I don't remember if I wrote anything about Archer's dad in a previous chapter. If I had, please let me know so I could change it to this one that I am writing now. Thanks!

o-o-o

Archer could have expected many things to have happened during Saturday afternoon—a freshly-made meal, his mother returning home from the store, or even his friends bursting open the door to hang out. He wasn't expecting, however, the familiar figure of his father who had been "away on a business trip" for quite a while now. When he pushed open the door, Archer was startled, whipping his body around in shock. At first, he thought that someone had broken into his house while he was in there, but he quickly waved that idea aside. Nobody would rob a house in the middle of the day. There were too many eyes around the neighborhood. He then took the time to examine the two figures that had entered his house, quickly recognizing one of them to be his father. Next to him was a beautiful, elegant woman that he had never seen before. She was probably a business partner or an assistant.

"Dad, you're back!" Archer cheered, jumping off the couch and jogging up to the older man with a huge smile plastered on his face.

Upon seeing him, his dad smiled as well. Although, it didn't reach his eyes. When Archer got closer to him, he noticed the aging lines that were under his tired eyes and his graying hair from all of the stress that his job puts him under. He looked exhausted… or maybe even reluctant to be there. But Archer couldn't understand why he would be feeling that.

"Mortimer!" his father greeted, putting down his briefcase. Archer cringed at his birth name being said out loud.

"I didn't know that you were coming back today. Mom never said anything! She's going to be so happy to see you!"

His father's tense smile dropped as he stiffened up in his spot by the door. He scratched at his temple, pressing his lips together into a thin line. "I…" he started, unsure of how to phrase what he wanted to say. "I actually came back to discuss an important issue with your mother."

Archer's eyebrows knitted together. From the looks of his father's expression, it couldn't have been good. "Important issue?"

"You're here," came his mother's sudden voice, appearing next to Archer. For once, she wasn't smiling. She was just as serious as her father—something that Archer hadn't seen in quite some time. There was definitely something up.

"Mom, what's going on?"

She shifted her weight onto her other foot, crossing her arms over her chest. "This has something to do with all of us. Not just between your father and I."

Now Archer was even more confused. "All of us? I get us three, but, why her?" Archer jabbed his finger towards the woman that entered his house with his dad. "Who even is that?"

The lady smiled at her presence being acknowledged, holding out her hand. Archer took it, shaking it briefly. "It's nice to meet you, Mortimer," she said. "Your father told me all about you. I would have thought that he had spoken about me to you as well."

Archer shook his head. "Nope. Not a thing, lady."

At his words, the woman rose an eyebrow, shooting a look to his dad who just rose up a hand in a silent apology.

"Can someone please tell me what's going on?" Archer demanded, exasperated that nobody was telling him anything.

His mother stepped up, picking at a loose string on her shirt. "Well… Honey… You see…" she began before stopping short, shooting a look for help to her husband.

His father sighed, deciding that there was no point in delaying the inevitable. "Your mother and I have been having issues lately and I had to get out of the house," he explained.

"I thought you went on a business trip," Archer said.

"Well, that's what we both wanted to tell you."

"Honey… your father and I are getting a divorce," his mother bluntly explained, ripping out the loose string. "He's here so that we can go and finalize it."

Archer felt his blood run cold at what she just said. His body went rigid as his mouth opened, unable to produce any sound out of it. It felt like his world stopped right then and there as everything was coming to an end before him.

Divorce? That couldn't be right. There was just no way. He had to be hearing things. His parents couldn't get a divorce. They were meant to stay together. But one look on everyone's faces and he knew that what he had heard was true.

He rapidly shook his head, backing up a few steps. "No. No!" he screamed, causing everyone else to flinch. His mother placed a hand on his shoulder, but he quickly whacked it off of him. His mouth felt dry as he continued to back away.

What was going to happen now? He couldn't imagine his life without his father in it. Would he have to go between houses? There were just so many questions that were revolving around in his head that it skyrocketed his anxiety and flat out made him scared. Archer wasn't scared of many things, but this, for sure, had to be near the top of the list.

"Hon, I know that it's shocking but—" His mother started but was cut off.

"No!" Archer bellowed, a stricken expression on his face. "Mom, Dad, you can't...Please, no. Don't do this. Why can't we just work this out? You don't have to get a divorce if we can just figure it all out."

