A part of me desperately wanted to ignore Darry's directions by not going to his house. As far as I was concerned I could handle the pain I was in just fine and even if I couldn't, I didn't deserve the gangs help. I had no clue whether or not they believed me, or forgave me, but I almost hoped they didn't. Getting involved with me was just going to bring trouble in their direction and I didn't want that for them. Despite all of the legitimate reasons I had for avoiding the Curtis household, after sometime of walking I still found myself standing on the sidewalk staring upset their house. I had two reasons for coming: I was scared Darry would try to track me down later if I didn't and also I did want to see the gang again. Slowly making my way through the yard and up there steps, I wondered who would be there. I figured Steve and Soda probably had work, but other then them and Darry, really anyone could be home. When I got to the door, I wasn't sure whether I should knock or just walk in. No one they were close to ever knocked but I wasn't sure if we were still considered to be close. Compromising with my mixed emotions, I shouted,
   "I'm coming in." As awkward as it was, it announced my presence so when I swung the door open, it was slightly less weird. A part if me had been hoping to find no one there, so I would have an excuse to leave. Instead though, the opened door showed me to a room where Johnny, Pony, and Dally were. From the sound of it, someone was in the kitchen. The three boys who had likely been watching the blaring TV, were now staring at me with a dazed look on their faces. Johnny was the first to snap out of his shock.
   "What happened to ya Alex," then he addressed Ponyboy. "Get the first aid kit would ya Pony." Ponyboy nodded, immediately jumped to his feet, and hurried out of the room. Johnny and I hadn't broken eye contact since he spoke but the sound of a fist hitting the table pulled my attention to Dally. The way his icy cold blue eyes were blazing and his hands were clenched into fists at his side, made him look like he was ready to kill someone.
   "Where's that son of a," he stopped himself from cursing when Pony came into the room. We all knew the kid had heard the words before but Darry still didn't approve of anyone cussing in front of Pony; while Dally would never admit it, Darry was the one gang member who he was afraid of. "You two patch Lexi up, I'll be back. I need to go pay her dear brother a visit." With thar, he stood up. Just as he was about to storm out of the house, I called him back.
   "Dallas wait," this caught his attention. I never called him by his full name, even when I was mad he'd only know from my tone. "You can't go after him." Dallas spun around on the balls of his feet so he was facing me.
   "You called me Dallas." Anyone who didn't actually know him would have thought he was mad, but when I heard the smallest crack in his sentence, I knew he was actually hurt.
   "Only your friends get to call you Dally or Dal," this was a true statement. No one outside of the gang, with the exception of Buck and Tim, were allowed to call him by his nicknames. "You can't go after Bryce. To start, he's out of town for the day. Second, he did this because he knows he lied to him." Dally had the biggest look of so what on his face. "If you go after him then he'll know that I've seen y'all. Do I really need to spell it out for ya, Bryce would kill me if he knew that I was seein' y'all again. Then he would kill all of you." Part way through my speech, Johnny had started gently tugging me to the couch. I tried to pull away, but he refused. The moment I sat down he automatically began applying bandages and whatnot to my injuries. Now it was my turn to hold eye contact with Dally. A combination of anger and sadness was evident in his eyes. For a moment I thought he was going to ignore what I said and still storm out, but then he made his way back over to the couch instead. Grabbing more supplies, he began to assist Johnny in bandaging me up.
   "Ya know," he whispered in my ear. "Whether you realize it or not, you're still a part of this gang." Shifting my head so I was looking at him, I quietly said,
   "Thanks Dal." A more serious look appeared on his face.
   "I should also mention that I still plan on kicking Bryce's ass the next time I see him." I didn't bother protesting this; his mind was made up and I knew that nothing I said would change it.
   "What the hell happened to ya," I snapped my head around and saw Two-Bit looking more serious than I'd ever seen him before. Despite having cake in one hand, beer in the other, and Mickey blasting on TV, Two only had eyes for me at the moment. Before I could respond, Dally answered for me.
   "Bryce happened," then to me he said "where else did he get ya?" From that statement I assumed he and Johnny must have cleaned up my arms, legs, and face to the best of their ability. I knew he had gotten me in other areas that were covered by my clothes as well but I wasn't about to let the boys know about that.
   "That was it," Dal rolled his eyes.
   "You've always sucked at lyin'," he grabbed the edge of my shirt and pulled it up ever so slightly. You could barely see the bottom of my belly button, that's how low he raised it to, but you could tell that my stomach was bruised pretty bad. A pissed off look returned to Dallas face. Johnny and Pony both looked sick to their stomachs and I wasn't the only one who noticed. Placing the cake on the table, Two motioned for the younger boys to follow him outside. As soon as they were gone, Dal pulled my shirt up even further.
   "Dal I can get this part myself," I told him. Not only did I want to avoid making him feel uncomfortable but after all the names Bryce had called me, I was well aware of all my insecurities.
   "Like hell you can," he muttered. This confused me, Dally was treatin' me kindly. He was almost being gentle like I was breakable; this wasn't the cold Dallas Winston that I knew. Before either of us could say anything else, the front door few open to reveal a worried looking Darry. The second he saw the bruises on my stomach, I knew there was no way he would ever let this drop. That thought scared me because I knew I had chores to get done before Bryce got home. But it also led to a good feeling within me, it was a nice change to actually have people care about me again.