OKAY, LAST CHAPTER, SO ENJOY AND SEE EVERYONE SOON WITH THE MAYBE FINALY STORY IN THE SERIES. ENJOY…

WARNING: I GUESS ? FOR IMPLIED SEXUAL CONTENT…..
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Ponyboy's Point of View:

Tuesday, 12:00 p.m.

Curtis Residence

I pick of my last piece to my suit: my jacket. I hold it up in front of me.

Wow, that looks small, I think to myself but I try it on anyway.

Just as I predicted, it was about two sizes too small. My arm only got halfway into the sleeve before getting so tight that I could feel my circulation getting cut off.

"Darry, it doesn't fit!" I call from my room. With my other arm I pull it off. At first it didn't move; not even a centimeter. I bend down so that the other sleeve is on the floor and put my foot on top of it. Pushing all my weight down I pull away, trying to free my arm. In an instant, my arm came flying out and I went flying onto the bed. I sit up slowly, winded by my fight with the jacket and take in a deep breath.

"What doesn't fit?!" Darry yells back from the kitchen.

I stand up, brush off my pants and head towards Darry's voice.

"My jacket," I answer as I take a seat at the kitchen table. I look over, I see Darry's toast on his plate and an apple. I reach over and take a piece of toast and shove half of it in my mouth before he turns around.

Darry takes a seat across from me. He takes a sip of his coffee then places it on the table. He thinks for a second. " Well…," he begins, " if your jacket is too small for you then Soda's is probably too small for him, so, you take Soda's and I'll give him mine," he concludes.

"What will you wear?" I ask.

"Clothes, hopefully," he answers with a smile.

I laugh. "Seriously Darry, if Soda has your jacket then what will you wear?"

He shrugs, " I'll see if we still have Dad's suit, I'll use his," he answers.

I nod but don't say anything. There was silence, but good silence, it gave us a change to think about today.

"You nervous?" I ask.

"Like hell," he answers me then take another sip.

"Me, too."

He sits back in his chair and lets out a deep breath.

"What if they take us away, Darry? I don't want to go, I wanna stay here," I say to him. I know that I'm telling him things that he already knows, but I just need to say it, just in case he was doubtful.

Darry sits up now, looking me straight in the eye.

"I won't let 'em, Pony. And as soon as they see that I love you and Soda more than anyone and anything, they'll realize that you should stay with me, okay?"

I sigh and look away. I want to believe what he's saying, but I can't, something's telling me that they'll take us away? What if me and Soda get sent to different boys homes? All of those this came piling into my head at once, I shook my head trying to block them, but it only gave me a headache.

I bring my hand to my head, trying to ease the pain.

"You alright?" questions Darry, looking at me suspiciously.

I shake my head yes, "I'm okay, just a headache," I say to him.

"Go take something," he says to me, getting up from the table again.

I stand too, going to the bathroom to find something for my headache.

Before I was completely out of sight I hear Darry call my name.

"Ponyboy," he says. I turn around and head back. I stand in the doorway, waiting to hear what he had to say.

"I know you ate my toast," he says. I smile and turn around.

Without answering I head to the bathroom.

Maybe today won't be too bad after all.

Darry's Point of View:

Tuesday, 12:46 p.m.

Curtis Residence, Darry's room

I'm sitting in my room, just thinking. This whole house seems unfamiliar, I don't know why. My whole world is being turned upside down, and I don't know what to do. I try to be strong for my brothers, especially Ponyboy who seems to be taking all of this kind of hard, but sometimes I can't; and this is one of those times where I try to hide what I'm feeling but it's just so hard. I feel tears swell in my eyes but I quickly wipe them away when I hear a knock on my door.

"Darry?"

"Yeah Pony?"

He's quiet for a minute. He opens the door and walks in and sits on my bed next to me. A few stray tears make lines down his face, his eyes are red and so is his face. He stands in front of me but isn't looking at me. His eyes are locked on the floor.

"Darry, I'm scared," he finally says.

"Why?" I ask.

"I really, really don't want to leave. I'm scared that Soda won't get better, I'm scared that the court with think that you're good enough to take care of us. I'm scared that something really bad is gonna happen to me" he explains .

"Pony," I begin. I place my arm around him and pull him close like I used to do when he was little. " Soda's gonna be just fine, he's coming to court with us today, remember?They wouldn't let him come with us if he thought that he couldn't do it, right?" I say, trying to comfort him a little.

He nods.

"And don't worry about court, okay? Let me worry about that," I say to him, hoping that he believes me.

He looks up with a worried look in his eyes. " But how do you know? How can you say that everything is gonna be just fine?" he says to me.

