Chapter 26: We're A Gang
The next morning, Two-Bit and Dermot were hanging out in Two-Bit's room, Mickey Mouse playing on the TV.
"Want some candy, Two-Bit?" Dermot asked from the kitchen, taking out a bag of candy.
Two-Bit shrugged, sighing as he laid on his bed, hands behind his head. "No thanks."
Dermot came in, eating some chocolate, sitting down. "What do you wanna do today?"
"I dunno," Two-Bit breathed out. "Nothin' really. I ain't in the mood for excitement." He stared at the TV, not even watching it, frowning.
Dermot frowned at him with soft eyes, worried about him. He could tell Two-Bit was gradually getting more and more depressed.
"Hey Dermot," Two-Bit suddenly spoke softly. "How come you ran away from home?" He had been meaning to ask this question for awhile now.
"Me?" Dermot blinked. Then he sighed. "I thought I needed more excitement in my life. As if having three brothers and a sister wasn't already enough." He shook his head.
Two-Bit sat up a little. "What about your parents?" Dermot shrugged softly.
"I write them letters every once in awhile. They send me a few pictures sometimes too."
"Don't they miss you?" Two-Bit frowned at him.
Dermot sighed softly again. "Yeah. They do. But they got my other siblings to take care of already, they shouldn't have to worry about me too. I haven't seen them in months. But I sure do miss them." He looked away with soft, longing eyes.
Two-Bit frowned deeply, lowering his head. "I sure do miss my Mama," He said quietly. "I wish I could see her again."
It had been over a week since Two-Bit had ran away and even if he didn't miss the gang, he still missed his mother and sister.
Dermot eyed his friend, frowning deeply. "Two-Bit, maybe, maybe you should go home."
Two-Bit raised his head, eyebrows furrowing. "What? Why?"
"So you can see your mother, Two-Bit. And your sister. Maybe, maybe you should even try talking to your gang too." Dermot said quietly.
"Why would I talk to them?" Two-Bit's eyes went narrow. "They don't want to be my friend, I'm through with them!" He huffed, looking away crossly.
"Two-Bit, I'm sure they really miss you." Dermot's voice was soft, frowning deeply. "They must be worried sick about you. It's been over a week since-"
"They ain't worried about me," Two-Bit snorted, arms crossed. "They ain't now and I guess they never have been."
"Two-Bit, I'm sure they care about you, they have to, they-"
"Why would they care about me?!" Two-Bit got to his feet, eyebrows furrowed, his eyes welling with hot tears. "They never did before! I wouldn't care about me either! I'm just a nobody! Now quit sayin' that they care already!"
Two-Bit walked away a little, going over to a corner, hugging his chest and rubbing his arms, sniffling, beginning to cry softly.
Dermot frowned deeply, slowly getting up and coming over. "Two-Bit, hey, I-I'm sorry," He put a gentle hand on his friend's shoulder. "Don't cry."
Two-Bit was embarrassed to be seen crying and wiped at his eye with an arm, sniffling. "G-Go away."
"Hey, it's okay. Don't cry. I'm right here, buddy." Dermot talked softly, his hand on Two-Bit's shoulder, frowning.
Two-Bit sniffled, trying to quit crying, head lowered, frowning deeply at Dermot's words. "I-I-I miss them." He whispered sadly.
"I know Two-Bit. Please don't cry. It ain't good to cry. Come on, please just come sit down and we'll watch more TV, okay?"
Rubbing at his eyes, Two-Bit sniffled and slowly turned. "O-Okay. Okay. Sorry I started cryin'."
Dermot shook his head. "Don't ever be sorry Two-Bit. You didn't do nothin' wrong."
That evening, Two-Bit frowned as he sat in a chair at Riff's, a beer in hand, absentmindedly listening to all the racket from the other boys, who were all loud as usual.
Two-Bit stared sadly at the floor, thinking of the gang, miserable. His stomach growled; he badly needed to eat something but he had lost the will to eat a long time ago.
"Hey hey, what's with the long face, brother?" Riff came over and sat next to him, wrapping an arm around him, grinning.
Two-Bit didn't raise his head, setting his beer down. "I'm fine." Even his voice was sad.
Riff blinked and tensed a little, expression softening. "Hey, what's the matter? I've never seen someone lookin' so sad."
"I ain't sad," Two-Bit frowned a little. "I'm jus'….thinkin'." He continued to stare glumly at the carpet.
