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 26, 2004
Chapter Title: Miracles Happen
Thank Yous:
Bisera – I've never heard that song before… I hope this counts as 'soon'
Tensleep – Wow… That is the longest review I have ever gotten… YAY! That made perfect sense. Dallas is still his same old self, but he's able to realize that there's more to life than just an image. It just kinda bothers me in stories where they come back, but they're the same as they always were. Getting in an accident changes the views of most people, so why wouldn't it do the same with them? Sorry, had to get that out.
shyXshortieXbabe – Cute? How so? *confused* Thanks for reviewing.
eclipsed – That was fast!?!?! You must be used to slower stuff then. I prefer updating within two to three days. I haven't been able to lately… T_T
Stephanog – Thankie much. I plan to write at least three more chapters for this story, and possibly a sequel too, so there will be more coming.
Carrot Juice – I like your name. Very original.
movielvr – Aye aye, Cap'n! Yes I did realize that I ended them with songs, but blame the muses! Blame them! Not me!
~~ Dally: Can't you take responsibility for anything?
BN: Where'd you learn that word?
Dally: …Shut up and get on with your thank yous.
BN: There's none left! ^^ ~~
~~
Another two months passed in silence as the six greasers got used to their new routine. People still avoided Dally when he was walking through the halls at school, but he liked it. He claimed that being dead had done wonders for his reputation. People were not willing to get into fights with people who had been brought back from the dead. For the most part, the greasers let people believe what they wanted; very few were told that he hadn't really died in the first place. Most of the ones who were told simply didn't believe it.
One morning it took Ponyboy longer than usual to get ready. When Darry and Soda finally managed to coax him out of bed, he moped through the house, only getting ready for school when Darry began to threaten to take away his chocolate. Even then he didn't move very fast. Dally watched him on their walk to school that day: Two-Bit's car was malfunctioning again. Ponyboy stared at the ground the entire walk, and only spoke when asked a direct question.
Not long after they had passed the park, Two-Bit and Dally saw a bunch of Socs waiting for them. The Socs started a small fight, but ran off before anything big happened. Two-Bit wanted to chase after them, but Dally held him back for a minute while he checked to see if Pon6yboy would be coming with them.
"Nah. Why don't you two go on ahead. I'll catch up with you later."
"You sure Kid?" Two-Bit asked, becoming a little worried.
"Yeah. Don't wait around for me though. I think I'm just gonna walk the entire way."
"Alright, but you had better get to school on time, or Darry really will take away all of your chocolate."
"I know, Dal. Oh, I've got Track after school, and a test to make up at lunch, so I won't see you again until I get home."
"Okay. See ya then, Pony."
With that, the two older boys ran after their 'prey', leaving the youngest trailing behind them. After another twenty minutes of walking, Ponyboy stopped and looked down the road toward the school. When a few more moments passed, he turned and headed back towards the park. It wouldn't hurt anything if he missed one day at school. The coach had always told him to take care of himself, so he would understand a sick day. And the test was just an attempt to raise the grade from a C. If he timed it right, he could still be home at the normal time, and no one would ever know that he skipped.
~
"Where is that kid?"
"What kid?"
"Oh, hey, Dal. I'm just waiting for Ponyboy."
"Why?"
"It's lunchtime. He's always here waiting for me."
"He's making up that test today, remember?"
"Yeah… but I don't feel right about something. He should eat."
"One meal couldn't hurt him that bad."
"Have you seen how scrawny that kid is?"
"Yeah, but look at Soda. And if you remember, Darry looked like that for a long time. That family just doesn't know how to look fat."
"Or even healthy."
"True."
Two-Bit and Dally headed out the doors, laughing. Neither of them could fully suppress a feeling that something wasn't right, though.
~
The slamming door jolted him awake. Ponyboy sat up and looked to the door, already dreading what was to come. It was still an hour before anyone should have been home, but Darry was walking in the door. Pony watched as realization dawned on his eldest brother's face. Darry knew that there was school, and the lack of the other two was proof that it wasn't a short day.
Ponyboy groaned as he thought of what had lead to that mess. He had planned to spend the day outside; by himself. Around lunchtime, though, he had started getting hungry so he headed home. When he finished eating he had sat down to read a few pages of a book he was working on. He must have fallen asleep sometime while reading it.
"What are you doing home?" Darry asked quietly. Ponyboy could hear the undercurrent of anger in his voice.
"I… uh…"
"The truth would be preferred to any lie you try and make up."
"I… I skipped."
"I can see that. Now care to tell me why?"
"I just… didn't feel like going."
"You didn't feel like going. It ain't that easy, Kid. In life, you can't just not do something because you 'don't feel like it'. What do you think would happen if I 'didn't feel like' going to work? Huh? I'd lose my job. Then we'd be dependent on Soda's and my other job's paycheck. Unless I didn't feel like going to that job either. Without those jobs, I don't make money. Without that money, you wouldn't be fed, clothed, or kept in this house.
" 'I didn't feel like it' is a crap excuse, Ponyboy. Now why don't you make up another good one, and we'll go from there?" By that point, Darry was yelling. Ponyboy was still on the couch, curled up against the farther arm, away from his irate brother. Tears were threatening to spill from his eyes, but he refused to let them. "Come on, Ponyboy! Feed me another one! Give me some other excuse. Come on! Try 'I forgot'. That seems to be a favorite of yours!"
