Hi there! this is my first fan fiction on ! I originally wrote this story and currently am on but I wanted to put it here too! I'm still not really sure how to use this website for updating and such so please be kind and patient with me? thanks! stay gold!

Dallas was freaking out. This was the first time I'd ever saw him cry, or even upset really and have some sort of real worry for someone. Ponyboy stood looking at the scene in front of him with tears in his eyes. I leaned against the doorway with my hands over my face while tears rolled down my cheeks. Dallas stormed out of the room into the hallway and out of the hospital.

Ponyboy and I walked back to his house without saying a word. There was nothing to say. I'm pretty sure we were both in shock of what we had just seen and I know that if I opened my mouth, I would've broke down right then and there from what I saw.

When we got back, everyone was covering up and tending to their cuts or whatever injuries they had gotten from the rumble. I would've gone too, but girls weren't allowed to take part in rumbles. Darry shot up from his seat. "Where were you two?" he asked. I looked at Ponyboy who just glanced at Darry, who had a worried expression on his face. Ponyboy didn't look too good if you asked me, but on the other hand, I probably wasn't in the best state either, rumble or not. "What's wrong?" Ponyboy and I looked at each other then I looked down at the ground and shuffled my feet. "Johnny… he's dead," he answered, his voice was quiet. Everybody stood up with expressions that showed sadness and shock at the same time, all happiness from winning the rumble was gone.

"Where's Dally?"

"He's gone… he couldn't take it." Ponyboy looked as if he were gonna cry again, and I honestly didn't blame him.

"He… he's gonna blow, we all know it," I said quietly.

We were all about to go out and look for Dallas until the phone rang. Steve went up and answered the call while the two older Curtis brother went to comfort their youngest, "Yeah… this is Steve… Dally?... sure." He called Darry over to take the call,"Hello… yeah… sure, Dal. Are you alright?... we know… hang on, we'll be right there." Darry hung up then looked at us,"That was Dally, the cops are after him, we gotta hide him." With that, we all ran out the house.

I could see Dallas running ahead about 20 feet in front of the cop cars. I remembered the gun he had in his car, it wasn't loaded but knowing him, he probably was acting like it was. Ponyboy looked at me and from the look on his face, we were thinking the same thing. We all started to yell toward the cops,"It's not loaded! Don't shoot him! It's not loaded!" We stopped yelling when we heard a gunshot and saw a figure fall. Dallas was on the ground using whatever strength he had to try to reach us, until he stopped moving right in front of us.

I stumbled and leaned against Sodapop's shoulder. He glanced up at me, "You ok, Rain?"

I shook my head, "I'm light-headed…" My voice was quiet.

I switched to leaning on Two-Bit's shoulder. He wrapped his arm around shoulders to keep me steady. I glanced over at Ponyboy who fell down next to Dallas unconscious. Darry and Sodapop rushed down to him first, Two-Bit held tight on my shoulders still so I wouldn't fall. Darry picked up his youngest brother, and put him in his truck to take him to the hospital.

Ponyboy was emitted into the hospital. Apparently, he had been sick the entire day and the rumble in the rain was absolutely no help at all. Everybody except me, Darry and Sodapop went home and it was 2:30 in the morning. I didn't really wanna go home, especially with everything that happened, I don't think I could've handled my parents so I decided to stay with the two and wait. One of the doctors came to where we were waiting. "The three of you should head home. Get some rest. We'll call you tomorrow with how he's doing," he said. I looked at the two brothers, who both looked exhausted. Darry got up and looked into Ponyboy's room then back over to me and Soda. "Come on you two. He's right, it's late," he said, waving for us to follow him.

"Hey Rain, I think you should stay over our place tonight. Especially with how your head was bothering you before," Soda suggested as we got into Darry's truck.

I shrugged and followed into the truck, "I don't know. I don't wanna intrude or anything."

Darry started the car and drove out the hospital parking lot. "I agree with Sodapop. I mean, when you and Pony got home before, you were really pale. And, no offense, I don't think it's good for you to be with your parents right now with everything that's happened."

I sighed a little and leaned my head against the car window. "I don't know…"

"Alright… come by us. You can stay and sleep on the couch if you want, or you can leave if you want," Darry said and stopped his truck in front of their house. The two brothers went inside the house and I decided to sit on the front porch of the house. I leaned against the post that held the porch up and sighed a bit, thinking about everything that happened just in the matter of a few hours.

…the next morning…

When I woke up, I wasn't sitting on the porch anymore. Either Sodapop or Darry had put me on their couch sometime during the night. It felt like everything that happened was just a bad dream, and even though it wasn't, I prayed to my lucky stars that it was.

