As crazy and impossible as it sounded- I think I may have found myself in the past.

I woke up, my side in excrutiating pain, my mind in the thickest fog it's ever been in, and I was moaning; involuntarily, of course. The ground felt warm but hard.

"Sir- sir are you alright?" I heard a vaguely familiar voice ask in shock. I made a needed effort to lie on my back, making the pain even worse, and cried out. A hand touched my shoulder lightly.

"Pony- what's going on?" a second voice came into play almost automatically. Pony? I thought, feeling confused. Wow, that crash must've did me in real good... No way Pony could sound like that... Not at the age he is now at least...

"I don't know- this man hurt himself real bad- we gotta help him!"

"Well- you don't know who it is-"

"Yeah..."

"And he hurt himself?"

"Yup... with your car..."

"MY CAR?"

"uh-huh..."

"And you think we should be helping him!" the voice sounded real indignant. I couldn't understand who was talking- but both voices seemed so familiar it was starting to creep me out.

"Yeah, I think we should! C'mon, Steve, we got to- look at him!"

"Ugh... fine... You pick him up at that end and I'll hold by the arms," the second young voice said dryly. Gee, if you don't want to help then don't help! Leave me here to die and live with the guilt of letting some poor innocent man die on the streets! I thought, feeling a little angry. Where had I heard the name Steve before? ...

"...Where am I?..." I tried to say- not getting much of it out, but enough so that the two young gentlemen would understand that I was still thinking a little clearly.

"Hey! He's talking!"

"Hey- mister- sir- DUDE SIR, uh, GUY PERSON- whoever you are!" one of them said getting himself a little frustrated.

"My- my name- my name's-" I couldn't get it out- my tongue felt parched- with a capital P.

"It's okay, sir we got you... Just uh wait here a sec and I'll go and get my brothers! They're off work today so we should be back in 5 minutes if not sooner!" the first voice exclaimed before running off. I opened my eyes. Everything was blurry. I could faintly see a young hoodlum looking teenager kneeling in front of me- staring. I looked down and saw blood coming from my side.

"Wow- you must've done something real nasty to get that!" he said in a pretend surprise and sarcastic voice. I looked around, dismissing his rude behavior. As long as my Steven's not like that, I'm dandy ok with this young man not taking a liking to me...

"Where am I? Where's my car?" I got up and crawled forward, looking around to see if I could see my car or anyone I knew. "Where's my wife-Cherry- Steven-"

"Hey um, dude, you may wanna sit down, with a gash like that, I wouldn't wanna be movin' around too much, not 'til Dar and Pone show," the teenager said slowly, sounding a little suspicous, helping me sit back down and lean against the fence. The sun was burning brighter than ever in the sky. Noon? I thought confused. It can't be, I left at 7! At least I'm getting warmer.

"What's going on?" I asked, this time sounding a whole lot more puzzled than ever. My vision had mostly cleared up by then. I turned to the strange teenager who, telling by his voice, seemed doubtful about helping me. But when I looked at him I couldn't believe my eyes. I stood and stared in utter shock, speechless.

There, dressed in his blue DX station shirt with his hat tipped off a little on top of his curly thick brown hair, giving me an uncomfortable look with a young pair of big blue eyes and a clear, worry-free face, was Steve; that's right. Steve. But it wasn't the older one I knew- it was a seventeen year old one- the one that burned so many memories in my head when I was seventeen too.

"Steve...?" I said softly. His eyes went wide; his brow furrowed.

"How do you know my name?" he asked, getting a little defensive about it. I looked down rubbed my eyes and then looked at him again.

"Um... I, uh... I... uh... I knew your mother..." I said quickly, not wanting him to know that it was really me- his best friend in the entire world. He then looked pained and turned away closing his eyes tightly, making his fist into a tight white ball. Glory- wrong move! I started beating myself up.

"How?" his voice was harder than anything- demanding in a desperate and unsure tone. I had never heard him like that before...

"Oh well... Your mom and I... we... knew each other... Uh, back in our high school years..." I stuttered, trying to sit upright; gee, I suck at lying... I thought. He looked up at me and gave me a cold glare.

