The next day was just about as hot as the day before had been. I once again put on shorts and a t-shirt since they were the most comfortable and put my hair into a dance bun.
"I'm going down to the Curtis'!", I called as I walked out the door. It was about one in the afternoon.
There were the typical sound of chaos coming from the house when I got there, though since Johnny and Dally died, the noise has been less.
"Knock, knock", I said as I opened the door.
Soda, Steve, and Darry said their different greetings.
"Hi, doll", Soda and Steve both said as they played cards.
"Hello, Lily", Darry said more formally from his recliner, "How're you today?"
"Good. And you?"
"Good, thanks for asking", he said before turning to the boys, "See! Someone has manners in this house! And it ain't any of y'all."
I laughed at Darry's frustration with the gang's social etiquette.
Two-Bit was sitting on the couch, immersed in his cartoons.
"Hey, Ponygirl", he greeted me, not even taking his eyes off the T.V.
I snorted, "Ponygirl?"
He nodded, "Mm-Hm."
I just decided to go along with it and not ask questions (which I had learned to do with a lot of the gang's antics).
Pony must have been in the bathroom, because he came out and wrapped his arms around my waist from behind, "Hi, darlin'."
I smiled, "Hello, honey."
I turned around in his arms so I could look at him. He didn't have any grease in his hair.
I ran my fingers through his hair, "Why didn't you grease your hair? Not that I'm complaining or anything."
"Since we're gonna be outside playin' football the whole day, there's really no use in it", he explained.
"I have to learn how first", I smirked.
Steve, Soda, Two-Bit, and Darry all looked up at me.
"You don't know how to play football?!" Darry exclaimed.
I shook my head.
"How don't you know how to play football?" Two-Bit asked, shocked.
I laughed a little at his expression, "I dunno, really. I just don't like sports. The only sport I do is dance."
"Well, you're gonna find out how to play right now", Pony told me before throwing me over his shoulder and running out of the house, into the front yard. I heard the boys laughing as they followed us.
"Ponyboy?"
"Yeah?"
"Why exactly are you carrying me?"
"Because I felt like it", he responded.
I sighed and put my chin on my fist, resting my elbow on his back.
"If you drop me, I'm going to wrestle you to the ground. And I will win."
"I'll take that risk", he said.
"Hey, Pony!" Two-Bit yelled from behind us where he and the others were walking, "You likin' the view?"
I knew that Pony was blushing and so was I.
"Shut up, Keith!" Pony called.
Eventually we got to the lot where the game would be happening. Pony put me down, careful not to drop me, before explaining the game to me.
I figured it out fairly quickly and the teams were set up. Darry, Pony, and I were on the first team while Soda, Steve, and Two-Bit were on the other.
Our team won most of the games because of Darry. We went back to the house at about dinner time, the boys especially sweaty and gross.
"Honey, you are not getting any hugs whatsoever 'til you take a shower or something", I told him.
The gang laughed.
Pony sighed, "Fine."
He grabbed some clean clothes and went into the bathroom, coming out after his shower and talking to me until dinner was ready. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
School carried on, the heat and anxiousness to get out making the few weeks left seem longer than they were.
One day, about a week before the last day of school, Pony and I were on the school lawn, eating our lunches. That's when Two-Bit came barreling out of the building and running towards us with Steve following not far behind.
"Pony! Lily! Pony! Lily! Lovebirds!", he yelled at us, earning is some nasty looks from the Soc students.
"Yes, Keith?", I asked, "Is something wrong?"
"Guess what!"
"What?", Pony asked, exasperated.
"No", Two-Bit whined, "You have to guess!"
Pony sighed, "You get to do a project on the history of Mickey Mouse?"
"I wish!", Two-Bit exclaimed, "No! I'm passing junior year!"
I almost spit out my water in shock, "You are?"
"Yeah! I guess junior year has had all it can take of Two-Bit Matthews."
Pony and I looked at each other and then back at Two-Bit. Steve was standing behind him with a smirk that said 'I know. I can't believe it either',
"That's wonderful, Two-Bit!", I exclaimed.
"Yeah", Pony told him, "That's great!"
"Well, I gotta run. I gotta celebratory beer that's callin' my name and I can't drink it on school property."
With that, Two-Bit ran away from us to God knows where. Steve took out a carton of cigarettes, passing one to Pony before leaving, waving slightly as a goodbye.
