Ponyboy used to think that he had seen it all when it came to anti-gay actions and propaganda. He had even experienced many of them himself. However, being there inside of the raided restaurant, opened up another room that he didn't know existed. It was a room where bodies were stacked up on each other, one after another, with bloodied and bruised skin. It was where the corrupted and cruel society ruled, and where the homosexual population was damned.
The first, initial gunshot rang so loudly that it caused Ponyboy's ears to ring; making his heart skip a beat as he watched as bodies collided with each other in one brutal tangle. He had seen so many sickening things in his life, but this was one of the most horrific. Even though the gay patrons that were in the restaurant beat the police force in numbers, they were at the disadvantage because they were only armed with fists and random items that were scattered about. They screamed and shouted as they threw their fists against the shields that the policemen carried. But their attempts were mostly futile as the police held their ground. It was hard to see what was happening inside of the crowd, and Ponyboy was relieved about that after hearing what people were screaming about.
"You killed him!" a person screamed.
"You're monsters!" another yelled.
As time went on, everything became increasingly worse. Bodies were dropping—their heads were bleeding and their bones were broken. It seemed like the police were an unstoppable force that they weren't going to be able to beat. But one thing was for sure: it wasn't safe. Archer and Ponyboy might not have been actively in the bundle of people, but they were still in the open.
"What are we going to do?" Ponyboy asked although his voice was muffled by the uproar around them. "We can't stay here. It's too dangerous."
"I… I don't know," Archer stuttered out, looking at the crowd with eyes wider than plates. What was happening? Why were people fighting like this? He knew that the tension between the two groups was tense and that it was illegal to be gay, but this… this was wrong in so many ways. Archer would admit that he had managed to stay relatively oblivious to the treatment that homosexual people received. He thought that it just went as far as verbal discrimination and the development of conversion therapy. He was so wrong. Was he going to have to face this for the rest of his life? Would this ever get better or would it become worse? "I… can't…"
A hand shook Archer's shoulder, trying to break him out of his daze. "Archer, snap out of it! We have to go now!"
Archer shook his head, lips trembling. "What's the point?"
"What do you mean?" Ponyboy looked back over to the crowd of people nervously. It might have been just his fear, but it seemed like the riot was shifting closer to them. "This isn't the place or time to be talking."
But Archer continued to talk, unmoving from his spot. "What's the point of trying to fight for rights when we will always be knocked down like this?"
"Archer…" It was true. Even Ponyboy felt hopeless when it came to earning rights and being seen as an equal in society. But things always changed, regardless of what people wanted. Nothing could stay the same forever. Sure, there would most likely always be homophobic people in the world, but things will get better. He was sure of it. "It won't be like this one day."
"How would you know?"
Ponyboy picked at his jeans, letting out a deep sigh. "Because humans are always learning, and traditions are meant to be broken. Now, please, let's get to safety so we can hopefully one day live to see that change happen."
Gulping, Archer slowly nodded. They grabbed each other's hands to not get separated and to simultaneously comfort each other. The two of them ducked behind the counter, curling up together. Their bodies shook like leaves and all they could do to remedy that was to hold onto each other. They wished that everything would end soon because they didn't know how much more they could take.
In a weird way, not being able to see the riot was almost worse than being able to see it. It let the imagination run free by allowing it to come up with even more gruesome images than what was actually happening around them, which was saying a lot. They heard the sickening crunches of bones snapping, people grunting as they were beaten by batons, blood splattering everywhere, and blood-curdling screams. This wasn't just a raid, they both realized. This was a massacre.
Was this the end for them? Were the police planning on killing them all because of that one person attacking them? It wasn't like society would care if a handful of gay citizens were dead. Hell, they probably would get a lot of praise for it. But Ponyboy wasn't ready to die yet. He still had a lot of his life left; things that he hadn't experienced yet. He couldn't be killed after everything that he went through. That wouldn't be fair at all.
"We have to get out of here somehow," Ponyboy muttered, digging his head into Archer's chest, listening to his quick heartbeats to help drown out the other sounds.
