Hereafter

Arc 2: Chapter Five

Neo Genesis

Okay, so perhaps I should explain myself now:

Okay, the new italicized passage was in the original idea but I cut it when I posted chapter one because I was unsure if it were necessary for the story - but now it is.

The reason why I released chapters 3 and 4 at once is that I didn't want too many misinterpretations too early on the story. But there I guess there's a lot of room for that considering the kind of story this is. But I might have that same problem in this chapter too.

Oh and about the whole recycling bin things; I'm not too familiar with the history of Oklahoma but like I said, I'll try to make the story true to the original thing and time appropriate, but don't be too surprised if I don't. I'll keep the event there for the sake of Pony's character.

This is around 2 to 3 months after the last chapter, it's now the 2nd semester of school.

XXXX

A few months later...

I woke up again today.

(What is a just a dream or was it a nightmare?)

The side of my bed was empty. (Pony? Where are you, man?) I was still too drowsy to remember much of anything.

When it hit me, I kinda scolded myself. (Oh yeah, he's at his friend's house.) Ponyboy had made quite a few new friends in the last few months. He'd usually go to the movies or to their houses instead of staying here so much. To be honest, it was fine by me; I was still working full time and he'd always come home like 30 minutes after I did. I mean, I'd rather have him with some friends than in the house; alone and bored all the time. At least he's been talking to a couple of girls now; when he visits me at DX, some of the younger girls give him looks too. Some of them even come up to him and talk to him, usually by asking if he was my brother. I remember the first time I saw that happen; he grinned so wide. I know he never thought of us looking alike at all, but they seemed to think differently. So I would have say, yeah he looks like me; we're brothers after all.

And besides, I don't want Darry worrying about another group of people raiding our fridge.

A beam of light blinded me as the door opened. I rustled in my sheets and pulled my pillow above me.

"Hey Soda," Darry's voice was soft but expressionless.

"Where's Pony?"

I wanted to say (Turn the damn lights off!) But with my own exhaustion and the sheets over me, it only came out as an awkward grunt-like sound.

His footsteps got closer to me and my blankets were ripped away from my bed. Since it was getting colder now, and since Darry always kept the temperature low to save money, our house was down right freezing. Me and Dare always liked it cold, but he'd flip if any of us would ever get a cold. Especially Pony, he always liked things warmer. In the winter he'd sometimes sleep with a jacket on. (How the hell does he stand that?) I always wondered.

"Darry," wow I sounded so much like a little kid.

When my eyes got a little more used to the light, I said,"ain't he at that one girl's house, Sarah, right?"

(Oops...Crap) If I weren't so out of it right now I would've kept my mouth shut about the whole thing and said some lie about it.

"He's where?" my big brother never could hide the frustration he had when Pony's gone missing. Golly, he's missing a lot, now that think about it.

I could feel myself getting a bit red.

"Yeah, Dare. He said he won't miss school though." My voice lacked certainty which scared him something awful.

"Wait, what's he doing at a girl's house, anyway?" Okay now it felt like he was accusing me of something, but I knew he wasn't trying to. I guess now I know Pony feels when Darry hollers at him. Well, at least they don't fight anymore; and they only fuss over things when talking about situations like these when has the right to worry.

"He said he had school project they had to do at her house-"

"And why not here?" Darry cut me off. He seemed like he was panicking, that's not like Darry.

I didn't respond, Darry caught on with his own worries; he was so worried about Pony that he wasn't even thinking straight. Or he was too tired to do so, it was by like 2 in morning. Darry knew who Sarah was, even though she was a Soc, she was a nice girl. She didn't seem to mind being friends with Ponyboy so we didn't mind her either; she never caused any trouble. Darry saw her a couple times at DX when Pony and her would see each other sometimes. We would never let a nice girl like that in our house, not only because we weren't the cleanest bunch, but that we never know what random Grease would be here. I wonder what would happen if Tim Shepard saw Pony bringing a Soc girl to our home. Ever since the rumble and Dally and Johnny's death, Tim held a new found respect for our little buddy. Even though we knew Ponyboy never really like Tim all that much, he did like having his respect.