Ponyboy tucked it behind his ear as he finished up his food. When he finished, he held the cigarette between his teeth, took his lighter from his pocket and flicked it open, lighting his cigarette before flicking the lighter closed again.
"I'll never understand how you smoke those all the time", I told him.
He shrugged, "And I'll never understand how you don't."
"I think you should cut down a little", I said.
Pony sighed, "I'm trying, but it's hard to break this kind of thing. Darry's telling me to cut down all the time too."
"I'm just worried about you. I don't want you hurting your lungs and respiratory system."
He smiled a little and crushed the cigarette into the ground with his shoe, "I'll try harder to cut down. How's that?"
"Good", I responded. I lay down, resting my head on his legs, right above his knees, as he leaned back on his hands.
"Did you ask about getting a job at the bookstore?", he asked. Pony started twirling one of the short sections of my hair that was usually tucked behind my ears around his finger.
I tucked my dress tightly under my behind and legs so it would blow in the wind.
"Yeah, I asked a few days ago. They interviewed me real quick and I got the job."
"That's great!", he smiled, "Congratulations, darlin'!"
"Thank you, honey. Did you ask about a job at the DX?"
"Mm-hm. I asked a few days ago. Soda helped."
"Do you know if you got it yet?"
Pony nodded, smirking a little.
"That's great! We are now officially employed!"
I reached up my hand a little and he gave me a high-five, him laughing.
"When do you start?", he questioned me.
"The day after we get out of school, so this Saturday. What about you?"
"Same day as you."
He took my hand and started running his thumb across my knuckles. We usually only did that when one of us was nervous. He also scrunched up his brow.
"Are you alright, love?"
"Of course. Why wouldn't I be?"
I shrugged, "Just wondering."
We sat together on the school lawn in a comfortable silence. I couldn't help but wonder if Pony was worried about something. If he was, I wanted to help.
The end of the school year came the next week. We had shoved our lockers into our backpacks, said goodbye to our teachers, and went out into the bright June sunlight where the now free students ran Tulsa and its streets rampant.
I started my job at the bookstore the next day and I liked it. It was never terribly busy and there was almost never any loud, annoying people there.
Pony had started his job at the DX and I visited him almost everyday during my half and hour lunch break.
Something was wrong with Ponyboy. I knew it. He had barely kissed me or hugged me and whenever he held my hand, he was always running his fingers across my knuckles. It was usually a calming gesture, but lately it had been a concerning one. He barely talked to me at all. Didn't even really say "I love you" anymore.
I was scared.
Does he not like me anymore?, I thought to myself, Did I do something wrong? Did something bad happen to him lately that I didn't know about?
I casually asked him in conversation if he was alright and his answer was always yes, but I knew he was lying. There might be a lot of people who couldn't tell when he was lying through his teeth, but I could. I had always been able to.
After a good month of this, I got fed up.
I walked into the DX as I did almost every day, wearing shorts, a t-shirt, my hair in a long braid down my back and sandals.
Pony was standing at the register. He looked up when I walked in, but when he saw it was me, he looked back down, suddenly intrigued by the cash register.
"Okay", I demanded, "What the hell is up with you?"
He looked up and scrunched his eyebrows together, "What are you talking about, Lily?"
"You know full well what I'm talking about, Ponyboy Curtis, so don't you deny it."
"Do I now? Please do tell."
I walked up to him and slammed my hands on the counter and looking up at him, startling him.
"You have been practically ignoring me for the past month!", I yelled, "I ask you what's wrong and what's always your answer? 'I'm fine' or 'nothing'! If I did something, tell me! If something's wrong, tell me! That's what I'm here for!"
He looked at me, "Nothing's wrong."
I groaned and threw my hands in the air in exasperation, them slapping at my legs, "Jesus, Pony! You just don't seem to understand, do you? I know you and I know something isn't right!"
"Maybe you don't know me as well as you thought!", he exclaimed.
"Did I do something? Did anyone do something? Are you just in a bad place right now?", I questioned, "Pony, you need to tell me!"
"I'm fine!", he yelled.
"Are you cheating on me?", I asked, deathly calm.
He scrunched together his eyebrows again, "What the hell are you talking about? Why do you think I'm cheating on you?"
"Oh, well", I started sarcastically before yelling, "Maybe it's because you ignore me! Maybe it's because you don't hug me or kiss me! Maybe it's because you don't talk to me! Maybe it's because you haven't told me that you loved me in a freaking month!"
