Hides in a dark corner I'm sorry! The lack of chapters is not going well with me, but I have great ideas thatnks to my NEW WONDERFUL AWESOME (and etc) BETA! This chapter may lack something good, but I absolutely promise that the next chapter will have something good in it!By the way, my beta (whose name is on my profile) she knows EVERYTHING about the Outsiders, I swear! So, now you know that this fic is going to be improved a lot.
I do not own the Outsiders, because if I did, chances are, I wouldn't be writing this fic...
Darry held Ponyboy's fragile frame in the living room of St. John's Boys
Home. Neither of them had said a word, aside from the one syllable greetings
they both spoke.
Darry pushed back his youngest brother's hair and looked into the sad eyes
that seemed identical to the ones Johnny had had. His baby brother was suffering
a this hellhole and it was all his fault.
"Ponyboy, I-" Darry started.
"It's okay," the Ponyboy interrupted, reading his brother's mind. "I'm okay."
Darry was at a loss for words. Ponyboy had just forgiven him after he,
Darry, had sent him away. He felt another squeeze to his mid-section and
looked down. Ponyboy was lightly crying into his black shirt.
He did not think that it would be this bad seeing Darry; not enough to cry, anyways.
Instinctively, Darry embraced his baby brother and held him.
"I'm sorry, Darry," Ponyboy whispered. He was shaking slightly.
"No, baby, none of this is your fault," Darry soothed. He felt his heart
melt. Ponyboy looked like he had when he, Johnny, and Dallas were in the
hospital; scared and alone. "If anyone's, it's mine. Baby, I
shouldn't have hit you. You and I know that what I did was wrong, and now
you and Soda are paying for it."
There was a pause, then Pony chuckled through his tears. "Anger Management
helpin' you any?"
Darry gave a rare grin. "Naw, driving me mad is all it's doing." He watched
as Pony wiped his face with the back of his hand. "What about here? How do
you like it?"
Pony's face was grave. "I hate it."
"I know," Darry said, trying -- as comfortably as he could -- to comfort his
brother. "I promise you, I will get you guys out of here as soon as I can."
Pony looked around; anything to avoid eye contact with Darry. He had already
cried in front of him once -- something you just don't do -- but if he cried
again for no apparent reason, he would only look like a bigger wuss.
Darry took this as a sign of doubt. "Please believe me, Pony. I miss you two
something awful. Two-Bit and Steve are fine, but they're not you and Soda."
Ponyboy sighed, trying to collect himself. "We miss you, too. It isn't like
home here at all." Pony looked at Darry again. His brother seemed even older
than he did when he had them to look after. "You look awful."
Darry lightly punched him on the shoulder. "You look worse. You look like
someone got at you with the ugly stick."
Ponyboy stuck out his tongue. It felt great to have Darry there to talk to.
"So when do you think you can get us back?" It kind of slipped out, although
he wanted the answer rather badly.
Darry looked grim. "I'm trying, I really am. What with Anger Management and
all, I can't really get much work, but I have been working overtime every
now and again."
It shows, Ponyboy thought, nodding at the comment.
The pair talked for a few more minutes about the unimportant events that
went on; school, work, friends, etc.
"Soda really misses you, too," Pony announced out of the blue.
"I bet," Darry replied. "It's too bad he got in trouble; I would have liked
to see him." He shoved his hands into his pockets, a habit he had when he
was nervous or trying to seem tuff. It seemed they had little to talk about
since the one month that passed. "Did you two quit smoking?"
"Nah, they won't let us smoke in here. It's driving me crazy. Soda doesn't
seem to mind too much, though," Pony said. "They still won't let us sleep in
the same room either."
"Want me to go ask?" Darry offered.
"Nah..." Pony hesitated. He hated feeling like he needed Darry to ask; he
was fifteen, for Christ's sake; he did not need anyone to ask questions for him. "It's alright, I'm fine."
Darry raised an eyebrow, a trick Two-Bit had taught them all. "You're fine?"
he asked skeptically, obviously not believing his brother. "When exactly do you sleep?"
His voice was raised slightly, but was still quiet enough so as to not draw
attention.
Ponyboy avoided Darry's eyes. "As much as I can..."
Darry did not like where this was going. "How often is that? Give me an
estimate- in hours," he demanded.
Pony thought hard. There was no way to get out of this; he may have been a good liar (according to Soda), but Darry always knew when he was lying. "Maybe 4-6 hours a day," the he barely whispered, his head hung low in shame.
Darry's mouth was gaping, his icy eyes looked like they had melted into
pools of water. "Pony," he said, his voice now soothing and calm. Maybe
his Anger Management class was changing him... "Baby, that's not enough." He
smoothed back his brother's hair. "You need more sleep than that. Why are
you only getting 4-6 hours of sleep?"
