Disclaimer-I do not own The Outsiders. S.E. Hinton does.

Two-Bit hummed one of his favorite Elvis songs happily to himself as he went up the steps to the Curtis' porch. He was about to try and open the door when he remembered that they locked it now. He continued to hum to himself as he looked under the window sill for the spare key that was usually taped underneath it. When he found it he peeled the tape off and grabbed the key.

Two-Bit wouldn't admit it, and neither would anyone else in the gang, but they were all worried when Darry told them he was going to start locking the door. Of course they all understood that it was for Soda, and they weren't mad at him at all for it, but they couldn't help but be worried about where they would go if they needed a place to stay for the night.

Two-Bit unlocked the door and quietly went into the house. He knew better than to come barging in like he used to. The gang now has treat Soda similar to how they used to treat Johnnycake. The movie star handsome teen was just so paranoid about everything. Well … who could blame him after everything he's been through?

"Hey Soda!" Two-Bit called into the seemingly empty house. "Ya' here?" The Mickey Mouse lover heard a crash that sounded like it came from the kitchen. "Soda?" Two-Bit called with uncertainty as he made his way over to the kitchen.

What he saw next made his heart sink. A chair was tipped over onto its side (likely due from someone getting up too fast), and there was glass on the floor. But that's not what drained all of the cheerfulness out of Two-Bit. It was the look in Soda's wide brown eyes. The look of sheer pain and complete and utter terror. It killed him to see his friend like that.

"H-Hey Soda," Two-Bit stammered, "What's wrong?"

Soda looked franticly around the room before looking straight at Two-Bit.

"I … I heard him!" Soda exclaimed in a panicked voice. "He was right here! I … I know he was!"

Two-Bit raised an eyebrow up at his friend in confusion. "Who was here Soda?"

"Him!" Soda snapped. "Ya' know..! Him!"

"Sorry, but … I don't understand." Two-Bit admitted as he backed away a little from his hysterical friend.

"D- … Dav- …" Soda couldn't say it. It was too much for him. He just wanted to forget … He wanted to forget "Him" … the basement … the knives! He wanted to forget it all!

"Davi- … D-Dav …" He looked down, his shoulders shaking. "Da- …" Hot tears ran down his face. "D- …" Why can't I say it? He thought angrily. Why can't I say it!

Suddenly he felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked up and saw Two-Bit. His gray eyes were filled with concern instead of their usual cheeriness.

"It's okay Soda," Two-Bit said so quietly that it was practically in a whisper. "Everything's gonna be alright … Okay?"

Soda bit his lip and tried to hold the tears back. He knew that if he tried to talk he would break down crying again. So he decided to nod instead.

"Alright, just … go lay down." Two-Bit instructed in a strange quiet tone of voice. "I'll clean this mess up."

"T-Thank you T-Two-Bit."

Two-Bit waved his hand in the air as if it were no big deal. "Don't worry about it. Just go lie down and get some rest. Ya' look like ya' need it."

Soda couldn't argue with that. He couldn't even remember the last time he got more than five hours a sleep at night.

Later that night after Darry and Pony got home Soda could hear Two-Bit telling Darry about what had happened. He was angry at Two-Bit for telling him but somewhere in the back of his mind he knew that he was just doing it because he was worried about him.

Soda didn't get any sleep from the time Two-Bit told him to lie down to the time Pony and Darry got home. He stayed in bed though, too embarrassed to come out and face his brothers.

Ponyboy came in at around ten thirty. Soda closed his eyes and pretended to be asleep, not wanting to talk to his little brother.

Even though Soda's eyes were closed he could feel Pony's gaze on him. For a moment he thought that he had been found out. Pony's a smart kid. He could probably easily tell if someone was faking to be asleep or not.

After what seemed like forever Ponyboy finally climbed into bed and crawled over to his side. Soda felt safer with Ponyboy there and that made him angry. Well, not really angry but … ashamed. He was ashamed of himself, over what he let happen to him, and just about everything in general lately. Nothing was the same now. Nothing. The gang, his family, himself. Nothing.

Soda closed his eyes and tried to relax … forget … and accept … He didn't want to remember.

It wasn't long until he fell into a deep and disturbed sleep. But before he slipped into unconsciousness he swore he heard "His" voice whisper "I love you" into his ear.

That's it for chapter four. Sorry about the wait. I had a lot of school work and stuff … Anyways, I would like to thank ConfuzzledAtLife, Steph36, TheGizzYall, spicygurl, ikedandude, and Uke-Roxas for all of their wonderful reviews =) The reviews really do inspire me to write 3