A/N: This is the longest chapter thus far! Enjoy mi amigos!

Disclaimer: I don't own the Outsiders or the song Meet me On the Equinox.

Meet me on the equinox. Meet me half way. When the sun is perched at it's highest peek. In the middle of the day. Let me give my love to you. Let me take your hand. And as we walk in the dimming light. Oh, darling understand. That everything, everything ends.

"The funeral was yesterday," Marilyn broke the awkward silence in the room. "Damn near everyone in town showed out...'cept them."

Randy fiddled with the top of his nails like it was more important than anything. Today was hard for all of them. He remembered this day last year. They all went to the lake house and went fishing. Sam was happier than Randy had ever seen him. If he only knew it'd be the last time.

Marilyn kept pacing the room. "I swear Winston did it! I mean come on! Who else would be that stupid?"

Randy looked up at her. "Why would he have any reason to? He didn't even know Sam. Why would he-"

Michael began to smirk. All eyes turned to him. "Unless the little princess squealed." He looked from Randy to Marilyn and then back to Randy. "You don't think that'd give him motive?"

Randy opened his mouth, "Danni wouldn't-"

"She must have," Marilyn stated calmly. "Randy, who else do you suspect would even have any reason to kill Sam? If Danni told then Dally would kill him on the spot. You know that."

Jane raised her head up for the first time. "Tell him what?"

"Nothing," Michael snapped with an eye roll. Why did he even bring her here in the first place?

Randy, as did everyone else, ignored her. "Then why hasn't he come after us? Winston isn't exactly a quiet killer. He'd be right here right now with a baseball bat if he knew."

"Sam was the main one," Michael stated the clear fact. "She knows that. She probably just told him that part to save herself the trouble. She knows what will happen if she told in the first place. Girl ain't dumb. She's coverin' her tracks."

Randy rubbed his head. "I just-"

"Why do you keep defending her?" Marilyn put her hands on her hips. "She's nothing to us. She's supposed to be nothing to you. Why do you even care what we say about her anyway?"

Randy knew it was too much of a fight to fight especially with Marilyn. "I'm just trying to see the other side of things. We can't just assume things. What about his brother just coming into town like he did?"

"Cherry said it was right after too," Michael said quickly, sitting up on the couch. "He could have easily-"

Marilyn rolled her eyes. "Oh come on! Some little worm from New York? Really?"

"Marilyn-"

"No!" She stomped her foot on the ground. Michael couldn't help but laugh at her. "Dallas did this. Can you not see that! These people want us all dead, Randy. He killed Sam and then killed Marten to cover himself!"

Randy still wasn't so sure. "Why would he have any reason to kill Marten though? I mean, what does he have to do with any of this?"

Michael was thinking this same thought himself. "Just to turn the cops on a different road. Take all the attention off Sam's death and investigation and turn it on this. He got someone else to do this job."

Marilyn couldn't have been more disgusted. "Danni and him are in this together. She has told him! Why aren't you freaking out?" She turned to her brother. "Why haven't you done anything about it yet?"

Michael put his arm around Jane. "Been kinda busy."

"Honey," Randy tried to reason with her. "We can't just go pointing fingers at people. We can't-"

"We can do a lot." She rushed over to him, getting in his face. "Do you love me?"

Randy made a face. "What? You know I-"

"Then just believe me," she begged. "Randy I'm right. I can feel it. Sam was like your brother. Don't you want whoever did this to be punished? To be caught?"

Randy shook his head. "You know that I do."

She grabbed hold of his hands. "Then just trust me!"

Randy eyed her, unfazed. "She still knows Marilyn. We don't know for sure if she told Dally but if she didn't and we went and did something stupid, she's going to come out. She's going to speak."

"Randy-"

"We have to keep her happy," Michael stated the fact again, stressing it this time. "We all know that. We have to stay away from her and Dallas. I mean it."

The next morning I got to clean up. Emily and I went roaming for a creek or stream and came across one a mile or two away from the barn. We stripped most of our clothes off and let them soak in the stream. There was no soap or detergent of any kind but just getting the mud off was enough for us.

She didn't talk much for the majority of the time we were there. She hadn't talked much to anyone. She always had her head down now, not looking at anything, just wanting to have it down. Her body sometimes rocked and her face was drained. If we weren't in the woods alone I'd think she'd gotten a hold of something.

"Danni?" Her voice was about as weak as she looked. She didn't look up. Her hair was matted over her face and her head was facing the ground.

I layed down on the cold ground and tipped my hair back into the freezing water. "Yeah?"

She picked up a small stick and stabbed it in the mud over and over again. They weren't angry stabs, just barely there. "Do you think Ronnie killed those guys?"