"Honey…"

"It's for the best," the random woman tried to comfort him, causing Archer to whip his attention to her. How did she know that? How could she possibly know? Unless… Archer put two plus two together. That's when everything dawned on him. His dad had been sleeping with this woman. Instantly, a red rage blinded him as he glowered at the woman and his father.

He pointed an accusing finger at the woman, letting out a frustrated scream. "Is she the reason why? Seriously?! You've been having an affair with her? You've been cheating on Mom this entire time?"

"Archer…" his mother muttered, letting tears fall from her eyes. Archer never wanted to see her cry in his life. "I didn't want this either."

"Look, Mortimer—" his father cut in but was interrupted.

"It's Archer!" Archer corrected.

His father nodded, holding his hands up in an attempt to calm him down. "Well, Archer, sometimes things just don't work out. I know that this is hard for you, but don't you want me to be happy?"

"Wasn't my Mom and I enough to make you happy?" His voice cracked terribly as his eyes felt strained as if he were about to cry himself. The house went silent and Archer just about had enough, unable to stay there without exploding on them. "I can't even look at you anymore, Dad."

"Archer…"

But that was the last thing that he heard before he pushed past them, purposefully shoving his shoulder into his dad's as he slammed the front door shut. As soon as the door was closed behind him, he screamed out, kicking a flowerpot across the lawn.

His toes burned from the impact, but he couldn't care less about that. He stormed away, tears threatening to fall out.

How could they do that to him? They were supposed to be a family. They weren't supposed to split apart. He thought that they loved each other, but he was proven wrong.

What now? That question was the loudest in his head.

Where was he supposed to go? He didn't want to go home and face his parents. What was he going to do? How was he even supposed to feel? His emotions were all jumbled together, and it made him an absolute mess.

He was probably walking around for hours— just trying to sort everything and calm down—since the sun looked like it was starting to lower. He probably still had an hour or two before it became dark. After all of that time walking, he knew one thing that was for sure. He wanted someone to talk to or at least be there for him.

When he finally looked up from the ground, he was surprised to see Ponyboy straight away. A longing feeling washed over him as his mouth instinctively opened up to call out to him. That was when he noticed the young greaser look over his shoulder in fear at something that Archer couldn't see. The younger boy took off in a run, leaving Archer wondering what had spooked him. That was until he saw a Corvair trailing behind him.

o-o-o

Ponyboy's lungs burned as his feet pounded against the pavement. His breathing was erratic as his eyes swiftly skittered around for a place to hide.

"Come on…" he muttered. There has to be something! He couldn't keep running forever. He was going to run out of streets to swerve into and his stamina sooner or later.

"He's over there!" someone screamed, causing Ponyboy to jolt. He had to run! He couldn't let them catch up to him!

However, as he was sprinting, a hand wrapped around his waist, violently yanking him behind someone's car. A hand clasped around his mouth, muffling his startled yelp as he fell onto his butt. His heart pounded against his chest in both fear and adrenaline as the worst scenario ran through his brain.

They caught him. This was it.

How did he even get here in the first place?

…

Flashback…

Ponyboy was minding his own business that afternoon, bouncing a cheap rubber ball as he strolled out of the movie theater. The sudden change in lighting burned his eyes, but he was still grinning, nevertheless. He couldn't help it after seeing the movie. Although he had seen that movie a number of times already, the residue that it had left him was euphoric. It was just so great. It seemed like almost nothing would knock him off of his cloud that day.

But, of course, there had to be something.

All of a sudden, as he was bouncing the ball, the sound of a car engine roared behind him, causing him to stiffen up instinctively. He looked over his shoulder, eyes wide as a Corvair sped towards him. Time seemed to slow down as he was frozen in place.

Move. He had to move.

Before the car could hit him, he managed to snap out of it, diving to the side right as the car ran over the spot that he was just in. Ponyboy eyed the car incredulously. No way. They were actually trying to hit him!

"Greaser!" they screamed out of the window. Ponyboy didn't recognize them at all. They didn't know that he was gay by the sound of it, so they were going after him based on the fact that he was a greaser.

Ponyboy pushed himself up to his feet when the car illegally turned around on the road.

"Christ…" Ponyboy hissed under his breath as he took off in a run. The car followed right behind him as he zigzagged through different streets in an attempt to lose them. Although, that seemed ridiculous. He knew that he couldn't outrun a car no matter how fast he was.

How was he going to get out of this?

