Author's Note at the beginning, not the end this time! Just for the record, this one might not be as good. I don't know, you need to decide for me. And it's a lot shorter. But I hope you enjoy despite what I have just told you. And please keep the reviews coming! I love them!

Not—Part 4

Ponyboy's POV

Adopted. Adopted. Adopted. Lies. Lies. Lies. Secrets. Secrets. Secrets. Each of the words ground into my head on beat as my feet pounded the sidewalk, carrying me faster than ever before. Soda would find the papers soon, and probably come looking for me. Where did I go in a time like this? The only other time I had a crisis on my hand, Johnny and I immediately went to Dallas for help. Who was there to help me now? No, this time I would have to help myself. But just because those two weren't here anymore didn't mean they couldn't still help me, in a way. His advice was still good in this situation—take the train to Windrixville, hide out in the church on Jay Mountain, I'll come get you when things are cooled off. Wait. I stopped and backtracked. What was I saying? Dallas wasn't going to come this time. Nobody would, because nobody would know where I was going. Not even Soda knew where the burned down church once stood.

The burned down church…

"Shit!" I shouted loud enough to cause a few people to look at me in alarm. Some were Socs, who turned away in disgust, but I saw a greaser shoot me a wink. The church wasn't even there anymore for me to go to. Now what? I didn't stop running towards the train station. I didn't know where I would end up, but the train would take me the one place I wanted to go—away from Tulsa. Maybe, I thought ironically, I would end up in Texas. Then Two-Bit could come looking for me. Anyway, I would be far from facing Soda and Darry. Perfect.

Soda's POV

I knew I wouldn't catch up to Ponyboy on foot—he was too fast—so I grabbed Two-Bit's jalopy as I swung by his house. He would just have to understand later. All I could do was tear out of the driveway and pray the brakes were working. And then figure out where my brother was going.

Darry's POV

It's a scary thing, having your younger brother missing. It's even scarier when two of them are missing, and you have no idea where either of them went, and it's getting late on the wilder side of Tulsa. After dark, there's no telling what could happen. Gangs were out, and even though I knew Soda, at least, could take care of himself, it didn't stop me from worrying. Becoming a parent before you leave teenage-hood would do that to anybody.

My mind was swimming with the possibilities of what could be happening to them, where they could be. I couldn't help but think of the only other time Pony ran away like this. After I hit him. I hadn't done anything like that now, but I suspected I'd hurt him even worse then with a physical blow. Since our friends died, he'd clung to the things that had remained stable and safe in his life. His family was at the top of the list for him. Not anymore. And even worse than all of that: knowing it was all my fault.

Ponyboy's POV

The train station was a welcome sight. It was the next step in running away. Luckily in Tulsa they don't put too many guards around the tracks. So I hopped onto the closest train and prayed it was going somewhere warm, because all I was wearing were a pair of jeans and Soda's old DX shirt with a white T-shirt underneath. Unprepared. Sort of like last time I did this.

But what I was even less prepared for was when the train started moving and someone moved in the dark corner of the boxcar. And the voice that accompanied the shadow.

"So, you wanna tell me where you were plannin' on going?"