"Well, she's dead now so you aint got no business with me or my father..." he said bitterly.

"Actually-" I was about to say something all of a sudden there was pounding feet and I looked finding myself completely even moreso shocked- Darry, Pony, and ME came running in- Darry had a kit in his hand. Johnny and Dally followed.

"See- told you!" Ponyboy turned to the Soda that wasn't me and smirked a little.

"Hey, sir, I'm real sorry we're a little late but we're here now and I may reccommend you go to a hospital after this because I, sir, am no doctor!" Darry said, a small smile on the corner of his lips towards the last part of his speech. I had to smile too. It felt real good to see Darry again... Haven't seen him in a long time...

"Oh, no worries, D-", I thought for a moment, "-I mean,uh, young man. You boys are a very nice looking group of teenagers, who do take the time to help an old man like myself," I said, deepening my voice a little so that they couldn't detect hints of the younger Soda's voice in mine. I mean after all we are the same person... just at a bit of an age difference... Ha! It felt good to know I had unknowingly complimented the gang.

Darry smiled and Ponyboy did too.

"You don't look that old-" I could tell Pony was starting to say but he stopped. What does that mean? I thought a little hurt.

"Our pleasure- sir, okay we're just gonna need you to just, lift your shirt and-" as I followed Darry's orders, watching them all give me looks of disgust, I couldn't help but stare at him with admiration- Darry had so much vigor and strength, even after mom and dad's death. It seemed so much, to me, that for a time, he was never happy; because he never got what he wanted- what he deserved for doing so much for the people who cared about him. But to see him here doing this, looking back on all the memories I had of him and me and Ponyboy and the gang, I realized that he was happy.. he was happy right where he was because, well, he was surrounded by all the people he cared for... And that was the only thing he ever wanted. The only thing he ever needed.

"That should do it sir!" he said with finality, sitting up and packing up the rest of the gauze he hadn't used on me. I looked down and mentally made a note to myself that I should at least thank him.

"Thank you, son," I replied. Darry was a good person, I just wish that I could've done something good for him. He got up and helped me up.

"So you're a grown man-" Steve continued nonchalantly. I nodded.

"So how in the world did you hurt yourself on my car?" he asked defensively. Good, wound up little Stevie. I thought for a moment.

"I don't know, young man... Got run over or something..."

"Not to be rude or anything sir, but the car was parked..." Pony said slowly; Leave it to good 'ol Pony to say that. I felt embarrassed as the gang tried holding back fits of laughter.

"Well, to be honest, my good fellows, I really don't remember what happened," I stated. Pony nodded. "But, you saw me, didn't you?"

Pony seemed a little surprised. "Well... Yeah..." he looked down at a small bug running across the sidewalk and kept his glance there.

"Could you tell me what happened?" the gang all turned to Pony now, waiting silently.

"Well, m-mister... You kinda just... I dunno... All I know is that you... well, when you saw me you just kinda ran... like I was your long lost brother or something... and you ran into Steve's car and tore yourself up on that little thing Steve always puts on the hood..." Pony stuttered.

"Nice goin' Steve!" I heard Two-Bit chuckle. I could understand- Ponyboy I mean. He never was good around strangers... Especially when explaining how the stranger had hurt himself.

"Ah..." I observed. Snickers.

"Wow... so in a sense you got run over by a parked car!" Two-Bit howled with laughter. I rolled my eyes. Didn't the moron ever stop making comments?

"Shut your trap, Two-Bit!" I heard Darry hiss. Dally punched him in the gut for Darry. I laughed. Darry'll always stick up for me... it's his innate ability to stick up for anyone when the situation presents itself.

"No, boys it's alright... I have a friend who said a lot of stuff like your friend here!" I told them. Two-Bit didn't know I just told him that he was my friend and that we knew each other and he knows that but not me because the me he knows wasn't me in that time in fact the me he knew was next to him but it's still me, you know? ( A/N HA! Say what?)

