💥|SUMMARY OF LAST CHAPTER|💥

While walking home from work, two socs corner Angela in an alley. They're drunk and tell her to warn Johnny that they're coming for him. They cut her face and try to assault her, but she gets away and runs home. She gets home and tells Darry they have to find Johnny. Darry agrees. After some convincing, they go upside down and find Johnny in a ditch down the street, half-conscious. Darry calls the ambulance while Angela holds Johnny and hums to comfort him. Darry goes with the ambulance and Angela goes home and sleeps with Soda and Pony in her bed. She and Soda have a nice conversation before falling asleep.

💥|END OF SUMMARY|💥

THE NEXT DAY I called Dally and told him that Johnny had gotten jumped and was in the hospital. He went MIA when I told him. Three days later, he is still MIA.

I was starting to get sick of the sanitizing smell of the hospital. The bright white walls and fluorescent lights were starting to give me a headache. It was three twenty-one in the afternoon. Bea had agreed to drive me to the hospital after school and now we marched up the hall. She had a look of wryness as she glanced around at all the hospital equipment.

She hated hospitals. Nobody could really blame her for her hatred for them. A hospital was the last place she saw her father. "I'm here for Johnny Cade," I tell the woman at the front desk.

"Relations to the patient?" She questions lazily, not even looking up from the documents she was working on.

"We're his friends," Bea answers, her fingers rapping against the tall wooden counter; from either being impatient or nervous, I didn't know.

"Okay, you can go up there with his nurse, Miss. Jackson." The receptionist tells us, gesturing to a tall, middle-aged woman who is writing something down on a clipboard. "Rachel, could you take these ladies to see the patient in room 208 while you check his vitals?"

The nurse, Rachel, nods, giving Bea and me a friendly smile as she beckons us to follow her. Bea and I trail behind her; the sounds of heart monitors, hacking coughs, and quiet mumbling crowded my ears, making it hard to think.

I glance up at Bea. She wasn't paying any attention to me. Her big blue eyes skewed across the hospital as we walked. Tension pulled at her face, her lips forming a tight white line. I slip my hand into hers, successfully pulling her back from her trance-like state.

Bea gives me a small, unconvincing smile as she squeezes my hand lightly as if to tell me she is okay. I give her a small smile in return, keeping my hand interlocked with hers as we step into the elevator.

Rachel presses the button for the second floor and steps back, leaning against the wall. I watch as the doors close, and seconds later, they reopen now on the floor above.

Rachel walks out first and we follow behind, passing the lines of doors. She stops at the door labeled 208 and opens the door. "Hey Johnny, I've brought something I think you'll like." She says.

My heart spikes with joy when I hear his weak reply "More pudding cups?" Johnny's awake.

The nurse chuckles at his guess. He must've been awake for some time if he was already making friends with his nurse. "No, visitors, actually." She replies.

Before Johnny can say anything, Bea and I rush into the room. "Hey, Johnnycake." I grin rushing to his bedside. I halfway sit on the bed and hug him gently, careful of the IV sticking from his arm. Johnny lays unmoving, and as I pull away, I see a grin on his busted-up face.

"Nice shiner," he comments as I move to let Rachel check his vitals.

Subconsciously, I reach my hand up to gently caress the bruise from the night I got jumped. "Thanks," I reply with a grin.

"We're matching now." He chuckles.

I ignore the feeling of my guts twisting inward and force a soft chuckle. Johnny wasn't trying to make me sad, he was trying to lighten the mood. He needed to laugh and feel at least a little happy.

Johnny's dark eyes find Beatrice "Nice to see you, Miss. Lambrey." He tells her.

"Call me, Bea." She replies with a grin, "Miss. Lambrey makes me sound old."

Johnny chuckles "Yeah, I guess it does." He says.

"Alright! You're heart rate is good and your blood sugar has gone down." Rachel smiles brightly, joining the conversation as she looks at Johnny.

"This is good news?" I ask with a hopeful expression.

Rachel nods, now looking at me "Very. At this rate, you'll be on your feet in no time, Johnny." She promises before slipping out of the room.

As she leaves, I turn back to Johnny with a big smile, only he looks agitated and bitter. My gaze softens, and my smile falls. "I know it sucks, Johnny, but you're gonna be okay. Everything's gonna work out." I promise him giving a wry smile.

"Only fools believe that, and you know it," Johnny grumbles, looking up at the ceiling.

I glance at Bea for help. She shrugs and sits down in the chair a few feet from the hospital bed. "It's not foolish to have hope," Bea speaks up.

