This is one of my shorter stories, but I hope you all still enjoy! I appreciate any review, comment, or feedback– I love hearing from you guys.

Disclaimer: I do not own The Outsiders or anything related to the story created by S.E. Hinton.

(Darry's POV)

"I didn't mean it!" I shouted, but Ponyboy was already running out of the house.

Soda and I both ran out the door and stopped on the porch as we saw our kid brother sprinting away as fast as he possible could.

What did I just do? How could I hit Ponyboy?

Once he was out of sight, I turned to Soda, who looked like he was in shock. "I'm going to fix this, Soda. I promise."

I immediately went inside, grabbed the phone, and dialed a number I had memorized years ago. After a couple rings, a drunken voice answered. "Yeah?"

"Hey, Two-Bit. I don't suppose Ponyboy's already at your place, is he?" I asked quickly.

"Ponyboy? At my house?" I could tell his mind wasn't working as fast as it usually does, but he was trying to understand. "I don't think so. I haven't seen him since we left the movies with Johnny and ran into some Socs."

That was a surprise. "Socs? What happened?"

"Nothin'. Those Socs were mad 'bout us walkin' their girls home… girls went with 'em before anything went down." He was slurring his words, but at least he was coherent enough to remember things. "Why would Ponyboy be here? Has he not been back yet?"

I sighed. "He was here, but he just ran out of the house." I didn't want to explain why he ran out, not only because I was ashamed of what I did, but I didn't have the time or patience to explain it to a drunken Two-Bit. "If he shows up at your place, can you call us?"

"Yeah, course Darry," Two-Bit said.

He was mumbling something else, but I had something to do. "Thanks, Two-Bit. I have to go." I hung up the phone, grabbed my jacket and shoes, and started putting them on. Soda immediately followed my lead.

"What did Two-Bit say?" Soda asked.

"Apparently Pony, Johnny, and Two-Bit ran into some Socs earlier. Don't worry, nothing happened," I reassured him, because he looked very worried. "He said he'll call if Pony shows up at his place."

"Should we call Steve too?" Soda asked.

I shook my head. "Pony would go to Two-Bit's before Steve's. At least someone from the gang will know what's going on while we're out."

"You think we can catch him?" Soda asked after both of his shoes were on. He already started walking towards the door. "How are we going to find him? He is the track star of the family."

"I'm not going to come back until I find him," I answered. "You can wait here if you want, in case he shows up." I already knew that he wasn't going to do that, but I had to give him the option.

Soda shook his head. "Ain't no way I'm gonna sit here while my two brothers are out by themselves in the middle of the night."

We left the house and immediately went to the empty lot. We found the old car seat on the ground where Pony and Johnny must've fallen asleep, and thanks to the wind, the fire they probably lit was no longer smoldering. We walked around the area for a bit, but there were no signs of our little brother.

"What do we do now?" Soda asked. He was obviously worried, and I could tell by the look in his eyes that he was imaging the worst scenarios in his head.

"We keep going," I stated. I tried to remain calm for Soda's sake, but in reality, I was breaking down. It was my words, my actions, my hand that made Ponyboy run. It was up to me to make it right. "Let's check all the normal hangouts."

We had only walked a couple more blocks before we heard a commotion, and in the middle of the night, that wasn't a good sign. The noise was coming from somewhere around the park, so Soda and I started jogging in that direction. The lights were still on around the park, so when we got closer, we could see a group of guys shouting and fighting by the fountain. From a distance, it was difficult to tell how many guys there were. A blue Mustang was parked nearby on the grass, which could only mean one thing: Socs.

"What are Socs doin' in our neighborhood?" Soda spat as he ran next to me.

"I don't know, but it can't be anything good," I replied.

As we continued getting closer, details about the guys were getting clearer. There was a small, dark-haired figure being restrained and beaten by two others, who were obviously Socs. There was another group of four guys that were fighting against the ledge of the fountain. Then I realized it was a few Socs pushing another, smaller figure backwards into the water. The smaller figure was thrashing around, but they were no match for the three Socs.

When the dark-haired figure shouted, I immediately knew it was Johnny. "Let him go!" He was frantically fighting against the two Socs that were still punching and kicking him, trying to get out of their hold. "Pony!"

My blood turned to ice. Ponyboy was being shoved into the fountain.

I immediately sprinted as fast as I could, and I knew Soda was doing the same.

The two Socs that were beating up Johnny saw us coming, so they shoved Johnny to the ground and ran off. As much as I wanted to stop and help Johnny, he was safe for the moment, so I ran past him and headed towards the fountain.