Riff frowned at him, looking worried. "I can help ya know…..help ya feel better."
"No thanks." Two-Bit mumbled, eyes dull with sadness, cloudy.
Riff frowned and opened his mouth to say something when he heard the other boys shouting, looking over.
"Come on Pretty boy you just gonna stand there like a model or ya gonna be a man and fight?!" Judd hollered.
Christian growled, eyes narrowed. "Knock it off, Judd! Eat sh**!"
Judd laughed, amused. "Oh ho! Big talk from such a small pipsqueak! That all ya got?"
"F*** you!" Christian snapped.
"Oh yeah? Let's get him boys!" Judd whooped and tackled Christian down, the other boys joining in on toppling over the boy.
Two-Bit heard Christian yelp and looked up, eyes widening. "H-Hey….Riff..."
Dermot rushed over to the boys, pulling at Jay's arm. "Stop it you guys, stop it! Get offa him!" Jay shoved Dermot away carelessly with a laugh, punching Christian in the stomach.
"Ouch! Hey! Ow! Stop! Stop it!" Christian yelped, getting beat up all over, whimpering.
"Riff, stop them!" Two-Bit whimpered softly, watching, wide-eyed.
Riff didn't bat an eye, shrugging, leaning back in his chair, watching coolly. "They ain't doin' no harm."
"Ow! Don't pull my hair! Ow!" Christian yelped, kicking, trying to scramble away, getting slugged in the face by Judd, who laughed and jeered loudly.
Two-Bit gaped in horror, unable to watch, wide-eyed, wanting them all to stop.
Somebody kicked the back of Christian's head hard and Christian screamed in pain, curling into a ball, beginning to cry.
Two-Bit had had enough, getting to his feet. "Stop it! Stop it!" He screamed at the top of his lungs. "Stop!"
Everyone froze and looked over, eyes wide, confused.
Two-Bit shook as he eyed them over, frowning deeply. "Quit hurting him! All of you! He didn't do nothing wrong! Leave him alone. Don't you guys get it? We're a gang. Do y'all know what a gang is?" Two-Bit looked around at all of them with big eyes, breathing heavily.
"A gang doesn't beat each other up! A gang sticks together and looks out for one another! A gang always has each other's backs no matter what. We're a gang and beating up Christian doesn't do anybody any good. S-So Riff, you-you gotta stop letting your boys beat each other up." Two-Bit's eyes were welled with tears, frowning deeply. All he could think about was his old gang back home.
Surprisingly, Riff was wide-eyed, frowning deeply, looking guilty.
"That-that ain't how a gang is supposed to be." Two-Bit continued. "A gang cares about each other and takes care of someone when they're hurt. And-and seeing you guys hurt Christian like this, that ain't right. We're all supposed to be friends, not hurt each other. A-A gang, a gang doesn't hurt one another, so-so please, just-just stop." Two-Bit frowned deeply, trying not to cry.
Riff frowned deeply, watching Two-Bit, swallowing hard. "He-He's right. We can't hurt each other anymore. We are a gang. We ain't gonna hurt each other no mores." He nodded to the other boys.
Two-Bit looked back down at the floor, swallowing hard, shaking.
"Riff, I think Christian's hurt." Rami suddenly said softly, sounding scared.
Riff's eyes widened and he frowned, quickly coming over. Two-Bit instantly raised his head, frowning deeply.
Riff came over to Christian and gently lifted his head up. Christian was unconscious. Blood was flowing out from the back of his head and his skin was white.
Frowning deeply, Riff swallowed. "His head's bleedin'; we better get him to the hospital. Come on." Slowly and carefully, he picked up Christian in his arms and began to carry him.
Two-Bit gaped with worried eyes and followed after Riff and the gang, frowning deeply, hoping Christian was alright.
The last thing he wanted was for one of his friends to be hurt.
Two-Bit sat in the waiting room with the boys, tapping his foot worriedly, swallowing. Riff was pacing back and forth against the floor, frowning while the rest of the boys murmured to each other softly.
Two-Bit sat, staring at the floor, frowning deeply with thought. Softly, Dermot tapped his shoulder.
"Hey. I just wanted to say, that was the first time Riff's ever cared about one of us gettin' hurt before. You really managed to convince him about being a good leader. You really know a lot about friendship, Two-Bit."
