Disclaimer: Don't own a thing!!

A/N- I'm so awful...this has been written for such a long time, but I hadn't remembered! I'm so sorry!!!!

Things Change Fast

Chapter 4

Darryl Curtis was sitting in a chair in his living room, his head in his hands. Sodapop walked in and saw him sitting there, looking so pitiful, and immediately felt sorry for his older brother. He went over to him, put his hand on Darry's shoulder, and said softly, "Hey…" Darry didn't look up and replied, "It's all my fault, Soda. All my fault…" Soda knelt down in front of him and said, "No, Darry, don't say that!"

"If I hadn't hit him, he'd still be here! So would Johnny and Jessi. It's all my fault."

"Darry, you had no idea that Ponyboy would've run off with Jessi and Johnny."

"Still doesn't change that it's my fault. I feel so guilty, Sodapop."

"But, Darry, you shouldn't feel guilty! If you'd known that by hitting Pony he would've run off with Johnny and Jessi, would you have hit him?"

"Of course not!"

"Life is unpredictable. If we knew what was going to happen, living wouldn't be so great. We can't know the future, and we can't change what happened. Instead of wasting all of our energy on grieving and blaming ourselves, we should be trying to find him. So come on, get up, and stop feeling sorry for yourself!"

Darryl looked at him and said, "Do you care at all that he's not here?"

The sparkle in Soda's eyes disappeared as he cried, "Of course I care! I'm just choosing to be a bit more optimistic and hopeful than you're being!"

That got through to Darry. He'd never seen Soda get mad like that before. He was always the calm yet excited one. He was always so mellow but hyper at the same time. Darry looked at Soda and half smiled. He said to him, "How'd you get to be so smart, Sodapop?"

Soda smiled back and the dancing twinkle returned as he said, "I learned from my brothers."

Darry gave him a hug. They broke apart when they heard footsteps on the stairs. They looked at the stairs to see Ali standing there, looking kind of surprised. She said, "Oh, glory…I just ended a brother-bonding moment, didn't I?" Soda smiled at her and said, "Don't beat yourself up about it, Al. It was pretty much over anyway." He winked at her and she went weak in the knees.

"Has there been any word about Ponyboy, Johnny, and Jessi?"

Darry shook his head sadly and answered, "No, nothing yet. Though I hear they're asking ol' Dallas a lot of questions about that Soc that was killed in the park. I bet they think he did it. For once, he didn't. They have no clue that Johnny, or Pony, or Jess did it. Can you imagine little Johnny or Pony, off killing Socs?" The rest of the gang put two and two together and realized that one of them killed Bob. Dallas was the only one who knew the truth. Two-Bit thought that Jessi did it because she'd already pulled a knife on some Socs. No one else had any ideas on which one it could be. One thing they all knew, it couldn't be Johnny. Not sweet, innocent Johnny.

Ali said back, "Well it's a good thing you haven't reported them missing yet. They have no way of blaming any of them for that murder right now. It would look suspicious if they all happened to leave at the same time together, all a few hours after Bob was killed."

Soda nodded and said, "See, Ali's like me, Darry! We both think on the bright side. Don't worry…they'll turn up. It's only a matter of time…it's only a matter of time."

Dallas Winston was sitting in a small wooden chair in front of a small table, staring into the angry eyes of two police officers. One of them said, "Come on, Winston. It had to be you! Who else would do something so awful to such a nice young man?"

Dallas smirked and said, "Oh come on, Officer. If it was me, I'd be owning up to it! I wouldn't hide after killing a Soc! I would definitely admit to that one."

The one who had asked him the question said to the other officer, "He's got a point there, Joe. He's not the sort to run from his crimes. He wants the credit."

Joe answered, partly talking to Dally, "Well if he didn't do it, then he must have some type of connection. A crime don't take place in Tulsa without him knowing who did it and why."

Dallas smirked some more and leaned back in the chair. He said to them, "That's very true."

"So what do you know about this case?"

"I heard the person who killed him went to Texas. Lots of space to lose yourself in."

"Texas? How'd they get there?"

"Hell if I know. Train, I guess."

"But we shut off the train stations and put up all those roadblocks."

"Well then my guess is that whoever killed the Soc was smart enough to know that he or she had to get out of here before the cops, that's you guys, realized the Soc was dead. I guess it worked."

Joe glared at him and said, "And just how do you know they're in Texas?"

"Like you said, Officer," He sneered the last word and smirked, "a crime don't go on in Tulsa that I don't know about."

"And how sure are you that they're in Texas?"

"You mean you don't trust me? I'm so hurt!" He faked a sad face.

