Jeez, I'm way behind… everyone else has so many more words in their stories than mine… *sob* Been doing some catching up in the world of Harry Potter. Man, those Harry Potter fanfic fanatics… wish I could write like some of them, yes indeedy…

A/N: Sorry, but I don't speak Cajun, and it's been a while since I've heard Gambit talk… bear with me, here.

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The pandemonium that issued was startling. There was a loud splash as the Socs dropped Ponyboy, spluttering, and ran to their car and drove off, tires squealing. Bob had doubled over, and Johnny was standing in the middle of the sidewalk, looking down, appalled at what he had done. He still held the blade, hand trembling. Ponyboy took one look at the blood at the end of Johnny's switch and at Bob's body and realized what had happened.

"Johnny, I think I'm gonna be sick."

"Go ahead," Johnny said, barely audible. "I won't look at you."

Ponyboy retched quietly as Johnny thought about what they would do next. Killing a kid was bad enough, but killing a Soc? Johnny might as well have signed his death warrant. He gulped. Who could there be to get help from? Ponyboy came out from behind a tree, wiping his mouth. Johnny gave him a sorry glance. The poor kid shouldn't be involved in this, he thought. Ponyboy had been shivering already from lack of clothing, and the whole fountain incident did not help matters.

"Come on, kid," Johnny said, making a decision at last. "We're going to see Dally."

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Try as she might, Andi couldn't get back to sleep. She became so fed up that she threw off her covers and groggily got out of bed. She tiptoed down to the kitchen where she hoped to find something to eat. She squinted as the light from the refrigerator poured out over the tiled kitchen floor. She rummaged around in the refrigerator, not finding much of anything.

"All de good stuff be in da cabinets, chere."

Andi jumped.

"Mr. Remy, sir, I didn't hear you," she squeaked.

"Yah, most peoples don'," the Cajun frowned. "What're you doin' out 'ere so late, youngun?"

"Er… trying to find some food?" Andi answered, uncertainly. Remy raised a disbelieving eyebrow at her.

"Not good t'lie to Gambit."

"All right, fine. I couldn't sleep, okay? I thought maybe I'd come downstairs grab a bite to eat, contemplate my life and so forth," Andi said, plopping down into one of the dining room chairs. She took an apple from the fruit bowl, gazed at it for a moment, and took a bite. Remy pulled out a chair slowly from across her.

"You wan' talk 'bout it?"

"Not really," Andi grumbled with mouth full. Remy's red eyes narrowed a little bit, so Andi sighed. "I don't know. Something's just not right. I mean, I've been fitting in here okay, right?" Gambit snorted, and this time it was Andi's turn to glare. "Just because I find my peers to be vulgar and aggravating doesn't mean-"

"Jus' go on."

"In a word, I'm homesick. Like tonight? I just woke up for no reason in the middle of the night. I don't know why, but I just did. What do you think of that?"

"Nightmares?"

"I don't think so," Andi frowned, avoiding eye contact. She twirled the apple core between her fingers instead. "At least, I don't remember any."

"I t'ink you jus' need some sleep."

"YOU THINK?!" Andi roared, sarcastically.

"We'll see if dis blows over," Remy continued, ignoring Andi's outburst. "If it don' we see if the Professor'll allow a leave, but jus' f'now… you sleep."

"Like I can," Andi muttered, rolling her eyes.

"Fine, den. Remy sleep while you stay out 'ere by yo'self."

Andi mumbled an inarticulate response as Remy left the kitchen.

"Letter for you, Andi," Terry said, tossing a letter at Andi two days later. Andi stared at the smudged envelope that landed in her lap. The return address was the address of her home. Andi sniffed at the envelope. Terry gave her a funny look, and Andi blushed.

"Just checking it out to see who it's from," Andi explained, rather embarrassed. The envelope smelled like home: a hint of Soda's cologne, hair grease, and Darry's chocolate cake. There was something missing, but Andi couldn't quite place it until she opened the letter and read its contents. Terry was pretending to shift through some other mail while keeping an eye on Andi as her face fell.

"What's wrong?"

"It's a letter from Sodapop," Andi said, staring at the letter and suddenly turning to look at Terry. There was a fearful look in her eyes. "Pony and Johnny have disappeared."

The scent that was missing was from Ponyboy's cigarettes.

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Johnny moved from aisle to aisle in the little store in Windrixville, picking out the items he and Ponyboy would need for their week in hiding. It wouldn't have been so hard running away if there hadn't been so many things to leave behind. Dally had been pretty cool about getting them out of the city as soon as possible. He had let them borrow his jacket, some money, a gun, and even suggested a good place where they could hide out all without the bat of an eye. He did seem pretty surprised that Johnny of all people had the guts to kill a Soc.

Johnny shook off the memory. He couldn't risk dwelling on the past. Right now he had to stay in the present, not only for his sake, but Ponyboy's as well. Johnny glanced around the store a little uneasily. He wasn't sure if news reports on himself and Ponyboy had reached this part of the state yet, and he was a little nervous.

He snorted as he picked up some of the products to glance at them. There wasn't any security as far as he could tell, and a swift thief like Two-Bit could have easily managed to walk out with his pockets full. Hell, Johnny thought to himself, I could walk out of here with my pockets full. He didn't, though, just because he hadn't stolen anything in his life, and he couldn't risk getting arrested for that at the moment.