Two-Bit sat still a minute. "Well if that's true then how come I lost all the friends I did have?"
Dermot opened his mouth to speak but Two-Bit had already gotten up and started to walk away. "I need to walk around a little, clear my thoughts." Dermot frowned but let him go, swallowing.
Two-Bit began to wander around the halls, sighing. He never liked hospitals; they were too scary what with people dying and always getting operated on. He walked aimlessly around, just thinking.
As he walked past open rooms he suddenly heard singing, a child's voice.
Two-Bit stopped and turned, peeking into one of the rooms, looking at a little girl sitting in a hospital bed, who sang cheerfully, smiling a wide smile as she held a stuffed animal, swaying her body a little.
Two-Bit watched her a moment and smiled a little. The girl suddenly turned and looked at him. "Hello." She smiled widely and waved.
Two-Bit's eyebrows raised, realizing he was still standing there, watching. "Oh, uh, hello."
"My name's Chloe. What's yours?" Chloe smiled with big, bright eyes, her voice friendly.
"Me? Two-Bit." Two-Bit slowly walked into the room, coming over near her bed.
Chloe giggled softly. "That's a funny name. I like it."
Two-Bit smiled softly at her, looking her over. She couldn't have been more than seven years old. She was wearing a pink shirt and a necklace with a heart at the end.
She wore a pink hat on her head but she didn't have any hair.
"Thanks. I-I like your hat." Two-Bit smiled softly, taking a seat in a chair next to her bed.
Chloe smiled brightly and giggled softly. "You do? Thank you! I have to wear it 'cause I lost all my hair. I like your shirt." She pointed.
Two-Bit looked down at Mickey Mouse, grinning, managing a chuckle. "Oh uh, thank you."
"So why are you here?" Chloe blinked at Two-Bit, eyes soft.
"Me? Oh, one of my friends got hurt." Two-Bit nodded softly.
"Oh, that's too bad. I hope he's okay. I'm here because I get too sick a lot." Chloe nodded. "The doctors have to do lots of surgeries on me. But at least my mommy and daddy and all my friends come and visit me."
Two-Bit nodded softly, smiling faintly at her. "Oh. That's good." He felt sorry for her, that she had to be here in this hospital. She reminded him of his sister, making him smile.
"Yeah. They even bring me toys and balloons and cards and books and stuff! They're such good friends." Chloe smiled happily, eyes beaming.
Two-Bit frowned a little at the word friends. He thought of the gang, his memory box, his photo album, his cuts.
Slowly, his gaze fell to the floor.
"What's the matter?"
Two-Bit raised his head. "Huh?"
"You look so sad." Chloe frowned at him. "Are you okay?"
Two-Bit swallowed hard, trying to compose his thoughts. "I'm alright. It was really nice talking to you, Chloe." He stood up and offered her a soft smile. "I hope you get better soon."
Chloe smiled at him. "Thank you. I hope you do too."
Two-Bit frowned a little at that, blinking, but nevertheless smiled softly and waved to her as he walked out.
Such a sweet little kid, he thought. Jus' like my little sis'….
Suddenly reminded of home, Two-Bit frowned and went outside, walking up to a phone booth, dropping some quarters in, dialing his number. He really wanted to talk to his mother.
Two-Bit stiffened when he heard her pick up. "Hello?" "H-Hi Mama." Two-Bit smiled a little.
"Two-Bit, how are you? Are you okay?" Came his mother's soft, worried voice.
"I-I'm okay Mama," Two grinned. "I'm alright."
"I'm worried about you baby. Everyone's worried."
Two-Bit's smile slowly fell, sighing. "I-I know Mama."
"The boys really want to talk to you, baby. They want you to come home so bad."
"Ma, believe me, they don't-nevermind," Two-Bit sighed. "H-How-How's Lizzy?"
"She's doing good, baby. She really misses you. She's having trouble getting by without her brother around. She did manage to win the school spelling bee though."
Two-Bit laughed softly with a smile. "Good for her."
Suddenly Two-Bit frowned, his heart aching with pain.
"I-I really miss you Mama." He almost whimpered into the phone. "I-I wanna come home. I miss you and Lizzy so much…."
"I know you do, baby. We all love you, Two-Bit, you're my baby. I miss you with all my heart."
Two-Bit began to cry, a few tears rolling down his cheeks, sniffling. "I-I'm sorry Mama, I'm sorry. I-I just wanna come home….!" He whimpered, wiping at his eyes with a sleeve.