"But how? The door is totally blocked," Archer questioned, holding onto Ponyboy tighter, "and it doesn't seem like there's an employee entrance or anything."
Ponyboy tried to think of a solution, but he couldn't. There was absolutely no way that they could avoid the rampage unless they waited it out. But that option was still terrible. The more time that they spent inside of the restaurant, the more that they were at risk. The only other option that they had was to try to go straight through, but they wouldn't be able to go unscathed. "We have to go through."
"Go through?" Archer looked at him incredulously. "Ponyboy, are you crazy?"
"Right now? I wish." If he were crazy, he wouldn't have been so scared.
After a long second, Archer nodded his head. It was probably going to be stupid, but it was either that or be a sitting duck. "Let's do it."
Taking a deep breath, they both got to their feet again. The crowd of people that were resisting the police force had diminished greatly, although there were still many left standing. Surprisingly, the police hadn't shot their guns again. In that way, they were lucky. However, that didn't change the fact that the police were still beating everybody senseless, and that there were unconscious and/or dead bodies littered across the ground.
They held each other's hands as they walked towards the rioting crowd. As they got closer, they felt the heat and humidity of the mashed together bodies. They hadn't even merged with them yet and they were already sweating like pigs. Holding each other tightly so they wouldn't lose each other, they both ducked inside. The two of them pushed people aside and squeezed through narrow gaps. However, it was getting harder the further they got. Their bodies were shoved around like ragdolls and their skin was scratched by long nails, making holding onto each other difficult. Ponyboy tried his best to keep his eyes trained on people's sides as he advanced. He couldn't bring himself to stare into their fearful or fiery eyes as their heads were covered in blood. Just the thought made him sick to his stomach.
"We're human!" a person bellowed.
"Murderers!" another screeched.
They were getting close to the front, but that was when everything went south.
A particularly hard shove caused the two of them to separate from each other. In less than a second, his boyfriend was lost somewhere in the crowd, out of sight. Ponyboy froze where he was, frantically looking around for Archer, but there were so many people around him that limited how far he could see. His body continued to shift back and forth as people pushed him or stepped on him.
"Archer, where are you?" he yelled but received no answer. Why wasn't Archer answering him? He couldn't have gotten that far, could he? Instantly, he started to think the worst. What if Archer was dead? It was a thought that he didn't want to think about.
Deciding to continue with their plan, Ponyboy pushed himself to the front of the crowd. There was still no sign of Archer anywhere. He turned his attention to one of the policemen who glared back at him from the other side of his shield. Ponyboy gulped. The policeman didn't care if he was young. All he saw was another gay rioter. There was no way that Ponyboy could ask him to step aside to let him through.
Suddenly, a hard shove sent him flying forward into the shield. He cried out in shock as bodies pressed against his back, making it difficult for him to breathe. He tried to push back, but there was so much pressure that he couldn't do so.
"Back away!" he pleaded to the people behind him, but they didn't listen. They kept pushing and pushing, squishing him like a pancake against the shield. The policeman, however, didn't like that at all. He growled as he raised his baton and swung it down on him. It struck his shoulder, causing a blinding pain to wash over Ponyboy. The force of the attack mixed with the constant pushing, sent his body to the ground. For a very short moment, Ponyboy stayed still, too shocked to do anything else.
What happened? Did the policeman hit him?
Where was Archer?
But he only had that moment to materialize those questions in his head before a scream left his mouth whenhe was stomped on by the people around him. A flurry of feet impacted with his body. He barely had the chance to curl up into a ball and to cover his head to protect himself. His body was being crushed, bones breaking from the pressure. The pain was unbelievable, and he was crying so hard that anybody within a mile away could probably hear him. But, still, nobody even cared that he was being trampled as individual self-preservation became their top priority. Over and over again, his body was kicked.
"Archer!" he managed to cry out, although his voice was easily drowned out. He didn't even know where his boyfriend was.