I shrug, " You just got to believe it, Ponyboy, and I believe that we will be a family again like we used to , okay. Just keep telling yourself that it's going to be okay."

He looks away, obviously not happy with my response, but eventually he nods in agreement.

"Okay," he whispers.

"Okay," I say back.

I feel him rest his head fall on my chest and I pull him closer. With one arm around his shoulder, I rock him a little. In my arms I feel him shaking, and I know he's crying again. This time I don't tell him to stop.

Instead, I rest my head on top of his and cry, too.

Two-Bit's Point to View:

Tuesday, 1:11 p.m.

Tulsa Hospital, Room 212

"Hey everybody," I say as I walk into Soda's room. Pony's sitting in the brown chair beside Soda's bed and Darry's standing by the bathroom door with his arms crossed. He leans against the wall, he nods his head to me when I enter the room but don't say anything else.

"Where's Soda?" I ask as I take the folded chair over by Ponyboy and take a seat.

"Bathroom; changing," informs Darry.

I nod.

"So that's why you're guarding the bathroom?" I ask.

He nods.

I chuckle.

"If you're that concerned, why don't you just go in?" I suggest.

"He says that he can do it by himself."

"Darry, he woke up yesterday," I say.

Darry shrugs.

"You know that I can hear you, right?"Soda calls from the bathroom.

We all smile.

There was silence in the room.

I take in a deep breath and sit back.

"Today's gonna be a long, long day," I whisper to myself.

I hear a door open and I look up. Soda walks out and instantly Darry is by his side, helping him get to the bed.

"Darry," he begins but isn't able to finish, he was cut off by Darry.

"Soda, weather you like it or not, the doctor says you need help," tells Darry.

Finally they make it to the bed, Soda sits down and sighs. He lays his hands on his stomach and lets out a shallow deep breath.

"You okay?" Pony asks, shifing in his seat.

"Stomach," he answers without moving.

Pony looks over at Darry.

"You want the doctor?" asks Darry already making his way to the door.

Soda shakes his head.

"It'll go away," he insists.

"Soda….,"Darry starts.

"I'll be okay, Darry, really."

Even though all of us can tell that he doesn't want to, Darry sits down.

Again, there was silence.

"Is Johnny here?" asks Ponyboy.

"Yeah," I say. " He's talking to Dally. But I don't see the point of talking to him, he's a lost cause."

"You talked to him?"asks Darry.

"About a day or two ago," I say.

"He say anything worth hearing?" Darry questions.

I shrug, "The only thing that I see is that he actually feels really guilty about what happened. I don't know why he's taking it out on you," I explain to Darry.

Darry shakes his head. " I don't even care anymore," he mumbles.

I don't say anything, there's nothing to say.

The silence was back.

From the corner of my eyes I see Soda sit up painfully.

"What time do we leave?" he asks Darry. He looks tired now, and I don't understand why the doctor said that he could go to court when clearly he's in no shape.

"About an hour and a half," informs Darry.

He nods by doesn't verbally respond.

"You scared?" asks Darry.

Soda shrugs.

"A little," he admits in a quiet voice.

"Well, just answer everything the best you can and everything should be okay," says Darry.

"How's everyone doing today?"asks Dr. Hafford as he heads to Soda's bed.

"Okay, I guess," tells Soda to the doctor.

nods questionably, he sits down his clip board on the stand next to Soda's bed.

"I'm just gonna check you before you go to court, okay, so just sit back for me."

Slowly, Soda leans back, when finally on his back he takes in a couple of breaths.

"Are you in any pain?"

"My stomach," Soda says, "and my head once in a while."

"Okay."

Dr. Hafford places his hand on Soda's stomach and he flinches.

"Easy now, I'm just seeing where it's most tender," informs .

He pushes on Soda's stomach a little. From his bed, Soda looks at Darry with a worried look. The doctor presses a little higher and Soda pops up.

"Ahhh,' he exclaims, pushing the doctor's hand away.

"Okay, so it's sore there. I'll get you something for that," says . He picks up his clipboard and heads for the door.

"Dr. Hafford," calls Darry, " You're still coming to court, right?"

Dr. Hafford smiles. " Of course, Darrel."

Darry smiles. "Okay, see you then."

Ponyboy's Point of View:

Tuesday, 2: 27 p.m

Tulsa Court House

This place is so big, it's kind of scary, too. I walk with Darry, Soda, Two-Bit, and Johnny into the court. Dr. Hafford said that he'll be here soon, and Dally isn't coming, I guess. I don't know what to expect, so I don't know what to say.

