Ok, Ok. Because I was threatened so nicely, I'll update this fic. Jeez. Ok, These next coupla chapters are dedicated to MissLKid and troublesfriend.

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Johnny poked me again. "Jeez, Ponyboy! GET UP!! We fell asleep in the lot. You were talkin', and we both fell asleep."

I shook my head. "Great! How do I explain this to Darry? He gets on my case about walkin' home from the movies, he's sure as hell gunna get on my case about sleepin' in the lot. Johnny, wanna come back to our house? You could stay there for a while."

Johnny shook his head and curled up on an old couch. "Naw. You go back. No one'll miss me out here."

I nodded. "Well, if ya get cold, come to my house." I started home, eager to go to bed, but not so eager about talkin' to Darry.

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(* Author interruption*)

I skipped the fight part, 'cause everyone knows what happens. So, we head back to Johnny and Stevie.

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~*~*~* Stevie's P.O.V. *~*~*~

I sighed, and headed up the hill towards the lot. It was about two in the morning, and I was dog tired. I couldn't go home 'cause my dad was drunk again, and I didn't know where else to go, So I headed to the lot.

Johnny was lying on a broken down old couch. I shook my head, and crept over to him. "Hey Johnny!" I whispered softly.

He nearly jumped a mile into the air. "Where'd you come from?" He managed to ask.

I smiled softly, and sat down beside him. "I walked over. My dad was drunk again, so I decided to come over here. I didn't wanna sleep at school again."

He smiled slightly. "Well, You can have the couch, I'll sleep on the ground." He got up, but I pushed him back.

"I'm gunna sleep in that tree." I yawned, and started climbing it.

Johnny looked kind of worried. "Naw. You sleep on the couch. Please?"

I shook my head. "I like trees. Sometimes I swear they talk."

Johnny smiled slightly. "Well, if you change your mind, let me know."

I nodded, and rested on a long branch. Finally, after about 20 minutes, I dozed off.
Ponyboy came racing up to the lot, and I heard Darry screaming in the distance. Ponyboy rushed over to Johnny. "Johnny, Come on! We're runnin' away."

Johnny got up and left without objection, and I shrugged, but when I went to go to sleep again, I shifted and fell out of the tree. "I need more practice with sleeping in trees."

Ponyboy raised an eyebrow, but he looked to upset to care. "Are you ok?" His breath was coming out in gasps of air.

I laughed, and hid a large cut from on my right arm. "Dandy! Now do you wanna go?"

He nodded, and we all raced along a couple of streets, until Ponyboy stopped and broke down into tears on the curb.

I sat down beside him, and placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "Whoa. Don't do this to yourself, You know Darry didn't mean it."

Johnny nodded, and handed Pony a cigarette. "Here, man. Chill out."

Ponyboy finally stopped crying, and then due to the cigarette, he stopped shaking too. "I think if we walk around the park I should be ready to go back home."

I nodded, and jumped up. "I'm ready when you are." I had grown to mark these guys as friends, and I wasn't really scared of anyone any more. I could walk around in a crowd of serial killers and not care.

Johnny nodded, and he helped Ponyboy up. They both started walking, not really talking to me, not talking to each other even.

I shook my head slightly, and stared ahead. Darry wasn't mean, at least not intentionally. Why would Pony think of Darry that way? I grinned as we entered the park. It was cool and damp, something it hasn't been for a while.

Ponyboy looked at me, and then at Johnny. "I'm just gunna walk around here for a little while. Maybe my nerves will calm down." He looked at Johnny again. "Do you have a smoke? I used all mine."

Johnny shook his head. "No. You used the last one."

Ponyboy frowned. "Sorry." Then he looked at me.

I grinned. "Here, you can have the pack. I got it for you anyways."