"We apologize... to tell you the truth, he's a little ripped right now... So, our apologies..." Soda told me firmly, slapping Two-Bit's hand away when he started patting him on the back unsteadily. Man, did I really look that good back then? Sure I was vain, but seriously... It's kind of nice to see what I look like without looking in the mirror everytime I got the chance!

"Well, just go easy on your intake, too much can do a lot of wrong things for you..." I said seriously. Two-Bit just rolled his eyes, like he always does.

"Roger that, mister!" he saluted me goofily and burst into laughter once more. I smiled. Darry and Pony sighed in unison and Pony shook his head; Darry was pinching the bridge of his nose to keep his rage from coming out on old cocky Two-Bit.


We had gotten to our house- well their house, since it was in their time not mine- in record time and they had me sit down and rest up.

"Im sorry, sir, we don't got much, but would you like something to eat while we call your- uh- family or something?" Soda asked a little confused. I shook my head; I knew they didn't have much.

"I'm fine, thank you..."

"Suit yourself!" Steve's voice was slurred by the large amounts of gum he was chewing on, as he dropped onto the couch getting comfortable. I just stood there and stared at him. Man, I forgot how insensible Steve could be...

"Now that's just rude..." Johnny said in a quiet disappointed voice; I don't think he was planning on being heard. But, man did it feel good to hear him speak.

"HA! You wouldn't know what rude was if it slapped you in the face..." Two-Bit burst out into yet another fit of chuckles. As Soda came in, hearing Two-Bit's unneccessary comment, we both had muttered 'glory!...' in the same tone at the exact same time. I froze, hoping that he wouldn't get as suspicious as Steve did. Wait? It's me! I don't pay attention unless it happens more than twice! I thought reassuringly. And, to prove my theory even moreso correct, Soda just laughed it off.

"Of course you'd say that..." Pony mumbled beneath his breath.

"I think I'm learning more about this young man in the not-even twenty minutes that I've been here than I've learned about my youngest son in all his six years of living!" I cried out- course, I had to say that, I already knew Two-Bit was like that, I just hadn't been around that kind of Two-Bit since he got married. Ponyboy smiled and slapped Two-Bit on the back playfully.

"Yeah, because his life is just that interesting!" he said sarcastically. Two-Bit took a swing at him, but luckily for my baby brother he got away.

"MY LIFE IS INTERESTING!" he called out after Ponyboy. No it aint... I thought humerously.

"No it aint!" Steve spat. HA! Told you... This is why me and Steve are friends!

"Shut it, Randle..." Two-Bit growled. Steve sat up, putting his guard up.

"You wanna go, Matthews?"

"And if you mean by 'go' you mean to the championships by winning this petty fight you're displaying then yeah- I WANNA GO REAL BAD!" he hooted. It took a lot to make me not laugh out loud; I was supposed to be the adult here; me and Darry. And Darry wasn't here at the moment- not in the front anyways.

"Okay, okay, don't go all hunkey dorey on each other!" I cried out gesturing for them to stop. And saying what I just said, it got them to stop real quick. They were both getting red in the face and immediately took their hands off each other.

"Who you calling hunkey-"

"- and speaking of the Dorey part, my good sir-" They got away from each other real fast. I only shook my head, smiling.

"Teens these days... You know back in my day-" I began.

"OH GLORY!"

"Here we go again-!" I couldn't help but burst into more laughter. Being back with my gang, the way they were before, helped bring me out of the pain from the embarassing wound I had recieved.

"You know, someday... You'll tell your kids-" Steve interrupted me.

"Who said anything about kids in my future-"

"AINT NO GIRL GONNA TIE THIS WOLF DOWN!" Two-Bit howled. I hadn't realized that Ponyboy had walked in by then.

"Shut it, you two! Ya'll are probably bothering this poor man to death!" Ha! That's the least of your problems, baby bro... I thought, thinking about the bad influences Two-Bit and Steve- eh, throw good ol' Dal in there too- had on our small and compact little family.

"Your friends have kept me entertained quite well throughout my stay here..." I said happily. Pony nodded, getting somewhat more of a relaxed look. Then he pulled up a chair and pulled out a piece of paper and pen.