His face was getting red. Soda and Steve came into the doorway between the garage and the shop, but didn't intervene.
"I don't know what the hell is wrong with you, but you better fix it and damn quickly!"
"Nothing is wrong!", he exclaimed, "I'm fine!"
"It's that Soc, isn't it?", I asked, tears of anger coming to my eyes, "That Soc. Cherry. I knew it."
"I'm not cheating on you, Lily! Stop accusing me of tryings I didn't do!"
"Then maybe you shouldn't push me to the side like you've been doing!"
"I don't know what you're talking about!"
"That's bull, Pony and we both know it!", I screamed, tears flowing down my eyes. My throat was hoarse from yelling.
"No it's not! Why the hell can't you just figure out that nothing's wrong?!"
"Goodbye, Ponyboy", I said angrily, walking out of the door, "If you figure out what the hell's wrong with you, you can run to Cherry and not me."
"Maybe I will!", I heard him yell at me as I left the store.
The second I left the DX, I burst into tears. I didn't do anything wrong.
I'm going to ignore him, I thought, And when he wants to talk, he'll have to come back to me.
Ponyboy's POV
What just happened?
Sodapop and Steve walked quietly into the room.
"What the hell was that all about?", Steve asked.
I breathed deeply and ran a hand down my face, "I don't know."
"Pony, is what she said true? Have you really been practically ignoring her for a month?"
"No, I see her almost everyday."
"Ponyoby", Soda sighed, "Seeing someone and interacting with them are two completely different things. When was the last time you kissed her?"
I thought back, trying to pinpoint the date, "Two weeks ago…"
"And the last time you hugged her?"
"Probably back on the fourth of July…"
"Glory, Ponyboy", Steve muttered.
"Held her hand?"
"Like a week ago…"
"Ponyboy?", Sodapop spoke slowly, "When was the last time you told her you loved her?"
I had to think hard about that one, "I dunno."
Steve slapped me upside the head.
"Ow!", I exclaimed.
"Little Colt", Soda said, "You shouldn't have to think as hard as you did for that answer and the answer you gave shouldn't have been the one you gave."
"You really just screwed up", Steve told me.
"But I didn't do anything wrong!"
"Pony, you know I love you, but I have to side with Steve. You messed up big time. Did you see her? I've never seen her that pissed before. Ever."
"Did you actually cheat on her?", Steve asked.
"No! I did not cheat on her!"
"Why have you been so distant with her then?"
"I dunno. I've had a lot on my mind…"
"Like what?", Soda questioned.
"Angela Shepard has made it her mission to screw with my mind."
"Didn't you just say you didn't cheat on Lily?"
"I didn't! Angela is trying to break us up! She's always flirting with me and crap. She's been getting me so annoyed and frustrated that I've only been thinking about that for a good month."
"Those goddamn Shepards", Steve murmured, "Always messing everything up."
"Pony, put yourself in Lily's shoes. How you you feel if she practically ignored you for a full month? What would you think she was doing? Why would you think she was doing it?"
I thought for a bit and realized how bad what I'd done was.
"God, I'm such a freaking asshole", I muttered, leaning over the counter and holding my head in my hands.
"You got that right", Steve said.
He was so right that I didn't even glare at him.
"I need to go apologize", I told them, walking to the door.
"No", Soda commanded, "Not now. Like I said, she was really fired up. Let her cool down before talking to her."
I sighed heavily and grabbed my carton of cigarettes, lighting one up. I've been smoking them a lot more often lately because of Angela. I wanted to cut back. I really did. But the stress was getting to me.
Back to Lily's POV
When I got back to the bookstore, I endured the single longest feeling shift that it could ever feel possible to feel.
I trudged back home and flopped down on my bed, falling asleep almost immediately.
Don't get me wrong, I loved working at the bookstore, but I didn't really want to do anything.
I felt heartbroken. Pony hadn't even come to apologize yet. Every time I touched the necklace he gave me, I started tearing up.
I hoped we wouldn't break up. I couldn't handle it if we did and I don't think Pony would be able to either after all the losses he's had.
I still didn't know why he had been ignoring me, but I seriously hoped he hadn't been cheating on me like I had thought he had.
