Archer felt terrible. No… That was an understatement. Words could not describe what he was feeling. Hurt? Broken? Devastated? Regretful? Maybe. But those words were too weak to be remotely correct. It was never supposed to be this way. Archer was never supposed to fall for Ponyboy Michael Curtis, and Ponyboy was never supposed to fall for him either. They were never meant to both feel broken after parting. Their deal was simple—pretend then leave. Just like that. But he fell hard for the greaser which he never thought was possible. Archer thought he was straight, but Ponyboy made him question that altogether.

He wasn't supposed to like a greaser of a male in that matter. It was against society's standards. He was required to be with a female and that was that. Maybe, if it were accepted, he would have been with Ponyboy. However, it was not. Archer was being selfish. He didn't want to be ridiculed by everybody that he knew. He had seen how Ponyboy was treated and Archer didn't want that to happen to him. His friends would drop him in a second. It seemed like being with Ponyboy meant paying a bunch and he wasn't willing to spend that much even if it didn't make him happy.

At one point, he had promised himself that he would never hurt Ponyboy… but he had broken that, and he felt horrible for it. He could hardly stand looking at Ponyboy while he broke down in tears in front of him; because of him. He almost wished that he had confessed at a later time because of the conversation that he had days prior with his friends. They were the ones who made him break his promise that he had made with himself, and he couldn't help but resent them for it.

o-o-o

Flashback…

"Hey, how much longer do you think that you're going to drag him along?" one of his friends had asked while their group was pushing each other into a freezing swimming pool.

"Hm?" Archer hummed, propping his arms out of the pool. His teeth chattered as the strong winds made the experience even more miserable for him. Water dripped out of his soaked hair that fell over his brown eyes. He combed his hair back with his fingers, sort of making it look like he was a greaser himself with how it was. "What are you talking about?"

"The greaser, Ponyboy."

Archer's eyes slightly narrowed. "What about him?"

"You know what I'm talking about. You no longer need him. That crazy bitch, Olivia, is out of the picture."

They were technically right. They were "together" for a while now and strategically, he didn't need Ponyboy anymore. However, he still wanted him around. He loved his company and him altogether. Archer didn't want to just throw him away like a dirty rag. It made him sick to his stomach just thinking about it.

"Why are you hesitating?" another one of his friends brought up, swimming over to them. "Don't tell us that you actually like him."

Panicking, Archer laughed although fake. He rolled his eyes. "Me like Ponyboy? No way. I'm not gay."

His friends all nodded their heads. "Good," the first one said. "If you were gay, we would have a big problem."

Archer swallowed thickly, suddenly feeling hot in the freezing water. "You don't have to worry about that."

"I seriously hope not."

Suddenly, the friend that swam over started laughing. "I bet you all five bucks that the greaser is actually a fag and has a crush on Archer," he chuckled with a cocky smile on his face.

"Five bucks? Isn't that a lot for a bet like that?" his first friend asked. "I could spend that money on so many other things."

"I mean it's easy money if you win the bet."

His friend squinted his eyes. "Yeah, but we all know that the greaser is secretly a faggot."

"You never know though."

Eventually, his first friend let out a sigh, leaning back. "Okay, fine. You're on."

End of Flashback…

o-o-o

Archer remembered the time when he was scared that Ponyboy was going to do something stupid to himself. He had been so worried, and later so relieved when his fake boyfriend didn't do anything. But now, Archer was worried again. He knew that Pony relied on him a lot since his brothers had turned their backs on him. Without him, would that mean that he would do something stupid? Would he go off the deep end? He really hoped not.

Arms slithered around his waist as a petite girl pressed her body close to him. Instinctively, he tensed up, pulling her away from him.

"What do you want, Barbra?" he asked, annoyed.

The girl that he met at Ponyboy's track meet huffed, planting her hands on her waist. "What's your issue?" she tutted, gritting her teeth.

Archer raised an eyebrow. "My issue? What's yours?"

"You weren't so opposed to it at the track meet. You seemed to really like me."