A kick to his stomach knocked the breath out of him, causing him to gasp out. Veins spread across his vision again as the edges started to darken. He wasn't going to be able to take much more of this.
He was going to die!
That was when the second gunshot of the night sounded. Ponyboy flinched, covering his ears. There were more screams as a body fell to the floor. From where Ponyboy was, he could make out the features of the dead person's body. Although, he wished that he wasn't able to see it. Right in the center of the man's head was a bullet hole. The man's eyes were lifeless as it seemingly stared into Ponyboy's soul, causing his heart to drop. He was dead. Christ, he was dead. Ponyboy was going to be sick.
He didn't know what compelled him, but, at one moment, Ponyboy's eyes traveled up towards the policeman. The man was still glaring down at him. His grip on the baton tightened—so much so that his hands started to shake from the pressure. He was screaming something at him, Ponyboy couldn't comprehend anything that he was saying. Was he threatening him? When the policeman started to move the hand that was holding the bloodied baton, he knew that he was in danger. He was planning on killing him.
No!
A scream left his throat when the baton was swung down. Things went in slow motion as Ponyboy watched in horror as it got closer to his head. But, miraculously, it never made contact with him.
All of a sudden, Archer appeared out of nowhere. He grabbed the policeman's arm in a tight grip, surprising the older man. His boyfriend pulled on it with all of his strength, managing to tip the man forward. The shield lowered, providing Archer with an opportunity. He swung his fist forward, connecting it with the policeman's cheek. The impact was so hard that it caused him to stumble before falling down on his butt with a loud thump. Thinking that the threat was temporarily gone, Archer turned his back to the policeman, going down onto his knees in front of Ponyboy despite being pushed around by people.
"Can you get up?" Archer asked. "We have to get out now while we have the chance!"
Ponyboy wasn't sure. He couldn't even feel his body anymore and it was hard to concentrate on Archer's voice enough as it was. But he nodded anyway. It didn't matter if he was about to pass out. They had to get out of the restaurant no matter what. Archer reached his hand over to help him up.
But then the third and final gunshot of the night happened. It was a gunshot that changed everything.
Archer's body suddenly jerked, becoming stiffer than a board. His mouth was wide open, eyes just as wide. For a moment, everything was still and quiet besides the ringing of their ears. Then, before Ponyboy's eyes, he watched as blood bubbled out of Archer's mouth, spilling down his chin. His body fell forward, collapsing onto the floor in a twitching mess. And, just like that, Ponyboy felt his world come to a stop.
"No!" Ponyboy screamed, pushing himself up with newfound energy. He quickly crawled over to Archer, seeing him cough up more blood. There was a large bullet hole planted in his back, close to where his heart was. Blood seeped through Archer's clothes, spreading onto the floor quickly.
He had to do something! But what? Thoughts were flying everywhere, making it impossible for him to come up with a rational plan to help Archer. What was he supposed to do?!
The blood… He had to stop the bleeding. Christ, what would the gang do?
His hands trembled as he brought it up to Archer's wound, pressing down on it firmly. However, it was practically useless. The blood seeped through his fingers, staining them red. People were still pushing them around and stepping on them, making the situation even worse and all Ponyboy wanted was it to all stop.
"Stop pushing!" he barked, but, again, nobody listened. The blood continued to flow out, pooling around them. Archer was hardly moving now. "Please, no! Don't do this! Don't die on me!"
But Archer was losing blood fast. If he didn't get medical attention soon, he was going to die.
"Someone, help!" he begged, but nobody responded to his pleads. He had to do it on his own.
A low grumble escaped Archer's mouth. He tried to open it to speak but ended up coughing up blood.
"Don't talk. For Christ's sake, don't talk. You're going to be alright," Ponyboy whimpered.
"Tired…" Archer whispered, his voice so absolutely weak. It pained Ponyboy to listen to it.
"Don't close your eyes. Just keep your eyes on me, okay? Stay awake. Please, don't die on me. I love you, Archer. I need you."
He hadn't realized what he said until much later.