Johnny sighs in reply and it goes quiet. "There's a rumble tonight." I speak up quietly, "We're gonna get 'em, Johnny. Those fuckers messed with the wrong people."

"There's no point in fighting, Angela. They will always win in the end." He murmurs softly.

I tense at his words because as much as I hated to admit it. Johnny was right. No matter how much reasoning we had when we punched a Soc, there'd always win. It didn't matter if they punched first. All that mattered was the money they had. With enough money, evidence could be created and just as easily destroyed.

"It's good to see you awake Johnny," I tell him.

"Good to be awake." He replies with a soft smile. "Did uh...did my parents stop by at all?" He questions.

My breath stills at his words. I can't tell him they haven't. I couldn't do that to him. Instead, I smile lightly. "Not that I know of. I bet they did, though," I say in the most convincing voice I can.

Johnny says nothing, only frowning and nodding "Thanks for stopping by. I'm gonna catch some sleep. I feel exhausted." He says.

I grab his hand and squeeze it lightly as Bea stands from the chair she sits in. "I'll see you later, after the rumble. Rest well." I tell him.

Bea grabs his other hand, rubbing gently over his knuckles before letting go and walking out into the hallway with me.

We give each other the same wry, sad look, and immediately I know we're thinking the same thing. We both felt bad for Johnny.

"I'll drive you home." Bea finally speaks up, walking past me. I nod and follow her, right on her heel.

💥|TIME SKIP|💥

AFTER A FEW hours of lounging around the house, our gang starts to arrive one by one. Two-Bit and Pony are the first, then Soda and Steve, and finally, Darry comes inside as it's starting to get dark.

His eyes scan the living room, where we all sit either watching TV or playing cards. "Boys, get ready." He instructs before walking off to his room.

Two-Bit, Steve, and Soda jump to their feet, talking excitingly as they start to rough house and play, pumping themselves up for the rumble.

Pony, Bea, and I were on strict orders from Darry that we were to stay home. Pony and I had already tried begging to go, but it seemed Darry had already made up his mind.

"I'm gonna go change," I announce hopping from my spot on the couch.

"Alright," Bea replies sending me a quick smile before her gaze turns back to all the boys rough-housing. I look at her in confusion before walking off. Bea had never shown interest in any of the guys when they rough-housed. She actually found it quite annoying.

She's even shouted at them to quit a few times— My train of thought disappears as I open my bedroom door and meet the eyes of Dallas Winston.

Dally stood next to my window, which was open, a stoic expression on his face with his arms crossed over his chest. There wasn't a scratch on him that I could see. In other circumstances, I would've been relieved to see him. Right now, I was pissed.

Slamming my door shut I stomp to Dally, grabbing him by the collar of his shirt and yanking himself closer to my face, causing him to bend slightly. I ignore his words of protest "Where the fuck were you?" I hiss, pushing Dally against my wall and stepping back.

"What the hell is your problem, woman? What's got you acting all nuts?" Dally questions in disbelief as he fixes his shirt.

I let out a bitter laugh "What's my problem? What's my problem? Oh, I don't know, maybe the fact that my boyfriend goes missing for days without even a fucking call. Then he sneaks into my fucking bedroom and—"

I'm silenced by Dally, who walks to me in one stride and pulls me against him, clamping his strong hand over my mouth to silence me. "You get loud when you're pissed." He observes.

I shove him away. "Fuck you, Dally." I snarl.

He gives me a scowl in return. "You're not my mother, Angela. You don't get to keep tabs on my every fucking move." He retorts defensively.

"It's not keeping tabs, Dally. We're in a relationship, and in relationships, if you're gonna disappear for a few days, a normal person would tell their partner so they're not worrying their fucking head off." I fire back not even seconds later.

"Get off my ass, I was in New York, met up with an old buddy." Dally scoffs.

"Was this buddy a girl?" I accuse. I knew it was petty and slightly childish. I also knew Dally would never cheat on me. But I didn't give a shit. Dally couldn't just disappear for days then come back like nothing happened. I refused to let him pull that bullshit.

"Sorry, what was that?" Dally questions, tapping his ear as if he didn't hear me.

I roll my eyes "Go fuck yourself, Winston." With that, I try walking off towards my bedroom door. I'm stopped when Dally grabs me up, throwing me onto my bed.

"What the—" I'm not are to finish before Dally drops on top of me, forcing his lips against mine.

💥|SEXUAL CONTENT|💥

I thought I'd feel livid, but instead, the longer Dally kissed me, the more my anger started to mix with burning desperate desire.

