Chapter 3. Just Maybe

He felt Darry before he heard him.

Darry's broad, calloused hands were gripping his shoulder while the weight of his knee made the bed dip.

"Pony." His grip strengthened a fraction, before the force of his shakes became stronger and the urgency of his voice deepened noticeably. "Ponyboy."

Ponyboy groaned.

"Wake up. Are you alright?"

Pony's eyes squinted open. "Darry?"

"Yeah, kiddo." Darry's grip moved from his shoulder to the small of his brother's back as he helped him sit up. Pony already felt the weight of Darry's gaze checking him over, and he couldn't help but squirm slightly. "You were sleeping like the dead."

"What time is it?" He rubbed the heel of his palm into his eyes. His migraine, he noticed, was gone.

"Nine-thirty." Darry answered distractedly as he pushed back Pony's hair to feel his forehead. "You don't feel hot."

"That's because I'm not sick." He looked past Darry, and saw that a soft light from the kitchen was filtering into the hallway. Pony groaned again. It was his turn to make dinner, but he slept the whole day away. "Darry, I forgot to make dinner."

"It's fine. I handled it." Darry stood up, and it was then that Pony noticed that Darry was dressed in regular clothes, instead of his work clothes. Darry must have gotten home hours ago. No wonder why he was worried. Pony didn't stir once in his sleep. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"I'm fine." Pony yawned into his hand. He tugged on his shirt, feeling oddly cold, but stopped when Darry looked at him. "Just tired."

Darry nodded at that, deciding to just believe him. "Come eat."

Pony trailed after Darry into the kitchen, where a weird aroma was drifting and invading his nose. "Where's Soda?"

"Went to go meet Dally and Two-Bit at Bucks with Steve."

Pony wrinkled his nose as he took a seat at the dinner table. "You never let me go to Bucks."

"Soda's older." Darry answered easily as he scooped some concoction of vegetable soup into a bowl.

"Soda will always be older." Pony grumbled.

Darry suppressed a grin at that as he turned away from the stove and shoved the bowl of food under his nose. "As long as you know that, kiddo. Eat."

"I'm not even that young anymore." Pony dipped his spoon into the soup with disinterest, and watched the soup engulf it. "Curly goes all the time."

"Curly ain't my kid brother." Darry dumped himself into the seat across from Pony and inhaled a good portion of the soup. Pony internally cringed at the sight. He wasn't feeling too hungry. "You're too young."

"You think I'm too young for a lot of things, apparently."

Darry grinned, and Pony realized that Darry was in a pretty good mood today. He must have been happy with that extra-shift at work today. If he was in the mood that he was in earlier this morning, Darry would have already snapped at him for being mouthy.

"Because you are." Darry lightly kicked Pony's feet under the table. "Eat, Pony."

Pony smiled slightly at the action.

It was one of those rare moments, where Darry felt like that older football brother of his instead of that stern guardian who's wrought with worry about bills and social services.

He took his submerged spoon out and ate, silently forcing himself to swallow it, before lightly kicking Darry back.

Darry laughed.

For a moment, life seemed so normal

"You okay, man?" Johnny fingers brushed his shoulders as Pony blinked up at him.

Pony closed the book that was in his hand and settled it on his lap. His mind felt hazy, like he had just woken up from a slumber. This haziness, seemed to be a very common occurrence lately. "Sure. Why wouldn't I be?"

"You've been on the same page for the past five minutes."

"I was just thinking."

Johnny just nodded before sliding down from the couch and settling back to his position in front of the coffee table where his math book was open. "About?"

Pony sighed as he rubbed his temples. "I don't even remember."

Johnny laughed.

It was one of those lazy, slow Saturdays where they were bored out of their mind and had exhausted all the TV channels. His brothers were at work and there were no movies worth sneaking into. Two-Bit was probably hanging out with a blond he couldn't even remember the name of. Pony had already finished all of his homework while Johnny just had to finish his day had been a little too academically productive.

Pony smiled slightly at that. "Where's Dally?"

Johnny tapped his pencil along his tattered jeans. "At Buck's. Doing some kind of rodeo or something."

After a beat of silence, Pony whimsically asked, "Should we go?"

Johnny stopped fidgeting with his calculator to look up at him with a semblance of surprise. "To the rodeo?"

"Yeah, we haven't been in awhile."

Rodeos were mostly Soda's things. It was rowdy, boisterous, and people infested which were all attributes that clubby Soda liked, but not something that the two youngest, and introverted members of the gangs were all that keen too.

"Oh..." Johnny trailed off as he looked at the math problem that he had been laboring on for the past seven minutes before turning back to Pony's bored face then to the clock on the wall then back to his troublesome math book. It wasn't a hard decision. Johnny closed his book with a thud. "Sure, why not?"

