It's been a long time… I know and I'm truly sorry to keep you guys waiting. It's been some crazy months but now I'm back. I guess I just let the months pass and when I finally wanted to type the chapters, something felt weird. I couldn't remember what I had planned for the story and the pieces I had written in a notebook didn't make sense. But I've solved it now.

Well, after this it all starts going on faster and time starts passing by. You can consider this as the last chapter from part one (?)

Please guys review and tell me what you think! Forgive me if this writing style is a little different from before but it's been 9 months and I think I have changed a bit and so my writing style has too. I hope you like it though.

On with the show

Pony's PoV:

I laid in bed for a long time after Darry left. I felt… Sad? Angry? Confused? All of them above?

Soda was acting weird. He was never like this before. But I could understand him. I actually did. I knew Soda just wanted the best for me. And I knew maybe he thought me staying in Tulsa or in the US was for the best. I had thought that too. It had haunted me for weeks: Leaving Darry and Soda, leaving Steve and Two-Bit; being away from everything I had ever known for four years. The scholarship offered to pay for the ticket to go but no to come back. And even if I got the money I wouldn't be able to come back every summer vacation. I had thought about declining the offer. After all I had been offered other scholarships that were nearer home. But Darry ended up convincing me. If I wanted to study English and mayor in literature, which was a better place to do it than England, the place where English came from?

I hadn't wanted to tell Soda on a letter. Maybe I should have. But seeing how he reacted I don't know if he would have come home if I told him. Soda hated me because he thought I was abandoning him. I considered this could happen. But I thought Sodapop, MY Soda, wouldn't be mad, he would be proud.

Turns out Soda is not the same person I remembered. I know my brother is deep down there. But right now, he hated me. And all I wanted was for my brother to talk to me.

I was sad because of Soda not talking to me and being angry at me. Still I was angry because he should have been happy for me. And I was confused about what to do next. Which was the right answer: Leave and receive the education Darry wants for me and make Darry proud and be happy learning what I love…. Or stay and learn what I want in another place, fail Darry but making Soda happy? I have to admit I wanted to go to England but I am willing to give that to have my brother back, was I? I mean, I could trade my happiness for Soda's happiness. Couldn't I?

Soda's PoV:

Ok Soda… Keep your head down and just walk right through them. Fast and without making eye contact. NOW. I took a deep breath and started walking right to where they were.

I could feel them staring at me… At my shaved head, the dog tags on my neck, the haunted look on my eyes. My whole body seemed to scream "Hey! Look at me I was in 'Nam. I was a soldier and I'm back. Come bother me, please."

I was kind of getting used to it. Bringing trouble, having trouble, giving trouble. I was trouble. I was…

"Murder!" The word made me flinch. I knew they were going to use it. I knew that's what their people thought about people like me. They thought we killed because we wanted to. They thought we were evil, mean, killers… But, were we really? No, sir. At least I was not.

Still, I also knew they just wanted to mess with my head. Make me feel guilty. But I was not going to let them. So I just kept walking toward wherever my feet would take me.

"Hey! You! Little Murder! How does it feel to have that much blood in your hand uh?" One of the guys was walking towards me. See, this is want I don't get about this people. They are told to be pacifists, fight for a fair world, without war. And most of them did fight for peace. Most of them only wanted for the war to end and were truly inoffensive. Some of them did nothing other than consume drugs and hang out around telling everybody fighting was bad. But some of them… Some were dangerous. Some wanted to give their opinion even if they had to turn into violence. Not killing or physical violence… but still, hurting people. This guy seemed to be one of them.

Nevertheless I tried my best to ignore him.

"How many boys your age have you killed, man? Maybe even younger, uh? They could've been your brothers, dude. Or friends…. You're a murder." They could've been your brothers… I stopped and closed my eyes. I had thought that all the time while in war. Everyone I killed could have been Darry or Pony. I knew it. But hearing it coming from someone else just made it all more real.

I remembered my fight with Pony. I remembered the look in his eyes, the deception in Darry's face. And suddenly I felt as if I had killed them. The idea of me doing something awful to my brothers was as horrible as the idea of me killing them but I didn't want to admit it. I didn't need to admit it. I was doing it all for the right reason, right? I mean, it is all for Pony's sake! He doesn't know what it is like to be away from your family, country and friends. And he doesn't need to know. Not now. He's not ready to go. And I'm not ready to let him go out and find out.

"C'mon, man. What's wrong? Don't like facing what you did?" The words hit me like a thousand of bricks. Now it was personal.

I turned around and punched the guy right in the nose regretting it instantly. I stared at the blood in my hand and the bleeding nose from the guy. I wanted to say I was sorry, to apologize, to explain it all. I wanted a chance to tell him I was not the kind of guy who would normally go punching other guys around because they were provoking him. I was not ever that kind of guys. I have never started a fight. I never gave the first punch. I wanted to tell him all that. But I couldn't.

"You…. You FREAK!" the guy yelled. I looked at him. He was probably around Pony's age. He was scared. He just wanted to state his opinion. Maybe he had a reason for being mad at me. Maybe one of his brother's had been killed in action. Maybe he was just scared. Maybe he could've been Ponyboy. And now he was running away from me. As if I was some kind of monster.

Why won't you listen to me, Sodapop?! You always used to. Pony's voice echoed my mind. I always used to. I used to do a lot of things. I used to be a lot of thing. But I am not the same person anymore. I wasn't the old Sodapop Curtis. I had seen too much, lived too much. And there was no turning back.

I pulled my dog-tags and saved them in my pocket. I was at home now. I was safe from war. But war wasn't over. At least not for me… I still had to fight, if not for my country, for my family.

I wondered for a while if I was doing the right thing… Pushing Pony away so that he wouldn't go to England… Something just didn't felt right. But, at the same time, nothing I did felt right anymore. And maybe… just maybe… my plan could work.

I needed him to stay. I wanted him to stay. And I was going to make him stay even if I broke me and him in the process. I was going to keep Pony safe and sound next to me.

Alright guys… This was kind of short. But the next part is coming soon. Please review and told me what you thought about this.