Dally disconnects our lips, both of us breathing heavily as he leaves sloppy kisses down my neck. "You think I'd risk losing you for some cheap hooker in New York?" He rasps out a chuckle.

I gasp as he grabs my hips, pulling me towards his throbbing bulge. I grind my hips against him, desperate for the friction. He lets out a soft groan as I do. His hold loosens for just barely a second, and I take it as my opportunity to flip us so I am on top.

"I don't know what you'd do Dally," I answer honestly as I kiss down his jaw, letting my hands run up his shirt to touch the hard muscles of his abs. "It's why I fell in love with you," I confess, sitting up and pulling my shirt off, Dally watches with a dark listful expression. I hum, slowly rocking my hips for friction. Dally sniffles a moan as his hands find my hips gripping tightly as he helps me move.

"You're wild." I hum, pushing his shirt up and sliding my hands down his chest, my fingers finding his belt buckle.

"And loyal," I whisper as I start to unbuckle his belt at a torturing slow pace as my teeth nip the skin of his jaw.

"What else?" Dally grunts, unclasping my bra so the straps fall off my shoulders and the material covering my breasts lies limp. Dally pulls the bra the rest of the way off and sits up, taking one of my nipples into his mouth, causing me to stifle a moan as my body arches into his and my fingers tangle into his hair.

"And...fucking crazy," I whisper, moaning softly at the feeling of his hot tongue flicking against the hardened bud.

He shoots up from my bed, gripping me tightly. I have to hold back a squeal as he presses me against the wall. He pulls his mouth from my breast with a pop and sucks on the spot below my ear before whispering, "You're just as crazy about me as I am about you."

And damnit he was right. I would go to the ends of the world for this man. No matter how many arguments or fights we got into, he would always be mine at the end of the day. And I would be his.

"I am," I confess as Dally crashes out lips together. I fumble with his belt, ripping it off and hurriedly unbuttoning his jeans. Just as I'm about to slide them off his body, with the help of one of his hands, we hear a knock.

💥|SEXUAL CONTENT ENDED|💥

Dally yanks his mouth from mine and I smack my hand over his mouth as I hear my eldest brother.

"Angela, you alright in there?" The muffled voice of Darry's question from the other side of the door Dally currently had me pinned beside.

"Y—Yeah I'm fine," I answer, ignoring the glare from Dally. I yank my hand away when I feel him lick a strip up my hand. I hit the back of his head as he stifled a laugh while glaring at him.

"You sure? I heard some furniture move." He tells me.

"I'm...rearranging my room." I lie.

Darry is quiet for a moment and my heart pounds in my ears. All Darry had to do was open the door and he'd see something that would probably traumatize him for life.

Me, half-naked, being pinned to the wall by Dally. Darry would kill me. And Dally.

Finally, he says, "Alright, me, Soda, Steve, and Two-Bit are headin' out. Your friend left for home, but you and Pony, stay in the house at all times, you hear?" Darry instructs in an authoritative voice. He sounded so similar to our father when he spoke like that. I wondered if he knew that.

"Yeah. Yeah, I know. Have fun." I say, desperate to get Darry as far away from my bedroom door as possible.

Darryis is quiet for a moment before I hear him sigh. "I'll see you in a few hours." He says before I hear his footsteps get fainter and fainter until they eventually disappear.

I then hear loud cheers and animalistic noises from the boys before the front door opens and slams shut.

Only then do I slump in Dally's arms, hitting his chest as he laughs at me. "It's not funny, we almost got caught." I scold him, pushing him away as I get back on my feet. I grab my shirt from the floor and pull it over my body. Dally pouts as he buttons his jeans back up.

"It would've been hot if you would've let me continue." He expresses.

I roll my eyes, my cheeks turning a light pink as Dally looks at me with a mischievous grin. "Come on." He says moving back over to my window that was still open.

"Where are we going?" I question confused.

"To the rumble." He answers in a 'duh' tone.

"I'm not allowed," I answer.

Dally scoffs "Since when do you listen to what Darry tells you to do?" He questions in disbelief.

I pause, biting my inner cheek; Dally smirks, "Come on, darlin'. You know it'll be fun." He says, wiggling his eyebrows.

It doesn't take much for me to give in, because I really did want to go to the rumble and kick some rich kid's ass. "Let me get Pony," I say.

Dally gives me a smile "That's my girl. I'll meet you guys in the front." He says before hopping back out my window and shutting it.