I do not own any of S.E. Hinton's characters
"I'm not that far, Johnnycakes. Seriously, give me more credit here." He deadpanned to his best friend, who was currently waiting at his house. The two young greasers were on FaceTime, which had been insisted upon by his older brother. Ponyboy had gone to a movie after track practice, and hadn't bothered to mention it to anyone.
Which according to Darry, made it all the worse because he had now both walked to two places by himself and made the walk home longer.
"You're still grounded when you get home, Ponyboy Curtis." He rolled his eyes at Darry's interruption, obviously Sodapop hadn't been able to talk him down from that verdict.
"I sent a text." He grumbled back rather loudly, he saw Johnny wince at the camera as Darry made to yell back at him.
"After the movie! Kid, whether you like it or not, you are in huge trouble." Ponyboy sighed heavily at the comment, purposely slowing his pace. He left the camera for a second to check the rest of his phone in his last few minutes of his freedom. He heard a brief protest from Johnny's end almost immediately.
"Pone, please just watch your back." He warned quietly, Ponyboy could tell his friend was worried at the lack of backup.
"Seriously kid," He bit his lip to hold back a comment as Two-Bit tuned in. "Those Socs have been after us lately, you need to watch it."
He held back whatever words he wanted to say, he tried to remind himself that they were just helping him. He took in an exasperated breath as they continued on
"Yeah, we don't want to be draggin' your remains off the street." He heard Soda's loud protest at his best friends comment. He bit his lip to hold back the retort.
"It's bad enough you're out late, Honey. Especially without us." Sodapop yelled to the phone after a moment of argument. Ponyboy rolled his eyes as he continued to scroll through TikTok, then moving to Tumblr.
"Yeah, I know, Soda." He said absentmindedly, going to the next app. He had to admit that his comment did hold a bit of snark but it didn't deserve the next reply in his opinion.
"Quit being a smartass and use your damn head, kid." The comment from Dally made the tips of his ears turn red. He gritted his teeth, and swiped so hard to the call that his phone almost fell out of his grip. Stopping at a small area in between two buildings he began to yell at the phone.
"You know what," He yelled at the camera, which was now visible to both sides. "I'm so tired of y'all treating me like a little kid! I'm fourteen for God's sake, and I wouldn't mind if you just had the littlest bit of trust in me! I mean fu-"
Suddenly, the area around him was light up.
He stopped short and shot his head up, and it wasn't because of the near curse word. It was the headlights that were now shining directly in his vision, lighting the dark up. He gasped, it was a red BMW, and that it was entirely focused on him.
"Ponyboy?" He heard Johnny say on the other line. "What's going on?"
The loud noises that had previously been on the other line had stopped entirely. He heard Darry yell at Two-Bit to turn down the music. But his eyes remained on the car that was slowly getting closer, he took a step back.
"How far are you?" Darry asked with contained panic on the other side, the gang had gone quiet.
The car got closer and he went to run, turning around he realized that he was trapped between the building and the car. He hadn't been paying attention during his ranting, and now he was going to pay the price for it. This is some fucking cosmic irony if I've ever seen any. He thought as he slowly turned to face the car. He could already hear the jeers inside the car; there had to be at least 4 guys in it.
He hadn't heard all the noise that had been picking up on the other side either.
"Where are you?!" It was Sodapop this time that was frantically asking. He gulped and quickly exited the app, he switched on his location on all Social media's. Going back to the call he saw the gang gathered around the phone.
"Check my location, I can't tell where I am right now." He replied hastily, then immediately froze as the car doors opened. "Hurry up."
"What's going on, Kid?" Steve yelled through the phone, as everyone quickly grabbed their things. Ponyboy couldn't reply as the four guys he predicted were already nearing him. Instead, he turned his phone down on the lowest setting so it wouldn't be heard by the Socs.
"Well, well, what have we got here, boys?" The tallest among the four guys asked as he circled around Ponyboy. Ponyboy held tightly onto his phone, which was now hanging at his side.
"I say, we got a lost little boy." A boy with dark blonde hair replied, smiling cruelly on the other side of the tall one. The other two, who were rounding Ponyboy on the other sides, snickered as they came closer to him. Ponyboy could've rolled his eyes at the comments, how cliché can they get?
