Heartbeat
By Shattered Aura
In collaboration with FrankElza
Review replies:
BunnyluvsU: It will be for you to find out. ;)
Seth Clearwater: Glad you did. :)
Jessieklove: Well, I couldn't have Pony hurt too much. I never said he wouldn't get hurt mentally though...I hope you won't be disappointed with this chapter.
GreaserG1rl201: Aww, gee, thanks! Your review made me smile! :)
WatchRain4898 (2): Your two reviews made me laugh! Thank you! :)
The Curtis Crew: Sorry for the late update...I'm glad you liked it! And thank you so much for the compliment, it means a lot! :)
Pony'sgirlfriend: *hands tissue* Don't cry ;) Thank you! Details have been something I've been working on for a while now, and I'm glad you liked it!
Sydney Castle: I get emotional too! Your review made me laugh, thank you! :)
FrankElza: Yes, it turned out amazing thanks to you! Thank you so much for making this story even more amazing! :D
SoulBeat: I agree with you! No one puts Baby in the corner. (I am a fan of Dirty Dancing and this line killed me. Appeals to Ponyboy too! Ha! :D)
Diverging patronus: Wow, thank you! Just like I have been working on details, I've also been working on realism! Glad you thought so! :)
staygold-fandom: Aww, gee, your review was so nice! I'm willing to bet I'm gonna be as sad as you. :( Thank you!
XxPrincessTristina828xX: Aww, thank you! Your review means a lot to me! :)
Nessie2000: I'm not a fan of Glee, but I know what you mean! I have horrible nightmares too that sometimes do keep me awake! One night, I dreamt that everwhere I turned, the Annabelle doll was in fornt of me, and when I woke up, I couldn't even open my eyes! I tried reading to clear my thoughts of that doll and I ended up staying awake all night, on a school night too! Anyway, thank you for the review! :)
A/N: Hey guys! I'm sorry for not having updated in quite a while! I've been extremely busy with my Outsiders theatre rehearsals and exams! Only 11 days 'till the show! I'm excited! I have good news, too: there will be more than three chapters! After this chapter, I will probably write one or two others, it won't be much longer, but it will be long enough to satisfy you readers! Until the next chapter, R & R and enjoy! And thank you to FrankElza for everything!
XxX
Just as predicted, at two in the morning, a shrill scream woke both Sodapop and Darry up, and they quickly found themselves hugging the life out of their baby brother, who was screaming and struggling. Moments after, he was sobbing in their chests.
"Sshhh, he's gone, baby, he's gone," Sodapop soothed, knowing perfectly well what the nightmare was all about. He was shaken himself from the events, with good reason, but Ponyboy had been affected even more.
"W-What if he comes back," Ponyboy choked between sobs, which tore at Sodapop's heart. "What if I really get h-hurt?"
Darry hugged him and rubbed his back. "We're gonna protect you, baby," he whispered against his ear, tightening his hug on the boy when Ponyboy started crying again. He cried himself to sleep in his brothers' arms. Darry stayed the night with them just to make sure that Ponyboy wouldn't get more.
He didn't. However, he woke up feeling a little light-headed and sore, alone in his room. He started whimpering, trying to get one of his brothers' attentions, and they turned into harsh coughs, which indeed alerted Darry and Sodapop, who were in the kitchen, getting reading to go to the DX and talk to Soda's boss.
Sodapop ran in their room, where Ponyboy was sitting up, coughing madly, almost hyperventilating. He sat down next to his baby brother and rubbed circles on his back, soothing him to stop. Eventually, the coughs subsided, and Ponyboy lied down, exhausted.
Darry came in with medicine and a thermometer. He first put his hand on Ponyboy's forehead, ignoring the boy's flinch thought saddened by it, and felt his forehead, which was cool. He urged Ponyboy to open his mouth and he slipped the thermometer for a few seconds, then pulled it back out. It read 99.8 degrees. Ponyboy was fine.
"Mh, Ponyboy," Darry said, clueless, "how are you feeling?"
Ponyboy cleared his throat and cringed. "My throat hurts," he croaked. "My head too."
"It's probably all the crying," Sodapop reasoned. "He's been tired since...er, last night. He's probably just exhausted." He smoothed his hand in Ponyboy's locks and wrapped Ponyboy in a one-arm hug.
"Probably," Darry agreed, or at least he wanted to believe so. He was still a little worried about his baby brother, but he had faith that he was gonna be fine. "Do you want to take some medicine? Then you'll get to rest, 'kay?" Ponyboy simply nodded.