"Just answer the question, Winston!"

"Now, come on, boys. You know I'm not going to tell you squat without something in return. I've told you the Texas-bit. But just think…I could be lying. I'll tell the truth if I get some type of…payment."

Joe sighed, "What do you want, Dallas?"

"Maybe fifty bucks would do the trick. On the other hand, a promise saying that you won't ever put me back in jail would be nice…'course you could always go back on your promise when you catch said fugitive. I think fifty bucks is my best bet."

"And you'll tell us the truth if we give it to you?"

"Of course."

Joe told the other officer, "Go get the fifty bucks."

He retorted, "But, sir! That's a lot of money for something like this."

"Just go get it!"

He nodded and went to get the money. When he returned, Joe said to Dallas, "Here it is, Winston. You tell us the truth, and we'll give it to you."

"But how do I know you'll give it to me after I've told you? You could be bluffing."

Joe put the money in the middle of the table and said, "It's right there, go ahead and take it." Dallas reached out for it, keeping his eyes on the two officers. His hand closed around the cash and his eyes lit up. His plan was working wonders. He smirked again and said, "Splendid, boys. Just splendid."

"Now keep your end of the bargain."

"I was telling the truth. I hear they went to Texas. For the same reason I told you. Lots of space to get lost in."

"So we just paid you for nothing!"

"No, I could've been lying." In truth, Dallas wasn't lying. He had heard some people say the killer went to Texas for the same reason he'd given the cops. Just because he didn't set the story straight didn't make him a liar. He hoped the two cops would let him go soon so he could get to Winchester and get the guys and Jessi up to date on what was happening.

"So how sure are you?"

"Why does that matter?"

"Winston, I'm not sending men to Texas to look for some Greasers, only to find out that you're wrong."

"Well I can't be one hundred percent positive. But if I committed that kind of crime, I'd announce it and run to Texas. Get the credit, but not the time."

"Do you know who did it?"

Dallas stared at the Officer's face, trying to read his expression. No, they don't have a clue as to who did it. He responded, "All I can tell you is that it's a Greaser."

Joe turned to the other officer and said, "Tell the other men to check out the Greaser neighborhood, John."

"Gentlemen, we've already established that they've left. Going there won't help you find them."

"Shut up, Winston. John, ask every home if someone has gone missing."

John nodded and went out the door. Joe turned back to Dallas and said, "You're free to go, Winston." Dallas nodded and stood up. He said, "Pleasure doing business with you." With that, he strode out of the police station on onto the street. Now…how to get to Winchester…?

Ponyboy was sitting on a pew in the church in Winchester, thinking about his hair and the last few days. He recalled that morning, when Johnny had been so upset because Jessi wasn't there. It was then that he figured out that Johnny liked Jessi as much more than a friend. He had felt a cold stab of jealousy. He had always known that he liked Jessi a lot. She was smart, pretty, funny, adventurous, and he could tell her anything. He couldn't pretend that he hadn't envisioned him being with her. He got up and went over to the door to look at the sunset. He reached the door and heard Johnny say, "Jessi…"

Pony looked down at the stairs where they were sitting and saw Johnny's hand slid under Jessi's chin and pulled her closer. Pony's mouth dropped open as he watched Jessi and Johnny locked in a passionate kiss. He backed away from the door, shocked and heartbroken.

Jessi pulled back tenderly from Johnny and stared into his dark brown eyes. She whispered, "Is this real, Johnny?" He whispered back, "Feels real to me." She smiled. He said to her, "How, when we're in the middle of all this…crap," Jessi laughed as he continued, "can we be…kissing and—and—" Jessi finished his sentence, "Falling in love?" Johnny blushed and said, "Yeah…" Jessi kissed his cheek and said, "It's starting to get cold." She rubbed her arms together as Johnny pulled off his jacket and draped it around her shoulders. She said to him, "Thanks."

"Don' worry about it, Jess."

She smiled and put her head on his shoulder. She said to him, "So what are we going to do now?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean about—about this!" She pointed back and forth between herself and Johnny, "Us. What are we going to do about us?"

"Well, what do you mean by 'going to do'? We have to do something?"

"I mean, when we get back to Tulsa, what are we going to do? Are we going to acknowledge this…chemistry? Do we tell everybody? Do we keep it a secret? What about Ponyboy? Do we conceal this from him while we're here? What are we going to do?"

"Um…well…what do you want to do?"

"I'd like to acknowledge this…I'd like to tell everyone…I don't want to not tell Pony. I don't want to hide this."

"I agree."

"So, what do we do? Do we just walk up to Pony and the others and say, 'Hey, guys, guess what?' and hope they take it well?"

