at Cherry's fragile face. Her nose broke with a snap and a girlish scream came from her. Blood spurted from it, all over Dally's hands, the ground, and Dally's clothes. Dimly, he saw some Socs in the diner staring at them. Dally bent down and stuffed his heater in his pocket. He grabbed Cherry's limp arm and pulled her down the street, until he got to the closest place where no one would stare- an alley. Dally shoved Cherry against a damp brick wall so tightly she couldn't even move.

That's when she started screaming.

Dally looked around desperately for something to gag her with. He found nothing but a clump of weeds. His nervous hands grabbed at his shirt, and he thought of something. He tugged off his jacket and shirt, and stuffed his shirt into her mouth, gagging her. Blood dripped down her face. Her screams faded to silence. Her eyes were wide and terrified. Just like Dally wanted.

He remembered that night at the movies, when Cherry threw her drink at him. When she was looking so beautiful to Dally he almost couldn't stand it. Right now, it wasn't the time to think about how pretty Cherry was, but that was exactly what Dally was doing.

Desire, sadness, and anger don't mix, Dally thought, but that didn't stop him from dropping his pants and tearing Cherry's dress off. Her eyes were filled with fear as Dally tore off her clothes. She tried to run, but Dally slammed her against the brick wall so hard she nearly went unconscious. She looked so betrayed Dally could barely stick it in her without feeling guilty. Her fingers laced themselves through his hair, but not in the way he wanted. She was screaming into her gag and practically pulling his hair right out.

"This is what you deserve!" Dally hissed into her ear. "You ain't never felt this pain!" He began to go rougher, and tears ran down Cherry's heart-shaped face. "You ain't never felt nothin'!" She screamed so loud he could hear her through the gag. "Shut up, ya fuckin' Socy bitch!" he said. He pulled back away from her. All he saw was Johnny's scarred face, his dull, dead eyes. Cherry wasn't the only one crying then. "Ya don't know what it's like!" he snarled at her. "To lose ya best friend! I fuckin' loved that kid like a brother! And whaddaya say? 'Go lie down'."

Dally's face was torn between anger and grief. "Well, ain't that the best idea! I'll just go lie down for good! Wouldn't that be better for the world? Especially you, ya fuckin' Soc."