One day, about a week after Pony and I's fight, I was walking home from work. My boss had had me stay a little than usual to shelf some books which I didn't mind. She even said she would pay me a bit more for it.
I had desperately wanted to make up with Pony, but he needed to come to his senses and talk to me first.
I was wearing a white t-shirt with a camisole underneath, jean shorts, and Converse. My hair was in a braid down my back with a headband pulling back the shorter strands. I had forgotten to put on the necklace that morning by accident, so my neck and throat had felt kind of empty all day.
It was about 8:00. The sun had been down for a while and the sky was dark. I was breathing in soft, humid summer air and enjoying how the subtle breeze felt on my exposed arms and legs. I looked up frequently as I walked, watching the almost full moon and silently pointing out the constellations that I knew to myself. I was only a few blocks from my house.
My eyes were trained on the Dig Dipper when I heard footsteps.
They continued getting closer.
I continued to look up at the sky.
"Hey", I heard behind me. I had thought that the girls behind me were in their late teens to early twenties and they were on a night out, but the voice I heard couldn't have been from someone older than me.
I stopped and turned around.
Now in front of me were five girls.
The one who seemed to be the leader looked familiar to me. She had long, black hair and a lean figure. Her eyes were a scarily icy blue.
I studied her face until I figured out who she was: Angela Shepard. She looked like a girl version of her brothers.
"Hi", I said to her, "Can I help you with something?"
"Yeah", she smirked, "Do you happen to know Ponyboy Curtis's girlfriend?"
I scrunched my eyebrows together in confusion, "Yeah. I am his girlfriend. Why?"
"Oh, just wondering", she turned to her friends, "Ladies?"
I stepped back slightly, "Why does it matter that I'm Ponyboy's girlfriend?"
"Because I want him. And I always get what I want."
I suddenly remembered a line from Pony's theme; "Dallas Winston always got what he wanted. And he wanted to be dead."
The Shepards were just as much hoods as Dally had been and if Dally had gotten everything he wanted, Angela was going to be that way too.
I swallowed, "I don't want any trouble, Angela."
"Sorry, doll, but I do."
She threw me to the ground and I groaned upon impact.
Angela kneeled down next to me, "Let's see how much he wants you once we're done ruining you."
My eyes widened and she took a switchblade out, flinching when she flicked it open.
"Oh, is the poor little girly scared of the blade?", she taunted.
Her friends had formed a circle around us.
I tried desperately to get up, but she sat on my stomach. I had a flashback of when I was jumped when Pony and Johnny were gone.
I almost inaudibly whimpered.
"Get off of me, Angela", I told her, my voice a little shaky, "I never did anything to you."
"That's the thing, you didn't. But I'm gonna do somethin' to you."
Angela pushed me roughly back to the ground. I tightened the muscles in my neck so my head wouldn't be smashed on the concrete of the sidewalk.
She put her hand on my chest, the heal of her hand digging into the part of my diaphragm where my ribs met. That spot was coincidentally were the Socs had cut me all the time ago.
Angela's friends were smirking condescendingly above me, waiting for their leader's next command.
She soon fulfilled their want, "Hold her down", she ordered. The girls held down my arms and legs, one person on each limb.
Angela wasn't heavy, but with all of her weight trained on my diaphragm and my stomach, it was getting hard to breathe.
"Please stop", I said meekly.
"Not a chance."
"Leave me alone!", I yelled, struggling beneath her. I was having more flash backs from months ago.
"Hell no. Now shut that ugly ass face of yours before I do it for you."
I still struggled, using all the strength that I could muster to try to get Angela and her friends off of me.
"Stop!", I screamed.
"Shut up!", she yelled and slugged me in the face.
She said something to her friends, but I couldn't make it out since I was trying to recover from the shock of the punch. My eyes were shut tight.
Then I felt pain. Excruciating pain. My eyes flew open and I looked over to my left arm where I knew the pain was coming from. the girl who was holding down my arm was cutting it with a blade. The underside of my arm was facing upwards and she was dragging the switchblade down it, from my elbow to where her hand was tightly gripping and keeping hold of my wrist. Blood was everywhere. My arm was covered in read
I screamed in pain, "Help!"
The girl just made another cut down the outside of my arm where the inner and outer parts met. I could only hope none of the cuts had hit a vein.
I could feel my shirt and camisole being cut off. I knew they weren't going to rape me so the only thing I could think of was that Angela was going to cut my torso.
