Disclaimer: I do not own The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton, or "The Navesink Banks" by The Gaslight Anthem.

A/N: This chapter ties into a bunch of chapters from Sway. Not enough for me to leave a list of chapters, but definitely a few lines here and there, along with some explanations that were missing in Sway.

CHAPTER FOUR
January 1966

Kept faith in a switchblade tucked beneath my coat

Vinnie Mort is pacing in front of you. You watch him with slightly narrowed eyes, wondering if he's about to make some kind of move, or if he's really as agitated as he seems. At least he doesn't have a weapon on him - you made sure of that before you let him near the building you carry out your gang business in - but he's still a big guy … the kind of big guy who could probably kick your ass.

You glance at Danny, who's watching Vinnie just as intently as you were, and wonder what he thinks of the situation. Vinnie turned up twenty minutes ago, pleading with you to just talk, just hear him out, and you wish you'd managed to discuss it with Danny more thoroughly than the quick 'What d'you think?' the two of you had shared.

Finally, after muttering seventeen curse words, Vinnie sits at the chair across from you. He rests his elbows on his knees, and you take in his shaking hands, heavy breathing, and dangerous eyes. You lean back, hand resting on the blade in your front pocket.

"I need your help," he says.

You glance at Danny. "With?"

"I just - I need out, man. Out of that fucking gang, out from under Rex's thumb."

Rex Hamilton. You don't really know the guy, but rumour has it he's turning the River Kings from a gang of easy-going petty thieves you could actually stand to be around, into some kind of group of thugs who are selling dope, carrying guns, and beating on their own mothers if they feel the need to do so.

It doesn't surprise you that one of his guys wants out … if anything, you expected more would leave once he started getting a little too intense. But, so far, this is the first you've heard of anyone wanting out. And even though you expected more to try to leave, you never expected any of them to come to you.

You look at Danny again, but his face is expressionless, and even after knowing him for twelve years you can't tell what he's thinking. But he's not looking at you, and you're sure that if he was worried, he'd catch your gaze and somehow let you know about it.

"Vinnie, man, you wanna tell me what's goin' on?" you ask.

He glances at you then at Danny a few times, before finally nodding. "This has gotta stay between us, though, ya dig? I can't - I just can't have this gettin' out."

You and Danny both nod, and Danny finally glances at you. You can tell he's as perplexed as you are.

"Thing is," Vinnie begins, "Rex's changed. I dunno if all this so-called power's just gone to his head, or if he's fucking crazy and it's only coming to light now, but he's not the kind of guy I wanna be workin' for."

You take a stab in the dark. "And … I am?"

"Nope. I don't want anything to do with any gangs. I just want out, but I can't do it without help."

"What kinda help?"

"A gun. For, you know, protection."

Protection. Right. Sounds like fucking bullshit to you, and Danny looks just as doubtful as you feel. You try to ignore the constant tapping of Vinnie's leg, and concentrate on what's going on.

"Okay," you say. "I can get you a gun, but I gotta know this shit's for real. I ain't about to supply you with the weapon you're gonna use against one of my boys."

"I ain't. I swear." He looks at you when he says it, and you kind of believe him. But kind of isn't enough.

"You still gotta tell me what's goin' on. You come to me for a gun, and I'm not willing to give it out without knowing exactly why you suddenly hate Hamilton so much."

And then, to your horror, Vinnie lowers his head in to his hands, his shoulders begin to shake, and he's crying. You blink a few times to make sure what you're seeing is real, and then look at Danny. You can read his expression now, and he's fucking confused as hell. Scratching the back of your neck, you wait it out a few minutes.

You can't remember the last time you saw a guy cry - especially one as big as Vinnie - and it unsettles you. You've seen plenty of chicks cry - Angela, Sylvia, Maria - but this is different, and you really don't know what to do.

In the end, you grab out your smokes and light three up. Vinnie's sobs turn to sniffles, and he takes the smoke without a word, inhaling deeply. Danny takes the other one, and you take a long drag of your own. Whatever's about to go down, you know you're going to need the nicotine in your system.

Vinnie wipes a hand over his face, and meets your gaze. "He hurt my girl."

"Okay. What did he do to her?"

"He … fuck." He wipes his hand over his face again, and smokes for a long moment before continuing. "He asked me - no, told me - to let him screw her. Didn't give me a fuckin' choice, just told me I had to let him do it whether I wanted to or not."

Danny mutters a curse under his breath, but you keep watching Vinnie.

"I said no, of course. And I was fucking furious, too. He just demanded that I bring my girl to him, as if she's a piece of meat and I agreed that he should have a go with whoever the fuck he wants just because he's in charge. But I wasn't gonna do it, man - I didn't do it."