"Darry it's just a sleepover, that's it." Darry almost looked horrified, he covered it up before I really saw anything.

It's obvious that putting that word; a girl; them being (more or less) alone; and Ponyboy, all in one equation deeply bothered my older brother. And believe it or not, I wasn't too hot about the idea either, but this was Pony we were talking about. He always used his head about girls, that's why he never went after most Greasy girls. They literally had the words 'Trouble' written on their faces. And he just didn't find those kind of girls hot. In all honesty, me neither. Not that she's a greasy girl, but Pony wouldn't try anything with her anyway. I'm sure of it.

"C'mon Darry, this is Ponyboy remember. The boy's never got in trouble with girls if remember correctly. I mean he's fourteen and a half and he has barely talked to girls girls at all." Weird, it seemed like the words were just flowing from my mouth.

"If I remember correctly, you started dating girls when you were still thirteen. And kissed at least half a dozen of them before being Pony's age." I looked at him tiredly, he mirrored my action, wordlessly.

Maybe I was a little bit exaggerating, I wasn't too sure about it but I wouldn't be surprised if kissed twice that much at Ponyboy's age. I know I did, not that that's a good thing.

"I'm pretty sure - no certain he's never even kissed a girl, anyways." It felt weird, I was being the reasonable one and Darry the emotional one instead of the other way around.

He reluctantly gave in, but there was one thing left he needed to know.

"Is he alone?"

"Huh?"

"Is he alone?" he reiterated but with rising concern.

"No, it's like a group project. Him and I think two other of his friends are there too." Darry silently and reluctantly agreed. He went to the door and said,"good night, Soda."

"Night, Dare."

I tried sleeping but I was too awake now...I don't think I can go back to sleep.

To be honest, I was beginning to have my doubts...

(No...Pony's not like that.) I expelled them all out, just for a moment.

(Besides, if he did like her, then he'd tell me, right?) ... They're back again.

I guess insomnia really takes a lot outta a guy.

XXX

I heard someone come near the living room. (Finally, you get up, man.) I was way too sleepy right now, with the old man kickin' me out all the time, I don't think Dare appreciates me crashing at their place all the time. I know I wouldn't if I were him.

I yawned, my eyes were better but still foggy,"Hey Soda..."

"I'm not Soda, Steve." (Huh? Oh shit.) I knew that voice, it wasn't Soda's. (Oh God don't be...)

It was, of course.

(Damn that kid.) He had a curious grin on his face. It was really getting on my nerves.

I don't get it, why in the world would I think that he was Soda. Soda was a good 4 inches taller, his hair was golden-brown while Ponyboy's was reddish-brown again (he got rid of the bleach). And their eyes were differently colored. They also had a different expression, but that kind of thing wasn't something I really payed attention to. Soda's even bulked ever since that one girl Chelsea, was it? I can't remember, but I was kinda glad I couldn't, she was a bitch anyway. Even though Pony, got to eating more, he's still scrawny. He must be like 90 fuckin' pounds!

I'd hate to admit it, but they did look alike. Their face looked a lot alike, girls knew it too. So did the way their hair grew and how they greased it. Great, now I don't only have Soda attracting flies to DX, now I have Baby Curtis. Which means even more girls around the weekdays. Pony usually showed up on Tuesdays and Thursday for some reason, and some of the younger girls caught up on that by now.

(Damn the Boss Man better be giving us a bonus on top that raise considering all we've done here...Oh wait...The kid was getting older, he's 14 and a half now, right? Oh Dammit, the Boss Man better not consider hiring him here when he gets old enough...That would be like hell, Soda's always distracted by either Ponyboy or them girls, leaving me to pick up his slack... There's no way in hell that's gonna happen, ever!)

"Jackass," now he had a smirk that was devious and kinda reminded of ol' Dallas Winston. Pony rarely showed off that side of him, well not anymore. He seemed only to do so when the situation called for it like when he's around some Soc bastards, or more likely, around me. It annoyed me that he'd almost never say anything like that in front of Soda, you'd think after all I've done for that kid that he'd at least appreciate me for it. I mean after all, if it weren't for me, he probably even be around anymore.

Fucker.