Archer closed his eyes, despite Ponyboy telling him not to. The younger teen bit his lip hard until it bled.
He had to go now no matter what!
He grabbed ahold of Archer's battered wrists, managing to squeeze his way through the police after a large man tackled an officer to the ground. Blood trailed after them as Ponyboy somehow dragged Archer out of the restaurant. The Soc felt weightless even though he was so heavy. It was probably because of how much adrenaline was pumping through his veins.
Ponyboy went to the nearest car, cursing when the doors were locked. But, then again, what was he expecting? He needed to get in though. Ponyboy started to punch at the windows as hard as he could. His knuckles smacked on the surface over and over again. It took many tries until his fist finally went through. The glass shattered, cutting deeply into his skin, but Ponyboy hardly felt a thing. Again, he had adrenaline to thank for that.
As soon as the glass shattered, he opened up the door and pushed Archer inside. He got in right afterward, fiddling with the wires under the wheel with his shaky hands.
"Come on," he muttered to himself. "Come on…"
Eventually, the car rumbled to life and, soon enough, they were racing towards the hospital. Ponyboy had seen the sign for one on the way to the resort. He just hoped that he would make it there in time and that nobody would stop them along the way.
When they arrived, he ran inside of the ER, pale and covered in blood. His eyes were wild as he looked around the waiting room.
"Help!" Ponyboy screamed. "I have someone in the car who was shot. He's going to die if he doesn't get help!"
In a matter of seconds, a few attendants rushed out of the backroom to help him, grabbing a gurney along the way. Ponyboy led them to the car he stole, opening up the door for them. They hastily and expertly placed Archer on the gurney, rolling him inside and towards the backroom. Ponyboy was about to follow them but was stopped by one of the attendants.
"You can't follow him, sir," they informed him.
"But there must be something that I could do! I can help him!" Ponyboy protested, keeping his eyes on the door that Archer disappeared behind. He didn't want to leave Archer alone.
"Sir, I know that you want to help him, but you'll just be getting in the way. Right now, the best thing that you can do is get checked out yourself. You're injured and you need to be helped before you could go and see him. Another attendant will help you."
Crap. He didn't want it to be true, but the attendant was right. If he went in there, the medical professionals would work slower. He looked down at his hand that he had used to get into the car. It was still bleeding and needed stitches. The last thing they needed was him passing out himself. Ponyboy reluctantly nodded, taking a wavering breath. "Please, make sure you save him."
The attendant's face darkened, knowing that, with Archer's wound, his chances of survival were slim to none. But, still, she said, "We'll try our best."
With that, they were gone, leaving Ponyboy to his lonesome. He walked over to check in, holding his bleeding hand. Ponyboy didn't really remember much about getting stitches and his broken bones checked out. Everything went by in a blur. All he could think about was Archer. He ducked his head, breathing heavily to try to calm himself down.
He was going to be alright, he reassured himself.
He wasn't sure how long he was sitting where the doctor left him, but, at one point, someone touched the back of his head. Body tensing, Ponyboy looked up, seeing Archer's mom there with tears in her eyes. Ponyboy had put her information down as the person to contact when he checked them both in. He didn't even bother putting down Soda's or Darry's contact information.
"Still no word?" she asked and Ponyboy shook his head.
"Not a thing," he muttered, voice cracking.
"And what about you? Are you okay?"
"I don't know," Ponyboy answered honestly. He hadn't even thought about himself much since getting to the hospital. He still didn't. He looked at his feet. "What if he doesn't make it through?"
Archer's mom sniffled, trying her absolute best to be optimistic in this situation. Her voice wavered as she talked, making her attempts unbelievable though. "He will. Archer won't go down that easily."
"I hope that you're right."
She sat down next to him, planting her hands on her knees. "Tell me what happened. Why is my son in the hospital?"
