A/N: First things first:

Title: Back for You

Author(ess): Berserker Nightwitch

Summary: Dally and Johnny are dead right? Then how is Dally coming through the front door? And who is this person who looks like Johnny?

Posted: March 13, 2004

Chapter Title: Seeing is Believing

Thank Yous:

x fig newton 5 x – I'm glad you like it! ^^ Is this a soon enough update? My first reviewer!! XD

Tensleep – I was hoping it would be at least a little original. Thanks for reviewing so my!

eclipsed – Wait no longer. This chappie explains it.

DallysGirl4Life – Thanks. I hope this is soon enough for you.

DHSRedneckSlim13 – Goosebumps? Okay. I don't get it. I have stereotypical blonde syndrome sometimes. Please explain? I hope that means you like it. ^^

Thanks to all five of you who have reviewed already. That was quick! It also made me want to update this quickly. BTW, I already have an idea for a sequel, so if I get enough reviews for this story, there could be something coming later, too.

Now, on to the story!!

~~

The entire room went silent when he walked in. Finally, Ponyboy managed to find his voice. He choked on his words as they came out, but it was still impossible to miss what he said.

"Dally?"

~

"Yeah Kid?"

"Is that… you?"

"Who else would it be?"

"But… how?"

"What do you mean how?"

Finally, someone else decided to get involved. Darry walked over and punched Dally in the face. He stepped between the blond man and his brother.

"What was that for?" Dally screeched.

"I don't know who you are," Darry said calmly, "but you're not our friend."

"What makes you say that?"

"We watched the fuzz shoot Dally about four months ago. We watched him hit the floor. Steve saw the ambulance come. He heard what they said. Dally is dead. Now get out of my house."

"I didn't die that night."

"Then why would they say it was too late?" Steve broke in, desperately.

"It was too late for them to be in a park, scraping some JD off the pavement?" Dally suggested. The others exchanged looks; he certainly acted like Dally, if a little less angry.

"Then how did you survive?" Two-Bit asked, so serious that Dally had to do a double take to make sure it was the same person.

"I don't know. The doctors said that I was real lucky. The bullets just missed my vital organs, and after I came out of the coma, all I really had to do was get my strength back."

"You were in a coma?"

"For about three months."

"Why didn't anyone call us?"

"I was known as 'John Doe' in that hospital until I woke up. I didn't call you because I thought you already knew that I would come back here eventually. Course, I didn't count on you thinking I was dead."

"You're really back?" Soda asked softly.

"I was never gone."

At first everyone was talking too much to realize that Ponyboy had left the room. When they finally did notice it, however, Dally volunteered to go find him.

"No, that's okay. I think I should," Soda told him. "He's my brother, and I think you being alive after being dead for so long just has him a little overwhelmed." The others agreed and Soda left to find his younger brother. After checking over the entire house, he started searching other places where his brother frequented.

Thirty minutes and four miles later, he found Ponyboy sitting on the edge of the fountain where Bob had been killed. It was one of the last places Soda was going to try before checking back at the house.

"You okay, Baby?" he asked softly as he walked up to the younger boy. Ponyboy shrugged in response and kept his eyes firmly locked on the bloodstain at his feet. "C'mon, Pony, tell me what's wrong?"

"He can't be back."

"What do you mean, Kiddo?"

"If Dally's back, then Johnny's back. But Johnny can't be back, 'cause I saw him stop breathing. I was there. I watched Dally run away. I saw Johnny die, but I saw Dally die, and now Dally's not dead."

"That's real confusing, isn't it?"

"Yeah."

"But that doesn't mean you have to run off."

"I had to."

"Why?"

"Because. If I stayed there, I would have started getting mad at Dally. It's not his fault he's alive and Johnny's not. It's just unfair. Why is he back, when my best friend is still… dead?"

"That is hard, isn't it Baby? It'll be okay. Just think about it like this: our family is getting bigger again. Now you can thank him for the book and the Elvis record."