"Maybe we should like 'get together' when we see the others. Like, pretend to. Like, gradually."

"Maybe…but what about Pony? I hate lying to him!"

"I don't know what to tell you, Jessi. I agree, though. We shouldn't hide it. Ponyboy's my best friend, and I don't like lying to him anymore than you do."

"So, do we just go and tell him?"

"I guess so…"

Jessi gave him a scared look and he said, "Are you scared to tell him, Jess?" She nodded and he said, "Why?"

"Because I don't want to hurt Pony's feelings. I've always suspected that he had a small 'schoolboy crush' on me..."

"Yeah, the rest of us thought that a bit, too."

"So what if he does? Don't you think that…us might hurt him a little bit?"

"It would hurt him more if his best friends lie to him."

"True."

By now, the sun had set and the sky was dark. The stars twinkled and shone. It was amazing that the stars could still shine so brightly when so much in the world was going wrong. Jessi gave Johnny a quick kiss and they went inside the church to find Pony and break the news.

They reached the main room of the church and saw Pony sitting on the top of a pew, smoking a cigarette. Jessi said, "Hey, Pony!" He glanced to them and nodded in greeting. Johnny said, "What's with you, man?" Pony stared ahead of him and didn't answer. Jessi stepped in front of him and said, "Pony, what is wrong with you?" Pony turned his head and stared at the wall. Jessi didn't give up that easy, "Ponyboy Curtis! What did I do to deserve the silent treatment, huh?" Pony turned back to her, anger flashing in his eyes. Jessi just stared at him with a cold stare. He said angrily, "Were you ever going to tell me, Jess?"

"Tell you what?"

"Tell me that you and Johnny were going together."

"What?"

"I saw you guys out there kissing. How do you think that makes me feel, Jessi? That my best friend was carrying on a secret romance with my other best friend and not telling me about it?"

"Carrying on a romance? Pony, what you saw was my and Johnny's first kiss together. We haven't been hiding this from you. We came in here to tell you all about it because we didn't want to keep it from you."

"Yeah, sure, Jessi."

"Ponyboy, it's the truth! Why would I hide it? Why would I lie to you? And why are you so bugged by my kissing Johnny, huh?"

Pony stared into her eyes and said, "I care about you, Jessi. I've always cared about you."

"Pony, I care about you, too."

"No you don't. Not like I care about you."

"Pony, what are you talking about?"

"I love you, Jessi!"

Jessi stepped back, dumbfounded. She didn't know what to say. Although she always had her suspicions about Pony's true feelings for her, she never expected that he actually loved her. When Jessi finally found her voice she said, "What did you say, Ponyboy?" Pony took a deep breath and said, "Yeah, Jessi. I love you. Not like my sister, not like my friend. But for real."

"Pony, you're only 14…"

"So?"

"How can you know that you love me when you're only 14? And how can you expect me to be with you when you're 14 and I'm 16?"

"Two years isn't that much."

"It is in teen years, Pony. But that's not what we're talking about here."

"Jessi, I love you. You can accept that, or you can't."

Jessi's face softened. She took Pony's hand and said, "Ponyboy? I see you as a brother. If I didn't, we might have a shot, but you and Sodapop and Darryl are like my brothers! I grew up with you guys…"

"Yeah, Jessi…I know…"

"So are you mad at Johnny and me?"

"No…I guess not. I mean, I still wish it could be me…but I can't be mad at you guys for being happy."

He looked down at his lap and tossed his cigarette in the corner. Jessi smiled and kissed Pony's cheek. She whispered in his ear, "Thanks, Pony." He smiled at her and said, "Go on, go get your man." Jessi laughed and gave Pony a mock salute. She went over to Johnny, who had just been standing there, listening to Pony and Jessi's conversation. She put her arm around Johnny's waist ad he put his arm around Jessi's shoulders. She looked up to him and smiled. She almost completely forgot about why they were here. She was so happy, it was almost completely out of her mind that the person she had her arm around had killed a Soc a few days before.

A/N- Hey guys! Sorry this took me so long and there's not the promised Ali deal. Sarie, If you're reading this, WRITE ME SOME ALI STUFF: D Anyway, it took me awhile because this is written on my laptop, which doesn't have Internet access without a bunch of cords and I just now figured out how to do it and all. Hopefully I'll be able to update better now. I hope to get the next chapter out soon. Hey, don't you like the ending? Huh, huh? No cliffhanger!! I say that's pretty good for you guys. Anyway, I got to go. I've got loads more stuff to write and a bunch more stuff to update! Please review, I'll love you forever!!

Love,

DC