WARNINGS: MENTIONS OF SUICIDAL THOUGHTS AND ATTEMPT, LANGUAGE

Disclaimer: I own zip... zero... nada... etc., etc.

Soda rounded the corner, Aimee in tow, and his eyes went from a lively brown to pitch black in a moment.

"Get the fuck away from him!" He screeched, Aimee jumping slightly at her boyfriend's more than angry voice. Not that she didn't expect it; no one messed with Sodapop Curtis's little brother and got away with it.

While Soda lunged at the offenders and started fighting them, Aimee crept over to sit beside Ponyboy. She wasn't worried about the fight; she knew Soda could hold his own, and after he screeched like a banshee, she knew the gang couldn't be far.

Ponyboy looked awful, his face bruised and bloody and his clothes torn to shreds. One of his eyes were swollen shut, and his lip was fat and split. Someone's rings had cut into the side of his face, right along his cheekbone and it had cut deep, making blood ooze down his skin in a waterfall. Bruises marred his wrists and shoulders from being held down. And that was only what she could see; she didn't even want to imagine the injuries that lied beneath his clothes.

She vaguely heard the gangs' whoops and hollers as they joined the fight, but she was too preoccupied to turn and see what was going on. She ripped a corner off of her dress-about the size of her hand, maybe a little bigger- and wet it with her tongue before starting to mop up some of the blood coating Pony's face.

Aimee was so busy with trying to help the scrawny Greaser that she didn't notice that the fighting had stopped until Darry and Soda knelt beside her, the gang standing a little bit away from Ponyboy to give them space.

"Is he gonna be alright?" Johnny asked, hesitantly. "He looks real bad."

Aimee nodded. "He'll be alright eventually, but we need to start healing him or I don't know what will happen."

Darry nodded and lifted Ponyboy into his arms before they started for Two Bit's car and his truck just down the road.

"I still can't believe someone would do that to a kid- a hero," Dally hissed, angrily, as he helped to support Soda, who had experienced quite the kick to the ribs.

"Tell me about it," Soda growled, wincing as he leaned more heavily on Dally and Steve. "I mean, he saves a dozen kids from a fire, and this is the way the world thanks him- by abusing him even more?"

Johnny nodded. "Man, he looked almost as bad as I did," he mumbled as he rubbed a finger over his scar.

They arrived at the cars, Two Bit, Steve, Dally, and Johnny riding in Two Bit's car while the others rode in Darry's truck.

Soda looked ready to cry as he rubbed some blood from Ponyboy's face, revealing hideous bruises beneath the sheet of crimson.

"Oh, Pony," he whispered, holding his kid brother close to him. "I'm so, so sorry."

"What you sorry for?" Pony slurred, wincing as he jostled his ribs.

"I should've been there," Soda muttered.

"You can't be everywhere at once, can you?" Pony told him.

"He's right, Soda," Aimee agreed. "You can't be with Pony all the time. Those kids are just violent jerks, and it's in no way your fault."

Pony smiled, slightly. "Wise girl. She's a keeper, Soda."

Soda blushed, and he looked up to see that Aimee hadn't heard Pony's words.

He smiled at his kid brother. "She sure is, Pony."

Ponyboy was in pain. His entire body ached from his ribs to the top of his head, both throbbing painfully. He could feel something dry and sticky clinging to his skin, particularly his face, and he winced as someone dabbed a wet cloth to his forehead.

"Ow," he muttered.

"Yeah," Aimee's voice agreed, comfortingly. "There's quite a cut there. Steve just ran down to the store to get some ointment for it."

"Thanks, Aimee," he told her. "How's Soda holding up? He didn't look too good."

"Neither do you," she pointed out with a giggle. "And Soda's fine; a little bruised up, but he'll be fine with a lot of rest."

"You gonna be a doctor?" Pony asked. "How do you know so much about medicine?"

Aimee shrugged. "Well, when I was younger, Marcia and I were always falling off bikes, tripping on the sidewalk, and all that clumsy toddler jazz. I guess we were born clumsy, but anyway, our parents were always working, so I learned to bandage us up."

"Well, you have a talent for it. Maybe you should be a nurse," Ponyboy suggested.

Aimee laughed. "Maybe. I haven't really thought about it, but it's possible. After all, all I want to do is get out of my house."

"Family issues?" Pony guessed.

Aimee nodded. "Once," she began after a moment of hesitant silence, "I went on an overnight field trip with my school, and my teacher asked me if I missed my parents. I told her how can I miss someone that was never there."

Ponyboy nodded. "You know, Darry and I didn't always get along. I'm sure you heard about the time I ran away, but I'm sure you don't know the whole story."

"What happened?"

"Darry was stressed from working, and when I came home late one night after falling asleep in the lot, he was pissed. He was scared to call the cops because they may take us away, but he didn't want to go on not knowing where I was or what had happened to me. When I came home, he was ready to murder me. Long story short: he yelled at me, I yelled back, Soda tried to break us up, he yelled at Soda, I yelled at Darry, and he slapped me."

Aimee stopped cleaning the blood from his face. Whatever she'd been expecting, it hadn't been that.

"Were things really that bad?" She asked.

Ponyboy shrugged. "It was hard to get along. Mom and Dad were gone; Darry was stressed to the point of his hair falling out; I walked around like a zombie. Poor Soda was stuck in the middle. Things are better now, though, so when times get tough, just know that you're not alone. If Johnny hadn't been by my side, I probably would've... you know."

After looking over her shoulder to ensure no one was looking, he put a finger gun to his head and mimicked pulling the trigger.

She nodded, although her eyes displayed shock. "I've contemplated that, never done it, but I thought about it a lot. Marcia tried to kill herself when she was thirteen, took some pills. She tried to slit her wrists, tried to remove her IV or her nutrients tube whenever she was in the hospital after an attempt. It was real bad."

Ponyboy nodded before he cracked a weak smile that possessed no humor. "Our lives suck, but it could be worse. I could be Johnny, getting abused, or Steve, getting kicked out of the house once a week. I could be Dally with no strict home. I guess that's why I never did it because things can always be worse."

Aimee laughed, slightly. "You're too wise for a fourteen year old."

Ponyboy looked her in the eye, dead serious. "It's not your age that makes you wise or naive; it's your experiences. I've seen too much for fourteen years; I had to grow up fast, but if I could go back and change it, I don't think I would."

Aimee nodded, but before she could say a word, Soda opened the door.

"Ponyboy!" He shouted, quite literally tackling Ponyboy in a hug and almost knocking him off the couch. "Thank goodness you're awake!"

"Soda?"

"Yeah?"

"You're choking me."

"Oh, sorry!" Soda quickly detached himself from his little brother. "I'm just glad that you're alright."

"You had us worried there for a second," Darry agreed from the doorway.

"I'm fine, guys. Getting jumped is nothing new," Ponyboy chuckled.

"Yeah, but if those good for nothing, no good son of a-" Dally then proceeded to rattle off every insult in the book.

"Lay a hand on you again," Johnny interrupted Dally.

"We'll kill 'em," Two Bit finished.

"Thanks, guys," Ponyboy said.

But little did they know, this was far from over.

some Aimee and Ponyboy bonding and a little brotherly fluff! sorry for the late update, and for those of you that are reading any of my other stories, I'm working on updating. bye!