Dallas kicked the rocks as he made his way down to the Curtis household. His hands were stuffed in his pants pockets and his head hung low as he walked. His blond hair flew in many directions and his icy blue eyes stared down at the pavement. He looked up as he neared the rundown house and was greeted with a familiar voice. 

    "Hey, Dally! We're headin' off now, but you can go inside if you want," the youngest Curtis brother, Ponyboy, told him as he and Johnny walked out into the street.  

    Dallas  smirked and stepped inside to the messy living room. He threw his jacket onto the couch and shut the door behind him. He walked through and checked the house to see if anyone was lingering in any of the rooms, but found no one.

    "Good," he said as he walked over to the corner of the room where a dusty old piano was sitting. 

    Dallas, of course, would never tell anyone, but Mrs. Curtis use to give him piano lessons when the other boys were out playing football. Mrs. Curtis always pretended that she needed his help with something when her kids wanted him to play with them. She knew that music calmed him. She knew that he needed a chance to calm himself and relax, but roughhousing with a bunch of boys wasn't going to help with that.

    Dallas seated himself on the rickety piano bench and recalled of all the times Mrs. Curtis gave him lessons. He didn't like it at first, and tried his best to avoid Mrs. Curtis at all costs, but eventually gave in and let her teach him. She started off with teaching him scales and months later, he was finally able to read and play most pieces she gave him. The memories of the lessons and her smile anytime he played something for her made Dallas smile himself.

    "Thank you, Mrs. Curtis!" Dallas yelled before flipping through the book of songs he use to play from. 

    "Here's the one," he pointed out.

    After cracking his knuckles and looking over the music, he positioned his hands over the keys and started to play. He hummed to the music as his fingers danced along the keys. A bead of sweat rolled down his forehead as he gradually played more intensely. His heart beated loudly as he neared the part that always use to stump him as a kid.

    "You can do it,"  he whispered to himself encouragingly and smiled when the notes where all played correctly.

    Each note and each chord played implanted a huge smile on his face and by the time he ended the song, it only grew bigger. 

    His smile left, however, when he heard someone behind him gasp.

    "Dally...?" they breathed out.

    'Shit.' 

    He turned around to see the whole gang wide-eyed with their jaws dropped. The remainder of his smile was gone and his happy blue eyes turned cold. Nobody moved or said anything. They all just stared at him in disbelief. 

    He was about to get up and storm out when they all started clapping and whooping. Johnny ran up to him and congratulated him and Darry clapped him on the back.

    "Jeez, Dallas. Didn't figure you to be a man of music,"  Two-Bit commented with pure amazement evident on his face.

    "Who taught you to play like that, Dal?" Ponyboy asked him.

    Dallas leaned his head back and closed his eyes. Another smile crept onto his face as he spoke.

"The most amazing woman I've ever had the pleasure of meeting."