Darry reminded Pony of their father; he remained calm and quiet. It was then
that Pony realized that Darry looked his age, that he was not an old man,
but an extraordinarily mature twenty-year-old who had more responsibility than he
should be able to handle.
Guess that's why they call him Superman, Ponyboy thought. He's strong when
he has to be, but why can't he be strong when it comes to us leaving? I've
never seen him cry before, not even at Mom and Dad's funeral, but he was close
to tears when me and Soda were taken. This makes no sense...
"Well?" Darry repeated. "Why?"
Pony sighed. He was getting rather tired of this interrogation. "Look, school
gets out at four, so I sleep in the afternoon. I sleep in the evening after
supper and I stay awake all night. It's fine. Maybe if Soda can get in my
room I'll be able to sleep at night again. Until then, there ain't nothing
you or me can do," he finished. "Got it?" His temper seemed to be getting
the better of him these days anyways.
The older of the two was not in the least amused at this display of
disrespect. "It was a simple question-"
"Yeah, and you got a simple answer." By now Ponyboy was not thinking of what
he was saying, or to whom he was saying it.
"Pony-" Darry started.
"Leave," the youngest commanded.
Darry stood there in shock. What was going on with his little brother? He
seemed timid when he had first arrived, happy when they were talking, and
now Pony sounded as though he could kill.
"I'm sorry, Pony," Darry's voice sounded almost desperate. "Please don't make
me leave. Not yet." He looked at his brother again. "I'm sorry," he
whispered. His face showed genuine hurt, and Ponyboy immediately regretted
his actions.
"Darry, I-I don't know why I said that. Please," Ponyboy begged. "Please
don't go."
Without exactly knowing why, Darry hugged his little brother again. It was
not normal for Pony to be so angry.
Pony looked down. "I never meant to snap attcha like that, Darry. I don't
know why I di-"
"Don't worry about it. Just don't let it happen again." Darry smirked.
Pony could not help but still feel ashamed of his actions. "What do you want to
do now?"
Darry shrugged. "I'm not sure; there's not really much you can do in here,
is there?"
Pony shook his head. "Nope."
Out of the corner of his eye, Ponyboy saw Soda waving, indicating for
Pony to get Darry to turn around.
"I think you've got another visitor," Pony said with a grin.
Darry turned around. He spotted Sodapop almost immediately. He was the one
hiding behind the "guards" at the door, his arms waving like he was on
fire. To Darry and Pony's amazement, the guards never budged.
Darry nodded in that general direction. In turn, it triggered something in
Soda's brain to act like he was one of the guards.
"What does he think he's doing?" Darry asked. "He's going to get himself
caught." With that, Darry threw a warning look at Soda, who, for once,
stopped.
A man walked behind Soda. Pony's mouth gaped faintly.
"Who's that?" Darry asked.
"Mr. Martin," Ponyboy answered.
Soda turned around and started explaining himself. The other two Curtis' were out of earshot, unable to hear any of their brother's excuses. Within five minutes, Mr. Martin nodded and Soda came running over to where Darry and Ponyboy were.
"Hey, guys," he greeted.
Mr. Martin walked over and shook hands with Darry. "You've got a fine boy,
Mr. Curtis. He just seems to be a bit too active. Although, he is supposed to
be doing dishes-" He shot a warning glance at Soda, who did not seem to
worry too much, "-I have allowed him to see you for the remainder of your
visit. As long as he sticks to his agreement."
Sodapop saluted with an air of clumsiness, a wide smile plastered on his
face. "No problem, sir."
Mr. Martin nodded once more at Darry and left without so much as another
word.
Pony looked at Soda suspiciously. "What exactly was your deal?"
Soda shrugged. "Just some extra chores, a lecture about not getting in
trouble again, and whatever else he could throw at me."
Darry's eyes were wide with surprise. "This place is doing you good."
Sodapop shook his head. "Naw, I don't like it here. No DX, no girls, nobody
to talk to besides Pony. Not to mention it gets boring real easy." He
smiled again. "Oh, well, my grade's haven't been going up since the last time
I was in school, so that's one thing that hasn't changed."
Darry rolled his eyes. "And it never will..."
"You got that right."
"Time's up!" a voice yelled at the front of the room. "All visitor will be
required to leave within five minutes."
Not again, this is always so hard, Darry thought as he looked at his
brothers. "I guess… I'll see you guys later."
He hugged them again and was positive that Pony was about to cry again. "C'mon,
Pony. I'll get you two out of here as soon as I can." He embraced him again.
Darry stood up and walked out of the living room. He felt his heart break
with each step; he was not sure if he could continue to come back only to leave his brothers in worse shape.
Okay, like I said, not my best work, next chapter will be MUCH better because I was giving ideas . So, like I said, you got anything you want, tell me!
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