Disclaimer: I don't own any of S.E.Hinton's charcters...; Descriptions taken from the movie by F.F. Coppola

Two-Bit's Report

I couldn't sleep at all. Neither could Darry.

I had gone to mine and Pony's room the moment we had come back from the park. I had done my best to keep back tears that had been threatening to fall, but back home I cracked and I didn't want Darry to see. I let myself fall down on the bed and let them tears run. Tears of shock, anger, worry and panic.

At some point I thought I might just cry myself to sleep, so I actually undressed, slipped under the covers and tried not to imagine bad scenarios, that Pony could be in at the moment.

That free spot next to me in the bed, where Ponyboy should be, made it impossible not to think about him. And thinking of Pony resulted in worries, worries, more worries and, well, eventually in panic. I needed something to do. This was killing me. I slipped my jeans back on and put on my shoes. I went back in the living room.

Outside it was still dark and when I glanced at the clock it was way past four o'clock, about four thirty or something.

Darry was standing in the kitchen. He was making coffee, again. I don't know how much coffee he had already had that night, but I assumed it must have been quite a lot of cups.

My shirt was lying neatly folded on the sofa. It must have been Darry, since I had missed the sofa – again – when I had thrown it there. I put it on. I didn't bother with buttoning it up or putting on a t-shirt under it.

I was just about to open the front door, when Darry came in with his mug.

"Where d'you think you're going, Soda?" he asked.

"Looking for Pony." I looked at Darry only for a second and was out in the night. I usually wouldn't really go out alone, because of the Socs, but at that moment I didn't care.

"Hey, wait!" Darry was running up behind me, struggling with his jacket. "You ain't going alone."

I was thankful. I really was. And I guess Darry, in some way, was too, cause he was just as antsy and worried as me.

We weren't quite sure where to start looking. But since it was closest we went to Johnny's. With little hope though, because of Johnny's situation at home. He'd rather stay the night on the lot than at home. Darry still threw some pebbles at Johnny's window hoping for some reaction.

But there was no reaction. Nothing. So we went on to the lot. Not a soul there either. Well, 4:30 in the morning. If there had been someone it would have been Johnny. The fact that he wasn't made me guess or hope that after all, where ever Pony was, he wasn't alone.

"Where next?" I asked Darry panicky. I was hoping that Darry, our smart Darry, would know. But he shrugged.

"Two-Bit's?" he suggested. I half-shrugged, half-nodded.

"Damn, it's cold." I muttered on the way, finally buttoning up the shirt.

"You ain't no better than Pony, going out like that," Darry replied nodding at my shirt.

"But he's been out longer. He'll sure be sick." I put my arms around me, trying to get a little warmer.

At Two-Bit's Darry threw some pebbles at the window, again. Not wanting to wake up Two-Bit's mom and sister.

It took a while, but eventually there was light in Two-Bit's room and he appeared at the window.

"Shoot, Dar, you mad? You coulda smashed my window, Superman."

"Shut it, Mathews. You seen Pone?"

"Why? He ain't home?"

"Sure he is. It's just fun to wake you up at five and ask if you've seen 'im."

"Shoot! Hang on, I'm comin' down."

Two-Bit disappeared from the window, his light went off, and some seconds later he was out front.

"You seen him?" Darry asked again.

"Met him at the movies. We walked back together 'til we got to Johnny's place. Haven't seen them since."

"When?"

"Shoot, Dar, I don' know. Ten? Ten thirty? I'm not sure."

"You remember anything? Or had you drowned all your brain cells in beer, already?"

"Calm it, Darry. I'm gonna tell you all I know."

I didn't say anything. I was freezing. I was worried. I just couldn't say anything. I guess if I had tried, I might have started to cry. I felt tense and a lump was blocking my throat.

"Let's get inside. I'm freezin','" Two-Bit told us and only then did I realize he was wearing even less than me. He was only in a pair of jeans.

We went in the kitchen and sat down at the kitchen table. Two-Bit got himself a beer and offered us some too.

"No, thanks," Darry said and I only shook my head.

Two-Bit took a chair, turned it around and sat, so he could rest his arms on the back.

"So, where do I start?" he mused.

"The movies," Darry remarked dryly.

"Right," he took a gulp from his bottle, "When I arrived, Dally – he had gone there with them, remember? – was gone. Pony, he was chatting up this really pretty red-headed socy girl, and Johnny was sitting by Marcia—I'll tell you about her later—leave it to them to pick up two of the finest ladies in Tulsa."

Darry and I both just listened to what Two-Bit had to tell us.

"Then, after the movie was over, we wanted to give 'em a ride home, but had to walk to my place first, cos I didn't come by car, you see?"

When neither Darry nor I answered, but merely nodded he went on:

"So, we were walking with them gals and then their boys showed up – in a mustang, one tuff car. Anyway, they ordered the girls to come with 'em. And they started insulting us. There wasn't a fight though, because this Cherry gal said she hates fights, and we better stop, and that they'd go with 'em. That's it. Then Johnny, Pone and I went on 'til Johnny's, and we split."

"Those Socs," Darry asked, "did one have blonde hair, wearing rings and white pants?"

"Shoot, Darry, how'd I – "

"Think, Mathews!" Darry ordered.

"Tha' – Cherry's boy, I think he's got blonde hair. And he had rings," Two-Bit recalled.

"Damn!" That was my first contribution to that conversation. I felt any color fade from my face. "Ponyboy," I whispered.

Darry only had his eyes closed. Resigned, shocked, even more worried than before – if that was even possible. But I think it must have been, because it was just the same I was feeling. And above all panic.

The same moment Darry opened his eyes, his fist landed on the kitchen table, causing a plate and two cups that had been on the table to be lifted off lightly and fall back down noisily.

"Dammit!"

"Er – would anyone bother to tell me what's goin' on?" Two-Bit asked, slightly scared of Darry's sudden blaze.