"What happened?" you ask, feeling like you might already know the answer.

"He did it anyway. Went to her house, told her I'd agreed, then he just …" He stops to light another smoke, his hands shaking the whole time. "This never would've happened if I wasn't in the fuckin' gang. She didn't want it, but he did it anyway. Christ, you should've seen her, man - she looks more beat up than I've ever looked after a fight."

You count the tapping of Vinnie's knee now, because you don't want to concentrate on what he's saying, you don't want to understand what he's saying, you don't want to think what it would be like to be in his position. Angela, Anna, Sylvia, Maria - you'd kill anyone who did this to any of them.

"When did this happen?" Danny asks.

"Just days ago. I've been workin' out what to do since, and leavin' the gang is the only thing I can think of."

You share a glance with Danny, and you know he knows as well as you do that Vinnie's lying about that. He wants the gun for revenge, and, shit, you're willing to give it.

Vinnie sighs. "And then, I dunno, just to rub my face in it, he goes and messes with my sister. Got her drunk and took advantage - I should be glad he didn't force her, too, but that was her first time, and …"

Curly talks about Anita Mort every now and then, and you know she's only his age, maybe a bit younger. "Shit."

"So … you'll help me?"

He's looking at you so intently that you're not sure you could say no even if you wanted. You nod. "Yeah, man, we'll help you."

xxxxx

"Nice scratch."

You turn to see who's talking to you, and when your eyes meet Shelley's, your stomach twists in an unfamiliar way. She's sitting on the hood of your car, one leg crossed over the other, smoking. She doesn't look so innocent anymore, and it's not just because she's smoking. She looks more like the girls you see at Buck's every weekend, not the girl you haven't seen in almost a year. Your eyes narrow.

"Scratch? You're fuckin' kiddin', right? You know how many stitches I had to get for this?"

She grins. "Nope. How many?"

You don't actually know. You'd passed out cold by the time Mrs. Phillips finished stitching you up - whether from the pain or the Jack, you don't know - and purposely hadn't bothered to find out when Mrs. Phillips took them out. It didn't matter how many stitches you had in your face; all that mattered was that you'd had them. You'd had your face sliced open by some shithead whose name you can't even remember, and it still sometimes hurt.

Sitting yourself on the hood of your own car, you pluck the smoke from her fingers, just as she brings it to her lips.

"Since when do you smoke?"

"Since I broke up with Rob."

"Which time?" You haven't seen her, but you date girls who gossip far too much.

She shrugs. "It ain't meant to be, I know that, but for some reason, I just can't get him outta my system."

"Maybe you need to move on to someone else."

"Too bad no one's offerin'."

Silence falls over the both of you, and you go to pass her back her cigarette. She waves it away with her hand.

"Keep it."

You do, and it hasn't once escaped your notice that your lips are sitting exactly where hers had been. You pretend like you don't care, that you never even realised, and take a deep drag, holding the smoke in your lungs for a long moment.

"Fancy," she says, when you blow out a few smoke rings.

You smirk. "Jealous?"

"No. I could do that."

"Go on then." You hold the smoke out to her.

She grabs at it, looking up at you from beneath her long lashes, and your stomach does that strange twisting thing again. Gaze still locked on yours, she wraps her lips around the smoke and inhales. She pauses, eyes lowering, and tries to blow a smoke ring.

She fails. "Damn."

"Try again." Just because she failed doesn't change the fact that it's the hottest thing you've ever seen. She's definitely not a kid anymore, and you know you've got Rob Riley to either thank or curse for that.

A small smirk graces her lips, and she tries again. And again. "I'm never gonna get this."

"Just keep trying." Because it never stops being hot.

She takes one last drag of the cigarette, hands it back to him, then exhales slowly. You watch the smoke disappear into the air, knowing she's watching you, but stay silent. You wonder when she broke up with Rob, why she broke up with Rob, if she will stay broken up with Rob.

Then you frown, realising you might not want to know the answer to some of those.

"I like it," she says, disturbing the silence.

You look at her; she's smiling that warm smile at you. "You like what?"

She lifts one finger to the forming scar on your face, barely touching the very bottom of it, the very same place she kissed a year ago. Her skin is soft, smooth, and you fight the urge to turn your head and capture her fingers in your mouth. "This."

"You do, huh?"

She nods, and opens her mouth to say something, but someone calls her name from the edge of the parking lot. You both look up, and you don't bother hiding the scowl when you see Rob.

"Thought you broke up with him."

Her smile is sad now, all light gone. "I also said I can't seem to get him outta my system."

"What happened to movin' on?"

"Like I said: no one's offering." She jumps down from your car and walks over to Rob.

A/N: Reviews would be wonderful.