I didn't rise up and look at her like I should have. I didn't push her hair out of her face and sit her up straight like I should have. I didn't lie to her. "Yeah."

She didn't move again for a while. I couldn't help but watch her. She didn't notice, or I couldn't tell she noticed. She looked like a zombie. Her eyes were dark and her skin couldn't have been paler. Her hair was stringy and greasy. She hated her hair like that. She left it down.

I rang my hair out around a dried up plant, hoping maybe it would make it somehow. I picked up my clothes and hung them on a branch along with Emily's. She didn't move.

The sky was clear today. It stretched out for miles and all you ever saw was blue. It hadn't been this way since we got here. It wasn't raining anymore. There were no more clouds. Pony woke up this morning saying, "Today is going to be a good day. I can feel it."

I bent over and splashed some water on my face. Dirt and grime filled my hands and slipped out back into the clearness of the stream. I did it over again. Emily still hadn't moved. I was beginning to wonder if she was asleep...or worse.

"Em?" I called out. She didn't react. "Come clean up. It may be the last time for a while. Don't you want to clean your hair...or your face?"

She sniffed. "Where are my clothes?"

"I hung them on a tree so they could dry."

Her long hair covered most of her bare body and I think she liked it that way. I don't think she wanted to mess that up. "I want to put them on."

I drug my hands along the dying grass, getting them dry. "You can't. They're soaked." I got up. "They should be ready in-"

"I want them now," she said it so quietly. It wasn't demanding or whinny, just a small cry.

Emily was small for her age. She was short but her body, besides her breast, looked smaller than a ten year old. If you didn't know her family, you'd think she was a runaway. Today, she looked like a runaway. She was a runaway.

I stood above her. "Emily you can't have them. I know it's cold but you'll get sick if you put them back on."

Her body began to shake. She tried to protest again but the cold stopped her from that. I sat down beside her and put my arms around her shoulders, pulling her into me. She didn't smell like Emily anymore. She smelled dirty and broken.

"I-I want t-to go home." She shivered then repeated, "I want to go home."

I hugged her tighter and cupper her head with my hand. "I'll take you home, Emily. We're gonna take you home."

"You promise?"

"Yes."

"Ronnie promised too."

I rested my head on top of hers and gently rubbed her back, feeling her spine. I sighed. "I for real promise, Em. For real."

I stood up on one of the rocks by the creek and looked across all the trees. "They just go on forever."

Pony looked up towards the sky and nodded. "It just reminds you of how stuck we are huh?" He chuckled. "Just us in the middle of all of that."

I hopped off the rock and continued to follow him. Dally was working on Ronnie's car. Emily and Ronnie went off looking for more food, which I don't know what they expected to find. We found a bag of chips in Ronnie's car last night...that lasted a few minutes at least.

Pony picked up a large stick off the ground and started walking with it. "What'd Dally say to you yesterday? You two were kinda quiet all night."

I skipped to another rock. "Just him and Ronnie. It was nothin'."

He stuck his nose up in the air. "I don't like him."

"No one seems to." I jumped to another rock. "I don't think he's all that bad. He's just lost."

Pony thought for a minute. If anyone was to understand Ronnie I'd pick him. Not even Dally but Pony. The odd one out the in the family. The different one. That was Pony. He wasn't Ronnie, but Ronnie was him.

He kicked a small lump of dirt. "Do you think he killed Sam and that flower guy?"

I got down off the rock I was on and followed him. "I don't know. I don't see why he would kill either of them to be honest. Maybe he did, maybe he didn't...To tell ya the truth I don't really care."

He spun around and began to walk backwards. "Why's that?"

I shrugged. "I just don't."

He made a face. "Didn't Sam used to be your friend or something? Back when you hung out with Randy and Marilyn. Wasn't he with them?"

"So?"

He stopped walking and kept that look on his face. The one that I hated. The one that made me feel stupid all over. "Why do you not care? He was your friend and you just act like-"

"I just don't care." I started walking again, passing him. "I haven't been friends with them in almost two years. You know how it is. I mean it's a shame in all how it happened but it doesn't affect me so why should I care?"

He slowly caught up to me. That look was gone. "Do you know how extremely selfish that sounds?"

"I'm sorry he's dead," I said, speeding up and walking past him so he wouldn't stare directly in my face anymore. "I just don't care. We weren't that close when we were friends. I don't think we were friends."

We stopped walking when we reached the stream Emily and I found. It was like we hadn't even been there. No sign of us anymore. Pony sat down and cupped some water with his hands and splashed his face. I sat down on a big rock and watched him.

