A/n: ::Scratches head warily:: ... So it ended up being a few more days longer than I said it would be to put this up :( Sorry. Lol. It's been more like two weeks and one day and I feel really bad. I really do. I've just had so much work and so little time on the computer that I was typing this up like paragraphs at a time. But, today, I don't have to go to work for another five and a half hours, so I sped through it and quickly finished it for you. It's on the shorter side...just barely over five pages long... but... that's just how it's gonna be. Lol.
Well, without further a du, I'll let you read this.
Disclaimer: I own nothing that S.E. Hinton does. Everything else is mine, so don't touch ;).
Dedication: Hmm... this can go to Oblivious Misconception, for no reason other than the fact that her reviews thrill me and I have SO much fun responding to them. Thanks!
Enjoy!
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Chapter Thirteen
"No! ...Don't, Darry." I moved my arm out of reach of him and his God forbidden Iodine. "It's fine."
His arms fell to his sides and he sent me one of those looks. "Fine?" he laughed. "Okay, but I'm laying your options out for you right now. It's either this and my Superglue or stitches, which you would get to pay for. Which one is it?"
I sighed and languidly unwrapped my towel-covered shoulder. "You really suck the fun out of a victory, you know that?"
"Suck the fun? What the hell kind of sissy term is that?" Two-Bit asked flabbergasted, walking through the room. I fingered him and saw the flinch in Darry's jaw line as he fought against saying something about my crudeness. He was realizing more and more lately that at my age he couldn't really control me, nor did he want to, and he was working on catching his old habits before he voiced his thoughts.
"Shut up."
"There was no fun to begin with," Darry tried, but where he was coming from, I didn't know. It sure was for me! Hell, I've never felt so good after a fight. He had to have read my thoughts, because he jerked his thumb towards Rob who was groaning on the couch adjacent to us. "You think this is fun for him? Or for Soda?"
Soda was in the bathroom cleaning up his own wounds with Steve and Two-Bit trailing back and forth to inspect the progress of everyone's re-cooperation. Individually we were all practically all right, but together we were a wreck.
Poor Rob was the worst off. We anticipated he would be, but no one thought it would be this bad. We speculated that he had some broken ribs, so Darry and Soda taped him up good. We figured it would be best to let his mom deal with the clinic trip. He also had a busted lip, two broken fingers we found old splints for, and a pretty good concussion from being thrown on a drainage pipe. I felt sorry for him being so hurt when he did it all for me. That drain had to kill. I hope he doesn't regret this later. It would make it that much worse.
Soda was all right in comparison. His cut along the hairline was beginning to dry out. It was jagged and iffy looking, but he asked Darry for the Superglue trick instead of stitches, which in turn gave Darry the bright idea of trying it on me too. It now looked like I had no choice in the matter. He also had a scary looking cut on his left eyebrow that he said would be okay, but you never knew. It was dry now, crusted over with a mixture of blood and dirt, but I was afraid that after tonight those areas of his face would scar over horribly. Of course I hoped I was wrong. Other than that, his injuries were minor and it was as if he didn't notice them. Knowing him, he probably didn't.
Steve was okay. A couple of teeth had been knocked loose, and he bit his tongue somewhere along the way, but they were fine. His ribs were sore and he had various welts, but overall he was doing better than most of us. Lucky bastard.
Two-Bit was happy as usual. His spirits weren't dashed any, even with his lack of a tooth on the right side of his mouth. It had to hurt like a bitch, but you wouldn't have been able to tell. The only way you could see that it was missing was when he smiled real wide, and even then it was still barely noticeable. Other than that, he was pretty much okay.
Heroic Darry, as Two-Bit had dubbed him, was practically scathe free. That was mostly due to the fact that he had arrived with only moments remaining in the rumble. He had a tender black and purple eye, and there was a small cut on his cheekbone, which he had covered up with a Band-Aid – that was it. So, naturally he was taking over and fixing up everyone else.
