Chapter 6: Disputes
Two-Bit trudged home and headed straight upstairs. He knew he wasn't going to school today; no way.
He was feeling too upset and too hurt to put up with all that today.
He went into the bathroom and stopped when he saw himself in the mirror, eyes widening.
Jesus, he looked terrible!
Two-Bit frowned in shock and put a hand to touch a dark bruise gingerly, swallowing hard.
Bruises were everywhere among his face, cuts too. Staring at the bruises reminded him of last night and suddenly his face felt sore.
He remembered Darry's words: "Get out and don't come back, or you'll look even worse than you do now when i'm through with you…."
Two-Bit shuddered a little. If Darry said he'd make him look worse than he does now…
Two-Bit frowned and shook his head, able to recognize he surely wouldn't be able to face Darry now.
His face hurting and feeling like crap, he just decided to take a hot shower and then lay back down in bed, tired and needing to rest.
He curled up with his Mickey Mouse doll and before he closed his eyes, he thought of his friends and frowned, just wanting to be with the gang again.
Around lunch time, there came a knock at the door and Two-Bit sighed and slowly trudged down the stairs, very tired and not feeling well.
He opened the door to reveal a worried-looking Sodapop, surprising Two-Bit, who tensed when he saw him, reminded of Darry's threats.
"Hey there ya are, Two-Bit," Soda started with a frown. "Why did you leave earlier? Man, you do look awful….."
Two-Bit swallowed and briefly wondered if he should be talking to Soda, not wanting trouble with Darry.
But Soda had came over to see him, so that made it okay, right?
When Two-Bit didn't answer, Soda continued, his eyes filled with concern for his friend.
"Two-Bit, what happened last night? We was all worried sick! When Dally brought ya, he told us-"
"Dallas?" Two-Bit blinked, interrupting. "Dally brought me over last night?"
"Uh huh," Soda nodded with a frown. "Two-Bit, what happened? Why was ya so upset last night? Dally said you was fightin' with him and then this mornin', Tim stopped by the DX askin' if you was alright…!"
Two-Bit frowned as he listened, leaning against the open door, watching his friend.
"And when Darry and I saw ya like that, all covered in blood, we was worried sick, I mean, none of us knew what happened to you….!" Soda frowned deeply. "I bet Darry's still worryin' cause he still don't know what happened….."
Two-Bit stiffened at the name, scowling a little. "I find that hard to believe….." He murmured lowly, looking away.
"What?" Soda frowned a little, not hearing him.
"Nothin'." Two mumbled.
Soda studied him, eyeing Two-Bit worriedly. "Two-Bit, what is going on? We-we haven't seen you in what feels like days, why haven't you been coming over to the house no mores? We miss you, buddy."
"Soda, I-" Two-Bit sighed, frowning deeply.
"An' Pony's jus' frettin' over ya; he thinks you're hurt something awful….."
"Pony?" Two-Bit swallowed, perking up a little.
"Yeah. He says you haven't been talking to him lately…."
"I uh, um….." Two-Bit felt his stomach knot up.
"Hell, you haven't been talking to any of us lately….." Soda's frown deepened. "Is something wrong?"
Two-Bit felt his chest tighten and he suddenly felt real low, feeling like crying. "I-I….I jus'..."
Soda was watching him. "Look, why don't you come over tonight? Please? We'll feed ya." He talked softly. "You really do look awful, Two. We'll talk things over. Please?"
Tense, Two-Bit stuttered, starting to close the door, unsure of what to do. "W-We'll see…."
Soda started to say something but Two-Bit closed the door on him and leaned against the doorframe, holding his head in his hands, trying not to cry, trembling.
He sucked in a shaky breath, his emotions spiraling out of control.
He was so angry with Darry, but he was also heartbroken and emotionally hurt. He was lonely too, and adding all of that up together was not very healthy for the Greaser.
Sniffling, he went back up to his room and laid down in his bed, holding Mickey Mouse close, trying not to think about Darry or the gang or his loneliness.
He just wanted to be everyone's friend again, to laugh, to play and to have fun again.
It had been days since Two-Bit had even laughed.
Why couldn't he jus' be everyone's friend again?
In the afternoon, there was another knock at the door. This time it was Ponyboy.
Two-Bit blinked, surprised to see his friend, opening the door wider. "Ponyboy?"
"Why weren't you at school today?" Pony suddenly blurted out, looking cross.
"Wh-What? Pony, I-"
"Look, I know you're mad at me but the least you could do is show up….!"
Two-Bit frowned. "What? Pony, what are you talking about?"
"Quit actin' like I don't know, Two-Bit! I know! Is that why you didn't come to school today, huh?" Pony huffed.
Two-Bit frowned, totally confused. "Pony, I-I didn't come to school today cause I….." Two-Bit suddenly stopped. Pony was one of the reasons why he didn't come to school, but only because of Darry.
But he couldn't tell Pony that.
"Because what, Two-Bit?" Pony sneered after a moment of Two-Bit's silence. "'Cause you can't talk to me no mores? Well why didn't you just tell me you were mad?" Pony's voice raised and he turned away to leave.
"Wait, wait, Pony, i'm not mad at you!" Two-Bit grabbed his friend's arm, frowning deeply, not understanding.
"Oh yeah? Then why haven't you said one word to me the past few days? Why are you avoiding me then?" Pony growled.
"I-I'm not avoiding you…." Two-Bit peeped, his voice suddenly quiet.
"Yeah? Bullsh**." Pony huffed and started walking away.
