A/N: This came to me in a sleep deprived haze and about three hours of horror movies. Don't. Judge. Me... Minor AU.

Rated: T+

Warnings: Suggestive themes (nothing explicit or vulgar), violence, language.

Summary: Johnny just wanted to get home and get out of the bitter cold of the chilling December month...

Characters: Johnny, Two-Bit, Dally, Darry, Sodapop, Ponyboy, Steve

And so our story begins...

It was well below fifty degrees and Johnny was speed walking toward his neighborhood. He had been with Steve and Dally for a while, before the picked up Sylvia and Evie, so he decided to make himself scarce. It wasn't that Dally and Steve thought he was a bother; he'd hung around them all of the time. It was the way Evie looked at him: like he was lower than trash. And the way Sylvia would stare at him, undressing him with her eyes. It creeped him out more than anything. So he left.

So, now he was shuffling forward on the empty sidewalk. Of course it was empty, for no one in their right mind would be out in this hour of the night during the winter. It was the day before Christmas eve, and it seemed to get colder as the hour progressed. They'd die of pneumonia by the time they reached their destination.

After a while of walking, he remembered a short-cut he's found days before, while simply wandering around. So, he cut through a few alleys. In his haste, he found himself at a dead-end. He mentally slapped himself for making a wrong turn somewhere and decided to get his bearings outside the alley. But, when he turned he found a large, burly man blocking his path.

The man's hands were in his pockets and he had a nasty smirk on his face. He was looking at Johnny the same way Sylvia did.

Johnny's hand went to his back pocket, where a six inch switchblade was stored. The man's smirk simply grew larger and he pulled a mistletoe from his pocket. Johnny momentarily let his guard down and looked at them man, confused.

The man stepped forward, and Johnny instinctively stepped back. The man's eyes turned dark and dangerous, almost like Dally's eyes. But there was something more... There was a sense that the man wanted to do sick things.

"C'mere, kid. Spread Christmas the cheer," the man said, dangling the mistletoe above his head, daintily.

The man took a few more steps closer. Johnny tensed greatly, preparing to either fight or run as fast as he could. When the man was a bit closer, Johnny saw an opening. He tried to run past the man, but was caught by the collar and roughly pulled back.

Quick as a flash, the man had both of Johnny's small wrists above his head and was staring at him, smiling. Johnny struggled to get his hands away, but couldn't muster the force needed. He began kicking and screaming for help, but was silenced by two harsh blows to the cheek and stomach.

Johnny continued to struggle while tears welled up in his eyes. He was beyond scared. This was worse than when the Socs jumped him. When that happened, they beat him half to death. But, this man wanted to... Johnny couldn't bring himself to even think it; the sick, vile act the man was about to commit. Well, Johnny wasn't going down without a fight.

Johnny began trying to kick the man again, but only received more blows. With almost all of the wind knocked out of him, he could utter nothing more than a small squeak. It felt like years that the man was reaching over to touch Johnny in the worst way possible, but he was suddenly interrupted by a sharp punch to the face. He dropped Johnny and turned to face the attackers.

Johnny fell to the ground, but quickly scrambled to a small corner and brought his knees to his chest. He squeezed his eyes shut, hearing only the sound of fighting. Suddenly, he felt a hand on his shoulder and nearly jumped out of his skin.

"Calm down, Johnnycake! It's only me!" He recognized that voice. It was Two-Bit.

"Hey, Dal! Don't kill the guy! The cops gotta have somethin' to arrest," Two-Bit hollered over his shoulder, jokingly.

Johnny opened his eyes to see Dally beating the crap out of the man and Two-Bit a few feet away from him, trying to coax him out of the corner. He took the hand he was offered and stood up on shaking legs.

"You okay, Johnny?" Two-Bit asked while making sure Johnny didn't fall back down (on account of how bad his legs were shaking).

"Y-Yeah... I just wanna get outta here..." Johnny muttered quietly.

"Okay, kid. C'mon, Dal," Two-Bit said, walking Johnny away from the alleyway.

TBC

End notes:

Its a bit choppy, to me. I feel as if it could have turned out better. No matter; just tell me what you think. Be as brutal as you want. ;)