Thank you so much to everyone who has been reading. I hope you enjoy the new chapter :)

15. Shots Fired

Pony had to admit, the makeup that Evie had done for her made her face look a lot better. She got less second looks from teachers, except her English teacher who was pretty cool, and who had seemed kind of concerned when he'd first seen her black eye on Monday. But she figured that the teachers heard a lot of the gossip too, so he hadn't asked her if she was okay or anything. Other kids kept staring at her though, and she felt their eyes on her as she walked through the halls with Johnny who had apparently made himself her personal escort that day. He was cool about it, making small talk in the halls and stuff, but she knew he was keeping an eye out for socs.

At lunch, Steve and Evie went off campus, and Keith was with Cathy, their on-again, off-again thing back to 'on' according to Susie. But Johnny sat with them, his back to the wall as he kept an eye on the cafeteria behind her and Susie. They'd picked a table in the corner, away from where the football players usually sat, and Pony hated that they had to worry about that stuff, and that Johnny had to keep an eye on them, but she was still grateful.

In art class, when the teacher wasn't looking, her and Susie passed notes about Keith and Cathy, who Susie seemed to like pretty well, and about Susie's mom too. Pony had always liked Mrs. Matthews. She hadn't been like those other women her mom had been friends with. She still checked on them sometimes, and even told Darry he ought to lock their doors because she worried about them. She'd told Pony that if she ever needed to, she could come talk to her, and even though Pony hadn't ever done it, it had been real nice of her to offer. They talked about their projects too, the two of them trying to focus on anything but the most pressing matter on both of their minds.

After the final bell rang, the two of them walked together to Susie's locker, then hers, sticking close together. Allen Russel never came up to her or anything, but she could feel him and Randy watching her. Cherry too. There was talk in the hall all day about Dally getting picked up, and Allen in particular looked real smug, telling everyone in shouting distance that he was gonna pay for what he'd done to Bob. But they still thought she knew something…that she was protecting Dally.

Too bad it was the other way around.

Allen looked bad…way worse than her. One of his eyes was still swollen, and Pony must have broken his nose when she'd brought her elbow back against his face. To her surprise, it wasn't just the greasers giving him dirty looks for his big mouth. Even a few socs seemed to think he'd gone too far when he'd jumped her. Her and Susie were standing by the lockers when a greaser that was buddies with Steve finally called him out.

"Shut the hell up, man. Everybody knows Darrel Cutis is gonna finish what Sodapop started. You beat up on little girls now?"

"Pony…we oughta go," Susie muttered as guys started circling around each other, getting real quiet, and Pony nodded, hurrying to throw her stuff in her backpack, trying not to forget anything. None of those greasers would let Allen or his buddies touch her or Susie, but they might get caught up in a fight by accident. Other girls were already hurrying to get away.

"Little shit was covering for Winston!" Allen snapped, and the greaser chuckled, the sound cold and mean.

"Yeah? You try explaining that to her brothers and Tim Shephard on Saturday night."

Pony didn't much like Tim. He scared her a lot more than Dally. But he was always friendly with her, and even though his sister was real tough and kind of scary too, she was pretty nice to Pony when they'd run into each other. Tim and Darry had been good friends growing up, and they respected each other, but she knew Darry didn't approve of the rougher stuff his buddy got into sometimes. Still, she wasn't surprised to hear that Tim was getting involved. He loved a good fight, and he'd always back Darry.

As soon as she got her stuff packed, her and Susie hurried out of the hall before a fight broke out. She sure didn't need a teacher putting her in detention for getting caught up in something bad. Darry would be real mad then. Pony sighed in relief when they made it through the front doors, glad to be away from those guys who were all ready to fight, but then she had another problem.

Darry was getting off at 4 that day, earlier than usual, and he'd probably be sick of the silent treatment, so they'd have to talk or something, and she didn't know how to have that conversation. It was like she'd forgotten how to talk to Darry, and he'd forgotten to talk to her, and…and it was all a mess now. A mess she had no idea how to clean up.

