Hello! I am exited about this story and THIS will be the chapter...you know. The one where you find out the first mystery. But don't worry, there will be more for you to guess. And even if you're reading this ten years later, you can still guess what's gonna happen.

By the way, this is not historically acurate. This particular situation would be more likely to occur in the 1980s to nowadays.

I own nothing.

Pony and I sat in the lot with Austin. It was Pony's favorite time of day, when the sun was about to set.

I don't really get him. I think he's too complex for my tiny brain to even try to understand, but I do it with him anyway, because I need to keep him safe. And he's my best friend, and it's nice to be with him.

Of course, we weren't really alone anymore. Now there was Austin, my little brother. I don't think Pony liked Austin too much, probably because he was forcing me to drop out of school.

"It's really pretty, isn't it Johnny?"

"Yeah." I was quiet again, the momentary overprotectiveness Austin's arrival had brought me, gone.

"Hey Johnny?"

"Yeah Pony?"

"What were you going to tell me today? Right before you found Austin."

I paused, looking at the setting sun, and finally decided on an answer. Sort of. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Yes you do." Pony was good with lies. He knew when someone was lying to him, and no one ever knew when he was lying to them. "You were really distressed. C'mon. I can help."

"Oh...that. It doesn't matter now." Another lie, and I waited with baited breath to see if Pony would recognize it.

"Liar. Tell me the truth."

"Pony, it really doesn't matter. Not now that I have Austin. I don't have time to think about it."

"You have to think about yourself. Darry doesn't, and it nearly kills him. Don't let that happen to you."

"Thanks Pony, I wont." He waited for an answer to his original question. When none was forthcoming, he sighed loudly and impatiently.

"That means that you should tell me. I won't tell anyone else."

"You're who I'm second most worried about if I tell."

"Johnny, what the hell is going on?" Most people think that Pony doesn't swear, but I know differently. In front of me, he doesn't care. "And who are you first most worried about?"

"Dally. Pony you have to promise that if I tell you, and when what I tell you about happens, you have to promise that you wont let Dally do anything stupid. Remember when he thought I died in the hospital after that fire? How crazy he went? Don't let that happen."

"Johnny, are you suicidal?"

"What? No. Well, not anymore."

"So what the fuck is going on!" I winced at his tone, and he patted me on the back.

Austin was a sleep in my arms and I grinned down at the lightly snoring baby. "Pony, if I were to go somewhere, who do you think would take care of Austin?"

"I don't know. Probably us, for a little while. Unless it was permanent, then he's probably be put up for adoption."

I clutched the baby tighter to me, and he whimpered slightly. I forced my grip to loosen, although adrenaline was still pounding through my veins.

That is what finally made me tell him. My fear for Autsin. I hope it was a noble reason, gallant, that I wasn't doing this for pity or to hurt someone but to make sure my little brother had the kind of life I wanted for him.

"Pony, in about a years time, I'm gonna go away, and I need you to promise that you wont let either of my brothers get hurt."

Pony knew that I meant Dallas and Austin. "Johnny, why would you go somewhere, and leave us with Austin? You're 'responsible' enough to drop out of school, but not enough to just stick around with your brother?"

"Pony, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry that you're going to have to deal with Austin. Help him grow up, make sure Dal stays out of trouble-" My voice cracked and I was suddenly crying.

"Johnny, where are you going?" I couldn't believe that he didn't understand what I was saying yet.

"I-I'm going to see your mom and dad again." Pony gasped.

"No you aren't! You said you weren't sad anymore! You promised that you wouldn't do that!"

"Pony, I'm sorry. I don't want to go." Pony was crying into my jacket.

"Then why are you Johnny?" He sounded so weak, and I began to stroke his hair, pulling the knots out of it and wiping the grease out. I knew it was time to tell him the whole story.

"When I got burned, they had to give me some blood. The blood was...sick. A disease called GRID."

Pony jerked out of my grasped, and scampered away. "The blood made you gay? That's disgusting!"

I rolled my eyes. Pony was sometimes really closed minded. "I'm not gay Pony."

"Really? Because GRID stands for "Gay related immune deficiency." Johnny, that's disgusting. I can't believe you-"

"First of all Pony," I began, getting angry now, "I can't believe how...mean you sound right now. People who are gay, it's no their fault. Second, the doctor says that disease in incorrectly named. It's not only gay people who get it. Drug addicts who use needles get it-"

"So, you're saying your a drug addict? Not much better than being gay if you ask me."

"Would you shut up? No, I'm not a drug addict. They gave me the blood of some drug addict. It passes through blood, and the drug addict probably sold his blood so he could buy more drugs. It also passes from mother to infant. And just straight sex."

"So..." Pony sounded ashamed. "I can't get sick from you?"

"No, not unless I took my blood and rubbed it in an open wound of yours." There was a long silence, broken by a little cry from Austin.

I took out a bottle from a back I had slung around my wrist, and coaxed him to take it in his mouth.

"So...you're really about to...die?" I nodded, refusing to look over at Pony. When I heard a choked sound from him, I realized that he was crying, but trying not to let me see.

"Oh Ponyboy. Come here." One arm still holding Austin, I brought the other around Pony's shoulders. "You can cry. It's ok. I'm here."

"Johnny. I-I'm not sure how I'm gonna get on without you. I'm not sure if I can do it."

"You can do anything Pony. You're a Curtis. And please, remember what I said. You have to promise. Austin will have to grow up without his bid brother and Dal..." I choked back a sob. "Dal will..."

And that's when I started bawling.