Disclaimer: I don't own anything from Outsiders.

This is the last chapter for Keep Moving. I'm thinking about a sequel for this story. I'm pretty sure there will be one in the future but I don't want to do one if I'm wasting my time. If people are still reading my stories I would really like to know. I'm sorry for not updating often but I have reasons so please let me know if you want another story from me. Thank you and have a nice day.

-Kathrine

(Language, violence for warning)

Keep Moving

The Beginning of the End

Peace. Serenity. Concentration. Focus. Mind. Thinking. Love. Remember. As I sit on a perch of a complete state of mind, I remember. That's what I needed to do. I needed to think. To focus all my mind power on the important information bubbling to the surface of my brain. It helps with the cool night air running down my spine. Calming me with it's peace and serenity. For the last hour and forty-two minutes, I've been going over the same numbers in my head. They always come up with the same conclusion, three hundred and thirty-three. In my head I calculate again and again. Three hundred and thirty-three.

One single tear ran down my face as I sat in the cool summer air. I couldn't sleep tonight, I was unable. After a while of laying in bed, I decided to get some air. I've been sitting on the front porch railing for at least two hours now. At first I was just enjoying the perfect night. Staring up at the stars. Wonder about the moon and how far away it really was from my world. Or who else was looking at that same moon as I was right now. But than I wondered if my parents could see the moon from where they were, wherever that might be. It got me to thinking about how long ago it had been since they died. After that, I couldn't stop calculating in my mind. It's been three hundred and thirty-three days. Today is Monday, July sixteenth around two in the morning.

THREE HUNDRED AND THIRTY THREE DAYS! It made me feel guilty for loosing count a few months ago. I'm not sure what my problem was but now I know and I can't believe how long it's been. It was giving me an weary but nostalgic feeling. The atmosphere for such feelings were perfect, yet so imperfect all the same. Prefect for thinking but imperfect because I didn't want nor need to think about those things. On the railing, I pulled my knees up to meet my stomach. Just as I was about to begin to sob my worries into my arm, I heard a voice from below me.

"Lucy, what the hell ya doin out here?" glancing my tired, wet eyes to the ground I tried to make out who was standing below me. Squinting slightly, I could tell that it was Steve. Him and I haven't had the best relationship since the forth of July thing but we've improved daily. I try not to hover over him and the boys, so I mostly avoid them when I feel overprotective…which is a lot of the time.

"Couldn't sleep." I answered sucking in my tears that wish to fall down my face. Steve went around to the stairs and propped his butt onto the railing with me. He was facing the house while I had an outlook on the night sky. From beside me he lit two cigarettes, offering me one. Reluctantly, I took it. The first drag was painless to my throat as I huffed it into my lungs. It calmed my body just as well as the breeze did. We were silent, Steve knew something was wrong though. He leaned to the side of the pillar, slightly away from me. From the corner of my eye I could see him glance my way every few seconds. Thinking of something to say probably.

Instead of paying attention to him, I hummed a tune. One that I knew would calm me down despite where it came from. Bridge Over Troubled Waters by Simon and Garfunkel is what I hummed. It was my song that Mom would hum to me when I was upset, it calmed me even more. Closing my eyes slightly, I leaned my head back. Suddenly, I threw the half smoke cigarette n the ground and huffed back some air. My lungs and throat vibrated with my singing words. I didn't care that I might wake up the other's from inside, but I doubt I would anyway. I started from the middle of the song, not caring that Steve was probably surprised that I began to sing.

"I'm on your side. When times get rough and friends just can't be found. Like a bridge, over troubled water. I will lay me down, like a bridge over troubled water. I will lay me down. When you're down and out. When you're on the street. When evening falls so hard. I will comfort you." tears fell down my hot face while I sang. When I finished that one part, I opened my eyes to look at Steve. His eyes were big with recognition for the song.

"That was beautiful, Luc." he complemented. I just slightly nodded my head, wrapping my arms around my knees again. For a good five minutes, it was silent again. I racked my brain for the song that she would sing to Steve, maybe he would remember.

"Do you remember your song?" I asked.

"No. I used to think about it a lot but I tried to block out the memories at first. Now I wish I would of remembered it. I feel bad for forgetting." Steve looked sheepish before I turned away from him.

"I'll remember it for you." I promised. He didn't say anything, but he did move closer to me.

"Why don't we go inside. You need some sleep."

"It wouldn't do any good Steve. You go ahead and sleep on the couch."

