A/N: Thanks so much for the reviews guys! I'm working insanely hard on this like you wouldn't even believe! Please keep reviewing! It helps me finish a chapter faster.

Shoutout to: Twilight90202- For being a reader since Chapter 1 was posted. Thanks so much for reading and posting a review on just about every chapter! :D

And DrowningFromTheInside- For reading and liking my story even though her's is ten times better! (BTW KEEP UPDATING TRAVELIN' SOILDER xD)

Anyways, on to Chapter 4!

When I woke up, I saw Johnny slipping on his shoes and heading for the door. My first thought was that we were still at home, but then the memory came rushing back like a wave. "Where ya goin'?" I said as I sat up quickly.

"Gettin' some stuff. Remember what Dal said?"

I nodded. "Can I come?"

He looked at Ponyboy, who was sleeping a little ways away from me. He sighed, then said, "Okay."

I smiled and jumped up. I quickly slipped on my shoes, and my jeans jacket. I ran to the door. "Come on!" I whispered excitedly.

"Hold on," Johnny said. He wrote a note for Ponyboy in the dirt. I tapped my foot impatiently, as Johnny jumped up and ran over. "Okay, let's go!"

We ran into the field, and it suddenly felt good to be outside again. I let the small breeze blow in my face, and all the muscles in my body relaxed as I twirled in a circle.

Johnny smiled. "I see you're happy that we aren't couped up in that church."

I nodded. "Yeah," I said, "I love being outside. If I could live out here, I would."

I ran ahead of Johnny and collapsed in the tall grass of the meadow. The sun was out, and everything was warm. He jogged up, and stood in front of me.

" Come on, now. We gotta get the food and get back to the church." He tried to be serious, but he was still smiling.

"Fine." I fake pouted as he lent a hand to help me up. Instead of letting go when I was up again, I pulled him by his arm down the dirt road.

When we were out of sight of the church, I let go. "Race ya!" I shouted and jetted down the road. He laughed and followed.

We got to a convenient store just inside of town called Masterson's. It was small on the outside with blue and white chipping paint, but on the inside it was huge and freshly painted. The cashier was a short old man, who was chubby and had glasses. He politely smiled at us as we walked in.

Masterson's had just about everything you could imagine there food wise. I grabbed some candybars, and two loaves of bread. Johnny grabbed baloney, peroxide, matches, a deck of cards, a paperback copy of Gone With The Wind, and some cigs.

We walked back up to the counter, and I looked around as Johnny paid for the stuff. I scuffed my shoes on the floor, and shifted from side to side as I waited. Over to the left of me, the bell rung as a couple walked in. The man was short and chubby. He had no hair. He was wearing a dirty Yankee's jersey, and a gray sweat pants. The woman has short, curly, brown hair, and blue eyes. Her skin was pale, and she was tall and skinny, She was wearing a long, floral, black dress.

As they walked past us, I turned towards Johnny and whispered, "Those are my parents!"

Johnny looked up quickly as they shoved past me to the counter. He held the box of stuff in his hand tightly, and said, "What do we do?"

I shrugged. "We have to get out of here before they realize who I am."

Johnny stopped and watched them through the corner of his eyes. When he was sure they weren't looking, and were safely arguing with the owner, he grabbed my arm and pulled me outside. We ran as fast as we could down the dirt road (which was hard for Johnny since he had the box), and when the store was out of sight, we stopped. I breathed deeply as I went into a fit of worry. My eyes widened and I had a hard time talking. Damnit. I wish Johnny didn't have to see my anxiety problems.

"T-t-thanks Johnny."

He walked over to me. "Char? You okay?"

I shook my head. "I-I-I get like this s-s-sometimes...when f-f-fear builds up t-t-too much..."

He grabbed my arm carefully and we walked down the road. I knew I'd be okay in about five minutes. Johnny didn't, so when we reached the church again (after walking much slower than before), he was still holding my arm even though I told him I was fine.

It was late afternoon now, and when we arrived, Johnny gave the whistle to warn Ponyboy that it was only us walking up. He came out of his hiding spot to greet us.

"Hey Johnny, Charlie. Fancy meetin' you here."

I laughed, suddenly realizing that Johnny's arm was still on mine. I pulled away as Ponyboy cocked an eyebrow at us playfully. I hoped he didn't notice.

We went into the church, and Johnny set the box on a table. I wandered over to the window, my mind drifting off. The meadow to the side of the church that I was running through earlier with Johnny was calm now, as the breeze from earlier stopped.

I tried to imagine Johnny and I running through it again as if I were someone else watching. What did people see when they looked at me? Did they see a greaser? Was I tough as grit? A hood? Did they see the side of me most others didn't? Or could they tell there was something different about me? Could they tell I was a true outsider?

My mind jolted back to reality as I heard Ponyboy say, "Oh no! No, Johnny, not my hair!"

"I'm gonna cut mine too, and wash the grease out, but I can't bleach it. My skin's too dark for me to look okay blond." Johnny said as I turned back to the conversation. Cut their hair? Were they crazy? For greasers, our hair is EVERYTHING. The wouldn't look right with hair as short as mine. Besides, Ponyboy's hair is what makes him look most like Sodapop.

"Okay," Ponyboy gave in. "Get it over with."

