Winstons |The Outsiders|

6. "Friends"

Dallas knew his sister was awake when he heard the bathroom door close on the other side of the wall. With one hand over his face shielding him from the early morning sun, he groaned. 

Yesterday's events were playing on repeat all through the night. The image of Hannah standing in front of him, the awful scar on her neck. For a fleeting moment, he thought he was the one who caused it. 

Then there was that letter. Buck had been sending her letters for five years, never once telling him about it. Thinking of it now, there probably were times Buck nearly convinced him to call. He always pushed the idea to the back of his mind though, what would happen if someone else were to answer? What if Charlie answered?

Hannah was safest if Dallas stayed away.

Hannah wasn't in New York anymore, she was in the bathroom probably brushing her hair, or doing whatever teenage girls did first thing in the morning.

Dallas was back thinking about the letter. Buck had said to come to Tulsa if New York ever got 'too rough' and now, here she was. What was the tipping point?

He wasn't going to get any answers unless he got out of bed. 

Damn it.

On the other side of the wall, Hannah flopped back onto her freshly made bed. Underneath her jacket, she wore a red t-shirt tucked into her blue jeans. She just spent the past ten minutes battling with her hair in the mirror after forgetting a hairbrush and having to use the comb she found the day before. Her feet were shoved in her boots, and her fingers worked furiously as she double knotted the laces. Once she finished, Hannah stood and kicked each leg out twice.

The boots were two sizes too big and had been donated to 'at risk youth' when she was eleven. There were a bunch of programs like that around the city, usually run by the church, or just good people. No matter how good they seemed, people always wanted something in return. It didn't matter if they waited days, weeks or even years, people kept track of who owed them what, and were always bound to call in their favours.

Charlie and Verna were always owing someone something, and more often than not, Hannah ended up in the thick of it.

She decided at a young age that she would only go to those programs if she didn't get caught.

Dallas knocked on the door twice. "Hey, you up?"

Hannah moved towards the door and unlocked it. Dallas leaned against the wall, his arms crossed over his chest. She stood in front of him, and leaned against the doorframe, copying his posture. "Mornin'."

Dallas rolled his eyes and peered into the room over her head. His eyes widened. "Shit, you're room is clean."

It was Hannah's turn to roll her eyes. "Nah, some of us just aren't pigs. And I don't have a ton of stuff." Dallas opened his mouth, ready to retaliate when Buck cut him off.

"Winston!"

"What?"  Buck sighed when Hannah responded in her brother's place. Dal's smile was obvious this time, even if he tried to hide it. He jerked his head to the side in a 'come on' gesture. She followed.

Downstairs, Buck was fuming. He wasn't standing behind the bar this time, and the jukebox was silent. The second Dallas came into view, Buck jabbed his finger in the boy's face. "What did you do!"

"I don't know yet!"

Hannah stood four steps behind her brother and had a front-row seat to the lecture. "Well you did something," Buck started, "'cause someone slashed my tires!"