"Stop!", I cried, "Stop! Help!"
"No one's ever gonna love you with all this. You'll be even uglier than before, if it's possible", Angela hissed.
I felt the coldness of the blade stop on my arm and go to my torso. The blade started at my left underarm and was dragged, cutting the part of my bra at my side. The blade continued, cutting just beneath my left breast and going diagonally across my stomach until it reached my right hip. I knew there was tons of blood without looking. I could feel it.
I cried and screamed the entire time, hoping someone would notice me.
"Help! Please! Darry! Soda! Steve! Two! Pony! Anyone!"
Once again, I was punched in the face, not breaking my nose, but making it bleed.
Then I felt a searing pain in my stomach. I let out a strangled gasp of surprise.
Looking up, I saw Angela giving me a satisfied smirk. She had just punched me in the stomach. Her fist was covered in red, but she continued.
I screamed out once again for help. While I screamed both words and incoherent noises, Angela continued to punch my already bleeding stomach.
The blade was present once again, this time starting at the bottom of the right side of my neck and dragging down to just below my right collarbone.
Once again, blood everywhere.
Then I finally heard yelling.
I screamed again in pain and to get whoever was coming's attention.
"Lily!", I heard. Ponyboy.
I heard feet pounding the pavement.
"Angela!", I heard someone scream; I think it was Two-Bit, "What are you doing?! You're gonna kill her!"
She and her friends just ran off.
Ponyboy dropped to his knees next to me, "Oh my God. Lily. Are you okay?"
I shook my head. Tears were streaming down my face and I felt sticky and wet from the blood.
"I'm so sorry", he said, "If we hadn't had the fight, this wouldn't have happened. This is all my fault."
"I forgive you", I said weakly.
"We need to get her to our house. Now", Pony ordered, "Two-Bit, you have to come with me. I'll carry her."
"What about us?", I heard Soda ask, "How can we help?"
"Get home quick. Me and Two-Bit will be there with Darry since I'm the fastest runner and Two-Bit is faster than y'all."
Ponyboy took off his sweatshirt and tied it around my middle, using it as a makeshift tourniquet before picking me up bridal style quickly, but carefully and instantly starting to sprint. I heard Two-Bit's feet pounding behind us.
Ponyboy's POV
The gang had taken me to the movie house to try and get my mind off of the fight with Lily. I had been wanting desperately to apologize, but hadn't yet.
We left the theater and were on our way to our house when we heard screams. We all looked at each other and started running towards the noise.
I recognized the screaming from New Years. It was Lily.
I started to freak out, "Guys it's Lily! C'mon, we gotta get her!"
We all bolted towards her. She was pinned to the ground and someone was kicking her ribs while someone else was punching her stomach. She was covered in blood.
"Lily!", I yelled.
We finally got to her and we got the girls away from her. It was Angela and her friends.
"Angela!", Two-Bit screamed at her, "What are you doing?! You're gonna kill her!"
The girls just ran away and I instantly fell to my knees beside Lily.
"I'm so sorry", I told her, "If we hadn't had the fight, this wouldn't have happened. This is all my fault."
"I forgive you", she whispered.
She was losing blood.
"We need to get her to our house. Now. Two-Bit, you have to come with me. I'll carry her."
"What about us?", Soda asked, "How can we help?"
"Get home quick. Me and two-Bit will be there with Darry since I'm the fastest runner and Two-Bit is faster than y'all."
I yanked off my sweatshirt and rapidly tied it around Lily's waist to slow down the bleeding before picking her up and running.
Back to Lily's POV
"We're almost there, darlin", Pony said to me as he ran.
I whimpered in response and even that took a lot out of me.
"Two-Bit", Pony started, "Get into the house and tell Darry to get the medical kit stat. Tell him it's an emergency."
Two-Bit ran in front of us and I could hear him busting through the Curtis' door and screaming at Darry to get the medical kit.
Pony and I burst through the door only seconds later. Darry was running out of the bathroom with the medical kit and Two-Bit was grabbing towels.
"Oh my God", Darry said when he saw me, "She's almost worse than Johnny was. Who did this?"
"Angela Shepard and her friends", Pony said quickly, "Two-Bit, put some pillows on the floor in the living room and cover them and the floor around them with as many towels as you can find."
I groaned in Pony's arms and continued to cry.