…

It felt like forever, but eventually, the Corvair passed by the two as they hid behind the vehicle. Ponyboy listened to the quiet crunch of the asphalt as the car rolled over it. He swallowed thickly, able to calm down some when the rumble of the engine faded away in the distance. The hand that was clamped over his mouth removed itself, letting Ponyboy breathe again.

"They're gone," said a familiar voice that caused Pony's attention to snap towards the owner of it. He hadn't even looked at the person who had grabbed him as he was too focused on the car that was trailing him.

"What? Archer?" Ponyboy breathed out. "What are you doing here?"

Archer raised an eyebrow as if he had asked a stupid question. "Obviously, saving your ass. Why were they following you?"

Ponyboy mirrored his expression. "Because I'm a greaser."

The Soc nodded, standing up and looking around. He motioned towards Ponyboy to get up as well. "Come on. We should probably get a move on. They're still looking for you."

At that moment, the rumble of the engine returned causing both of their heads to snap towards the sound. The Corvair had returned and the occupants in it saw them.

"Too late," Ponyboy mumbled as the car picked up speed.

"We got to go!" Archer bellowed, grabbing Pony's wrist as he took off in a run. Just like what Ponyboy did before, they weaved through the streets; even trampling through people's lawns. It was repetitive. Every single time the car was about to hit them, they would dive into another street or jump over someone's fence. They ran and ran, but they knew that they weren't going to be able to continue running away from the car forever. They were already running out of stamina.

They ran into another street, seeing the car drive past it. It would give them a few more seconds before the Corvair would be on them again. However, Archer stopped in his tracks, causing Ponyboy to practically run into him.

"We can't keep doing this," Archer pointed out, panting hard.

"What are we supposed to do then?" Ponyboy asked, swallowing his saliva to soothe his dry throat.

Archer looked around the street, trying to find something that would get them out of this mess. His eyes zeroed in on a car and a smile curled his lips. "I got an idea."

"What idea?"

The Soc jogged over to a convertible car, hopping over the door. "Get in."

Without asking any questions, Ponyboy did so. Only when he was fully situated in the car did he start questioning him. "What are we doing? They're going to catch us."

"We're going to drive away." He said that like it was obvious, but Pony quickly found the flaws in his statement.

"But this isn't your car!"

"Maybe there's keys somewhere…" Archer hastily searched around in the car, looking in every possible spot where keys could hide. But, in the end, he ended up fruitless.

"Nobody would leave their keys in a car… let alone a convertible one."

Archer turned to Ponyboy, throwing up his hands. "Well, what else are we supposed to do?"

Ponyboy chewed on his bottom lip, cranking his brain for any idea. His eyes fell down to the wheel, an idea striking him. He nodded to himself. He knew exactly what he was supposed to do. "Move over," he ordered.

"What?"

"Move!" Without letting Archer question his motives any longer, Ponyboy hopped over the Soc's lap, lodging himself between him and the door. Archer moved out of the way, not knowing what Pony was going to do. He watched as the younger male fumbled around with the wires under the wheel. As he was doing that, the Corvair turned onto the street that they were on.

Archer looked over his shoulder, gasping. "We need to go now!"

"Hold on! I'm going my fastest!" Ponyboy continued to fumble with the wires, a trickle of sweat falling down his temple.

The car began to speed towards them. They weren't slowing down.

"Now, Ponyboy!" Archer screamed.

The car rumbled to life and Ponyboy sat up with a small satisfied smile in his face. "There!" he said.

"Now drive!"

Ponyboy snapped his attention towards him in shock, eyeing the car that was going to hit them at any moment now. "I don't know how to drive!"

"I don't care! Just go!"

With a weird, nervous sounding escaping his throat, Ponyboy grabbed the wheel and pressed down on the clutch and shifted the car into gear like he had seen the gang do before. He slammed his foot on the accelerator and the car jolted forward.

The drive to escape was not pretty whatsoever. It was a thousand times more nauseating than the scariest roller coaster in the world. Pony weaved around, causing people to honk and curse at him. Fortunately, they were lucky enough to not have passed by any police officers.

The Corvair followed close behind them and it seemed like they wouldn't be able to lose them. Pony suddenly swerved around a corner, almost skidding out. He could hear Archer yell out in shock beside him as he corrected the car. Through his rearview mirror, he could see the car that was following them pass by the street he was on. He didn't see the car after that, so he guessed that they either gave up or they lost them.

Miraculously, Ponyboy managed to get the two of them to a park without dying. Nobody was there since the sun was already starting to set. He parked the car, which was about to run out of gas, hands stiffly letting go of the steering wheel.