Within thirty minutes, they were at the entrance of the rodeo looking like lost lambs.

"Which stable is Dally working at?" Pony asked, as he and Johnny shuffled out of the way of a huge crowd of jockeys.

Johnny shrugged besides him. "I'm not sure."

They've only been here a handful of times, and all those times one of the gang members were there to guide them to the stalls where one of them was playing at. They started walking toward several stalls that lined the left side of the arena.

Johnny wrinkled his nose. "I don't remember it smelling this bad."

Horse feces was in the air. The odor was only strengthened with the baking heat of the day. Maybe they shouldn't have come today. He already felt his body rejecting the loud noises in the form of a headache and the smell of manure everywhere was making him nauseous. His shirt was starting to become sticky with all his sweat.

It was odd. He didn't ever remember feeling this bad when he went to the rodeo before.

After ten minutes of walking aimlessly around looking for Dally, Pony was about to suggest heading back home. He wouldn't have changed his mind so easily since he was the one who suggested it, but he wasn't feeling too hot.

But before he could open his mouth, Johnny opened his first. Johnny elbowed his arm, his voice obviously happy. "There's Dally."

Pony followed Johnny's line of vision and saw Dally saddling a horse before turning around to say something to another rider.

Johnny's pace started to increase, and Pony struggled to keep up. He felt exhausted for some reason and was having trouble keeping one foot in front of the other in a coordinated manner.

"Dally," Johnny called.

"What are you doing here?" Dally asked once they were in talking distance. Pony was relieved that the open stall had some shade.

"We came to watch you," Pony supplied airly as he leaned against the post the horse was tied to. Pony had run for track in hotter weather than this, and was fine. Yet his limbs felt so weak today.

Dally looked at Pony oddly before yanking a coke bottle from the rider he was talking too earlier and throwing it to Pony. Pony barely caught it. The guy was obviously peeved at the action, but since it was Dallas that was doing it, he kept quiet.

"Drink." Dally said as he looked between the two. "Did you two walk here? You look like hell, Pony."

Pony took a swig of the coke before passing it to Johnny. "Thanks."

"Darry know that you guys are here?" Dally kept glancing at him which made Pony slightly uncomfortable. Pony's skin must have looked as hot as he felt. Sweat was running down his body in rivers.

Pony moved behind the horse in hopes that Dally would stop staring at him.

"No," Pony answered as he started to pet the horse. The horse's own body felt cooler than his. "We're just watching anyway, not riding."

Johnny was saying something to Dally when Pony started to feel vertigo hit him. Instinctively, Pony clung to the horse's mane while his body leaned on it for balance. His other hand wrapped around the horse's neck. He legs were going slack underneath him. It was as if they were going numb.

"When you riding, Dally?"

The horse started to move restlessly, obviously not liking the tight hold Pony had on it. Pony tried to ease off his weight, but his legs were feeling too weak to even hold himself up.

"Next round. Buck said that a lot of money was riding on this so I have to place -"

Thud.

Johnny and Dally immediately looked at the source of the sound, surprised.

"What the hell, Pony?" Dally walked over to him, where he was currently sitting on the ground, rubbing his behind. Pony gave the older greaser an embarrassed smile. Dally grabbed the horse, yanking on its reigns hard to calm it down and pushing it to another post so it won't accidentally step on the younger greaser on the floor.

"Sorry," Pony rubbed his legs, trying to get feeling in them. His legs had never felt like they would be unable to support him like it just did, not even after a grueling track meet. To an extent, it felt as if his legs were losing sensation in them, but that odd prickly sensation wasn't there. "My legs fell asleep, I think."

Dally gave him an odd look. "While you were standing?"

Pony shrugged as Johnny squatted next to him. Pony smacked his legs a few more times, trying to get feeling in them. After a moment, that familiar prickly sensation that he would always feel after his legs woke up from being numb appeared. Pony released a breath he didn't even know he was holding.

"You okay, Pony?" Johnny asked softly beside him.

"Yeah," He felt his vision blur for a second as he nodded. "I'm fine. It fell asleep."

Pony forced a laugh, trying to ease the tension, and Johnny tried to smile too, but he could still see the worry lingering in those brown eyes.

Johnny stood and for a second Pony swore he thought he saw two Johnny standing before him. Pony swallowed thickly, his throat feeling dry.

"You going to sit there all day, kid?" Dally adjusted the straps on the horse again and Pony wondered briefly if he had accidentally loosened them when he had fallen earlier. Dally briefly looked at the clock. It was almost time for the rodeo to start. "Do you know how much horse shit is on that floor?"

"Hmmm," Pony stretched his legs forward and inward again, happy that they were working like they were supposed to. His legs seemed perfectly fine now. Maybe they really did fall asleep then.

Johnny leaned down and offered his hand, giving him an expectant look.

