Disclaimer- I still do not own the Outsiders. I only wish I did. But, I only own Charlie, and Frankie from the last chapter, and any new characters you might see turning up.

Authors note: Okay guys, I hope this chapter is better than the last one. After this one, I don't know how many more I will be able to get out before next weekend, because I have school, then I have my graduation, and I'll be really busy getting my hair and stuff done, and then busy with the actual graduation and all my relatives r coming up, but after that I only have 2 more days left of school so I can post a lot in the summer.

Thanx:

Rugrats 101

Chapter 3; A Johnnycake and a Pony in a Church

Five days. Five long days since Dally helped Ponyboy and Johnny escape and run to the abandoned church in Windrixville. Sure, thing hadn't completely died down, but Dally figured it was safe to go and see them. I thought he was crazy. Shoot, just a couple days before, Dally'd been hauled into the police station for questioning!

He hadn't told them anything, naturally.

One morning I was at the Curtis's, and I heard a car pull up outside. Dally got out of the drivers side with a weed in his mouth and came into the house. Darry was about to yell at him to get outside.

"Come on Charlie, we're going." I knew what he meant, we were going to see Johnny and Ponyboy finally.

"Ooh, a date?" Two-Bit asked, jokingly.

"Lay off, Two-Bit," I said, then followed it with, "Coming, Dal."

I had the feeling Soda knew where we were going. No one else did though.

I got in the passengers side and Dally got back in the drivers side, after throwing his smoke on the road and stepping on it.

"Have you talked to them at all?" I asked.

"Nope," He said.

"Well then how do you know if they're okay?"

"I don't."

"Are we bringing them back today?"

"Geez, kid, you ask too many questions. And yes, I hope we can bring 'em back today."

We sat in silence for a couple more minutes.

"How long until we get there, Dally?" I whined.

He laughed slightly and said,

"I dunno… soon…" He trailed off and kept his eyes on the road. Hey, at least he was a good driver.

It was a good half hour later when we arrived in Windrixville. I was soo excited about seeing Ponyboy… and Johnny… I smiled to myself thinking about him. I looked out the window excitedly, causing Dally to laugh a little more at me when we pulled up outside a big old church. Dally lit up a weed as we entered the church. When we walked in, I saw Ponyboy sleeping on the floor and Johnny standing by a table, doing something with a slice of boloney. He looked up at us.

"Johnny…" I said quietly and raced over to him.

He dropped the baloney and walked out to the front of the table just as I got there and he embraced me. I let a tear fall.

"Oh, Johnny… I'm so glad you're okay," I said into his chest. When we broke apart, I saw him blushing. He quickly turned away and looked at Dally, who was walking over to Ponyboy, who was inexplicably blonde.

I watched as he lightly kicked Pony in the ribs and told him to get up. Pony looked at Dally and his eyes widened. Then he looked over at me and jumped up.

"Thank god, I can't eat another slice of baloney if my life depends on it." He exclaimed and hugged me.

Dally handed Pony the note from Soda, and Ponyboy read it a couple times.

"Well, let's go then, we're going to eat some real food." Dally said and walked out of the church, throwing his cigarette butt on the floor. Johnny hurried behind him, I hurried behind Johnny, and Ponyboy followed me.

"Jesus, Pony, you've lost a lot of weight," I observed, watching him and Johnny get into the back seat.

Johnny and Ponyboy told us all that had happened at the church as we drove to the diner. How he was thin because of the baloney, and how Johnny had cut his own hair and cut and bleached Pony's. I laughed out lous when Pony mentioned his hair.

"Yeah, real funny Charlie," He said sarcastically.

"It is," I said through small fits of laughter. Dally chuckled and Johnny cracked a grin.

We arrived at the diner, and Dally went in to get us some food, while Johnny, Pony and me stayed in the car. Soon Dally came back with some food and we ate.

Johnny took a bite, looking thoughtful. Then he said,

"We're goin' back an' turnin' ourselves in."

I almost choked, and the three of us looked at him surprised.

"What?" Dally said.

"You heard me, we're goin' back an' turnin' ourselves in. I can't live with this," Johnny said.

Dally argued with him for a minute, then realized there was no point, as Johnny pointed out it was self defense and people could testify to that, like the other Socs that were drunk, and the Soc's girlfriends, Cherry and Marcia, who could also testify that the Socs were drunk and looking for a fight.

"Fine," He said as he finished. "Then let's go back to the church and get your stuff." We had all finished eating by that time and Dally pulled out of the parking lot, getting ready to drive over to the church.

On the way there, I noticed all this black smoke coming from somewhere.

I realized where when we pulled up in front of the church. Johnny's jaw dropped, I gasped, Pony's eyes widened, and Dally mumbled "Oh my god,"

"The church is on fire!" I yelled and we jumped out of the car, staring at the blazing mess of a church in front of us. People were standing all around it.

Johnny charged at the church, and Pony and I went to follow. Dally grabbed our arms.

"Stay away from the church!" He ordered, almost yelling. We ignored him and ran after Johnny. Dally growled something, most likely curse words behind us.

"Oh, god, those kids are still in the church!" A woman yelled behind us.

"Dammit, we started it!" Pony yelled behind me. Then an image replayed in my mind. Dally threw his cigarette butt on the wooden floor. Dally started the fire, I thought. We caught up to Johnny and busted open a window to get into the building. As soon as we were inside, I knew we were deep in trouble.

It was so hot it felt like an oven on full blast. The smoke was so thick I could barely breathe.

Fuck, we're dead now! I thought.

(A/N: Please Review! Thanx!)