AN: Sooo, like I oh so often tend to do, I was reading over The Outsiders a few nights ago, and was reading the part where Ponyboy was talking about Dallas being "real" and stuff, and this idea just kinda popped into my brain as I read that paragraph, to go a little more in depth into that one section…. Was there any point in this Author's Note? Nopee… unless you'd like to know the history of my ideas…. :D

Disclaimer: If I owned The Outsiders, Johnny and Dally wouldn't have died. 'Nuff said.

Ponyboy could say one thing for a fact about Dallas Winston: he was scared shitless of him. Plain and simple. Dally didn't take crap from anyone- except maybe Johnny- and was never afraid to let people know just what he thought… in the most explicit way possible. He was tough as nails, cool as stone, and, as far as the fourteen year old was concerned, had no emotions whatsoever: besides maybe hate and anger. No pity, no sympathy, no anything besides those two feelings for anyone.

But, he was a part of their gang. Their small Greaser gang of seven that was just a fraction of all the other Greasers in Tulsa. At first, Pony figured that was why he hung out with the person that sent shivers up his spine. Because he was part of their gang for years, and the gang just wouldn't be the gang without Dally. It was impossible. They had the responsible one (Darry), the funny one (Two-Bit, who also doubled as their thief), the happy-go-lucky-one (Soda), the tempered one (Steve), the "lost puppy" (Johnny), and the dreamer (himself), but they wouldn't be complete without the hard ass known as Dallas. He just had to be there.

And, because of this was why Ponyboy was actually able to be around said hard-ass without being a nervous wreck (or a total one, at least). The gang was family, and Dally was a part of the gang, so he was family, too. And, in Pony's mind, family stuck together, no matter how much you may not get along. After all, just look at Darry and him. They were at each other's throats a lot of the time with arguments, but it was always obvious that they would have each other's backs- they were brothers. It was their job as family. Just like it was their job to watch out for Soda, Steve, Johnny, Two-Bit, and Dallas. It was their job as the gang, and as more-or-less brothers.

Ponyboy never really gave much thought to it other then that. Dally was a Greaser and Greaser's watched out for each other. They didn't have money, they didn't have Mustangs, but they were loyal to their own kind. They had to be. While Socs' could go out and buy off new friends at almost every turn with their wads of cash practically bursting from the seams of their pockets, Greasers didn't have that privilege. They were the poor kids, the one's living in the rundown homes, barely making ends meet. If they didn't like someone of their own kind, they didn't have the luxury to go out and offer someone else to be a new friend with a lump of money. Instead, they kept their gang close. They kept loyal to one another- even to the ones that you didn't know.

They weren't hard to spot, after all. Socs drove Mustangs and wore white madras. Greasers drove beat up cars, if you had anything at all, and wore their leather jackets and torn up jeans. Middle classers were something in between all that, but they mostly stayed out of the turf war. If one of their own needed to be protected, it wasn't hard for a Greaser to spot their fellow gang member.

That was why Ponyboy reasoned he and Dallas actually hung around each other. Neither were particularly fond of the other. Dally only had a soft spot for Johnny, and Pony was scared to death of the eighteen-year-old. But, they were both apart of the same gang- the one that couldn't buy new members in an instant- and they had to watch out for each other just like all the rest of their kind. It was how life was, so the two of them just dealt with it like Pony and Steve- another person the fourteen year old wasn't exactly thrilled with, either, and vice versa.

The only other possible reason he could think of was because of Johnny. He was Ponyboy's best buddy, the person he could always talk to, next to Soda, who just happened to have a hero complex for Dallas. Johnny, who was beat bad at home, and was scared of his own shadow thanks to the beating from the Socs, wanted to be more like cold, unfeeling Dally. Dally, who could take anything life had to throw at him, and beat it until it was withering at his feet and begging for mercy. That was the person Johnny wanted to be, and Pony, as his best pal, accepted that: what kind of friend would he be if he didn't? And Dally only wanted the best for the "lost puppy" of the gang, even if he had a weird way of showing it, so he understood that Pony and him were close pals, and might've just put up with the fourteen year old for that reason, too.