"I think he needs a little lesson don't you think, Ale?" The darker haired haired one, who was smoking a cigarette, asked his friend, who he assumed was Ale.
"I'd say." Ale laughed as he finally grabbed onto Ponyboy and yanked him back into the two's hold. Ponyboy struggled, thrashing as he tired desperately to get loose. He was silenced by a harsh punch to the abdomen that left him breathless.
The other guys heard it before he did, a loud yell on the other line. He yanked his head up to his phone, gasping for breath. He realized that he had forgotten to mute his side of the call. The leader, who he assumed was the tall one, walked up and wrenched the phone from his grasp. He heard the leader give a rough laugh, as he held the phone up.
"Looks like we got an audience, boys!" He laughed, showing the call to the others. Ponyboy's eyes widened as he noticed that it was only Johnny and Sodapop there, and he knew instantly that the others were coming. Right now, though, that was the last thing on his mind.
"Let's give them a show." The blonde said as he landed a punch on Ponyboy's jaw. Ponyboy barely held back the yelp at the contact as his face was thrown to the side. The tallest placed the camera nearby, with a perfect view of the scene.
"Get the hell away from him!" He heard his brother clearly from the phone, the tall guy must have turned the volume up all the way. Ponyboy bit his lip angrily, they wanted him to hear everything.
"Yeah, let's give them a show." He said smugly, reaching out he grabbed Ponyboys jaw, yanking it up with little care. "Don't you think?"
"Fuck you." He cursed, spitting in the guy's face. His buddies froze, jostling him in retaliation, but Tall guy just wiped off the spit and leaned back.
"Ok then." He said, then he threw a hard punch at Ponyboy. This time he did yelp at the hit, which only ignited more yelling from the phone. He didn't hesitate to send a sharp kick then his stomach, and Ponyboy was once again left gasping for breath.
He stayed doubled over as the guys around him laughed at his pain. It was in that second he could hear Johnny's calls to him, and his brother's soft cries mixed with his outraged yells. He desperately pleaded to himself for the guys to get there quicker. The lack of pain only lasted a few seconds before he felt a hand, Blonde's hand, on his forehead. He was confused for a second, then the hand pushed hard, slamming him into the brick wall behind him.
He cried out at the contact, his head instantly pounding. Ale and Dark hair released him and he collapsed to the ground. He braved himself on the ground last minute, barley holding himself off the pavement. Leader stepped up and landed a kick to his back, sending him to the floor. He nodded to Ale who stepped forward, and landed a hard kick to his ribs. He tried to curl inward to stop the assault, but four kicks landed flawlessly.
"Stop it!" He heard Johnny cry out as Sodapop released a choked sob on the other line. He knew it was killing Sodapop not to be there with him; he knew it hurt even more to not be able to be one of the ones to beat the shit out of these guys too.
The dark haired guy stepped forward, cracking his knuckles. He reached down and landed another kick to Ponyboy's face, laughing when the blow landed. He cried out again as he felt his head pound harshly, he was lucky the kick missed his nose. He was only really lucky for that though.
Blonde strolled up to him, and reached down to grab him. He yanked his hair, causing a string of curses to fly from Ponyboys mouth, as he too was yanked up. The guy pulled him up until he was in his grasp. Then, Tall guy gestured towards the camera, and Blonde smirked, pulling the both of them around to fully face it.
He didn't know what was going on as he stared at the camera. Johnny's eyes were wide and bloodstained, and he looked so desperate it hurt. Sodapop wasn't much better as he had a hand over his mouth, silent tears tracking down his face. Then, everyone heard the flip of a switchblade.
Ponyboy could clearly hear Sodapop screaming "No! while Johnny shouted, "Don't you fucking touch him!"
He briefly felt shocked at the loud sentence from his friend, but it didn't last long as fear overtook him. Blonde held him close to his chest as Tall Guy approached him as he lackadaisically swung the switch from side to side.
He took the blade and placed it on his cheek, the chilled metal making him shiver. He took in a shaky breath as the blade trailed lower to his stomach. The image of his intestines falling out onto the pavement flooded his mind and he began to shake.