She'd had a plan. Graduate high school at the top of her class. Go to college. Get away from Darry. But the longer she thought about that plan, the worse she felt about it. Their parents would have been upset with them both, she knew. They'd always wanted their kids to get along…had always talked about how they were family, and that that was the most important thing there was. Now…now they didn't feel like a family anymore. And Pony couldn't stomach the thought of sitting in her bedroom and counting down the seconds until Darry walked through her door for their inevitable fight.

"Hey…Susie?"

"Yeah?"

She felt dumb, but she'd rather her friend think she was dumb than go to that house and sit and wait for Darry to get home. "Do you want to go to the park? Play basketball or…watch somebody else play? Or…something?"

Her friend hesitated for a second, then nodded, despite the fact that she didn't really play basketball…or any sports. She was more into art. Still, Pony liked art too, and they could sit on the ground and draw for a few hours as far as she was concerned. Anything to make sure she wasn't home alone with Darry. At least if she waited for a bit, Sodapop would be there as a buffer.

"Yeah, that sounds fun. You don't think Darry will mind?"

Pony was just trying to figure out how to say that even if Darry did mind, they were already fighting, so it didn't matter too much, when Keith came up behind them, messing up Susie's hair and grinning when she jumped and glared at him. "What's Darry gonna mind?"

"Us going to the park," Pony told him, laughing when he reached out and ruffled her hair too, but she could tell he was scanning the parking lot, keeping an eye out for Allen.

"You should be alright, long as you stick together. You hear they let Dally go?"

She shook her head, something in her chest loosening. "They did?"

"Couple of hours ago. One of Tim's guys told me when I took Cathy to lunch. They made him stay the night, but they ain't got no reason to hold him anymore. You know they just made him sleep there because he's a greaser."

"So…they don't know who did it?" Susie asked.

He glanced at Pony, patting her on the shoulder. "Not as far as I've heard. You two okay to walk? I'm going to go hunt Dally down. See if he knows anything else."

"Sure," Pony told him, nodding, and Susie did too.

"You two be careful, you hear? Russel's gonna be pissed when he hears."

"We will," Susie promised, the two of them heading in the direction of their houses. When Pony glanced back over her shoulder, she saw that Keith was still watching.

"We can read or draw or something if you want," Pony told her when they got to the sidewalk. There were lots of people around, so she didn't worry too much about Allen just yet.

"That's alright. We can play for a while first."

"Darry's gonna be home early today, so I have to be home by 6 for dinner."

"Mom's working a double, so it don't matter when I go home," Susie told her, sounding kind of bitter. Pony flinched.

"Why don't you come over? Eat at our place?"

"That's alright. Keith ought to be home in time for dinner, and he'll be hungry."

"Then he can cook himself something."

"Keith? Cook dinner? Hell, Pony, if our mom heard, she might die of shock."

They both laughed, glancing at the street again. There was still no sign of Allen and his friends, and they didn't show up when they stopped at Pony's house to grab Soda's old basketball, or when they made their way to the park. She figured they'd be looking for Dally when they heard about the fuzz letting him go anyway, so she ought to be safe.

They were crossing by the fountain at the park when Susie turned to her, her voice gentle. "You just don't want to be in that house, huh?"

She shrugged. Susie knew just about everything now, but it was still hard to say. "I don't get it, you know? Darry…he didn't used to hate me."

"You really think he does?"

Pony nodded. "Yeah," she admitted, eyes on the ground in front of her feet. "He's always getting on me about something. He never just talks to me, you know? Like…I get real good grades and I never get in trouble or anything. I help them keep the house clean and I cook and I always keep my room clean…but it's like…nothing's ever enough. He's always mad about something!" She'd dropped her backpack off at home, leaving it in her room with a note for Soda on the table that she was at the park with Susie, but Susie still had hers, and she dropped it on the grass by the chain link fence around the basketball court.

Susie nodded, and Pony was glad she didn't try to argue or convince her that she was wrong like Soda would.