Johnny wandered through the entire store thoughtfully before making the final decisions on what he and Ponyboy needed to survive their week in hiding. He paid for the items and left the store in a hurry, hoping that Ponyboy had seen the note he had written on the dusty floor of the church.

As Johnny neared the church on top of the hill, struggling to get up without sending his grocery bags flying, he let out a whistle just to see if Ponyboy was awake yet. The whistle was well known in their neighborhood, kind of an "all clear" signal or a greeting. Ponyboy rushed out of the church, tripped, and sprawled right at Johnny's feet. He propped himself on his elbows and grinned. Johnny peered down at him over the groceries.

"I swear, Ponyboy, you're gettin' to be more like Two-Bit everyday…"

Ponyboy raised his eyebrows unsuccessfully before jumping up from the ground, dusting himself off, and finally taking one of the bags. Johnny set his bag on the table as Ponyboy rummaged through his.

"Hey! Gone With the Wind! I always wanted a copy after you went to see the movie with me and Andi."

"Yeah… I remember you said something about the book," Johnny tried to answer nonchalantly. The mention of Andi made him wince a little. "It'll help to pass the time."

Ponyboy stared at the cover of the book. Thinking about the movie made him think of Andi, and thinking about Andi made him think of home. Johnny noticed Ponyboy's sudden silence.

"Pony?"

Ponyboy's head snapped up. He jumped up from the chair he had collapsed in and began rummaging through the bags again. He pulled out a bottle of peroxide and stared at it curiously.

"What's this for?" he asked, puzzled. Johnny took a deep breath and gave Ponyboy a somewhat guilty look. "Oh, no, Johnny Cade," Ponyboy said, shaking his head as realization dawned on him. "You ain't gonna-"

"Our descriptions'll be in the news. We can't fit 'em. We're gonna cut our hair, and you're gonna bleach yours," Johnny said hastily, afraid that if he said it too slowly he would change his mind.

"Aw, Johnny…" Ponyboy whined. "Our hair? It's what makes us who we are!"

"Exactly," Johnny said flipping out his switchblade. "You go first. No, no, no, wash your hair out so there won't be any grease in it to get in the way when I bleach it."

Ponyboy did as he was told, and sat rigidly as Johnny began to cut his hair using the blade of his switch. When he was satisfied, Johnny took a step back to admire his work.

"Can I see it?"

"Let me bleach it first…" Johnny mumbled as he reached for the peroxide.

The peroxide burned Ponyboy's scalp a little bit but he held back any cries that tried to escape. Johnny stared at Ponyboy's newly blond head. He had to admit that if he weren't so scared he would have burst out laughing. If only the gang could see them now…

"What? How do I look?" Ponyboy asked urgently.

Johnny picked up the cracked mirror they had found lying around in the church and held it up for Ponyboy to see himself. Ponyboy jerked in shock.

"Damnit, Johnny, you've turned me into a freaking pansy."

"It's not that bad," Johnny answered, trying very hard to keep a straight face, and succeeding.

"Not bad, hell. My hair was perfect before, do you know how long it took me to get it that good?"

"Shit, kid, you and Soda have the tuffest hair in the neighborhood, you know that."

"Had the tuffest hair," Ponyboy muttered bitterly. "Soda's by himself in that one now."

Johnny sighed.

"Just give me a hand, will ya?" Johnny asked, handing Ponyboy the switchblade and praying that he didn't do anything stupid just to get revenge for the atrocious haircut. "Cut off the bangs in front and kind of even it out on the sides."

Ponyboy nodded, and Johnny couldn't tell whether or not he was angry because he didn't say anything. Johnny just sat rigid and silent as Ponyboy cut off his hair. When Pony was done, Johnny washed his hair in the frigid water that came from the pump at the back of the church. By this time it was getting cold, and Johnny shivered as he waited for his hair to dry in the sun.

"Well?" he asked Pony weakly. Ponyboy held up the mirror, and Johnny stared at himself in disbelief. The haircut made him look even younger than he already had.

"Boy howdy," he murmured, running a hand through his hair. "If she didn't like me before, she sure as hell ain't gonna now."

"What was that?" Ponyboy asked, frowning down a little at Johnny. His head snapped up; he hadn't realized he had spoken so loud.

"It was nothing," Johnny said quickly.

"Yes, it was…" Ponyboy said, an amused look spreading slowly across his face. "You said something about a 'she'." He plopped down beside Johnny, grinning. "Come on, Johnnycake, you can tell me."

"No I can't, " Johnny said, turning red as he avoided eye contact with Ponyboy.

"Come on, who am I gonna tell? The trees?"

"I can't tell you," Johnny said again, a little more firmly this time. He got up. Ponyboy followed him with his gaze before getting up himself.

"It's someone I know, isn't it?"

"I sure hope so."

"Is it Cherry?"

"God, no. I like her, but not that way."

"Then who is it?"

"You won't die if you don't know, Ponyboy," Johnny said, turning suddenly to face the younger boy.

"No, but I can pretend," Ponyboy grinned back.

"I'm not telling you, Pony, and that's final," Johnny said, a tinge of finality in his voice. He began to gather up the soap and other items lying around, stuffing his switchblade into his pocket, and beginning to go back inside.

"You'll tell me eventually!" Ponyboy called after him from the doorway. Johnny merely continued to walk inside.

Gads… that took a while… Sorry about taking forever to post this chapter… been busy doing other mindless stuff (such as reading HP Fanfics… itz an addiction)