I do not own The Outsiders. S.E. Hinton does :)

Back to Pony's perspective :)

The hallways were crowded as usual today, but the noise was louder than usual. There was probably a fight or something going on; our school was known for its fights.

I found Two-Bit walking outside, probably to have a smoke or to cut last period. I quickly ran to him and grabbed his arm, making him whirl around and try to hit me in defence.

"Whoa, you actually scared me. Me!" he shouted, and grabbed me in a headlock.

I squirmed out of his grip but carried on clutching his arm.

"Uh…Pony?" he said, cocking an eyebrow.

"You cutting?" I asked. Two-Bit nodded slowly.

"I'd take you with me, but Superman would kill me." He stated, biting his lip.

There it is again: everybody treating me like a little kid! I'm pretty sure I can make my own decisions.

"Darry's not my dad." I shot at him, hoping it would work. "Besides, you're doing it."

Two-Bit lit up a cigarette even though we were still inside school.

"Yeah, but he's in-charge of you…and he's not in-charge of me so I won't get in trouble." he explained.

"Exactly, you won't get into trouble; I will. So you have nothing to worry about." I said, and he shifted around nervously, thinking for a moment.

"No." he replied finally. "I have nothing to do with it. You go if you want to, but you ain't comin' with me; it's your responsibility, if Darry skins ya then it's your own fault." He muttered before placing his cigarette in his mouth again and pacing out of the building.

Secretly, I beamed; he wasn't carrying on at me, he was just letting me go. I know that if it was Steve Randle, he would have probably tried to convince me not to go until he'd finally decide to just tell Soda or Darry. Two-Bit wasn't like that; he ain't no snitch and he never has been.

I skipped out of the school and down the steps, earning a few confused glances from the kids who were spending their free periods outside.

Since I wasn't sure where to go without people getting suspicious, I decided to just take a walk.

As if by fate, I saw the same black car from yesterday parked at the side of the road, and noticed a familiar little boy with blond hair outside of the same grocery store where he was yesterday, only this time he wasn't with a light skinned blond woman, instead he was with a big bulky guy who was only a little shorter than Darry.

The bulky guy talked to Ethan before storming back off to his car. He casted Ethan one last glance out of the window, and then drove off.

I loped over to Ethan who was sitting at the side of the store. When he heard my footsteps, his head shot up, however he sighed in relief when he saw that it was just me.

"Hey, little man, why aren't you in school?" I asked, remembering to call him by the nickname that he liked.

"Why aren't you?" he snapped, and a frown formed on his forehead.

I held my hands up in surrender.

"I just decided to leave because I wanted to see you." I lied, hoping it would make him feel better.

"I know you're lying; nobody ever wants to see me. So you can just shove off." he spat, and I was shocked; where did the cute little boy go from yesterday?

"Sorry for being concerned." I muttered, and tears filled the little boy's eyes.

"I'm so sorry; I always do that, everybody says that I'm a brat with a temper because I always shout at people. Please don't hate me!" he begged, and I smiled at him.

"Hey, we all have our days. I'll never hate you; you're my little man! Why are you in such a bad mood anyway?" I questioned, resting my chin on my hand.

"When Ashleigh dropped me off at school, Lonnie was waiting and told me that I wasn't allowed to go. He even called my school up to tell them that I wasn't going. It's because we have sports today, and Lonnie hit me and he doesn't want the teachers to see." He sighed, but clamped his mouth shut as soon as he'd realized that he had told me.

"Don't worry; I'm not gonna tell anyone; I have nobody to tell." I assured him, though I really wanted to kill this Lonnie guy.

"No, Lonnie says if I tell anybody then…never mind." He said, and his cute face started to pale.

"I pinkie promise you that I won't tell anybody." I told him, and we hooked pinkies. Ethan smiled slightly; maybe he hadn't ever had a friend to pinkie swear with.

"Hey…since I'm your only friend here…maybe I could introduce you to some of my other friends." I exclaimed, giving Ethan a big smile.

"Really? Are they nice?" he asked, obviously interested.

"Mostly." I answered honestly, knowing that I couldn't speak for everybody.

"I'd like to meet them, then." Ethan declared, smiling up at me. I noticed that his front tooth was missing, and it made him look even more adorable.

"I'll come take you to see them later, yeah?" I bargained, and Ethan nodded.

"Okay." He sang.

I noticed a few kids around my age walking towards me, and I realized that school must have ended. The kids were socs which I meant that they were probably looking to fight me, so I knew I had to get out of there fast.

"Okay Ethan, I'm gonna head home. Can I meet you here at about 5 pm?" I asked him, keeping an eye on the socs.

"Sure." He said, smiling.

"Great! I'll see ya then!" I chirped, and got up quickly. I ran down the street before Ethan could get up, though now that I look back…I really wished I would have stayed with Ethan a little longer.

I always thought that socs weren't heartless enough to hurt a kid. A little kid, like Ethan.

I guess I was wrong.

Hey guys! I'm so sorry I haven't updated in a few days! I started writing this chapter a few days ago, but I've been really sick for the past few days. I'll be updating tomorrow though; because let's be honest…cliff-hangers annoy the hell out of everyone, especially if the story isn't finished! Stay Gold everybody :)