Earlier, Darry, Soda, and me went over a couple of facts that we all needed to have correct, but other than that there was no way of rehearsing because we didn't know what they were going to ask us.

A man in a all white and tan suit walks up to us, "Please follow me," he says to us with an open hand.

He takes us into a room filled with chairs. All of them have people sitting in them. We walk down the isle and through a small door. Two-Bit and Johnny were told to sit behind us and Soda, Darry, and I were told to sit at the table in front of them.

The judge calls for silence and the nightmare begins.

"Order, order. Silence," he says.

The court falls quiet.

"Okay, let's get started."

The man with the white and tan suite stands up.

"I call Darrel to the stand," he says.

Darry stands up and heads to the chair that is placed to the left of the judge.

"Please state you're name for the record," says the tan and white suite guy.

"Darrel Curtis, Jr."

He nods.

"Okay, what caused you to have full responsibility of your brothers?"

"My parents were in a car accident, about two years ago."

"Were you left with any money, or anything that might help you take care of you brothers?"

"Not much, sir," answers Darry.

The guy nods.

"So how do you support you're family, Mr. Curtis?"

"I have a job."

"Do you find it hard to take care for you're brothers? Are you comfortable with that responsibility?" he aks.

Darry sighs. "Well, it's not always easy, but we always make it. And yes, I'm very happy to take care of both of them, no matter what," Darry tells the man.

He nods.

"And can you tell me about some of the feelings you might have if the court decides that you're an unfit guardian to your brothers?"

Darry looks over at us. "Anger, disappointment, sadness, nervousness….I don't know. I can't tell you how I'll fell, and I hope I never get the chance to, I don't want to feel those things."

"You said that you'd feel disappointment, who would you be disappointed in?"

Darry looks at us again. " Myself, I guess. I'd be disappointed in myself because you didn't think that I'm able to take care of Soda and Pony."

The man in the can suite nods.

"That's all, Mr. Curtis, please step down."

Darry's Point of View:

Tuesday, 3:27 p.m

Tulsa Court House

"Could we have Ponyboy please take a seat in the witness stand," calls the man in the white suit.

Pony stands up and walks to the chair.

"Please state you're name for the record."

"Ponyboy Curtis," he says.

"Do you know why you're here today?"

He nods. "Yes."

"Please tell the court."

"You're trying to see if Darry can take care of me and Soda," Pony says.

The man nods.

"Do you think that he's able to take care of you?"

"Of course," he says. He looks at me quickly.

" Now I only have a couple of questions for you, okay?"

Pony shrugs, "Sure," he says.

"Can you tell us a typical day at you're house is like?"

Pony takes in a deep breath and nods. " Well, if it's a school day, Darry comes in our room in the morning to wake us up. He makes sure we both shower and get dressed on time and he makes us breakfast. Then, I go to school and Darry and Soda go to work.

After school, if I have track, I stay after, but if I don't I come home. Later Darry and Soda comes home and Darry makes sure that I did my homework, and he checks my answers.

Then later Darry makes dinner or we order a pizza or something like that, then we just hang out for the rest of the night. When it gets too late, Darry makes us go to bed and then the day starts all over again," Ponys says.

The man nods. "Has Darrel ever hit you?"

"Never," says Ponyboy.

"And how would you feel if the court decided that Darrel isn't a good enough guardian?"

"Upset, scared, worried, mad….," Pony says.

"Why would you be worried?"

"Because I don't know what's gonna happen to us. I'd rather stay with Darry," Pony says.

The man nods again, " Please take go back to your seat."

Next up was Two-Bit, then it was Johnny. They both said exactly the right things, they didn't say on word about the beer in the house, they didn't say anything about me and Pony arguing, and they didn't talk about out rivalry with the Soc's. They only thing they told the court was about how great I was, even though some of it was a lie, they damn sure made me look good.

I definitely owe them .

Sodapop's Point of View:

Tuesday, 3:56 p.m.

Tulsa Court House

"Would Sodapop please come to the witness stand," called the man in the white and tan suite.

Slowly, I stand up. With each step I take in a breath, trying to keep the pain in my stomach away.

I sit down and wait for the first question.

"Please stare you're name for the record."

"Sodapop Curtis," I say.

"Okay, I understand that you were recently hospitalized."

"Yes, sir," I say, anticipating

"Can you tell the court what happened?"

"I can't really remember all of it, it's kind of blurry," I say.

"Just try."

I sight, " We were walking one day and then these group of guys jumped out of a van and attacked us." I explain.

"What do you mean my attacked?"