I got up and walked into the other room. I didn't want to watch. I sat on the floor, and found myself staring out of the window in there. Suddenly, nature was more open to me than it ever had been.

Back at home, I had no time to stop and see nature, what with rumbles and gang problems and everything. I loved to watch nature, and sometimes I even sat with Ponyboy and watched sunsets. We never said anything, we just watched. I think he enjoyed the company. That was what best friends were for.

Pony and Johnny came into the room a while later, and I realized I must have been day dreaming for longer than I thought. Their hair was short, but not like mine, and Pony's was a bright blond. My mouth dropped as he crossed his arms, and leaned against the wall staring at the floor angrily. "My hair looks lousy," He said.

"No it doesn't, Pony." Johnny looked at me with pleading eyes.

"Yeah," I chimed in. "You look great! Like a...young Paul Newman."

He rolled his eyes. "He doesn't have blond hair."

I shrugged. I tried.

Ponyboy was still angry and complaining about his hair the rest of the day, and I knew that this was going to be a long week before I even knew we'd only be there for a week. How long were we going to stay originally?

I pondered that while I was laying on the church floor, trying to get some sleep. I was unsuccessful, and I found myself staring at the ceiling.

I rolled onto my back, put my hands behind my head, and looked around. Ponyboy was sleeping on the bench nearby, and I barely noticed Johnny sitting on the other side of the room. He was awake, and his lips were turned into a tight frown.

I sat up and whispered to him, "Johnny?"

He glanced over at me. "Hmm?"

I crawled over and sat next to him. "What's wrong?"

He shrugged. "Just thinkin'."

"About?"

He paused. I watched as he picked at his shoe laces. When the silence seemed unbareable, he said, "Do my parents care? I mean, are they upset that I'm missing?" He looked at me as if searching for an answer that was written on my face.

I shook my head slowly. "No..." He looked down. I bit my lip and continued. "But neither do Steve's or Dally's or maybe even Two-Bit's. It doesn't matter Johnnycake. As long as you got good friends that care about you, then everything should be fine." I pulled my knees up to my chest like I always did.

He looked at the ceiling. "Glory, I can't believe I killed Bob..."

"Me either."

I watched Johnny carefully. He wasn't a fighter. Even though he got hit by his drunken father everyday, and yelled at by his mom a lot, he didn't hate anyone. He would never intentionally hurt a person, let alone kill them. 'Course, if he got up in front of a judge, no one'd believe he was innocent, given the fact that he comes from the East side of town. What confused me was the fact that he was such a kind person, while people like Dal hated the world and everyone in it. One thing I knew for sure though, was that Johnny Cade was no Dallas Winston. Even if he looked up to Dal and sometimes followed him, they were not the same person.

"Johnny," I began slowly. "You're not a bad kid. You were defending us. Defending Ponyboy." I nodded in his direction. "I hope that if we do get caught, a judge and jury realizes that."

Johnny layed his head on my shoulder. "You know," he said after a bit of silence, "One day you're gonna have to tell the gang that you're a girl. At least tell Ponyboy cause he's one of your best friends and he's gonna find out sooner or later."

"Johnny Cade! Are you implying that I'm acting like a girl?" I said playfully. He chuckled.

"No..." he said sarcastically.

I shoved him. We ended up talking late into the night. Neither of us wanted to go to bed and rush the next day, nor did we even mention anything that happen just the night before again. We just talked as if things weren the same. As if Johnny didn't pull out that switchblade in Ponyboy's defense. As if he didn't kill someone. As if we didn't hop a train to Windrixville. As if we weren't staying in an old abandoned church, hiding from the cops. It was as if nothing had changed...but deep in our hearts we knew it wouldn't be the same.

I didn't even think about what Johnny said about telling Ponyboy that I was a girl. Not at all, until two days later when Johnny went out to the water pump.

Ponyboy was on the other side of the room, eating a baloney sandwich. He had been sad lately, and I knew for sure it had to be because he was homesick.

I was sitting across from him, picking at my nails, when I said, "Ponyboy can I ask you somethin'?"

"Yeah?"

"How does it feel? You know, diggin' movies and sunsets so much, and bein' different from the gang?"

Pony chewed carefully, and thought for a moment. "It's hard. You feel like you're too different, and like people wouldn't understand you if you even tried to explain yourself to them. You feel alone."

I nodded. "Other times its great, because you feel like you're part of a secret club or somethin'."

"Yeah, I understand."

Ponyboy took another bite of his sandwich. "Yeah, just like how you feel since you're the only girl amongst all us good lookin' boys."

I stopped and stared at him. My heart stopped, and he smirked at me. How did he know?

My mouth dropped. "How in the hell did you figure it out?"

Ponyboy shrugged. "You talk in your sleep. I heard you say that you really were a girl, among other things."

I jumped up. "What did I say?"

"That you hate your parents and you're glad they dumped you."

I sat down and breathed. Johnny came back in no time, and brought along some fresh water. I was quieter than usual, lost in thought. I kept think about how Ponyboy found out about it. When did he find out? I thought about it all day, until I fell fast asleep.

AN: So there you have it!

Oooo getting interesting!

The question is, did Ponyboy find out the way he said he did, or is he hiding something?

What else could he have found out?

Tune in for the next chapter! Review please! Thanks!