Darry checked to make sure my shoulder had stopped bleeding and that it was free of anything that could possibly cause an infection. When he was satisfied he soaked the corner of the rag and held it on the two-inch long gash. I bit my bottom lip as the Iodine burned and cleansed the inside of my arm. There is nothing like the pain of Iodine.
"Oh God that stings," I managed to gasp after a minute of grinding my teeth and staring fixed at the brown carpet at my feet. "Are you done yet?"
"Just about."
I tired to distract myself for the next minute or so, by playing with the caked mud on my jeans, but failed miserably when he went ahead and re-wet the rag.
"Ahhh!" I gritted my teeth. "Damn it, Darry! That hurts!"
"Sorry, Pon, but we can't be too careful." He pressed against my shoulder firmly and I could've sworn it was about to snap off it hurt so bad. "And if you aren't going to pay for the stitches, learn to get over it for the next few minutes.
"Whatever. Could you at least warn me next time?"
"Well, next time will be the Superglue, and you won't be able to miss that." He removed the rag and looked closely at the red, raw skin.
Sure enough, he was right. He let the glue drip on the skin surrounding my wound, careful to keep it out. I'm not sure what would've happened if it got in, but he was trying hard to keep it out. He pinched my skin and held it firmly when he was finished. My eyes watered up and not from a lack of trying to stop them.
"Do you think this is wise?" I asked. So, I was worried about how my arm was functioning... I'm sure that's normal. I just hoped he knew what he was doing and I hoped we wouldn't regret this later. "My arm will heal okay?"
"Sure. And if it doesn't, we'll get it fixed. We'd have to anyway. What would be the point of seeing a doctor, though, if you really don't need to?" He was sure being optimistic for being Darry.
My skin was going white where he had it clamped. My whole body, but mostly my shoulder, hurt worse than it ever had before. I couldn't wait for my six Aspirin to kick in. I needed some sort of relief from this pain. It was already going to be one hell of a time trying to sleep tonight. The last thing I needed, or wanted, was to go to school not only in a significant amount of pain, but sleep deprived as well.
"Wait a minute... what are you not telling me?" 'If it doesn't, we'll get it fixed? We'd have to anyway?'
"Huh? Oh, nothing. I'm just saying, there's always a risk with everything. Don't worry about it." Whatever it was that he knew about the risk this was taking, he was keeping to himself. I'm not so sure I wanted to know anymore... If he wasn't telling me, he probably had a real reason not to... Damn him.
From pinching, he continued on and taped a large gauze bandage around my arm, to keep it from infection and from getting any dirtier than we could help.
"You strain this arm, and I'll kick your ass, Ponyboy." There was the slightest hint of playfulness in that serious sentence, but not enough to let it override his intention.
"Ya think I'm that stupid?"
"Nope. Just don't do it." I rolled my eyes again.
Eventually he moved on from the shoulder. He wanted to look at my back again, where Jimmy had used the pipe. Right square between my shoulder blades was a green bruise the size of Jackson's fist. There wasn't anything that could be done about it, just only to be careful not to aggravate it more.
As he looked at it, and the bruising on my sides and stomach, I was about to go crazy with curiosity of what had happened to Crystal. I couldn't keep my questions to myself any longer. Just being in Darry's presence was enough to get to me.
"You did Crystal in, huh?"
"Hmmm?" He continued his examination.
"You know... with the pipe. You hit him over the head. Didn't you?"
He was quiet while he thought about it. I don't know what he had to think about, but I wished he would hurry. Any reason for him to break rules was enough for me to want to know.
"Yeah, I did."
"How come?" I grinned at the thought of him smashing that bar across my enemy's head.
"I don't want to talk about this, Pony."
"... Why not?"
"Because," he snapped and I froze. "How, I'm going to take a look at your brother. Keep an eye on this one." He jerked his head to Rob and left.
"Dar-ry!" I pressed.
He didn't answer.
Mad that I had been blatantly ignored, and snapped at, I took a quick glance at Rob, who had fallen asleep, and went into the kitchen where Steve and Two-Bit were hanging out and snacking.
"Man, he pisses me off," I griped, wanting someone to listen but they both hushed me.
