Lately I have noticed in my writing that I seriously need to start pre reading the chapter before publishing it so if the chapters are taking longer than usual I apologize.

-COMMENT AND ANSWER/REPLY-

brighteyes421

C:A great surprise to wake and see the new chapter. The sense of foreshadowing is building in the Curtis home. Not to mention the feeling of guilt from Darry and Pony for what happens the night Pony comes home late. Your writing is amazing and I can easily picture the boys as they are reading the book about the future for them. Poor Johnny is beside himself with shock and worry about what he did to Bob, even if he was saving Pony's life and more than likely his own. With the socs being as drunk as they were there is no telling what they would have done to Johnny if they were given the chance. I have never thought about why didn't Soda and Darry come after Johnny that night. I am sure they are both going to kick themselves for not following him. I imagine as the time goes by the guilt is going to build for them. As always you did an amazing job with this chapter. I am looking forward to the next chapter and the boys take on when Pony and Johnny cut their hair and Pony's is bleached blond. Also when Pony recites the Robert Frost poem. I think Johnny is very insightful which makes sense seeing as he is so emotionally and physically abused by his parents.

A/R: You're definitely right about Johnny, and I do wonder what could have happened had Johnny not stepped up. I did have a lot of fun writing the part about Ponyboy's hair. Thank you for reading my story!

lanalight1

C:They reacted surprisingly well. But will Darry end up apologizing to Ponyboy or something?

A/R: I think I'm going to do something with the apology in this chapter when they read Soda's note.

Demigod-Wizard-Gatekeeper

C:I can't wait until the fire. Is that bad?

A/R: Nope, I am actually excited to write their reactions, especially Darry and Soda.

Thanks for all the comments guys!

Disclaimer:I sadly don't own the Outsiders

"Chapter 5 I WOKE UP LATE IN the afternoon. For a second I didn't know where I was. You know how it is, when you wake up in a strange place and wonder where in the world you are, until memory comes rushing over you like a wave."

"I think that happened to me one time," Two-Bit said, gaining the attention of the gang. "Yeah! I got so drunk that I woke up under my bed with marker written all over my face and a cat on my stomach!" The gang started laughing.

"What happened?" Ponyboy asked between laughs.

"Turns out I got really drunk and was flirting with a blond and asked her if I could have some...you know." Two-Bit was about to say something else when he caught the look on Darry's face as he pointed to Ponyboy. "And she called me a hood and threw this stupid cat at me, then when I passed out she drew on my face." This explanation only produced even more laughs.

"Wait one minute!" Steve suddenly said, they looked towards him. "Evie told me that Kathy did that to you!" Two-Bit laughed.

"Yup, that's my girl."

"I half convinced myself that I had dreamed everything that had happened the night before. I'm really home in bed, I thought. It's late and both Darry and Sodapop are up. Darry's cooking breakfast, and in a minute he and Soda will come in and drag me out of bed and wrestle me down and tickle me until I think I'll die if they don't stop."

Soda wrapped his arms around his brothers, with a stupid grin. Ponyboy smiled happily, wishing silently that it was still like it was when his Mom and Dad were around. Unbeknownst to him, Darry was wishing the same.

"It's me and Soda's turn to do the dishes after we eat, and then we'll all go outside and play football. Johnny and Two-Bit and I will get Darry on our side, since Johnny and I are so small and Darry's the best player. It'll go like the usual weekend morning. I tried telling myself that while I lay on the cold rock floor, wrapped up in Dally's jacket and listening to the wind rushing through the trees' dry leaves outside."

Johnny felt guilt flooding through him. It was his fault that Ponyboy wasn't with his brother's in the future. All because he got scared and dragged Ponyboy, who was barely a teenager, with him to Windrixville.

"Finally I quit pretending and pushed myself up. I was stiff and sore from sleeping on that hard floor, but I had never slept so soundly. I was still groggy. I pushed off Johnny's jeans jacket, which had somehow got thrown across me, and blinked, scratching my head. It was awful quiet, with just the sound of rushing wind in the trees. Suddenly I realized that Johnny wasn't there. "Johnny?" I called loudly, and that old wooden church echoed me, onny onny... I looked around wildly,"

Johnny held his breath. There was no way he had left Ponyboy, had he?

"almost panic-stricken, but then caught sight of some crooked lettering written in the dust of the floor. Went to get supplies. Be back soon. J.C. I sighed,"

Johnny released the breath he had been holding in.

"and went to the pump to get a drink. The water from it was like liquid ice and it tasted funny, but it was water. I splashed some on my face and that woke me up pretty quick. I wiped my face off on Johnny's jacket"

"Gee, thanks Ponyboy." Johnny joked, Ponyboy blushed and gave him a smile.

"and sat down on the back steps. The hill the church was on dropped off suddenly about twenty feet from the back door, and you could see for miles and miles. It was like sitting on the top of the world. When you haven't got anything to do, you remember things in spite of yourself. I could remember every detail of the whole night, but it had the unreal quality of a dream. It seemed much longer than twenty-four hours since Johnny and I had met Dally at the corner of Pickett and Sutton. Maybe it was."