I didn't like Sam. He was mean and sour. I never understood why Randy liked him. I asked several times but never got an exact answer. When I heard what happened I pictured Randy, just sitting there and trying not to cry. Sam said crying was weakness. Randy wouldn't have cried over Sam. He would just sit there and watch everyone else and think about crying but he wouldn't. He never did.

"Cherry didn't like him either," Pony said, rising up. "She said he was really rude to her all the time and every girlfriend he ever had. She said he was a punk."

It was the first time I'd heard him say Cherry's name. He didn't seem to notice it. Instead he causally slipped his shirt off and rubbed some dirt off with water. I don't think he had thought about what he had said.

"Are you hungry?" I asked, changing the subject off Sam.

He looked at me like I was stupid, not like before, just normally. "Are you?"

I felt my stomach answer for me. I put my hand over it and sighed. I could picture us at home during this time. Sodapop would be making lunch and Darry and Kathy would be laughing on the couch. I would be digging into anything Soda dished out, Pony right behind me.

"Why didn't you like Cherry?" The question caught me off guard and I didn't answer or collect what he was saying for a while so he repeated it, "Why didn't you like Cherry?"

"Who says I didn't?" The stupid look came back. I shut my mouth. "She was alright." I shrugged. "I didn't hate her, Pone."

He turned his attention back to his shirt and scrubbed harder. "I know. I didn't say you did."

"Why do you ask then?"

He cleared his throat and put his hands on his knees, raising himself up. I noticed his stomach for the first time. It was smaller. It wasn't from being out here either. His ribs stuck out a little and I thought of Emily, slowly wasting away in her own body. "I just need to know."

He went over and hung his shirt on a tree, still waiting for my answer. "I don't know. I wasn't exactly right when you two started going together. I hated everyone. I guess it just kinda stuck to her."

He carefully hung the shirt just right on the limb, making sure to do it in such a way that it didn't wrinkle. "There has to be more than that. You hated me and Darry and Soda back then too. What changed with us and not her?"

"Pony-"

He turned around. "I just want an answer, Dan. A good one. Can you just please try?"

His cheeks were red from the cold and lips chapped. I wondered if I looked the same way. "Yeah. She wasn't a bad person. She just reminded me of some stuff I guess."

"Like what?"

"Like Randy and them," I got it out quickly, fed up with this conversation. "What were you doing with a Soc anyway? After the hell they put you through last summer. Why would you want to do that?"

He stomped back over to the creek. "She wasn't like them."

I bit my lip, realizing where this conversation was going and regretting even dabbling into it. He hadn't talked about Cherry for a reason. She needed to disappear from his mind. If that was even possible. Here we sat, bringing her back to life.

"Sorry," I said, sliding off the rock and landing in the grass. "I didn't mean to be mean about it."

He broke a twig and tossed it into the water and watched it float by. Going over the rocks and getting stuck, then breaking free and going on again. "I miss her."

I watched him play with things on the ground. "Yeah."

"Did you feel this way about Randy when he left?"

I watched another stick float on by. It did the same thing the other one did, then flipped and never came back up. "That's all they ever do. Socs just leave. Greasers and Socs were never made to be with each other that way. People talk about mending the relationship and getting past our problems and coming together. Be the next civil rights movement but in a town like this, that's never going to happen."

I didn't mean for it to come out harsh or hateful. I said it so simple. It was the way of the land. I learned that when Randy left me on the side of the road that day. Greasers bail on each other all the time. Angela always talked about girls and their boyfriends and how they fought and how some of those girls got killed. Angela was one of them. We killed each other. We hurt too. Our relationships weren't perfect either and we left each other. We weren't the same though. When someone different leaves you - a Soc - it hurt. It meant you weren't good enough for the other side and you really weren't. They learned and left so they wouldn't have to fight for you anymore. We kill and leave all the time but not because we don't care. Things just happen. They leave because they are tired of fighting for us. Greasers are strong and that's why. Not because we're tough. We're strong.

Socs aren't strong. Socs and greasers don't bread. Not in this town.

"You hurt bad," he said plainly. "I remember you crying a lot in your room...even before he left, you cried a lot."

I swallowed and remembered. I hadn't forgotten.

"Did he hurt you that badly?" He looked up at me and studied my face. "Before he left. Did he hurt you that badly?"

I stared at the place the stick once was. It was never coming back up. It was stuck down there with everything else. It was just dead now, getting passed over every day. It wasn't a part of a big thing like a tree. It was gone and like everything else, it died.

"He didn't."

His face didn't move nor did his expression. "Who did? You were real bad off even before, Dan. You remember that? What happened?"

I placed my hands on the cold mud and hosted myself up. I stretched out my arms and bent my back causing it to pop. I turned and started walking. "We should get back."