"Soda doesn't get it either," she continued. "But Darry's different with me than he is with him. Soda can do whatever he wants! Darry's got a million rules for me."

"Keith has a bunch of rules for me too, you know?"

She lifted an eyebrow, making her friend laugh as she tossed her the ball, and Pony bounced it a few times.

"He does! Mom's always working, so he's the one in charge of me, which is stupid, because he's drunk half the time. I've got to tell him if I'm going places and who I'll be with, and I'm not supposed to walk around alone. When you and me were fighting, I couldn't hardly go nowhere."

"What about your friends at school?"

"They're fine, but they're not like you, you know? Like, we don't go to each other's houses and stuff. They're from the nice part of town. I'd feel…I don't know. Weird, I guess, having them over to my house. Keith would probably be drunk and they'd ask where my mom works and then they'd get weird if I told them she had two jobs, and one's at a bar."

Pony nodded. She dug that real good. It was the same as the girls on the track team. She liked most of them, but it would be weird to have them over to the house. She wasn't ashamed of where they lived or anything. Darry and Soda worked real hard to make sure they could keep their home, and it still looked almost the same as when their mom and dad had been alive, but still…it wasn't in a great neighborhood and even if it was clean, it wasn't nice like the places they probably lived at. Their neighbors on one side got drunk and fought sometimes, loud enough that Pony had to hide her head under a pillow to get some sleep, and some of the other neighbors had beer bottles and broken glass in yards full of dead grass and junk.

"Are you going to try to talk to him today?" Susie asked after a moment, and Pony held the ball for a minute, staring down at it.

"I don't know." She didn't want to, but she got the feeling it was inevitable…that Darry wasn't going to let this go for much longer, and that they'd have to face all of it and talk about it and just the idea scared her.

"It's alright," Susie told her quietly, reaching out and taking the ball. "We ain't gotta talk about it. But if you guys fight again, you can always come to my place. Keith won't mind either."

She smiled, so grateful for her best friend that she wanted to throw her arms around her. Instead, she just thanked her, and, picking up the hint that Pony didn't know what to say, Susie turned and made a shot from the middle of the court, grinning at Pony when it swished through the net.

"Your turn."

They played a few games of Horse, then played one on one for a while. It was cold out, so the park stayed pretty empty. There were some families with little kids bundled up in winter coats on the other side of the fountain playing on the swings and the jungle gym, but no one offered to play with them, probably because most guys didn't like playing basketball with girls. The other court was empty too, and as the afternoon got colder, those families took their little kids and went home.

It was nearly four, according to Susie's watch, when Pony decided to ask her friend if she wanted to head to her and Keith's place to warm up so she didn't have to go straight home. But before she could open her mouth, Susie hesitated, basketball in hand, as she stared past Pony in the direction of the fountain. She turned too, spotting a familiar hood heading their way, Johnny in tow, and smiled, surprised at how relieved she was to see him.

"Hey, Dally. Johnny," she called, grinning despite herself.

Johnny nodded hello and Dally shoved his hands in his pockets, looking around like he was checking for trouble. "How's it going, kids?"

"Keith said they let you go."

He shrugged, nonchalant, but she couldn't help noticing the new black eye, and she wondered if the cops had given it to him. "Yeah. They ain't got nothing on me. Two-Bit said you two were coming here. What are you doing?"

"Playing basketball," she told him like it was obvious. She didn't exactly want to have a heart to heart with Dally and explain that she hated being in that house with Darry and fighting with him all the time and she'd just wanted to do something normal with her friend, and she was sure he wanted that even less. So instead, she just pointed at the ball in Susie's hand.

He shook his head, a reluctant smile turning the corners of his mouth when Johnny laughed. "Smartass."

"You guys wanna play?" Susie offered.

"Yeah, alright," Johnny agreed, and she bounced the ball over to him. Dally moved to Pony's side, glancing around again to make sure no one was around.

"Do they know who it might have been?"

He shook his head. "Not as far as I could tell. They kept trying to get me to confess but I didn't tell them anything. They never said a word about you."