"Whatever makes you happy, Keith. You know what's best for yourself, you'll make the right decision. But you're welcome to come home whenever you want to, baby. I love you, sweetheart."
Two-Bit sniffled, lip quivering. "Love-Love you too, Mama. Tell Lizzy I love her too."
"I will, baby. Goodbye."
"Bye Mama." Two-Bit hung up, rubbing at his eyes, swallowing hard, starting to head back inside.
The boys weren't in the waiting room anymore so he asked for Christian's room and went there, finding them all inside.
He stepped in, eyes widening as he came over to the hospital bed. "Is he alright?"
"He's okay. He jus' had to get stitches, that's all." Riff said softly, nodding at him. "He can come home in just a little while."
Two-Bit was glad, happy his friend was okay.
Two-Bit frowned as he walked home with Riff, Christian and the other boys, dragging his feet.
Riff had an arm wrapped around Christian's shoulder and was being friendly, which was certainly new to Christian, who looked baffled. Two-Bit listened to the boys as they talked.
"Thanks to Two-Bit here, we're gonna be the bestest gang there ever was. We ain't gonna hurt one another no more." Riff talked happily, smirking.
Two-Bit frowned a little at them as they started walking up the stairs in their hotel.
"So we all have to be like friends now?" Judd snorted with a sneer.
"Well sure. Friends don't beat each other up, just like Two-Bit said. And he knows everything there is to know about friends."
"But he's the one who lost all his friends," Rami raised a brow, not thinking Two-Bit could hear.
Two-Bit frowned at them deeply as he listened, hearing them talking about friendship triggering his emotions again.
"He didn't lose his friends, he made new ones!" Riff huffed. "And now that we're all officially friends, we're gonna be friends forever!"
Two-Bit froze, stopping, frowning deeply. "And we'll always be friends no matter what. Friends forever!" Eight-year old Soda's voice ran through his head.
Two-Bit's lip quivered and he began to cry.
"Yeah, because that doesn't sound gay at all," Judd snorted at Riff with a mean voice.
"Two-Bit? Hey, what's wrong?" Dermot spotted Two-Bit and frowned.
Two-Bit glanced at them and then hurriedly pushed past them all, crying hard as he ran up to his room.
"Wait Two-Bit! Hey, wait!"
Sobbing, Two-Bit burst into his room and slammed the door shut, leaning up against it so the others couldn't get in, knowing they'd come after him.
Seconds later, Dermot tried opening the door, knocking and trying the door knob. "Two-Bit? Two-Bit! What's wrong?"
Two-Bit pushed against the door to keep Dermot out, sobbing, whimpering. "L-Leave me alone!"
Dermot pushed against the door too, trying to get in. "Two-Bit? Buddy, let me in."
"No! Don't come in here, go away!" Two-Bit cried, leaning up against the door.
Dermot pushed and managed to push open the door far enough for him to slip inside, frowning. "Two-Bit, what's the matter, bud?"
Seeing Dermot was inside, Two-Bit hurried to the other side of the room away from him, crying. "I can't take it anymore! I gotta end this!"
He reached into his pocket and whipped out his knife, flipping the blade open.
Dermot gasped and rushed over. "Two-Bit, no!"
Two-Bit brought the blade to his wrist and was going to cut himself but Dermot grabbed his arm, yanking it away. "Two-Bit don't!"
"Dermot! Stop it!" Two-Bit sobbed and tried to get his knife back, wide-eyed. "I need that! I need it, why won't you let me have it?!"
"No Two-Bit!" Dermot frowned deeply and kept the knife away from Two-Bit's reach, pushing Two-Bit away gently. "I won't let you hurt yourself!"
"Give it back, give it to me, give it….." Two-Bit sobbed and eventually gave up as Dermot pushed him away, frowning deeply, collapsing to the floor on his knees, sobbing loudly into his hands, crying hard.
Dermot shook with fear, gaping, watching with huge eyes, flinching at his friend's heartbreaking sobs. Shakingly, he set the blade down on Two's dresser, dropping down beside his friend. "Two-Bit….."
Two-Bit sobbed loudly, his face into his hands, shaking all over, his heart wrenching sobs filling the room.
At the door, Riff poked his head in with a frown, wide-eyed, coming over.
