Someone was shaking my shoulder and a voice was calling my name. No, wait. Several voices were calling my name. I tried to ask whoever it was to stop shaking me, but my mouth wasn't working and what came out was a groan. Everything was blessedly silent and still for a moment. My head was pounding and my eyelids were heavy as I forced them open a bit.

"I think he's coming round." someone, I think Steve maybe, said. The shaking persisted and I really wished it would stop. At this rate I'm going to get sick again. I groaned again, the only kind of warning I could give at the moment. My oldest brother's voice broke through the fog that was my brain, his words coming through crystal clear.

"C'mon kid. Wake up! Glory, if you ever do this to us again…" Darry never finished what he was saying but I had a lot of ideas about what he'd do. Him kicking me out seemed foremost in my mind. Oddly enough, to my muddled mind, he sounded worried to me. Another voice broke through my pounding head.

"Take it easy on him Darry. C'mon Pony, wake up time." Soda said softly.

"Wake up Ponyboy, you're scaring us!" why would Darry be scared for me? I opened my eyes more to try and see what was going on. The shaking intensified and I found that my mouth finally worked.

"I'm ok. Quit Shaking me Darry, I'm ok." I said finding my throat dry and my voice hoarse. He stopped immediately and looked a little sheepish. Now that's one expression that I never figured to see on my oldest brothers face. The gang had surrounded me and was looking down at me with concern. Gee, this is getting familiar.

"Uh, what am I doing on the hall floor?" I asked the first thing that came to mind. Once again everyone gave me odd looks, yup this was getting real old, real fast. At least I hadn't taken anyone out with me this time, I didn't think I had anyways. No one was on the floor with me, so that was a good sign.

"You're sick buddy; you passed out for a minute. You think you're ok to walk back to bed for some rest." Soda asked gently ruffling my hair.

If I can get standing and stay that way then I can walk. The question is can I stand without the world tilting. I nodded, which was a dumb idea, and Darry hoisted me to my feet. He kept his grip until I started to shuffle off to my room. Soda stayed one step behind me, along with Johnny and Two Bit, and sat on the edge of the bed after I'd lain down. Looking at him brought back the fear and dread that I'd felt before I unceremoniously met the floor.

"Um, uh, Soda?" I muttered hunching my shoulders and looking down at the bedspread.

"What's up Pony? What do you need little brother?"

"Who… Who was on the phone?" I really didn't want to ask that question, but I had to know.

"What? Oh, uh, I didn't answer it. You kinda distracted me. Oh well. They never phoned back so it must not have been important."

"What's got you so worked up about the phone lately Pony? You still worried about the prank call for some reason? You've sure been jumpy since then." Two Bit said looking intensely into my eyes. I hate it when people look at me like that, it's like they're trying to look inside my head… Great, he just told Soda about the phone call. Now what do I do? Oh I guess they're waiting for an answer. I have to think of something fast.

"It's probably cuz he's sick." Johnny spoke up surprisingly. He was standing by my head facing the other two. Is he protecting me? I looked at him outta the corner of my eye. He was shaking but he also looked determined. He is protecting me. Johnny almost never speaks, and never once have I heard him speak so forcefully. He was standing up to members of the gang of all people. He'd never even done this before he'd been jumped last year, and it would have been unheard of now. If I hadn't seen and heard it myself I never would have believed it.

"Yeah, you're probably right Johnnycake. Listen Johnny, why don't you stay in here with Pony, keep him company, while I go make dinner?" Soda suggested soothingly and Johnny relaxed a little. My life just got a little weirder, and right now that's saying something.

"I'll go get you some more medicine Pony, then you should get some more rest if you can." my brother continued as he and Two Bit left the room.

"Hey Johnny, why don't you read the book out loud for a while, that way you can still ask me stuff and I'll still be resting." I finished saying that quickly when he looked like he was going to protest. Johnny looked like he was still going to say no until the phone rang again and, despite the vow I'd made to myself to act normal, I jumped. Dammit! Stop it! Be rational, it was just a prank earlier. Probably just some jerks heard those guys gloating about jumping me and wanted to get in on it by scaring me. Stop freaking out. Nobody knows what happened and they're not going to find out. I hope… but then how did they know who I was, and how did they know my phone number? That thought nagged me for awhile, but I resolved not to think about it.

I was calmer by the time Johnny climbed onto the bed next to me and started to read aloud. Darry interrupted a moment later to bring me more Tylenol and water. He smiled a little when he saw Johnny with the book, and left as quickly as he'd come. I was nearly asleep when Soda called Johnny for dinner. The next time I woke up it was Sodapop crawling into bed beside me.

"How ya feelin Pony?" he asked when he saw that I was awake.

"Better." I said after contemplating the answer for a minute.

"That's good. You gave us a bit of a scare passing out like that. Darry was going nuts trying to wake you up. He was worried something awful and Dally was all for rushing you to the hospital. He said you were acting weird all day and when that happened he was half sure you were hurt worse than we figured." I stared at him in disbelief.

"Sure." I said trying for Soda's sake to keep the sarcasm out of my voice. Darry didn't care an ounce for me, I was a nuisance to him, so why Soda figured he'd been worried about me was beyond me. As for Dally, I was just as amazed that he would care about anything other than himself and Johnny. The shade of difference that separates a greaser from a hood wasn't present in Dallas Winston. He is tougher than the rest of us – tougher, colder, and meaner. Then again I have to wonder if that's true or not. He sure seemed to be acting strangely earlier. Acting almost like he cared, like he wanted to protect me and destroy what had hurt me. It was almost like how I'd seen him treat Johnny sometimes.

"You tired baby brother? You're daydreaming again." Soda said softly as he threw an arm over me.

"Just thinking about how different everyone was acting today. Dally half treated me like he does Johnny, and Darry didn't yell at me or lecture me or anything. He was acting almost like he used to when… when mom and dad were alive." I finished after finding it hard to choke out the last sentence. I still can't believe their gone. Soda turned and looked at me.

"Listen to me Ponyboy, Darry loves you. He always has and always will. When Darry hollers at you… he don't mean nothin'. He's just got more worries than somebody his age ought to. Don't take him serious… you dig, Pony? Don't let him bug you. He's really proud of you 'cause you're so brainy. It's just because you're the baby – I mean, he loves you a lot. Savvy?" I shrugged and told him that I was tired when he looked like he was going to try to explain again.

In a second his breathing was light and regular. If I turn my head to look at him right now I know he'll look like a Greek God come to earth. I sighed and turned my head away instead. I don't quite get what he means about Darry. Darry thinks I'm just another mouth to feed and somebody to holler at. Darry love me? You're wrong Soda, Darry doesn't love anyone but you. I don't care, I lied to myself, I don't care about him either. Soda's enough for me. I don't need Darry to care about me. I'm still lying and I know it. I lie to myself all the time. But I never believe me.