But, for the most part, Pony figured it was probably just the fear. Dallas wasn't afraid to do anything. Ever. He'd been arrested dozens of times proving that, and was quite proud of his record. He got boozed up, sexed up, and could have everything he wanted in life, and would ensure he did, because he was Dallas. There was nothing that stood in his way because he made his life like that. He hardened himself up, literally took the bull by the horns (he did ride bulls every now and again, after all), and wasn't afraid of anything that could come of his lifestyle. What didn't kill him made him a stronger man, and if he died, oh well. He died doing something fearless, and completely out of his mind. But that was just Dallas, and that was just why Ponyboy was scared of him.

He wasn't raised like that. His mom and dad taught him not to be like that. To follow the rules as best he could, and stay out of trouble as much as possible. He was a Greaser, and cops didn't take kindly to them. Plus, it was fairly obvious- even early in life- that Pony would go somewhere. Mr. and Mrs. Curtis didn't want him screwing up that opportunity. They let him smoke- hell, his dad and Soda did, too. And the only reason Darry didn't was because of football and his athletic health- but they would pound him senseless if they ever saw him drunk or heard he went to Buck's place. Same with Darry and Soda. And Ponyboy knew they meant what they said after seeing what they did to his older brothers a couple times. Their parents taught them to be good children in a bad environment. To tough it out and make the best of themselves in a place where most kids had already been given up on.

And that was the exact opposite of what Dallas was about.

But, it was that night in Windrixville- in that old church- that Ponyboy really discovered the source of his fear towards to blonde Greaser. It wasn't because he was cold, hard, tough with practically no emotion. Well, actually, in a way, it was- but that wasn't the full reason.

It was because Dallas Winston was real.

Everyone of their gang had a quality about them that made Pony interested more. Soda and his charm, Two-Bit with his sense of humor that could ease any tension whatsoever, and Darry with his inhuman ability to remain calm, cool, and collected during even the most insane situation. Johnny, and how no one could stay mad at him because he was everyone's little brother, and Steve, and how he was the exact opposite of Two-Bit by being able to start a fight with just one word. Even Ponyboy had been told a time or two how his thoughts were a lot deeper and more intricate then the others.

But, these unique qualities were things Ponyboy read about constantly. In both books and comics, the gang- or at least the five mentioned- had traits about them that came straight from a story. They had qualities that you read about and, if you were lucky enough, had yourself.

Not Dallas.

He didn't represent any character or fictional trait. He represented real life. He didn't have those different qualities that people wanted to have. Dallas was just… himself. And by being himself, and not having the things that made the rest of the gang so… different, he was unique, too. Because he was real, and without those fictional qualities you could stumble upon in most books you picked up. And none of the others could say that about themselves.

Which was precisely why Ponyboy was afraid of him. He was an avid reader, and wouldn't put a book down if he could help it in his free time. It was what he liked, what he enjoyed, what he was used to. He was accustomed to the fantastical qualities of the heroes. That was probably why Dallas was the one he liked the least- because Pony wasn't used someone not having any of those traits. All the main characters that he read about had those seemingly unreal abilities, and so did most of the gang. Except Dally. And that was something Pony didn't know how to understand or deal with.

He was scared of the unknown Dallas represented, of the realness he brought. Ponyboy could handle supernatural, he could take the seemingly inhuman and impossible. But, because of that, he wasn't used to real life as well as he should be. He had his nose buried in a book almost constantly, and didn't face reality as often as he should. And because of that, everything Dallas was about, everything he represented, made Pony nervous and scared because he didn't understand most of it.

The fourteen year old wasn't frightened of the cold, hard attitude and the unfeeling nature Dally had. He was scared of the unknown reality he brought into Pony's life.

AN: Alrighty, there was my fantabulous "in depth" look at that part of the book. Leave a review, let me know how it was! :D That little button loves you!