Man, what was it with him attracting crazy broads? Barbara was almost as bad as Olivia. He was almost repulsed by her. He glanced over to his friends who were giving him the thumbs up, snickering amongst themselves. It just reminded him of the fact that he was supposed to be with women.

He sighed miserably, realizing that if he didn't go along with her, his friends would think that he was gay because it would be really shocking if he declined someone as pretty as Barbara. He stiffly nodded his head and Barbara gleamed, stepping closer to him. Archer just wanted her to be on the other side of the world.

Archer looked out the door where Ponyboy had fled out of days ago. He prayed that he wouldn't or didn't do something stupid, but he couldn't help but feel like something bad was going to happen.

o-o-o

When Ponyboy woke up next, he was greeted with a blazing headache like no other. It felt like a sledgehammer had bashed into his skull. That wasn't even the end of it. On top of the headache, his stomach was twisting and turning, feeling as though he went on a roller coaster on a full stomach. His eyes fluttered open, hissing at the bright light of the room he was in. He massaged his temples with his fingers as he sat up.

Where was he? Well, he knew where he was after looking around. He was in Two-Bit's living room. But he didn't know how he got there. The last thing he remembered, he was going to the roof with Curly and his buddies. He searched his brain for answers, but everything was fuzzy after that.

Ponyboy's stomach turned again, feeling as though he were about to throw up. No, he was definitely going to throw up. Out of his control, he felt vomit rise up his throat and into his mouth. He clamped his lips shut, tasting the contents that he had consumed before. He looked around, turning greener and greener before he saw a trashcan that was placed next to the couch that he was on. He grabbed it, sticking his head over it as he threw up.

A gentle hand touched his back, causing him to flinch while he was still vomiting. "It's okay, it's just me," he heard Johnny whisper. Ponyboy was glad that he spoke so quietly.

Looking up, Ponyboy wiped the leftover vomit off of his chin with his sleeve. His nose scrunched up in disgust as the vomit scent wafted in the air. "Johnny?" Ponyboy groaned. "What happened?"

"We found you drunk outside."

Drunk? Now that he thought about it… there were drinks and drugs involved when he was with Curly. Ponyboy didn't think that he got so intoxicated that he blacked out.

"Oh," was all he could say.

Johnny's eyebrows scrunched up together in worry. "Can I ask you something?"

"What is it?"

"Why'd you do it? What happened?"

Ponyboy pressed his lips together, digging his nails into palms. His stomach turned, as he bent over the trashcan, throwing up once again. At that moment, the front door opened and Two-Bit, Steve, and Dally waltzed inside with a new bottle of aspirin.

A huge, relieved smile washed over Two-Bit's lips as he saw Ponyboy awake. "Hey!" he hollered loudly, causing Ponyboy to wince as his headache got worse.

"Quiet," Johnny whispered, holding a finger up to his lips.

Two-Bit's mouth opened up into an 'O' as he grinned sheepishly. He changed the volume of his voice. "Oh, shoot! Sorry, Pony."

Steve tossed Ponyboy the bottle of aspirins, who caught it gratefully. He poured a few into his hands and swallowed them down. As he was doing so, everyone sat in front of him, watching him intensively. Ponyboy shifted uncomfortably under intense gazes. He knew that he was going to have to explain everything to them, but he didn't want to remember Archer. However, it seemed that everything reminded him of the Soc that had broken his heart.

"So, spill," Dally ordered. "Tell us everything."

Ponyboy felt like crying which seemed like that was all he had been doing these days. He chewed at his cracked lips, looking down at a stain on the carpet like it was the most interesting thing in the world. Johnny was soon next to him, hugging him tightly and Ponyboy leaned into the familiar hold, digging his face into his shoulder.

"It's okay. You can tell us," Johnny coaxed.

"Johnny," Ponyboy whimpered. "It's over."

The gang members that were there were all confused at what he said. It didn't make sense to them.

"What do you mean?" Steve asked but Ponyboy only whimpered in response.

Johnny pulled Ponyboy away from him, examining his face. He had a hunch as to what he was talking about, but he wasn't one hundred percent sure. "Archer?" he tried to clarify. "You're talking about Archer, aren't you?"

