Chapter Nine: Battle Scars

Note: First of all, everyone should watch Rain Man. It's great. Secondly, this chapter is dedicated to streetpanther1! Yes, Dally does have that whole sexy thing going for him. I find nothing mushy about sex. I'm just weird like that. I think a kiss is more romantic than sex. Aubrey & Two-Bit haven't had sex, because if you remember at the end of Chapter Six, Aubrey tells Ponyboy that between she and Two-Bit it is "nothing like that" or something along those lines. I feel like I'm out of my element when I write mushy things. Thanks for the reviews!

Narrator POV

Aubrey and Soda were sitting on the bed in Aubrey's room contemplatively. No, actually that's a lie. They were both just sitting there staring at the TV Aubrey had "found" the other day. No one had quite figured out how she got a TV out of a store and to the house without anyone finding out, except that it was a small TV and slightly damaged. Anyway, they were watching that when Soda turned to her for a second.

"Aubrey?" he asked.

"Yup?" she answered, flipping a piece of popcorn into her mouth. The two of them would've looked very strange to any outside eyes. Soda was dressed in a pair of boxers and a white undershirt, and Aubrey was wearing Soda's work shirt and a pair of very short stretchy shorts that she'd slept in the night before. Clothes weren't anything big to either of them. Ponyboy and Darry were always dressed, but Soda and Aubrey couldn't care less if they tried.

"Do you love Two-Bit?" he asked her. It was during a commercial break, and he flipped the TV off so that she would answer him. She paused for a moment, and chewed some popcorn thoughtfully.

"I guess," she mumbled. He raised an eyebrow.

"You guess?" he questioned with a small laugh.

"Yeah, I do," she said after a second.

"Are you going to marry him?" he asked.

"He hasn't asked me!" she said with a grin. Soda smiled and shook his head, sending his blonde hair over his shoulder. Just a couple of months ago it had been almost brown, but the sun had bleached it.

"If he did ask you today, would you marry him?" he asked her, taking a handful of the popcorn. She thought for a long moment.

"No" she answered with a shrug. He was a little stunned.

"Why not? Because you're too young?" he asked after he had recovered himself.

"No. Not too young but I just don't want to marry Two-Bit" she said with an off-wards glance at the door like she was dying to get out of the room and stop the grilling questions.

"I thought you loved him?" he murmured.

"I do love him. I just…I don't know." She mumbled.

"Do you love someone else?" he asked, taking her chin in his hands and looking into her face.

"Maybe. I don't know, I'm confused. But it doesn't matter. It's kind of like...like...I love Two-Bit but I love the rest of you guys too. It's different, but it's..."she stopped abruptly.

"Is it that Tom guy? Do you love him?" he asked after a second.

"No," she said pulling away from Soda quickly.

"Then who is it?" he asked her, pleadingly.

"Its Dallas" Darry said, walking into the room.

"What?" they both asked looking over at him. He hung a jacket up in the closet and turned to face them.

"Don't pretend it isn't. You love him Aubrey. I bet you all were more than just friends in New York. You're sure you love him, but you're confused because he doesn't seem to love you anymore." Darry said, as if telling her her own life story. "He probably didn't even act like he loved you in New York but you took that male attitude for your advantage..."

"Is that right Aubrey?" Soda asked, a look of puzzlement on his face. She shrugged.

"I just need a little bit of time to get over him, that's all," she mumbled, not denying it, "I don't wanna date him or anything. I just need to get over him." And she stood up, beginning to walk out of the room.

"Aubrey?" Darry asked, she turned to face him. He had a slight smile on his face. "I think he loves you, or he at least used too, he's just too cold to show it. He won't treat you right either Aubrey, he's got a reputation," he told her. She bit her lip.

"I'm gonna take a walk" she whispered, leaving the door open as she pulled on a pair of Soda's jeans over her shorts, and went out of the house.

Ponyboy and Johnny were sitting on the porch, smoking and staring at the rapidly fading sunset.

"Hey," Johnny said, looking up at her as she stumbled down the steps.

"Hey Johnnycake," she whispered back. Ponyboy stared at her, but didn't say anything. She kept walking down the road, and Johnny stood up after a minute.

"I'm gonna go follow her," he told Ponyboy. "She's not alright" he said, walking behind her. Ponyboy just gave a slight nod.

Johnny followed her for almost a block before he caught up with her. Her hair was a mess, and she wasn't wearing make-up, and surprisingly she looked a lot better than she did with make-up.

"Going home Johnny?" she asked after a second. Johnny shook his head, he didn't talk much.

"No. Following you," he said after a second. She grinned.

"At least you're honest. I'm OK. I'm not going to throw myself off of a bridge or anything" she told him reassuringly. "I'm not even upset, there is no reason to be upset," she said, the last sentence leaving her mouth in a harsh tone. Johnny jumped.

"You don't seem upset," he said wryly. She smiled.

"I'm sorry Johnnycake. It's just…Darry just said some stuff and I didn't think it was true but the more that I think about it I know it is, and I don't want it to be true." She told him. He nodded, he understood what she was saying somehow. The two of them walked alone in silence for a long time before they finally doubled back and headed back to the house. "Thanks Johnny, you're a great listener" she told him when they began to part ways, she patted him on the back gently.