Chapter Five - Not Himself

Two-Bit was forced to sleep on the couch that night. He was so angry with Ponyboy. All he was trying to do was help him and now he was mad at him. He couldn't believe it. He didn't know what to do. He was stuck there now. To really show how important he was to Ponyboy, he could mention putting Ponyboy in a boy's home somewhere, but he decided not to. That would probably make him angrier. Two-Bit sighed as he heard nothing whatsoever coming from Ponyboy's room. He quietly stood up and walked down the hall. He realized that there was still Darry's room that he could sleep in. At least it was a bed and not a couch. He sighed as he laid on the bed, starring up att the ceiling. He was hoping he would wake up in the morning and Ponyboy would be feeling better. He couldn't stand Ponyboy getting angry.

With these thoughts, he drifted off to sleep.

In the morning, Two-Bit awoke to see Ponyboy watching over him with a smile on his face. "You poor kid," he said. "I shouldn't have lost my temper last night, Two-Bit. This is all my fault." Two-Bit smiled, too. Thank God that Ponyboy was feeling better.

"It's not your fault," Two-Bit replied. "I shouldn't have called the doctor. It was a dumb thing to do. I should have told you what my plans were." Ponyboy smiled as he set a glass of milk down on the night stand.

"Here, have some milk. I'm sure that you want some. It's almost noon, believe it or not. It looks like you've slept in pretty late, Two-Bit. I bet it's because of all the stress I put you through last night." Two-Bit drank the milk. Surprisingly, he was very thirsty. He wasn't usually that thirtsy in the morning, but that day he was.

"It's alright, POnyboy. We both sort of lost our tempers last night. But now that's all over and we can be friends again." Ponyboy continued to smile. He was almost smiling too much.

"I trust you, Two-Bit. You're my guardian now. In fact, last night, it all occured to me. I was thinking about everything adn that's when it occured to me that I just need more time to get used to the fact that you're my brother now. It'll probably take a little while, so i was thinking athat we shouljd start doing things together. We never did go to that movie like you wanted us to go to last night."

Two-Bit nodded as he stood up in bed. "Yea, would you like to go to that movie tonight, Ponyboy? I believe it's playing again."

Ponyboy nodded. "Sure, I'd like to go. And maybe Steve could go, too. I haven't seen him in a while. Of course that's probably because I don't like him at all. He's so mean to me all the time. If only Dally were still here to teach him a lesson about picking on me."

"Hey, I've sticked up for you before, Ponyboy," Two-Bit said. "The other week I did. Steve was saying bad stuff about you. I told him to shut his mouth. In fact, I've never seen him so insulted. I think he's still mad at me."

Ponyboy chuckled as he left the room and went down the hall. "Oh, that's too bad." Two-Bit sighed. He felt a little angry. He felt like he gave up Steve for Ponyboy. Going over to the mirror, he fixed his hair with his comb and followed Ponyboy into the hall.

Ponyboy was nowhere to be seen. "Ponyboy?" he called. Ponyboy answered from the kitchen. He said he was making breakfast for them both. Two-Bit said that sounded good as he went back down the hall and entered Ponyboy's room. Both of the beds were made and he noticed the composition book on the desk. He sat down at the desk and was about to open the book when Ponyboy walked in.

"Don't open that!" Ponyboy warned. "I don't want anybody reading it until it's finished. It should be finished in a few days." Two-Bit gulped. Ponyboy had scared him.

"I'm sorry, Ponyboy. I didn't realize it was private."

"Well, it is. And I'm sorry but we're out of pancake mix so we're gonna have to have cereal instead."

Two-Bit nodded. "That's fine. I'm not that hungry, anyways. Just one bowl of cereal will do."

Ponyboy smiled as he returned to the kitchen. Two-Bit sighed as he stood up from the desk chair. Ponyboy seemed better, but there was still something strange about him. He seemed awfully paranoid about something. It seemed like everything he did, Ponyboy would say something terrible about him.

In the kitchen, Ponyboy was pouring cereal into two bowls for both of them. They were nearly out of cereal as well. "Oh, damn!" he said. "Now I'll have to get more breakfast food!" He groaned as he used up the last of the cereal. He brought it to Two-Bit who was sitting on the living room couch.

"There you go, Two-Bit. Fresh cereal. I'm going ot hve to get some more, though. This was all the cere4al we had. I was gonna make some eggs and stuff, but we've been having that for the past few days and-"

"Thanjk you, Ponyboy. That's alright, though. I'll get the stuff when i go to the store later today."

"You're going to the store?"

"Well, sure. I haven't been there in a couple days. I think it might be good if i wen tthere."

"Well, I could do it for you, Two-Bit. You said you think it would be good for me to get out of the house and I think shopping for groceries would be a good thing, I could get whatever you'd like. We could have a really nice big dinner tonight or something like that. I'll make the best things just like Darry and Soda used to cook."

He stood up and started pacing the room as he approached a family photograph of him with Darry, Soda, and mom and dad. "Just like they used to make. We used to have nice picnics. I bet that would be fun. We could have picnics here. You'd like that, wouldn't you, Two-Bit?"

"Sure, I'd like that. We could have picnics, Ponyboy. We could have Steve and maybe Cherry and Marcia over. We haven't seen them for a while."

Ponyboy shook his head. "No, that's true. We haven't seen them a while. That would be fun." There was a knock on the door. Ponyboy went up and opened the door. Steve was standing there.