"He's shaking like a girl." Ale teased circling behind him and Blonde.
"Awe, what's wrong, baby?" Blonde teased, making his friends laugh as they too saw the tumors. Tall guy moved in closer, pressing the tip of the blade to his chest, making Ponyboys shaking worse.
Instead of making a cut though, he slipped the blade away with a nasty smirk. Then, he reached out to Dark hair and made a grabbing gesture. Dark hair sighed heavily but pulled his cigarette out of his mouth and handed it to Tall guy. Ponyboy froze solid and he heard a sharp intake of breath on the other line. He got up close to the young greaser, who was now struggling more against blondes hold.
"Sorry, kid," he started, not sounding very apologetic. "This is gonna hurt."
He yanked down the side of Ponyboy's shirt, revealing his collarbone. Then taking one last puff of the cigarette, he placed it down onto his skin. Ponyboy instantly thrashed and screamed, trying to get away from the pain. He barely heard the screaming on the other side of the call.
He wanted the pain to stop, Tall guy still didn't lift the cigarette even as he thrashed. He felt a single tear go down his cheek, and he screamed louder when it was pushed further into his collarbone. He thought the pain would never stop, but it finally did, and in the most relieving way.
"Get the fuck away from my brother!" He gasped out in relief as he heard his eldest brother scream. The sound of a car slamming to a stop was heard and Tall guy stopped pressing the butt into his skin. Ponyboy felt himself shaking, as the gang finally got to them. They stopped in front of them, and now it was 5 against 4; more 4 on 4 really though, with Ponyboy barely able to put up a fight.
"Put him down now." He heard Steve, which surprised him really, growl out. The guys were now standing together facing off with the gang. Ponyboy kept his head bowed, as Tall guy laughed.
"Who says?" He said arrogantly, cigarette still loose in his fingers.
"The guys who are gonna kick your ass. Now, get off the kid." Dally responded calmly, though if anyone really knew him they'd know he was furious. Tall guy leaned back on his heels, with what Ponyboy thought was arrogance. Then as a last stand of sorts he raised the cigarette.
"Nah." He responded, then replaced the cigarette on Ponyboy's skin. He let out a brief shriek of pain, closing his eyes, that lasted for a second before the guys around him were yanked away into the fight. He dropped down to the ground in an instant. He curled up into a ball as he laid, listening to the sounds of punches and curses being thrown around. He barely registered the noise as he pulled himself in tighter.
No matter how hard he tried, a small cry finally broke through his throat. He desperately wished to go home and lay in his bed. He wanted to watch Netflix with Two-Bit and laugh at the comments he made through the show. He wanted to sit on the back porch with Johnny and sleep in the shade. He wished he was baking chocolate cake with Darry and Soda. He even wished for the banter between him and Steve, and the dangerous outings with Dally.
Above all, he wished he hadn't gone to the movies. He wished he had called ahead. He wished he wasn't so stupid and weak.
He didn't notice as the noise around him finally stopped, staying where he had dropped down at. He felt a gentle hand rest against his shoulder, and he rolled over enough to be pulled into his brother's hold.
The silent tears had stopped earlier, but now being in his brother's arms, he couldn't help let out a few tears and gasps of breath. Darry's arms curled tighter around him as he heard a few whispers above him. Then he was being picked up and carried to the truck, he hissed as his bruised ribs were jostled.
"Sorry, little buddy." He heard Darry mumble as he readjusted his grip to make Ponyboy more comfortable. He took in shaky breaths all the way to the street. He registered the fact that he was being handed to someone else. Out of pure fear he gripped onto his brother.
"It's ok, Honey. It's just Two." Darry reassured him, as he was placed in Two-Bits hold. They climbed into the truck, the soft roar of the engine was the only thing that was heard as they pulled out into the empty street.
The car ride was completely silent but not peaceful. Two-Bit had one arm wrapped around Ponyboy, allowing him to lean against his side. Steve was sitting next to them, he was still but continuously glancing Ponyboy's way. Dally and Darry were in the front, the latter driving while the other was completely tense, hands clasped in front of him with barely contained anger.
