"Better?" mom asked me when she finished with my pants. I stepped away from her, noticing that they fit my waist perfectly. She fixed the bottom of my pants, too, so I wouldn't walk and step on them. They were baggy on the legs but they'd stay up.

"Much. Thank you."

"Of course, honey," she said, smiling. She stared at me for a long while before bursting out crying.

"Mom?"

She threw her arms around me and hugged me tight. "God, we missed you so much," she cried into my hair. I didn't know what to do so I just hugged her back even though I felt uncomfortable doing so. The only person I was comfortable hugging was Sodapop. I felt like that made me a bad person because Sodapop wasn't my mother. But the longer I stood there with my arms around my mom, the more I realized I missed her arms. I hugged her tighter and closed my eyes.

A child never forgets their mother's voice. That's what people say. It's true. Nine years without her and if I wanted to, I could hear her talking. I usually didn't want to. I tried to pretend I didn't have a family. The men were my family...but no. My mom was my mom. My dad was my dad. My brothers were my brothers. They were my family.

"I'm home now," I said softly, pulling away after a few minutes of her crying. She looked at me again and kissed my cheek.

"And you're staying."

"I know," I said and gave her shoulder one last squeeze before leaving to find Sodapop. I was scared when he wasn't there, like I'd disappear at any given second.

God, listen to me. I've been home for a day now and I'm already clingy to Sodapop again and I'm letting my guard down. Stupid me. Is this what it's like having a family? It's so easy to be hurt this way. Why couldn't they just leave me in the basement so I didn't have to face none of this.

"Pony!" Soda shouted happily when I walked into the room. "Clothes fit?" he asked and I nodded. "Good. Now let's go."

He grabbed my hand and pulled me out of the house with him. Steve trailed behind us and Johnny, too. I didn't know he was there. He's really quiet. "Sodapop! Wait up!" I heard Darry shout. I figured he was coming with us, too, so that made me smile. I wanted to be around Darry almost as much as I wanted to be around Sodapop. Almost.

When Darry came outside, they decided that we'd drive around. Darry said because I'd get tired, which was true and I was thankful for him thinking to drive. He seemed to be the brother who thought things through while Sodapop just did whatever came to mind. Darry and Steve sat up front while me, Soda, and Johnny sat in the back. I looked at Johnny to find him already staring at me. "Hi," I said quietly.

"Hi," he said back just as quiet.

"Y'all are gonna get along real well," Soda chuckled. "Both of ya quiet an' all."

"Where we goin'?" Johnny asked, turning to face Sodapop.

"The Dingo. We're meetin' up with Dal and Two-Bit there," he answered.

When we got to the Dingo we all got out and stood around, waiting. I figured that Dallas and Two-Bit weren't there yet. It'd be nice to hang around like a normal kid. No, teenager. I was a teenager. I was thirteen. Thirteen and starting my old life over again."Hey, Soda?"

"Yeah, honey?" he replied, turning to look at me.

"What's Two-Bit's real name?"

"Keith. Keith Mathews. But don't call 'im that. He barely remembers that's his name," Soda chuckled. I grinned but gave him a doubtful look. You can't just forget your own name. "No, I'm serious. The teachers even forgot his name. We've been callin' him Two-Bit for years now. Even his mom and sister call him Two-"

"Hey, greasers!" a voice shouted, interrupting Sodapop. We all turned and looked for the source of the yelling. We knew it was Socs because who else would call us greasers? We saw a bunch of people in a car and I tensed up. I wasn't one to fight. That much was obvious. If I got hit I'd shut up and take it. That's the way I was taught. I didn't want to fight. I didn't want to be hit. I wanted the Socs to leave us alone.

The people got out of the car and came over to us. Sodapop stood in front of me but he did it casually. Johnny was standing next to me and he looked pale. He was scared, too. He had a rough home life, right? "What do we do?" I whispered to him.

"Stay cool," he whispered back, "and if there's a fight, get in the truck and lock the doors."