Nodding, Ponyboy hugged his knees to his chest, looking smaller and more fragile. Two-Bit sat on the other side of him, rubbing at his back. "He…" Ponyboy started, swallowing the saliva that had been gathering in his mouth. "He started calling me a fag and made fun of me. He told me that he only dated me to prove to his friends that I was gay. They even bet a lot of money on it."

They couldn't believe what they just heard. Well, they could since Archer was still a no-good Soc. However, Ponyboy and him had seemed like they were really infatuated with each other. They were two sides of the same coin after all. They were practically glued to each other.

"They bet money?" Steve scoffed, eyes slightly widening in shock. He had bet money himself on many things in the past, but he couldn't imagine ever betting money on something like that. He crossed his arms and growled.

"That's horrible," Johnny said, worried about other things than the bet. "Why…? How could he even do that?"

Ponyboy shrugged. "I don't know," he replied.

"And that caused you to drink?" Dally asked. "Over a breakup?"

The boy flinched. It sounded ridiculous out loud. Pathetic, even.

"It was his first breakup," Two-Bit tried to reason, although what he said wasn't correct. It wasn't because it was his first breakup. It was a lot more than that. "A lot of people don't know how to deal with their first breakup."

He shook his head. "You don't understand," Ponyboy corrected. "After everything that I've been through, Archer always stuck by me and comforted me. When Darry and Soda rejected me… And with me thinking that you guys wanted nothing to do with me… he was the only person that I had left in my life. He made sure that I didn't give up. And, when he rejected me, it felt like a huge chunk of me went missing."

"You have us though…" Johnny stated. "We're here for you."

"But I didn't believe that at one point." How could he let Archer fuck him up so badly?

Dally clicked his tongue in annoyance. "Man, I really hate that guy," Dally sneered, pulling out a cigarette. He passed one to Ponyboy and lit for him.

Ponyboy put the cigarette to his lips, letting out a relieved sigh as he felt his tension relax. He shook his head disapprovingly. "Don't hate him. He didn't do anything wrong," he defended causing the gang to look at him incredulously. Was Ponyboy seriously trying to defend Archer after everything he did to him?

"What do you mean that he didn't do anything wrong? Of course, he did!"

"I just don't understand why you don't hate him for what he did to you," Steve added, narrowing his eyes. It didn't make any sense.

"I can't hate him," Ponyboy declared. "I don't think that I ever can…"

"And why's that?" Two-Bit asked.

Ponyboy's eyes were gleaming with tears. "Because I love him too much. I can't hate someone that I love. Not even Darry and Soda."

The gang were all perplexed at his response, exchanging looks with each other. Steve eventually sighed, knowing full well that they couldn't argue with him about that. "You're crazy, you know that?" he grumbled.

"I know…"

"But, still, what he did... I can't forgive what he did to you," Dally growled. "I'm going to deal with him."

Snapping his head up, Ponyboy rapidly shook his head to reject his idea. "There's nothing that you can do about it! Just leave him alone!"

Dally glared, grinding his teeth. "Stop defending him!"

"I won't stop! What are you planning on doing? Are you going to beat him up? I don't want him to get hurt."

"He hurt you first!"

"I don't care, just don't touch him!"

Crossing his arms over his chest, Dally tapped his feet in irritation. Ponyboy was too stubborn for his own good. "Then what can we do, huh? You can't expect us to just do nothing about it."

"Just…" Ponyboy started, lowering his voice and calming down. "Just be there for me. That's all I want you to do."

They all went silent again after those words. Two-Bit wrapped an arm around Pony's shoulder and brought him in close. "Just don't drink again… okay? Leave that to little-old me, got it?" he said, trying to crack a joke at the end to lighten up the mood.

But Ponyboy stayed silent. He shouldn't drink because, honestly, the terrible hangover made him miserable. However, it succeeded in the way that it numbed him down and made him forget about Archer. He wished that he could drink forever to forget about him, but that was impossible. If he did that, he would be dead within a day.

Ponyboy just wished that everything that happened at school hadn't happened. Eventually, he had to go back, but that only meant facing Archer again. Ponyboy wasn't looking forward to that whatsoever.