"Don't want to leave a sitting here alone while your…" he trailed off. I huffed a chuckle through my tears.

"I would prefer to be alone. Go sleep." I told him with a pat on the shoulder.

"If Darry finds out about you being out here alone, crying, in the middle of the night…he will kill you and me." I shook my head.

"I don't care. I can't sleep. Obviously you couldn't either, why'd ya decide to come over here?" I changed the subject, still crying slightly.

"Ah shoot…I was wonder when you would ask that." he chuckled but not in a comical way. "Me and my old man got into a fight earlier so I went over to Evie's and then the two of us fought so now I'm here…" he looked away from me.

"I wont argue with you." I said with a wet smile.

"I'm glad I got you Lucy Lou." he told me getting off railing. "How long ya gonna be out here?"

"The rest of the night probably." I commented as I leaned my cheek on my knees.

Steve wrapped his arms around me from behind. "I don't know why you're upset and even if I did I wouldn't know what to say to ya so here." he squeezed tightly to reassure me everything was going to be jus fine.

"Thanks Stevie." when he pulled away from me I heard him open the doors and go inside. Once I was alone again, I cried harder.

It felt good to cry again. Sure I did it a lot but this was a good cry. It wasn't over something horrible, it was just that I missed my parents. It's bad but it isn't painful, not as much as actually loosing them I suppose. I must of spent another two hours crying before I calmed down. A lot of time passed before the sun began to rise. I couldn't see it because it was behind the house, but it was nice to see the light. It gave me the energy to sing, which I did. I continued on with my song. The song that Mom loved to sing to me. Over and over again I would recite the lyrics with it's tune. Before I knew it, Darry, Sodapop, and a tired looking Steve shuffled out of the house.

Steve passed by me with a smiled as he went to the truck but my brothers lingered. Darry moved closer to me as I continued my song. He smiled brightly at me, rubbing my back.

"Morning baby girl." I leaned into his palm as I continued to sing. Both my brothers listened to the song, both watching happily. I closed my eyes as I let it all out in my voice. Once the song was silence with the end, all was quiet. It was quiet with a peaceful silence that was broken by Sodapop.

"That was rockin Luc, I love it when ya sing." I leaned back into Darry and opened my eyes. He whispered to me.

"Me too." I smiled at him tiredly. "Whatcha doin out here so early?" he asked.

"Enjoying the morning." I glanced at Steve, daring him to correct me. He just munched on a piece of toast and smiled at me.

"Ya work today?" Darry asked next. I shook my head.

"Ya okay?"

"Fine, Dar." he shook his head.

"No, something's up…I know it."

"Just got a lot on my mind."

"Well stop thinking about it." Soda told me as he joined Steve by the truck. "Lets get goin Dar, we're gonna be late."

"What's on your mind?" he investigated, ignoring Soda.

"Mom and Dad." I admitted.

"Oh." he commented.

"Three hundred and thirty-three days." he nodded, leaving me to mope on the porch.

"Don't be alone all day, go do something with Pony." he ordered.

"Sure. Sure." I commented with a small wave. Once they left for work, I stared at the spot that Dad's car should have been, not Darry's truck. It made me frown. I imagined that I was there, in it's glory. A light blue color that my mother would always complement with her sun dresses. Perhaps I stared and imagined for too long because the next thing I was that the car was smashed at the sides. One side crushed into the other, killing whoever was inside…my parents. I fell backwards with a yelp as I lost my balance and impacted with the floor. My head throbbed as I now stared to the ceiling of the porch. My legs fell to the side of be while my back lay flat. This position wasn't comfortable but I made no move to get up. I was a zombie today…I realized three hundred and thirty-three was a horrible number. I'm not sure what to do. A worried face came into my view, I closed my eyes.

"I heard you fall." Ponyboy said with tired in his voice.

"Sorry if I woke you."

"No, I was coming out of the bathroom. You've got a hard head. Why don't we have some breakfast." I opened my eyes to see that he crouched down next to me with a smile now.

"I don't feel like breakfast." I admitted.

"Umm…well I'll make it if you want." he brushed my bangs out of my face. I looked over at him. "We could search for a movie or something."

"Ponyboy, you're very sweet but I'm not in the mood for anything today babe." he frowned.

"I heard Darry tell you to not be alone today." I frowned this time."Great." I said sarcastically.

"Oh don't be that way. Why don't you go see Dallas today or something?"

"Yeah sure…." I said chuckling to myself. "If he comes to pick me off the ground because I don't feel like moving."