"Hi, Ponyboy. I was just seeing how you and Two-Bit were doing." Ponyboy nodded.

"We're doing fine, Steve. Would you like to come in? We were just having breakfast."

"Sure."

He walked into the house as Ponyboy walked into the kitchen. "I'll be out in a few minutes, guys. I need to clean up." As he went into the kitchen, Steve sighed. Two-Bit smiled as he ate his breakfast.

"How are you today, Steve?"

"Fine."

"I think Ponyboy's feeling a little stressed lately. If he ever seems to have an attitude, don't worry about it. Last night, we got into a big fight, but everything's resolved now."

Steve sat down next to Two-Bit. "Did you call the doctor and ask about making an appointment?" he asked. "I told you to. It's the best thing for him."

"Oh, no, Steve. I did call the doctor, but just for some pills. As far as Ponyboy goes, I think he's doing much better lately. That is, since the accident. He seems to be doing a lot better lately. For the past few days, he's been talking and he's even writing a book and getting ideas for making money with jobs. I think his mind is in pretty good health."

Steve sighed. "Two-Bit, I told you to call the doctor. It doesn't matter if Ponyboy has ideas on getting a job. After what happened, it's turned him into a sick person. He isn't mentally stable. I think he's probably the type that would snap at you for anything now. He isn't doing well at all."

"Please, steve. Don't interfere. I signed the papers. I happen to be his guardian. I can call the doctor if I want to. It just seems like we're doing this too early. I think we should wait and see how he is. He hasn't been too bad. It's only been two weeks since-

"Stop, Two-Bit! You're just making things worse by letting it go like this. Ponyboy wasn ever like this before the accident. you know that. He used to be so kind and everything. Now look at him. He just doesnt seem himself lately. I havnet efen talked to him until today and I can already tell that he isn't doing to good. I dont' know, but I can hear it in his voice. You have to call someone. If you feel uncomfortable calling the doctor, call me and i'll do it."

"I won't do that, Steve! He's my responsibility now, not yours. If it was up to you, you'd probably put him in a boy's home or something just because you didn't feel like taking care of him."

Steve stood up, looking angry. "Two-Bit, I would never do that! I realize Ponyboy and I have had our differeanes once n a while, but don't think I's do something like that to him. That's a terrible thing. You know how much going to a boy's home scares him. If you'd mention that, I don't think that he's be able to take it."

Two-Bit sighed as he stood up with Steve. "I'm sorry, Steve. I've been put through a lot of stress, too. i'm just thinking of JOhnny and Dally and the Curtis brothers. I don't know how POnyboy can even stand it anymore."

"That's my point, Two-Bit. Soon, Ponyboy might not even be able to take it anymore. That's why you should call a doctor and schedule an appointment just to be safe."

Ponyboy suddenly appeared in the doorway, a look of anger on his face. Two-Bit gulped. "Hi, Ponyboy. We were just talking."

"I know you were. You were talking about me. I could hear the whole thing. Steve, we're busy. If you could please leave."

Steve sighed as he went out the front door. Two-Bit was afraid now. He was afraid that POnyboy might not trust him as a guardian now. Ponyboy picked up the empty bowl of cereal. "Enjoy your breakfast?" Ponyboy asked. Two-Bit nodded. "That's a good thing. Because we won't be going to the store today. I just realized that I'm way too tired to do such a thing."

He spotted the telephone. POnyboy yanked it from the wall and carried it into the kitchen. "I think it's better that I disconnect the phone. I'm tired of getting calls and it's not good to use it so often." He went into the kitchen and disappeared from sight as Two-Bit gulped. He didn't know what to do now.

That night, Ponyboy slept in his room like usual. Two-Bit slept in Darry's room. Ponyboy gave in and said that he didn't mind him sleepong in his brother's bed. Two-Bit could hear the television on in Ponyboy's room. Two-Bit laid in bed with the lights on as he listened to what Pnyboy might have been doing in his room. He wasn't so sure about his book that he was writing. He thought that maybe it wasn't a good idea to have it published. It could have had things in it about himself. They could have been bad things. Two-Bit fell asleep, dreaming that Ponyboy would be better in the morning.

In the morning, Two-Bit awoke, finding that the house was very quiet. Stretching as he got out of bed, he went over to the bedroom door and went out to the hall. Ponyboy seemed like he was nowhere around. Two-Bit went down the hall, opening Ponyboy's bedroom door. There was no one in the room. Two-Bit found himself nervous. He was surprised to find that he was this way about Ponyboy. There was a time when he thought that Ponyboy could never get mad or anything, but now he knew that he could and it was all because of the accident. "Ponyboy?" Two-Bit called. As he turned to go out to the living room, Ponyboy was standing in the middle of the hall. Two-Bit gasped as Ponyboy laughed.

"That's not funny, POnyboy!"

"I'm sorry, Two-Bit. I didn't meant to scare you. I just thought I'd surprise you by saying today I waNt to have a lot of fun."

Two-Bit gulped as he started walking back toward the bedroom. "Fun? Fund oing what?"

Ponyboy shrugged as he began to walk toward Two-Bit, smiling the whole time. Two-Bit found himself horrified of Ponyboy. He wasn't sure what Ponyboy wanted to do. "I dont' know, Two-Bit. I was thinking that you would be so kind to stand still so I can tie you to the chair." POnyboy pulled a rope out of his pocket.

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