He walked coolly to the side of me to enter the living room and as a jerk reaction, I swung my right arm aiming towards that big head of his. He ducked and dodged it (Dammit, why does that kid have to be so short).

"Yer' gonna have to be faster than that, Steve." He was grinning so cockily right now. I heard a rustle on one of the other sofas.

"Hmm...What're y'all up to?" it was Two-Bit. He stayed here the night like me.

(Oh crap, I forgot he was here.) It was so weird being around him when he's asleep, I didn't know there was ever a time the guy could seriously shut up for longer than like a minute. I swear he mumbles sometimes in his sleep.

"Yeah, Pony, where were you out this early. You don't look like you've been runnin'." I said trying to leave the curiosity outta my voice.

"Uhh...Didn't Soda tell y'all," he looked at Two-Bit and sounded just too innocent. (What's going on here?)

"Oh yeah!" Two-Bit jumped out like a giddy school-girl.

He sauntered towards the now red-faced brother of Sodapop. It was Two-Bit's turn to have the devious smirk on his face.

"So...What were you doin' with that girl's house, huh?" he began annoying Ponyboy like one of those really annoying toddlers who keep asking questions and won't leave you alone until you answer them.

"Who is she?"
"What does she look like?"
"Does she go to our school?"
"What's she like?"
"How old is she?"
"How did you to meet?"
"Were you really doing homework?"
"Where did you sleep?"

Two-Bit kept bombarding him with questions and he grew even redder, I don't know why because I didn't really care so much. The kid embarrasses so easily nowadays.

"Oh lay off Two-Bit, why do you even think the kid's done anything anyways." They both looked at me incredulously for some reason. I shrugged it off.

"I mean, the kid hasn't even kissed a fuckin' girl, yet. And he's what, fourteen and half already?" Pony looked at Two-Bit, as if he were agree me. At least I think he did, weird of him. But Two-Bit looked more surprised as though he couldn't believe that. But it wasn't there long, he got back to grinning at Ponyboy.

"So, you were basically alone, right?" His voice softened but I knew it wouldn't last, regardless of Ponyboy's answer.

"Yeah..." (You fuckin' idiot, why the hell would you tell Two-Bit that?)

"Dang, Pony, I can't believe you didn't try anything with her. Wait, you didn't do anything, did you?" Two-Bit edge closer to the kid.

"Yes, Two-Bit. I didn't do anything, Okay?" he was more than fed-up with Two-Bit by now. I only smirked at his expense.

"Man, you know what I would've done if I were you?" Pony's eyes flared up.

"NO, and I don't want to know!" (Calm down kid, or you'll wake them up.)

"For the last time Two-Bit, we are just friends!"

Two-Bit just loves to mess with him, and I found the whole event rather amusing, if not, a bit much on ol' Keith's part. (Oh, wait, isn't that my job? Oh well, I'm not gonna go talk to Pony about this kind of shit. I already gave Johnny 'The Talk' and I'm pretty sure Soda has to him.)

"Two-Bit, stop messin' with my kid brother, y'hear?" a powerful voice stepped into the room. Darry was already getting ready for work, he was already irritated for some reason.

"Ponyboy, get ready to go to school and you better hope to God you got an A on that project of your's." Darry was unusually pissy to Pony today. I wonder what the kid did?

"And the next time you go out all night like that, don't you go off without tell me, y'hear?" Boy did that kid look sorry. It seemed only months ago that Pony would argue and make things worse instead of finding his foot so interesting.

(Oh shit! That's a real bum move, even for you Baby Curtis.)

When Darry went back to the bathroom probably to shave or something, me and Two-Bit stared the poor kid down. (He didn't even tell Darry?) Damn, I didn't think that boy could get even more thoughtless. I mean, that was just plain stupid, he'd know what would happen if he didn't.

He looked angrily at the direction towards his room where his big brother was probably off in his own little dream world. Far away from here.

(Maybe Soda was supposed to tell him or around Pony was supposed to leave but forgot.)

(As if the kid didn't have enough torture from Two-Bit. Damn I wonder what Darry's got planned to say when we're not around.) My thoughts happily trailed off...

