Five for Fighting
Rated: PG-13
Disclaimer: I own nothing
A/N: In the interest of covering my tush here and I have to let everyone know that I am not a physical therapist, nor do I know how to teach someone how to teach someone to walk again - so that part is a bit fudged and I really didn't go into detail, but I DO know that it couldn't be done in a single chapter so bear with me please.
T.W.E.N.T.Y. T.W.O.
I woke up late the next day well after the sun had first poked its rays into my room.
Rolling over I kept my eyes closed tight against the sun's persistent beams and replayed my dream from last night over and over each time seeing Dallas' smile from the night before as he leaned in slowly...
But that was only a dream.
With a sigh I opened my eyes and looked at my radio alarm.
It was already half past eleven and it took me a minute to realize that Darry was at work and Soda and Pony didn't care how long I slept.
Swinging my legs over the side of the bed I rubbed the sleep from my eyes and stood up shuffling over to the closet and pulling out a skirt and blouse.
Dressing quickly I ran a brush through my hair and pulled it back into a ponytail cursing the wispy pieces that just wouldn't stay put.
Giving up on my hair I pushed down on my nose and looked at myself critically in the mirror.
It wasn't a horrible sight that was reflected back to me, but I doubted it was one that would ever fully capture the attention of a boy like Dallas.
Leaving my room I closed the door and headed into the bathroom brushing my teeth and splashing some water on my face. Reaching into the medicine cabinet I fumbled through the various shaving creams and after-shave, hair grease, half-used razors, partially empty toothpaste tubes and hair ties to find my lipgloss.
And guys say girls have a crowded medicine cabinet, I was lucky I could open the door without an avalanche of my brothers' beauty aids toppling down on top of me.
Not to say I didn't add to the mess.
Making my way into the kitchen I was glad to see that Two-Bit had managed to pull himself up off the floor and was now passed out on the couch.
Dallas was gone and I regretted having left his jacket on the couch by his feet the night before.
From the kitchen I could hear my brothers yelling from the grassy field by the lot.
Peering out the kitchen window as I drank my orange juice I smiled and quickly finished so I could join them.
"Hey sleepy-head," Soda greeted as I drew closer to them.
Steve was there too and he grunted a greeting.
Pony rolled his eyes behind Steve's back and I stifled a giggle as Steve gave us his I'm better than you look.
We knew he was Soda's best friend, but if Soda could turn a blind eye to Steve's not liking us we could sure as shootin' get away with not liking him back.
Though I did sort of like him, because he was Soda's best buddy and I knew he had to see something in him.
I just didn't know what.
The day passed quickly, for all of us except Two-Bit that is.
When we came back into the house an hour later Steve slammed the door in his typical manner causing Two-Bit to yelp in displeasure.
"Hang-over Two-Bit?" I asked dropping down onto the couch next to him.
"Shoot kid, I feel like my head is being pressed in between two anvils," he moaned.
Pony walked got him a few Tylenol and handed him a glass of water, "There you go"
"Thanks Pony, but you don't have to scream in my ear."
Pony looked at me and raised an eyebrow in a dead-on imitation of Two-Bit, making me laugh mercilessly and Two-Bit cringe.
"By the way kid, thanks for pulling me out of the garden last night," He mumbled quickly once my laughter faded.
I nodded, "Anytime, just no time soon."
He nodded back but looked a little confused.
"So you and the kid were looking pretty cozy last night," He said changing the subject.
"What kid?" Pony asked looking at me.
I blushed, "He means Johnny, and we weren't cozy, we were just talkin'."
"Yeah, you're turning pretty red for someone who was just 'talkin'," Two-Bit said nudging me in my side with his elbow.
"Hush up or I'll scream and really make your head hurt," I threatened.
He held his hands up in mock surrender but I could tell everyone in the room was curious as to my conversation with Johnny.
I wanted to put their suspicions of a budding romance between the two of us to rest but I couldn't tell them the truth.
"He was just asking me for help after school to help him get caught up that's all, he wants to do really well this time around, do you think that would be a problem Soda? Me helping him after school?"
Soda shrugged, "You'll have to ask Darry but I'm sure he won't mind so long as you get all of your work done too."
I nodded and stood up, "I'll go make lunch," I said hoping to avoid any further questions.
It worked and after I quickly made up a plate of sandwiches the boys were happily eating and forgot about me and any suspicions of a romance with Johnny.