The car ride felt long but it was only ten minutes really, Ponyboy knew because he had been watching the digital clock in front of him. They were about five minutes away when he finally said something.
"Do you guys have my phone?" He asked hoarsely, all attention turned fully to him at the question.
"Yeah." Dally answered shortly, reaching into the side pocket of his jeans. He tossed back the phone and it landed in Ponyboy's lap. He cursed softly as the screen was completely black and drained of power. Ponyboy stared at it for a second, which was how long it took for someone to ask the question.
"Why was your phone set up?" Two-Bit asked softly, but he didn't look towards him. The silence stretched a little too long, long enough to make them worry.
"They wanted Soda and Johnny to watch." He whispered, eyes glazed over. "It was like a show for them."
It was all he said, flipping his phone from one hand to the other, but it was enough. He could feel the tension rising in the car to almost a max. Everyone was trying to not lose it for Ponyboys sake. Darry was torn between scolding him for walking home alone, because he knew this would happen. On the other side, he wanted to hold his baby brother and just be happy that he was there.
It wasn't him that lost it though, and secretly he was glad it was someone else.
"Why couldn't you have waited?" Steve turned on Ponyboy, pointing a finger at him accusingly. Steve was beyond furious, not with him really, but he'd already almost killed the guys his anger was directed at. "You never use your damn head, and now you're exactly where we told you you'd end up."
Ponyboy shrunk in on himself at the verbal assault, more disheartening was the fact that no one was stopping Steve. He briefly thought to himself I need a cigarette, but the thought of even lighting one made him pause. He hated that.
"You didn't have to walk home, you chose that. What do you think would've happened, had you not been on the phone, kid? Well?" He questioned loudly, Ponyboy crossed his arms across his chest, shoulders tense.
"I don't kn-" He was quickly cut off, and he immediately shrunk into himself.
"That's fucking right, you don't know! Well, for starters you'd be fucking dead." The people in the car winced at the words. "Think about that for one second. Think about how your brothers would feel. Hell, what about us? Johnny? You want us to have to go identity your fucking body-"
"No!" Ponyboy shouted, legs pulled up to his chest as he wiped away the tear that fell down his cheek. Two-Bits hand ran through his hair, and he saw Two-Bit shoot a small warning look at Steve.
"Then, next time use your damn head." He finished, leaning back in his seat. The tension stretched in the car, Ponyboy wiping at his wet eyes. Then, Steve reached over and placed a hand on his shoulder, giving it a soft squeeze. That alone seemed to tilt his fragile tower of emotions, face in his arms and legs in an attempt to hide his tears. Each and every bit of pain he'd felt made his head pulse like a heartbeat, now increased by the embarrassment of breaking down in front of his friends.
Steve's hand flinched away almost immediately. He didn't want to speak, as breaking the fragile silence just might make things worse, but he didn't want to stay quiet, as allowing the silence to continue might just embarrass him even more. Gingerly, Steve placed his hand back on Ponyboy's convulsing shoulders, attempting to soothe the tension, though he refused to look in his direction to avoid making him feel watched or crowded.
Two-Bit's arm was completely tense around him, and his own shoulders had a soft tremor in them. Whether the shaking was from anger or sadness, he didn't know. He kept his arm tight around Ponyboy but it was loose enough to not hurt him.
In the front, Darry's face was twisted into a mask of pain at hearing his little brothers sobs. He gripped the steering wheel hard enough to make his knuckles go white. Eventually, he released one of his hands and reached back to place a hand on his shoe. The truck was crowded enough that he didn't have to strain to reach back.
The crying stopped after a few more minutes, reducing to sniffling.
After another three or so minutes, the car approached the house, where the last two of their gang were anxiously waiting. Dally tried his best to not dwell on what they had last seen, and talked to him about. He had been the one to find the phone and see the tear tracks on Sodapops face as he begged to know if his baby brother was okay. He was the one who briefly talked to Johnny, whose voice had gone hoarse from screaming.
And he was now the one to carry the kid inside.
He was the first out of the truck, without hesitation he made his way around to the backseat and guestered for him. Two-Bit gave him a brief look of surprise, but Dally ignored it seeing as how there was no one else around but the gang. He spun around so the kid could climb on his back; there was a blink of hesitation before Ponyboy was on.