Ponyboy didn't want to think about it. Every time he closed his eyes, all he saw was Archer getting shot. But she had to know. Ponyboy felt like it would be awfully selfish of him to keep it all to himself. But it was just so hard for him to talk about it. He stumbled with his words, stuttering out, "We… We…. Uh… Archer… he… took me to a restaurant where there was a gay gathering going on. It went really nice at first but that was until the police raided it."
Her eyes opened wide in shock. "A police raid?"
He nodded. "I don't know exactly what happened… but there was a scream and I think a policeman beat a person outside before coming in. They tried to arrest the employees for serving us and then everybody suddenly charged at the police. The police kept hitting them down and it was so bloody. It was like a massacre and I knew that some people were dead. Archer and I didn't know if we were going to die or not, so we decided to try to leave… but the only way out was by getting through the policemen."
"And then what happened?"
"We went into the crowd of rioting people together, but we got separated. I got hit by a policeman at one point and fell down to the floor. People started to trample me, and the policeman was about to finish me off… But Archer… uh… Archer found me and saved me. He tried to get me up and that's when…" Ponyboy choked, tears running down his bloodied cheeks. Archer's mom rubbed his back, trying her best to keep calm for him. It was hard though, that was her own son in there. Archer was her entire life. She didn't know what she was going to do if he… died.
The two of them waited for hours, praying to whatever god was up there that Archer was okay. During their wait, Archer's mother helped clean him up a bit since he was still covered in a lot of blood. She even got him a jacket to cover up the stains on his shirt. At one point though, a doctor walked out, eyes tired and dull. He looked down at his clipboard before he turned to the two. The doctor remembered Ponyboy from before. He walked over, asking, "Are you Mortimer's mother?"
"Archer. He likes to be called Archer…" Archer's mom corrected. "How is he? Is he going to be alright?"
There was a long, dramatic pause before the doctor nodded his head. His glasses slipped down his nose a bit. "He's going to be fine. It was lucky that he was brought in at that time. Another minute longer and he would have been as good as dead. A bullet wound had punctured his lung. If the bullet would have shifted a bit more to the right, it would have hit his heart. He was very lucky. Archer also lost a lot of blood and we had to give him some. We did everything that we could for now. He's resting at this moment. He'll most likely be out for the entire night and visiting hours are over, so I would have to ask you two to come back and see him tomorrow."
Ponyboy breathed out a sigh of relief, a huge weight lifting off his shoulder. Archer was going to be alright. He leaned back in his chair, exhaustion hitting him like a bulldozer. A minute… One more minute and he would have been dead. If Ponyboy was pulled over along the way, that would have been it for him.
"Can we spend the night here with him?" Archer's mother asked. "Please, we almost lost him. We need to see him now."
The doctor hesitated and answered, "I'm sorry, ma'am, but rules are rules. I can't break them for you. However, one visitor may stay the night with him… Not two… You are his guardian, so you can make the call."
Nodding her head, Archer's mom glanced at Ponyboy, nudging him forward without missing a beat. "You go."
Ponyboy's mouth dropped at her words. He shook his head and protested, "But he's your son. You should go in there and be by his side."
"Ponyboy, that's really sweet of you, but it has to be you. When he wakes up, he will want to see you first. I just know it."
His eyebrows knitted together in reluctancy. "Are you sure?"
"I'm sure. I'll come as soon as visiting hours reopen again."
"Come this way, sir," the doctor instructed him. Ponyboy looked back at Archer's mother one more time, thanking her before he followed the doctor through the labyrinth of the hospital. It was hard to move and breathe, but Archer kept him going strong. Eventually, they finally arrived at a door. The doctor opened it up, letting Ponyboy step through. "If anything happens, please call for help."
"I will, thank you," Ponyboy said before the door closed behind him.
Ponyboy turned around, seeing the outline of Archer's body buried under the blankets of the bed. The room was dim, but there was enough light to clearly see Archer's bandaged form. Just as what the doctor had said, he was asleep. His breathing was steady, his tube-stuffed nose twitching from time to time. He looked peaceful asleep as if he hadn't been shot at all. Ponyboy grabbed a chair and sat down next to the bed. He reached over and held his limp hand and burrowing his head in his boyfriend's leg.
