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The gang had gathered on the field on a typical Sunday afternoon. The weather was starting to get colder here in Tulsa so they didn't know how many more chances for football games they were going to get. Darry's team consisted of Ponyboy, Two-Bit and Johnny, leaving Dally with Sodapop and Steve for the other team. The game had gone on for a long time now, and during a huddle Dally whispered franticly to his team, while Darry was trying to think of the best plan for scoring this last touchdown. Ahead on points, if they scored once more, they would win. Darry looked to Ponyboy as he was the fastest runner out of all of them;
"I think you should run it in, by yourself. Two-Bit can cover Steve, Johnny can cover Soda."
Two-Bit gulped dramatically and they all burst out laughing.
"I'll try to keep Dally back." Darry said to Ponyboy. "After I throw you the ball."
"Nah. Let Dally try to catch me," Pony responded. Darry looked at his youngest brother curiously but the younger teen just shook his head and gave him a confident smile. "Trust me."
Darry shrugged a shoulder.
"Alright."
Pony grinned and they all walked to position, getting ready in the center of the field.
"Five. Twenty-four. Eighty-one. Five-hundred and nineteen…" Darry's team began to laugh, as Darry went on naming numbers. Dally stood up, looking annoyed.
"Hurry up! That's a del-"
"HIKE!" Darry yelled and his team set to work, all as they had been instructed. Darry started to run, but soon Soda was standing in front of him, knees bent, ready to spring and chased him down. Darry was able to get around him and began to take off with Sodapop in close pursuit.
"Soda!" Dally looked angry as he yelled to the other boy. "I know you run faster than that! Tackle him!"
With the command, Soda sprinted as fast as he could before leaping forward and grabbed Darry's ankles, making him fall but not before he was able to throw the ball to Ponyboy. Two-Bit blocked Steve for enough time to let Pony around with the ball. Ponyboy was running, faster than he ever had in his life, looking at the end ground. Dally was close behind, and seeing what could be his only chance at stopping the younger teen, launched at his lower legs. Ponyboy sprang high off the ground, causing Dally to crash and burn. After his jump, Ponyboy's feet came into contact with the ground again as he continued running until making it into the end zone, winning it for his team.
However, that didn't stop Steve from tackling him once he reached Ponyboy. Steve tackled Ponyboy and the two fell to the ground, wrestling. The gang gathered around and laughed as Steve pulled the football from Ponyboy's hands but it was meaningless as the game was over.
"This is bullshit!" Steve yelled out of frustration as he got up and threw the football down. "These teams ain't fair."
"Stop whining, Randle," Darry answered, as he picked the ball up.
"It's always three against four!"
"What are you talking about?" Ponyboy questioned as Soda helped him up. "We've got Two-Bit on our team, that's no advantage."
"Hey," Two-Bit responded while putting a hand on his chest. "That hurts, deep down."
"My heart bleeds for you."
"Thank you, Pony."
Ponyboy rolled his eyes and looked over at Johnny.
"Johnny, you want to stay with us tonight?"
Johnny shrugged a shoulder.
"Sure."
Grinning, Darry and Sodapop began to walk ahead as Pony and Johnny trailed behind. While he didn't say anything, Pony had to stifle the excitement he was feeling. He wanted to tell Johnny the good news but was told to wait until they all got back to the house. Ponyboy had already had the talk with Sodapop about a week ago.
"I wanted to ask you…can Johnny stay with us?" Pony asked.
"Yeah." Soda shrugged. "He can stay over any night he wants."
"I don't mean just at nights. I mean, live with us. In your old room."
Soda looked at him in surprise.
"Pony…I don't know." He began.
"Please Soda. He can't live with his parents anymore."
Soda felt uneasy. He wasn't sure if they could afford to have someone else live with them on a full time basis. And he didn't plan on sleeping with Pony forever. "Pony, you know we love Johnny to death, but what about money?"
"He can get a job the gas station. He can work part time, like Steve. Please Soda." Pony begged.
Soda sighed.
"Well, it's fine with me."
Ponyboy beamed and was about to throw himself at his older brother but Soda stopped him.
"But, you know that Darry is gonna have to say yes, too."
Asking Darry was going to be the hard part. He was so afraid to have the talk, afraid that Johnny would be back on the streets or having to live with his horrible parents again. Ponyboy didn't know how he'd live with himself if that happened, not after he had convinced Johnny to run away with him and get away from it all. But much to Pony's surprise, Darry didn't give him a hard time about his request like he thought he would.
Ponyboy handed Darry the money he had won from the bridge wars competition. Darry took it and looked a little bemused.
"Why on earth would you want to give me this?"
"It's rent money."
Darry still looked confused.
"I wanted to ask you if Johnny could stay with us from now on. In Sodapop's old room."
He looked at Pony for a few moments as his youngest brother nervously held his stare. Darry then looked to Soda who shook his head.
"He already asked me," Soda said. "I told him I'd be fine with it, as long as you were."
"Sodapop got Johnny a part time job at the DX," Ponyboy informed Darry. "He can help pay his own way."
Ponyboy's feet began to shuffle as Darry seemed to be mauling this all over his in head...
The four of them then arrived at the Curtis house. After stepping through the front door, Johnny made his way over to the couch but Ponyboy stopped him.
"No, not there."
Johnny's brows furrowed as Pony grinned.
"Follow me."
Darry and Sodapop stood back and watched as Ponyboy led his best friend down the hall to the bedrooms. Johnny then looked inside to what he knew was Sodapop's old bedroom, before he started sleeping with Pony. The room was nice and neat, and the bed was made up.
"You can stay here. You can live with us from now on."
What?
Johnny's jaw almost dropped in surprise. Clearing his head, he looked back at Darry and Soda who both had smiles on their faces. Had he heard Ponyboy clearly? Darry then spoke up.
"On two conditions."
Johnny then became uneasy at the sound of the last part. He looked from Darry to Ponyboy, his eyes saying a lot.
"They're really no big deal," Ponyboy shrugged.
"What are they?" Johnny asked.
"One, you will have to keep working with Soda and Steve at the DX." Darry said.
Johnny nodded, that wasn't so bad. He was actually enjoying the job so far as Sodapop promised to teach him everything he knew. Darry then spoke up again;
"And two, you have to stay in school."
Johnny wasn't too thrilled about this. He had always hated going to school. But anything was better than having to deal with his old man every night.
"There was something about staying out of trouble too," Pony added.
"Yeah," Darry began. "But boys will be boys,"
Soda then laughed a little. That was something their Dad use to say. Darry must have realized this and lightly punched Soda's shoulder, who then proceeded to act like he had just been shot.
I know you'll be on your best behavior," Darry finished.
Johnny looked up, meeting Darry's eyes. He nodded again, not being able to say anything. He couldn't believe this was happening.
"So, what do you say?" Ponyboy asked.
"Yes," Johnny managed as a huge smile came over Pony's face.
"Alright!" Soda yelled as he got back to his feet. "Come on, let's celebrate."
They went into the kitchen as Sodapop opened the refrigerator and pulled out a freshly baked chocolate cake while Darry got out four glasses to pour chocolate milk into. Ponyboy and Johnny sat down at the table, Johnny looked over at his friend, still shocked from what he had just been told. He then managed to say
"Thank you, Pony."
The smile still hadn't left Ponyboy's face.
"Welcome home," Pony said as he looked back at Johnny and noticed the kicked puppy look that his eyes normally held had rapidly began to fade away...
The End.