He squinted at his best friend's hand, confused as to why Johnny's hand was suddenly doubling and swaying so much. Hesitantly, he reached out to the space where he thought Johnny's hand was but only met air. He tried again, and again, was met with air.

Johnny frowned as he gripped Pony's wrist instead, but he didn't pull him to his feet. "Pony, what -"

Having seen this, Dally stalked over to them, and roughly dragged Pony onto his feet from his underarms. "What the hell, kid? You sick?"

Pony staggered to his feet. The sudden movement was making him see double everywhere. "Just a little dizzy."

Dally reached up and felt his neck. "Your skin is hot."

Dally turned around and pulled out a bottle of water before shoving it into Pony's chest. "Here, drink this. All this heat is making you dehydrated and seeing shit."

"Winston!" Another rider ran up and unposted Dally's horse, giving him an irritated look. "Que up, man. It's almost your turn."

"Yeah, yeah." Dally called halfheartedly, before turning his attention back to Pony to give him another overview before holding his hand up. "How many fingers am I holding up?"

Pony laughed. "Three."

"Winston!"

"Fuck, I heard you, Chavez. Cool it." Dally barked. Dallas pulled out another water and handed it to Johnny before he looked between the two of them. "Drink your water. I'm not going to deal with heat stroke, got it?"

Before they could answer, Dally was leaving, already cursing the other rider for yelling his name again.

Johnny had suggested they go home since Pony didn't seem to feel well, but Pony insisted they stay. If they had come all this way, it would be a shame to not at least watch Dally ride. Asides from that, Pony just wanted to sit down. The walk here had tired him out more than it should have.

But as the rodeo dragged on, Pony had wished that he had taken Johnny's offer to go home instead of staying. He felt so hot, and could literally feel his sweat fall down his back in rivets, only to soak into his pants.

Why was he sweating so much?

He chanced a glance at Johnny, who looked perfectly fine with only a few beads of sweat here and there. Johnny's eyes were shining at Dally entered the arena with his horse and he even sat up taller. Pony couldn't find the energy to summon the interest.

Pony sipped his water, his stomach suddenly protesting and churning heavily.

He tried to ignore it. Just like how he was trying to ignore how much his hands were shaking, or ignore how his headache was suddenly here again, or the awful smell that wafted through the air and mingled with the audience's scream, or all the body heat that was drowning him and cooking his insides.

He suddenly felt very nauseous.

"Johnny," he barely managed above whisper.

Johnny didn't hear him. He was too busy cheering along with the crowd as Dallas managed to place second with his horse.

"Johnny," he whispered again.

Only when he dropped his half filled water bottle did Johnny notice him. Johnny's face immediately straightened at the sight of Pony. "Pony, you okay?"

Johnny leaned in to get a better look at him, but, before he knew it, Pony was pushing him away and running through the crowd faster than he thought possible. Based on how Pony was holding his mouth before he bolted, Johnny already knew what to expect when he followed after his friend.

When he found him, Pony was retching quiet violently into a trash can that just had to be next to a manure bin. Hesitantly, Johnny came up to him and rubbed his back in what he hoped was a soothing gesture.

"You okay, Pony?" He felt like he was asking that question a lot lately.

Pony nodded shakily, still trying to catch his breath. Johnny bit his lip, he could see the unshedded tears in the young greaser's eyes. "What happened?"

"Don't know." Pony gagged, before he started to throw up again.

"I'll go get Dally," Johnny wasn't sure if Pony could hear him over his hurling, so he gave his shoulder a reassuring squeeze before he ran off to find the older greaser.

Dally sure wasn't slow to reach the sick greaser's side once Johnny told him the situation. Dally patted the young greaser's back firmly as he hurled again.

"Was it the food?" He asked distractedly.

Johnny shook his head as he looked at Pony worriedly. That was a lot of vomit. "We didn't buy any food."

Pony coughed, and tried to spit out the remaining remnants of vomit in his mouth as he hovered over the trashcan tiredly.

"You done?" Dally asked, as he handed him some water to rinse his mouth.

"I think," Pony mumbled as he took some water and spit it out quickly. Disgusting. He felt his legs shaking beneath him, and Dally must have noticed too, because he forced him to sit. He kicked the trashcan between his legs.

"Man, you sure know how to pick places to vomit, kid," Dally sank down next to him, his nose wrinkling at the smell. Johnny joined them on the dirt flirt too as they waited to see if Pony's stomach decided it wasn't done after all. "Of all the places, you just had to vomit next to the one next to the manure bin. Who wouldn't want to vomit at the sight of it?"

Pony chuckled weakly as he closed his eyes."It was the closest one,"

He could hear Dally shifting beside him, before he felt his hand on his forehead which was then immediately followed by cursing. "You're hot. You must have got a heat stroke."

