I do not own The Outsiders. S.E. Hinton does :)
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Almost a week had passed since Ponyboy had allegedly stabbed Jemi North in her abdomen. The day after the girl was discharged from the hospital, Darry was over at the North's house, and forced Ponyboy to join him.
"I'm sorry, Jemi," Pony whimpered, trying to avoid his oldest brother's glare.
Jemi smiled at Ponyboy and forgave him, but she felt sick on the inside; the girl wasn't an idiot: she had seen that Ponyboy's and Darry's relationship hadn't been the best before she was admitted to the hospital, but now it was a lot worse.
Darry didn't even glance at Pony the whole time they were there, and Ponyboy looked extremely upset. Jemi wanted to tell Darry the truth about what had happened, but then she realized that if she did then her parents would get in trouble. She would never ever snitch on her parents; they were too important to her.
Before Darry and Pony headed home, Darry asked Jemi if she wanted to join them for dinner. Ponyboy sighed, holding his hand against his forehead; his hand was like ice compared to his forehead which felt as if it was burning.
Jemi looked hesitant but reluctantly agreed; she didn't want to make the little greaser's life any worse than what it was, but she decided that she didn't care about him; after all: if he hadn't have been born then her sibling never would have died.
The drive home was just Darry and Jemi talking to each other; nobody acknowledged the young upset boy in the back of the truck staring out of the window, wishing for a better life.
When the three walked into the Curtis house, they were all greeted by the gang: Sodapop, Steve, Johnny, Two-Bit and Dallas. Steve snorted out loud when he saw Pony trail in miserably behind Darry and Jemi, earning a glare from Soda and a smack on the head from Dally.
"Hey, Pony," Soda smiled, holding his arms out.
Pony immediately ran to his older brother for comfort, not caring that the others were giving him confused stares. Even Soda seemed a bit shocked; sure he had held his arms out, but he never expected Pony to act so desperate.
"You alright, kid?" Two-Bit asked, concern evident in his voice.
Ponyboy just nodded his head and clung to Soda, who moved slightly and let his little brother sit on his knee.
"You sure, honey?" the teenager murmured.
"M'fine, quit interrogating me," Pony snapped, but his response was muffled in Soda's shirt.
"Baby," Steve chuckled, but nobody else shared his amusement.
Darry and Jemi walked into the living room after a few moments of silence; nobody noticed that the couple had gone out to the porch, for they were all too busy thinking about Pony. Even Dallas and Steve were thinking about him, though Steve tried to shake the vision of the kid's sad face out of his head.
"Go to your room, Ponyboy," Darry bellowed, and everybody looked up at him with wide eyes.
"Don't want to," Pony whispered, his face still hidden in Soda's shirt.
"I'm not in the mood, Ponyboy. Either go to your room now, or I'll carry you," Darry said simply.
Pony groaned but pushed himself up, however Sodapop wrapped his arms around his baby brother's tiny frame.
"Why can't he just stay out here, Darry? It's not good if he just stays in his room all the time, and he ain't doin' no harm," he protested.
"Well, I've just taken him to Jemi's house for a good two hours. And besides, he deserves it," Darry stated.
Soda was about to reply, but Pony spoke up first.
"It's fine, Soda; I'll go. I don't want to annoy Darry anymore with my presence," Pony said bitterly, but instead of returning to his own room, he went back to Soda's; he needed the comfort, and Soda didn't make him feel useless like other people did.
Jemi stared after the young greaser and swallowed; trying to get rid of any feeling of sympathy she had for the boy, but it didn't seem to work.
Suddenly, Soda let out a mad, insane laugh. Everybody was shocked, and just stared at the handsome boy who was now rolling around on the floor.
"Sodapop," Darry said calmly, crouching down and putting a hand on the boy's back. Soda sat up and stopped laughing for a moment.
"Pony needs someone, Darry. He needs you. And you just don't care, do you? Do you?!" he cried, and started laughing again.
Darry was worried now; Soda never acted like this. The man tried to comfort his brother, but was startled when Soda slapped his hand away.
"I'm not the one who you should be comforting, Darry! It should be Ponyboy! But you don't care!" Soda laughed.
Darry quickly stood up and left for his bedroom, and was soon followed by Jemi.
"What's going on with him?!" Darry shouted, but calmed down when Jemi put a hand on his shoulder.