He pushed the kid up further when he heard him hiss as the cigarette burns were pressed on. Soon everyone was out of the truck and heading up to the porch, Dally only felt bad for a second when he headed past a frantic Sodapop and into the house. Ponyboy allowed himself to be placed on the couch and Sodapop immediately hurried over.
"Oh, god." He heard Sodapop whisper as he looked him over, he gingerly placed a hand on his cheek. Ponyboy leaned into the cool touch, ignoring how everyone else was scrambling around to find supplies.
"Dal, do you know how to clean," Darry seemed to struggle with his words. "The, you know.."
Dally nodded curtly, and headed into the kitchen while everyone one else was getting other things. An Ice pack was tossed in Ponyboy's way, which Sodapop reached out and caught. He stared dumbly at it for a second, looking to Johnny who threw it.
"Put it on your ribs, where they kicked you." He whispered, the ones who hadn't seen the call let out a few curses.
"Lay down." Darry said, making his way over, he kneeled beside the couch. "We gotta check if they're broken or bruised. Johnny, how much did they kick him?"
"They, uh, they kicked him once, but," and Darry wasn't the only one. "They punched him too."
Darry gave a curt nod as he pulled up Ponyboy's shirt and tossed it off to the side. He had plenty of experience telling the difference between broken and bruised. His dad being the one to teach him, after he found out about their attendance in Rumbles.
His abdomen was decorated with various dark bruises, some were light, others wide and deep as they sat alongside small, round burn marks.
There was an audible hiss from the others behind him, he couldn't help but feel crowded. Sodapop seemed to get that and got everyone to move away a little.
"They don't look broken, more bruised than anything," He attempted to remain firm in his tone, not wanting to worry Ponyboy, "So, that's a positive. How does your head feel, Pone?"
"Not-Not good, I guess." Ponyboy paused, taking a deep breath, going to speak again, but only a gasp escaped his lips. He hissed at the pain that went through his abdomen, squirming under Darry's hold.
"Try to to breath so heavy, you'll agitate your ribs." Darry said softly as put the icepack back on the ribs, gently brushing at Ponyboy's hair. "We're going to keep you up for the night ok? Just to make sure you don't have a concussion. Johnny, can you grab me the Advil?"
Johnny nodded softly, heading off to the bathroom in search of the medican.
Dally then stepped foreward, holding a few supplies, making Ponyboy look nervously at him. Darry moved for a moment, letting Dally knee down and look at the wound produced from the burn. He grabbed the aloe vera, and put some on his hand, then hesitating as he looked back up to Ponyboy.
"Try not to jerk, it's going to sting, alot, k'?" Ponyboy's eyebrows furrowed as he looked at the gel, but he nodded reeling himself for the sting. Sodapop moved behind him and placed his hands gently on his younger brothers shoulders. Dally wasted no time to apply the gel on the burn, Ponyboy let out a small gasp, hissing through his teeth.
To his credit he didn't jerk, not even when Dally grabbed the ice pack and placed it on his shoulder. He grabbed the ice pack after a moment and placed a bandage on it to cover the wound. Ponyboy let out a breath he had been holding, as Dally backed away.
Johnny came back after they were done and handed the bottle to Darry, telling him it had been in Ponyboy and Soda's room. He pulled out 4 pills, but before he could grab a water glass Ponyboy downed the pills. Darry scoffed at his youngest brother but held back on the lecture just this once.
"I'll stay up with Ponyboy, we can watch Stranger Things on the couch." He offered, neither Darry nor Sodapop objected to the idea as the others began to make their own decisions on where to sleep for the night.
Dally headed out but not before giving Poynboy a onceover, after a second he reached out a ruffled Ponyboys hair as softly as he could (He knew concussions were a bitch). He gave a nod to the others, mussing Johnnys hair as well before heading out the door. Steve looked back to the door then at the couch where he normally slept, Ponyboy felt bad for a second, knowing Steve's dad had tossed him out again.
Sodapop noticed his friends indecision though, he threw a lazy arm over his shoulder.