Sodapop briefly left the room and came back with a glass of water and two Aspirin tablets. He put them in Ponyboy's palm and helped him drink the water. When Ponyboy finished, he lied back down but didn't close his eyes, only then noticing Sodapop and Darry were dressed up in something other than their pyjamas. "Where you going?"
"We're gonna go grocery shopping and we're gonna have a chat with Soda's boss," Darry answered. "I'm not sending Sodapop there until that man apologies or does something about yesterday." Ponyboy shivered just thinking about what happened. Sodapop noticed.
"Sshhh, it's over now," Sodapop whispered, kissing Ponyboy's forehead so lovingly, that if Ponyboy was a little more conscious, he'd smile. His eyes, however, were drooping and he was already halfway asleep. The last thing he heard before completely falling asleep was that Two-Bit would keep him company in about ten minutes until his brothers came back.
He woke up shortly after to the sound of a slamming door. Two-Bit, he vaguely thought as he struggled to untangle himself from the bed sheets and get up. He silently made his way to the living room, where the sound of Mickey Mouse could be heard from the TV.
"Hey Two-B—" he started, but froze once the living room was in sight. There, on the couch, sat none other than the guy who tried to rob the DX!
He was playing with that same gun he used on him, alternating from his left hand over to his right hand. "There you are," he gruffly said, a smirk on his unshaven face, without facing him or even looking at him. "Been looking all over town for you. Those shit cops can't keep me in jail." He slowly got up, taking his time, and once he was standing, he turned around, facing the frightened boy.
"Caught you now." In one, agonizingly slow movement, he lifted the gun and pointed it at Ponyboy's forehead, making the boy silently whimper. Then, everything sped up again, and before Ponyboy could blink, the guy pressed the trigger. He screamed, but nothing came out. He tried to duck, but he couldn't move. He could only watch as the bullet came at his forehead, now again in slow motion, and he couldn't do a thing about it.
"Wake up!" the guy screamed at him, but he only screamed again, now able to move. He turned around and ran away from the bullet, but it was nearing faster than he could escape...
He shot up from his bed, screaming loudly. Two-Bit was holding him by his shoulders, trying to will him to wake up. Ponyboy gasped and his eyes shot open, breathing heavily as he stared at Two-Bit with wide opened eyes. He flung himself in the older Greaser's arms and sobbed in his chest.
Two-Bit, surprised by the young boy's actions, only stared for a moment, but then he hugged him back. He sure wasn't used to affection except if it was toward Kathy—and that wasn't the same type of affection—but he knew that the boy needed all the love and comfort he could get after yesterday's events. He rubbed a hand behind Ponyboy's head and tightened his hug. "Sshhh, stop crying, Pone, you'll be fine. I'm here, nobody's gonna hurt you."
"Darry, Soda?" he mumbled, slightly shaking.
"They're not here yet," Two-Bit regretfully said, "But they should be soon. They've been gone for about two hours; they should be back in a couple of minutes now."
"I-I want my brothers," Ponyboy whimpered. Two-Bit bit his lip.
"I don't know where they are, kiddo."
Wrong answer.
"B-But the guy will catch them!" Ponyboy blubbered near panic. Two-Bit's eyes widened.
"No, Pony, the guy's in prison! He ain't gonna escape!"
"But he did!" Ponyboy protested, shaking more than before. "H-He came here! He sh-shot me!"
So that's what he dreamt about, Two-Bit thought. "No, Pony, he never did. I assure you, it's only me here."
"P-Promise?" Ponyboy whispered. Two-Bit inwardly cringed at how young Ponyboy sounded, how frightened he looked.
"I promise," Two-Bit vowed. "He's not gonna hurt you ever again." Ponyboy nodded just as the front door opened again. Two-Bit heard the general ruckus of the Curtis boys as they unloaded the truck with their groceries. They're here, Two-Bit sighed in relief.
"We're home!" Sodapop announced, as if Two-Bit hadn't already known. Ponyboy, however, didn't, and his eyes widened.
"Soda!" he shouted, getting up from the bed hastily and running out of the room in to the kitchen, where his older brother was. He flung himself in Soda's arms and bawled.
Sodapop's eyes widened and clouded with worry for his younger brother. Darry was greeted with the sight of his two younger brothers hugging when he walked back in the house with two grocery bags. "What happened?" he softly asked.
"N-Nightmare," Ponyboy mumbled, his voice shielded by Soda's chest. "The guy c-came here and he-he...he shot me..." he buried his head and started crying again.
Sodapop worriedly looked over at Darry while muttering that everything was going to be alright, and that it was all over, but somehow, he had a feeling it had just begun.