"Two-Bit, please don't cry," Dermot put a hand on Two-Bit's shoulder, frowning deeply with worry. "Please….."
"I-I can't take it anymore, Dermot," Two-Bit whimpered between sobs. "I can't do this anymore."
Riff plopped down beside them, putting a gentle hand on Two's shoulder as well, frowning deeply with worry.
"I-I hate myself," Two-Bit sobbed. "The gang-the gang has every right to hate me."
"No Two-Bit no, they don't hate you. They're your best friends. And you can't hate yourself." Dermot frowned deeply, giving Two's shoulder a squeeze.
Two-Bit choked on his sobs. "I-I-I do hate myself! The gang never loved me for who I am so why should I like myself? I'm nothing!" He sobbed loudly.
"Two-Bit, you wouldn't hate yourself if it weren't for what happened with the gang. Please, you ain't nothin'. You're a great friend, Two-Bit." Dermot frowned deeply, trying to hold back tears of his own.
"Yeah, you're one of the greatest guys I've ever met in my whole life, Two-Bit." Riff swallowed hard, frowning deeply.
Two-Bit whimpered, shaking his head no in his hands. "You guys don't mean that. Lies, lies, all of it! Jus' like the gang! They've never been my friends!"
"Two-Bit, you've been friends your whole lives…please buddy, quit crying. You're being way too hard on yourself." Dermot sniffled a little.
"I don't care! I hate myself and-and I don't even care! Not like the gang does! They'll never care about me! Not ever again! And I don't blame them! Who cares what happens to me?!" Two-Bit cried loudly, sobbing into his hands.
"I care. And Dermot cares." Riff said softly, a deep frown etched on his face.
"We all care, Two-Bit. Pl-Please. Stop crying. Everybody loves you. There's not a single person in this world who doesn't care about you." Dermot frowned deeply.
Two-Bit sniffled, shaking, quiet a moment. "The gang doesn't."
"Yes they do. They do care buddy. Everyone cares. And I know they wouldn't want you to hate yourself."
Two-Bit whimpered loudly and slowly brought up his head a little from his hands, his lip quivering. "I-I-I-It's just that…..I-I cared so-so much about them and-and they didn't even think to once care about me."
"Well then that's on them!" Riff suddenly huffed. "That ain't your d*** fault. That ain't no reason to go on hating yourself. F***, who needs those guys? I say if they didn't have the slightest decency to even once care about you, then they're not good enough for you. And if they failed to see how good of a friend you are, then that's their own mistake! Did they even thank you for saving their lives when you saved them at the DX?"
Two-Bit was sniffling as he listened to Riff, frowning through tears. "N-No. Th-They didn't."
"Then f*** them!" Riff was almost shouting, looking angry. "They ain't your friends then. You know what, they're the ones who should be hating themselves! I should go over there right now and teach them a real lesson about friendship!"
"N-No…." Two-Bit sniffled, raising his head even more. "No. Please don't hurt them. I don't want them hurt."
"But they're the ones that hurt you!" Riff accused, eyes narrowed. He was genuinely angry with Two-Bit's gang, wanting to beat all of their heads in for making Two-Bit cry so hard.
"But that ain't no reason to go beat them all up." Two-Bit sniffled, rubbing at his eyes with his fists, still crying. "They had every right to hate me anyhow."
"Two-Bit….." Dermot frowned, squeezing Two's shoulder.
Two-Bit continued to sniffle, frowning deeply as tears rolled down his face. "I-I-It's just I miss them all so much and-and I-I dunno wh-what to do now. I-I wanna be with Ponyboy again and-and visit Soda at the DX and-and play pranks with him again. I-I wanna annoy Steve and break the law with Dallas and-and talk to Darry when he gets home from work. I-I miss them. Why don't they miss me?" Two-Bit placed his head in his hands again miserably, crying.
"Oh Two-Bit, they do miss you, they do, I know they do." Dermot frowned deeply, voice soft.
"You don't know that," Two-Bit whimpered. "You're jus' makin' all that up. They don't care. Now-now why don't you all jus' leave me-leave me be now?"
"We're not gonna leave you, Two-Bit." Dermot said softly.
"Yeah, we ain't goin' anywhere." Riff insisted. "We're stayin' right here for as long as we need to."
Two-Bit's frown deepened at their words, another memory from his childhood flashing before him.
"Come on Steve, pull!"
