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Ring…Ring…Ring…Ring…Click.

No answer. Again. He had probably tried ten times already, but still he got no answer. That was unusual, extremely unusual. It made him a bit nervous. It caused him to feel slightly scared, but he shot the feelings down.

He was probably overreacting anyways. He was known to before.

The phone suddenly rang and his hand shot towards it, answering it with unimaginable quickness.

"Ponyboy?" he asked into the phone.

The voice on the other line cleared their throat. "No, sorry, Sodapop. It's Darry. You expectin' a call?"

Soda shook his head, although he knew his brother couldn't see him. "Uh, naw. It's just- uh. Pony ain't been answerin' all day. He didn't pick up the phone yesterday either. I thought maybe he was returnin' my call or somethin'."

He could hear Darry talking to someone on the other side and he figured it was one of Darry's work buddies or his new girlfriend, Jessica. After both of the younger brothers had moved out, Darry had found time for himself. Sodapop knew he enjoyed every second of it, too.

"Don't you both usually talk on the weekends?" Darry's voice came back on the line.

Soda nodded. "Yeah, but he ain't answered today- didn't answer last weekend either."

"Huh," Darry said slowly, as if he were trying to figure something out. "Well, he may just be out havin' fun or he could be too far into a book to realize the phone's even been ringin'."

Soda smiled at Darry's attempt at humor, though it was weak.

"Yeah, I know. I'm just worryin' myself is all."

"Well, stop," Darry laughed suddenly, "We established years ago that was my job and my job only."

Soda rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I hear ya', Dar."

The conversation got quiet for a moment before Darry cleared his throat. "Actually, the reason I was callin' ya' is that I was thinkin' about givin' Pone a surprise visit. I wanted to know if you wanted to tag along."

Soda's eyebrows rose as he heard the door to the apartment open. He watched Steve walk in.

"You serious?"

"Yeah, I mean, it ain't too long of a drive. And we ain't seen him in a while. I think it'd be nice to talk to him face to face again."

Soda felt himself smile. "Hell yeah, I'll tag along! Jesus, Dar. I ain't seen the kid since God knows when. You coulda shown up at my door right now and said pack your bags and I would've gone right to it."

Soda saw Steve give him a funny look and mouth something along the lines of who is it. Soda waved him off and listened for Darry's reply. He could hear his older brother laugh.

"Alright then. I was thinking Monday, maybe? I got the day off work."

Soda smiled wide at the thought of seeing his baby brother. "Sounds great. I'll ask my boss about it tomorrow."

"Talk to you later, Sodapop."

"Bye."

Soda hung up the phone and grinned widely at Steve's confused face. "We're goin' to Texas!"

The cold air had seemed to dampen as the night went on. It was an unsettling feeling.

Pony wasn't sure about exactly where he was going. He didn't have much knowledge of the area, even though he had been living there for already three years- almost four.

He had been walking the whole time and he sort of wished he would have taken a bus. Except, he had been worried that someone would find him easily like that. If he got on a bus a few towns over, ending up in a bad situation would be less likely.

He dug his hands into his jacket pocket and sighed. He fucking hated college. It ruined his goddamned life. He couldn't think about that at the moment, though, because it wouldn't get him anywhere.

He stayed within the shadows, away from the streetlights. He wasn't sure about the time, but he knew that he had to find somewhere to rest. He was tired and it would not be good for him to be tired the next day, when he would be hiding in the daylight.

He hid his face as he slowly passed a woman on the street. She smiled at him, though.

"Hi, Sugar," she said slowly as she moved over to block his path. "You lookin' for a good time?"

Her voice was raspy and it slurred slightly as she spoke. From what Pony could make out in the dark her hair was blonde, but not at all neat. Her top was too small for her and she looked too skinny. Her skirt was short and he wondered how she could stand the cold.

He directed his attention away from her features, trying to remember what he was attempting to accomplish in the first place.

He shook his head to her question. "You know any motels around here?"

"Sweetheart, I know lots of motels, but I know a lot of other places we could go for free."

"No," Pony shook his head, "Not for that. Do you just-uh- I just need to find a place to stay."

She leaned closer. "C'mon, baby," she said slowly. "Stay with me."

"Please, I need a place. I'm in a hurry. I don't have time for this. Really, please?"

She giggled a little. "You're funny. Just c'mon. I promise you'll like it. They always like it."

Pony pushed her to the side. "Never mind."

He started to walk away, but her voice stopped him. "Hold up!"

He turned and stared at her. She looked annoyed and tired.

"Go a little ways down the street and turn a left on Cleveland Road." He could barely see her as she slowly lit a cigarette and placed it in between her lips. "But let me tell you, sugar. If you're tryin' to hide from someone you better beat it. They got ways of findin' people around these parts."

Ponyboy chose that moment to quickly turn and head the way she had told him. He knew he needed to get out and away, but he didn't have much of a choice when it came to what was necessary.

They got ways of findin' people around these parts. Pony gulped, because he already knew that.

A/N: Alright lovelies, there you go! I hope you enjoyed. REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW. Thanks for the reviews last chapter by the way. They were appreciated!