There was one guy hovering over Ponyboy's chest and pushing him back into the water, while the other two were on either side and pinning his shoulders down. I've always been a faster runner than Soda, so I made it to the fountain first. I immediately grabbed the shoulder of the Soc in the middle that was shoving Ponyboy down. I turned him around to face me, punched him in the nose, and shoved him a few feet away from myself and the fountain.

Once the first Soc was on the ground, I immediately turned back to the fountain. My brother was still underwater, so I ignored the other Socs as I reached into the cold water to get my little brother out. I dragged him out of the fountain and laid him down on the concrete.

"Pony, it's me," I said as I shook his shoulders a little bit. I thought he'd open his eyes and look at me once that the immediate threat was gone, but he wasn't responsive. Instead, he was completely limp. "Hey, Pony. Come on kiddo, open your eyes," I said. I reached to tap his cheek with my hand, but a flashback played in my head of hitting him, so I froze and didn't touch him.

He still didn't respond, and I felt my heart rate spike. I looked my brother over and realized that he wasn't moving at all, and his chest wasn't moving up and down either. I turned my head and leaned forward to listen for the sound of Ponyboy breathing. With my head turned, I could see Soda pummeling a Soc on the ground and Johnny was struggling to get back to his feet. My relief for the safety of Soda and Johnny was short-lived when I realized Ponyboy wasn't breathing.

They drowned him. The drowned Ponyboy.

I straightened, locked my hands together, and started pushing into Pony's chest like they taught us to do in school. I couldn't remember how fast to go, but I had to try. I also didn't know what the rule was for breathing into their mouth, but since I wanted water to come out rather than air going in, I only did chest compressions.

"Come on, Pony… breathe kiddo… please," I pleaded between compressions.

A few moments later, I felt the presence of other people near me, but I refused to take my focus off of my kid brother. If the Socs were back to try to beat me or my brother, they'd be in a world of pain.

"Pony?" Soda's quiet voice broke through the pounding of my heart in my ears. He knelt next to me and stared at our brother. "Come on, baby. Breathe."

As I continued pressing into my brother's still form, flashbacks of our lives rushed through my head: our parents bringing Ponyboy home from the hospital, teaching him how to tie his shoes, playing football with him in the lot, the night our parents died and me having to console both of my brothers, and even the previous day when Pony got jumped by Socs when he was walking home from the movie theater. All of these flashed through my mind as I attempted to revive him.

This can't be happening. He can't die.

I knew my eyes were watering, but I ignored it. "Breathe, Ponyboy," I said between compressions. I was getting tired, but there was no way in hell I was going to stop.

I heard Johnny mutter behind me, "Come on, Pony."

Soda reached forward and put his hand on Pony's cheek. "Come back to us, Pony." I could tell from his voice that he was fighting back tears. I was too. Soda gave Pony's cheek a couple light taps. "Breathe, honey."

A few moments later, I heard a gurgling sound coming from my youngest brother and I immediately stopped compressions. Ponyboy started coughing up water, so I turned him on his side and patted his back. He coughed up a lot of water and kept retching.

"That's it, Pony. Let it all out," I said quietly. When the retching ended, he started gasping for air.

Soda rubbed circles on Pony's back. "You're okay, baby. Just relax and breathe."

After Pony's breathing returned to normal, I turned him to lay on his other side so his face wasn't in the water and everything else that came out of his mouth. A few seconds later, I finally got to see his eyes as they slowly opened.

"Darry?" Ponyboy's voice was hoarse and quiet. He was weak and shivering, but his eyes were set steadily on me.

"Yeah, Pone. It's me," I took my jacket off and wrapped it around Ponyboy. It was huge on him, but he was freezing and needed something to warm him up.

"What happened?" Pony asked.

"You and Johnny were attacked by some Socs," Soda said quietly. He ran his fingers through Pony's hair. "Darry just… well, you're okay now."

Ponyboy glanced at Soda, but then returned his eyes on me. "Is Johnny okay?"

"Yeah, I'm okay," Johnny said. "Just worried 'bout you, Ponyboy."

Ponyboy slowly started to sit up, and Soda and I helped ease him into a sitting position. Once he was sitting, we helped him lean back against the fountain and pulled his arms through the jacket. He continued to look at me, but I wasn't able to read his facial expression. After a few seconds, he looked around and then behind him. "They tried to drown me." It wasn't a question; it was a statement.

I nodded, but I didn't trust my voice, so I remained silent. Apparently, Soda and Johnny both felt the same way because they were also speechless.

"Did I die?" Ponyboy asked. He sounded very distant and almost delirious, but his eyes were still fixed on mine.

That question made me feel like I was going to pass out and vomit at the same time. I took a shaky breath, and realized that tears were streaming down my cheeks. "You stopped breathing, Pone."

