Yay! New chapter! (: This one is kinda shorter than the previous ones. :P

Enjoy!

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"Soda," Ponyboy groaned.

Soda opened the door to their bedroom. He crawled onto the bed and next to Ponyboy. "What is it, Pone?" "Where am I?" he asked. "In bed." Sodapop answered. Pony rubbed his eyes and opened them, looking at his brother. "Is Darry home yet?" "He just got back."
Pony felt a sharp pain on his forehead and threw his hand on the spot where he hit his head.

"Your head starting to hurt again?" Sodapop asked. Pony nodded. "Yeah," Soda walked out of the room and grabbed the ice pack from the fridge. He walked back into the bedroom and placed it on Ponyboy's head. The cool feeling of the ice pack numbed Ponyboy's aching head in seconds.

Darry walked into the boys room.

"Hey Pone, Sodapop told me what happened to you today." "Hey Darry." Pony said in a quiet tone. "His head started hurting again.." Soda told his brother. Darry turned on the lamp by their bed and grabbed the ice bag off of his brothers forehead. The cool feeling of the ice weakened on Ponyboy's head.

Darry examined Ponyboy's head. There was a spot on Pony's head that was purple and swollen. "Wow Pony, that's some mark." "Yeah," Soda spoke up. "A real shiner." Ponyboy sat up and looked at both of his brothers. "How bad does it look?" "I would say it's bad but not that bad. Makes you look kinda tough. You get what I'm saying?" Soda told him.

"Kinda…" Pony sighed.

"Well you might as well head to sleep. I'll let you stay home tomorrow from school." Darry said. He got up and began to walk out of the room.

"Wait," Ponyboy said, stopping his brother. Darry looked at Ponyboy. "I want to ask you something.
"What is it?"

"Uhh," Ponyboy had no idea how to get this out. "I've been having dreams about Johnny and Dally. And…well…" 'Ponyboy, you better not be asking what I think you're gonna ask!' Sodapop thought in his head. "What?" Darry asked.

"They told me where you've been going. As in meeting old friends." Pony said quickly. Darry stood quietly in front of him. He felt the hair on his neck stand up. 'YOU ARE DEAD.' Darry thought.

"It's nothing bad. He's an old friend that I've been able to keep in contact for the last few years. It's nothing, really." Darry lied.

Soda stood up and stretched. "I'm heading to bed." Darry put the bag of ice back onto Ponyboy's head, and he headed to his room. Soda slipped into bed and Pony shut off the lamp and layed back on the bed.

"Hey Soda," Ponyboy spoke up.

"Yeah?"

"Darry was lying to us. And you and I both know that."

"He probably just wants to keep it safe. He doesn't want us to get involved."

"But—''

"Ponyboy," Soda interrupted his brother. "Darry wants to handle the situation on his own. And if he needs help along the way, he'll come back for us." Ponyboy stayed quiet. He never heard Sodapop cut him off and/or snap at him like that. It shocked him.

XxXxXxXxXxXx

The trees and branches in the woods played a quiet song. Ponyboy was sitting on a log in the woods. He heard branches break behind him. His heart began racing and a cool chill went down his spine. Pony jumped to his feet, turned to where the branches were breaking, and waited for one more crack.

"Hey there greaser!" someone shouted behind him. Ponyboy jumped and turned around. It was Dallas Winston. Dallas was laughing from his little prank on Ponyboy. The moment was almost awkward for Ponyboy. A greaser never shouts something a soc would say to a greaser. "Dally," Ponyboy said in relief. Dally smirked. "You sometimes are a real easy target."

"Come on Dal," Johnny walked behind Dallas. "The kid's already had enough on his plate."

"Damn kid, what's with that shiner man?" Dally said, pointing at the purple mark on Ponyboy's head. "Oh," Ponyboy began. "I ran into the door…" "Why'd you do that?" Johnny asked. Ponyboy put his hand on his head. "I saw Darry with Paul. He got a Tulsa University jacket."

"Oh yeah…" Johnny said, remembering when Paul had given Darry the jacket. Dally patted Pony's back. "You're getting closer to the end." "End of what?" Pony asked. "Paul's playing a game with you and your brothers. The game's harder than it looks." Dally said.

"Well, you got anymore tips or something?" Ponyboy asked Dallas and Johnny.

"Sorry kid." Dally said, walking over by Johnny. "Johnnycake?" Pony asked, hoping that Johnny had an answer. Johnny nodded. "No. You and Sodapop gotta put it back together." "We can't do this on your own. You two gotta have something!" Ponyboy pleaded. "What are we, your guardian angels or something?" Dally lightly laughed.

Johnny grabbed Ponyboy's shoulder. "Good luck, Pone."