Johnny made a shot from the fence and tossed the ball to Susie.

"Just keep your head down, kid. You hear? It's gonna be fine."

Susie threw the ball and it bounced against the rim, bouncing away as she cursed and Johnny laughed.

"That's H!" he called, and Dally started to run for the ball when Pony heard the squeal of tires from the street. She glanced back, freezing at the sight of the blue Mustang parked right by the curb, four familiar guys climbing out.

She grabbed Dally's arm before he could get more than a step towards where the ball had rolled, and he turned, giving her a look. But then he followed her gaze to the group of socs approaching from the street. Johnny and Susie both went quiet, the basketball forgotten as it rolled into the corner of the court.

"Dally…" Susie started, and he glared at the both of them.

"Stay here," Dally ordered with a finger pointed at the two of them, then headed around the fence to meet the group of approaching socs, Johnny following close behind. Pony hurried to join them, Susie hissing at her to stop as she trotted at her heels. Pony wasn't about to stop, though. No way. Not when the only reason they were after him was her. Dally glanced back like he was making sure she'd listened, only to find her a few steps away. "Jesus, kid," he muttered, giving her an exasperated look before turning back to the other guys, hands shoved in his pockets, the picture of nonchalance.

"Found you, asshole," Allen grinned.

"I wasn't hiding," he scoffed. "This is our turf. What do you want?" Dal asked, unbothered as ever. Beside him, Johnny crossed his arms, looking like the picture of a tough hood. Pony tried to look as tough as them…tried not to look scared from where she stood behind them, Susie standing behind her. If it came to a fight, it was four on two…unless Pony and Susie helped. But she knew that they wouldn't hesitate to hurt them just because they were girls. Hell, she had the bruises to prove it, hidden under Evie's makeup.

"Just trying to figure out why the fuzz let you go," Allen told him, disgust written all over his face. Up close, he looked even worse than Pony had thought. Her and Soda really had done a number on him. Mostly Soda, though.

"Guess they were just feeling generous today." Dally gave them a dangerous smile.

Pony had tried drawing him before, making sure no one saw. She was real good at getting that expression just right…the kind of expression that meant Dally was ready to do something stupid. Something reckless. It was a fun thing to draw, but if anyone saw her doodling Dally's face, they'd get the idea that she was in love or something, when most of the time, it was the opposite.

Randy scoffed. "Figures. They've got one job and they can't even get that right."

"Look, man, I don't know what the hell your problem is but…"

Allen shook his head, incredulous. "My problem is, you killed my best friend, you piece of shit."

"I didn't kill him, asshole! Even the cops can figure that out. Your buddy was a drunk who went around picking fights. Someone was bound to kill him sooner or later."

Randy stiffened at Allen's side, and Allen's jaw went tight like he was about to start screaming. Pony got that look…got being so angry and sad and hurting so much that she just didn't know how she was going to survive it. But Allen didn't scream. Instead, he lifted his jacket and, quick as a snake, pulled out a gun that he held out straight in front of him, pointing it right at Dally.

Susie gasped, and Pony heard her footsteps as she backed away, but Pony couldn't move. It was still light out, she thought, feeling stupid as soon as she did. But this was the kind of stuff that was supposed to happen after dark, not in the middle of the day at the park! Her hands were shaking, heart pounding in her ears. Allen had a gun…one that, unlike Dally's, was probably loaded.

"Well I figure if the cops ain't going to deal with you, I will." Allen grinned, shaking his head and laughing a little to himself. "I'll deal with you myself, greaser."

"He didn't kill Bob!" Pony snapped, trying to push past Dally, but he shot an arm out to try and keep her behind him, Johnny doing the same. "Are you assholes deaf?"

"Here's what I think happened." Allen took a couple of steps towards them, followed by his buddies who looked nervous all of a sudden. Randy kept staring at the gun, then up at Pony and Susie.

"Look, Allen, we ought to let the girls go," Randy muttered. "They ain't a part of this. They're just kids."