"Well as first is was like they were looking for a fight, but soon it turned into something much more than that. They had isolated me, for some reason and I got it the worst. They kept everyone else away from me, to make sure that they had to way to help me.

They slammed me against the wall and then after that I was pretty dizzy. Then they took me down to the ground and…," I stopped.

Suddenly images rushed into my head. I remembered the guy on top of me, I tried to fight him off, I really did, but I couldn't. The other guys were holding me down, I couldn't move.

I remembered the guy and how he tried to unbutton my shirt. I kicked him as much as I could, but I couldn't get him away. He brought his face close to him and I knew what he was going to try to do. I moved my head back and forth to try to keep my lips from touching his.

I remembered the needle and how scared I was when he jammed it into my arm. Slowly my mind began to freeze and it became harder and harder for me to move, the last thing I saw before everything went black was his face getting close to mine.

"Sodapop," he says getting my attention again.

Tears swell in my eyes and the fall down my face. I brush them away but they came back. I've never actually thought about what happened to me before.

I wipe the tears again but they don't stop.

"Sodapop," he begins in a soft voice. " Were you sexually assaulted by the men who attacked you and you're friends?" he asks.

I put my head down and the tears come faster.

I look back up and I see Darry looking at me with a concerned look on his face.

"Y-yes," I choke out and cry harder even though I hate to cry.

"Okay, I think he's had enough," interjects the Judge.

The man in the white suit nods.

"Please step down," he tells me and I go back to Darry and Pony who stand up. When I was close enough, Darry pulls me into a hug.

"You're gonna be okay," he says to me.

"Okay, court will continue in ten minutes, by then I'll come to a decision," announces the Judge.

Darry's Point of View:

Tuesday, 4:34 p.m.

Tulsa Court House

"Order, order! I've came to a decision," calls the Judge.

I hold my breath and I could swear that my heart stoped beating. I fell Ponyboy grab my hand and I squeeze it, on the other side of me I put my arm around Soda and pull him close.

"Darry….," Pony says in a scared voice. I'm pretty sure he's more scared than I am.

"It's gonna be okay, we're gonna be okay," I say to him .

"I've heard a lot today, and a lot of it was heard wrenching. These boys have been through a lot and in general I see that they need eachother. At a time like this and at the point of their lives that they're in I understand that they are closer than ever.

Darrel Curtis, Jr. has taken care of his brothers for about two years now, with the monthly check-in's of a Social Service agent, and as far as I can see from the reports and from the statements that there brave young men have made, it made my conclusion very easy.

Darrel, please take care of you're brothers, because I order for them to stay under your guardianship," she says.

Pony and Soda turn around and hug me, both are crying. Two-Bit and Johnny comes from behind me and both give me a congratulatory hug.

"Thank you," I say to both of them and they nod in response.

We are all escorted out of the courthouse. Standing at the bottom of the steps was Dally.

Leaving the others at the top of the stairs I walk to him.

"What are you doing here?" I ask.

He shrugs, " I had to see if you got to keep 'em," he tells me, " Do you?"

I nod. " Yeah, they stay with me. We have bi-weekly check ups with Social Services. We have family counseling once a week and Soda goes back to the hospital every Sunday. Pony's gotta go to school in no less than a week and a half and I gotta go see if I still have a job," I tell him.

He nods. " But at least you get to keep em,"he says.

I nod and turn around, heading back to Pony and Soda.

"Darry!" he calls.

I turn around.

"I'm sorry," he says.

I nod again, "Yeah," I say. "me, too."

I walk up the stairs again to meet my brothers. I place each of my arms around them and we walk together to the car.

"C'mon," I say, " let's go home."

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FINALLY! LAST CHAPTER! DID YOU LIKE IT? WELL YOU SHOULD BECAUSE YOU VOTED ON WHAT SHOULD HAPPEN. MOST OF YOU VOTED THAT DARRY GETS TO KEEP HIS BROTHERS SO THAT'S WHAT I DID.

ANYWAY, PLEASE REVIEW THIS LAST CHAPER.

REMEMBER, THE THIRS STORY IS GOING TO BE CALLED "ADDICTED", SO WATCH OUT FOR IT =)

OH YEAH, AND DON'T BE AFRAID TO MESSAGE ME IF YOU HAVE A QUESTION OR JUST WANT TO TALK, I WILL WRITE BACK WHEN I GET THE CHANCE.

ANYWAY, PLEASE REVIEW, AND I'LL SEE YOU AS SOON AS I CAN WITH THE FIRST CHAPTER IN 'ADDICTED"

YOUR AUTHOR,

VFCGurl!