"What about you guys?"

"We'll fight." My stomach started doing flips but I didn't say anything. He must've saw that I was scared because he smiled at me. "We're fighters. We can handle a fight. Don't worry 'bout it, okay?" I nodded at him but I still didn't relax. How can I relax when he looked about as scared as I felt?

"Hey, greasers," one of the Socs said in a sing song.

"The hell you guys want?" Steve asked. I wished I could see their faces.

"We just wanted to...Hey, aren't you that kid with a stupid name?" he asked, looking directly at me. "The one who was found in a basement."

I reached out and grabbed the back of Sodapop's shirt. He was right in front of me so it wasn't obvious, but I'm sure he felt it. "So what if he is?" he asked, his voice layered with venom.

"Did you enjoy it?" the same guy asked, smirking. "You must've. That's why you haven't told the cops what happened there. Do you wanna go back? Back to live like the trash you are?"

I barely saw Darry pull his fist back and hit that guy dead in the face. They all started fighting and I knew that Johnny had told me to get in the truck but I couldn't move from my spot. I didn't like that people knew who I was. I didn't even know how. I cut my hair and it was greased. I thought that would've been enough for people to not know who I was. But that wasn't the case. And he said that loud enough that the other people outside at the Dingo heard and they knew who I was too. I was thankful that none of the greasers laughed. I remembered back to when we were kids and learning about the rivalry between greaser and Soc. Greasers have each others backs. No matter what.

Before I realized it, the fight was over and the Socs were running back to their car while Sodapop pulled me into a hug. "Don't listen to them, Pony," he said quietly in my ear. I couldn't move. I couldn't look at him or even hug him back. My arms remained at my sides and my face was still looking down. "Ponyboy, you're shakin'. Please look at me." I forced my face up so I was looking into his eyes. He didn't look hurt. That's what I was worried about more than anything. I was worried about them being hurt. I didn't know how to think about it. Was it a punishment? If it was, who was being punished and who was fighting back when they shouldn't have been? Sodapop must've guessed what had me shaken up because he smiled gently at me. "We ain't hurt, Pone. They didn't hurt us."

I let my eyes travel over the rest of them. They all offered me a smile but that didn't help me none. I was confused. I was really confused. "Soda..." I began but I stopped. I didn't know how to say it.

Sodapop must've seen the look on my face and somehow seemed to read my thoughts. "No, honey, no," he said out loud, shaking his head. "It was a fight. As fair of a fight as it could get. No 'punishment', no nothin'. Okay?" I nodded weakly. He went to pull away but I threw my arms around him tight.

After a moment we heard somebody else. I lowered my face again until I recognized Dally's voice. I looked up at them, relieved. It was Two-Bit and Dallas. We were safe. No more fights. "What's with the long faces?" Two-Bit asked, raising his eyebrow. Sodapop pulled away but left his arm across my shoulders.

"Fuckin' Socs," Steve mumbled. I turned to Soda who gave Steve a look. Probably for the swearing.

"What they do?" Dallas asked, looking angry.

"They knew Ponyboy," Darry answered. "Made stupid comments about it all. Then we fought and...I don't know. Ponyboy didn't like the fighting."

"You okay now, kid?" Dally asked and I nodded. He stared at me, looking me up and down. Then he looked over to Johnny, doing the same thing. I assumed he was looking for injuries. "Good. Where we goin' on this fine afternoon?"

"We can see a movie?" Two-Bit suggested, earning two groans from Sodapop and Steve. He turned to me. "What's your favorite film?"

"I, um...never seen one, I don't think..."

"Movie it is," Sodapop said, this time sounding cheerful. He didn't seem to like movies but maybe he wanted me to watch one in case I would. We all gathered in the truck and drove to watch a movie. I still couldn't shake the feeling that something bad was gonna happen. I wish I knew what it was so I could expect that. That's a big part of why I liked the basement. I always knew what to expect. I didn't anymore. Not in the real world.