Returning to my senses, Ponyboy was still fed-up about Soda probably, and Two-Bit was up to his old tricks annoying the crap outta him. Pony flipped at something Two-Bit said, I don't know what, they were talking too quiet for me to hear. He was real mad at him and he looked sincerely sorry.

I thought about Soda and laughed in my head. (Sorry buddy, these are family matters; dangerous territory for me. I can't believe you forgot to tell Darry. Y'all are gonna have to patch things up without me.)

(Speaking of which) Seriousness returned. "Where the hell is Soda?"

I really need to talk to him. As if by command, Sodapop walked right into the living room.

"Yeah, buddy? What'cha want, man?" Soda, even though he still looked like a mess, especially his hair; he was chirping about happily. To be honest, I don't remember the last time the guy seemed so happy. I know he and Pony made up, thank God. Darry's also gotten like a raise or something because even though Pony's gotten to eating again, the bills didn't seem so much of a problem right now.

...

(Maybe I shouldn't tell him right now. I mean, after what she said to him and treated the rest of us. She doesn't deserve a second chance with him, I don't care what the reason may be. Even if it is that. I remember what happened to Soda after those two split and I'm not letting it happen again. I don't understand how it took so long for any of us to figure it out anyway. i should've seen it right away, but no. It's no wonder they always went to those kinds of places. There's no way in hell I'm gonna let Soda throw away his money and waste his life on her. Dammit!)

My best friend's smile faded into a worried expression because of my unresponsiveness. I tried to smile again, "Oh, it's nothing buddy; don't worry about."

(It's probably for the best anyway, but I don't want her to go anywhere near him. And there's no real way for me to do that, I'm glad I told her he didn't work at DX anymore. I'm not gonna tell him for now, maybe some time soon. Until then, I hope that she doesn't find him before I do.)

XXX

"Hey Two-Bit."

"Yeah?"

"Are you gonna bring to school, today?" Pony's voice was a little less than happy

"Sure, kid." We both left to my old car that my mom got me for my 19th birthday. It really wasn't new, it was her old one, but I was real glad when I got it anyway.

(Boy did I feel bad, that was a bum move of mine. I mean what did I expect from the kid, it's not his fault, it was mine. The whole damn thing, if it weren't for me then it probably would've never happened.

I know the kid didn't do anything with that girl, if he did, he would've given in by now. If not to me, then to Soda or Darry. I wonder what he said to Soda about not telling Darry, they both got in trouble for it. Darry also talked to them about it. That certainly did ruin Soda's mood today, but I doubt it's nothing 7 or hours of almost non-stop flirting can't fix. Okay so Soda's cut down a bit on the flirting but that definitely doesn't stop those girls from trying.

But still, Pony's tried hard to get his act together, really. I remember all of those parties that he went to, I don't think he caught on the fact that I usually went in after him just to make sure he's safe. Darry thanked me for always being there for the guy and since he and Soda were always off working; I'd like to think it was my duty to keep him outta trouble. He didn't get in trouble so much in those parties, he usually didn't stay for long. He was never the partying-type anyway.

But somehow I got the feeling that the only reason why he went to those things was just to get away from all of us. I didn't do such a good job of keeping him in check either. A couple times in the summer; I buzzed up some Pepsi's and brought it over to their house so my mom wouldn't be so mad at me for being drunk a lot. They kept disappearing and I figured out why. Pony drank like three outta the six! This happened like two or three times and I didn't find out where the hell they went until it was way too late. There was a girl that Pony got involved with, and honestly, I did not approve of her. She was pretty for her age but kind of a bitch, like that Shepard girl Angela. But she was always real nice to Pony but to barely anyone else. Somehow I don't think he figured that out until a while. I know he went over to her house drunk at least once, who knows what happened then.

The day figured it out, I basically ran to her house. She doesn't live too far away from my neighborhood and I asked around the her neighbors to find her house. When I got to the house, it was locked, I'm glad I had that new switchblade with me. Anyway, I lock picked the door and saw a girl and Pony making out like there was no tomorrow.)

...

I took the blade out of my pocket, and looked at it.