Pony smiled his thanks, and I trotted off, and fell asleep in another tree.
The next thing I heard was Pony and Johnny yelling. I leaped out of the tree, and ran blindly towards where I'd heard them last. They were at the fountain with a group of Socs, but Pony couldn't be seen. Suddenly I realized, that Ponyboy was the one IN the fountain. I pulled out my blades and dived at the lead Soc.

He screamed in pain, and several other Socs wrenched me from his back, and started kicking me and punching me. Surprise Surprise.

I finally just laid there, figuring that if they thought I was dead, they'd leave me alone, and then run.

Ponyboy screamed again, and then stopped. Nothing but the laughs of the group of Socs, and splashes were heard.

I leaped up, and pounced again. But this time, I didn't miss. I slashed the life-giving vein, and then laughed as he dropped to the ground. The rest of the Socs ran, and Johnny helped Ponyboy out of the fountain. He was coughing up water, and I wasn't sure if he was going to make it.

I rushed over to them, my hands, arms, legs, and face were covered in blood. I quickly washed what I could off. They had beaten me badly, but I had prevailed. I went back over to Ponyboy and Johnny. "You ok?" I asked.

He stared at me. "Yeah. Did you kill him? Is he dead?" His voice went higher in pitch. I nodded, and kneeled on the ground beside him. "Ok, Ponyboy, We have to get out of here. It's not the best place to be caught at." I placed a hand on his arm, and tried to help him up. He pulled away from me, and ran off behind the swings. I shook my head sympathetically, and looked at Johnny.

"You ok, Johnnycakes?" I asked.

He nodded, but stared at the doubled-up body of the Soc. He turned to me slowly. "Did you..Did you have to kill him?"

I nodded. "Yeah. He would have killed Ponyboy, and then beat you and I up after. Try and understand that I had to."

He shrugged, and got up. "I guess I can. Let's go get Ponyboy." He smiled weakly, and then went after Pony. "You ok, man?"

Ponyboy came out from behind the fountain. "Yeah. Just a little shook up."

I walked over to him. "I'm sorry, but they would've killed you, and beaten Johnny and I up. I couldn't let them kill you. I wouldn't be able to live with myself."

Ponyboy started shaking, and then sat down on the Merry-go-round. I looked at him with confused eyes. "What's wrong?"

He glared. "You killed someone. What's going to happen now?"

I sighed, and wrapped an arm around his shoulders. "Everything is going to be fine." I tried to sooth him with the tone of my voice, and the quiet words that I spoke.

He looked at me. "Are you sure?"

I nodded. "Perfectly fine. Now, let's go back to your house. I bet Darry's scared himself silly by now."

We all walked back to Ponyboy's house, where Darry took him into his arms. Ponyboy smiled, and then blushed when he saw I was looking at them. "Are you ok?" Darry kept asking Pony.

Pony nodded. "Thanks to Stevie. We were getting' beat up by a group of Socs, they were tryin' to drown me, and Stevie killed the lead one. They were gunna kill me, and then Johnny and Stevie."

Darry turned towards me. "Everyone's going to know what happened by morning. Do you want to turn yourself in now, or later?"

I shook my head. "I'm not turning myself in."

Soda looked at me, after he had gotten up off the couch. "How come?"

I shrugged. "I can't get pulled in for manslaughter. They'd kill me."

Darry glared at the wall. "If you hadn't run off, Ponyboy, this wouldn't have happened."

I leaped to Pony's defense. "YOU KNOW WHAT DARRY? HUH, YOU KNOW WHAT? I'VE HAD ENOUGH OF YOU BLAMING EVERYTHING ON PONYBOY, LEAVE HIM OUT OF SOMETHING FOR ONCE! IT WASN'T HIS FAULT!"

Darry stared at me with surprise. "I'm sorry." He was obviously tired, and still in shock of hitting Pony.

I nodded. "Yeah, well lay off him. He's doing his best in school, he's trying to do what you want him to do, and he's trying to help me. The Socs were after me, and they brought Ponyboy into it. So when you go to yell at him, remember, that he saved my life." With that, I walked out the door.