"Darry give me the medical kit and all the needles and thread you can find. She's gonna need a lot of stitches."
Ponyboy ran me into the living room where Two-Bit was throwing towels on the pillows he had set on the floor and around them.
I was set down on them in seconds.
"Pony", I whimpered, "It hurts."
"I know it does, baby. I know it does", Pony cooed, shuffling around the medical supplies. The rest of the boys burst through the door.
"You guys need to go away while I do stitch her stomach", Pony told them.
"Soda", I wheezed, "Hold. Hand. Stitches."
Pony looked confused.
"She wants me to hod her hand while you stitch her up", Soda explained, "This is what we did last time."
Pony curtly nodded as he threaded the needle and untied his sweatshirt from my torso.
"Jesus Christ", I heard him mutter, "What did they do to you, darlin'?"
"Blade", I whispered.
"I gotta take off your bra", Pony told me, "I'll put a towel over your chest, though."
I nodded a little and Sodapop gripped my hand and averted his eyes as Pony quickly took off the bra and replaced it with a towel. I didn't know if he saw anything, but if he did, he remained professional about it and maintained his calm composure.
The needle went in and I squeezed Soda's hand with the little strength I had.
I cried, there being no words that I could say.
"I know", Pony cooed, "I know. I'm sorry. I'm gonna get it done as quick as I can."
Soda held my hand and brushed the hair back from my face. He went away for a second, only to come back with a cold, damp cloth for my head.
"Thank you", I said softly.
"Your welcome", he told me, holding my hand again.
Pony started to sing "Love Me Tender" to cam me down. After over an hour, the stitches across my stomach were finished.
"Y'all can come in now", Soda called called to the gang.
Pony continued to sing, repeating the song over and over again to keep me calm.
Darry, Steve, and Two-Bit quietly walked into the living room and solemnly sat around the room, Darry in his armchair and Steve and Two-Bit on the couch.
Tears still dripped from my eyes because of the pain.
"I'm gonna get her ice cubes and an ice pack", Darry said as he walked into the kitchen.
"Ice cubes?", Soda asked.
"She needs fluids and if we try to give her a cup of water, it'll spill everywhere."
He came back a few minutes later with a small cup of ice cubes.
Pony moved to the other side of me to stitch my arm, still singing.
The boys didn't say anything about the singing.
Sodapop put an ice cube to my mouth and I put it in my cheek, hoping the pain from its cold would distract me from the needle and threat stitching my skin together. Then he put the ice pack on my bruised and stitched stomach to make it numb.
We all sat in silence, but for Pony's soft, calming singing, my occasional nose sniffling, breathing and the tapping of Two-Bit's shoe on the floor.
I tried to keep my breathing steady. I felt an anxiety attack coming on.
Ponyboy finished with my arm after a while and wrapped it before going to my collarbone which didn't take much time since it was only about an inch long.
My attempts to keeping my breathing seat were failing and I could feel the breaths coming quicker and quicker.
"Lily", Pony said from next to me, disrupting his singing, "Look at me. Keep your eyes on me. Calm down. You're okay."
I continued to hyperventilate.
Pony pulled me into his lap, making sure to keep the towel on my chest. He pulled my head into his chest.
"It's okay. You're okay", he cooed.
The gang left the room to give us some time alone.
"I'm so sorry", Pony whispered and I felt a tear hit my bare shoulder.
I turned my head up at him, my breathing pacing itself out, "It's not your fault."
"Yes it is."
"How is it your fault?"
"The reason I was ignoring you was because Angela was trying to break us up and it's not like I like her, but I didn't know how to deal with the stress so I took it out on you. I should've known she would try something. I don't blame you if you never forgive me."
I looked into his watery green eyes, "I forgive you. I don't blame you for any of this. Let's just talk things out instead of fighting from now on, okay?"
"Okay. I love you."
"I love you too, honey. So much."
He leaned down and gave me a kiss. God, how I missed those.
"I called your parents, Lily", Darry called from the other room, "I told 'em you got hurt and are saying with us tonight."
"What did they say?"
"They asked how hurt. I said stitches bad. They said that it was best that you weren't moved tonight in your condition. I also told them that it would be a good idea to bring you a new pair of clothes when they come to pick you up tomorrow"
"Okay. Thank you."
Darry went back into the kitchen.
"How many?", I asked Pony.
"How many what?"
"Stitches."