"Man, listen to your friend. You want to rumble, we'll rumble, but the girls ain't got nothing to do with this."

"I think," Allen said, speaking louder now to talk over him. "That you saw Bob talking to your girl at the movies that night and you got pissed."

"I ain't his girl!" she cried, just about gagging at the idea, and beside her, Dally rolled his eyes.

"And since you're a white trash piece of shit, you just pulled out a knife and killed him when his back was turned."

"Dally didn't kill him!"

"Will you shut up, you stupid bitch? Jesus. I don't know how the hell you put up with her."

"Listen, man. You think whatever you want." Dally told him, sneering and pulling out a switchblade, the blade releasing with a tiny 'click' that felt louder than it was. "I didn't kill your asshole friend." He glanced at Pony who'd moved to stand beside him, softening. "You ain't gotta look like that, kid. He doesn't have the balls to shoot me in broad daylight," he all but taunted, and she knew what he was doing…why he hadn't gone for his gun instead.

He was trying to keep Allen's attention off of her and keep him from shooting.

But that gun was aimed at him! And all he had was a switchblade and a gun that wasn't loaded.

There was another soft click beside her, and she glanced over to find Johnny with his own blade out, looking tough and mean and ready to fight.

"You killed my best friend! You ain't just gonna get away with it!" Allen took another step forward and cocked the gun with shaking hands and it was all happening so fast…Pony couldn't take it anymore. Couldn't let this go any further. She could see it in his eyes…he was really going to kill Dally. Ignoring Susie who reached for her and Dally who tried to push her back, Pony stepped forward, her heart pounding so loud she could hardly hear herself think.

"Dally didn't kill Bob!"

Allen spared her a disgusted glance. "Will you shut…"

"I did!"

Everyone went real quiet then, him and all his friends turning to her with wide eyes, the gun moving to point straight at her. Susie took a shuddering breath behind her, and Pony didn't have to look at her to get how terrified she was. It wasn't her fault…she had nothing to do with all this. But because of Pony, she was in danger too.

"Pony!" Dal glared at her, moving closer and glancing over at that gun every few seconds.

"What the hell did you say?" Allen all but whispered.

She was shaking, but she managed to sound almost brave when she said it again. "I killed him."

"Shut the fuck up, you hear me?" Dally snarled, grabbing her arm in a bruising grip and shaking her, and if Darry had been there, he'd have jumped all over him for treating her like that. He might even have hit him. The gang almost never even swore around her, much less at her, especially not around Darry. Darry didn't ever put up with the gang being mean to her. Hell, once Steve had made a joke about her making him a sandwich and Darry had thrown a fit. It had been right after their parents…only about a month after the funeral.

She'd made Darry lunch. They'd been doing okay then, and, seeing how exhausted her brother was all the time, she'd wanted to help…had wanted to make herself useful somehow. Soda had been working at the DX part time and it felt like Darry never quit working…she'd wanted to help them out too. So she'd made herself lunch and had packed one for Darry.

She'd just been putting the sandwich in his lunch box, taking a bite out of her own, when her brothers had come in, followed by Steve. And Steve, just like Two-Bit, had problems keeping his mouth shut sometimes.

He'd looked her up and down, smirking. "How about you make me a sandwich too?"

Immediately, she'd flushed, stomach churning. She still wasn't sure why his words had affected her so much…maybe it was the teasing…not friendly teasing like she'd get from Soda or Susie or even Keith. None of them ever wanted to hurt her. But sometimes she felt like Steve said stuff like that just to embarrass her. To make her feel stupid and small, when she already felt that way so often.

Darry had watched her face drop, her cheeks flushing as she'd crossed her arms, and his eyes had narrowed as he'd spun around, reaching out and shoving Steve against the wall, hard.

"What did you just say to her?"

Steve had stared up at him, wide-eyed, as Soda had moved out of the way, abandoning his friend to throw an arm around Pony. "Man, I was just joking around."

