Being the only female Curtis sibling- let alone the only girl in the gang- meant everyone was extremely protective. It was like you always had one of the guys at least ten feet away from you. That only got worse after your parents passed.

You tended to have more strict rules set in place. It wasn’t that Darry didn’t trust you, but he wanted to keep you safe. Even Pony, who was a few years younger than you and Soda, went along with them too. A girl can’t catch a break, huh?

One of those many rules consisted of having someone walk you to and from places- especially at night. That’s what led to you and Dallas walking home together after a movie. Even if he wanted to chalk it up to not wanting Darry getting on his ass, he actually enjoyed your company. That… and you wouldn’t have been able to defend yourself.

You guys were simply talking amongst one another and you could swear there was just a hint of a smile on his face until the moment was interrupted by some Soc guy. Dallas’ expression quickly morphed into a scowl.

There were various cat-calls and pickup lines being slurred out. He had to have been drunk and you instinctively tried to move closer to Dally. The guy wasn’t taking your disregard well seeing as his hand eventually wrapped around your arm in attempt to tug you towards him.

It was only seconds later that you saw a flash of movement followed by a crunch as Dallas’ fist connected with his face. Uh-oh.

It took a while for you to eventually pull him off of the guy but by then, he was unrecognizable. The rest of the way back to your house, it was clear he was in a much more sour mood.

You tried to reassure Darry things were fine before brushing past him to the bathroom and forcing Dallas down onto the toilet seat. He reluctantly complied as you started to get medical stuff out.

“…You didn’t have to do that, Dal,” you say whilst wetting a washcloth. Those words pulled a small grumble from him.

“Yeah, I did.”