*I don't own The Outsiders.

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(SPOV)

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The suckers ran!!!!

"Whooo hoooo!!!!" I cheered as I ran up the steps of our front porch. I was still pumped up after the rumble.

None of us had been hurt too badly. Steve busted his ribs though, but I helped him get to the house, we just had to go kinda slow. That's okay though, 'cause he's my buddy and I like helping out my buddies.

The rumble had let me blow off a lot of steam and I felt better than I had in a week. I'd been real worried about Pony, even after the Doc told me he would be all right. I still can't stand the fact he's in so much pain, he hides it well, but we all see it.

Sandy

I can't believe she cheated on me and got pregnant, I just can't. I also can't believe she took off to Florida. It hurts a lot when you trust someone and they betray you, I'd never had that happen before, at least not to this level. The worse part is, I don't know if it was a one time mistake and she's suffering the consequences, or if she'd been cheating on me the whole time. I don't know if I want to know the answer.

I shook my head, I didn't want to ruin my mood. Plus, the one night I'd stayed alone with Pony, he was still sedated, I'd cried that whole night. I cried for my brother and for Sandy.

What a shit of a week.

I bet Pony will be able to shed some light on my relationship problem, he might not be dating yet, but he was good with advice. He was sensitive and understands a lot about people, he'd be good to talk to about this.

I hope he hasn't been worrying all night.

"Soda, you need any fixing up?" I glanced at Darry.

"No, I can take care of myself, look at Steve's ribs though." I looked at Steve's lanky figure on my couch, he had an arm thrown over his eyes, I knew he had to be in a lot of pain, busted ribs were no fun.

I hopped into the bathroom and grinned in the mirror, I washed my hands and face, taking off my dirty clothes, I through them into the corner of the bathroom. Darry will yell at me for that later, oh well I always can get out of trouble with him.

I bounded back into the living room, clad in only a pair of boxers.

Everyone was slowly relaxing, Two-Bit with a bear in hand, Dal was in the arm chair, Johnny was sitting on the floor in front of the television, Dar was looking after Steve like I told him to.

I'd seen Johnny going after them Socy jackasses tonight with Dal, I'd been impressed, I knew he was tough, considering what he goes through in his own home was enough to qualify him as tough, but man he can fight when he wants to. He held his own real well in a fair fight.

I bounced over and sat next to him, "Johnnycakes, you kicked ass tonight! Man I was impressed, I always knew you were tough but damn kid."

He smiled at me, blushing a little at the bit of praise I'd just given him, "Thanks, Soda." I ruffled his hair, he frowned and immediately fixed it.

"You know bud, if you want to go see Pony, your gonna have to put some clothes on or them nurses will have a heart attack. Not to mention the Doctors will probably haul you off to the looney bin." Steve was smiling at me, I could see the pain in his eyes, and he shifted his gaze to glare at Darry, when he poked Steve.

"I know that, doesn't mean I can't show off here though." I laughed at myself, the others shaking their heads at me, I grabbed some aspirin out of the medicine cabinet and a glass of water.

"Here you go, Stevie."

"Thanks, man."

I fixed myself up as best as I could, I didn't want to make Pony worry any more than he already was, so I covered up my bruises.

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(PPOV)

I drummed my fingers impatiently. I tried to pay attention to the television, but how could I? I don't even get to fight in the rumble that was called because of me. They couldn't have waited a couple weeks for me. I growled, anxiety ran through me, making me restless. I knew I should try to sleep some, but I couldn't.

For all I know the gang could be in the emergency room downstairs.

No, I doubt they got hurt so bad they needed to come to the hospital, and if they did it was probably for stitches or something, no big deal.

I drew in a deep breath, forcing my tense body to relax. I then realized how much, the tension was hurting me. My side started to throb steadily, I scowled at the wall, now I might not get any sleep, even after someone comes and tells me how the rumble went.

Fuck this.

This whole situation was making me moody, the pain and the worrying wasn't helping anything. All I do is lay here, why can't I lay at home? Why do I have to stay here? It smells like bleach and a retirement home, there's nothing to look at, even out my window there's only the parking lot, the food's just disgusting and everyone keeps yelling at me for not eating, the t.v. is in black and white and small, not to mention I can't get up to change the channel. If I was at home I could just reach from the couch.

I shoved off the covers that were on me, I'd been hot and cold all day. I'd developed a slight fever, that's okay though, it happens a lot, especially since one of my ribs are broken.

Cold again, I groaned when I had to reach for the blanket, I leaned back panting slightly.

I'd never felt this helpless in my life.

I heard the door squeak as it opened and opened my eyes, Soda smiled when he saw me. I took in his appearance and decided he didn't look too bad, considering it was a rumble.

"How was it?"

"We beat 'em Pone! They ran like the devil was after them!" For the first time this week Soda looked like himself, he didn't look so worn out and I could tell he was doing everything in his power not to scream.

I chuckled, "Wish I could've been there."

"I know baby, but everyone was asking about you." Soda sat on the edge of the bed.

" I can only imagine the gossip, especially since y'all been here, I bet you haven't told too many people what really happened. Plus I saw that newspaper article..."

"You did? When and who showed you?" He looked irritated, I knew my brothers were keeping it from me, there's been talk about a trial because I ended up in the hospital and almost died. We weren't pressing charges though, didn't have the money even if we wanted to go through all of that, I guess they kept it from me so I wouldn't stress about it.

The only reason this ended up in the paper was because I'm on the track team. I heard a nurse say if me and my brothers weren't so good looking people would have forgotten already. I'd blushed something awful when I heard that, happy no one was in the room with me at the time.

"I don't know, nurses are talking about it all the time, I just asked them if I could have a paper to read."

"You don't gotta worry about anything anyone's saying, Pony. Just concentrate on getting better."

I looked at Soda in annoyance, "I don't have anything to do, I just want to get out of here."

"I know, Ponyboy. You'll be out soon enough, but I'm sure they want you to be able to at least get up and walk a little before you leave."

"Well maybe if they'd let me try."

"You can't even bend over!" Soda was shaking his head at me, he knew I hated it here, but he also wanted to make sure I knew why I had to stay.

I scowled, I didn't need to be reminded about that. "So everyone's all right then?"

"Yeah, the worst is Steve, he busted some ribs, but he'll be fine."

"I hate that people are getting hurt 'cause of me and I wasn't even there when the rumble was called for me."

"I know, but it was one hell of a fight." He smiled and lightly punched my shoulder.

"You know, Soda, I've been worrying about you, you looked like crap this week."

He looked at me wearily, that confused me, what was I missing, "Don't you worry about me any." He settled into the cot across the room.

He looked like he was thinking about telling me something, so I waited patiently. "Sodapop, what is it?"

Sigh, "Sandy took off the day after you got jumped. She went off to Florida because she got pregnant with someone else's baby. I told her I'd still marry her and she told me no."

I felt shocked, I thought Sandy was a real nice girl. I could hear the heartbreak in my brother's voice and I couldn't help but hate Sandy a little. I know Soda wouldn't want me to hate her, but she hurt him.

"Jesus," I shook my head, looking over to Soda. "Well you know, the next girl you find you're falling for will be even better. I know it's rough, but if you think about it, whoever the next girl you're with you'll love even more, it's harder to love a second time, so when you do, it'll just be even better. At least, you have that to hope and look forward to. Though, I'm sorry it turned out like that."

"Thanks, Pone, I'm sorry too." His voice shook a little bit, but I could tell he wasn't crying. "I knew you'd help shine some light on it." He laughed a little.

"Life hurts, but you keep on going."