Ponyboy followed me, a coat thrown over his shoulders. "Hey, Where ya goin'?"

I stopped and looked at him. "I'm going to find myself a hangout. Somewhere I won't be found."

He looked at me. "But I'll miss you. And wouldn't it be easier to turn yourself in?"

I shook my head. "I hate having to turn myself in when I have a chance to run."

He grabbed my arm. "Please stay."

I frowned. "I can't."

He moved closer to me. "But what'll I do without you?"

I rolled my eyes. "We met, what, two weeks ago? I think you can handle the loss."

He then did something that excited me beyond belief, but made me want to kill him at the same time. He kissed me. Plain and Simple, but he kissed me.

I stood there for a second, and stared at him, and then I ran. I ran as fast as I could, and as far away from him as I could get.

He quickly caught up with me. "I'm sorry."

I shrugged, and took the lead. I leaped into a nearby tree, and climbed up into the higher branches, leaving him below. "I wasn't ready for that. I'm not ever going to be ready for it. I think it'd be best if you left me alone for a while."

He sighed, and ran back up the path he'd been on before. I felt bad for him. I felt bad for myself. I hated leaving it like that, but if we got too attached to each other, I'd NEVER be able to leave him. He'd want to follow me around if I left, and personally, I would kill him before the day ended.

I jumped down from the tree as I saw a guy emerge from a nearby thicket. I looked him over, only to find that this was one of my friends.

"Kevin?" I asked.

The guy looked up, and the grinned. "The one and only!"

I shook my head, and ran over. It had been awhile since I last saw him. "Where've ya been buddy old pal?" I playfully punched him in the arm.

He laughed and rubbed him arm. "I've been wandering. And quit punching me you prat!"

I grinned saucily. "I resent being called a prat by the likes of you." I kicked him for good measure. It was our way of saying we missed each other, beating each other up.

Kevin wrapped an arm around my shoulders. "You find anyone up here? I mean since you moved here."

I smiled. "I killed someone Kev."

He stopped dead. "Is that why you were waiting for me?"

I nodded. "I found a couplea friends, but these Soc guys," Kevin nodded from experience with the dorks. "Those guys were after me for some unknown reason, trying to kill me. Well, they figured that to catch me, they'd have to kill someone I liked."

He frowned. "And I was where?"

I shrugged. "Beats me."

Suddenly he grabbed my arm. I yelped my surprise, and tried to release my arm from his grasp. He took off my coat, and then rolled up my sleeve. He growled, his facial features showing disgust. "These Socs did this to you?"

I sighed. "It's nothing, I've had worse."

He slammed a hand against a tree. "You've gotta stick up for yourself."

I rolled my eyes. "What do you call that kid down in the park? I killed him. I stuck up for myself."

He sighed and pulled me into a hug. "I've missed you."

I hugged him back. "I missed you too."

Kevin and I walked back to the Curtis' house. I knocked on the door once, before it was opened. Soda stared at me. "Yeah?"

I sighed. "I made a mistake, and I want to speak to Pony."

Soda grinned. "Come on in, Your friend too."

I nodded my thanks and went in, Kevin behind me.

Ponyboy walked out, and smiled at me. "Hi.'

I rolled my eyes. "Don't act all shy, You know who I am. I need to talk to you."

Ponyboy shrugged at a puzzled Sodapop, and walked outside with me.

I smiled. "I'm sorry for how I treated you earlier."

Ponyboy smiled slightly. "It was my fault. I shouldn't have tried it."

I laughed. "I liked it."

Ponyboy went on. "I should have known you wouldn't like it...YOU WHAT?"

I grinned. "You heard me."

He raised an inquiring eyebrow. "Really?"

I nodded. "You bet."

He grinned. "You wanna..?"

I laughed. "I thought you'd never ask."

He leaned forward and kissed me, and this time I kissed back.