There was a pause, but then Soda found his voice. "Darry saved you, Pony. He got you breathing again."

Ponyboy looked confused, but when he turned to look at Soda, his expression changed to concern. "Soda… you're hurt."

I turned to get a good look at Soda for the first time since we arrived at the park. He had a split lip, a cut above his eyebrow, and a mark on his jawline that was sure to bruise. I felt awful about not realizing he was injured.

"Don't worry 'bout me, Pony," Soda said with a grin. He reached forward and ran his fingers through Ponyboy's hair again. Then he gave Pony a wild smirk. "You should see the other guys."

"He ain't kiddin," Johnny said from behind me. I finally turned to look at him, and he had cuts and soon-to-be bruises all over, but he didn't seem to have any significant injuries. "Soda fought two Socs at once! When the first one ran off, the other one didn't stand a chance." Then Johnny gave me a look and whispered, "I ain't never seen Soda so mad."

I looked at Soda, who looked both proud and a little embarrassed by that fact. Soda shrugged and glanced at me with a cold look I've never seen from him before. "They would be out cold on the ground if I hadn't seen you bringin' our brother back to life and ran over here."

I wasn't completely surprised by Soda's reaction, but I was shocked because I'd never seen him like that before. Then I glanced at our surroundings, noticing we were all alone. "What happened to the guy that was shoving Pony in the water?"

"You mean the guy you socked in the face and then threw to the ground?" Soda asked with a smirk. "Pretty sure he ran for it. He probably wet himself too."

I grinned back at him. I didn't necessarily enjoy getting into fights, but I was proud of my strength and fighting skills. Plus, nobody messes with my brothers. Ever.

I turned to look back at Ponyboy, and his eyes were barely open. He was shivering terribly, and he looked very pale. "We gotta get you home, kiddo." He nodded silently and closed his eyes. "You have to stay awake, Ponyboy. At least until we get you home."

He moaned in response, but didn't open his eyes.

"Does anything else hurt?" I asked him.

He shook his head.

"Alright, I'm going to carry you home," I said. I knew he wasn't going to be able to walk in the state he was in, and if I was honest with myself, I wanted to be as physically close to him as possible. I put an arm behind his back and the other under his knees. Once I had him situated in my arms, I stood up.

Soda and Johnny stood up too. Johnny was a little unsteady on his feet, so Soda wrapped an arm around Johnny's waist and made Johnny put an arm across his shoulders.

"You two okay?" I asked them. They both nodded.

"Spend the night with us, Johnny," Soda said with a small smile. He said it in a way so that it was both a kind gesture and something that Johnny couldn't argue with– he was politely telling Johnny that he was spending the night with us. Johnny just nodded again.

We started walking back to the house. While Johnny told Soda what happened from the moment that he, Pony, and Two-Bit left the movies to when we showed up at the fountain, I tuned his voice out and focused on my kid brother in my arms and my own thoughts.

I realized that I was shivering, but if I was cold, I couldn't imagine how cold my kid brother was. He wasn't wearing a shirt with sleeves and I didn't know how long he was in the water. He had also been outside for a while before he came home and I yelled at him. Before I hit him.

I was trying to get him to talk to me, but his replies were just him grunting or humming.

Mom and Dad would be so disappointed in me right now. I'm failing as a brother and as a legal guardian. Not only did I hit my brother and cause him to run out of the house, but that almost got him killed. It technically did, but I got him back. He's not out of danger yet, either.

I pulled him closer to my chest. "I'm sorry, Ponyboy," I said. I was still crying, but I didn't care. I almost lost my little brother.

"I'm sorry too," he quietly replied. "Fell asleep… ran…"

Even though his eyes were closed, I shook my head. "You don't need to be sorry, kiddo. This is all my fault."

A few seconds passed before he responded with a noise that I took as disagreement, but I couldn't be sure. The only thing I was sure of was that he was looking worse as time went on.

As we got closer to the house, a thought occurred to me: What if Soda and I hadn't made it in time? What if Ponyboy and Johnny were by themselves without backup? There wasn't a way to be sure, but I felt like that there would be a dead body by the fountain. The image of my youngest brother lying dead by the fountain made me flinch. A shiver when down my spine and my heart started pounding.

"We'll be home soon. Hang in there, little buddy." I said as I pulled him even closer to me, practically hugging him as I walked. I realized that it was the first time I ever called him that, and I regretted withholding a term of endearment towards Ponyboy. "I'm so sorry Pone. I promise I'll work on being a better brother… and guardian. I don't want to argue anymore. I don't want anything like this to happen again."

He hummed in reply, and then his head limply rolled and rested against my chest.