"I'll pick you up." Ponyboy said determined. He leaned down cupping my legs in one hand and my shoulders in the other. Hysterically I began to laugh.

"Ponyboy, you can't carry me any farther than I can carry myself." which obviously isn't that far. Surprisingly, he got me off the ground. He held me up, I felt tall in his arms but he just stood there.

"Nice job Pone, now what…" he huffed out a heavy breathe.

"Can't….move." I laughed as I jumped off of him. Pulling Ponyboy inside I smiled, perhaps I just need to chill out. "I'll make you some breakfast."

"If you're not going to eat than I don't want you to make just me breakfast." he told me as he tried to run past me in the kitchen.

"Well I don't mind and even if I'm not hungry I should try to eat." I shoved him to the side, causing him to fall into the armchair. Dashing for the kitchen, I laughed at my victory.

"Eggs it is." I commented going into the fridge. He joined me with a smile on his face.

"I'll make the toast." the two of us joked around most of the time while we cooked. It was a good time. I had almost forgotten about the number thing, almost.

"So what do you want to do today, Baby Brother?" I asked before I large bite of eggs.

"Don't call me that Luc." he told me with a stab of his fork in my direction.

"Umm excuse you but you told me I wasn't allowed to call you that in front of any of the guys….none of them are here." I said definitely.

"Fine…agreed." he told me with a sly smile.

"What do ya wanna do?"

"I don't know." he admitted.

"Wow.." he raised an eyebrow at me. "We're boring." we both laughed.

"Yep, ya got that right." he said with a chuckle. We ate the rest of our food in silence. I began to clean up with my younger brother and once I was done I jumped in the shower. While I was brushing my teeth afterwards, I heard someone screaming my name. Peeking out the door, Ponyboy's face came into my vision. His expression was panicked and he looked all worked up over something. My brother tried to explain to me what was going on as I rinsed my mouth but he was having a difficult time. Pony couldn't stop stuttering as he racked his brain for the explanation I wanted. We walked into my bed room and I continued to get ready for the day. Ponyboy was doing a little dance in the door way as he tried to explain again. Standing up with my shoes on, I put my hands on his shoulders.

"Calm down Pony, let me know what's going on." he took a deep breath."Sarah called in a panic. She wanted to talk to you but she didn't have time to wait for you to get out of the bath..th..th room." my brother stuttered out.

"Take another breathe, Pone." he did as he was told and continued.

"She said that Natalia fell this morning and it caused her to go into an early labor. I didn't understand so I wanted her to give me a little bit of details but she was panicked and didn't have time. All she said was that Natalia was in danger of loosing the baby because of the fall she took. They had to go to the hospital. I'm so sorry, Lucy."

My brother babbled on about how much he was scared and confused. I patted him on the shoulder like a big sister should do but didn't say a word. There were lots of things going through my head that I just didn't want to deal with. Panic rose in my throat as I continued to stare off into space. Finally it clicked, I needed to get down there and do whatever I could to help.

"I'm going down there." Ponyboy shook his head.

"I think it would be best if you say here." I shook my head as well.

"I have to go, Pony…she's my best friend."

"You're just going to run down there?"

"What other choice do I have." I said leaving out of my room. "I might go to the DX and steal Steve's car if it's there."

"Me mentioned that he left it there this morning." Ponyboy told me definatly.

"Thanks Pony." I left out the door.

"I'm coming too." he told me, I stopped in my tracks. I wasn't sure why but I knew that he shouldn't come. I shook my head at him disapprovingly.

"Ponyboy, you need to stay here. If something happened…I don't want you to be there for that."

"But what if you need me if something happened."

"There wont be anyone or anything on this planet that could help me if something happens." I admitted in a low voice.

"That's why I should go."

"No, that's why you should stay." I pushed him slightly towards the house and ran off. He didn't follow and I didn't look back. If something happened to Natalia, I wouldn't know what would do. I wouldn't know what to expect from myself. Or the baby…what will I do to comfort Natalia…This is too much.

At the DX, I ran inside in search for Steve but found Soda. Sweat dripped down my face as I tried to search for him.

"Steve?" I called, Sodapop stopped my rush by holding my by the shoulders."What's wrong Twiny?"

"Natalia is in trouble and I need to get to the hospital. It will take me hours if I ran…" I swallowed, trying to compose myself. "I need a car."

"What happened? Calm down…"

"No!" I pulled away from him. "I need to get down there now!"