On Monday morning the screen door slammed a bit later than usual and more voices were heard in the living room than on a normal school day.
Steve and Two-Bit had picked up Johnny on their way to our house, Two-Bits car being back in the shop after he clipped someone's mailbox and busted off one of his side mirrors.
He said he did it on purpose but we all knew he was checking out the blonde driving in the car behind him and veered off the road in his awe.
Pony and I knew this for sure because we were driving around with him procrastinating on the last of our homework and we saw it happen.
I still couldn't stop laughing when I thought back to Two-Bit running his hand through his hair as cool as possible, like he'd meant to do it, as the girl went whizzing by laughing at him with her friends.
Pony had just looked at him shaking his head back and forth and said with a smirk, "Smooth like sandpaper"
Darry was mighty angry when he saw the bruise Two-Bit had left on Pony's arm after that comment.
I was just finishing up a batch of pancakes as they arrived and poured into the kitchen and I set them down in the middle of the table and watched them disappear like magic in a blink of the eye.
Darry, who was already dressed for the day took the spatula from me and told me to sit down and eat what I could get my hands on while he made more.
Soda was still running around trying to get dressed but managed to grab a pancake, cover it with syrup and fold it over eating it in one big bite.
I watched in awe and he gave me a messy smile before running out of the room again as Darry called for him to hurry.
Amazingly we all managed to get out of the house on time and we even made it to school with ten extra minutes thanks to Steve's blatant disregard for the speed limit.
Pony and I walked Johnny to the office and waited while he had his schedule typed up.
I thought back to my first day, only a few weeks ago and marveled at how different things were now.
Comparing schedules I was disappointed to find that combined, Johnny only had three classes with Pony and me.
I was nervous about him being alone and in that chair, kids were mean, and they hadn't forgotten about Bob.
I hoped they didn't mess with him and I could tell Ponyboy was a little apprehensive too.
"I'll be fine," He said as if understanding our concerns, and we nodded dropping him off in his homeroom.
The day passed slowly as I sat in class wondering how Johnny was doing on his first day back, I didn't want him to get discouraged.
But he arrived at lunch with a smile on his face and in an uncharacteristic manner talked nearly the whole way to the neighborhood grocery store that we usually frequented when we weren't dying to see Soda and willing to walk the extra distance.
He was real positive about all of his classes but made sure to state clearly that he was sure he was going to need my help to keep up.
I smiled a knowing smile at him and said I would be happy to help since Darry had given me the OK.
Pony and Two-Bit gave us a suspicious look but didn't say anything.
After school I waved good bye to Johnny and the rest of the gang and promised I would see him right after cheer practice.
I really had no idea what I was going to do with Johnny, I sure wasn't any doctor and I hadn't the first idea as to how you got someone to walk again.
I was still thinking about it when I knocked on his rickety screen door and heard him yell to come in.
"Hi Amber," he greeted.
"Hey Johnnycake, how's it going?" I asked.
"Ok, I'm trying to work on some of these math problems, they're tougher than I thought they'd be."
I nodded, "Well we can always work on that too, I'm not real good at math but I can pass," I offered.
"Thanks, but first lets work on my legs," He said reaching down and grabbing hold of his left leg, lifting it and placing it on the ground.
It hung there limply and I bit my lip to keep from asking again whether this was a good idea or not.
I only knew what I'd seen on TV shows about people learning how to walk again and they always had the person holding onto two sturdy rails and working their way across so I figured we could start there.
"Mind if I move some furniture?" I asked.
He nodded, "so long as its all back in place by the time my mom comes home."
I hoped that wasn't for awhile, I had only read about Johnny's mom but she scared me.
Dragging one of the beat-up brown sofas to face the other one so they were back to back with about two feet in between, I watched Johnny pull his other leg off the chair.
"Do you feel anything in them at all?" I asked.
He nodded, his eyes bright, "The doc used a pin starting at my feet, I could feel every prick."
"Well that's a good start I guess," I said with a smile heaving myself against the couch to try and get them lined up.
Flopping down across the top of it I took a deep breath, tired from the activity and eyed Johnny evenly before talking again.
He gave me a questioning look and I smiled again, "Listen Johnny, I have one condition to my helping you."
"Sure Amber, anything"
"I want you to help me look more like a greaser, you know, so I fit in with my brothers and the rest of the gang better."
He goggled at me a minute, "Why would you want to do that, you look just fine."
