Chapter Two

Ponyboy

Soda and Steve were sittin' on the bed together when I walked in and turned to stare at me. I avoided their eyes, not wanting Soda to see how I was feelin'. He already knew I was upset but I didn't want him to know the extent of that. I faked a yawn and blinked my eyes like I was trying to stay awake as I grabbed my pillow.

"Where're you takin' your pillow, kid?" Steve asked

"The spare bedroom. Two-Bit and I are gonna stay in there."

"You okay buddy?" Soda asked.

"Yeah. Just tired. I'll be okay after I get some sleep."

"Then go get some sleep. We'll see you tomorrow morning."

"I'm goin'."

I headed into the spare, my pillow in one hand. When I entered the room, Two-Bit was sitting on the bed, clad in only his boxers, holding his head in his hands. I shut the door and he looked up at me, his eyes stormy. He was upset and I knew what it was all about. His dad was back. He'd come back to Tulsa the night before and it was buggin' Two-Bit. Two-Bit and his old man had never gotten along. The guy had left them when Two-Bit was only twelve and Valerie, his kid sister, was just a few days old. Before that, he'd ben real abusive to their mom. The fact that the guy was back was probably the worst thing that had happened to him in a while.

"You okay?" I asked, sitting down next to him.

"I'll be all right long as I don't go back there. I'll live in my fuckin' car if I have to."

"Keith Matthews. You are not goin' to live in your car. If you have to leave your place, you'll stay here. I won't have you on the streets like a common bum."

He smiled a little. "Okay. Fine. I'll just live in the spare bedroom then."

"Our bedroom." I corrected, liking the way the words felt on my tongue.

"Yeah. Now let's get some sleep. Tomorrow's the first day of summer. I'd rather be wide awake for it."

We lay down and Two-Bit wrapped himself around me. I sighed, shoving myself as close to him as I could get. Within moments we were asleep.

Two-Bit

I woke up at three in the morning to the sound of Pony whimperin' in his sleep. He was shiverin' against me so, thinkin' he was cold, I wrapped my arms around him and pulled him closer. When he still didn't stop shivering, I opened my eyes and looked down at him. He was curled into my side, his face presses against my skin so I couldn't see his face. But I could feel the tears splashing against my skin and knew he was havin' another nightmare.

"Pony. Baby wake up."

He stirred a little but didn't open his eyes. I stared down at him, watching tears fall from beneath closed lids. As I watched, he whimpered and whispered something unintelligible. More tears followed this and I watched as his whole body began shaking. I pulled myself into a sitting position and tightened my arms around him. He didn't seem to notice anything.

"Pony baby please wake up."

Finally, after what seemed like hours, he opened his eyes and stared at me. Sitting up, he wrapped his arms around himself. I pulled him against myself and held him, knowing that he'd tell me what it was about when he was ready.

"I'm sorry..."

I rolled my eyes. "You have nothin' to apologize for. What was that one about?"

"Dallas. The night he...it was just replaying. Over and over again. And I couldn't pull myself out of it. Go ahead and go back to sleep. I'll just lay here until I can fall asleep again."

"I'm not goin' to sleep when you're awake and upset. Now get over here."

"Why?"

"I said so. That's why."

We lay back down and Pony rested his head against my chest and closed his eyes. A few seconds later he was snoring lightly. I looked down at him and had to smile. He looked so peaceful when he was sleeping, almost happy. Lately, he'd been under so much stress that I was happy to see him look peaceful. He deserved to be happy, to have everything he wanted, and he was gettin' the short end of everything. I hated it. It made me sick to know that he was gettin' the short end of everything. Still, even though I wanted to stay awake and think about the injustice all night, I found myself falling asleep to the sound of Pony breathing beside me...