"What's up?" I twisted around to the opening of the garage to see Steve setting a tire down next to a car.

"Steve!" I ran towards him. "I need to barrow your car!"

"Like I'd let you drive my car…you're a crazy dri…" I took his shirt into my hands."You either give me the keys or I hotwire it…either way I'm driving it."

"Where did you learn to hotwire?" Soda asked coming over and trying to take my hands from Steve's shirt.

"Never mind! Give me the keys Steve, I need to get down to the hospital!"

"Why ya goin there?" he asked becoming serious.

"Natalia is in danger for her life right now! I NEED to go!" he fished for the keys in his pockets after that so I let him go. Handing them to me I kissed him on the cheek.

"You're a life saver." running towards the back of the shop, I found his car parked behind the building. Sodapop and Steve both showed up after that. I was already in the car when they showed up. Sodapop jumped his torso into the open window and held my hand so I wouldn't start the car.

"I'm coming with you." he told me.

"You need to work." I rolled my eyes at him.

"But what if…" I stopped him.

"I've already told this to Ponyboy….I need to go…that doesn't mean that you have to go.""What if you need me Luc?" I smiled nervously at him.

"I don't want to think about the what ifs…I'm going to let everything come at me as it is…no bull shit. Besides, I'll always need you." shoving him out of the window, I started the car and sped off. The radio was on but I wasn't listening to it, it was just background noise for all the thoughts that swiveled around in my head. I'm not sure how long it took me to get to the hospital but to me it felt like too long. Parking crazily, I jumped out and ran towards the building. Inside I asked the desk for her room number. They wouldn't give it to me but they told me that Sarah was down the hall in the waiting room. I ran as fast as I could, ignoring the stares from anyone who was looking.

The waiting room was small, smaller than the one that I passed before. Sarah was in the corner praying with a rosary in her hands. She muttered quietly to herself as I panted out to the almost empty room. As I shuffled over there, I wandered what was going on. I sat next to her and place a hand on her back. Immediately she looked up with bewildered eyes. I rubbed her back to calm her down. When she realized it was me, she began to cry with either relief or fear.

"Oh Lucy…" she trailed off as she fell into my body. I hugged her tightly, afraid to ask her how she was.

"Umm…" I tried but the words got caught into my throat. I hugged her tighter.

"She fell over her shoes this morning…" Sarah choked out. "Fell right onto her stomach. When I got there, she was screaming in pain. The ambulance came to take her away…" she pulled away from me.

"Everything happened so fast." she admitted shaking her head in a fast motion. "When I got here, I didn't know what to do. They told me about the risks of giving birth now….but they have no choice."

I closed my eyes. "What are the risks?"

"We could either loose Natalia, the baby, or both." she gasped and fell into my body again. "I'm so scared Lucy."

"Me too." I admitted into her ear. She was shaking so badly. Trying to calm her, I hummed to her the song that I was singing earlier. Rubbing her back, she slowly calmed down. Only hiccupping every few minutes. She pulled away quickly after that, bending down to pray over her rosary again. I began to count to try to concentrate on something else.

There were twelve chairs in this room. Twenty-six dots on the coffee machine in the corner. Four planets. Right now I was continuing to count the little dots on the ceiling of the tiles. There were thirty-seven tiles but so many dots to keep me busy. I was going on two hundred and seventy-two when a doctor walked in with a sweaty face. Immediately the two of us leap up and searched his face for unspoken answers. Shaking his head, I felt Sarah tug hand to hold it. Holding her hand, I waited for him to speak.

"The baby made it through the delivery. She's on life support and observation for a few days but there is a high chance that she will be able to live on her own in a matter of days. Natalia…" he gulped, knowing that we were going to flip at whatever the news was."She has slipped into a coma… also on life support. We are not sure if she will make it through the rest of the day." Sarah fell to the ground, still holding my hand. She wept very loudly, letting her pain show to everyone. I pulled my hand away from hers and balled it into a fist.

"How fucking dare you tell us this! You fucking liar!" I knew he wasn't lying…but I needed someone to blame!

"Miss, I know the situation is grave but I'm going to have to ask you to calm down.""Calm down?…Calm down? How the fuck do you expect me to calm down? You bastard!" I screamed with tears flowing down my face. I leap at the guy and he screamed for assistance from outside the door. Doctors flew in, pining me down. My arms and legs flailed trying to break free. Suddenly there was a sharp prick into my hip and slowly I began to calm down. I was so calm that I slipped into a state of sleep.