"You don't talk to her like that, you hear me?" He'd pointed a finger in his face and everything. Then he'd gone over to Pony's side, ruffling her hair. "Whatcha doing, kiddo?"

"I was making lunch," she'd muttered, embarrassed now and regretting it. "Made you one for tomorrow."

He'd draped an arm around her then, replacing Soda's, and had squeezed her in a hug. "Thanks, Pone."

She'd ignored Steve for the rest of the week, and she knew Soda had been upset with him too. He'd never apologized but he had bought her a Pepsi at the DX, which was as close to an apology from him as anything, and she'd taken it. Half the time she hated Steve, but no matter how she felt about it, he was like family, and she could never make herself hate him for too long.

But Darry wasn't there to yell at Dallas for talking to her like that, and Dally looked like he might just murder her himself and save Allen the trouble.

"Pony," Susie whispered, moving closer, but thankfully Johnny stayed in front of her friend, his arm out to keep her back. Just a few feet away now, Allen was pointing a gun right at her, and if she wasn't careful, Susie could get caught in the crossfire.

Back when they were kids, their dad had taken them hunting a few times, even though it always made their mom nervous when he took Pony. She had always been the best shot, but she'd never wanted to kill anything. Mostly Soda and her had just goofed off. So she'd been around guns, and she'd held them plenty of times. She'd never had one pointed at her though…had never imagined how terrifying it would be…how her heart would pound in her ears and how her hands would shake and how she'd hold her breath like that would make a difference.

But at least he wasn't pointing it at Dally anymore.

"You killed him."

Pony nodded.

"You killed my best friend you fucking bitch…" His face was red and angry and she thought his eyes were a little too bright, but she couldn't tell if he'd been drinking or just ready to start bawling.

"Your friend was a rapist," she told him simply, faking a bravery she didn't feel. She'd never said that word out loud…had tried not to even think it. But that's what he'd been..that's what he'd been trying to do. Beside her, Dally winced, then stepped forward, gesturing with the knife.

"Listen, pal, you point that gun somewhere else or I'm gonna come over there and shove…"

Johnny was moving as Dally spoke, hand outstretched to pull her back. But before Dally could even finish his sentence, and before Johnny could so much as touch her, Allen looked her right in the eye, and she saw what he was going to do before he did it…how much he hated them and how desperate he was to avenge his friend. The gun went off right as Pony reached out, trying to shove Dally away.

The bang was deafening, the gunshot echoing in her ears along with Dally's scream, and for a long moment, Pony thought Allen had shot him, even though she'd just confessed. Why would he try to kill Dally though? Dally hadn't killed Bob! She had!

"Jesus…Allen…what did you do!" Randy was screaming, sounding horrified, but he wasn't the only one.

Susie was screaming too. So was Dally..

"No! She's a kid! She's a fucking kid!"

Why was Dally screaming? More importantly, why was he screaming about her?

"Allen what the fuck, man!" That had to have been one of Allen's other friends.

Dally dropped to his knees beside her, and behind him, she could just see Johnny, seemingly frozen in place, switchblade still in hand, and Susie, staring at her and pressing her hands to her mouth like that could make her screaming stop.

"She's only fourteen! What the hell is wrong with you?" Darry cried, voice breaking, and she'd never heard him sound like that before.

Pony was on her back on the cold grass and she didn't remember how she'd gotten there or why she would be there. She needed to get up…needed to see if Dally was okay! He'd been shot! Hadn't he? Had she pushed him away in time? But he was on his knees beside her, pressing hard on a spot right below her chest on the right side…it hurt, but she was more stunned and confused than anything.

"She killed him!" Allen yelled, and for some reason she thought he was trying to defend himself. "That bitch killed Bob!" His voice wavered, but Pony couldn't figure out why he was so upset. He wasn't the one that was shot…Dally was. Right?

Susie kept screaming, and the sound of broken words she couldn't make out was like a siren in her head. She couldn't understand what her friend was saying…couldn't understand why Dally looked so scared. Dally was never scared. There was the sound of pounding footsteps and Pony watched as the socs turned and ran just as Johnny moved closer, hovering over Dally's shoulder, his eyes wide and terrified.