"Listen," Steve whispered, and I tuned my ears to hear what they did.
Darry and Soda were talking in the bathroom, but not about Soda and his state of being. Surprisingly, I found it to be mostly about me.
"I was getting fed up when you weren't coming back, so I went to check it out," Darry was answering a question I hadn't heard.
"What changed your mind?"
"Who knows? Maybe I felt a little guilty. I don't know."
"I saw you going at it with Crystal...Damn, you're good," Soda commented, smile written all over his voice.
It went silent for a few seconds. I was finding that Darry liked that – thinking before he spoke.
"Pony was doing all right, but he didn't really stand a chance." I glared, knowing fully well that he couldn't see me. "Did you see them?"
"Nah, I lost track of them both after I went at it with Crystal. I couldn't see them nowhere."
"Well, he wasn't doing too good. Don't tell him that, though," he ordered, hushed, and my eyes went wide. I thought I had done just fine!
Two-Bit shook his head and Steve snickered into his hand. I was tempted to knock him upside the head, but decided the risk wasn't worth it. He'd get it another time...
"Duh," Soda went on. "But, I heard ya two talkin' out there. Did you really hit Crystal with a pipe?!"
"According to Pony, he did it first. But yeah, I did, and I think I had every right to."
"Like...?"
"Like the fact he was going to use his blade on my little brother. I saw him fingering it in his hand. 'Sides, the fuzz were comin' and I wasn't going to get caught out there, so I had to make some sort of a quick getaway. Anyway, he deserved everything he got. I'm sick of the guy picking on Pony. I swear, if there's a next time... that's it... I'm gonna do something about it, and for real."
Whatever short lived ill feelings I was holding against him completely dissolved right then. He didn't tell me why he had done what he did, because he didn't want to make himself out to be a hero and he didn't want to scare me. At least that's what I got out of that conversation. I'm sure there was more to it, but that's was good enough for me. Even if I didn't always want it, he could be my protector anytime he wanted. It comes in handy, obviously. And when it doesn't, I will at least know that the intentions were there and that he tried.
"So..." Darry's voice broke back into my thoughts, "are you taking Rob home, or am I?"
"Shoot, his mom will take it a lot better from you. She at least somewhat knows you," Soda answered.
"True...you think you can hold down the place until I get back?"
"Sure."
Darry came through the kitchen and stopped to grab some potato chips. "You want to come over to Rob's with me, Ponyboy?"
"Yeah." He was by best friend after all.
"'Kay. Get your coat, and let's go."
I did as he said and found my coat draped across my bed. I put it on and went straight to the living room as I heard the doorbell ring.
"I'll get it!" I called out.
"Without looking through the curtains to see who it was, I hoped the door and stalled.
"We're looking for a Ponyboy Curtis," a gruff looking cop said. "We've got a warrant out for his arrest."
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A/n: Dun dun dunnnn! Well, until next time... keep the reviews coming! Here are the review responses from last time. Thanks for reading you guys :)
Review Responses:
CiCi: That was a very entertaining review, lol. Thanks so much for the compliment! I worked on this for quite a while, so I sure hope it fulfilled it's potential. Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoy this chapter!
kaz456: Yeah, I know what you're saying. Shoot, you don't have to know me to know how I am. I think it kinda comes through in my a/n's and writing. I can hope anyway. Yeah, now that it's been SO long since I came up with the idea for the last chapter (months, literally) I don't remember how it all started to formulate in my mind. But I think I knew from the beginning that Darry was going to be a big part of the rumble. You've gotta love the guy. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter too!
Carrie: Well, I'm not sure whatever happened with this all, if you ended up reading or not, but I thank you for the thought at least, lol. Enjoy!