"No, Pony, Pony, I-I-" Two-Bit stuttered, terribly upset at his friend's behavior. "I do wanna hang out with you!" He suddenly blurted out.
Pony stopped and turned, giving Two-Bit a narrowed look. "Then why have you been avoiding me?"
Two-Bit bit his lip, sucking in a breath. "I-I do wanna hang out with you, Pony. You're my best friend. I-I jus' can't tell you…."
"Can't tell me what?" Pony huffed, stepping towards him.
Two-Bit was struggling. "I can't tell you, Ponyboy. I can't….."
Pony's eyes flickered in anger. "Some best friend you are than." He growled and started off.
"No Pony! Please!" Two-Bit called desperately after his friend but Pony started running and was quickly out of sight.
Two-Bit frowned deeply and his eyebrows suddenly furrowed with anger, stomping inside, snatching up his jacket, storming back out of the house, angry.
He hurried to the lake, his eyes glossy with hot tears.
When he got to the lake, he snatched up a handful of rocks with a growl and chucked them into the water, swearing.
He cussed out Darry and threw the rocks as hard as he could, scowling and glaring.
He was so angry about the fight he had with Pony, that not even throwing the rocks into the lake relieved his anger and he stomped away.
It wasn't that he was mad at Pony; he was mad because of how Pony treated him like that, thanks to Darry.
Two-Bit badly wanted to beat Darry's head in and clear up this sh**, everything. He just wanted his old life back.
Stomping along angrily, fists shoved in his pockets, he suddenly spotted Dally ahead.
Two's eyes narrowed and he walked faster, catching up to the hood.
Dally grinned when he saw his friend. "Hey, there you are, man, I-"
Two-Bit growled and gave Dally's chest a rough shove. "Why the hell did you bring me to Darry's last night?! Huh?!"
Dally stumbled and took his cigarette away from his mouth. "Wh-What?" His expression got narrow. "I did you a favor!"
"Bullcrap!" Two-Bit shouted and grabbed ahold of Dally's jacket, roughly pushing him. "You jus' made everythin' worse!"
Dally grabbed ahold of Two's shirt with a hand, eyebrows furrowing. "Hey man, why don't you calm the f*** down, alright?"
Two-Bit grabbed at Dally again and angrily shoved him away. "I don't needa calm down! Come on, let's fight, right now, right now!" Two raised his balled fists with narrowed eyes, his anger exploding.
Dally raised a brow, straightening, offering a grin. "Your funeral, man."
He could care less about Two-Bit's odd behavior; if someone picked a fight with Dally, he never turned it down.
Dally punched Two-Bit hard and the greaser yelped, but shook his head and growled, punching Dally back, grabbing the hood and leaning his weight against him to punch Dallas in the ribs.
Dally growled and wrapped an arm around Two's throat, punching him in the stomach. "What's your problem, man?!" He growled.
Two-Bit snarled, punching Dally as hard as he could, trying to squirm away from Dally's choke-hold. "The problem is you pissed me off!" He snarled loudly.
Dallas growled and managed to turn Two-Bit around and keep his arms wrapped around the Greaser's throat, choking him.
Two-Bit coughed and tried to pry Dally's arms off him, kicking and struggling, but Dally was bigger than him and stronger.
Dally grinned as he held Two-Bit defenseless, watching Two-Bit weakly pry at his arms and kick, keeping Two's feet off the ground.
Two-Bit coughed, starting to whimper. "St-stop it, Dallas!" He thrashed and twisted, unable to get free and he was losing air.
Dally sneered and let go, shoving Two-Bit to the ground, who landed on his chest, coughing, a hand gingerly at his throat, catching his breath.
Dally stood tall above him, crossing his arms, huffing. "That all you got?"
Two-Bit's eyes went narrow again, panting. "Hell no!" He snarled and got to his feet.
He raised his fists with a glare and swung but Dally ducked, punching Two-Bit hard before he grabbed Two-Bit, slamming him into a nearby tree, punching him again.
Two-Bit yelped and punched at Dally, struggling to defend himself. "Come on, Dallas, fight fair!"
This fight was too easy for Dally and he didn't let up, knowing Two-Bit wasn't the best fighter and he gave up easily. It didn't help that Two-Bit was short either.
Dallas punched Two-Bit in the stomach and kept him trapped against the tree, punching him again.
Two-Bit was getting weak by now, his face bleeding and he was starting to sway, not strong enough to take on Dally like this.
Dallas punched Two-Bit again and ripped him away from the tree, wrapping an arm tightly around his chest, holding Two-Bit still, hitting him in the face.
Two-Bit growled, struggling to stay on his feet, spitting out blood. "D-Dallas!"
Dally was about to punch Two-Bit again when they suddenly heard voices.
"Aw, look at the little Greasers playing together!"
There was laughter and Dally froze, looking up with wide eyes to see Socs were coming up to them.
Two-Bit saw them too and gaped, not moving in Dally's grip, wide-eyed with fear.
"Run!" Dally suddenly yelled in Two-Bit's ear and let go of the Greaser, pushing at him to urge him to run, taking off, thinking Two-Bit was right behind him.
Instead, Dallas only knocked Two-Bit down and the Greaser landed hard on his back with an 'Oof!'
In a painful daze, Two-Bit heard laughter and looked up, four smirking Socs hovering above him.
Two-Bit immediately paled with fear, gulping, eyes wide with fright, unable to move.
F***.
"Get him!"
A/N: Thanks to everyone who reviewed, favorited and followed my story! Y'all are amazing, Have a great day :)