"I am Soda, I am! He won't budge!" A young Steve Randle grunted as he pulled on Two-Bit's arms, Soda beside him. "It's no use, he's stuck!"
Little Two-Bit, who had his foot caught under a tree root, frowned deeply, shaking. "Ohhhhh, I'm going to die out here! I'm gonna get eaten by bears and rattlesnakes!"
"We'll get you out, Two-Bit!" Little Soda frowned with big eyes, trying to think.
But Two-Bit began to cry, frightened. "I'm never gonna get free! And Mama and Mr. and are never gonna find me because we wandered off when we wasn't supposed to!"
"No, don't cry Two-Bit," Soda frowned deeply, bending down beside Two-Bit. "They'll come lookin' for us; then we'll get you free."
Two-Bit sniffled and shook, shaking his head no. "N-No. It's getting dark. You-You should both head back before the wolves start comin' out. J-Jus' leave me here."
"No way. We ain't leaving you." Steve frowned at him, balling his fists. "I ain't afraid of wolves."
"We ain't gonna go anywhere, Two-Bit." Soda agreed. "We'll stay right here beside ya until someone finds us."
Two-Bit looked up with teary eyes. "You-you will?"
Soda nodded, brown eyes determined.
Two-Bit wiped at his eyes, smiling a little. "G-Gee. Th-Thanks guys."
Two-Bit frowned at the memory, his lip quivering, continuing to cry, completely overridden with heart-break and sadness at the loss of his friends.
Dermot frowned deeply as Two-Bit continued to cry. "Two-Bit, please stop cryin'. We don't want you to cry, buddy."
Two-Bit was only half-listening, continuing to cry his eyes out. Suddenly, his stomach gave a violent lurch and he almost gasped, beginning to tremble, scrambling to get up, hurrying to the bathroom, whimpering.
He rushed into the bathroom and vomited into the toilet, gasping and coughing and crying all at once, whimpering in physical and emotional pain.
Riff and Dermot rushed in after him with wide eyes, gaping as they came over. Riff put a hand to Two-Bit's forehead as Two-Bit leaned up against the toilet, looking weak and sick, his chest heaving.
"Two-Bit, you're burning up." Riff frowned deeply at him, wide-eyed. "You must be getting sick."
"It must be all the crying. Come on, Two-Bit, let's get you to lie down." Dermot frowned at him.
Two-Bit cried and didn't make any effort to get up but walked with the two of them when they helped him stand and walked him carefully over to his bed.
Two-Bit wiped at his eyes with a sniffle as he sat on his bed, crying softly. Riff went off to get a glass of water and Dermot handed Two-Bit his Mickey Mouse doll.
"Two-Bit…..please stop crying. It's making you sick, buddy."
Two-Bit hugged Mickey tightly, nuzzling him, crying into his plush ears, not answering, looking skeptically at the water that Riff had brought, not wanting it.
Dermot and Riff shared a worried look, frowning deeply.
"Do at least want to talk to us about it, Two-Bit? We'll listen." Dermot swallowed softly.
"I don't want to talk," Two-Bit sniffled. "I jus' want my friends back." He whimpered as he slowly slid his photo album out from one of his pillows, beginning to open it.
Dermot frowned, knowing that looking through his photo album wasn't going to help Two-Bit any. "Two-Bit, please, we jus-"
"Look, I jus' wanna be alone right now," Two-Bit frowned deeply, not looking up, wiping at his eyes. "J-Jus' don't talk to me, okay? Please."
Dermot glanced at Riff with a frown. "O-Okay, Two-Bit, okay." Slowly, he walked into the kitchen with Riff, worriedly keeping an eye on Two-Bit.
Two-Bit sniffled, beginning to flip through his photo album sadly, his hands shaking. Memories flooded his brain as he looked through the photos, tears pricking at his eyes.
"Why don't you just shut your stupid mouth?!"
"Steve! That wasn't nice….." Sodapop frowned, looking at Two-Bit.
Steve growled. "So? I can't think with all his blabbing!" He threw his arms in the air in frustration. "He never shuts up!"
"I was only telling a joke!" Two-Bit huffed, eyes narrowed with hurt. "No need to get all sour."
"I didn't ask to hear a joke!" Steve snapped. "Why don't you go f*** yourself?!"
"Hey, Steve, come on, Two's our friend." Soda frowned with big eyes at his eleven-year-old friend.