Golly, what a day… So much had happened. But he was relieved that everything was finally getting better. Archer was still here with him.
"Don't ever leave me," he whimpered.
o-o-o
He didn't know when he had fallen asleep, but he had. He awoke to someone petting his hair. Ponyboy's eyes slowly fluttered open, wanting to close again as the light hit them. He straightened out his stiff back with a groan, wincing as he jostled his ribs. It took half a second for him to fully wake up, quickly realizing who had woken him up. His eyes shot to Archer whose eyelids were half-lidded and was hiding his pained eyes. But even though he looked like he was in pain, he had a gentle smile on his face.
"You're awake!" Ponyboy exclaimed in relief, shooting to his feet but yelped. He sat down again. He kept forgetting how injured he was.
"Don't move too much!" Archer scolded. Man, it was great to hear his voice again. "You're hurt."
"I'm the one that's hurt? You're the one who was shot! How are you feeling, by the way? Are you in a lot of pain?"
"Yeah, but I'm on a bunch of pain medications. A nurse came by earlier for that. I can hardly feel my toes. Want to see me wiggle them?"
Ponyboy clenched his jaw. He wanted to smile, but Archer almost died in his arms. "How could you be joking right now? Golly, Archer, you almost died."
"But I didn't."
The greaser shot Archer a look. "Archer…"
His boyfriend slowly nodded, letting out a long sigh. He relaxed his head on his pillow, looking up at the ceiling. "Yeah… I know… I shouldn't be cracking jokes right now… but I don't want to talk about what happened. Jokes are keeping me from thinking about the raid. But there's one thing that I really want to talk to you about."
"What is it?"
There was a long pause and he smiled again. It made Ponyboy really curious about what he wanted to talk about. "Back in the restaurant… you said that you loved me."
Instantly, Ponyboy's face became red. He hadn't realized that he said that back then. He thought back to the memory, face only becoming redder. He couldn't believe that Archer heard that. He thought he had passed out! Ponyboy rapidly shook his head. He didn't know why he was trying to deny the confession, but he was. "No, I didn't."
"Yes, you did!"
"You were just hallucinating from losing all of that blood."
Archer shook his head, still grinning. "I wouldn't forget something like that. What… were you lying to me? That would really hurt."
He was baiting him. He knew that, but it still worked. He sighed, scrunching up his nose.
"I do…" Ponyboy reassured. "I love you so much, Archer. When you were shot, I thought that—"
Before he could finish, Archer pulled him forward, much to their bodies disagreeing with the sudden movement. He lightly pecked him on his lips, successfully shutting him up. When he pulled away, he pressed their foreheads together, spreading warmth throughout their bodies.
"Don't talk about it anymore," Archer said with a husky voice. "I'm not going anywhere. And… I love you too, Roadrunner. I would take a thousand bullets for you and still be there by your side."
A chill went down Ponyboy's spine at his words, feeling his heart flutter. Archer loved him. The feeling that those words created made him feel like he could fly. He couldn't help but have a smile form onto his lips.
"You better not be taking any more bullets for me," he tutted. He leaned forward and kissed Archer again, this time deeper. He placed his good hand on Archer's cheek as their lips molded together. His broken ribs were poking at his insides, making kissing difficult, but it was easy to ignore it with Archer swimming around in his mind. They continued to kiss until they couldn't anymore. Slowly, they pulled away, keeping their faces close together. Their warm breaths brushed against each other's faces.
"Hey, let's stop going on extravagant dates," Archer suddenly suggested. "Something always goes wrong."
"Agreed," Ponyboy chuckled. "I'll be happy doing whatever with you."
"Good, because I feel the same way."
o-o-o
One more chapter left! Please review and tell me what you think of this chapter! I pulled a Korean Drama stunt on you all.
Also, again, this is a very violent rendition of a police raid. This is not totally accurate. I wanted to make it more action-packed for the final parts of the story.