READ THIS AUTHOR"S NOTE! IT"S EXTREMELY IMPORTANT!

A/N: Hey, this is Iamafanoftoomanythingstoname . You probably knew that, lol. Anyways, I just want to make sure that you all know that this is NOT my story, I promise I didn't steal it or anything. jacobluver113 gave me permission to finish this story for her. So I don't come in until chapter 17. The first 16 belong to her, as well as her original characters of Chase and Anna. S.E. Hinton owns the Outsiders. Thank you and review please! (Oh, also, I know some swear words are bleeped out. Sorry. I don't like swearing and when this was sent to me in a PM from the original author, they were already bleeped out due to filtering. Don't be mad at me! It's just that I don't swear. I know that the first 16 chapters belong to her, but I am not typing them back out. )

Chapter 1

What I Would Give

"What do you want to do today, Ponyboy?" Johnny asked as he and Ponyboy walked down the street from the lot. Pony looked up at the clear blue sky and sighed. What was there to do? He and Johnny played some one-on-one football, but that got boring rather quickly. It wasn't the same without the rest of the gang playing along and Two-bit's smart comments and touchdown dances. He offered to go down into town and babe watch, but Johnny shot that down with a skeptical glare. Ponyboy sighed again.

"There's nothing to do, Johnny," he told his best friend as they turned onto Pony's street. They saw the house up ahead. Johnny groaned.

"You know," Johnny said as Pony opened the door for him. "Sometimes I wish there were no summer breaks. School actually gave us something to do."

I laughed as I followed Johnny inside. "Tell Two-bit that one."

Johnny snickered as he plopped down on the couch.

"Tell me what?" Two-bit drawled as he appeared from the kitchen with a half eaten sandwich. He had a beer in his right hand, which was half way gone. I rolled my eyes. It was barely one in the afternoon.

"Johnny says that school is fun," I repeated as Johnny turned on the television to something entertaining. Two-bit started laughing like what I said was funniest thing he's ever heard. Bits of mayonnaise, roast beef, and soggy bread flew from his mouth.

"That's a classic right there," he said when he recovered. He started wiping his mouth off with his sleeve. "What have you been smoking, kid?" Two-bit asked Johnny. Johnny rolled his eyes and returned his attention back to the television show he was watching. Two-bit snickered again and sat down next to him. I walked into the kitchen to find something to eat. I opened the fridge and groaned. We needed to go grocery shopping and fast. I settled with a piece of sliced roast beef as I pulled out a Coke. When I returned, I saw Dally walking through the door. My eyes widened. His left eye was swollen and starting to bruise.

"What happened to you, Dal?" I asked. Johnny and Two-bit looked up to see Dally smirking slightly.

"Yeah. What happened to you, Dallas?" Two-bit smiled. "Get in another fight with Sylvia?" Dally gave him a deadly glare, which had Two-bit looking quickly away. Dallas sighed.

"You're right about one thing, Two-bit," Dallas began. He took the spot to the right of Johnny. "I did get into a fight." Dallas smiled at Johnny wickedly and messed with his raven hair. "How's it going, Johnny-Cakes?"

Johnny grinned back. "I'm fine," he muttered quickly. "Who'd you fight, Dal?"

"Just Tim Shepard," Dallas said as he reclined into the couch to look at the TV.

"Why?" Johnny asked with morbid curiosity. His eyes were soldered onto his idol. Two-bit's eyes flickered with interest but he didn't look concerned.

"We were both bored to **," Dally said without looking at Johnny.

"You fight people when you're bored?" Johnny asked with confusion.

"Just Tim," Dally replied with a smirk. I snorted a laugh and looked at Johnny.

"That's what we could do, Johnny. We could go out and find the biggest guy we can find and start a fight."

Johnny rolled his eyes and relaxed into the couch with Dallas. "Whatever you say, Pone. Whatever you say."

~b~

Three hours later, Sodapop, along with Steve, and Darry walked into the house. I looked at Darry, surprised.

"Hey, Darry," I greeted from the floor. "I didn't think you would be off work until six." I glanced at the clock in the hall. It read 4:17. Darry groaned as he set his tool box and belt next to the door. Must have been a long day today.

"I was able to get off early today," he muttered as he slowly started to stretch his back, his arms high above his head. He groaned loudly when he was in a full arc. Soda growled.

"I thought we told you to take it easy, Dar," he accused with narrowed eyes. Darry just shrugged, causing him to wince slightly.