He thought for a second, adding them all up, "…Seventy-two on your arm…eight on your neck…one hundred and thirty-two on your torso…two hundred and twelve in total."
"Good lord", I muttered.
"I know", he sighed.
"Honey, I feel weak", I told him.
"Let me get you a shirt and I'll get you on the couch."
He went into his room and came back out with a sweatshirt with the sleeves cut off.
Pony turned around as I slipped it on and looked back at me when I said I was done before coming over to my right side since it was the side with the least injuries. He carefully picked me up bridal style and set me down on the couch, my back against the armrest.
The he went into the kitchen. I heard him and the gang talking and a few minutes later he came back, followed by the gang. He had a bowl of soup in one hand and a cup of juice in the other.
"Thank you", I told Pony when he came in. I didn't have the strength for big sentences.
I was carefully propped up on pillows and one was put on my lap for the soup to it on while I ate it. It wasn't the most careful approach since the soup could very well fall, but it was the only thing we could do for the time being.
I started carefully eating the soup, my right hand shaking a little.
The boys just stared at me. I knew why, of course, so I decided not to question it.
After I finished the soup, the bowl was taken off of my lap and put on the table. Then I was handed a plate with a slice of cake.
I gave a questioning look to Sodapop who had put it in front of me.
"Cake makes everything better", he said simply.
I smiled a little and took a bite.
"Beside", Pony added, "You need the sugar in your system."
I nodded in understanding and started eating the cake, stopping in intervals to drink the juice which Pony refilled twice.
"Where is everyone sleeping tonight?", Darry asked.
"I'm going back to my house", Two-Bit responded.
"I might go back home", Steve told us.
"If Steve goes home, I'll take the couch and Soda can sleep with Darry", Pony said.
"You don't have to", I told him.
"No", Soda said, "You just just badly beat up. You need to sleep in a bed."
"I would sleep in my bed with you, but I don't want to accidentally hurt your injuries", Pony told me.
I shook my head, "No. Stay with me. Please."
"If you're sure than of course I will", he said as he kneeled down and gave my bruised cheek a kiss before taking my hand and rubbing his thumb along the back of it.
I cracked a small smile at him which he returned.
Putting the plate on the table, I carefully rearranged myself so my head was lying on Pony's lap.
"You tired darlin'?", he asked as the gang continued to talk amongst themselves.
I nodded slowly, enjoying the warmth of his body heat. He ran his fingers through my knotted hair and I traced designs on his leg.
"You wanna go to bed now, darlin'?", Pony asked.
"Mm-hm", I answered.
Pony moved out from under me and I whined a little at the sudden loss of contact and warmth. Then he gently picked me up and said goodnight to the gang as he carried me to his and Soda's room, placing me on the bed.
I shook my head a little.
"Something wrong?", he questioned.
"I don't wanna sleep in my shorts and shoes", I told him.
"Are you telling me this so I'll turn around?"
"I don't care. I'm just letting you know."
I quickly took of my shoes and cautiously took off my shorts with my right hand and got into the bed, curling into the fetal position on my right side.
Pony just smiled a bit at my tiredness and quickly pulled off his shirt and changed from his jeans into a pair of sweatpants before getting into bed next to me.
He came behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist, his chest pressed to my back. His face was buried in my hair, his warm breath tickling the back of my ear and the nape of my neck.
I placed my injured arm on top of his and lay my left hand over the back of his which was resting lightly on my stomach. I intertwined our fingers and rubbed the back of his thumb with the pad of mine.
"And to think", I whispered with a slight yawn, "My family hasn't even met the gang yet."
Pony chuckled into my neck, "Well, they'll certainly be meeting them tomorrow."
"Yeah, I suppose", I agreed.
"You fallin' asleep?"
I nodded, my eyelids feeling heavy.
"Go ahead and sleep. You've had a long day and you deserve some rest. I'll be right here when you wake up."
I smiled, "Promise?"
I could feel Pony smile as well against my neck, "I promise."
"I love you", I told him with a tired sigh, "So much."
"I love you too", he responded, leaning over a little to kiss my cheek, "And I always will."
Hello, my people! I'm SO sorry it's taken this long for me to update again. While I was writing this chapter, I changed a ton of things and schoolwork has been torturous. I hope to be updating again soon and I'll hopefully be updating more during Spring Break. I love y'all and stay gold!- AthenaRavenclaw13