Sodapop glanced at Ponyboy, who looked oddly pale for some reason. He nearly hit himself for not noticing his brother's distress.

"Maybe Johnny had been gone a whole week and I had just slept. Maybe he had already been worked over by the fuzz and was waiting to get the electric chair since he wouldn't tell where I was."

Johnny flinched at his thoughts, while Ponyboy paled tremendously. Ponyboy could only imagine Johnny in that chair, scared and alone because of him.

"Maybe Dally had been killed in a car wreck or something and no one would ever know where I was, and I'd just die up here, alone, and turn into a skeleton."

Ponyboy brought his knees up to his chest, they glanced over to the smallest member of the gang. Darry moved over to Ponyboy, he placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. Ponyboy leaned in and seemed to relax a bit.

"My overactive imagination was running away with me again."

"You think?" Two-Bit joked, to which Ponyboy gave a small laugh. Darry, sensing Ponyboy felt better, moved away. Ponyboy seemed a bit upset at this but said nothing.

"Sweat ran down my face and back, and I was trembling. My head swam, and I leaned back and closed my eyes. I guess it was partly delayed shock. Finally my stomach calmed down and I relaxed a little, hoping that Johnny would remember cigarettes."

"You shouldn't be smoking so much." Darry muttered. To his surprise, Ponyboy nodded.

" I was scared, sitting there by myself. I heard someone coming up through the dead leaves toward the back of the church, and I ducked inside the door. Then I heard a whistle, long and low, ending in a sudden high note. I knew that whistle well enough. It was used by us and the Shepard gang for "Who's there?" I returned it carefully, then darted out the door so fast that I fell off the steps and sprawled flat under Johnny's nose."

Two-Bit, Steve, and Soda busted out laughing, while Darry, Dally, and Johnny tried to hide their own laughter.

Real stealthy Pony!" Two-bit said between laughs. Johnny patted Ponyboys shoulder in comfort, while Ponyboy blushed deeply and huffed.

"I propped myself on my elbows and grinned up at him. "Hey, Johnny. Fancy meetin' you here." He looked down at me over a big package. "I swear, Ponyboy, you're gettin' to act more like Two-Bit every day." I tried unsuccessfully to cock an eyebrow. "Who's acting?" I rolled over and sprang up, happy that someone was there. "What'd you get?" "Come on inside. Dally told us to stay inside." We went in. Johnny dusted off a table with his jacket and started taking things out of the sack and lining them up neatly. "A week's supply of baloney, two loaves of bread, a box of matches..." Johnny went on. I got tired of watching him do it all, so I started digging into the sack myself. "Wheee!" I sat down on a dusty chair and stared. "A paperback copy of Gone with the Wind!"

Ponyboy gasped. "No way! You actually remembered?" Ponyboy asked, with a bright smile.

"Guess so." Johnny was surprised himself that he had remembered the old movie. While the rest of the them just looked confused.

"How'd you know I always wanted one?" Johnny reddened. "I remembered you sayin' something about it once. And me and you went to see that movie, 'member? I thought you could maybe read it out loud and help kill time or something." "Gee, thanks." I put the book down reluctantly. I wanted to start it right then."

"You and your books." Steve said rolling his eyes but his tone was amused.

"Peroxide? A deck of cards..." Suddenly I realized something. "Johnny, you ain't thinking of..." Johnny sat down and pulled out his knife. "We're gonna cut our hair, and you're gonna bleach yours."

"What?!" Ponyboy exclaimed, looking at Johnny like he had just told him to run away to Mexico.

"He looked at the ground carefully. "They'll have our descriptions in the paper. We can't fit 'em." "Oh, no!" My hand flew to my hair. "No, Johnny, not my hair!" It was my pride. It was long and silky, just like Soda's, only a little redder. Our hair was tuff- we didn't have to use much grease on it. Our hair labeled us greasers, too- - it was our trademark."

"I can't believe your gonna cut my hair!" Ponyboy huffed, while Johnny just smiled softly.

"The one thing we were proud of. Maybe we couldn't have Corvairs or madras shirts, but we could have hair. "We'd have to anyway if we got caught. You know the first thing the judge does is make you get a haircut" "I don't see why," I said sourly. "Dally could just as easily mug somebody with short hair."

"Damn right." Dally said rather proudly. Ponyboy was the only one to notice how Johnny looked at him with admiration.

"I don't know either- it's just a way of trying to break us. They can't really do anything to guys like Curly Shepard or Tim; they've had about everything done to them. And they can't take anything away from them because they don't have anything in the first place. So they cut their hair." I looked at Johnny imploringly. Johnny sighed. "I'm gonna cut mine too, and wash the grease out, but I can't bleach it. I'm too dark-skinned to look okay blond. Oh, come on, Ponyboy," he pleaded. "It'll grow back." "Okay," I said, wide-eyed. "Get it over with." Johnny flipped out the razor-edge of his switch, took hold of my hair, and started sawing on it. I shuddered. "Not too short," I begged. "Johnny, please..." Finally it was over with. My hair looked funny, scattered over the floor in tufts. "It's lighter than I thought it was," I said, examining it. "Can I see what I look like now?" "No," Johnny said slowly, staring at me. "We gotta bleach it first." After I'd sat in the sun for fifteen minutes to dry the bleach, Johnny let me look in the old cracked mirror we'd found in a closet. I did a double take."