Tensleep: Now, this might be slightly difficult to write a response to TWO reviews for the same chapter, but I'll try, lol. I actually still have your original review, but I'm thrilled that you cared enough to redo the review when you thought it was lost. That's so cool of you! What a friend :D Yeah, that story still has me slightly freaked out... but I'll get over it one day. Nah, jk. I'm not hung up on it, but it definitely was the first story of yours, I've heard that literally chilled me to the bone and made me sick to my stomach, but I'm glad you trust me enough to tell me – as much as you did. Yup, that knight in shining armor quote was just for you! ;) And I totally remember the salsa incident now. That was one heck of a day, huh? Okay, now onto review number two! Lol. You're more than welcome for the dedication. I'm glad Carson is coming home, and I still hope that things are okay with your grandma. ::Smiles shyly:: I love your compliments, especially because you know things and when YOU say it's good and it's right, than I know it is. You're the best. I hope this chapter was good enough, lol, after all the picking apart you did ;) Jk. Oh, and Meatballs back to Jhon. What an odd boy ;) Inside jokes rock. Thanks for reading! For real :)
Fyre: Well, I'm glad you read this! And thanks for the review! I hope you were able to read chapter thirteen too... Either way, I hope you enjoyed this!
Jessie13: Well, I don't know if I'd necessarily say that it was HARD to write, because it's really rare for something to be HARD for me, but it certainly took time and patients and work. But, in my opinion, it was well worth it, and I'm pleased at the reaction I got out of it, so it was more than worth it :) Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed this chapter too!
Julie: Thanks! It means so much to me to hear things like that. I hope you like this chapter as well! Thanks for reading!
Oblivious Misconception: Haha, I'm glad you thought it was worth the wait! I really tried to make it as little violent as I could while keeping the tone and mood right. The site even made me change the rating for the entire city! They weren't happy with the PG-13 rating, and they banned me from updating (while taking down the chapter) for like three days! It made me so mad, but whatever. You're so good at predicting, or being thoughtful, of what will come about in the future. You're SO right that the outcome will effect the rest of the story, but if this chapter wasn't enough to show at least one way, I'd be shocked, lol. ::Smiles:: You're compliments mean the world to me. The way you phrase them and the way they are so thoughtful... I know I say it ALL the time, but I really love that. I wonder if you are onto my secret twist...::ponders:: But probably not, because even Alli was surprised when she read it, hehehe. But if you are...WOW. Lemme know what you thought, anyway, 'kay? I'm REALLY interested in knowing! Thanks so much for reading and reviewing! I hope you liked this.
Malara: One of my new favorite reviewers! You are one of the best reviewers out there! You make me squeak. Lol. I just love how you comment on so much stuff. I like it when reviewers do that. You are definitely not a bland reviewer! That is for SURE. Lol. I hope you liked this chapter, even if it was shorter than most others. Thanks for reading!
Sodapop's#1gurl: Yeah, Darry is definitely a Curtis. Lol. How far a long is Libby? Well, I was going to incorporate that into the next chapter, but I figure I might as well tell you. It isn't a big secret. These last few chapters are taking place in November. She got pregnant about four to five months before this – so in June or July – but she's trying to convince people that it happened in August/September time because that's when Pony took her to the dance. Make sense? I hope so. I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Thanks!
Rock: I caught you a huge bass!: ::Shakes head::...Allison, Allison, Allison...what am I going to do with you?? It's a DELICIOUS bass ;) I shall forgive you this once. But don't expect it again :P This whole review made my stomach flip, I hope you know that, LOL. Jk, but I really do hope that no one read the little bit at the end, where you gave away the ending of THIS chapter, lol. And even if they did, they probably thought you were on drugs or something and didn't pay much attention to it ;) Jk. I'm glad you didn't listen in German. I mean, that only means that I had written something SOOO good, that you were wrapped up and didn't want to participate in your special class. Lol. Completely jk. I'm on one today... I'm on one because I find that when I'm nervous or I'm high strung, I go kinda wacko and I'm REALLY happy. Go figure, lol. Façade: ...ah damn, I was going to give you the correct definition for that...but I can't find my paper, lol. Oh well, you know where I was going with that... Anyway... See ya! Enjoy! Even though you've already read it before! Lol. Bye.
Arantxa: Thanks! Sorry if this wasn't soon enough. I fully admit that it was my fault :( I hope you enjoyed! Thanks for reading!