"Everybody's just a little stressed right now. Ponyboy is upset because of the stress, and Sodapop has obviously gone a little crazy. But you," she caressed his chin, "You have me to talk to. And I've heard that certain things can help you deal with stress,"
The pale brunette smiled at Darry, who smiled right back at her. Maybe he just needed to forget, and she was going to help with it.
He seemed to forget everything when Jemi kicked off her shoes and started kissing him.
XXX
Ponyboy scanned around the small room, confused. He was in a classroom, but he didn't know why. The classroom had bloody knives on each of the desks, and the blackboard was also spattered with blood.
"Hello?" the boy called, but it echoed around the room.
The windows were chained up, giving him no view at all of the world outside. He tried to open the door, but it was locked.
"Glad you could join me for more tuition, Ponyboy,"
Ponyboy froze and slowly turned around. He wasn't surprised that it was Mr North, but nonetheless gasped in fear.
"Not today," Pony responded quickly, trying to open the door again, but the sweat on his hands made it impossible for him to grasp the doorknob properly. Then suddenly the door disappeared completely, leaving only a wall.
"We never did get very far last time, did we?" the teacher laughed, and began removing his tie. Pony screamed and tried to unchain the windows, but the windows disappeared completely too.
"Help!" he pleaded, but the only one who heard his cry was Mr North.
"Don't worry, I'll be nice," Norman smirked. His tie was on the floor, and he was now working on unbuttoning his shirt. "Take your shoes off,"
"Wake up Pony, wake up!" a voiced echoed through the classroom.
"Soda?!" Pony called frantically.
Everything suddenly collapsed into dust, and Ponyboy was left alone in utter darkness. Well, at least he wasn't with Mr North. Anything was better than being with Mr North. Even darkness itself.
"It's okay, honey, you're okay; I've got you," Soda said gently, kissing Pony's forehead. Even though Pony was awake he was still struggling for dear life, but Soda rubbed his back and held his baby brother close.
"Am I okay?" Pony cried, burying his face in Soda's chest.
Soda was baffled by Ponyboy's question. What did he mean? Assuming it was just from the nightmare, Sodapop nodded.
"Yes baby, you're okay now," he mumbled, and stroked Ponyboy's hair.
Soda comforted Pony for a few more minutes, until he was sure that he was almost asleep. The teenager laid the younger greaser down, and then watched his baby brother for a moment before laying down himself.
Ponyboy waited until he heard Soda's breathing get heavier yet softer, and quietly crept out of his room. The boy was grateful for his brother's comfort, but he needed Darry's comfort too.
Gently tiptoeing through the living room, as to not disturb Johnny and Dallas who were on one of the sofas, or Steve who was on the floor, Ponyboy managed to reach his other brother's room. He waited for a moment before triumphantly pushing open the door, but the sight he saw before him made him want to cry.
Darry and Jemi lay in Darry's bed together. From what Pony could see, they both had their shirts off. The two looked so peaceful sleeping there together, and Ponyboy felt that if he woke Darry up, everything would be ruined. Darry didn't need him now; Darry had Jemi. And it was clear that he loved Soda more than Pony. Ponyboy wasn't needed now.
Tears fell from the boy's eyes, but he forced himself to smile; Darry was happy now, and Ponyboy had no right to be sad because of it. Maybe Jemi would be able to give Darry happiness that Pony could never give him. The young boy knew that Darry would always love Soda no matter what, so he really wasn't needed anymore. Steve was right; nothing would be different if Pony wasn't with them, in fact they'd all probably be happier without him.
XXX
The next few weeks passed quickly. Mr North continued to abuse Ponyboy, Darry and Jemi still dated, and Soda grew even more worried about Ponyboy. The young boy had lost a lot of weight, and he didn't seem happy anymore.
Steve stopped picking on the boy since he seemed so miserable all the time, and Johnny tried to talk to his best friend, but Pony wouldn't tell him anything.
Darry saw this was happening, but he tried to ignore it as best as he could. Life was just easier that way, even if it wasn't for the best. One thing that had gotten on his nerves though, was the fact that Pony always seemed to be hanging out with Tim.
After school one day, Darry waited outside the school for Ponyboy in his truck. Ponyboy climbed in beside his brother, feeling happy because he thought that his brother was actually going to be nice to him. But his wish didn't come true; his wishes never seemed to come true anymore.
