New idea let me know what you think! Johnny and Dally are dead:( this is two years after the book so Pony is 16 Soda is 18 and so on with everyone else's ages.

Disclaimer: I don't own 'The Outsiders' S.E. Hinton does. I also don't own the song 'Scars' by Papa Roach, they do of course.

I tear my heart open,

I sew myself shut,

My weakness is that I care too much,

Those scars remind us that the past is real,

Tear my heart open just to feel…

~Papa Roach

Chapter 1

"Thanks for the ride, Steve," I give Steve my gratitude as I slam his car door.

"No problem Soda, I'll probably be back later if my old man is at it again," I look up and twitch as a single raindrop hits my face. The sky is all gloomy and gray; I can already tell a storm is on its way. Not waiting for it to get any worse, me getting drenched in particular, I hurry towards the shelter of the porch. Steve's car peels out of the driveway and I know that within a couple of hours I'll be graced with his presence.

I reach for the handle of the door but stop short at the arguing coming from inside, "Pony how many times do I have to say this? You need to pull your grades up. Obviously you haven't gotten the point yet if I'm still telling you to do it," Darry's voice echoed throughout the house.

"Darry, how many times do I have to say this? I'm trying the best I can so you need to just lay off," Pony retorts.

"Oh I need to lay off? You better watch-"Darry continues but I tune the rest out. I sigh as the slight sprinkling turns into a full-out downpour. Yet I lean up against the wall, enjoying the rejuvenating mist as it collides with my face. But my happiness slowly fades away as I recall what has happened in the past years. The events coming rushing back into my mind as I hear the voices inside raise to an even higher volume.

Almost two years since Johnny killed that soc. Almost two years since Johnny and Pony ran away. Almost two years since she cheated on me and left town. Almost two years since Johnny and Dallas died. Almost two years since they promised to stop fighting. And almost two years since that promise was broken.

My trace of thought comes to a halt as I realize I've probably been outside for more than five minutes. I finally go inside, knowing it's going to be the same way it always is as soon as I step foot in that door. Sure enough my shoe hits the wood paneling, and at the exact moment the creaking noise comes out, the voices fade into an awkward silence. I stalk off into mine and Pony's room. The tension in the house is thick, like plastic wrap.

As soon as I close the door I hear them at it again, but in low voices this time. I listen awhile longer until the door slams shut, the voices decease. "Hello Curtis clan!" Two-Bit's voice bellows. As I walk out of my room a smile is plastered on my face. With Two-Bit around, a good time always comes. It's like a packaged deal. Of course in some cases, I could be wrong.

Through dinner I kept my head down, hoping I wouldn't get involved in their dispute again. Two-Bit was zoning out while watching T.V. so he didn't notice. But I caught the occasional glares being exchanged between Ponyboy and Darry. This was getting out of control. I'm sick of the fighting. I'm done with it.

The door slammed shut and two thoughts popped in my head. Either Two-Bit left or Steve just came in. I was hoping that it was the second option. Otherwise, as soon as I would leave the room, they would be having it out again. "Hey Steve-O!" Two-Bit practically shouted. Then I heard a slap of skin against skin and a thud of a body hitting the floor. I heard muffled laughter and gave a sigh of relief that hopefully there would be no more fighting between my brothers tonight. But I winced inside when I saw Darry give Pony one of his famous we'll-discuss-this-later looks. They just wouldn't let it go would they?

A clap on the back from Steve jolted me back into reality. He gave me this weird look as if I had grown a third eye. Still thinking about their latest fight, I shot him a grin to let him know that everything was fine. But Steve knew me too well, he saw right past my façade. He also knew that if he wanted to know the real reason, he was going to have to force it outta me.

Darry was cleaning up the table and supposedly get started on the bills. Pony was in the living room watching T.V. with Two-Bit.

My stare went back to Darry; he still looked exactly the same. The only part that had changed was his eyes, they now looked stressed, anxious, and most of all tired. But raising two teenagers could do that to you I guess. Pony was still his same old self except he was now almost as tall as me, more muscular too. You would think that with all he's been through, the kid's had enough. Yet the look in his eyes was unsolvable. I couldn't quite put my finger on it, but something had changed, hell of course something had changed I mean look at what he had to face. He seemed more to himself now like me that night when they took it too far and I blew up. I held it in too long and I figured that it was going to be the exact same way with Pony. Time would take its toll, he would eventually pop and the contents will release and spill, just like a soapy bubble that had been poked with a fork.

I shook my head, wondering why I had been thinking so much tonight. I grabbed Pony's pack of cigarettes and his lighter and walked outside. I saw Pony and Steve's gaze because both knew I didn't smoke unless it was real bad. Last time I smoked was when she left. I lit the smoke and inhaled deeply, my nerves relaxed as I exhaled. The smoke being released looked a lot like the sky, foggy and gray. I just sat there puffing my cigarette when Steve came out beside me,

"Soda what's going on…" It wasn't like a question really more like a statement that was really supposed to mean 'Soda tell me what the hell is going through your head before I kick it out of you'.

"Nothing Steve, nothing at all," I stated.

"Soda, that's bullshit and you know it. I sure as hell know that you don't smoke unless something is really bothering you," he demanded an answer.

"You really wanna know what's wrong? Fine I'll tell you what's wrong. My goddamn brothers won't stop fighting even though they promised. My girlfriend ditched me two years ago and I'm still hurting at the thought of it. But the worst thing is that they only go at each other when I'm not around so I sit here while they're at each other necks waiting until one of them finally breaks and leaves. And I'll have no clue what the hell just went on, so Steve, unless you wanna talk to Darry about it or deal with Pony who we all know you love so much, there's nothing you can do about it so let it go. Maybe I just care too much, oh I don't know I'm all screwed up but please don't let me burden you with my problems. I'm perfectly fine-" I didn't even bother to finish, afraid something even stupider would come out. I don't even know what came over me but I huffed off out in the rain. The outburst was unexpected and I made a mental note that I needed to apologize to Steve tomorrow.

Thinking about my previous outburst made me think about fighting. And thinking about fighting made me think about breaking. But most of all, thinking about breaking made me think about the exact words Two-Bit said when Dally blew up. So even Dally has a breaking point. If Dally had a breaking point then everyone did. And I was moments away from hitting mine...

Let me know what you think by hitting that review button! I'm trying to decide if I should continue or not!

~Dom :)