"Johnny, give me that," Johnny handed Dally the water bottle as Dally pulled out a rag from his back pocket. Pony watched wearily as Dally drenched the rag with water before hanging it around Pony's neck. Pony flinched at how cold the water felt. "Stupid kid, I told you to drink your damn water, didn't I?"

"His face is really red, Dal," Johnny remarked as Dallas lit a cigarette. Pony found the smell somewhat calming.

"Of course it is," Dallas sighed as he stood and looked at them. After a good fifteen minute, he said, "Come on, let's go home."

Johnny knelt next to Pony and dragged his arm around his shoulder. Johnny tottered with Pony's weight, as Pony wasn't really supporting himself well. Pony felt embarrassed at how weak he felt. Is this what a heat stroke did to you?

Dallas watched them struggle for a few minute before rolling his eyes and flicking his half finished cigarette into the manure.

"Damn, kids," Before Pony knew what was going on, Dallas had managed to grab his arm and pull him onto his back. Pony instantly tensed as Dallas started to walk toward the exit, with him on his back. Pony felt absolutely mortified. When was the last time someone had given him a piggyback? At least when he was carried before, he was unconscious. He was too conscious for this. "It's going to take forever to get home with you and Johnny walking like that," Dally groused.

Dally bounced him, trying to adjust his hold, and Pony instinctively tightened his hold around the older greaser's neck.

"You feeling better, Pony?" Johnny walked beside Dally, holding their half filled water bottles tight against his chest.

"Yeah," He mumbled, still too embarrassed to talk. Who would have thought that Dallas Winston would carry him so willingly like this.

"Don't vomit on me."

"Sure," Dally didn't bat an eye as Pony leaned his head in the crook of the older greaser's neck. Dally's skin felt so much cooler than his.

The sun was starting to go down, taking its baking rays of heat with it. Pony was grateful for that, and he realized that his headache was decreasing as well. He could feel himself feeling sleepy from Dallas' stride.

"I didn't invite you to the rodeo." Dally broke through his train of thoughts.

Pony watched the shadows of their walking silhouette bob up and down, but eventually closed his eyes from how dizzy he felt from staring at it. Was it the heat stroke that caused him to feel this dizzy?

"I invited myself." Pony mumbled, feeling dazed.

Why did he feel like something was off with him lately? Like that horrible headache, this dizziness, those gaps in his memories, this heatstroke. He never had a heatstroke before, never in track when the sun practically made the cement sizzle and burn through the soles of their shoes.

"Today is not even that hot yet you got a heat stroke."

He had convinced himself that he was okay when Steve and Two-Bit had cleaned up his bloody head ...

"It was hot, Dally," Johnny tried to defend. Johnny reached up and pulled the rag around Pony neck away and drenched it with more water before wrapping it around him again. "At least it was a minor heat stroke."

And convinced himself again when he broke those dishes in the kitchen.

"Darry won't be too happy." Pony groaned slightly at the thought of his strict older brother. He didn't even tell Darry that he was going to the rodeo today.

But maybe he wasn't okay.

Unconsciously, Pony tightened his hold around the older greaser as uncertainty grew throughout his body. If Dallas noticed the action, he didn't say anything.

"Soda might be home," Johnny tried to cheer him up. The silent 'he will defend you if Darry yells too much' was not missed.

Maybe…just maybe something was wrong.

"Shit," Dally cursed as he easily bounced Pony higher on his back, making Pony feel oddly small. "I forgot to get Buck's money for the rodeo."

Johnny laughed.

And Pony smiled.

But he felt scared.

A/N: Hello! I'm sorry that it's been so long since I've last updated. You know the reason - school, life, life, life, and school.

Thank you so, so, so much for all the lovely reviews, follows, and favorites!

Before winter break ends and I have to go back to school, I forcefully sat myself down and finished writing this chapter. If the writing is awkward, it's most likely because I wrote the first part in 2017 and early 2018. The part where Pony falls during the rodeo is what I wrote today. So, I'm sorry if you guys have to endure my awkward writing. I published this the same day to prevent myself from backing out on posting it. Since I posted it the same day I wrote it, I might make minor changes here and there later.

Anyway, this is my belated New Year's gift to you guys (even if it's is lacking, it's the thought that counts, right? ^^). Stay happy and well, guys. I love all of you for the great support that you give me and my stories.

So, does this chapter confuse you? Are you guys thinking that Pony might have some kind of other illness? Don't worry a seizure will come, but I'm a slow build writer.

What do you think? You like? You hate? Want to vomit?

Anyway, please R&R. Reviews inspire me and make me happy. No flames, please. Constructive criticism is welcomed.

Reviews before this posted chapter: 49

(My goal is to always have this number go up after every posted chapter. Help me bring it up, please?)

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