"You're not going to be hanging out with Tim anymore," Darry stated, and pulled out into the road.
"Huh? Darry, you can't stop me from seeing Tim!" Pony exclaimed, tears coming to his eyes.
"I can and I will. He's a hood, Ponyboy, and I'm not having you hanging out with anybody I don't trust," Darry responded.
"But Tim's my friend!" Pony cried, but Darry scoffed.
"Yeah sure, if you wanna get killed! Tim is bad news, as well as Curly and Angela, and you know it!" Darry hollered, and that was the end of it.
Pony stormed past Soda and Steve who were on the porch, and both of them looked up at Darry, waiting for him to explain.
"I've stopped him from seeing Tim. It's not my problem he has a bad taste in the friends he picks," Darry remarked. Steve and Soda glanced at each other before shrugging.
The next day, Soda sat down opposite Darry who was reading the newspaper at the table.
"Darry, Pony says he wants to do something with you today. He really wants you to forgive him," Soda explained, and Darry sighed. "Please, Darry, just go with him. It'll give you two sometime to talk,"
Darry grumbled but agreed, claiming he was only going because Soda asked him to. Very soon, Pony came out of his and Soda's room with his clothes on. He and Darry left the house without saying another word.
"Where we goin'?" Darry questioned, kicking some rocks out of the path.
"Movie house," Pony answered, and Darry groaned. Ponyboy tried to ignore his brother's groan, unsure if taking him out was such a good idea now.
The two paid; Darry couldn't be bothered asking Pony what movie they were seeing, and the two sat down in some seats near the front.
None of them actually paid attention to the movie though; they were too busy staring at each other.
"What are you looking at?" Pony croaked after a while.
"You," Darry replied. "Why am I here, Ponyboy?"
"Well, I wanted-"
"You wanted. Funny, isn't it? Maybe I wanted to be out with Jemi now, but I couldn't because Soda insisted I come here with you,"
Pony gulped and looked up at Darry guiltily.
"I'm sorry," he apologized. "I…just thought I could make you happy,"
Darry scoffed and shook his head.
"Why'd you pick the movie house if you wanted to make me happy? You could have just left me, you know? I would have been perfectly fine," he responded angrily, and then pulled back and stared at the movie screen, though he didn't pay attention at all.
Ponyboy closed his eyes and breathed out heavily; he couldn't make his brother happy anymore.
Darry heard Pony's sigh and shifted his gaze to his little brother, but felt his heart break in half.
Pony was just sitting there, staring at the screen. He looked so broken and hurt, and his beautiful eyes seemed lost. The young boy had some bruises on his face, but as Darry got a closer look, he realized that the bruises weren't the only pain that Ponyboy was suffering from.
Darry couldn't remember the last time Ponyboy had smiled or the last time he had heard Pony's cute laugh. He couldn't even remember the last time his baby brother looked happy.
And Darry knew that a lot of it was his fault.
"Ponyboy…" Darry murmured, but Ponyboy didn't look at him.
"It's fine, just forget it," Pony answered.
Darry tried to reach out for his little brother, but Ponyboy jerked away.
"I said forget it!" Pony growled, and Darry nodded and turned away.
After a few minutes, Pony let out a whimper and quickly stood up. He bolted out of the movie house before Darry could ask him what was wrong, though Darry had already guessed.
The man took a good look at the screen, and saw that Pony had picked one of his favorite movies. Darry smiled, remembering when Pony was eight and he always used to crawl on Darry's lap and they'd watch the movie together, just the two of them. His smile faded when he realized what he had done.
It wasn't just for the fact that Darry had snapped at Pony in the movie house. It was the fact that Pony had brought Darry to the movie house to try and make Darry happy with him. Pony didn't think that he made Darry happy?
"I've screwed up big time!" Darry shouted into his hands, earning a few glares from people around him, signalling for him to be quiet.
Darry ignored them and got up and left. He ran back to the house, ready to apologize to his baby brother for how horrible he had been. When he opened the door however, he was greeted with nothing.
Ponyboy was gone.
And analyzing the coffee table, Darry realized the sleeping pills that he had left there this morning were gone aswell.
AN: I felt like crying while writing that chapter. Poor Pony! :( I hope I wrote this chapter okay for ya'll, and I hope it doesn't seem too rushed! :)