Ronnie was bent over the hood of the car. Dally was beside him, pointing at things. Emily was leaned up against the wall like she was propped up there until someone wanted to play with her. Like a doll. She looked tired and hungry. We all did.

"No food?" I asked once we got closer.

No one answered. Dally kept pointing at things and telling Ronnie what to do. He listened this time without another word. Emily watched him, her head up now and hair out of her face. She had no expression. She was just watching them.

Pony went over with the guys to try and help out. Dally made room for him, pushing Ronnie a little to the side. He always looked out for Pony. I never understood their relationship. Johnny's I got. Not Pony's.

I got to Emily and sat beside her. She acted like she hadn't even noticed. I'd seen people act like this. At those places Angela took me too especially. Sometimes this was even her. Those girls who had no family or friends or love. They'd go there and look just like Emily. They didn't care. Emily had a family, friends, and love.

"You think Two-Bit's still looking for me?" she asked, still not moving.

I nodded and stared at her. "He probably hasn't stopped."

The sun was beginning to go down when everyone's stomach's filled the air with music. Dally and Ronnie hadn't left the car. Pony was beside us now, just watching the trees, the boys, then the trees again. Dally and Ronnie had gone hours without a snap. Things were quiet.

Out of the blue, our ears popped open. Car wheels against the gravel. We all knew that sound.

Ronnie and Dally looked up from the hood. Pony and I stood up and Emily stretched her neck out for a good look.

We prayed it was Soda or Darry or Two-Bit or even Steve. We prayed hard for those few seconds we had before the vehicle came into view. Those few seconds we should have prayed harder.

The blue lights shinned through the woods, causing little animals and birds to run away. On normal days we all would have done the same. I don't know if it was because of the lack of food or just because we were stupid, but none of us moved. We all just watched.

We all held our breath as the car stopped in front of us.

A hefty man stood up first. He switched the lights off and straightened his jacket up, looking spiff. His partner got out of the passenger side and straightened his sun glasses. They were both staring at us and we stared back.

The first guy came over to the other one and whispered something in his ear. He picked his handcuffs out of his pocket and slowly walked over to Dallas and Ronnie. I held my breath as he got closer to Dally.

"What can I do for you officer?" Dally asked with a smartass grin.

The cop didn't answer and his eyes moved to Ronnie. He rounded Dally and grabbed Ronnie's hand and bent him over. Ronnie struggled against him and the officer yanked his other hand back. Ronnie winced in pain and there was a pop.

"Hey now!" Dally shouted.

The other officer came over to him and stood in-between him and Ronnie. He told him not to try anything funny and then watched over his partner as he made the arrest.

I looked at Emily. She'd gotten up off the ground and stood beside me. Her expression didn't change this time either. She didn't gasp and cry like before. She just watched like a normal show was in front of her. Just another criminal on T.V.

Dally pushed past officer number two and tried to yell some things. None of us could hear him. We were all too busy watching the criminal on T.V.

"Ronald Winston," cop one rose him to his feet. "You are under arrest for the murder of Marten Dills."

Dally pushed officer two again as officer one headed for the car. "Just hold on a minute here!"

"I didn't do it," Ronnie tried to say. "I swear!"

The officer kept pushing him towards the car. The toes of Ronnie's shoes tried to stick to the ground and hold him in place but with lack of food, they just dragged. "You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford one, one will be provided for you."

"You can't just come on out here and do that!" Dally threw his hand out and motioned toward the car.

Another car was coming around the curb to us. No one moved as it came to a halt right beside the other one. A smaller man jumped out of it. "Are you Emily Matthews?" He pointed to Emily. She nodded. He pointed to us. "Are you Ponyboy and Danielle Curtis?" We nodded.

Dally was shouting curses at officer two and still playing poke and shove. The third man who was still by his car, looked at him and smirked. "I don't even have to ask who Winston is."

"Ar-are we in some sort of trouble officer?" Ponyboy stepped forward.

He shook his head and yelled something to cop number two. He turned back to us. "If you come with me, I'll take you guys on home."

Emily's eyes hadn't left Ronnie who had started to cry. They were big tears that poured out of his eyes. He kept preaching his innocence over and over again. "What about him?"

Officer three looked behind his shoulder. "He's going to the station. The judge will decide what to do next."

Dally was still yelling and screaming and pushing. The cop began to threaten. Ronnie was still crying and it's the last thing we all see. His head is pushed under and his whole body goes into the car. They started it up, and it's gone.

A window, an opened tomb. The sun crawls across your bedroom. A halo, a waiting room. Your last breath's moving through you as everything, everything ends. As everything, everything ends.

A/N: Birthday reviews would be lovely. :)