This switchblade was real sleek and tuff, it had that new feel to it. The thing was still sharp and looked as if it never even touched a single thing before the scrap that just happened. I remember the guy who gave it to me the summer. I only saw him a couple times before we actually met; he was usually in the park or walking in the streets alone or with a younger girl. The guy was pretty big probably around 18 years old. He had dark hair that was kinda short and tanned skin kinda like Johnny's. Ponyboy always said that a person's were like a window into their soul, but this guy had odd hazy eyes that I couldn't really get anything outta him just by looking. He seemed expressionless...Almost inhuman. They reminded me of Darry's only this guy's wasn't blue like Darry's.

I saw the guy fighting off a couple of Greasers, well more hoodlums than anything else. He pulled out the blade after one of them did the same. These guys weren't the best around, the three of them were sloppy like they were high. I don't know what they were fighting about but the guy remained stern and fearless. When the hoods left, he walked up to me surprised as if he didn't notice. Right then, I didn't know what to think; he held a tuff switchblade in his right hand. He didn't actually use it cut or stab any of his attackers. He just punched or kicked them instead, he'd use the blade to defend himself or to scare them off.

I eyed the blade and stood frozen, he looked at me and then the blade. He sensed that I didn't want to fight but for some stupid reason he ask,"Hey...Do you want this? I don't need it and I don't want to keep either." I looked at him as if he were retarded or something, or just real proud of his fighting capabilities. I doubted the latter but looking at the way he fought and just the feel about the guy, he wasn't retarded either. Then why the hell would he give the dang to me?

"Uh...Sure kid, mind if I ask why?" He looked to the side of him but his expression remained intact.

"I just don't want it again, it belonged to a friend of mine and..." He just stopped there. I didn't need him to say more and just lightly took it from his hand.

"Thanks kid." He smiled at me and wordlessly thanked me for not letting him go further.

"Don't sweat it, man."

That was the last time I heard or saw the guy. Strange, the guy didn't seem like a Soc at all. His clothes didn't look like anything a Soc would where, but they were a bit too nice for most Greasers' taste. And if he was a Soc, then why did he give this blade anyway. He was fighting a group of greasy hoods and he didn't have any traces of grease in his hair. So from what I can tell, he's neither a Soc or Greaser.

I wonder what they're like. I've never really met any of those. Unless you count the Curtis', that is. Their Greasers at heart, but if their parents were still alive and they had some more money. Would they still be one of us; especially Darry and Pony.)

"Two-Bit!"

"Dammit Two-Bit, keep your eyes on the road, you're gonna get us killed!" I quickly got the car back on the road without any accidents.

(Oh shit! I forgot I was still driving Pony to school. Dang as if he weren't already mad enough with me. Weird, it's not like me to space out like that. And how the hell did we not get in any accidents?)

We got to the school. "Uh...Sorry Pony," he noticed the sincerity in my words and sighed.

"It's okay Two-Bit, we didn't get into any trouble anyway. And besides, it was kinda fun." For a like a half of a second, that grin of his grew devious. (Pony?)

"Hey Ponyboy," a voice closer from the school said. It was the red-haired girl, the friend of that other cute Soc girl. She was with another Soc who expressed no disdain towards the kid at all. His smile was now good-spirited,"Hey Cherry, hey Randy." They cheerfully greeted each other, it was good to see Pony so happy again. Him, Darry, and Soda. I glad my mistake wasn't irreversible. After all, the whole thing about Pony kissing the girl wasn't the only repercussion because of him being drunk.

"Okay see ya' later kid."

"Later, Two-Bit."

XXXX

Wow, the first chapter without Ponyboy's POV in it, probably one of the only. So what does Steve got to say to Soda? And Two-Bit's been keeping a secret from the rest of the gang for Ponyboy, how long will it stay a secret? What else did unknowingly getting Ponyboy drunk do?

Guess who the guy Two-Bit's talking about. Please don't try and say who it is unless you really have to or want to. If you do want to say it that send a message.

Chapters Five and Six as of now where supposed to be one big chapter, but like the Three and Four, it got way too big (over 9000 words). And please excuse any errors I made.

Does anyone wanna give me my wish to Santa Claus? What I want for Christmas is: reviews! Big surprise there. 8)