I sat up on the couch and glanced into the kitchen. I got up and looked outside and saw Darry sitting on the couch they had on the porch. I was about to go outside when I heard Soda come from his and Ponyboy's room. He looked up at me, "Hey. You fell asleep on the porch last night, so we brought you in so you wouldn't get sick or somethin'… two of us were gonna go see how Pony is, gonna come?" I nodded and went outside and sat against the post again.

"Hey Rain," I heard Steve say. I looked up from the ground and saw him and Two-Bit walking up to the house.

I looked up at them and gave a weak smile. "Hey guys," I said quietly.

"How ya doin'? Your head was bothering ya last night," Two-Bit said as they both sat at my sides.

I shrugged a bit. "Fine, I guess. Still kinda hurts, but not too bad."

"Alright… we're gonna head inside and see how the other two are doin'," Steve said. I nodded and the two went inside. I stayed there and thought about what had happened this week. How scared I was when Dallas told me Johnny and Ponyboy killed a Soc, and ran away. How scared I was when that fire started at the church. How scared I was when I heard Johnny yell from inside the church and Ponyboy was on the grass outside unconscious. How scared I was when Dallas went into the church. How scared I was when Dallas picked me up before the rumble and on the way to the hospital. Just how many things scared me the whole week, I guess. I still couldn't believe everything that had happened… happened.

I was brought out of my thoughts when Darry came and sat next to me on the porch."Rain… Soda and I think that in everyone's best interest, I try to get custody as your legal guardian when we go to juvenile court that day. I know your parents, and I'm sorry for saying this, but they don't care about you like we all do. Now, if you don't want me to, I won't. It's your call. I'm not gonna force you to if you don't want that… I'm just saying, that we all think that's best for you."

I knew he was right. My parents beat the hell outta me ever since I was a kid. My home life, might as well have moved in with Johnny and it wouldn't be any different. I spent as much time away from my parents as I could so I wouldn't have to deal with them.

I nodded, "I don't like living with them. Maybe to help with the case, we can press charges on how they would treat me. You guys were the ones who took care of me when they did, everything they did." My voice was quiet.

He nodded, "Alright Why don't you came inside for now. Looks like it's gonna rain." I nodded and we both got up and went inside. Soda was getting ready to head to hospital to check on Pony. "Soda, Rain- c'mon. Let's go see how he's doin' before it starts to downpour." I grabbed my leather jacket and followed the two out the door.

None of us said a word the whole way there other than a few things between the two brothers. It was obvious how worried they were about their youngest brother. They were obviously trying to hide it from me, Two-Bit and Steve, but they didn't have us fooled. We acted like it though for their sake.

When we got to the hospital, Ponyboy wasn't very different from the night before. He was somewhat awake, more like in and out. Apparently, he had gotten a mild concussion and we all knew exactly from what. The doctor would allow us to take him home, and if he didn't fully wake up in a few days he wanted us to bring him back.

Darry had to fill out his release forms as his legal guardian. Soda and I waited with Ponyboy, who kept mumbling something about bologna I think. I couldn't really make out what he was saying, but that's what I gathered from it. He started to mumble a few names, but I couldn't make out what they were. "What's he saying?" I whispered to Soda, who could probably understand him better.

He sighed a little, still looking at his brother. "Calling for Johnny, Dallas, me, you, Darry and our parents."

His face fell when he mentioned their parents. I was about to say something when Darry walked in, "After they file his papers we can go." A few minutes later a nurse came in and told us we could go. She put Ponyboy in a wheel chair since he was still not really awake and brought him to Darry's car. ON the way to the house, Darry and Sodapop were talking about the court date coming up to determine if Ponyboy was innocent and was able to stay with his brothers. Cherry Valance had to testify to the case since the Soc who was killed was her boyfriend, and since she had been there before what took place that night. But she was on our side. Randy Anderson, Bob's best friend and the girl named Marcia's boyfriend, was even on our side- which was pretty shocking considering he had been helping Bob that night.

We got back to the house and Two-Bit and Steve were still there, which wasn't unusual. Darry said I could stay over their house till the court date and I should try to get some of the stuff I needed from my house. He offered to come with me, since my parents might be there but I told him no.

I got to my house and snuck in through my bedroom window, which I left unlocked. I locked my bedroom door and grabbed whatever was important to me- a switchblade that the gang got me when I was 13, a leather bracelet from Johnny and Ponyboy, a necklace with a skull on it from Dallas, and one of the rare pictures of all of us together- and some clothes and stuffed everything in my backpack and snuck back out the window. When I was two blocks away, I could still hear my parents. I ran faster so I could get to the house quicker.