"So, sir, umm, my brother asked me to write down a couple of your answers- nothing , uh, personal but... so we can give it to the doctor when we drop you off there- at the, the, uh, hospital..."

"Kid?"

"Yeah?"

"You know you don't need to be nervous around me, just ask those questions and I'll answer them as clearly as I can so you can hear me!" I said reassuringly. Pony, again, nodded.

"What's your name?" Glory... I thought; I could feel panic start to rise as I scrambled to find the solution to my sticky situation.

"Uh..." Pony gave me a small look of concern. Glory, Pony, stop staring it's rude... I thought absentmindedly, getting a little frustrated at myself.

"Okay, we can go to the next question, then..." Ponyboy said in a small voice. Stupid, STUPID! I started kicking myself for not having to come up with a better answer.

"Where do you live?" Have mercy on my soul! I bit my lip.

"Sir, do you remember ANYTHING?" Right when I thought I had something good to say-

"He did try to tell me his name back after his little incident-" Steve smirked. Aw you're just pissed off because I told you I knew your mother! I thought grumpily.

"No, no... I'm pretty sure I remember something..." I said slowly. I thought long and hard for a minute. How was I going to solve this? How in this freaking world am I going to solve THIS?

"I remember..." Pony got a little hopeful, sitting up straight once more in his seat and waiting for me to finish so he could write something worth salvaging for the doctor. I faltered. "... nothing." we both sighed heavily, and I leaned my head against one hand while crossing the other one on my lap. If only I could tell you who I really was, Pone... I had almost convinced myself to tell them all who I really was but Darry walked in right about then. I tried to keep my deafeated face on and not tell Darry the automatic thing I always told him when he walked into the room.

"HEY DAR, HOWS THE WEATHER UP THERE, huh, big buddy?" I heard the other Soda chime in as he ran in and tripped over the edge of the chair I was sitting in.

"Oh, young man, I'm very sorry-" I got down to the floor to help him get back up, but he turned my help down, dusting himself off, laughing even harder.

'Naw, that was my fault, sorry!" he said good-naturedly getting up, and helping me get up and get back into the armchair.

"You're a turd..." Steve said in a flat voice. Soda rolled his eyes at him.

"No he's not! He's a lazy bum, and a clumsy one at that!" Pony restated Steve's statement.

"Aw, c'mon, buds! Aren't we all lazy, clumsy"- he turned towards Steve-"turdy bums at one point in our lives? Aren't we?" Soda pumped his fist into the air and scrambled into the kitchen.

"Thanks for that, enlightening, pep talk..." Darry sighed in a frustrated tone. I sighed.

"You know, the kid has spaz, I'll give him that!" I said observantly. It got everyone to laugh.

"HEY SODA! Scratch that! You're now a SPAZZY lazy clumsy-" Steve's voice trailed off as he went into the kitchen to finish off his statement. We all shook our heads.

"You know, sir, I'm real sorry- these no-good lunatics love to entertain guests..." Darry muttered helping me up to get into the car. I put a firm hand on his shoulder and shook my head.

"I can do it myself, son, thank you very much- already done so much for me..." I said as I opened up the door.

"DARRY!" Pony called. I swiveled on my feet.

"Yeah, what?"

"He doesn't remember who he is- where he lives, nothing!" I could tell Pony was worried about me, though I was a perfect stranger to him.

"Oh..." Darry looked at me, furrowing his brow a little more. "huh, this is something knew..."

"It's fine-" I pulled out my wallet, and handed Darry a fifty dollar bill- Goodness knows what he's going to do with it. They all stopped, their mouths dropping open.

"What the h-?" Steve squeaked. I got my coat on and snuck out the door so that no one would hear me. I smiled. You deserve it, Dar...

I could hear the cracked shuffle of my feet dragging on the floor from a small limp I still had; it was quite warm outside, pretty relaxing really, but I started to shiver from not knowing what to do next- where to go next. I was home; the home I longed to be in ever since- I suppressed the depressing thought once more. This has got to be a dream! I thought quickly. And someday you'll have to wake up from it, whether you want to or not.