Just then a photo of Ponyboy sitting down, with his new hair do, Johnny behind him appeared. Ponyboy gaped at the photo in disbelief as Steve, Two-Bit, and Dally exploded into laughter. Sodapop and Darry couldn't stop looking between the photo and their younger brother. Ponyboy looked at Johnny who was wide eyed looking at the photo in disbelief.

"You sure look tuff kid!" Two-Bit said between laughter, Ponyboy glared at him.

'As if I didn't look bad enough.' He thought, blushing deeply.

" My hair was even lighter than Sodapop's. I'd never combed it to the side like that. It just didn't look like me. It made me look younger, and scareder, too. Boy howdy, I thought, this really makes me look tuff. I look like a blasted pansy. I was miserable. Johnny handed me the knife. He looked scared, too. "Cut the front and thin out the rest. I'll comb it back after I wash it." "Johnny," I said tiredly, "you can't wash your hair in that freezing water in this weather. You'll get a cold."

Johnny thought it was funny how Ponyboy always seemed to be worried about others rather than himself. He looked over at his best friend to see him looking at the photo with a angry glare but the look was ashamed. He sighed, wondering what was wrong with his friend.

"He only shrugged. "Go ahead and cut it." I did the best I could. He went ahead and washed it anyway, using the bar of soap he'd bought. I was glad I had had to run away with him instead of with Two-Bit or Steve or Dally. That would be one thing they'd never think of soap."

Said three greasers gave Ponyboy a look, who blushed and looked away.

'I just love having all my personal thoughts read aloud.' He thought sarcastically.

"I gave him Dally's jacket to wrap up in, and he sat shivering in the sunlight on the back steps, leaning against the door, combing his hair back. It was the first time I could see that he had eyebrows. He didn't look like Johnny. His forehead was whiter where his bangs had been; it would have been funny if we hadn't been so scared. He was still shivering with cold. "I guess," he said weakly, "I guess we're disguised." I leaned back next to him sullenly. "I guess so." "Oh, shoot," Johnny said with fake cheerfulness, "it's just hair." "Shoot nothing," I snapped. "It took me a long time to get that hair just the way I wanted it. And besides, this just ain't us. It's like being in a Halloween costume we can't get out of." "Well, we got to get used to it," Johnny said with finality. "We're in big trouble,"

'I'm in big trouble, he shouldn't even be there.' Johnny thought sadly, his best friend was only 13 when this happened.

"and it's our looks or us." I started eating a candy bar. "I'm still tired," I said. To my surprise, the ground blurred and I felt tears running down my cheeks. I brushed them off hurriedly."

Steve glanced over at Ponyboy, who looked slightly embarrassed by the fact that his future self was crying. He thought it was unfair how both Ponyboy and Johnny were always the ones that were getting beat on.

'Their only kids.' He would never admit it but he cared for Ponyboy just as much as the rest of the gang.

"Johnny looked as miserable as I felt. "I'm sorry I cut your hair off, Ponyboy." "Oh, it ain't that;" I said between bites of chocolate. "I mean, not all of it. I'm just a little spooky. I really don't know what's the matter. I'm just mixed up." "I know," Johnny said through chattering teeth as we went inside. "Things have been happening so fast..." I put my arm across his shoulders to warm him up. "Two-Bit shoulda been in that little one-horse store. Man, we're in the middle of nowhere; the nearest house is two miles away. Things were layin' out wide open, just waitin' for somebody slick like Two-Bit to come and pick 'em up. He coulda walked out with half the store."

Two-Bit huffed a laugh, but there was no humor in it. The air was tense and everyone had a feeling something was going to happen.

"He leaned back beside me, and I could feel him trembling. "Good ol' Two-Bit," he said in a quavering voice. He must have been as homesick as I was. "Remember how he was wisecrackin' last night?" I said. "Last night... just last night we were walkin' Cherry and Marcia over to Two-Bit's. Just last night we were layin' in the lot, lookin' up at the stars and dreaming..." "Stop it!" Johnny gasped from between clenched teeth. "Shut up about last night! I killed a kid last night. He couldn't of been over seventeen or eighteen, and I killed him. How'd you like to live with that?" He was crying.

Ponyboy looked over to his friend to see him shaking as silent tears came down his face. Ponyboy reached out to Johnny hoping to try and comfort him but Johnny pushed him away. A flicker of hurt flashed in Ponyboys eyes as he turned away crossing his arms.

"Maybe we should take a small break." Darry suggjested looking between Johnny and Ponyboy, the gang nodded in agreemeant. Ponyboy quickly got up and made his way to his and Soda's room. Soda, Darry, and Two-Bit got up and followed him, while Dally and Steve stayed with Johnny.

Oh No! What's up with Ponyboy and Johnny? I guess you'll have to find out next Monday, but I will tell you that both of them are feeling pretty crappy right now. So enjoy the feels!

That's all for now! Sorry for the long hiatus, see you all next Monday!

-OutsidersOfPercyJackson