"Because I don't want people wondering which side I belong to anymore, I'm one of y'all, I'm even picking up the slang," I said with a lopsided grin, "That's the condition, take it or leave it."
"But Amber, greaser girls, they don't dress nice at all, you don't want to look like one of them," he argued.
I sighed, "I'm not talking about short skirts and tight tops and tons of makeup, just not…this," I said motioning to my Madras attire and leather shoes. "Please Johnny, I just want to fit in."
He looked at me for a minute and then nodded in agreement, "Ok, we have a deal. You help me learn to walk and I'll help you look like a greaser, even if your brothers do want to kill me for it afterwards."
I reached over the couch and shook his hand, "let set started."
Johnny and I worked together for the next five days until he could stand firmly between the two sofas without swaying or his knees giving out and he could drag his legs the length of the couches.
I thought that was pretty good progress and as I struggled to drag the couches back into their right positions I told him that the next time we would work on his picking up his legs but in the mean time to practice standing by himself and to come over on Saturday for some real homework tutoring if he could.
He nodded and followed me to the door taking hold of one of my hands, "Thanks Amber, really, thank you so much."
I looked at him deep in his dark brown eyes and smiled, "You're welcome, we'll have you walking in no time, and remember, next week you teach me how to be a greaser."
He was still smiling as he shut the door and I fairly skipped down the sidewalk despite my aching back.
"Amber, can I talk to you?" Pony asked that night as I finished up my economics homework.
I nodded, putting down my pencil and joining him on the bed he shared with Soda.
We often had talks after we did our homework and before he and Soda went to bed and I retreated into the privacy of my own room.
I haven't talked about them because up until then they'd all been get to know you types of talks that neither of us wanted repeated, but this one stayed in my mind repeating over and over during the next few days.
I sat Indian style and looked at him without talking, he looked like he had something he wanted to say.
"So, um you and Johnny have been getting pretty close lately," he started.
I nodded, pulling my hair into a ponytail, "Yeah, he's a nice guy."
"Nice enough for you to date?" he asked.
I stared at him for a minute speechless.
"It's just that, I know he likes you and I think you two would be good for each other," he continued.
"Ponyboy," I said quietly "you know I like Dallas."
It wasn't something we talked about but I knew he was aware of my feelings for Dallas and I didn't see any reason to beat around the bush.
"I know, but Amber be realistic," he begged.
"What do you mean by that?" I asked sharply.
"Well you know…he's eighteen and you're fifteen…" he said lamely.
"Big deal, that's three years, now tell me your real reason," I said my eyes flashing.
He took a deep breath, "I don't mean to upset you Amber, I'm only saying this because I care about you"
"Well then, just say it," I demanded. "You don't think I'm pretty enough?"
"You know that's not it," he said his voice getting more strained, "It's just that…well you read what I wrote about him, he doesn't know how to love Amber, he could never love you back, Johnny could if you'd only give him the chance."
"Well, nothing against Johnny, Ponyboy but I think we both know that you can't decide who you love," I said and I knew it hit home, he would never admit it to anyone but he loved Cherry Valance.
"Maybe not, but at least I'm realistic," he said softly looking down at the sheets.
"I'm sorry Pony, I didn't mean to make you feel bad," I said just as softly.
"I just don't want you to get hurt," he said. "All Dally knows is how to hate, he hates the whole world, he isn't like us, like Soda and Darry and even Two-Bit and Steve. He only cares about himself, his own preservation."
"He saved your life Ponyboy and he was glad he didn't kill you in the process, what about that? What about him not wanting Johnny to get hard in jail? He does care, he just doesn't show it the same way that you or I would. What's love if you don't test it and work for it? You can't change my mind Ponyboy." I said passionately.
He sighed deeply, "Then I won't mention it again, just be careful Amber, please promise me you'll be careful."
"I will," I said as Soda opened the door and walked over to join us on the bed.
"You about ready to hit the hay Pony?" he asked with a yawn stretching himself out across the bed and resting his head on my lap.
I smoothed back his hair and returned his sleepy smile before exchanging my lap with a pillow leaning down and kissing him on the cheek.
"Goodnight Soda, night Pony," I said hugging my twin tightly and walking towards the door.
I could feel Ponyboy's gaze on my back watching me leave and I felt a weight settle in on my chest, he couldn't be right about Dallas, it just wasn't possible I thought closing the door behind me and retreating into my room, it just wasn't possible.