"Dal…she…"

"Get her brother! Go to the house and call for help! Now!" Dally was still screaming, and Pony watched as Johnny stumbled back a few steps, then took off running.

What was going on?

"Dally?" she asked, surprised when just his name was almost impossible to say. Breathing was hard, which was strange because she ran track and never had this much trouble…and she hadn't even been running. Right? She'd been standing around with Susie and Dally and then Allen had pointed a gun at her…

That's when it hit her, a wave of pain driving it home. Allen hadn't been pointing the gun at Dally. He hadn't shot Dally.

Allen had shot her.

Dally pressed harder and it hurt more, but Pony could barely get enough air to gasp in pain.

"Dally, there's so much blood…it…it's not stopping…" Susie babbled, hysterical.

"Shut up," he snapped with a meanness that would have surprised Pony if she could just make herself think straight. It hurt more and more and she couldn't get a full breath and Dally…Dally was talking to her, words coming so fast she could barely keep up. "Johnny's going to call an ambulance, kid. You're fine, you hear me? Hell, it barely got you. You're fine. Stay awake. Don't close your eyes, you hear me! Wake up!"

She was trying, but it was getting harder and harder, and she felt a warm tear run down her cheek. She hadn't even known she was crying, but as soon as that first tear fell, she couldn't hold back a sob, the movement sending a sharp stab of pain through her chest. Susie grabbed her hand then, squeezing hard, and she managed to turn her head just enough to see her friend crying silently beside her, her eyes glued to Dally's hands.

"Dally?" she whispered, meaning to speak louder but not able to. "Dally?"

"I'm going to kill him….I'm going to kill Russell, you hear me? I'm going to fucking kill him!" Dally had his hands on the bullet wound, pressing down hard, but he wouldn't look her in the eye.

Susie squeezed her hand again. "Pony?"

"Hm?" Pony tried to keep her eyes open….that's what Dally wanted, and it was always best not to cross Dally.

"Don't….don't die, okay?"

She did her best to give a reassuring smile to her sobbing friend. She hated seeing the people she loved cry more than just about anything. "Trying," she whispered, taking a ragged breath and trying to stop crying herself. Dally already thought she was a baby, and she was scaring Susie. "'M fine…right…Dal?"

"Damn right, you're fine. Jesus, your brothers are going to kill me. I can't believe you fucking tried to push me out of the way you stupid…" he trailed off, shaking his head and staring at the basketball court behind them. She thought she saw a tear run down the side of his face, but she knew she must be seeing things. Dallas Winston didn't cry. "What the hell were you thinking, huh? What the fuck was that?" His voice broke and he closed his eyes for a second, shaking his head. "Damnit, kid. What was that?"

She didn't have an answer because breathing was too hard and she couldn't do much more than gasp for air and squeeze Susie's hand…maybe too hard. She couldn't tell.

"Dal…I can't…" she started, trying to explain, but he shook his head, still not looking at her.

"I know, kid. Hang on."

"Dally," she whispered. It hurt! She couldn't breathe and it hurt! "Please!" she sobbed, and Dally closed his eyes, jaw going tight. Pony didn't know what she was asking of him, but whatever it was, he couldn't give it to her.

"Just…hang on, Pony, you hear?"

"Dally!" someone shouted, and she heard running footsteps again, this time coming closer. Whoever it was faltered for a moment, then took off again, faster this time as they ran towards where she lay on the ground, something warm pooling underneath her. Blood.

She was bleeding so much. And it was like all the warmth in her body was seeping out with the blood and into the grass, leaving her colder than she'd ever been before.

"Pony?"

Dally swore under his breath, closing his eyes for a second before staring up at the sky.

"Pony! Dally? What the hell…"

She knew that voice…had known it her whole life. She tried to keep her eyes open as she turned her head just a little, watching her brother sprinting towards them. Darry crashed to his knees at her side, looking more scared than she'd ever seen him. His hands hovered over her and he shook his head, like he wasn't going to let this be true.

