Chapter Four: A Good Time... For Murder
"That movie sucked," Buffy complained loudly, crashing on the sofa and rubbing her forehead as she felt a migraine coming on.
"I liked it!" Two-Bit remarked cheerfully.
"Yes, well, you like anything with leggy blondes," was the response he received from a sleepy and cranky Buffy.
"That was so amazing how you stopped Dally from bothering those two girls," Ponyboy said, his eyes wide in amazement. "You're not afraid of anything, are you?"
"Hmm..." Buffy responded, not paying attention, her head nodding off in sleep.
Ponyboy smiled softly and started searching for a blanket to cover her with. Finding one behind the TV, he covered her and yawned loudly.
"I think I'm gonna go to sleep too. What about you, Johnny?"
Johnny shook his head. "Nah, I think I'm gonna go to the parking lot and think for a bit first."
Ponyboy frowned. He didn't like the idea of Johnny going off by himself at night too much. He could keep him company, and then come back home. Maybe Johnny could sleep over at their house.
"Well, I'll go with you then."
"OK," Johnny quietly responded.
"Well, I can't come," Two-Bit apologized, "I've got a party to go to. It's only 9 o'clock."
"Yeah, okay," Ponyboy said, and Two-Bit wandered off.
Johnny hesitated. "Ponyboy, shouldn't we tell Buffy where we're goin'?"
"Nah," Ponyboy replied, "She looks beat. Let her sleep. I'll be back before Darry and Soda get home."
Johnny nodded and followed Ponyboy as he strode out the door.
Sodapop smiled softly to himself as he opened the door to his house, thinking about Sandy, when he came face to face with a bewildered Buffy. His smile changed to an expression of surprise.
"Hey Buffy! What's wrong? Where's Ponyboy?"
"I don't know!" Buffy exclaimed, glancing at her wristwatch. "I must've dozed off. Does Ponyboy have a curfew?"
"Not an official one," Soda replied worriedly. "But it's pretty late, and when Darry gets home, he's gonna get mad."
"Does he usually stay out this late?" Buffy asked, concerned.
"No!" Soda exclaimed, starting to freak out.
"Ok, you stay here," Buffy commanded in a brisk tone that somewhat comforted Soda, "I'll go look for Ponyboy."
Soda shook his head. "This isn't a good neighborhood and a young girl like you shouldn't be out by herself."
Buffy gave him a stern look. "Believe me, I can take care of myself. Do you have any suggestions on where to look?"
"Umm... I dunno... the park?"
Buffy rolled her eyes. "He's fourteen, Soda, not four," she said with a laugh, and Soda grinned. Despite the situation, he couldn't help but notice that Buffy had an infectious smile, much like his own. In fact, they could pass for brother and sister.
"I promise I'll find him," Buffy reassured Soda, and before he could say another word, she disappeared into the night.
Buffy shivered in the cold of the fall night and started calling out Ponyboy's name. She was close to the park, when she heard a noise. She froze and listened intently, using her slayer powers focus on the whispers she thought she heard.
"I... killed him," she heard, and blanched, running towards the voice, closing in on the park.
The scene she encountered shocked her frozen.
Ponyboy was sobbing, his shirt completely soaked through and Johnny sat shivering, both of them looking away from something.
Stepping forward, she saw the body of a well dressed jock, bleeding profusely, surrounded by a deep ruby blood.
But he was still breathing. Shallow breaths, but breaths, nonetheless.
"Ponyboy! Johnny!" she cried out, grabbing their shoulders and shaking them out of their reveries. They both looked up at her in shock.
"It's okay, you guys," she breathed, "I'm going to go call the police because he's still alive, and when I come back, you guys tell me what happened. Ok?"
Ponyboy and Johnny silently nodded and Buffy got up, unwound her scarf from her neck, and pressed it against the boys wound, trying to stop the bleeding.
"Okay, don't move you guys," she said one last time, blanching at their motionless figures, and ran off towards the pay phone she saw on her way there.
Breathlessly, she reported the crime, careful not to mention how the boy got stabbed. She ran all the way back and found Ponyboy and Johnny in the same position she left them.
"What happened?" she asked as calmly as she could manage.
Ponyboy only shivered and Johnny shook his head.
"C'mon, you guys," she pleaded, "you have to tell me so I can help you."
"I stabbed him," Johnny whispered, raising his bloodstained hands. "He was going to beat me up and I wasn't going to... I couldn't let them do that again. They were drowning Pony."
Buffy digested this information. "It was self-defense? And there was more than one guy? Okay. But why did they do this in the first place?"
"They said they saw us sitting with their girls. But we weren't. We didn't even talk," Ponyboy whispered, and Buffy turned to look at him.
"They said they were going to wait until later to drink and party, but their girls wouldn't talk to them for no reason, so they just wanted to have a little fun," Ponyboy said anxiously.
"I'm going to jail," Johnny whispered.
"No, you're not," Buffy protested, "I'm not going to let that happen."
"A greaser's word over a socs'? It'll never happen," Johnny said with a sob.
They heard the loud wail of the ambulance's siren, along with the police officers'.
"Run back to the house," Buffy whispered. "Now!"
"But, we can't-" Ponyboy protested.
"Go!" Buffy interrupted, grabbing them, lifting them up, and pushing them in the direction of the Curtis house.
Johnny and Ponyboy were gone by the time the ambulance arrived and the paramedics jumped out and lifted the boy. Buffy glanced down at her bloody hands from pressing on the boys wounds and up at the police officer approaching her.
"Ma'am, are you alright?"
"Yes, officer," Buffy replied.
"Did you see who assaulted this young man?" he asked, concerned.
"Yes, sir.It was me."
A/N: Did you like it? Huh? Did ya?
Well, reviews are always appreciated and read thoroughly, so feel free to leave them.
I hope you enjoyed it.
P.S. Sorry about the cliffhanger.