"Whatever. I'm goin' to the lot. It's quiet there!" Steve snorted, angrily marching away.
"Golly, i'm sorry, Two-Bit," Soda turned to the red-head. "He didn't mean nothin'. He ain't really cross with you, honest."
Two-Bit snorted a little. "You don't have to sugar-coat it, Soda. I know when Steve's mad." He frowned with a huff. "He seems pretty pissed at me right now."
Soda nodded slowly. "Okay, yes, you are right about that. But that don't mean he ain't your friend. He loves having you as a buddy."
Two-Bit almost laughed out loud. "Wh-what? Gee, that's a funny one, Soda." He scoffed.
"What?"
"Come on. Steve's never really liked me. Not even when we first met. He just puts up with me for your sake."
"B-But-But that's not true!" Soda stuttered with a frown. "He is your friend."
"Please, if he was, he wouldn't always be swearing at me and hitting me. I know when someone isn't my real friend, Soda." Two-Bit huffed.
"Come on, Two-Bit, run faster!"
Two-Bit laughed and tried to pick up the pace. "Okay Ponyboy, full speed ahead!" Two cackled and pumped his legs, carrying Ponyboy on his back for a piggy ride.
Six-year-old Ponyboy squealed, thrilled, holding on tightly to Two-Bit's jacket. "Yeah! Whoo-hoo! This is fun!"
Two-Bit laughed and ran until he got to the lake, letting Ponyboy get down. "You like that, eh kid?"
Ponyboy stumbled on his feet, a little dizzy. "That was fun! You sure ran fast, Two-Bit!"
Two-Bit chuckled. "Thanks kid. But your brother's faster than me. He's gotta run fast when he plays football."
Pony finally stood straight on his feet, grinning, coming to Two-Bit's side, grabbing onto his arm. "Two-Bit, you're-you're my best friend, Two-Bit."
Two-Bit looked down at him, a little surprised. "Wh-what?"
"You're my best friend." Pony smiled up at him. "My teacher says we should always tell our friends how much we care about them. And I care about you."
Ten-year-old Two-Bit was admittedly touched. "Well thanks, kid. You're my best friend too. And nothin's gonna change that."
"Come on, Darry…"
"No, Two-Bit."
"Nothin's gonna happen, what are you so worried about?"
"I'm worried Pony's gonna get hurt under your watch." Darry huffed, poking Two's chest.
"I won't let that happen. I'll be careful."
"Two-Bit. Pony is seven, he's little, young and naive. Who knows what could happen."
"Pony's not naive." Two-Bit frowned a little. "Besides, it's not like I won't be with him. We're just going to be playing together. I am his best friend after all."
Darry raised a brow at him. "Best friend? I thought Soda was his best friend."
"He told me i'm his best friend." Two-Bit shrugged.
"Well okay, but you gotta swear Pony won't get hurt."
"He won't, he won't, honest!"
"Good. Run along then."
Two-Bit cried, practically sobbing, whimpering through his tears, desperately wanting to be with his friends again, the way they used to be. He wanted to be able to hang out with his friends, not be in constant worry of whether or not they liked him.
Dermot and Riff worriedly came back in, frowning deeply at Two-Bit's crying. "Two-Bit, please….please don't cry no more." Dermot came over beside the bed.
"G-Go-Go away." Two-Bit choked out.
"Come on, we're your friends too."
"N-No, no you're not." Two-Bit frowned, raising his head from crying into his hands.
"Yes we are. Now come here." Dermot frowned and gently started pulling Two-Bit into a hug.
Two-Bit flinched and tried to pull away at first, crying, but as Dermot pulled him closer, Two-Bit relaxed and hugged him back tightly, letting out a sob, crying into Dermot's shoulder.
Dermot frowned deeply but let him. "There…...i-it-it's okay, Two-Bit. We're here."
Two-Bit squeezed his friend tightly, sobbing, not wanting to let go, the hug comforting him.
Riff watched the two quietly, frowning softly, eyes soft.
"I-I-I'm sorry, i'm really sorry…" Two-Bit cried, feeling awful, tears soaking into Dermot's shirt.
"Don't be, don't be." Dermot rubbed his back softly. "We-we're your friends now. We're here for you. You don't have to cry anymore.
We're not ever going to hurt you like they did…."
A/N: Merry Christmas Everybody! XD Here's my little Christmas gift to you, an update! Please leave a review of your thoughts on the chapter... :D