"No…no…Pony. What…" His eyes darted from her face to the place where Dally's hands still pressed hard against her. He was using both of his hands…but she didn't think it was working. She felt so cold she could hardly stand it.

"It was Russell," Dally bit out from her other side.

Darry ripped off his jacket, then his shirt too, shoving it towards Dally. "Here!" he demanded, and without missing a beat, Dally used it to try and stop the bleeding. She couldn't tell exactly where he'd shot her anymore…her whole chest felt like it was on fire. Darry tried to lift her head with shaking hands and get his jacket underneath her. She had no idea if it worked…couldn't seem to think or keep up with anything going on around her. She was just so cold.

"He came here…saying I'd killed Sheldon. And she wouldn't keep her fucking mouth shut!"

Pony had a vague notion that he was mad at her, but she wasn't sure why. "You…you didn't kill…him," she choked out, trying to focus on him, but the whole world was fading away, and it sounded like Darry was crying but that was impossible because Darry never cried.

"Hey, stay with me, Pone. Please…don't do this honey. Don't go to sleep. Come on, baby. Look at me!" he urged, and Darry was crying so she forced her eyes open and watched as he placed a shaking hand on her cheek. His hand was so warm it almost helped. "You're okay, honey. You're okay. Stay with me." He nodded, trying to smile encouragingly through his tears, and Pony felt like the sight of her older brother crying like that might just break her.

Had she really thought he'd be glad if something happened to her? That he'd wanted to get rid of her?

"Where's that damn ambulance?" Dally snapped, but she wasn't sure which one of them he was mad at.

"Dar…I…did it," she rasped through her tears, trying not to cough because that would just hurt more. She had to tell him. He had to understand. If this was the last time she got to talk to him…

Despite everything, he deserved to hear it from her.

"What do you mean, honey? What did you do?"

"Pony, shut up!"

"Dallas, I swear to God…" Darry started, looking across her at their friend like he'd like to knock him out, but Dally cut him off.

"She can't fucking breathe and she's trying to confess! Jesus Christ! She killed Bob Sheldon, okay?" he hissed, looking around like anyone might be eavesdropping. But at the sound of the gunshot, everyone else had cleared out of the park as far as Pony could tell.

"What?" Darry shook his head, looking back down at her, but her eyes were closing and it was getting harder and harder to open them. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"I'm sorry. Sorry, Dar…sorry," she whimpered, wishing she could go on…wishing she could tell him she was sorry that he'd had to give up everything for her and sorry for whatever she'd done to make him hate her so much, and sorry that she'd been so late coming home on Saturday, and sorry she'd ever gone to the movies on her own.

She was just so sorry.

She managed to grab his arm, gripping it as tight as she could. She didn't want to fall asleep…didn't want to be alone. In her nightmares, she always ended up alone. Darry put a hand over hers, his other still resting on her cheek.

"'M scared, Darry," she whispered, lips trembling, and she didn't even care that she was acting like a baby in front of Dally and Susie because it hurt and she couldn't breathe right and she wanted her big brother to make everything okay.

He shook his head, rubbing his thumb under her eye, trying to wipe her tears away only to have them replaced by more. Dallas swore under his breath, turning his face away from them, like if he didn't see it, it wouldn't be real.

"Hey…don't be scared. You hear that siren? The ambulance is coming. You're okay. I'm right here with you, kiddo."

"Don't…go…"

"I'm not going anywhere, baby. I'm right here."

Of course he was. Darry was there because she needed him. He'd always be there if she needed him. How had she forgotten that?

Her hand wasn't strong enough to hold onto him anymore, and she felt it hit the ground, but she didn't remember letting go. She was colder than she'd ever been before and Darry was shaking his head, his warm hand on her face moving to slip underneath her head.

"Pony? Hey, honey, don't go to sleep, okay? Please…open…"

It was too late. Pony was asleep, surrendering to the blissfully painless dark that surrounded her as his words faded away.

Thanks for reading!