At that point, Ponyboy stood up quickly and faced his brother. "You said you wanted the truth. Now you're telling me to lie to you? Why can't you just make up your mind! Or leave me alone. I didn't feel like going to school. I know you skipped school a few times when you were in high school. No one's going to come after us if I miss one day, so don't try and use that on me, either. I don't care if you think it was a crap excuse! It's been exactly six months since my best friend was killed, and I'm really not in the mood to deal with any of that crap the people at school think is important. I just wanted to be left alone for one day so I could remember him without anyone screaming at me to wake up, or get out of the clouds, or telling me to 'remember the good times'!" By then Ponyboy was yelling as well, surprising both of them with the intensity of his anger.
"I'm leaving now, and maybe this time it'll take me less than a week to come back. I don't know. You can ground me, beat me, or starve me when I get back, but at the moment, I don't care about that, either. Tell the guys 'bye' for me."
"Ponyboy! Wait!" Darry called, but it did him no good. Ponyboy wasn't willing to listen to anything else he had to say at the moment. The eldest Curtis brother watched helplessly as the youngest stormed out of the house, unaware that both were crying in their frustration.
~
"Hey Darry. You're home early."
"I know."
"Is something the matter?"
"Did you know that Pony ditched today?"
"Really? I didn't know he had it in him. Where is he?"
"I don't know. When I got home a few hours ago, he was here, and we got into a fight. He stormed off saying something about maybe being back before the end of the week."
"He'll probably be back before the night's over. He's gonna want to make up all the work he missed."
"I guess so."
"Seriously, Darry. It'll be okay."
"I hope so."
~
"Hey Soda. Hi Steve."
"Hey Two-Bit. Why's it so quiet in here?"
"Darry's depressed, Dally's pissed, and Pony's gone."
"Gone where?"
"Who knows. He ditched school and got in an argument with Darry and walked out. Darry told us when we got home."
"So why isn't anyone out looking for him?"
"He just needs some time to cool off. If you go looking for him, it'll just make him run farther."
"Thanks for joining us, Dally. Do you really think that that's what would happen?"
"That's almost what happened when Bob was killed."
"I guess."
~
"Pony! Where have you been? Are you okay?"
"I'm fine. I was at the lot for awhile, then I went to the movies."
"By yourself?"
"I can take care of myself, Steve."
"If you say so."
"Shut up, Steve." Ponyboy and Steve both looked at Soda in shock. The middle Curtis had never said anything like that to his best friend before, and it shocked everyone that heard. "Are you ready to talk to Darry yet? He's real sorry he didn't wait for you to say anything before yelling at you."
"Yeah. I need to talk to him."
Ponyboy walked into the kitchen and sat down across the table from Darry. Two-Bit and Dally both got up and left the room after exchanging nods with the younger boy.
"Darry? I'm sorry."
"For what? You have nothing to apologize for."
"Yeah, I do. Even if I was mad at you, I had no right to say those things as I was leaving."
"You wouldn't have had to if I would have just shut up and let you explain to me why you missed school."
"I just needed time to think without any distractions. Ever since the accident, all of you have been smothering me. I know you mean well, but I need my own space."
"Sorry about that. I just don't want to lose anyone else, especially you."
The brothers smiled at each other, and Ponyboy headed back outside.
"Where are you going now?" Dally asked, trying unsuccessfully to hide his worry.
"Just to the porch. I need to do some more thinking."
"Is that all you ever do?" Two-Bit asked.
"Beats never doing it," Soda answered pointedly. Ponyboy grinned and walked outside to the sounds of four people wrestling each other to the floor. He sat on the highest step and watched the sun set. It had been awhile since he had done that. He looked up and down the street, noticing nothing unusual except for a man.
He wasn't someone normally seen in their neighborhood. He looked like a Greaser, but they all knew one another. This guy was nothing like anyone else. As he got closer, Ponyboy was able top make out more details. The man had dark hair, skin, and eyes. His neck had light scars covering it, and his cheek sported another. He was at least as tall as Soda, and almost as tall as Darry, and built as well. He wasn't as buff as Darry, but it looked like he had a lot of upper body strength.
As he came closer and closer to their house, Ponyboy couldn't help but think he had seen the person before. There was something familiar about the man, but something unfamiliar at the same time. The man turned into the yard and walked right up to Pony, stopping a foot or two away from him. He smiled at Ponyboy, something at once foreign and hauntingly well known.
"Hey, Ponyboy." His voice was a shade deeper than a tenor, and his pattern of speech was something Ponyboy felt that he should recognize immediately but couldn't.
"Am I supposed to know you?" Ponyboy asked suspiciously, fearing who this man might be.
"I guess I have changed a little bit, but I would think you would still recognize me."
"I'm sorry, but could you at least give me your name?" Pony asked desperately.
"Johnny Cade."
~~
A/N: Dun, dun, du~un! Yay! Another cliffhanger! I am so sorry this took so long. I promise I was going to write and post it sooner, but then I got 'busy'. I watched The Outsiders DVD and made a bunch of screencaps. I have been formatting all 640 of them onto PowerPoint presentations. Do you remember the scene when Ponyboy has just come back from Windrixville; it's his first morning back, and someone opens the door and there's Soda taking a shower? Well, when Steve is explaining the 'all brawn, no brain' theory to Darry, if you look over his shoulder it looks like Soda's not wearing anything at all. Steve's shoulder is just barely covering that area, and the towel hasn't been wrapped around him yet. I took a screencap of it, and when I was naming the pic I realized that oh-so-important detail.
Now, please review for this chapter and tell me what you think? My good friends on ff.net gave me this idea and said I could use it, so here we go. If you review for this chapter I'll give you a cookie! Is that incentive? The only thing is, you have to leave your email address. I'm not gonna go hunting you people down just to send you a cookie. If you're not logged in and you don't leave an email address, I'm sorry but you don't get the cookie. So please review.