"Is he gonna go to school again?"

"That depends. If he lives with us, then yeah. Darry'll make sure he goes. If he doesn't, I don't know. Do you want him to go to school?"

"I think so. Soda?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you think Johnny will come back?"

"I don't know, Baby. I just don't know." Ponyboy nodded and dropped his head onto his knees. Soda reached over and hugged him, holding him tight while he cried.

It took almost twenty minutes, but Ponyboy finally cried himself out. Soda picked up his younger brother and started back towards the house.

"Soda?"

"What is it, Baby?"

"'M sorry."

"For what?"

"Cryin'."

"That's nothing to be sorry for."

"Oh. Soda?"

"Hmm?"

"Thanks."

"Anytime."

Ponyboy was asleep almost before they had gotten out of the park. Soda walked the rest of the way home thinking about all that had happened since the night his brother and friends had gone to see that movie. Something on Bikini Beach. I think that was the name of it. So much has happened since then. First Darry hit Pony, then Pony almost got drowned. Then Johnny killed Bob. Pony, Johnny, and Dally got hurt saving a bunch of kids, and Johnny and Dally ended up dead. Now Dally's back, and Pony is hurt because Johnny isn't too.

When he got home, Soda went first to the room he shared with Ponyboy and laid his brother down on the bed. He pulled the younger boy's shoes off and pulled the covers up over him. When Ponyboy was settled in bed he went back out to the living room and found four sets of eyes trained on him.

"So, why did he run?" Steve asked.

"It bothered him that Dally was back, but Johnny wasn't. I think he'll be fine after some time to get used to it."

"I woulda brought Johnny back with me if I coulda."

"I know. So does Pony. He'll be fine. Oh, where do you plan to live now that you're back?"

"Yeah, your dad already threw out all of your stuff. We saved a lot of it. Same with Johnny's," Darry told him.

"Why would you save all of my junk?"

"Because you're our friend. There are memories in objects, too. Besides, Ponyboy wouldn't allow us to just let it get thrown out."

:: "We can't just leave it there!"

"We won't! The trash man will come and take it all away."

"But those belong to our friends!"

"Ponyboy, they're dead. It's not like they can claim them."

"But we have nothing else to remember them by! Please, can we just take a few things? So no one can forget that they were alive."

"What do you mean, Kid?" Darry slung an arm around his youngest brother's shoulder as he asked.

"If we don't have proof, then the moment we forget about them, it'll be like they never existed."

"Alright, you win. Let's go get some of their stuff."

"Thanks, Darry."

"Don't thank me. You're just too stubborn. And you make too many good points." ::

~

A week later, Dally was getting used to living in the Curtis house. He had to attend school regularly – and try to explain to everyone he saw why he wasn't dead – and keep up a part-time job. After a few days of just school and home, he got bored and got a job. He still rode bulls for Buck Merril, but he also had a job at the theater. No one ever snuck in anymore.

It was also at that time that Ponyboy began to accept his being there. He no longer looked like he was on the verge of either tears or anger every time he saw the blond man. There were times he even went to Dally with his problems rather than either of his brothers. There were still a few problems, but for the most part, it was okay.

~~

A/N: Yes, I'm ending this chapter there. There will be at least four more chapters, but I have it all worked out in my head of how it will go. Please stay tuned for chapter three. It may be a little slow, but stick with it and it will get better again. Now the time has come, please press the little button on the lower left region of your screen.

Berserker Nightwitch: If you don't, I'll sing the most annoying song I can think of.

Dally: And what would that be?

BN: This is the song that doesn't end, yes –

Darry: Please, end this. Review!

BN: - and on my friend. Some people started singing it, not knowing –

Ponyboy: She'll stop soon, I promise.

BN: - forever just because this is the song that doesn't –

Dally & Darry & Ponyboy: *covers her mouth* It's ending. Please review people.