"Next time," Archer breathed out, "when we have to do a getaway… you are not driving."

Ponyboy numbly nodded. "That would be for the best," he replied, heart still leaping out of his chest. They took a long moment to calm down. Nobody spoke anything as they watched the sun slowly lower itself, painting the sky with vibrant colors.

Eventually, Ponyboy turned to Archer. A question was burning on his mind. "So, what were you actually doing there when you found me?"

Archer instantly became rigid at his question. All of the events that had happened at his house came crashing back to him. He had almost forgotten about it all because of how hectic everything was. He pursed his lips, clenching his hands into fists so tightly that it felt like his nails were going to pierce through his skin. His heart wrenched from the fresh memories, causing him to suck in a shuttering breath.

"What's wrong?" Ponyboy asked worriedly.

But Archer didn't say anything. How could he? Sure, he wanted to tell Ponyboy, but how could he do that when the greaser didn't even have his parents around anymore?

"You know that you can always talk to me, right?" Ponyboy continued, leaning forward in his seat.

"I know…" Archer whispered just loud enough for Ponyboy to hear him. "I'm just mad and scared."

"What happened?"

Shaking his head, Archer leaned forward to cover the back of his neck with his hands. "I don't want to talk about it."

Gently smiling, Ponyboy solemnly nodded. "I understand. You don't have to talk about it. I'm not going to force you to."

Even though he said that Archer was already on the edge of telling him. He wanted someone there for him and Ponyboy wanted to listen. "My parents are divorcing," he blurted out, not being able to look at Ponyboy.

Ponyboy's breath hitched. He wasn't expecting that. "I'm so sorry…"

Without meaning to, tears started to fall from Archer's eyes, shocking Ponyboy. It was weird to see him in such a vulnerable position—a total contrast to his cocky nature. Archer's hands were shaking terribly and Ponyboy had the urge to reach out and hold them within his own. But he held himself back from doing so. Archer continued, "And I know that I shouldn't be saying this to you with both of your parents gone, but I just… I just…"

"You don't have to think about my parents. They aren't important right now. Just you."

He sniffled, the pitch of his voice going up the more that he cried. "I don't know what to do. I'm terrified. I never thought that this would ever happen. We were all so happy and then they told me this out of the blue. I'm scared, Ponyboy. What's going to happen now?"

"Everything's going to be alright," Ponyboy soothed and Archer looked up at him with puffy eyes. It shattered his heart to look at him in such a state. "You're scared because you can't imagine a life without both of them with you, and that's only to be expected. You're probably so confused right now, and you might even distrust people… But it's going to be alright, you hear? It's hard right now and it will be in the future."

"I don't feel like anyone's with me anymore." He sniffled again and Ponyboy couldn't take it anymore. On the seat of the car, he got onto his knees so that he was, at that moment, taller than the other. He wrapped his arms around Archer's head, hugging him against his stomach. Archer's eyes widened in shock for a moment, before he let them close. He raised his arms and hugged Ponyboy's waste, burrowing his face into his sweatshirt, sobbing quietly.

"It's going to be okay…" Ponyboy repeated over and over again, running his fingers through the Soc's hair. "Even though you feel like that... right now, I'm glad that you're with me."

Archer felt his heart flutter at his words. Even though he was still sad, he couldn't help but let a small smile form onto his lips. He pressed his head in more, grabbing Pony's sweatshirt tightly within his hands. They stayed like that for a long time, unmoving until the sun completely disappeared over the horizon, leaving them in the dark. Archer pushed away, not saying a word as he rubbed at his puffy eyes. He leaned back against the seat, tilting his head upwards towards the sky which was dotted in many stars. Ponyboy did as well, wrapping his arms around his legs.

Although he loved sunsets, the night sky was just as beautiful. He smiled, a mesmerized expression washing over his face.

Archer turned his attention over to him, staring at his face which was slightly illuminated by a distant light. Stars personally didn't interest him, but, for some reason, he thought that he could watch Ponyboy become so transfixed on something that he was so fascinated with forever.

At one point, Ponyboy leaned his head against Archer's shoulder. And, instead of pushing him away, he rested his own head on Pony's. The younger boy blushed, letting out a content sigh. But that feeling didn't last too long. His smile fell as he realized something. They had been "dating" for months now. It has been going on for way longer than what both of them had thought it would. It made him wonder if everything between them was going to end soon.

He didn't want it to end.