Disclaimer: I do not own The Outsiders, Hoobastank, their song, or Tex. Sad, isn't it?

Rating: PG-13 (For language, duh!)

Author Notes: -gasp- The authors of two of my favorite stories reviewed! Thank you so much!

Streetpanther- Really-bounces around- I'm so happy! X3 Thank you! And Dally and Tex are some of my favorite characters, too! They're so cool, huh? XD

Anyway, on to the story.

Out of Control

This one night was really weird. In fact, I think it's the weirdest thing that's happened in my life so far. And, it was "beginning of the end", as my brother put it. Anyway, it was around probably 10 o'clock, and I was just gonna go get some water when this guy stumbles into our house. I guess that teaches me one thing: Next time, remember to lock the door.

"Holy cow!" I blurted out, practically crashing back into the table. This guy just crashed right there in front of our doorway. He looked around my brother's age, and I could tell he was from the city—y'know, with that brown leather jacket and all. Plus, I've never seen him around before.

I rushed over to where he was. "Hey, man, you okay?" Since he was face flat on the ground, I managed to roll him over. Oh, God. He was bleeding all over! "Mace!" I yelled, and soon enough, he was next to me.

"What is—" he froze for like, a second. Then, he went back to barking orders at me as usual. "Texas, don't just stand there! Get the bandages!"

I ran to find them. 'God, where are they?' I thought as I frantically went through the drawers.

"Texas!"

"I know!" I roared back. 'Where are they?' I kept thinking, heart pounding. How did I get into this mess? All I wanted was a stupid drink of water. Was there something so wrong about that! Finally, I found them. I charged back to where Mace was and handed it to him quickly. "Now what?" I asked, adrenaline flowing through my body. God, I was so damn nervous.

"Go back to sleep."

"What?"

"Go back to sleep," he repeated. I stood there with this stupid look on my face.

"But—"

"I'll take care of it. There's nothing you can do, anyway." Mason went back to look at the guy.

"Didn't know you were a doctor," I said, a grin tugging at the sides of my lips.

"Texas, git outta here!"

And with that, I went back to my room. I was just lying there, staring at the ceiling. 'Wonder what Johnny's gonna say when I tell him 'bout this,' I thought, putting my hands behind my head. 'And what's gonna happen?' I kept asking myself that. I couldn't seem to forget the look on that guy's face: Anger, sadness, and regret all in one! Everything was out of control that night.

Wonder what was up with that guy, and why he came all the way out of the city to come here? I took a deep breath. 'Just relax,' I told myself. 'It's gonna be okay.' For some reason, I highly doubted that. I rolled over onto my side. "Can't . . . sleep . . ." I muttered, though my eyes were half shut.

I don't know why, but, it felt like the least I could do was stay awake for the guy. But as Mace said, there was nothing I could do, anyway. So why bother? But why bother going to sleep? It was Sunday tomorrow, anyway. But eventually, I fell asleep, thinking about the city and what happened to that guy who showed up on our porch.

"S-shit . . ."

Wait. What the fuck? I'm alive? I'm really alive! I opened one eye. 'Am I in hell now?' I thought, opening the other. What the fuck happened last night?

Oh, yeah. I took my dad's car and—shit. The car. I left it! I groaned, but it hurt when I did so. Actually, just breathing hurt. "Oh, for the love of . . ." the words barely made it out of my mouth. Where the hell was I? I definitely wasn't in the city. Damn it! I didn't even notice.

Then I remembered. I was in the country. Wait . . . I'm in a house in the country. What the hell? I remember getting to the front of a house, and then I forgot everything from there. I tried to sit up, but that wasn't smart at all. It hurt like hell.

"Shit!"

I plopped back down onto where ever the hell I was lying down. I gasped for air. Glory, what the fuck did I get myself into? It was a living nightmare. It was hell on earth!

"Hey, Mason, he's awake!"

Mason? What? These country guys actually helped me? I looked down at where I'd been bleeding last night. I was bandaged up now. But this was confusing. Why the hell would they be nice to me? They didn't even know me!

Then, two guys were looking down at me, which was so annoying. "Git outta my face," I growled, but one of them just laughed.

"Hey, Mace, is this your long lost buddy? You act exactly alike!"

"Cut it, Tex, or I'll pound you!"

They were obviously brothers. That's kind of how Darry and Ponyboy were, except Ponyboy wasn't as hyper as this kid. "Where the hell am I?"

"You ask lots of questions, don't you?"

I glared at him.

"You were asking a whole bunch of things while you were delirious!"

"Tex, cut it out!"

The kid shrugged. "It's just the truth!" He looked back at me. "Man, you really say 'shit' a whole lot!"

The other guy looked like he was gonna whack him. I just scoffed. 'Oh, please,' I thought.

"Anyway, I'm Mason McCormick, and this is my brother, Tex."

'Like I care,' I thought. 'Why don't you just leave me alone?' I wanted to ask, but I couldn't bring up the strength to say it.

"Let's go, Tex," Mason said, dragging his little brother towards the door.

"But I wanted to ask—"

"Later. Just leave him alone," Mason glanced back at me. He and I were about the same age, and I could tell he knew they were annoying me. And with that, they were gone. What a weird family. Can't believe their parents let them keep me here. They did have parents, right? Or maybe they didn't?

I never knew how much in common a greaser and a country guy had up until then.

""
Author Notes: I'm trying to make long chapters, so . . . here we are. Anyway, I considered this chapter to be kinda shaky. Sorry about that. But, writing how they really got acquainted was pretty hard. Xx; And sorry if that part about switching POVs was confusing. I didn't want to give away who was who at that moment. -sweatdrop-

Anyway, since Tex is pretty young in this fic, I imagined him to be pretty immature. XD So there you have it. And I guess Mason's just always been . . . Mason. Yeah. XD Anyway, please review! (Don't flame me, please!)