"Take Pones old room, ain't nobody using it." Steve smiled easily at his friend and headed back, he stopped by the couch and looked over Ponyboy as well before patting his shoe and continuing on. Ponyboy looked up at johnny, who had positioned himself so he could hold the ice pack to Pony's head while he was laying down. He gave him an odd look for Steves odd behavior.
Before Johnny got the chance to respond to him, Two-Bit was making his presence known to everyone in the house.
"Well, Ma and Susie are probably waiting up on me, I gotta head out," He smiled as if he had said the funniest thing in whole world, he turned to the young greaser. "I'll be back in the moring for my breakfast, so try not to die while i'm gone, kid."
Ponyboy scoffed at his friends claim, but smiled up at him none the less as Two-Bit patted his leg. He waved as he headed out, the door slamming behind him. Ponyboy flinched at the loud and sudden noise, though he should have seen it coming after all these years.
He heard a soft sigh above him, he tore his gaze away from the door to his older brother. He frowned at how disheveled Sodapop looked.
"You sure your gonna be okay out here by yourself, Honey?" His voice was barley a whisper compared to his normally happy-go-luck one. Despite, Ponyboy wanting his brothers to not leave him, he knew both had work in the morning.
"Yeah, Soda. I'm good, go to bed." He said with a smile, accepting his older brothers hug easily. Sodapop hesitated for a second by the hall but eventually ran a hand down his face and headed back. Ponyboy didn't see him go into Steve's room, but he heard the muffled voices out of the corner of his ear.
One worried brother down, Ponyboy thought as he eyed his eldest brother, One more to go.
Darry was awkwardly sifted from foot to foot, he was running a hand through his hair when he noticed his little brothers stare. His hand fell at his side, and he took strides over to sit beside him.
He noticed how Johnny turned away enough to give them the illusion of privacy.
"I," Darry started, taking in a great breath before sighing it out. "I am not going to ground you, not yet. Just rest for the love of god, and… listen next time."
His eyes widened at the plea, and he reached out grabbing Darry's arm.
"I'm sorry." He whispered, his own voice coated with plea. Darry looked back to him, and leaned down gently to hold his brother.
"It's not your fault." With that, Darry bid them both goodnight, steps heavy going back to his room. By the time Ponyboy looked back to the screen, Johnny had already put on stranger things. The opening sequence murmured softly around the room.
For a while it was quiet. Johnny shifted only a little so they both could lay down without his legs going numb from holding Ponyboy's head. He laughed softly at the scene from the first season.
"Are you ok?" Johnny asked, replacing the ice pack on his head. He was quiet for a moment, thinking about it. His thoughts drifted to Blonde's smile, then to the burning cigarette.
"I… don't know." He responded, he forced himself to stop trembling at the thoughts. "I didn't know if you guys would make it in time. When he pulled out the knife…"
Johnny hummed a response, Ponyboy glanced up and saw his hardened gaze looking at the window. He reached up, patting his face with a smile. He laughed at Johnny's incredulous look, arm drifting carefully back down to his side.
"Quit looking like that, Johnnycakes. It doesn't suit you." He teased, but Johnny didn't laugh; he closed his eyes taking a deep breath.
"I thought we wouldn't make it too. Dal didn't tell us everything, Sodapop was a mess and we didn't know.. anything." He confessed, his hand ran through Ponyboy's hair subconsciously. "I thought… you just collapsed and we thought you were…"
Leaning back into Johnny, he furrowed his eyebrows worryingly.
"Hey," He said, elbowing Johnny's knee. "You can't get rid of me that easily." Johnny snorted, he ran a hand down his face. He pulled off the ice pack for the next five minutes.
"Thanks, you know, for this." He gestured to the TV and the ice pack. Johnny shrugged, tapping his own bruise, which was starting to fade.
"You've done it for me plenty of times." Ponyboy smiled at him, then with a glance down the hall he groaned.
"They're never going to let me go anywhere ever again." He complained, Johnny only shook his head placing the ice pack back on. "I'm not sure I'll mind it much right now, though."
Johnny bit his lip, leaning over he wrapped an arm around his best friend.
"Wait for me next time, K?"
"Ok."
Should I make this a one-shot or a modern fic with recommends?