"Roberts won't let up. He wants that roof done in two weeks, which, I might add, is virtually impossible. We are already a week down, which only leaves us a week left to finish the job. We are just barely past half way done."

Sodapop was gnawing on his cheek. He only did that when he was seriously annoyed. He shook his head. "I'm giving you a back rub later tonight and no ifs, ands, or buts about it," he threatened as he and Steve walked into the kitchen. I smiled slightly.

"There's no food in the house," I shouted as I watched Mickey Mouse dance on the screen. Two-bit had control of the remote. I heard Steve and Soda groan in unison.

"You're going on a diet, Two-bit!" Steve yelled. Two-bit laughed and jumped off the couch with a yawn.

"Well, I'll see ya'll later. I have a date with a blonde and a six pack," Two-bit said as he made his way to the door.

"Which unfortunate babe has a date with you?" Steve asked as he leaned against the wall with a beer in his hand. Soda was standing next to him, tearing pieces of bread and popping them into his mouth. Two-bit's smile didn't falter. It never did.

"I don't know yet. We will find that out when I get to the Dingo," he replied with a smirk before disappearing through the door. I shook my head. May God have mercy on the girl who would ever think of going anywhere with Two-bit. A few minutes later, Dallas also stood.

"I also have a date to attend to," he said. When he reached the door, he turned around and gave a gracious bow with a sweep of his arm. "May you gentleman have a good night," he said sarcastically. He attempted a British accent, but it sounded off with his New York drawl. He winked at Johnny and punched his way through the door. He, too, disappeared from sight. Steve followed after him an hour later. The only one left was Johnny. He eventually had to leave also.

When everyone was out of the house, Sodapop pointed to the floor in front of the television. He was staring at Darry, who was sitting next to me. "Lay down right now," he commanded. Darry looked up towards the ceiling as if to argue.

"Soda—" Darry began, but the glare he got back made him stop midsentence.

"Don't make me repeat myself, Darrel Shane Curtis," Soda threatened again. There wasn't an ounce of compromise on his face. Darry's eyes narrowed at the mention of his full name. I laughed silently as the second oldest of the three of us bossed the eldest one around.

"Who is the oldest here?" Darry asked. He didn't move an inch from the couch. Soda crossed his arms in front of his chest. I knew this wasn't over yet. If there's one thing that can be said about Sodapop Patrick Curtis, it is that it's nearly impossible to deter him from anything. Especially if it involved the gang or his two brothers.

"You are," he answered calmly. Darry nodded as if he thought this argument was over.

"And what does that mean?" Darry asked.

Sodapop continued to stare into Darry's ice blue orbs. "It means that oldest of the three of us is going to be lying on his stomach in front of the TV while the second oldest is going to be giving him a back massage. And the third oldest is going to read a book. Now that we have that settled, get down here."

Darry exhaled sharply and turned to me. I shrugged and returned to my book. "Don't look at me," I muttered. "You should have known better." He groaned as he wrenched himself off the couch and walked towards the second oldest. Sodapop looked pointedly at the floor. Darry gave one more chance.

"Sodapop…"

Soda's eyes narrowed.

"Please…"

Soda's finger jabbed at the carpet beneath his feet. Darry shook his head as he finally accepted that he was going to lose this battle. With a huff, Darry yanked his white T-shirt over his head and plopped down on his stomach.

"Now was that so hard?" Soda asked with a smirk on his face.

"Just get on with it, Sodapop," Darry muttered into his arms which were folded into his face. Soda laughed as he straddled Darry's hips. His hands shot to Darry's shoulders. As soon as Soda made the first downward stoke with the heel of his palms, Darry groaned loudly.

"I don't care what you say, Darry," Soda said as his forehead creased in effort to get all the knots rubbed out of Darry's broad shoulders, which, apparently, there were many. "You need this badly." Darry groaned again as Soda pushed his thumbs into where his neck met his shoulder.

I shook my head and returned to my book. It was about a boy who was ** off at his brothers and runs away. He meets this mysterious man in a smoky gray cloak. The cloaked man does this weird thing with his hand and the boy finds himself in the distant future. He meets this beautiful girl and falls in love with her. Together they embark in a journey to return to his own time. I found it easy to relate to the boy. I watched my brothers for a while as Soda started to rub Darry's left arm. I would find it cool to time travel to the future. Just to see what all has changed from my time. I rolled my eyes as I continued with my book. The flipping of pages, TV, and Darry's groans were the only sounds I heard as I immersed into the book and inside the boy's head.

Like any of that could happen.